Author: Ray Mansfield

One of the founding cowboys of Real 80s CCM. Been listening to this stuff since 1978.

D.O.X. – D.O.X. – 1986

D.O.X. appears to be another project of the boys from D.A. Rob Watson, Terry Taylor, and Tim Chandler were involved in this album in some way. Most the songs were written by Mark de la Bretonne the lead vocalist but Terry Taylor penned 2 of the tracks. The album has a bit of a Idle Cure sound at times and at other times i am hearing a more pop oriented version of Daniel Amos. The band were all individuals with little or no relationship to Daniel Amos but the boys form D.A. were obviously deeply involved with the project with all 3 listed as backing vocals and Terry Taylor being the producer. This is a pretty good album that was perfect for the time it came out. The vinyl is very hard to come by now so if you own it keep it safe.

Tracklist
1 – The Hungering Dark/Light Ship – 4:47
2 – Aim For The Heart – 4:30
3 – Lighthouse – 4:00
4 – Zero To None – 3:38
5 – Feel The Fire – 3:30
6 – Lonely Without You – 3:15
7 – (In My) Dream Of Heaven – 3:18
8 – Guiding My Way – 5:03
9 – Morningstar – 4:20

Credits
Arranged By – Terry Taylor
Art Direction – Ed McTaggart
Backing Vocals – Rob Watson, Terry Taylor, Tim Chandler
Bass Guitar – Jeff Foster
Drums – Robert Foster
Engineer – Doug Doyle
Keyboards – Rob Watson
Layout – Ed McTaggart
Lead Guitar – Rick Lane (7)
Painting – Jeff Foster
Percussion – Robert Foster
Piano – Mark de la Bretonne
Producer – Terry Scott Taylor*
Rhythm Guitar – Rick Lane (7)
Saxophone – Alan Palmer
Vocals – Mark de la Bretonne

Companies, etc.
Distributed By – The Benson Company, Inc.
Recorded At – 3-D Studios, Costa Mesa CA.

Prism – Blue – 1986

I have to admit I completely missed this one in the 80’s but I assume the cover would have made me skip right by this one. If I had to describe this one it would sort of be the Christian version of Kidz Bop but not really. The album consist mainly of cover versions of vacation bible school and campfire songs we all know though they are very popped up. This project was the brain child of Chris Harris and Mark Heimermann with some studio musicians and some kids. Strangely I can’t find any record of who the kids were. There are two original songs on the album penned by Heimermann. “Heads or Tails” and “Selah.” Both have a fun 80’s pop sound and are actually pretty good. Many of you grew up with this series of albums so we get a lot of requests for the entire series. We’re here to please so we will post them all.

Tracklist
1 – Jesus Loves Me – 1:54
2 – This Little Light Of Mine – 3:07
3 – This Is The Day – 3:24
4 – Heads Or Tails – 3:38
5 – Stand Up – 3:12
6 – Wise Man – 3:13
7 – Selah – 2:35
8 – Jesus Loves The Little Children – 2:55
9 – My Prayer – 4:15
10 – Into My Heart – 2:40

Messiah – Going Insane – 1985

Some say that Messiah were the first Christian metal band. I can’t decide this argument as I just don’t have the knowledge of the genre to be sure but they have to be one of the first as they put out their first Demo in 1979. Their first release “Final Waning” in 1984 was a very short run release and this 1985 EP was also a very limited run release. Lucky for us Retroactive Records stepped up in 2010 and re-released this EP so that we could all enjoy it. They also included 3 tracks from the infamous 1979 demo. I have included them here. Too bad these guys are relatively unknown as there is some real quality metal here.

Tracklist
1 – Going Insane – 6:30
2 – We Will Rock – 3:57
3 – Heavenly Metal – 5:27
4 – Where Are You – 4:09
5 – Evil Lies – 5:00
6 – Lucifer (Demo) – 6:34
7 – Final Warning (Demo) – 7:07
8 – You’d Better Say A Prayer (Demo) – 6:03

Credits
Bass Guitar – Dave Johnson
Cover, Artwork – P. Schmoltz
Drums – Keith Behnke
Guitar – J. S. Wood
Keyboards, Harmony Vocals – Dan Knowles
Lead Vocals – Chuck Gugel

Companies, etc.
Copyright (c) – IHM Records
Phonographic Copyright (p) – IHM Records
Phonographic Copyright (p) – Viniculum Music Publishing Inc.
Record Company – Shepard Productions
Recorded At – The Disc Ltd.

