Ray Mansfield – Real 80s CCM

Fighter – Live Mix (Demo) – 1990?

Apparently this is a copy of the tape sent out by the band to record labels. It is supposedly a direct copy of the original 1/4 reel demos. Girder later re engineered thee tapes and release them as The Fighter Demos in 2019. There is one track on here that didn’t make it to the Girder release and that is track 3 “If You Want Love”. I assume it is because the original copy was so bad quality that there was no saving it. Nothing wrong with the track but the original engineering on this track is distorted. Actually for the main part the engineering is poor at best but I have done what I can to save them and as a result you’re gonna hear the Real 80’s polish treatment.

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLCycC8iQL8ek

Tracklist
1 – Mr. Nice Guy – 4:07
2 – The Waiting – 3:31
3 – If You Want Love – 3:34
4 – I Saw Jesus Through Your Eyes – 3:49
5 – Running the Race – 4:06
6 – Stop Look Listen – 4:00
7 – Fighting Fire With Fire – 3:18
8 – Do What You Want – 3:34
9 – Star One – 4:33
10 – Jamie – 4:00

Credits
Backing Vocals – Amy Wolter, Billy Heller, Jim Wolter, Mark Pence, Sean Murphy
Bass – Jim Wolter
Drums – Sean Murphy
Guitar – Billy Heller
Keyboards – Mark Pence
Lead Vocals – Amy Wolter, Sean Murphy

Scott Wenzel – Heart Like Thunder – 1983

Scott’s first solo album here came at a time of transition for Whitecross. Apparently someone at Word thought this would be a great time for a solo album. Someone, probably Caesar Kalinowski, put together a great band including Mark Pence and Billy Heller of Fighter and industry veteran Mark Robertson. But this album proves one of the things I talk about in Rock & Roll. If you take any individual of a fantastic group and give them a solo album deal that doesn’t guarantee a great album. I think it’s about a 50/50 chance. Scott is a great vocalist but for me it didn’t translate onto this album. For some reason it feels like the whole album is trying to create a “Sister Christian” moment but just can’t do it. I mean do you know how many things have to go right for a “Sister Christian” track? So we have a bunch of hard rock ballads and on the surface they are okay and “Heart Like Thunder” actually almost pulls it off. Anyway it’s still a pretty good album overall just not a great album.

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLRPVy9rQtlyo

Tracklist
1 – One God, One Love – 4:16
2 – Give Up Your Heart – 4:11
3 – Heart On Fire – 3:44
4 – His Eyes – 4:05
5 – He Laid Aside His Glory – 3:24
6 – Sarah – 5:12
7 – Heart Like Thunder – 4:23
8 – Are You Faithful – 4:46
9 – Find Our Way – 3:19
10 – You Gave Everything – 4:10

Credits
Artwork By – Nucleus
Backing Vocals – Keoni, Leia Thomas, Rey Parra, Ron Turner
Bass – Mark Robertson
Drums – Doug Day
Executive-Producer – Caesar Kalinowski, P. Gavin Morkel
Guitar – Billy Heller
Keyboards – Mark Pence
Lead Vocals – Scott Wenzel
Mastered By – Eddie Schryer
Mixed By – Tom Tatman
Producer, Backing Vocals, Engineer – Caesar Kalinowski

Companies, etc.
Mastered At – Future Disc
Mixed At – Catamount Studios
Recorded At – The Sonic Temple
Glass Mastered At – Nimbus
Made By – Nimbus
Phonographic Copyright ℗ – WAL
Copyright © – WAL
Manufactured By – Word Records & Music
Distributed By – Word Records & Music

James Bolton And The Bolton Brothers – Under Control – 1991

This is one of just 2 albums from the Bolton family. Given the quality of this album I’m a little surprised at this. That said soul artists like this generally weren’t represented by mainstream Christian labels so I’m not overly surprised. David Huff had a relationship with the Bolton family obviously as he has recorded and produced albums for them. This album is everything that is right about Christian soul music and it’s too bad they never got a secular album deal on a soul label. Just a bit of trivia the Bolton family were from a family of 12 female and 8 male siblings. Now that’s a family. Their father was reverend Linwood Bolton Sr. and 5 of these sons actually entered the ministry themselves. Anyway if you like your music with some soul this is a must hear album.

