Category: Albums

Jesus Sound Explosion – 1972

It’s not too often I get to post an album with Johnny Cash on it but this is the one. This album could not be purchased but instead was sent to attendees of the 1972 EXPLO music festival. The EXPLO festival was put on by Campus Crusade for Christ and there were actually 7 days to the festival in Dallas TX. If you were there you could order the album and it would be mailed to you later. The festival was able to get all the performer’s record companies to allow this album to be distributed. I suspect one of the conditions was that it would not be commercially sold. This album has the broadest style of performers I’ve ever heard. Everything from Larry Norman (Rock) to Connie Smith (Country) to Willa Mae Dorsey (Southern Gospel). It’s an enjoyable album but the abrupt genre changes can be a bit startling. This album is a piece of CCM history. Were you there? Leave a comment below and tell us what it was like.

Printed on the jacket;
“This album is not for sale. This album was produced for the sole purpose of offering to the EXPLO ’72 television audience musical reminders of this historic congress. This album is sent to individuals who let the ministry of Campus Crusade For Christ International know that they are interested in receiving this album. Material on this album was recorded live at EXPLO ’72 in Dallas, Texas, June 12-17, 1972. Special arrangements with the artists and their record companies have made this album possible.”

Tracklist
1 – Johnny Cash – I See Men As Trees Walkin’ – 3:18
2 – Armageddon Experience – One Way – 3:35
3 – Randy Matthews – Didn’t He – 4:26
4 – Andraé Crouch & The Disciples – I’m Satisfied – 3:37
5 – Larry Norman – Sweet Song Of Salvation – 3:55
6 – Great Commission Company – Anticipation – 3:05
7 – Danny Lee & The Children Of Truth – Spread A Little Love Around – 2:56
8 – Connie Smith – Plenty Of Time – 4:13
9 – Forerunners – Lord – 2:44
10 – Willa Dorsey – I Have The Joy In My Soul – 2:45
11 – Love Song – A Love Song (Narration Of I Corinthians 13) – 5:40
12 – The Speer Family – The King Is Coming – 3:48

Mastedon – It’s a Jungle Out There – 1989

Mastedon was a studio project by John & Dino Elefante. The fact that they were dabbling in heavy metal right at the end of the 80’s kind of surprises me but then again it shows their versatility and their love of all styles of music. The “Band” were basically a bunch of high quality studio musicians. John & Dino Elefante both played on the album but left lead vocals to David Robbins who was also the vocalist on the 1989 X-Sinner album “Get It”, another Elefante project. John & Dino Elefante also wrote all of the tracks with the exception of the lyrics on “Shine On” written by Petra’s Bob Hartman. The album is a pretty high quality metal album but some tracks lean more Hard Rock. Most of the Metal songs have a commercial Metal Pop song. My final thought on this album is that it’s pretty good and I look forward to listening their album from 1990.

Tracklist
1 – It’s A Jungle Out There – 3:54
2 – Glory Bound – 4:17
3 – This Is The Day – 4:14
4 – Love Inhalation – 4:39
5 – Islands In The Sky – 3:42
6 – Get Up – 4:00
7 – Love That Will Survive – 4:02
8 – Innocent Girl – 3:42
9 – Shine On – 4:24
10 – Right Hand – 6:05

Credits
Backing Vocals – Dave Amato, Dino Elefante, John Elefante
Bass – Dino Elefante, Jimmy “Flim” Johnson, John Pierce
Drums – David Raven, John Elefante, Phil Rowland
Engineer [Additional] – Ben Rodgers
Engineer [Assistant] – Jeff Simmons
Engineer, Mixed By – Dino Elefante, John Elefante, Mike Mierau
Fretless Bass – John Patitucci (tracks: 9)
Illustration – Robert Fischer
Keyboards – John Elefante
Lead Guitar – Dave “Pittsy” Amato
Lead Vocals – Dave Amato (tracks: 2, 4, 10), Dave Robbins (tracks: 1, 3, 5, 6), Perry Lee (tracks: 4, 8)
Lyrics By – Bob Hartman (tracks: 9)
Mastered By – Steve Hall
Music By – Dino Elefante (tracks: 9), John Elefante (tracks: 9)
Producer – Dino Elefante, John Elefante
Rhythm Guitar – Dino Elefante
Vocals – Dave Robbins
Written-By – Dino Elefante (tracks: 1-8, 10), John Elefante (tracks: 1-8, 10)

Companies, etc.
Distributed By – R.E.X. Music Inc.
Copyright (c) – Regency Music
Phonographic Copyright (p) – Regency Music
Mastered At – Future Disc
Recorded At – Pakaderm Studios
Recorded At – Pack’s Place
Pressed By – Disc Manufacturing, Inc., Huntsville – 27581

Sheila Walsh – Future Eyes – 1981

This is the first solo album from Sheila Walsh. She had previously in a band called “Oasis” who had 4 albums in the 70’s. The UK release was on Chapel Records in 81 with 9 tracks. The US version was released in 1993 with some changes. On the US version Several tracks were remixed by adding more guitar, removing some synthesizers, and adding some different background vocals. Also “Breaking the Ice” and “He Weeps for Our Tears” were removed while “Burn On” was added. Larry Norman was given co-credit on the US version as producer and did some backgroud vocals. Strangely in 1984 another UK version was released which included “Burn On” which gave the album 11 tracks. The strange part is that it was released on Word records while she was signed to Sparrow records. Anyway, Sheila went on the a long career and I would boldly say she was the UK Amy Grant.

US Version;

UK Version;

Tracklist
1 – Here With Me – 3:37
2 – Burn On – 4:05
3 – Love In My Life – 3:28
4 – Eyes Of A Different Kind – 4:46
5 – You’re So Important To Me – 4:00
6 – Future Eyes – 3:20
7 – Fear Of Silence – 3:40
8 – Back Into The Old Routine – 2:32
9 – Mona Lisa – 3:42

Credits
Vocals – Sheila Walsh
Keyboards, Piano & Arrangements – Chris Rolinson
Drums – Ray Goudie, Colin Vallance, Dave Charles
Bass – Paul Cobbold,
Guitar, Rob Marshal, Norman Barratt, Pete Brooks, Dave Kasak
Piano and Keyboards – Dave Morris
Strings – B Askey, G York, D Haime, CW Green
Producer – Paul Cobbold
Engineer – Paul Cobbold
Executive Producer – Ray Goudie
Arrangment – Chris Rolinson
Recorded at Chapel Lane Studios, Hereford

US Version Additions
Bass – Mark Williamson
Harmonies – Sarah Finch, Larry Norman
Producer – Larry Norman, Norman Miller

Nutshell – Believe It Or Not – 1979

This was the final of 4 albums from Nutshell though a Best of compilation was released in 1981. Ken Scott (Archivist: Vintage Vinyl Jesus Music) described the band as “at their best, as an English version of the American Christian folk group 2nd Chapter of Acts”. I find that a little condescending (though I don’t know if it was meant to be) as the band had some real talent. The album has that late 70’s Jesus music feel and on a couple of tracks I can feel a bit of soul. There is some really good guitar work especially on “Thief In The Night”. This is not a Rock & Roll album and would be classified as Easy Listening but I think it’s pretty good. After this album the band changed their name to ” Network 3″ and released a couple 7″ singles. Several members of the band went on to have successful solo careers and Paul Field in particular also had a successful songwriting career including many songs for Cliff Richard.

