June 2026 – Real 80s CCM

Kurt Howell – Kurt Howell – 1992

I going to guess that no one recognizes the name Kurt Howell so come on and head down the rabbit hole with me. In the mid to late 80’s there was a collection of Christian artist working in the studios around Nashville. Kurt was often in that community and the studio musicians on this album are almost all from that community. So while this is a secular album it’s a great group of Christian artists. Kurt was better known to some as a member of Southern Pacific who were together from 1983 to 1991 and actually were pretty successful including an appearance with Emmylou Harris at Farm Aid 1985 though Kurt didn’t join the band until after that. Once that band split Kurt cut this one solo album. This however was not a country album, this is a pop rock album that had the magic hands of Michael Omartian in the production booth. Strangely the next chapter in Kurt’s career was another country band, Burnin’ Daylight. I have no idea how this album came about but I really like it. I don’t know what the official single was but I pick “Do The Rubber Neck”. It’s a great tune that I think would have done well on the radio. I’m willing to guess very few of you have heard this one but I think you should give it a listen.

Tracklist
1 – Let’s Run With It – 3:51
2 – We’ll Find The Way – 4:14
3 – Does Love Not Open Your Eyes – 4:41
4 – I’m Over You – 4:39
5 – Dedicating Everything To You – 4:44
6 – Do The Rubber Neck – 4:44
7 – Labor Of Love – 4:40
8 – Keep Telling My Heart – 4:32
9 – Cold As A Stone – 4:09
10 – Don’t Throw Love Away – 5:23

Credits
Backing Vocals – Joe Pizzulo, Robert White Johnson, Tommy Funderburk
Drums – Paul Leim
Electric Guitar – Chris Rodrigues, Michael Landau, Neal Schon, Steve Lukather
Electric Guitar, Acoustic Guitar – Dean Parks
Horns – Daniel Higgins, David Boruff, Jerry Hey, Kim Hutchcroft
Keyboards – Phil Naish
Keyboards, Backing Vocals – Michael Omartian
Producer – Michael Omartian
Vocals, Keyboards – Kurt Howell

Paul Janz – Renegade Romantic – 1990

This is Paul Janz’s 3rd solo album. It was released in Canada, the U.S., and Europe but it only did well in Canada. At this point in his life he was generally putting out secular albums. That said the same year as this his family did put out a Christian album on their family label Janz Team that Paul sang on. The album did quite well in Canada with “Every Little Tear” peaking at #5 on the charts. “Rocket to My Heart” and “Stand” also charted in the teens. I am from Canada and remember the album well. Paul was one of the most popular Canadian artists of the period. This is a great 80’s Pop album and a must hear.

Tracklist
1 – Every Little Tear – 4:08
2 – Hold Me Tender – 4:44
3 – Rocket To My Heart – 3:44
4 – Almost Heaven – 4:22
5 – Stand – 4:56
6 – Stuck On You – 4:05
7 – Love Walks In – 4:14
8 – One Lovin’ Touch – 4:37
9 – Darling Drive – 3:30
10 – Saddle Up – 4:03

Credits
Art Direction – Richard Frankel
Bass – Mike Hill
Co-producer, Vocals, Synth Bass, Arranged By, Lyrics By, Music By, Written-By – Paul Janz
Design – Art Hotel, Inc., Brian Johnson
Drum Programming – Jim Bralower, Paul Janz
Drums – Michael Root
Engineer [Second Engineer] – Alex Rodriguez, Beemer, Brett Newman, Chris Puram, Chris Taylor, Leon Grandos, Marc Ramaer, Mike Tacci, Nick Els
Guitar – Tim McKenzie
Keyboards – Paul Janz, Phil Chanel, Rob Bailey
Management – Michael Godin Management
Mastered By – Howie Weinberg
Percussion – Jim McGillveray
Photography By – Graham Law
Producer – Bill Drescher
Programmed By – Rob Bailey
Recorded By, Mixed By – Bill Drescher, Patrick Glover
Saxophone – Tom Colclough

