Upcoming CDs, ApX Interview, Easter Playlist

Upcoming CDs, ApX Interview, Easter Playlist

J. Jackson, lead singer and lyricist for ApologetiX here.

Now it can be told. Yes, as some of you have already figured out, the name of the album for which we have been writing, recording, and releasing parodies thus far in 2026 is indeed ApologetiX ‘82, which conveniently would just happen to be our 82nd CD.

When our latest single came out Sunday night, it became pretty obvious. Some people may have been surprised that we spoofed “Young Turks” by Rod Stewart, since that single originally came out in October 1981. However, it peaked at #5 on the Billboard Hot 100 the last two weeks of ’81 and remained at that position for the first two weeks of ’82. And we go by the year(s) when a song peaked.

ApX fan Joel Havian, who was the first to spot the pattern when we started releasing singles for ApologetiX ’74 and ApologetiX ’77, emailed me Wednesday morning and said:

Yes, I have started to suspect an ApologetiX ‘82 pattern, which I somehow mentioned to you about two weeks ago. But another idea which came to my mind was: How was 1982 particularly special to you?

Looking back, you mentioned that in 1974, you started actively listening to what your sisters and others were playing on the radio. Next, you mentioned that in 1977, you realized that you could turn the aforementioned content on for yourself, tune it to the stations you liked, and started buying your own records.

That brings us to 1982. In July of that year, you turned 18. I am therefore assuming that you graduated from high school in that year and headed off to college, a school which I have seen you write about extensively — Indiana University of Pennsylvania!

I responded to Joel and asked him take a photo of himself with those two previous CDs, so I could include it here ...

Joel is an excellent detective. Yes, 1982 was a pivotal year in my life for those two reasons. I also got my the lead male role in our high-school musical, Carnival, and became lead singer in my first real rock band, Terminal. Both of those events kindled the dream in my heart of someday singing for a living.

By early 1988, I abandoned that dream as I gave my life to the Lord. But He gave the dream back to me in a totally unexpected way! Next week, on March 27, it’ll be 34 years since the very first official ApologetiX concert. Wow. Praise the Lord!

But I was totally immersed in secular music from 1982-87, and I'd love to do a CD for each of those years. Will we? Time will tell. But I’ll say this: Not only are all the lyrics written for all 12 parodies on ApologetiX ’82, God has already provided all the lyrics for the first three on ApologetiX ’83. Yep, I finished writing two more this week.

These aren’t rush jobs, either. I’m spending a lot of time polishing them. But the lyrics have been flowing (all glory to God for that), and I’m really happy with them. Better still, since the release of our latest single this past Sunday night, we’ve received comments like these:

“This may be among some of your best lyric-writing.”

John Broom

“This is one of my personal favorite singles!”

Dave Smith

"Thank you very much for sending these great songs. I love the lyrics to both."

Gordon Diamant

Thank you, guys, and thank you, Lord! Before I go, I want to mention that ApX fans Glen Van Boxtel, Gary Jelich and Michael Eberle also predicted that our next CD would be ApologetiX ’82. Now, let’s learn more about our latest single ...

New Single Spoofs 38 Special & Rod Stewart

On Sunday night, we released our fourth single of 2026. It spoofs two more Top 10 hits from 1982. Anybody starting to notice a pattern here?

Shut Off the News - Caught Up in You - 38 Special

John Mark - Young Turks - Rod Stewart

Get the New Single

The Stories Behind the Songs on This Single

J. Jackson, lead singer and lyricist for ApologetiX here again.

Here are the stories behind the songs on our fourth single of 2026:

SHUT OFF THE NEWS

This one came together very quickly. I'd never planned to spoof "Caught Up in You" until driving home from the studio after singing our parody of "Hurts So Good," on February 12, 2026. Exactly one week later, I was driving home after singing "Shut Off the News”! Ironically, "Caught Up in You" hit #1 on the Billboard rock chart one week after "Hurts so Good," but that's not why we picked it.