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLPcTOx34g9XTKeBdx3fclpIP1s2y0yWfs

Tracklist
1 – He’s Coming Back – 4:39
2 – The World Can’t Do You No Harm – 4:58
3 – Just To Know Him Is To Love Him – 4:47
4 – The Well (Will Never Run Dry) – 3:50
5 – Love Has A Place – 5:08
6 – He’s Got It Under Control – 4:38
7 – He’ll Be There – 4:37
8 – Don’t Let The Devil – 4:40
9 – We Must Come Together – 5:46

S.F.C. – Listen Up – 1989

1989 was yearning for the sound of Fresh Prince and the Christian music market knew this. Unfortunately there just weren’t any talented Christian artists doing this style but there was Soldiers For Christ. Unfortunately they also weren’t good at this style. But for some reason Gene Eugene and Ojo Taylor decided this album was close enough. Now to be fair I understand that they got better on later albums but this album feels like a PSA anti drugs commercial from the period. I’m relatively sure they self recorded this album and then Brainstrom/Broken said “Hey I hear Rap is popular, we should get one of them”. This was the result of that decision. The engineering is horrible which is surprising because Ojo actually put his name on the mixing credits. Anyway, if you want to see where it started for these guys then yes you should listen to this one. If you hate rap stay away, far far away.

Tracklist
1 – Listen Up – 5:52
2 – Drugs – 4:11
3 – No Stoppin’ – 4:46
4 – Say Ya – 6:19
5 – Transformed – 5:12
6 – You Are Worthy – 5:25
7 – Dope Dealer – 3:07
8 – It’s Like That – 4:26
9 – Mr. Brain – 4:54
10 – This Is What He Went Thru – 7:05
11 – Plain And Simple – 4:28
12 – Brothers & Sisters – 3:45
13 – Fully Armed – 5:24
14 – I Don’t Know – 6:12

Credits
Backing Vocals – D.J. Dove, Dynamic Twins, Everlasting Joy, Marcos Lemone, M.C. Peace
Design – Brainstorm Art Direction
Engineer – Jimmy Robinson
Engineer [Dat Engineer] – Barry Hill
Engineer [Second] – Scott Macklin
Keyboards, Scratches, Rap, Beats, Sleeve Notes – Super C
Layout, Photography By – Bruce Heavin
Mixed By – Ojo Taylor, Super C
Producer, Written-By, Arranged By – Brother G, S.F.C., Super C

Companies, etc.
Produced For – G-Force Productions
Recorded At – Hot Tracks, Pomona, CA
Mixed At – Whitefield Studios
Phonographic Copyright ℗ – Brainstorm Artists International Inc.
Copyright © – Brainstorm Artists International Inc.
Manufactured By – Word, Inc.
Distributed By – Word, Inc.
Distributed By – Word Records Limited
Glass Mastered At – DADC – DIDX-006802

Eric Champion – Win – 1988

So let’s start out with a little history on Eric. Eric’s mom and dad are Carol and Bob Champion. They were actually a musical family and Bob and Carol had several albums in different groups. Most of will not have heard them unless perhaps our parents had some of their albums. This is Eric’s first solo album but he did have an album with his parents and sister called “The Champion Family”. His sister actually appears on this album as a duet on “Friends Forever”. Eric recorded this album at the age of 18 with the help of his mom and dad and I’ll say this straight up. They knew what they were doing. This is one of the best self released albums I have ever heard. When I say best it’s not just the music it’s the whole package. The album is very well produced though a little heavy on the compression but that wasn’t unusual for albums that were only being released on cassette. The album cover is perfect. It has a great pic of Eric which is exactly what you want on an introductory album. Eric’s parents knew what they were doing. As for the album it’s a great synth pop album. It’s a little shallow in spots but that’s to be expected at the age Eric was. If you Like Eric there’s a chance you have missed this album due to it’s limited distribution so you should give it a listen.

Tracklist
1 – The Winning Side – 4:32
2 – House Of Love – 4:57
3 – I Wanna Be There – 3:46
4 – Hold On – 3:08
5 – Open Arms – 4:06
6 – Above It All – 4:14
7 – Friends Forever – 4:29
8 – Not Gonna Give In – 3:16
9 – I Found You – 4:28
10 – You’re A Winner – 3:33

Idle Cure – Eclipse – 1994

Here’s the 5th and final album from Idle Cure. They stepped away from their usual arena rock style and presented a little more of a 90’s sound thankfully without going grunge. I think most of their fans found it a little disappointing due to this but I think it’s a pretty good album. Billy Smiley came in to produce the album and as usual did a great job. Dann Huff helped out also with some kicking guitar riffs. The album might have been a little heavy on the keyboards but that’s okay by me. This album was on Rick Cua’s new Salt Incorporated label which had some distribution challenges so I don’t know if the album got out there for people to buy. The band split amicable and I’ve read posts from Steve Shannon speaking in very positive tones about the while Idle Cure experience. All good things come to an end but it is nice when the end peacefully.