Companies, etc.
Phonographic Copyright ℗ – A&M Records, Inc.
Copyright © – A&M Records, Inc.
Distributed By – Columbia House – 783167T
Record Company – CBS Records Canada Ltd.
Manufactured By – Cinram
Recorded At – One On One Studios, Baby’O Recorders, Vancouver Studios, Ground Control Studios, Sound City Studios, Skip Saylor Recording
Mixed At – Skip Saylor Recording, Little Mountain Sound Studios
Mastered At – Masterdisk
Published By – Irving Music Of Canada Ltd., Zoological Music

Paul Field – Daybreak – 1983

This is Paul Field’s second solo album. While it was advertised as an Easter Musical I’ve listened to the album about 3 times now and I struggle with the “musical” part. Musically this album is all over the place. There are some almost worship oriented tracks that are just okay, a few upbeat tracks that are pretty good, and one rock track, “Chasing Shadows” which is a great rock track, and I mean great. It really doesn’t even fit on the album. The album was only released in the U.K. so I’m guessing most of us this side of the pond have never even heard it. The album was rerecorded in 1986 by a group of Australian artists and it is often mistakenly attributed to Paul though he was not on the album. This is another great album that most of us missed so give it a listen.

Tracklist
1 – Daybreak – 4:08
2 – It’s You – 3:09
3 – Chasing Shadows – 2:47
4 – Walking Into The Wind – 3:44
5 – I Believe – 4:05
6 – Stony Ground – 4:15
7 – Make Me A Mountain – 3:20
8 – All Down To You – 6:33
9 – Peace Like A River – 2:43
10 – Grow In Grace – 3:06
11 – Daybreak (Reprise) – 1:20

Credits
Bass – John G. Perry
Design [Sleeve], Photography – Ian Dillon
Drums – Ian Moseley
Electric Guitar – Tom Blades
Engineer – Andy Geirus
Keyboards, Arranged By – Dave Cooke
Vocals – Edwina Lawrie, John Daniels, Julie Moon, Mark Williamson
Written-By, Acoustic Guitar, Vocals, Producer, Arranged By, Liner Notes – Paul Field

Companies, etc.
Phonographic Copyright ℗ – Word (Uk) Ltd.
Copyright © – Word (Uk) Ltd.
Recorded At – TMC Studios
Printed By – Garrod & Lofthouse
Made By – Garrod & Lofthouse

RPM – RPM – 1982

RPM falls in the category of a band of Christians as opposed to a Christian band. The band consisted of Jimmie Lee Sloas (Dogs Of Peace & Imperials), Mark Gendel, Robert White Johnson, Tommy Wells (First Gear). Jimmie and Tommy had already been headliners in the Christian music industry while Robert & Mark had been studio musicians in the Christian industry. I have no idea how this album ended up getting backing from EMI records but all 4 were well established studio musicians so maybe they were one of those groups put together by the record company. That’s just a guess. The album was well received and the first single “A Legend Never Dies” apparently charted but I was unable to find the position. “Rendezvous” also singled but gained further recognition when covered by the British band Tygers of Pan Tang on their 1982 album The Cage who did a great version. Their first major live performance was at the KLOL Rockfest at Houston’s Astrodome complex before 20,000 fans. Apparently they had four encores which is pretty impressive. I can easily see why they would be so popular live. The album leans a little more AOR but as I understand it their live performances were far more rock oriented. I wish I had heard of and heard these guys back in the day but alas I missed them somehow. They did get a second album deal from Warner and that one is coming to our channel soon.

Tracklist
1 – A Legend Never Dies -4:13
2 – 2 + 2 -3:19
3 – It Don’t Feel The Same -4:08
4 – Rendezvous -3:28
5 – Envy -4:52
6 – You -3:46
7 – Firestarter -4:41
8 – Don’t Make It Hard -3:07
9 – Video Games -4:20
10 – I’m A Wreck -4:30

Credits
Art Direction – Bill Burks
Bass, Keyboards, Backing Vocals – Jimmie Lee Sloas
Cover, Design – Amy Nagasawa
Drums, Backing Vocals – Tommy Wells
Guitar, Guitar [Synthesizer], Backing Vocals – Mark Gendel
Lead Vocals – Bob Johnson
Management – Norman Epstein
Mastered By – Ken Perry
Photography By [Band] – Allan Messer
Photography By [Cover] – David Brandt
Producer, Engineer – Brent Maher
Synthesizer [Programming] – Kevin Kent

