Boys and Girls is the third album from Undercover and their style matured a bit. Personally I say this album leans far more New Wave than punk. This was Bill Walden’s last album with the band and in fact he did not tour in support of the album quitting shortly after it was recorded. In the recording sessions for this album there were actually some songs recorded that would later end up on Branded but the vocals were redone by Sim Wilson but Ojo says he has versions of these songs with Bill singing. The single for the album was “Boys And Girls” and strangely the album version had Bill singing but the 7″ for the song had Sim doing the vocals. I also noticed that Derri Daugherty (The Choir) actually helped Ojo mix the album.
Tracklist
1 – Boys And Girls – 3:37
2 – Talk To God – 2:49
3 – Holy, Holy, Holy – 1:45
4 – One Of These Days – 2:23
5 – Three Nails – 3:23
6 – The Anthem – 2:24
7 – He Lets Me Know – 2:00
8 – Glorified – 2:38
9 – Is Anyone Thirsty? – 3:05
10 – I’d Rather Stay – 3:05
Credits
Arranged By – Undercover
Artwork By – Debby Edwards
Backing Vocals – Undercover
Drums – Gary Olson
Engineer – Dan Willard, Gord Driver, O-Joe Taylor* Ron Leeper
Guitar – Neel Down
Keyboards – Turner Burn
Lead Vocals – Bill Walden
Mastered By – Bernie Grundman
Mixed By – Derri Daugherty, O-Joe Taylor
Photography – Ken Baley, Linda Dillon Baley
Producer – O-Joe Taylor
Saxophone – Bill Walden
Trumpet [Additional] – Dave Hackbarth
Companies, etc.
Phonographic Copyright (p) – Maranatha! Music
Copyright (c) – Maranatha! Music
Phonographic Copyright (p) – A&S Records
Copyright (c) – A&S Records
Recorded At – Sound Affair
Recorded At – Whitefield Studios
Mastered At – A&M Studios
This is certainly one of my favorite albums of the 80’s. It was not my usual cup of tea, but when I was working at a summer camp in 1986, a fellow counselor would play it all the time and I fell in love with it.
Undercover was arguably the most popular Christian band in Orange County in the 1980’s. There were other great bands like the Lifesavers, 4-4-1, Ipso Facto, and The Lifters but when Bill Walden was the lead singer of Undercover they really had a majority of the Christian marketshare. I was in HighSchool and College for those years and always had a “God Rules” sticker on my school binder. When Bill Walden left Undercover they weren’t as popular because Bill Walden was a pretty darn good performer and his voice is pretty dominant on the first three albums. 40 years later I can still sing many of their songs from memory. Too many kids made a decision for Jesus at Calvary Chapel Costa Mesa at Undercover concerts to discredit this band even if Ojo Taylor and Bill Walden may have chosen different paths in life
Come see the interview with Bill Walden
https://youtu.be/GiK48x67ARU