This was the first of 3 albums from Love Chapter Band. Again I am having a difficult time finding out anything about the band. I do know they were from British Columbia Canada and the album was released on New Born Records, a sister label to Tunesmith. Of note on the album is the title track which is a cover of 1976 Gentle Faith (Darrell Mansfield) song “Livin in the Sonshine”. Other than that I have nothing I can tell you about them or the album.
Tracklist 1 – Where Will You Go – 4:48 2 – The Sacrificed Lamb – 4:56 3 – Joy Comes – 3:34 4 – No More Reasons – 5:01 5 – Jump In – 1:53 6 – Just A Prayer Away – 3:00 7 – God’s Will – 3:21 8 – Make Me An Instrument – 4:11 9 – Livin’ In The Sonshine – 2:39
This was Larry’s second and last album. He turned it way up for this album from his previous AOR release. This is a solid Pop/Rock album and is very well done. It was produced by Joe Huffman and this may be the most Rock & Roll album he ever produced as he regularly produced Jimmy Swaggart albums. The memorable track on this album is “Frog In A Box” and while a very quirky name it’s actually a pretty good song. I kind of wonder why I hadn’t heard it before listening to this album just recently. This is another one I missed in the 80’s but I’m very happy I discovered it now.
Tracklist 1 – Frog In A Box – 5:42 2 – Once You Give Your Heart Away – 4:11 3 – Mighty Love – 4:09 4 – Silent Movies – 5:22 5 – Life Goes On – 3:55 6 – Won By One – 3:14 7 – Let The Praise Begin – 3:10 8 – Sometimes I’m Samson – 3:40 9 – East and West – 3:53 10 – My Soul Waits In Silence – 5:05
Credits Reed Arvin – Synclavier/Extra Keyboards, String and Horn Arrangements Larry Bryant – Songwriter, Vocals, Piano, Background Vocals John Bryant – Background Vocals Kimber D. Cherry – Songwriter Jon Goin – Guitars Mark Hammond – Drums Joe Huffman – Producer Gary Lunn – Bass Marty McCall – Background Vocals Niki Mikals – Engineer Phil Naish – Keyboards Mike Psanos – Re-mix Engineer Lisa Whitford – Songwriter
This was the first studio album from The Newsboys. They had got a deal from Refuge records but it would end up being a one album deal as this album was not well received. Lucky for the band Star Song picked them up so their career could continue. I’m actually quite surprised this album didn’t do better. It’s a pretty good pop album and certainly as good as most of the CCM stuff at the time. I suspect this may have been more of a problem with distribution and/or promotion. Like I say the talent was there and these guys went on to be one of the top CCM bands of all times as far as sold albums is concerned and they are still going strong today. This album included 4 tracks from their demo so if you had their demo this album wasn’t really a good deal but the songs were reworked.
Tracklist 1 – I Got Your Number – 4:45 2 – Listen For The Shout – 3:20 3 – Lighthouse – 3:16 4 – It’s Joy – 3:48 5 – You’re Still There – 3:06 6 – Read All About It – 4:46 7 – Hold On Tight – 3:57 8 – Never Surrender – 4:09 9 – The Big Time – 3:56 10 – He’s Coming Back – 3:48
Credits Bass Guitar – Sean Taylor Drums – Peter Furler Guitar – Phil Yates Lead Vocals – John James Producer – Tommy Sims
At this point in time the Imperials had the whole hit album thing down to a fine art and Dayspring/Word Records was in full profit mode even getting 2 albums out in 1979. The Russ Taff legacy was taking a strong foothold and they were churning out the radio hits. This album had 3 singles. The big one was “I’m Forgiven” which got stuck at #1 for an amazing 13 weeks. “What I Can Do For You” and “One More Song For You” peaked at #12 and #10 respectively. Of real note on this album is Michael Omartian coming on as producer and song writer. Personally this album just wasn’t that impressive to me. I really shouldn’t argue with radio success but at this point the guys could have put out an album of them all snoring and it would have been a #1 hit. CCM radio was only interested in playing tried and true performers and no one was more tried and true than the Imperials. That said I admit there was some good stuff coming on future albums when luckily they had to compete with up and coming acts that turned the electric guitar up past 3. That said to the normal Imperials fan this is a good album and I am sure they quite enjoyed it.