Whitecross – Triumphant Return – 1989

This was the 4th album from Whitecross and it is a great Rock & Roll album. If you just started listening to it may I suggest you turn it up to 12. It’s just my opinion but I think this is their best album. Scott Wenzel’s vocals are outstanding but I’m pretty sure the tour for this album must have destroyed his vocal cords. Rex Carroll’s guitar stands out as usual, he really was one of the best guitarists in the Hard Rock/Metal Christian scene. The surprise of the album is that Rick Cua plays bass on all but one track. I was really surprised to read this and a part of me really doesn’t know if it’s actually true but wow. I respected him before but my opinion of him just went up a notch. The album reached number 13 on Billboard’s Top Contemporary Christian Albums chart and actually won a Dove award for Hard Music Album of the Year.

Tracklist
1 – Attention Please – 3:55
2 – Red Light – 4:32
3 – Straight Thru The Heart – 3:57
4 – Down – 4:01
5 – Behold – 4:35
6 – Shakedown – 4:16
7 – Flashpoint – 1:30
8 – Simple Man – 4:21
9 – Over The Top – 4:18
10 – Heaven’s Calling Tonight – 4:16

Credits
Backing Vocals [Additional] – Caroline Nieto, Jonathan Pagano
Bass – Rick Cua (tracks: 1,2, 4-10)
Bass, Vocals – Rick Armstrong (tracks: 3)
Drums – Frank Liva
Drums, Vocals – Mike Elliot
Guitar, Vocals, Producer – Rex Carroll
Keyboards – George Small
Lead Vocals – Scott Wenzel
Producer – Joey Powers

Joe English – Lights In The World – 1980

Imagine our surprise in 1980 when an album from Joe English showed up in the racks of our Christian book store. I recognized Joe’s name from Wings (though I did not really listened to them) but I had not heard anything of him doing Christian music. I remember we couldn’t buy it quick enough and rushed back to the stereo room to listen to it. The album really wasn’t quite as Rock & Roll as we thought it would be but we liked it and one or two tracks definitely made it onto mixed tapes for the car. To me the album has a bit of a jazz feel to it and coincidentally in 1980 Joe was also playing with a jazz fusion band called Sea Level. Joe went on to give us many more albums using the moniker The Joe English Band. Point of trivia is that both Russ Taff and Bonnie Bramlett provided backing vocals for the album.

Tracklist
1 – To Love Is To Live – 3:49
2 – Shine On – 3:48
3 – Dyin’ – 3:44
4 – Is There Not One Good Man – 3:49
5 – Midnight Angel Choir – 3:38
6 – Get Ready – 3:10
7 – Is The King Your Friend – 3:30
8 – The Lord Never Leaves – 3:48
9 – Praise Him – 3:17
10 – Keep In Touch – 1:57

Credits
Lead Vocals – Joe English
Backing Vocals – Russell Taff, Bonnie Bramlett
Bass – Larry Paxton
Drums – Joe English
Guitar – George Cocchini
Keyboards – John Rosasco
Percussion – Terry McMillan
Synthesizer [Micro-Moog] – Alan Steinberger
Synthesizer [Prophet 5] – Shane Keister
Arranged By – John Rosasco,Shelly Kurland ,Greg Nelson
Art Direction – Bob McConnell
Design [Cover Design] – Stan Evenson
Engineer – Scott Hendricks
Executive-Producer – Ray Nenow
Producer – Greg Nelson

Companies, etc.
Phonographic Copyright (p) – Refuge Records
Copyright (c) – Refuge Records
Distributed By – The Benson Company, Inc.
Recorded At – Glaser Sound Studios, Inc., Nashville, Tennessee
Produced For – Primacy Productions

