Category: Albums

Isaac Air Freight – Fun In The Son – 1978

This was the first of a long string of comedy albums from Isaac Air Freight. At this point they were the most known comedians in the genre and also the only recorded Christian comedy troupe. I distinctly remember listening to this album in the early 80’s. We had already discovered Mike Warnke and thought Christian humour was great. So we picked up this Isaac Air Freight album. Unfortunately it didn’t really resonate with us. It was mainly chuckle funny but not laugh funny. Warnke on the other hand was all out laugh funny. That said I wonder now if maybe we weren’t the target audience. Perhaps our parents were the target and not us. I’ll say this though, IAF may not have really resonated with my circle but they were one of the best at what they did and we got many more albums from them.

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLHyl0lSu4E7M

Tracklist
1 – Let’s Trade Your Salvation – 8:31
2 – Religion Store – 9:15
3 – Rapture Hotline #1 – 0:46
4 – 777 Pearly Gates – 4:15
5 – The Last World Series Report – 4:14
6 – Rapture Hotline #2 – 0:58
7 – Rapture Airlines – 1:32
8 – Bible Junkie – 4:01
9 – Crazy Christians – 1:39
10 – Rapture Hotline #3 – 0:46
11 – Jerusalem Dragnet – 10:02

Credits
Arranged By [Jerusalem Dragnet Theme], Composed By [Jerusalem Dragnet Theme] – Peter Jacobs
Artwork By [Art Direction] – Rick Griffen
Artwork By [Cover Art, Graphics & Layout] – John Benson
Artwork By [Layout Assitance] – Neal Buchannan
Artwork By [Logo] – Tim Barela
Engineer – Dan Willard, Jonathan David Brown
Mixed By – Jonathan David Brown
Other [Sound Assistance] – Patrick Butler, Thom Roy
Photography – Mike Rupp
Producer – Tom Coomes
Troupe – Dan Rupple, Dave Toole, Larry Watt
Voice [Additional Voices] – Cathy Toole, Harold Taylor, Malcolm Wild, Peggy Rupple, Sharee Watt, Thom Roy, The Wailers

Companies, etc.
Recorded At – Anaheim Convention Center
Published By – Maranatha! Music
Phonographic Copyright ℗ – Maranatha! Music
Copyright © – Maranatha! Music
Distributed By – Word, Inc.

Wings Of Light – Wings Of Light – 1979

As near as I can figure out the Wings Of Light were the “international” wing of the Continental Singers which were an international music ministry group. I’m not really too sure of how this actually worked but that’s not really that important to listen to an album. I get hung up on the minutia of these things. Anyway this is their first of 3 albums and as I understand every album has a different sound and feel. This one has a jazzy pop feel that was certainly right for the time but it doesn’t actually age very well. Most if not all of trhe album are cover songs from other Christian artists some more mainstream than other. The highlight for me was a pretty good cover of Keith Greens “You Put This Love In My Heart”. I’m looking forward to hearing their other 2 albums and we’ll get the here for you soon.

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLXBO33kwWHos

Tracklist
1 – What A Difference You’ve Made In My Life – 3:50
2 – Doesn’t That Surprise You – 4:48
3 – It’s A Lamp – 2:40
4 – Daystar – 2:48
5 – He Loves You – 5:02
6 – I Can’t See Me Serving Nobody But Jesus – 2:50
7 – You Put This Love In My Heart – 3:28
8 – The Best – 3:02
9 – Pleasure Servin’ You – 3:08
10 – The Serf And The King – 3:34

Credits
Arranged By – Bob Krogstad, Clark Glassman, Terry Winch
Cover, Design [Backliner Design] – Thel Arthur
Engineer, Mixed By – Toby Foster
Executive-Producer – Cam Floria
Performer – Dave Mullins, Ed Deckard, Glenn Holmen, Jeff Taylor (20), Keith Boll, Laroy Cadiz, Larry Tardy, Leann Hendrickson, Mike Ross, Patti Grover, Steve Gabrielse
Performer, Directed By – Fred Heumann
Producer – Paul Stilwell
Producer [Assistance In Production] – Chuck Bolte

Companies, etc.
Phonographic Copyright ℗ – Good Life Records
Copyright © – Good Life Records
Distributed By – Word Records
Printed By – Gothic Press Ltd.
Recorded At – Sound Castle Recorders, Los Angeles
Mixed At – Universal Recording Studio

