Ray Mansfield – Page 42

Xalt – History – 1991

The 3rd album from Xalt really turns up the production value. I was actually surprised at the quality of production on this album. When I checked to see who produced it I discovered that he (Tony Miceli) is an unknown in the industry. This in fact was his first production job and he only had a few more after this. He is best known as a vibraphone artist though he did help on keyboards on this album. This album has a very commercial metal sound that I’m sure took some of their fans by surprise. My fav track is “Unconditional Love” which is a rock ballad in the feel of the mid 80’s. It has a real Bon Jovi feel but I do think the vocals are a little weak. That said I believe the talent was there, it just needed a few more takes and a little more effort. All in all a pretty good album here but a little late as it has a mid 80’s feel to me.

Tracklist
1 – Standing – 4:01
2 – Heart Of Stone – 4:31
3 – Babel Again – 3:44
4 – Walk Away – 3:06
5 – Unconditional Love – 5:01
6 – History – 2:57
7 – Build My World – 4:28
8 – The Tree – 4:29
9 – Reflection – 4:16
10 – Lord, Lord – 1:25

Credits
Art Direction – Toni Thigpen
Backing Vocals – John Heald, Scott Doerfler, Tony Miceli
Bass – Randy Carlson
Co-producer, Engineer – Paul Orofino
Design – Dale Wehlacz
Drums – Steve Luongo
Executive-Producer – Dez Dickerson
Guitar – James Erdman
Keyboards – Tony Miceli
Lead Vocals – Scott Doerfler
Mastered By – Roger Seibel
Photography By – Russ Harrington
Producer – Tony Miceli

Companies, etc.
Glass Mastered at – Nimbus, Virginia
Recorded At – Millbrook Sound Studios
Mixed At – Millbrook Sound Studios
Mastered At – SAE Mastering

Phillip Sandifer – On My Way – 1984

This is Phillip’s second album and it was on the same label as his first. At this point in history Phillip was the only person on Urgent Records with his two albums being the only 2 on the label. That said Urgent had a distribution deal with Sparrow and it must have been a good relationship because this album did very well. It had 2 charting singles with “On My Way” made it to #18 and “More Than A Moment” snuck onto the charts at #35. The standout track that didn’t single is “Listen To The Children” which features The Texas Boys Choir. While the track isn’t my cup of tea it is a very good song and deserved to be on the charts too. To sum up this is an easy listening album and is one that should be listened to if you’re looking for something new for Sunday worship tracks.

Tracklist
1 – More Than A Moment – 3:23
2 – Let Her Dance – 3:37
3 – Who Will Be There – 3:43
4 – Don’t Shoot The Wounded – 3:06
5 – Listen To The Children – 4:10
6 – On My Way – 2:55
7 – This Side Of Heaven – 2:46
8 – Should It Ever Rain Again – 2:52
9 – I Am Everyman – 2:54
10 – Brian – 3:32

Credits
Acoustic Guitar – Mitch Watkins, Phillip Sandifer
Concertmaster – Edward Lawrence
Design [Cover] – Steve Freeman
Drums, Percussion – John Treanor
Electric Bass – Spencer Starnes
Electric Piano [Rhodes], Synthesizer [Overdubs] – Brian Green
Engineer, Mixed By – Larry Seyer
Management – Ronald Lee Deutschendorf
Mastered By – Steve Hall
Photography By – Tomas Pantin
Piano, Synthesizer [Overdubs] – Bill Ginn
Producer, Arranged By, Orchestrated By, Conductor – Gary Powell
Written-By – P. Sandifer

Companies, etc.
Copyright © – Urgent Records
Phonographic Copyright ℗ – Urgent Records
Distributed By – Sparrow Distribution
Published By – Jesmax Music
Published By – Meadowgreen Music Co.
Published By – River Oaks Music Co.
Produced For – Powell Studio Productions, Austin Texas
Recorded At – Austin Recording Studio
Mixed At – Austin Recording Studio
Mastered At – Future Disc