Bride – Kinetic Faith – 1991

The fourth album from Bride marked a rather abrupt change in style. I was told this was yet another metal album. As I listened to it I thought this is a Rock album not metal. As I read around the internet of peoples impression of this album and I kept reading the same thing. Metal fans who admitted they were metal fans who loved this album. From this I have deducted that Bride pulled off something very hard to do. They transitioned from metal to rock without losing their fan base. The band was still mainly Dale and Troy Thompson but they brought on a new drummer and bass player. I don’t know if this was because of the style change or was part of the design of the style change. It’s no secret that I’m not a huge fan of metal but I love hard rock and I loved this album. To my huge surprise Bride actually received a Dove award for the track “Everybody Knows My Name”. Apparently there used to be a category called “Hard Music Recorded Song Of The Year, who knew. Obviously I never followed the Dove Awards.

Tracklist
1 – Troubled Times – 4:29
2 – Hired Gun – 4:29
3 – Ever Fallen In Love – 4:36
4 – Mountain – 4:12
5 – Ski Mask – 4:31
6 – Everybody Knows My Name – 4:23
7 – Young Love – 3:31
8 – Kiss The Train – 3:58
9 – Crimes Against Humanity – 4:06
10 – Sweet Louise – 4:42

Credits
Art Direction – Toni Thigpen
Band [Bride Is], Bass – Rick Foley
Band [Bride Is], Drums – Jerry McBroom
Band [Bride Is], Guitar, Mandolin, Acoustic Guitar – Troy Thompson
Band [Bride Is], Vocals, Backing Vocals – Dale Thompson
Executive-Producer – Dez Dickerson
Layout, Design – Tufts Design Studio
Lead Guitar, Rhythm Guitar [Additional], Acoustic Guitar, Slide Guitar – Rob Johnson
Mastered By – Roger Seibel
Musical Assistance [Special Assistant] – Bobby Muldoon
Photography By – Russ Harrington
Producer [Produced By] – Steve Griffith
Recorded By, Mixed By – Steve Griffith

Companies, etc.
Phonographic Copyright (p) – Pure Metal
Copyright (c) – Pure Metal
Record Company – Star Song Communications
Produced For – Gaga Productions
Recorded At – The Goldmine, Franklin, TN
Mixed At – The Goldmine, Franklin, TN
Mastered At – SAE Mastering
Published By – Dawn Treader Music
Glass Mastered At – Nimbus, Virginia

Level Heads – Momento Mori – 1988

This was the second and last album from Level Heads. I had missed these guys in the 80’s so a few months ago when I heard their first album/EP I was really impressed. I wasn’t disappointed by this album either. In listening to this album I heard some Elvis Costello and maybe some Joe Jackson on different tracks. Then I gave my head a shake and accepted them as having their own sound. I also struggled with describing this album as either alternative or new wave. Again it’s in it’s own category especially in the Christian music industry. If you loved the EP you should love this album also. If you haven’t heard these guys before give it a listen. I suspect you will like it.

Tracklist
1 – Universe Is Out Of Control – 2:54
2 – Seeing You – 4:06
3 – Hand To Hold – 3:40
4 – Betrayed With A Kiss – 3:14
5 – Everybody Wants To Be Loved – 4:32
6 – Live No Lie – 4:36
7 – Emancipation – 4:07
8 – More Than This – 4:28
9 – Lookin’ For The Line – 2:52
10 – The Train – 2:49
11 – Work It Out – 4:30
12 – Truth Or Fantasy – 3:06
13 – Hey You – 2:21
14 – Fire And Grace – 3:18

Credits
Arranged By [All Songs] – Craig Gillings, Jim Chevalier, Todd Gillings
Art Direction, Design – Brian Ray
Edited By – Chris Taylor
Engineer [Second Engineer], Producer [Assistant Producer] – Todd Gillings
Executive-Producer, Engineer – Joey Taylor
Photography By [Band Photos] – Barry Hill
Photography By [Cover Photo] – Brian Ray
Producer [Produced By] – Jim Chevalier
Written-By [All Songs] – Jim Chevalier