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLPcTOx34g9XRXgRQD3-OWE3uuMpcIYFnW

Tracklist
1 – What’s Your Point Of View? – 4:17
2 – Pour Out My Soul – 4:21
3 – Two Hearts – 3:21
4 – Never Say Goodbye – 5:26
5 – Burning Gomorrah – 4:14
6 – Living Water – 4:44
7 – Shake It Up – 4:13
8 – Merciful Man – 3:52
9 – The Only Thing – 5:19
10 – Bring Me Through The Day – 4:02

Credits
Backing Vocals – Bob Carlisle
Bass – Mark Hill
Drums, Percussion – Jon Knox
Executive-Producer – Eddie Huff
Guitar – Dann Huff
Guitar, Backing Vocals – Glenn Pearce, Mark Ambrose
Keyboards, Backing Vocals – Pete Lomakin
Keyboards, Programmed By – Blair Masters
Lead Vocals – Steve Shannon
Lyricon – Dan Michaels
Percussion – Eric Darken
Producer, Vocals – Billy Smiley
Vocals – Chris Rodriguez, Guy Penrod

Companies, etc.
Phonographic Copyright ℗ – Salt Incorporated Music, Inc.
Copyright © – Salt Incorporated Music, Inc.

Andy Pratt – Perfect Therapy – 1986

This is Andy’s 8th album and I was surprised we haven’t featured one of his albums yet. Andy was a well seasoned performer by the time this album came out. It’s mainly a pop album which leans a little to the more easy listening market. It is very well produced in the hands of Gerhard Barth who was actually in Pieces/Second Face but his real talents were his production. Also interesting to see Norman Barratt filling in on guitar for this album. Andy had a strong following many of which carried over from his secular music days. The album was released in the Netherlands on GMI records and in the US on Fortress. That said I suspect my records are incomplete because Andy generally had worldwide releases. The original album had 10 tracks but the 1989 CD re-release actually had 15 tracks. We’ve included them in our upload. Anyway it’s a great album that leaves you wanting for more when it ends as the album title describes it perfectly, Perfect Therapy.

Tracklist
1 – Where Is The Comfort
2 – Let Me See Your Face
3 – Pass Away
4 – More Than The Sky
5 – East West
6 – Now We Are One
7 – What If You Changed Your Mind
8 – What’s Gonna Happen To You
9 – Masterpiece
10 – Was It For Life
11 – How Lovely Is Your Dwelling Place
12 – I Let It Go
13 – Keep Your Mind On Me
14 – You Chose Me
15 – How Lovely Is Your Dwelling Place (Reprise)

Credits
Backing Vocals – Ben De Bruijne, Cae Gauntt, Ruth Haumahu
Backing Vocals, Flugelhorn – Helmut Jost
Classical Guitar – Marcel Tiemensma
Co-producer, Arranged By – Dan Cutrona
Design – Gransch & Bakker – Velp, Holland
Drums – Martin Stöck*
Executive-Producer – Frank van der Gaag
Guitar – Norman Barratt
Guitar, Bass, Keyboards – Gerhard Barth
Keyboards, Piano – Dan Cutrona
Lead Vocals, Backing Vocals, Piano, Guitar, Keyboards, Bass [Keyboard Bass] – Andy Pratt
Mixed By – Andy Pratt, Gerhard Barth
Producer, Engineer – Gerhard Barth
Saxophone – Jan Kooper
Written-By – Andy Pratt

Companies, etc.
Phonographic Copyright ℗ – GMI-Records BV
Copyright © – Universal Songs – CD-GMI 1041
Glass Mastered At – P+O Pallas – 3031
Recorded At – Jacky’s Place, Vlaardingen, Netherlands
Recorded At – Stable Studio
Recorded At – ABAKUS Tonstudio

Stephen Crumbächer – Take It In – 1991

This is the final album Stephen would release after a great string of fantastic albums. His career started out with a very strong pop sound and slowly whittled down to a much more mellow sound. Though the Crumbächer-Duke album went back to a pretty fun sound. I’ll be honest I didn’t really like Stephen’s direction as time came on but that’s a me thing. There was nothing wrong with his easy listening sounds in fact they were really well done. This album really reinforced that to me. I was quite surprised at how much I liked this album. Do you remember when you’d listen to an upbeat album and there would be a very well done slow track that kind of surprised you? This album is full of those well done slower tracks. I really really enjoyed this album even though it’s not my preferred style. Stephen nailed this one and retired with a winner.

