Russ Taff – Russ Taff – 1987

Now I will admit that I didn’t listen to this album in the 80’s because I didn’t really like Russ Taff. Boy did I miss a great album because this is a strong pop album with some fantastic hits. The opening tune “Shake” is a great Rock & Roll song and the album also has a very good cover of “I Still Believe” by The Call. I don’t know for sure but this has to be one of Russ Taff’s most successful albums. It spawned 5 singles with “Walk Between The Lines” making it to #1 and even pushing The Call cover “I Still Believe” up to #5 which is quite surprising given that this is a straight out Rock & Roll cut. Dann Huff (White Heart) joins in on guitar on a few tracks and you hear his influence. Mark Williamson (Mark Williamson Band & Lyrix) sings backup on a few tracks as does Charlie Peacock. Great bunch of artists to push this album pretty high on my liked list.

Tracklist
1 – Shake – 4:21
2 – Walk Between The Lines – 5:33
3 – Believe In Love – 5:03
4 – Down In The Lowlands – 5:08
5 – This Love Is Strong – 4:59
6 – I Still Believe – 4:31
7 – Steal Away – 0:43
8 – (Living On The) Edge Of Time – 3:41
9 – Higher – 4:54
10 – Breathe Life Into Me – 4:24
11 – Healing Touch – 4:42

Artists
Harry Browning – Vocals (Background)
Robbie Buchanan – Synthesizer
Lenny Castro – Percussion
Bill Champlin – Vocals (Background)
Tamara Champlin – Vocals (Background)
Nathan East – Bass
Chris Eaton – Composer
Tommy Funderburk – Vocals (Background)
James Hollihan, Jr. – Composer
James Newton Howard – Composer, Synthesizer
Dann Huff – Guitar (Electric)
Paul Jackson, Jr. – Guitar (Electric)
Michael Landau – Composer, Guitar (Electric)
Paul Leim – Drums
Lynn Nichols – Vocals (Background)
Jack Joseph Puig – Producer
Neil Stubenhaus – Bass
Russ Taff – Primary Artist, Producer, Vocals (Background)
Carmen Twitty – Vocals (Background)
Tata Vega – Vocals (Background)
Larry Williams – Saxophone

Credits
Art Direction – Joan Tankersley
Cover, Design [Logo Design] – Joan Tankersley, Patrick Pollei
Crew [Studio Crew] – Bernadette B., Deborah Klein, Leeza Jillian Tender
Design Concept [Cover Concept] – Joan Tankersley, Lynn Nichols
Engineer [Assisted By] – Bart Stevens, Billy Whittington*, Julie Last, Koji, Steve Ford, Wade Jaynes
Executive-Producer – Lynn Nichols
Management – Zach Glickman
Mastered By – Doug Sax
Photography By – Phillip Dixon
Producer [Produced By] – Jack Joseph Puig
Recorded By, Mixed By – Jack Joseph Puig
Technician [Technical Assistants] – Mike Wambsgans, Steve Hazelton

Companies, etc.
Phonographic Copyright (p) – Word, Inc.
Copyright (c) – Word, Inc.
Manufactured By – A&M Records, Inc.
Distributed By – A&M Records, Inc.
Made By – Digital Audio Disc Corp.
Manufactured By – DADC – DIDX-2775
Recorded At – Shnaze Studio
Recorded At – Ocean Way Recording
Engineered At – The Hop
Engineered At – Studio 55, Los Angeles
Engineered At – Wayne Cook Studios
Engineered At – Mama Jo’s
Mastered At – The Mastering Lab

Please follow and like us:

Author: Ray Mansfield

One of the founding cowboys of Real 80s CCM. Been listening to this stuff since 1978.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *