Ray Mansfield – Real 80s CCM

Michael Peace – RRRock It Right – 1987

This is the first album from Rap artist Michael Peace who was one of the very early Rap artist in the Christian genre. I’m actually a little confused with this album because strangely it was produced and arranged by Michael Blanton and Dan Harrell who worked on all the Amy Grant albums of the day. Rap was an up and coming music style so I think Reunion Records wanted to get ahead of this trend. Inexplicitly they chose Michael Blanton and Dan Harrell to work on the project but neither of them had any experience with Rap or even with a black artist for that matter. As a result we have a great artist and idea for an album with horrible execution. I seriously wonder if they even listened to a Run DMC album before they worked this album. I will give them credit for one thing and that is that they had to be the enablers for Michael’s cover of “Wise Up” which is actually pretty darn good. My real problem with the album is that everything is thin. The music tracks, which I really really like, have no feel, no soul, and just feel like backing tracks. There is absolutely no effects on Michael’s voice with the exception of a bit of echo here and there. This was just the wrong team to work on this album and I know Rap isn’t only in black culture but that’s where it came from and other than Michael I don’t even see a black person involved with this album. Now that I’ve said that I do think this is a good album, there’s tons of talent here but the album just feels unfinished. I just wonder what it would have sounded like if someone like Rod Hui had a shot at the album.

Tracklist
1 – Heart Trouble – 4:25
2 – Rock Your World – 3:48
3 – J-E-S-U-S – 3:53
4 – Wise Up – 3:44
5 – RRRock It Right – 4:12
6 – Automatic Witness – 4:20
7 – No Solution – 3:39
8 – In The Ghetto – 4:52
9 – Rappin’ It Up – 1:14

Credits
Michael Peace – Songwriter, Vocals
Michael Blanton – Executive Producer
Mark Douthit – Saxophone
John Hammond – Drums
Dan Harrell – Executive Producer
Tom Hemby – Producer, Songwriter, Arranger, Synclavier, Keyboards, Guitar, Bass, Percussion
Wayne Kirkpatrick – Songwriter
Ken Love – Mastered
Jeff Moseley – Songwriter
Brett Perry – Synclavier Programming
Billy Simon – Songwriter
Tricia Walker – Songwriter
Bill Whittington – Engineer

Companies, etc.
Phonographic Copyright ℗ – Reunion Records
Copyright © – Reunion Records
Published By – Word Music
Published By – Edward Grant, Inc.
Published By – River Oaks Music Co.
Published By – Meadowgreen Music Co.

Abraham – Underground – 1987

As near as I can find this was the last album from The Watchmen aka Abraham & The Watchmen Band, aka Abraham. Their last 2 albums are self released and in my humble opinion their best 2 albums. I simply don’t understand how a respected recorded band with a strong history couldn’t get these 2 albums released on a proper label. There’s probably more to the story but it is what it is. While I think I prefer “Anti-Sin” I really really like this one too. Unfortunately our copy of this album simply isn’t the best and I really wish I could get my hands on the original tracks so I could give it a modern professional remaster. Hint hint guys. As for the album it has a pop rock feel with some tracks leaning a little more synth oriented and some leaning more Rock oriented. All around this is a great album for 1987 and probably would have sold well.

Tracklist
1 – Choose To Refuse – 3:18
2 – Think About Me – 3:05
3 – Never Give Up – 4:55
4 – Fightin’ Against The Tide – 4:05
5 – Overture – 1:14
6 – Can’t Wait – 2:25
7 – I Am Not Ashamed – 3:49
8 – Freedom In Jesus – 3:52
9 – If You Could Only See My Heart – 3:39

Credits
Bass Guitar, Vocals – Loren Greene
Drums – Ken Abraham
Lead Guitar – Pete Strayer
Lead Vocals, Guitar – Skip Addington
Producer – Dave Wagner, Stan Arthur, Tink Abraham
Technician, Sound Designer – Eric Abraham
Vocals, Keyboards – Tink Abraham
Vocals, Percussion – John Abraham

Various – Voices – 1987

I previously referred to this album as a sampler but it’s not really a traditional sampler. It is not a sampler of songs but instead a sampler of artists. Myrhh brought some of their best artists into Pakaderm Studios to record this album and almost all of these tracks are unreleased elsewhere even today. That makes this album a much listened to album from the day. The odd artist on the album is Tata Vega who was a secular artist but she did tons of work on several Christian albums of the period. This is a must listen to album of almost secret tracks from some of your favorite artists.

Tracklist
1 – Tata Vega – In Your Light – 3:50
2 – Bob Carlisle – Heaven Is Waiting – 4:29
3 – Bryan Duncan – Come As You Are – 4:32
4 – Matthew Ward – Light Of The World – 4:30
5 – Howard McCrary – In Your Presence – 4:23
6 – Kim Boyce, John Elefante – Helpless – 3:28
7 – Rick Riso – Heaven Must Have Sent You – 3:48
8 – Bob Carlisle – Teach Me How – 4:29
9 – Benny Hester – Then You Call My Name – 3:19
10 – Tommy Funderburk – Lift Up My Voice – 4:14

Credits
Arranged By – John Schreiner
Arranged By [Backing Vocals], Backing Vocals – Bob Carlisle
Arranged By [Strings] – John Andrew Schreiner
Art Direction, Design – Rhonda Jesson
Bass – John Pierce, Michael Hodge
Drum Programming, Overdubbed By – Mannie, Mike Mierau, Rick Thomson
Drums – Rick Thomson
Engineer [Assistant] – Mannie, Paul Abajan
Guitar – Dino Elefante, Michael Hodge, Randy Thomas, Terrance Elliot
Guitar [Solo] – Randy Thomas, Terrance Elliot
Horns – The Martin Brothers
Keyboards – James Raymond, John Andrew Schreiner, John Elefante, Tim Heintz
Mastered By – Doug Sax
Mixed By – Dino Elefante, Mike Mierau, Steve Ford
Orchestrated By, Conductor – Bill Kilpatrick
Producer – John Elefante, Mike Mierau, Rick Thomson
Recorded By – Mike Mierau
Saxophone – David Hlebo, Warren Ham
Strings – Andrew Byers, Liane Mautner, Marilyn Hutz, Steve Seharf
Synth [Bass] – John Andrew Schreiner

Companies, etc.
Phonographic Copyright ℗ – Word, Inc.
Copyright © – Word, Inc.
Made By – Discovery Systems – 1FF0100A
Recorded At – Pakaderm Studios
Mixed At – Mama Jo’s
Mixed At – Pakaderm Studios
Mastered At – The Mastering Lab
Published By – Word Music
Published By – Sherea Music
Published By – Noone Music
Published By – Uncle Pitts Music
Published By – Enchanted Dance

TRB (Toni Rossi Band) – TRB – 1992

This is the one and only album using the TRB (Toni Rossi Band) moniker. After Daniel band Toni Rossi did a few projects and all of them were excellent. I’ve not heard anything from him I didn’t like and this album is no exception. While in a way it’s typical Toni on the other hand it is somewhat distinctive. I don’t really know who was involved in the project other than Frank Catrambone on drums. Frank was also involved with the obscure Canadian Christian band Ammi who had 2 singles neither of which I can find but I hear they are good. Anyway as I said, other than Frank I don’t know who was helping out with this project but they were pretty tight and the album meshed really really well. The album is the typical Rossi hard rock and is probably my favourite work from him outside of Daniel Band.

Tracklist
1 – Edge-U-Cate – 4:00
2 – Are You Listening – 3:34
3 – End Of Time – 3:42
4 – Love Survives – 4:27
5 – It’s Who You Know – 3:51
6 – Son Comes Down – 4:30
7 – The Answer – 4:05
8 – Take It – 4:27
9 – Chickens – 0:20
10 – Down By The River – 4:24
11 – Stay – 5:04

Credits
Drums – Frank Catrambone
Guitar, Mandolin, Lead Vocals, Backing Vocals, Producer, Composed By – Toni Rossi

Companies, etc.
Mixed At – Phase One Studios

Leviticus – Jag Skall Segra! – 1983

Leviticus formed in 1981 when cousins Kjell and Håkan Andersson grouped up with Bjorn Stigsson. I really can’t find much information on their early years but they ended up releasing the Swedish version of this album in 1983. The band headed back into the studio to record the English version a little later. While the Swedish version wasn’t released outside of Sweden the English version was picked up by Refuge records and released in the U.S. on their Shadow Records label. I believe the English of the version of the album used the original music tracks with just new vocals. Leviticus played the Greenbelt festival in England in 1984, and 1985 in support of this album. This album has a bit of a symphonic feel that disappeared in the bands later releases. The engineering on this album was not the best in my opinion as it appeared the producer/engineer were going for the “wall of sound” feel which never works well on a Metal album again in my opinion. At the time of this album I was a huge fan of Jerusalem so I’m thinking I would probably been a huge fan of these guys but this album was never released in Canada. Luckily however both Swedish and English versions of this album have had several re-releases over the years.