Geoff Mann – I May Sing Grace – 1984

I only became aware of this artist after it was requested. After listening to the album and reading up on Geoff I am very surprised I haven’t heard of him. This is exactly the style of music I was listening to right when this album came out. As far as I can tell the album was only released in the UK so this might be why but I really think I would have found this one on the import shelf. Geoff was a member of Twelfth Night in the late 70’s and early 80’s and did several albums with them. This is Geoff’s first solo album and wow what an album it is. Strangely it was released on a secular label but is an obviously Christian album. This is not unheard of but was relatively rare at that time. Geoff’s previous work was not Christian so I don’t know when in his career he became a Christian. Of course there will be disagreement of what I mean by “Christian” as it does not appear that Geoff was an Evangelical Christian as he was ordained as a Priest in the Church of England in 1990. Anyway we have a great New Wave album here and when you see Howard Jones in the credits it’s not that Howard Jones but instead a different but equally talented one.

Tracklist
1 – Piccadilly Square – 4:51
2 – I Wouldn’t Lie (To You) – 4:46
3 – Kingdom Come – 3:48
4 – Afterwards – 5:35
5 – For God’s Sake – 4:33
6 – Green Paper Snow – 6:15
7 – For More Than A Day – 6:18
8 – My Soul – 5:47
9 – Slow One – 4:58

Credits
Bass – Keith Gould
Drums, Percussion – Howard Jones
Guitar – Dave Mortimer
Guitar, Mandolin, Keyboards – The Still Owl
Percussion – Andy Mason
Vocals, Guitar, Percussion – Geoff Mann

Creed – The Sign Of Victory – 1990

This Creed should not be confused with the mainstream Creed of the late 90’s. This Creed came out of Germany in the mid 80’s. They actually had a demo and 12″ in the mid 80’s both of which are very good. This however is the only proper album we got from them. I love that the opening track is a live cut that sets the pace for the whole album. I used to love back in the 80’s when bands would occasionally toss a live track onto an album. It always felt like a bonus. This album is quality metal and I am a little surprised we didn’t hear more from them. I understand they were not that well known in The U.S. but were very popular in Germany. For some reason the drumming on this album stands out to me as being above average. Drumming never really stands out to me on a Metal album but it did this time. This album deserves to be listened to and it deserved to be more popular when it came out.

Tracklist
1 – Sign Of Victory – 4:03
2 – Taken By Storm – 4:18
3 – Meet Again (Farewell) – 4:35
4 – Broken Heart – 4:23
5 – Child – 0:35
6 – Prayer Of Praise – 2:59
7 – Tonite – 3:56
8 – Break The Chainz – 4:15
9 – Forever On Fire – 4:01
10 – In The Dark – 3:53

Credits
Bass – Tichy Casni
Drums – Stefan Schütz
Engineer – Olaf Ritter
Guitar – Udo Libutzkij
Lead Vocals – Jessy Baron
Mixed By – Manfred Lohse, Olaf Ritter
Producer – Norman Barratt

Companies, etc.
Manufactured By – CDT Berlin
Phonographic Copyright ℗ – Pila Music
Copyright © – Pila Music
Recorded At – Tonstudio Leonberg

David Meece – I Just Call On You – 1977

This is David’s second album and I totally missed this one back when it came out. I wasn’t the biggest fan of David but I thought I had heard all his work but somehow I had no knowledge of this album. It might be in part because this album didn’t have a charting single. His streak of singles did not start until his next album. The reason I keep pointing out I haven’t heard this album is because it is so good. Again I am not the biggest fan of Meece but I know good music when I hear it. I find his piano work on this album to be some of his best. There certainly isn’t any spectacular orchestral movements here but there are excellent piano melodies. How this album didn’t have a charting single is beyond me. Yet another example of CCM magazine being on another planet at times. The album is strongly easy listening and there’s very little hint of David’s future pop offerings but if you missed this album like I did, take the time to give it a listen.