Companies, etc.
Phonographic Copyright (p) – Brainstorm Artists International
Copyright (c) – Brainstorm Artists International
Manufactured By – Word, Inc.
Distributed By – Word, Inc.
Recorded At – 3-D Studios, Costa Mesa CA.
Recorded At – Neverland
Recorded At – Whitefield Studios
Made By – Discovery Systems – 28X0400A
Published By – Brainstorm Music

Saint – The Gentiles Demo – 1981

Saint started out as Power Faith in the late 70’s but didn’t last long. It reformed as The Gentiles in either 80 or 81 and this is the demo they recorded under that name. The lineup would change again after/during the change of name to the Saint we are now familiar with. Lucky for their fans the demo was resurrected in 2001 by M8 Distribution and has been re released two more times since then. It is very very rough but is a nice insight into the early days of the band.

Tracklist
1 – Abyss – 3:22
2 – Worrying World – 2:52
3 – Self Made Man – 5:48
4 – Space Cruiser – 4:46

Credits
Bass – Richard Lynch
Drums – Unknown
Guitar – John Mahan
Vocals – Max Clark

Dual Edge – Knock ‘Em Alive – 1987

This hair metal band from Minnesota were introduced to us by Intense Records. They arrived at a time we were being inundated by Glam metal bands and these guys pretty well fit the mold. This album was actually just a remix of their demo with one new track and one track removed. There are some excellent vocals from Scott Turner and great guitar from Rick Wald. The only thing that could have done some work are the lyrics. That said if you don’t take the genre too seriously you should enjoy this album. I did.

Tracklist
1 – Lift Him Up – 4:06
2 – Fight For The Light – 5:08
3 – Be With You – 4:16
4 – New Life – 3:52
5 – Knock ‘Em Alive – 4:40
6 – Take It To The Bank – 4:04
7 – The Light – 4:09
8 – Follow Your Dreams – 3:23

John Avery – Songwriter, Bass, Background Vocals
Brian Bart – Producer, Engineer, Mixed, Background Vocals
David Harland – Songwriter, Background Vocals
Caesar Kalinowski – Producer, Engineer, Mixed
Rob Poseley – Background Vocals
Terry Steinmeyer – Songwriter, Drums, Background Vocals
Scott Turner – Lead Vocals
Rick Wald – Songwriter, Guitars, Background Vocals

Adam Again – In A New World Of Time – 1986

This was the introductory album from Adam Again. The band was assembled by Gene Eugene (Gene Andrusco). Gene was the producer, writer and lead vocalist which is quite the responsibility level. For those who don’t remember Gene went on to be a member of both Lost Dogs and The Swirling Eddies so this heavy workload was something he was known for. His wife (or wife to be) Michele Bunch (Riki Michele) also provided lead vocals. The band was originally called Martus and included member Sim Wilson who left to join Undercover. Anyway on to the music. This album is not indicative of what was to come from Adam again. This album has a funk feel on several tracks which is a sound that disappeared on later albums. This was a good thing in my opinion as I don’t really care for the funk sound. I actually wasn’t a big fan of this album but what was to come from Adam Again would be some fantastic music.

Tracklist
1 – Life In The First Degree – 3:28
2 – She’s Run – 3:20
3 – Your Line Is Busy – 3:27
4 – You Can Fall In Love – 5:46
5 – In A New World Of TIme – 3:51
6 – Walk Away – 3:41
7 – Miracles – 4:42
8 – Morning Song – 3:47
9 – (God Can) Change The World – 3:27
10 – Reason With Me – 4:14

Credits
Artwork – Howard Finster
Bass – Paul Valadez
Guitar – Greg Lawless
Guitar [Solo] – Marky Schrock (tracks: 2, 8)
Keyboards – Smitty Price
Keyboards, Guitar, Vocals – G. Eugene
Percussion – Kurt Rasmussen, Ron Chase
Producer – Gene Eugene
Recorded By – Wally Grant
Saxophone, Lyricon – Dan Michaels
Vocals – Riki Michele

Companies, etc.
Glass Mastered At – Nimbus, Virginia
Recorded At – Asaph Recording
Copyright (c) – Chenka, Chenka Music