Tracklist 1 – What I Can Do For You – 2:59 2 – I’m Forgiven – 3:54 3 – All My Life – 3:24 4 – Living Without Your Love – 3:27 5 – Eagle Song – 3:14 6 – Closer Than Ever – 4:23 7 – One More Song For You – 4:38 8 – Higher Power – 4:20 9 – More Like You – 3:30
Credits Backing Vocals [Additional] – Marti McCall, Myrna Matthews, Stormie Omartian Bass – Abraham Laboriel Concertmaster – Assa Drori Congas – Victor Feldman Design [Album Design], Photography By – Bob Anderson Drums – Paul Leim Engineer [Additional] – Jack Lees, John Banuelos Engineer, Remix – John Guess Guitar – Marty Walsh Horns – Chuck Findley, Dick Hyde, Jackie Kelso, Steve Madaio Horns, Soloist [Saxophone] – Kim Hutchcroft Mastered By – Bernie Grundman Performer – Armond Morales, David Will, Jim Murray, Russell Taff Producer, Arranged By, Keyboards, Percussion – Michael Omartian
Companies, etc. Phonographic Copyright (p) – Word, Inc. Copyright (c) – Word, Inc. Published By – See This House Music Published By – Word Music, Inc. Published By – Norman Clayton Publishing Published By – I.A.M. Music Recorded At – Jennifudy Studios Recorded At – Hollywood Central Recorders Mastered At – A&M Mastering Studios Pressed By – Monarch Record Mfg. Co.
This was Bryan’s last album on Modern Art Records which I think was his own label as he is pretty well the only artist on it. This is another strong pop album from him and falls in line with this album’s predecessors. I liked most the tracks but was a bit taken aback by “Don’t Ya Wanna Rap”. It reminded me of a Jazzy Jeff Rap song but after listening to it a few times I came to think it’s just a fun silly song and now I kind of like it. The album did very well on the charts with 4 singles. Strong Medicine made it to #2, Let Me Be Broken to #3, Stand In My Place to #5, and Wonderful barely edged on at #30. Pretty successful album which probably helped lead Bryan to a record deal with Word/Myrrh Records.
Tracklist 1 – Let Me Be Broken – 4:13 2 – Recognize A Lover From A Thief – 4:20 3 – Stand In My Place – 4:19 4 – Strong Medicine – 5:07 5 – Don’t Ya Wanna Rap – 3:55 6 – Inside Out – 4:25 7 – Lies Upon Lies – 3:00 8 – Hand It Over – 4:14 9 – Wonderful – 3:52
Credits Backing Vocals [Obvious Female Vocals With Phyllis] – Edna Wright Backing Vocals [Obvious Female Vocals] – Phyllis St. James Co-producer, Keyboards, Bass, Drums, Percussion, Songwriter [Songwriting], Arranged By [Arrangements], Engineer [Additional Engineering “the Executioner”] – Chuck Barth Creative Director [Creative Direction] – Jim Fitzgerald Creative Director [Creative Direction], Art Direction – Gary Whitlock Engineer [Additional Engineering] – Jeff Park Graphics – Gina Phelps Management [Personal Management] – Ray Ware Artists Mastered By – Bernie Grundman Other [Stunt Double For Bryan] – Brad Duncan Percussion – Dave Romero Photography By – Stew Ivester Producer, Engineer, Arranged By [Arrangements], Recorded By, Mixed By – Larry Brown Programmed By [Additional Programming] – John Stenstrom Songwriter [Songwriting], Arranged By [Arrangements], Other [Direction], Concept By [Album Concept], Keyboards – Bryan Duncan
Companies, etc. Phonographic Copyright (p) – Modern Art Records, Inc. Copyright (c) – Modern Art Records, Inc. Manufactured By – Word, Inc. Distributed By – Word, Inc. Recorded At – 440 Sound Recorders Mixed At – 440 Sound Recorders
I really can’t find much on Hope but I will summarize what I did find but with no claim of it’s accuracy. Hope was a Canadian artist who went into the studio in 1987 or 1988 to record this excellent album. It has a great female pop sound and quite frankly I am surprised I can’t find out more about it. The album was produced by Roy Salmond who produced some of the best Canadian artists at the time and had some good albums of his own. Apparently Hope toured with Sheila Walsh in on Walsh’s Canadian tour as well as African Sonrise and Connie Scott on various dates. That’s about all I can find but this is an excellent album so give it the love it deserved in 1988 when it came out.