Tracklist
1 – It’s Gonna Be So Lovely – 2:46
2 – I Just Call On You – 2:37
3 – With Tears In My Eyes – 4:05
4 – God’s Love – 3:01
5 – The Man Who Saved The Fool – 2:45
6 – Follow Me (I’ll Lead You Home) – 3:10
7 – In The Morning – 3:20
8 – Cold October Rain – 3:10
9 – Love Your Brother – 2:33
10 – Do You Know What It’s Like? – 2:50

Credits
Arranged By – Archie P. “Buggs” Jordan
Artwork [Cover] – Dennis Hill
Backing Vocals – Gary Pigg, Gwen Moore, Marty McCall
Bass – Jerry Carrigan, Steve Schaffer
Drums – Jerry Carrigan, Jimmy Isbell
Electric Guitar – Steve Gibson
Illustration [Back Cover] – Charles Wallis Inc., Pat Pollei
Keyboards – Bobby Ogdin, David Meece, Shane Keister
Mastered By – Denny Purcell
Photography By – J. T. Morrow
Producer, Recorded By, Remix, Electric Guitar, Drums, Backing Vocals – Chris Christian
Recorded By, Remix, Backing Vocals – Brown Bannister
Saxophone – Denis Solee
Strings – The Shelly Kurland Strings

Companies, etc.
Phonographic Copyright ℗ – Word, Inc.
Recorded At – Gold Mine Studio
Remixed At – Gold Mine Studio
Mastered At – Woodland Studios

Swirling Eddies – Outdoor Elvis – 1989

This is the second album from The Swirling Eddies which were just a new and improved version of Daniel Amos. I’m going to ruffle a few feathers today in that I don’t believe this is some super duper album. Everywhere on the internet people go on about what a wonderful album this was but I just don’t get it. Yes the album had some great tracks. The radio single “Driving In England” is a fantastic song as is “Mystery Babylon” and a few others. My complaint about the album is the silly songs. It detracts from the actual talent that is on the album. If you want to do a silly album then do a silly album but having both quality songs with silly songs just detracts from the whole album in my opinion. I don’t even find the silly songs funny but maybe I did when the album came out but I don’t remember it that way. So if you can struggle through the stupid tracks you have a great album here and it would have been one of my favorites but they ruined it for me.

Tracklist
1 – Outdoor Elvis – 4:07
2 – Driving In England – 3:33
3 – Urban Legends – 3:09
4 – Tiny Town – 3:22
5 – Attack Of The Pulpit Masters – 3:08
6 – Mystery Babylon – 2:31
7 – Arthur Fhardy’s Yodeling Party – 2:06
8 – Hell Oh – 3:24
9 – Blowing Smoke – 3:00
10 – Hide The Beer, The Pastor’s Here – 3:25
11 – Hold Back The Wind, Donna – 4:04
12 – Knee Jerk – 3:35
13 – Don’t Hate Yourself – 1:00
14 – All The Way To Heaven – 3:06
15 – Rubber Sky – 3:10
16 – CoCo The Talking Guitar – 0:52
17 – Yer’ Little Gawd – 3:21
18 – Billy Graham – 1:12
19 – Potential – 3:27
20 – Strange Days – 2:40
21 – Elimination (The Band That Won’t Go Away) – 3:16

Credits
Art Direction, Design – Jeb McSwaggert
Band [The Eddies], Bass, Trombone – Berger Roy Al
Band [The Eddies], Drums – Hort Elvison
Band [The Eddies], Guitar – Greg Flesch
Band [The Eddies], Guitar, Backing Vocals – Jerry Chamberlain
Band [The Eddies], Guitar, Backing Vocals, Keyboards [Additional] – Gene Eugene
Band [The Eddies], Keyboards, Backing Vocals – Rob Watson
Band [The Eddies], Lead Vocals, Guitar – Terry Taylor
Design Concept [Cover Concept By] – Terry Taylor
Directed By [Horns] – Dan Michaels
Engineer [Engineered By] – Gene Eugene
Guest [Our Guests, The Little Eddies], Backing Vocals – Miracle Babe
Guest [Our Guests, The Little Eddies], Percussion – Ed McTaggart
Horns – The Horns O’Plenty
Photography By – David Dobson
Producer [Produced By] – Terry Taylor
Written-By [All Songs Written By] – Terry Taylor

