Daniel Amos – Doppelgänger: The “¡Alarma! Chronicles” Volume II – 1981

This is volume 2 of the ¡Alarma! Chronicles. Between volume 1 and 2 of the Chronicles they switched record labels and got a new bass player. Terry Taylor’s guidance clearly held things together though. This release is peak 80s culture. It fit the model of what was happening in music at the time, even if nothing of the sort was happening in CCM outside of DA. This visionary album was on par with everything else in the scene at the time, but limited by being marketed to the CCM audience.

Tracklist
1 – Hollow Man – – 2:15
2 – Mall (All Over The World) – 3:13
3 – Real Girls – 2:57
4 – New Car! – 2:00
5 – Do Big Boys Cry – 2:05
6 – Youth With A Machine – 2:42
7 – The Double – 3:50
8 – Distance And Direction – 2:48
9 – Memory Lane – 3:48
10 – Angels Tuck You In – 2:38
11 – Little Crosses – 2:35
12 – Autographs For The Sick – 1:40
13 – I Didn’t Build It For Me – 2:48
14 – Here I Am – 3:18
15 – Hollow Man (Reprise) – 0:43

Credits
Arranged By [Keyboards] – Jerry Chamberlain, Terry Taylor, Tom Howard
Backing Vocals – Ed McTaggart, Jerry Chamberlain, Terry Taylor, Tim Chandler
Backing Vocals [Occasional] – Derald Daugherty, Dori “Game Show Girl” Howard, Emelia Emulator, Janet McTaggart, Mark Cook (2), Randy Stonehill, The Three Women From Istanbul, Tom Howard
Bass Guitar – Marty Dieckmeyer (tracks: 1), Tim Chandler
Bass Guitar [8-string] – Tim Chandler
Bass Guitar [Fretless] – Tim Chandler
Drums [Skins, Tubs, Traps] – Ed McTaggart
Engineer – Thom Roy
Engineer [Second] – Derald Daugherty*
Keyboards – Jeff Lams (tracks: 3,13), Mark Cook (2) (tracks: 8), Marty Dieckmeyer (tracks: 1), Rob Watson (tracks: 2,3,5 to 7,14), Tom Howard (tracks: 4,7,9 to 11,14)
Lead Guitar – Jerry Chamberlain
Lead Vocals – Jerry Chamberlain (tracks: 11), Terry Taylor
Mastered By – Steve Hall
Percussion – Alex MacDougall, Ed McTaggart, Jerry Chamberlain, Terry Taylor, Tim Chandler
Performer [Da Is] – Ed McTaggart, Jerry Chamberlain, Terry Taylor, Tim Chandler
Producer – Jerry Chamberlain, Terry Taylor
Remastered By – Doug Doyle
Rhythm Guitar – Terry Taylor
Saxophone – Bill Colton

Companies, etc.
Produced For – Rebel Base Productions
Phonographic Copyright ℗ – Alarma Records
Copyright © – Alarma Records
Distributed By – The Benson Company, Inc.
Distributed By – Lawson Falle Limited
Recorded At – Whitefield Studios
Recorded At – Rebel Base Studio
Mixed At – Whitefield Studios
Mastered At – MCA Recording Studios
Lacquer Cut At – MCA Whitney Recording Studios
Published By – Twitchen Vibes Music
Published By – Paragon Music Corp.

Johnny Markin – The Call Home – 1991

One of my favourite parts of this project is that sometimes I am introduced to artists I didn’t know anything about and this is one of those artists. The reason I have never heard of him is because his 5 albums were only released in the U.K. I have no idea why his albums weren’t picked up by a North American label but they weren’t. It was insinuated to me that this was due to ICC Records not playing nicely with others but I don’t know if that’s true. Anyway this is a great album. It has a solid 80’s feel and I quite enjoyed it. Unfortunately it was released in 1991 which leaves it a little late for it’s style but that wasn’t that important in the CCM genre. If you only have time for one track listen to “Battle Lines” which is actually a pretty good Rock & Roll track.

Tracklist
1 – Hold On To The Love – 5:13
2 – Runnin’ Hard Tonight – 3:45
3 – Hardened Heart – 4:12
4 – Must Be More – 4:19
5 – The Call Home – 5:25
6 – The Master’s Voice – 4:41
7 – Be My Guide – 4:24
8 – Only To Be My Servant – 4:38
9 – Small Price To Pay – 4:11
10 – Battle Lines – 4:14

Credits
Coordinator [Project] – Peter Martin
Engineer, Mixed By, Sampler – Matthias Kaufmann
Producer [Assistant], Engineer, Organ [Lezly Speaker Operation], Sampler – Mike Newbon
Producer, Guitar, Keyboards, Sequencer, Drum Programming, Sampler – Johnny Markin

Companies, etc.
Copyright © – Daybreak Music Ltd
Published By – Daybreak Music Ltd
Published By – Rare Bear Music
Recorded At – ICC Studios

Larry Norman – Roll Away the Stone – 1980

After Larry was convinced to close Solid Rock Records he made his way to England with his father and started Phydeaux records. This was either the first or second album he released on that label. It’s a live album but were not really too sure where or when it was recorded and I don’t think even Larry knew. He printed on the album cover “This album contains ten songs from a three hour concert. It is reproduced exactly as the audience heard it, with no studio overdubs, no stereo enhancement, noise gates, etc. It is raw, real, and electronically unretouched.” As much as he tries to make the lack of production a selling point for the album I sincerely doubt the source material was capable of being remixed. I’m willing to bet it was a single track recorded right out of the mixing board. Anyway this is a great opportunity for us to hear some early Larry in his live environment.

Tracklist
1 – Jonny’s Blues – 3:03
2 – Why Don’t You Look Into Jesus – 4:53
3 – The Rock That Doesn’t Roll – 3:28
4 – I’ve Seached All Around The World – 3:34
5 – Watch What You’re Doing – 6:31
6 – Soul On Fire – 6:33
7 – Shot Down – 1:56
8 – Song For A Small Circle Of Friends – 3:09
9 – Why Should The Devil Have All The Good Music – 2:51
10 – Let That Tape Keep Rolling – 5:24
11 – I Wish We’d All Been Ready – 5:45

Credits
Bass Guitar – Dave Coy
Drums – Alex McDougall
Electric Guitar – Jon Linn
Guitar – Mark Heard
Piano – Tom Howard
Vocals, Written-By – Larry Norman

Companies, etc.
Copyright © – Phydeaux/Solid Rock Records