Tracklist 1 – Love Comes Along – 3:52 2 – Can’t Give It (If You Don’t Have It) – 3:59 3 – Standing In The Shadows – 3:59 4 – You Will Not Leave Me – 3:08 5 – I Remember – 6:37 6 – Oh The Distance – 3:10 7 – The Way Things Are – 4:12 8 – Arms Up – 5:17 9 – Don’t Keep On Running – 4:37 10 – Never Let Us Go – 4:28
Credits Backing Vocals – Hope, Roy Backing Vocals [Additional] – Donny Hackett (tracks: 6), Gayle Salmond (tracks: 6) Bass – Miles Hill (tracks: 7) Design, Layout – Nancy Yeasting Drums, Percussion – Daryl Bennett Engineer – Gary Tole Engineer, Mixed By – Dave Slagter Executive-Producer – Bill Sterling, Mark Sterling Guitar – Dane DeViller Keyboards, Bass, Drum Programming [Drum And Percussion Programming], Guitar – Roy Salmond Mastered By – Bernie Grundman Photography By – Francis Cheng Producer, Arranged By – Roy Salmond
Companies, etc. Recorded At – Inside Trak Studios Mastered At – Bernie Grundman Mastering
Ben Antell Put together this Finnish band in 1980 and they set to learning and rehearsing several songs Ben had written. In 1981 they went into Rexi studio where they recorded this album. As they were paying for the studio time they kept it to two days but this meant that many songs had to be completely recorded “Live”. The album “Waters” was subsequently released in Sweden, Finland, and Canada. Unfortunately the studio burnt down so the only remaining copy of the studio recording was on 1/4 inch tape. They were able to remix it as best they could do and it has been re-released on Spotify and other locations. I would describe it as having a late 70’s sound with very strong lead guitars. This was all we got from them apart from a 2006 release but it’s worth taking the time to listen to.
Tracklist 1 – You’re So Real – 3:50 2 – Au 24 – 3:18 3 – Nardus Op2 – 7:42 4 – Waters – 6:39 5 – Quo – 4:31 6 – Always One – 4:38 7 – The Calling Of The Night-Bird – 7:21 8 – Mountain “I Am” – 6:04
Credits Mikko Rintanen – Keyboards Sixten Sandvik – Drums / Percussion Henrik Berg – Bass Heikki Koivisto – Lead Guitar Ben Antell – Lead and Rhythm Guitar, Vocals
Though often assumed to be a German band Crumbacher was actually a U.S. band whose lead singer’s name was Stephen Crumbächer. Incandescent was recorded as a short demo but when Broken Records heard it they requested the band cut a few more songs to make it a full length album. Crumbacher were probably the first synthpop band in the CCM genre. There’s really not much to say about this album, it had a German synthpop sound and was actually quite good for this style of music. Point of trivia is that the album was produced by Ojo Taylor from the band
Tracklist 1 – Understudy – 3:25 2 – Infrared/X-Ray Eyes – 4:16 3 – Glowing In The Dark – 5:12 4 – So Strange – 5:41 5 – It Don’t Matter – 4:45 6 – Jamie – 4:46 7 – Sweet By And By – 3:29 8 – Track You Down – 5:16
Credits Backing Vocals – Dawn Wisner-Johnson, Jimmy Wisner, Stephen Crumbächer Design [Cover], Layout – Ed McTaggart Drums – Jimmy Wisner Effects [Sepecial Effects Compositing] – Ken Baley Guitar – Dan Hohulin Keyboards – Dawn Wisner-Johnson, Stephen Crumbächer Lead Vocals – Stephen Crumbächer Mixed By – Chris Taylor Photography By [Back Cover] – Rich La Salle Photography By [Front Cover] – Bill Valenzuela Producer – O-Joe Taylor
Companies, etc. Phonographic Copyright (p) – Broken Records – 1985 Copyright (c) – Broken Records – 1985 Distributed By – Word, Inc. Recorded At – Sound Affair Mixed At – Whitefield Studios
This 1984 album is another example of early Christian metal. At the time the genre was still being downplayed by record companies and distributors. Because of this the vinyl version of this album is highly sought after due to it’s very short run. It is rumoured that the vinyl run was limited to 1000 copies so they can command up to $1000 now. Luckily Retroactive Records re-released the album on CD in 2010 so you can get a copy more easily. This was Messiah’s first official studio release though there had been demo’s. This is a true metal album and in my opinion was ahead of its time. While not my style this is a great band that knew what they were doing. The production on the album was a little weak but in a way that makes it sound even better.