Tracklist
1 – Almost Home – 4:01
2 – Take It In – 4:13
3 – Circle Of My Heart – 3:44
4 – Over Me – 3:05
5 – Autumn Life – 4:16
6 – It Takes Love – 4:16
7 – The Breaks – 3:01
8 – Dream Again – 3:42
9 – All The Time In The World – 3:38
10 – Jesus, You – 4:04

Credits
Acoustic Guitar – Bob Somma
Arranged By [Rhythm] – Bill Baumgart, Tim Heintz
Arranged By [Vocals] – Bill Baumgart
Art Direction – Ed McTaggart
Backing Vocals – Bill Baumgart, Katy McCormick, Linda Elias, Rick Elias, Stephen Crumbächer
Bass – Glen Holmen
Coordinator [Production Assistant] – Beth Jahnsen
Design – Joe Potter
Drums – Doug Mathews
Electric Guitar, Lead Guitar – Glenn Pearce
Engineer – Bill Baumgart, Dave Jahnsen
Flute – Brandon Fields
Keyboards – Tim Heintz
Lead Guitar – Glenn Pearce
Mixed By – Dave Jahnsen
Photography By – Wayne Armstrong
Producer – Bill Baumgart
Saxophone, Flute – Brandon Fields
Written-By – Stephen Crumbächer

Companies, etc.
Phonographic Copyright ℗ – Frontline Records
Copyright © – Frontline Records
Distributed By – FMG Distribution
Produced For – Asylomar Productions
Recorded At – Mixing Lab A, Mixing Lab B
Mixed At – Mixing Lab A, Mixing Lab B
Glass Mastered At – Nimbus, Virginia

The Cry – What it Means to Be – 1988

To say there is very little info on this release on the internet is putting it mildly. But for the gang over at Christian Tape Underground – (https://christiantapeunderground.wordpress.com/2019/04/13/the-cry-what-it-means-to-be/) I would know nothing about these guys. I discovered them as they were on Doug Van Pelt infamous sampler Cool Tunes. They were also on another infamous sampler, Light From The Underground Volume 1. I can’t find that anyone in the band went on to work on any other project except for lead vocalist Chris Wright who went on to do an album with secular band King Friday. Okay, let’s get onto the album. The album has obvious U2 and The Alarm influences and wow did they nail it. This is easily one of the best Demos I have heard lately. I would have loved to have seen these guys back in the day. CTU say he had a chance to see them in Austin TX which immediately caused much jealousy from me. I like the whole demo, but without a doubt, my favourite track is the lead track “There Is One”. I added this to my regular rotation before I even finished the first listen through. Yes, it’s that good. If you’re a fan of the U2/The Alarm sound you absolutely have to hear this one!!!!!

Tracklist
1 – There Is One – 3:32
2 – Just One Way – 3:18
3 – Distant Change – 4:59
4 – Greater Love – 4:09
5 – Walk Away – 3:35
6 – What It Means To Be – 5:30

Credits
Bass, Vocals – Melvyn Goveas
Drums, Percussion, Vocals – Jim Echels
Keyboards, Vocals – Andy Koehl
Lead Vocals, Guitar, Harmonica – Chris Wright
Guitar solo Track 3 – Steve Becker

Whitecross – High Gear – 1992

This is the 1992 offering from the band and was also the last album with Rex Carroll who left to form the band King James but would return in 2000 and the band stabilized. As for the band it continued it’s use of little known studio musicians. Remember at this point Whitecross was actually Scott Wenzel and Rex Carroll. I’m a little confused as to why this album was, well, ignored. The previous album won a Dove award as did the follow up album but this one got ignored. I find this odd because I think this is a better album than either their previous or follow up. That said this album was produced and mixed by Phil Bonanno who worked on my favourite 2 Rez band albums. Maybe it’s just me because I like his mix. One small mystery from Phil is why he combined track 4 & 5, the two tracks don’t fit together very well so I’m just left wondering, why Phil. But really who cares, that’s just me being “that guy”. The album is excellently mixed and produced and Phil deserves credit. To sum up this one should have attracted ears at Dove but for some reason didn’t.

Tracklist
1 – High Gear – 3:26
2 – Dancin’ in Heaven – 5:14
3 – In America – 3:45
4 – Overdrive – 2:01
5 – Without Your Love – 4:08
6 – Coming Home – 4:08
7 – My Love – 5:15
8 – I’m Askin’ You Today – 4:16
9 – Gonna Keep On – 4:02
10 – I Shout – 4:20
11 – Long Road to Walk – 6:23

Credits
Art Direction – Toni Thigpen
Backing Vocals – Amy Wolter, Dez Dickerson, Joe Petit, Michelle Thompson, Steve Watkins, Tony Velasquez
Bass – Bill Syniar
Cello – Kim Scholes
Design – Jeff Spencer
Drums – Mike Mead
Executive-Producer – Dez Dickerson
Guitar, Vocals – Rex Carroll
Keyboards – Rick Wells
Mastered By – Hank Williams
Oboe, English Horn – Grover Schiltz
Photography – Paul Natkin
Producer, Mixed By – Phil Bonanno
Vocals – Scott Wenzel

Companies, etc.
Recorded At – Jor-Dan Studios
Mixed At – Chicago Recording Company
Glass Mastered At – Nimbus, Virginia
Phonographic Copyright ℗ – Star Song
Copyright © – Star Song
Mastered At – Mastermix