Companies, etc.
Phonographic Copyright ℗ – Alarma Records
Copyright © – Alarma Records
Distributed By – The Benson Company, Inc.
Produced For – Quagmire/Billy Bong Productions
Recorded At – Mixing Lab A
Recorded At – Mixing Lab B
Mixed At – Mixing Lab A
Mixed At – Mixing Lab B
Glass Mastered at – Nimbus, Virginia
Published By – Broken Songs

Christian Gonzales – Till The End Of The Night – 1985

This is the only French (France French) CCM artist I am aware of. This album was released in France in French and in North America in English. Unfortunately we have been unable to find the French version but we’re watching out for it. I can’t find any information about Gonzales but he must have been known in the industry as there are some heavy hitters helping him out on this album. Joe English, Rick Cua, and Hank Williams to name a few contributed. Furthermore I am confused by the song Survivor Blues in which he sings about growing up Jewish and I can hear a Jewish accent at time on different tracks. Of course just because he grew up Jewish does not mean he later became Evangelical but that’s just speculation. This is one of the albums from Refuge that I find frustrating as the names of the tracks are sometimes different on the jacket, the sleeve, and the label. I’ve seen this a few times and I always wonder how this happens. I would think they would all be working from the same base info but obviously not this time. This is a great pop album and is one I missed in the 80’s so I’m glad I stumbled on it now.

Tracklist
1 – Got A Message – 3:30
2 – What Ever’s Happ’nin’ – 3:33
3 – Till The End Of The Night – 4:08
4 – Hey There – 3:45
5 – Hold On – 3:45
6 – Real So Real – 4:19
7 – Fighting, Fighting – 3:49
8 – Survivor Blues – 5:53
9 – More Than A Man – 4:41
10 – Swallow & Crow – 5:42

Credits
Backing Vocals – Donna McElroy, Kim Fleming, Vicki Hampton
Bass – Christian Gonzales, Duncan Mullins, Larry Paxton, Rick Cua
Design – Bill Brunt
Drums – Dave Adams, Graham Hollingsworth, Joe English
Guitar – Christian Gonzales, George Cocchini
Keyboards – Bob Halligan Jr., John Rosasco, Tommy Greer
Mastered By – Hank Williams
Mixed By – Chris McCollum
Percussion, Harmonica – Terry McMillan
Photography By – Mark Tucker
Producer – Marc Brunet, Ray Nenow
Recorded By – Chris McCollum, Johnny Shines
Saxophone – Denis Sollee, Sam Levine

Companies, etc.
Distributed By – The Benson Company, Inc.
Phonographic Copyright ℗ – Sephora Diffusion
Copyright © – Refuge Records
Recorded At – Redan Recorders
Recorded At – Great Circle Sound
Recorded At – Studio Saint-Nom la Bretèche
Mixed At – Le Semaphore
Mastered At – Mastermix
Designed At – Private Eye Studio

Giantkiller – The Alternative – 1980

Giantkiller was a British band that had a solid following in England but just a cult following in North America. They originally self released this album but it was picked up by Kingsway Music in the UK and Star Song in North America. Strangely they added a track, “Refuge From The Wind” for the two label releases. I don’t quite know how to classify them but I would say this was progressive new wave for 1980. At time you definitely hear a seventies rock sound and almost punk at others. This is one that I missed in the 80’s which is too bad as it would have been right up my alley. I kind of doubt it was released in Canada so that’s probably why I didn’t hear them at the time. Production on the album was a little weak and I would love if a real producer found the original tracks and remixed them.

Tracklist
1 – Voices – 3:29
2 – Dirty Hearts – 2:41
3 – Refuge From The Wind – 2:22
4 – Problem Page – 3:02
5 – Living In The Cities – 2:14
6 – Innocent Blood – 4:13
7 – Kicking In The Gates Of Hell – 3:28
8 – Fire In My Heart – 2:55
9 – Children Of The Promise – 5:03
10 – King Of Kings – 3:30
11 – Stand And Be Counted – 3:55
12 – Kingdom Come – 5:23

Credits
Bass, Vocals – Alan Hiscox
Drums – Steve Purton
Keyboards, Backing Vocals – Paul Herbst
Lead Guitar, Backing Vocals – Pete Gilgan
Producer – Terry Gavaghan
Vocals – Richard Nicholson