Tracklist 1 – Who’s To Blame – 3:02 2 – Outta Control – 4:25 3 – Where Are You – 4:03 4 – The Choice – 3:37 5 – Heavenly Metal – 5:42 6 – Mistaken Identity – 4:50 7 – Keep Searching – 4:17 8 – Lucifer – 6:04 9 – Final Warning – 5:46
Credits Bass – Pete Smoltz Cover, Artwork, Layout, Illustration – Mike Demske Engineer – George Hellow Engineer [Assistant] – Chuck Reynolds Keyboards – Dan Knowles Lead Guitar, Acoustic Guitar – Scott Wood Lead Vocals – Chuck Gugel Management – Nutcracker Productions Co. Inc. Percussion – Keith Behnke Producer – Chuck Gugel, Scott Wood Written-By – Chuck Gugel, Mike Lopez (tracks: B3, B4), Pete Smoltz (tracks: A2, A5), Scott Wood (tracks: A1 to B2)
Companies, etc. Phonographic Copyright (p) – Viniculum Music Publishing Inc. Copyright (c) – Viniculum Music Publishing Inc. Distributed By – Nutcracker Productions Co. Inc. Produced For – IHM Records Recorded At – Polaris Recording Studios
This was the second of 2 albums featuring Amy Grant in concert released in 1981. It was recorded at Mabee Hall in Tulsa Oklahoma and Lloyd Noble Center in Norman Oklahoma. It featured four “new” songs: “I’m Gonna Fly”, “You Gave Me Love” which was a cover of a BJ Thomas song, “Fill Me With Your Love”, and “Nobody Loves Me Like You” which was a song by DeGarmo & Key and featured DeGarmo & Key. Wikipedia states “Although the two should have been issued as a double album, budget problems forced the two to be released separately.” This is absurd, there was no shortage of money at Myrrh and A&M for their gold mine performer so I’d love to hear the real reason.
Tracklist 1 – I’m Gonna Fly – 4:11 2 – Too Late – 4:41 3 – So Glad – 4:23 4 – You Gave Me Love – 3:17 5 – Fill Me With Your Love – 2:44 6 – What A Difference You’ve Made – 2:33 7 – If I Have To Die – 3:31 8 – That’s The Day – 3:29 9 – Look What Has Happened To Me – 3:12 10 – Keep It On Going – 1:03 11 – Nobody Loves Me Like You Do – 3:26
Credits Acoustic Guitar, Vocals – Billy Sprague Backing Vocals – Dave Durham, Gary Pigg, Jan Harris, Teresa Ellis Bass – Mike Brignardello Drums – Gregg Morrow Electric Guitar, Vocals – Dana Key Engineer [Recording and Mix Engineer] – Jack Joseph Puig Executive-Producer – Dan Harrell, Mike Blanton Keyboards – Eddie DeGarmo Photography By [Cover Photo] – Glen Wexler Producer – Brown Bannister Recorded By [Mobile Recording] – Malcolm Harper Remastered By – Steve Hall Synthesizer [Oberheim] – Gerry Peters
Companies, etc. Phonographic Copyright (p) – Amy Grant Productions Copyright (c) – Amy Grant Productions Licensed To – Sparrow Records Distributed By – EMI CMG Distribution Recorded At – Mabee Center Recorded At – Lloyd Noble Center, Norman Remixed At – Mama Jo’s Remastered At – Future Disc Pressed By – Cinram, Richmond, IN