Companies, etc.
Copyright © – EMI America Records
Phonographic Copyright ℗ – EMI America Records
Manufactured By – Capitol Records, Inc.
Recorded At – Creative Workshop
Mastered At – Capitol Studios
Pressed By – Capitol Records Pressing Plant, Los Angeles

Karlstrom – Karlstrom – 1991

If you want to talk obscure Christian releases this one is a winner. This album is by Geri Karlstrom, who you might know better as Geri Baird and her husband Ben Karlstrom. This one is actually so obscure that I had no idea it existed and I was probably one of the biggest Geri Baird fans of the decade. I only stumbled on it while researching another Canadian band. So we have some idea who Geri is as she had a solo album in the 80’s but who is her husband Ben. Ben is a Canadian producer, engineer, and musician. Apparently he can play just about any instrument including the mixing board so I suspect he played most the instruments on this album but I do not have a proper list of credits for the album. Now let’s discuss the album. It has an excellent radio friendly pop feel that leans towards rock. Geri’s vocals of course are the centerpiece of the album. The opening track “Praise To His Name” is my pick for the single and easily would have played well on Christian radio. The rest of the album leans a little more to the slow side but is easily listened to. Ben takes the reigns for “I Want To Believe It” and hits it out of the park for the albums second single. I really think this album would have done well if a label had picked it up. Geri of course went on to record a few more albums over the years but they leaned to secular topics and issues as Geri fought hard to raise awareness of eating disorders. Ben continues to work in the music industry but unfortunately God called Geri home in January of 2025 and the world became a little less bright that day. Thanks to Mike Breuer who was kind enough to send us a copy of the album from his collection.

Tracklist
1 – Praise To His Name
2 – You Read My Heart
3 – Following You
4 – Jesus Is The Keeper
5 – I Will Be There
6 – All God’s People
7 – I Want To Believe It
8 – You Are My King
9 – Open Your Heart
10 – Give It To The Savior

Credits
Vocals – Geri Karlstrom
Production, Instruments – Ben Carlson

Mark Williamson – So Far So Good – 1979

This is the second album from Mark Williamson. It can be a little complicated to figure out Marks work as he released albums under several names. Mark Williamson And Friends, Mark Williamson Band, TRW, Bridge 2 Far, and Lyrix are all a version of Mark. Most of us in North America were introduced to him because Larry Norman released his Lyrix album but I was not aware of his catalog of work until we started this project. This is mainly because most of his albums were not even released in North America and this is one of those albums. So Far So Good has a solid seventies sound and you can start to hear a bit of a transition over to his later 80’s sound. It’s mainly an easy listening album but there’s a few Rock tracks like Join The Revolution for example which features Norman Barratt’s excellent guitar work. Of interest on this album is also that this is the first album Chris Eaton had played on and he also wrote a couple tracks.

Tracklist
1 – Hold On Me – 3:28
2 – Living Is Easy – 4:47
3 – I Need You – 4:59
4 – Susanne – 5:00
5 – Join The Revolution – 3:09
6 – Promises – 4:31
7 – You Gotta Get Up – 2:45
8 – Stockholm Song – 4:15
9 – Keepin’ On – 3:17
10 – Favour – 5:49

Credits
Steve Richards/Spud Spurling – bass
Malcolm Garrett – drums
Pete Thompson – drums
Rick Godsall – keyboards
Colin Owen – synthesizer
Chris Eaton – acoustic piano
Tony Boyens – fender rhodes
Norman Barrett/John Smith – e.guitar
Mark Williamson – a.guitar)
Hugh Thomas – sax)
John Perry/Stu Calver/Muff Murfin/Chris Eaton/Alyson McCinnes/Sue McClellan/Mark – background vocals

Companies, etc.
Phonographic Copyright ℗ – Marshall Morgan & Scott
Recorded At – The Old Smithy Recording Studio
Mastered At – Tape One