Paul Janz is a Canadian theologian, and formerly a prominent singer-songwriter of pop rock music in the mainstream and contemporary Christian markets. He is known for such hits as "Every Little Tear", "One Night", "All I Have", "One Last Lie", "Go to Pieces", "Rocket to My Heart", "Close My Eyes", "Stand", "Prince Of Pain King Of Fools" and "I Won't Cry".
Career
He began his music career in the 1970s with his brothers in a band called Deliverance. Brought up in a Mennonite family, he first learned the trumpet and by age 13 was engaged with his local chapter of The Salvation Army. Gospel music and rock, combined with a broad interest in music made him record three albums with the band within 10 years. These were successful in Germany and included 1979's Leaving LA which reached No. 56 on Billboard. In 1984, he launched his solo career, which culminated in four projects with a string of chart-topping hits from each album. The first solo album recorded at Greenhouse Studios in Vancouver would achieve gold record status in Canada. In 1986, Michael Godin, who was vice president of A&R with A&M Records Canada, left to become the Janz's manager. The success of his projects led to his nomination for the Juno Awards, Canada's most prominent music award. Despite achieving great success in Canada, his U.S. record label's restructuring of its roster of artists led to the end of promotion in the American market. Janz's final project, Trust, which was recorded under a co-partnership with the Attic Records label, continued the same ground-breaking tradition with Janz's trademark lyrical compositions and driving melodic rhythms. Since that time, Janz hasn't released any new material. In 1981 he took part in the German selection for the Eurovision Song Contest with the song "Steine ". He finished tenth behind musicians like Taco and Peter Cornelius. Instead, Lena Valaitis was selected to represent Germany at the Eurovision Song Contest 1981 with the song "Johnny Blue". The song has also been recorded in English with his band Deliverance, a longer version titled "Last Road to Forever". In 1989 Songwriter was released, an album distributed by the publisher, Irving Music of Canada, to promote Janz's songs to other artists and producers, not intended for commercial release. Prior to retiring, he was the Professor Emeritus of Philosophical Theology and Head of the Department of Theology and Religious Studies at King's College London. He formerly taught philosophy at Trinity Western University in Langley, British Columbia and has written a book entitled God, the Mind's Desire: Reference, Reason and Christian Thinking published by Cambridge University Press. In 2004, Janz's first album High Strung was re-released on CD for the first time by Escape Music in the UK. More recently, he has launched a new brand, Transformation Theology, a re-make of Bonhoeffer's grass-root theology. His son Chris Janz was a recording artist and GMA CanadaCovenant Award winning songwriter and Covenant Award-nominated producer. Chris died on December 14, 2016.