Wilson McKinley – Spirit Of Elijah – 1971

We recently uploaded the 1972 Wilson McKinley album, Heaven’s Gonna Be A Blast! and people enjoyed it so here is their previous 1971 album. While i don’t think it’s quite as good as their subsequent album I actually still quite liked it. The album includes a updated rock cover of the 1966 Peter Scholtes hymn “They’ll Know We Are Christians by Our Love” renamed “One In The Spirit”. It’s a pretty good version though there are errors in the song if you listen carefully. Normally stuff like that would be re-cut but this was a self released album on a tight budget and I don’t care it adds to the album. It’s actually pretty well engineered and produced for the era. Luckily for us it has been re-released a few times on vinyl then finally on CD so there are copies out there.

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLQHur5qdsFSk

Tracklist
1 – He – 4:08
2 – It’s Up To You – 3:25
3 – Come On Home – 2:52
4 – One In The Spirit – 4:00
5 – Tree Of Life – 3:52
6 – His Eye Is On The Sparrow – 3:03
7 – All My Life – 3:40
8 – Crown Of Glory – 1:30
9 – I Need A Saviour – 3:30
10 – Spirit Of Elijah – 6:08

Credits
Design – Johnny T’s House Of Design
Drums – Tom Slipp
Engineer – Terry Sheets
Lead Guitar, Lead Vocals, Backing Vocals – Mike Messer
Lead Vocals, Backing Vocals, Electric Bass – Jimmy Bartlett
Lead Vocals, Backing Vocals, Rhythm Guitar [Electric], Rhythm Guitar [Acoustic], Lead Guitar, Electric Piano – Randy Wilcox
Liner Notes – Timothy Smith
Mastered By – Dingbat Lacquer Sound Disc
Photography, Layout, Design – Dave Joern

Companies, etc.
Licensed From – Timothy Smith
Licensed From – Tanignak Productions
Recorded At – Sound Recordings
Pressed By – Gotta Groove Records

Sentry – Sick Of The Darkness – 1989

The boys from Quincy Massachusetts are back with an EP to follow up their self released album. While it picks up right where the previous ep left off I think the previous ep was better. For this release I’m just not sold on the vocals and I think I would have pitch shifted them down a bit. I also think many of the tracks are just too long. This is a common mistake by new bands as they often have a verse that a later producer will remove. Most of my criticisms are related to them being a young band and not yet getting proper direction from a industry producer. Lets be clear about one thing however I am sold on Dave McCreary’s guitar work. He’s obviously a talented axe player and I really wish the band had been picked up by a label because there was some real talent here. Unfortunately the band packed it in after this one so we never got to hear their talent directed by an album label. Good news however the entire Sentry catalog was re-released in 2026 by Roxx records and can be purchased here https://roxxrecords.com/collections/2019-releases/products/sentry-anthology-cd-2026-remastered-first-time-on-cd

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLXZ82e5B7zKY

Tracklist
1 – The Choice – 5:05
2 – Passing Moments – 5:58
3 – Living In A Lie – 4:51
4 – Sick Of The Darkness – 7:24
5 – Hope For You And I – 4:47
6 – Heaven Bound – 4:53

Credits
Bass – Steve Knepper
Drums, Backing Vocals – Jeffrey Stewart
Guitar, Lead Vocals – Dave McCreary
Keyboards – Tim Knepper

Adrian Snell – Alpha And Omega – 1986

This is probably Adrian’s most prophetic album. Adrian himself describes it as “a contemporary oratorio that truly has a message for the world today.” While a little bit of a grandiose description I think it’s fair. The story of this album isn’t so much the album but the tour it spawned. It was first performed in Jerusalem, March 1986 and quickly spread around the world. Adrian made a point of hiring local choirs and performers as the tour went and some of them were pretty big choirs. He is very proud that so many people got to attend the concerts as a performer not just an audience member. So what is the album. Well it’s a Rock opera I guess. It adheres to the scriptures and as such is a rather spiritual experience for the listener. I’m not a big fan of this way of presenting music as I’m rather infantile and just want a song to entertain me and not make me work to enjoy it. That said this album is easy to enjoy if you just want some simple music. I think Adrian hit the balance nicely on this album. He actually re-recorded the album in 2017 and toured it again. You gotta respect a project that is still appealing to audiences 30 years later.