Tracklist
1 – Jag Skall Segra – 4:12
2 – Låt Mig Strida – 3:17
3 – Han Är Livet – 4:08
4 – Tvivel – 4:18
5 – Handling Mer Än Ord – 4:06
6 – Allt Är Lugnt – 5:28
7 – Dag För Dag – 5:57
8 – Sträva Framåt – 3:38
9 – Ps. 23 – 4:17

Credits
Artwork [Front Cover Art By] – Inge Vidare
Drums, Percussion, Vocals – Kjell Andersson
Guitar [All Guitars], Synthesizer, Pedalboard [Bass Pedal], Organ, Vocals – Björn Stigsson
Lead Vocals, Bass, Pedalboard [Bass Pedal], Synthesizer – Håkan Andersson
Photography By [Foto] – Lars Lindgren
Producer [Produced By], Mixed By – Leviticus
Recorded By – Bernard Löhr
Songwriter [All Songs By] – Björn Stigsson

Companies, etc.
Copyright © – Stanley & Andrew Music
Recorded At – Vivaldi Studios
Printed By – General Printing AB
Lacquer Cut At – Cutting Room
Pressed By – Audiodisc AB

Leviticus – I Shall Conquer – 1985

This was the first album from Swedish Metal band Leviticus. It was originally released in Sweden in Swedish in 1983. The band redid the album in English for a European and North American Release. Leviticus played the Greenbelt festival in England in 1984, and 1985 in support of this album. This album has a bit of a symphonic feel that disappeared in the bands later releases. The engineering on this album was not the best in my opinion as it appeared the producer/engineer were going for the “wall of sound” feel which never works well on a Metal album again in my opinion. The album was re-released in 2000 on CD with bonus material.

Tracklist
1 – I Shall Conquer
2 – Let Me Fight
3 – He’s My Life
4 – Doubt
5 – Action More Than Words
6 – All Is Calm
7 – Day By Day
8 – Strive Forwards
9 – Psalm 23

Credits
Bass – Håkan Andersson
Drums – Kjell Andersson
Guitar – Björn Stigsson
Lead Vocals – Håkan Andersson
Percussion – Kjell Andersson
Vocals – Björn Stigsson

Say-So – Say-So (Demo) – 1986

This is yet another demo from Jim and Kim Thomas who were calling themselves Say-So at this point. As near as I can tell this is their second demo/album. The first one was using their real names so I think this is the first one with the Say-So name. That said I am not sure of this. Almost everything I know about these guys is from the crew over at Christian Tape Underground and even they aren’t too sure of all the demos/albums and if they don’t know for sure no one knows for sure. Be sure to check their website as they seem to know the most about these albums. https://christiantapeunderground.wordpress.com/tag/say-so/ As for the demo it is yet another very well engineered and produced demo. I can’t find any info on who engineered and produced it but it very professional as all their work really is. I actually can’t even find a list of who helped them in the studio for this one. Anyway this demo has a little less synth than some of their subsequent work but the vocals are very strong and I love all four tracks. No B sides here.

Tracklist
1 – Fire Song – 3:30
2 – Strengthening My Grip – 3:24
3 – Celebration Waiting – 3:44
4 – Say-So – 4:33

John Fischer – The Cold Cathedral – 1969

This is John’s first album and I’ll admit I had no idea he went this far back. His Dark Horse album is a personal favorite and I thought he was a late 70’s/80’s artist. I had no idea he was actually a late 60’s artist. In fact this album came our before Larry Norman’s MGM release of Upon This Rock. John was born in Pasadena, California and attended Wheaton College in Wheaton, Illinois. John had been writing and performing music while in College and somehow got noticed by Catholic music label F.E.L. Records. John started recording the album right after graduation and it was released in Oct 1969. The producer and musicians on this album were all from the Old Towne School of Folk Music in Chicago. The album is a perfect bridge from the 60’s style of music to the Jesus Music of the 70’s. The title track is a fantastic track and you should definitely listen to it if you enjoy music form this era. To sum up this album was a pleasant surprise for me and I found it a perfect representation of CCM music of the period.