Because of Rich's busy schedule at the time, I needed to find a tune that didn't have keyboards. Thankfully, when we'd first decided to do ApologetiX ‘82, I'd made a list of about 30 songs from 1982 that I thought had a least a little potential for the project. "Caught Up in You" was the only one on the list with male vocals that did not have keyboards.

Incidentally, the advice I give in this song is also advice I'm giving to myself. Even as far back in 2019, in "Turn Up the Ray of Hope," I opened with the lines "I think it’s hard to watch the news and do it every day. For every minute I have to watch, I need a minute to pray." Hey, "Shut Off the News" and "Turn Up the Ray of Hope" make nice companion titles!

This parody has two consecutive lines in the second verse where words could be heard different ways. Because of that, I put both options in there, separated by a slash: "No news is better, I'm sayin'/sane” and “You might be grieved because the polls/poles might shift.” In each case, the one on the left of the slash was my original intention, but the one on the right still applies.

"Shut Off the News" features J. Jackson on lead and backing vocals, Tom Tincha on guitars, Keith Haynie on bass, and Jimmy "Vegas" Tanner on drums and percussion.

JOHN MARK

On January 29, 2026, I was thrilled to get the idea for "John Mark," because I've long wanted to write a song about him. We already had parodies about all three other Gospel writers, including multiple ones about Luke and John. Even our parody about Matthew has two versions. Poor Mark always seems to be given the short shrift. Maybe it's because he wrote the shortest Gospel.

We first see him mentioned by name in Acts 12:12, where he's identified as "John, also called Mark," the son of a believing woman named Mary. Then, in Acts 13:5 and 13:13, he's simply called "John." Next, in Acts 15:37, he's again referred to as "John, also called Mark." From Acts 15:39 on, he's just called "Mark.”

A number of early church fathers (Papias, Irenaeus, Clement of Alexandria, Eusebius, Tertullian, and Origen) affirmed that Mark wrote the Gospel as he first heard it from Peter, who referred to Mark as "my son" (1 Peter 5:13). That was meant in the spiritual sense, the same way Paul referred to Timothy (1 Timothy 1:2), but Mark was Barnabas' blood relative (Colossians 4:10).

Although Paul viewed Mark dubiously after Mark left for home in the middle of a mission trip (Acts 13:13, 15:37-39), he spoke of him favorably later in life (Colossians 4:10, Philemon 1:24, 2 Timothy 4:11).

Many commentators believe that the passage in Mark 15:51-52 about the young man who has to flee naked after being seized while following Jesus is Mark’s roundabout way of identifying himself.

"John Mark" features J. Jackson on lead and backing vocals, Tom Tincha on guitars, and Rich Mannion on keyboards, bass, and drum-programming.

Interesting ApX Interview Earlier This Week

J. Jackson, lead singer and lyricist for ApologetiX here again.

On Tuesday, I had the pleasure of doing an hour-long interview with David Spoon on He Must Increase Radio. The show originates in the Dallas-Forth Worth TX, but broadcasts on the internet. You can check out their website HERE.

The show has interviewed guests as diverse as Josh McDowell, “Weird Al” Yankovic, Al and Lisa Robertson of Duck Dynasty, Jim Daly of Focus on the Family, Dinesh D’Souza, Kirk Cameron, Kurt Warner, Max Lucado, and a very long list of others.

David is an experienced interviewer with a wonderful sense of humor and a great appreciation for what ApologetiX does. Personally, I would have been just as happy interviewing him, rather than vice versa, He because has a very interesting testimony.

Here’s a little bit more about him ...

Easter Season Playlist 2026

This year, Easter falls on April 5. Here's the 2026 edition of the ApologetiX Easter Season Playlist. We’ve added five new selections since last year, so there are now 61 songs in all. We put them in chronological/thematic order as best as we could.

We've included the CD where you can find each song. If ApX has done the song more than once, we listed the CD or single that contains what we consider to be the best version. Click on the individual song titles to hear one-minute samples.

1. Another One Died for Us - Another One Bites the Dust - Queen

(Unconditional Releases)

2. The Promised One - Der Kommissar - After the Fire

(Overdue Books)

3. Hosanna - Rosanna - Toto