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLUzfauoCKG5A

Tracklist
1 – Kaddish For Bergen-Belsen – 4:30
2 – The Nations Rage And Fall – 2:34
3 – Nobody Listens – 3:45
4 – Messiah Mask (Pretender To My Throne)/I Am Your God – 5:00
5 – Guns Of Peace – 6:50
6 – No Escape – 4:55
7 – Child Of Darkness – 2:52
8 – I Am Your God – 2:25
9 – Man Of Sorrows – 2:19
10 – I Am The Way – 4:22
11 – Lord Have Mercy – 2:32
12 – Streams In The Desert/And They Shall Prophesy – 4:41
12 – And In That Day – 4:23
14 – He Lives In You – 1:53
15 – Alpha And Omega (The Beginning And The End) – 5:00

Credits
Bass Guitar – Les Moir
Choir – The All Souls Choir, The Worship In Concert Choir
Design, Illustration – James Kessell
Directed By – Victor Kee
Directed By, Conductor [Choirs And Congregation Conducted By], Arranged By [Choir Arrangements] – Noel H. Tredinnick
Drum Programming [Additional], Guitar Synthesizer – Dave Bainbridge
Drums, Drum Programming – Dave Dowle
Electric Guitar, Guitar Synthesizer, Engineer, Producer, Arranged By – Neil Costello
Executive-Producer – David Bruce
Flute, Saxophone – David Fitzgerald
Mastered By [Mastering Engineer] – Dave Aston
Oboe – Debbie Bainbridge
Piano, Keyboards, Producer, Arranged By – Adrian Snell
Programmed By [Keyboards Sampling And Programming], Piano, Keyboards, Producer, Arranged By – Dave Bainbridge
Vocals – Joanne Hogg
Vocals [Additional], Arranged By [Vocal Arrangements] – Julie Moon, Mal Pope

Companies, etc.
Phonographic Copyright ℗ – Word (Uk) Ltd.
Copyright © – Word (Uk) Ltd.
Distributed By – Word (Uk) Ltd.
Pressed By – MPO

James Ward – Faith Takes A Vision – 1982

This was James’s 5th album but first on a real record label. After 4 pretty good self releases Pat Boone’s label Lamb & Lion took a chance. They put together a pretty darn good studio band which included some of my favourites, Jon Goin, Terry McMillan, Joe English, and Dann Huff to name a few. Turley Richards was brought in to produce the album who I admit is not one of my favourite producers but this project was a style he really did well. That style is AOR (Adult Oriented Rock) which again is not my preferred style but the quality of this one is really good. This style usually bores me to death but this album held my attention and I enjoyed it. There’s now anything that will go in my regular rotation but if I ever get our radio station up and running I’ll toss “No Bad News” on light rotation as it’s a fun feel good song.

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLUgjoTvHGd-0

Tracklist
1 – Child Of Bethlehem – 3:32
2 – Not How – 3:40
3 – Maybe I’ll Trust You Now – 3:45
4 – Make A Joyful Noise (Shout) – 3:15
5 – Make Me A Vessel – 3:00
6 – Faith Takes A Vision – 3:19
7 – Take Hold – 2:45
8 – Don’t Blame It On My God – 4:15
9 – No Bad News – 2:16
10 – You Are My Child – 3:10

Credits
Arranged By – James Ward, John Rosasco
Arranged By [Asstance] – Turley Richards
Backing Vocals – Diane Tidwell, James Ward, Jessica Boucher, Joey Jelf, Lisa Silver, Sheri Huffman, Turley Richards
Bass – Bob Wray, Larry Paxton
Co-producer – John Rosasco
Design [Album] – Bill Brunt
Drums – Buster Phillips, Joe English, Mark Hammond
Engineer [Other Engineering] – Randy Holland, Scott Hendricks
Engineer, Mixed By – Willie Pevear
Guitar – Dann Huff, Jon (Git) Goin, Pete Bordanelli
Horns – Denis Solee, Dennis Good, George Tidwell, Ron Keller, Sam Levine
Mastered By – Glenn Meadows
Percussion – Farrell Morris, Terry McMillan
Photography By – Larry Dixon
Piano – James Ward, John Rosasco
Producer – John Rosasco, Turley Richards
Synthesizer – Shane Keister

Companies, etc.
Phonographic Copyright ℗ – Lamb & Lion Records
Copyright © – Lamb & Lion Records
Distributed By – The Benson Company, Inc.
Pressed By – PRC Recording Company, Richmond, IN
Recorded At – Quadrafonic Sound Studios, Lower Level Studio
Mastered At – Masterfonics
Lacquer Cut At – Masterfonics

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