Tracklist
1 – The Cold Cathedral – 2:55
2 – The Road Of Life – 3:05
3 – See The Lilies – 3:08
4 – Born To Die – 2:25
5 – Open Up! – 2:07
6 – Got To Shout About It – 2:30
7 – Allelula! – 2:50
8 – Death In The City – 2:52
9 – Look All Around You – 2:25
10 – Hard Feeling To Explain – 2:20
11 – No Vacancy – 2:43
12 – The Lord’s Prayer – 2:32

Credits
A&R – James E. Schaefer
Arranged By – Al Porth, Ray Tate
Design [Album] – Mark Burnett
Engineer – Al Handler
Illustration [Album] – George Lawlor
Liner Notes [Jacket Notes] – Robert Hughes Mitchell
Producer [Music Production] – Ray Tate
Written-By – John Fischer

Companies, etc.
Copyright © – F.E.L. Publications, LTD.
Pressed By – RCA Records Pressing Plant, Hollywood
Recorded At – Audio Finishers, Incorporated

Lisa Bevill – My Freedom – 1992

I am willing to guess that almost all fans of 80’s CCM have heard Lisa. We may not have known her name until this introductory album but her vocals were all over the industry. I’m not going to even bother with a list but she sang backup for a lot of our favourite 80’s artists. For those of you who liked the Prism albums she made an appearance on Blue and Red. Anyway this album started out her solo career but yet I don’t find many people talking about this album. I see more discussion of her later albums but quite frankly I think this is a great album. With Brown Bannister pulling the purse strings and Chris Harris and Mark Heimermann producing it I knew this would be a great album. Now I readily admit this album isn’t exactly my style but I always enjoy a great album and this album falls in that category. It has a fun 90’s hip hop pop feel and also has a great music video for the single “Chaperone”. That video also features DC Talk’s Toby Mac and was nominated Video of the Year at the 1993 Dove Awards. Regarding the “single” it seems like originally the single was “Place In The Sun” but they decided to cut a video for “Chaperone”. Now singles aside the album did produce 2 top 10 songs on the CCM charts. “My Freedom” made it to #4 and “Alone In Love” made it to #9. The album also did very well on Christian radio and I read somewhere that both “My Freedom” and “Place in the Sun” made it to #1. Hopefully Jay Whitehurst will chime in and confirm that. Anyway give the album a listen if you missed it back in the day especially if hip hop dance stuff is what you like.

Tracklist
1 – Chaperone – 4:43
2 – It’s Gonna Worth It – 3:47
3 – Falling Off The Face Of The Earth – 4:32
4 – Love Oughta Be – 3:56
5 – My Freedom – 4:31
6 – Place In The Sun – 4:02
7 – Second Chance – 4:41
8 – Alone In Love – 4:28
9 – I Took A Tumble – 3:32
10 – Shirley (Keep It To Yourself) – 5:31

Credits
Lisa Bevill – Songwriter, Vocals
Carolyn Arends – Songwriter
Paula Carpenter – Songwriter
John Catchings – Strings
George Cocchini – Guitars
David Davidson – Strings
Mark Douthit – Sax
Julius Drummin – Songwriter, Drums
Chris Eaton – Vocals
Mark Hammond – Drums
Chris Harris – Producer, Songwriter, Vocals
Mike Haynes – Brass
Mark Heimermann – Producer, Songwriter, Keyboards, Drums, Vocals
Joe Hogue – Drums, Vocals
Wayne Kirkpatrick – Songwriter
Sam Levine – Sax
Gary Lunn – Bass, Drums
Chris McDonald – Brass
Toby McKeehan – Songwriter, Vocals
Jerry McPherson – Guitars
Tommy Sims – Songwriter, Keyboards, Bass, Drums
Pam Sixfin – Strings
Jackie Street – Bass
Kristen Wilkinson – Strings

Elim Hall – Let It Thrive – 1990

This is one of those odd situations when a band actually put out a demo after they had already released a successful album. Maybe the album wasn’t as successful as I think it was but anyway Reunion Records didn’t sign them for a follow up so the band got together and released a demo themselves. Personally I loved their album Things Break but I wasn’t aware of this album. Because of this I was pretty excited to hear it and I wasn’t disappointed. While it follows in the footsteps of their first album it definitely had an updated more 90’s sound. I don’t understand how this album didn’t get picked up by a label. It’s got excellent production and the band had already paid for the production so this was a freebie for some label. Anyway it wasn’t so many of you probably never heard but it’s a great listen with an updated 90’s feel that you should hear.

Tracklist
1 – Terry And The Pirates – 3:53
2 – Woman – 3:39
3 – A Silent Dove In A Distant Land – 4:53
4 – You And Me – 3:02
5 – Let It Thrive – 3:19
6 – Too Much Of A Good Thing – 4:38
7 – Found My Way Again – 4:56

Credits
Backing Vocals – Glenn Teeple, Steve Marsh
Bass – Rosser Teeple
Drums – Steve Marsh
Guitar – Glenn Teeple
Keyboards – Glenn Teeple
Lead Vocals – Rosser Teeple
Producer – Glenn Teeple