Lamb – Live – 1981

Lamb was formed in the early 70’s by Joel Chernoff and Rick Coghill. They are generally credited with being responsible for the origin of popularized Messianic Jewish music. I have to admit that I had no idea the sub genre of the CCM genre even existed in the 80’s. This album was on Sparrow Records so really we should have had some exposure to it. But then again we grew up in a town with one Jewish family so I guess we weren’t going to get any exposure to their culture. The album was recorded Live at Messiah College in Grantham, PA on June 29, 1980. I was pleasantly surprised at how much I liked this album. While it’s obviously not evangelical in nature the songs are good and cross over easily to the evangelical community. They are very good performers and I can say that based on this album I would have loved to have caught one their live shows. It has kind of a folky sound, not Don Francisco folky but more of a traditional folk sound. It’s a pretty good album and I’m guessing you never heard it in the 80’s so give it a chance now.

Tracklist
1 – Hallelujah – 3:51
2 – The Sacrifice Lamb – 5:14
3 – Dance And Sing – 4:00
4 – Ramah – 5:24
5 – Build My World – 3:32
6 – Ba-Ruch Ha-Shem – 3:35
7 – The Least I Could Do – 4:55
8 – Shu-Vee – 2:49
9 – Engraved Invitation – 5:32
10 – Jonah – 5:12
11 – Hey, I Love You – 2:53
12 – I’ll Be A Fool – 3:36
13 – Comfort Ye My People – 6:35
14 – Clap Your Hands – 4:54
15 – In The Morning / I Love The Lord – 3:36
16 – Break Forth In Joy – 3:34

Credits
Composed By – Dana Langford, Joel Chernoff
Cover [Cover Design], Illustration – Julius Ciss
Engineer – Rick “Levi” Coghill
Engineer [Assistant Engineer], Photography By [Inside Cover Photograph] – Peter Yesner
Instruments, Vocals, Producer, Engineer, Composed By – Lamb
Mixed By [Mix-Down Engineer] – Skip Plant
Photography By [Back Cover Photograph] – Igal Hoffman
Photography By [Reference Photography] – Barbara Redman, Steve Meilach
Production Manager [Production Coordination] – B. Charlyne Hinesley

Mercy Rule – Overruled – 1989

Michigan’s Mercy Rule started out as “AZ-IZ” but changed their name sometime in the mid 80’s. They had a track on the 1988 Underground Metal sampler which probably led top a record deal with R.E.X. Music. Strangely they also had a track appear on the 1990 Word UK sampler Metal Mission which was not their record company. Not unheard of but strange. This album was self produced by the band and unfortunately it shows. They have a very commercial metal sound and I can’t help but to think if a top rated producer had stepped in this would have been a much more popular album. I also believe there would have been more from the band but unfortunately this is the only offering from them. The guitar work really shines on this album and there is lots of great vocal harmonies. All in all a pretty darn good album and if you’re a metal head be sure to give it a listen.

Tracklist
1 – You Lied To Me – 3:00
2 – Cecilia – 3:40
3 – Real Love – 3:30
4 – Lonely Heart – 3:40
5 – Don’t Cha Know – 4:10
6 – Black And White – 4:45
7 – Prodigal – 3:25
8 – If You Only Knew – 6:35
9 – There’s A Love – 3:20
10 – Stand Up On The Rock – 3:00

Credits
Artwork [Cover] – Jeff Spencer/Sudden Images
Bass, Keyboards, Backing Vocals [Background Vocals] – Bruce Tordrup
Drums, Backing Vocals [Background Vocals] – Rich Favazza
Lead Guitar, Rhythm Guitar, Vocals – George Favazza
Lead Vocals, Lead Guitar, Rhythm Guitar – Aaron Byrnes
Photography By – Frank Leet
Producer, Arranged By – Mercy Rule
Producer, Engineer – Rick Young

Companies, etc.
Phonographic Copyright ℗ – R.E.X. Music
Copyright © – R.E.X. Music
Recorded At – Talent Live Recording Studios