Tracklist
1 – Better Take Another Look – 3:41
2 – Empty Page – 5:06
3 – Looking For Love – 3:25
4 – Goin’ Nowhere – 3:53
5 – Redeemed – 3:43
6 – First Stone – 3:25
7 – Night Flight – 4:18
8 – Without Love – 3:32
9 – Hard To Say Goodnight – 3:49
10 – Thief In The Night – 3:55

Credits
Arranged By [Brass Arrangements] – Chris Mercer
Bass – John Gustafson
Brass – Gonzales Brass
Design, Art Direction – Tony Neeves
Drums – Mike Giles*
Electric Guitar – Dave (Diesel) Martin, Kevin Peek Engineer – Roger T. Wake
Percussion – Morris Pert
Photography By – Dawson Strange
Piano, Keyboards – Rod Edwards
Producer, Arranged By – Jon Miller (4), Rod Edwards, Roger Hand
Vocals – Annie McCaig
Vocals, Acoustic Guitar, Piano – Paul Field
Vocals, Arranged By [Vocal Arrangements] – Mo McCafferty

Companies, etc.
Phonographic Copyright (p) – Word (Uk) Ltd.
Copyright (c) – Word (Uk) Ltd.
Copyright (c) – Word Music (UK)
Printed By – Garrod & Lofthouse
Recorded At – Redan Recorders
Pressed By – CBS Pressing Plant, Aston Clinton

White Heart – Don’t Wait For The Movie – 1986

Don’t Wait For The Movie was White Heart’s fourth studio album and the first with with vocalist Rick Florian and drummer Chris McHugh. This was also the first album after lead singer Scott Douglas was arrested, convicted, and jailed for sexual offences. This would have retired most bands but White Heart soldiered on with a new lead vocalist. That vocalist, Rick Florian, was apparently a roadie with the band before being called up to the big leagues. This album had a more commercial light rock sound and some of their fans were disappointed with this new sound. The album dominated the adult CCM tracks with “How Many Times” and “Fly Eagle Fly” both making it to #1 and “Maybe Today” making it to #3. The album lingered on the charts from Sep 86 to June of 87. Pretty impressive.

Tracklist
1 – Read The Book (Don’t Wait For The Movie) – 4:51
2 – Holy Ground – 4:42
3 – Beat Of A Different Drum – 4:17
4 – Fly Eagle Fly – 4:41
5 – Convertibles – 3:43
6 – Let The Children Play (Instrumental) – 1:32
7 – King George – 4:20
8 – No Apology – 4:22
9 – Maybe Today – 4:25
10 – Dr. Jekyll And Mr. Christian – 4:40
11 – How Many Times (Seventy Times Seven) – 4:27

Credits
Art Direction – Buddy Jackson
Artwork By [Hand Tinting] – Mike Drake
Bass, Drum Programming [Linn Programming] – Gary Lunn
Design [Lyric Sheet] – Jim Shanman
Drums, Percussion – Chris McHugh
Edited By – Billy Smiley, Ken Love
Engineer – Brent King
Engineer [Second] – David Pierce
Guitar, Lead Guitar, Sitar, Vocals – Gordon Kennedy
Keyboards, Vocals, Trombone – Mark Gersmehl
Lead Vocals – Ric Florian
Mastered By – Hank Williams
Photography By – Mark Tucker
Producer – Billy Smiley, White Heart
Programmed By [Keyboard Programming] – Tommy Greer
Vocals, Keyboards, Guitar, Trumpet – Billy Smiley

Companies, etc.
Phonographic Copyright (p) – The Sparrow Corporation
Recorded At – Center Stage Studio
Overdubbed At – Center Stage Studio
Mixed At – Mastermix
Mastered At – Mastermix
Published By – Word Music
Published By – Hall-Clement Publications
Published By – Yellow Jacket Music, Inc.
Published By – Welk Music Group
Published By – Birdwing Music
Published By – Kid And The Squid Music
Published By – White Heart Publishing

Idle Cure – Idle Cure – 1986

In the mid/late 80’s metal bands were all the rage in CCM. Unfortunately many just didn’t quite have it quite yet but CCM labels were begging for the genre. Along come Idle Cure and they were tight and ready for the market. Their sound was a but of Def Leppard, a bit of Van Halen, and maybe even Bon Jovi. Feel free to completely disagree with me. Personally I don’t really classify them as metal but instead hard rock or metal pop. The metal pop sound was very well received and quite frankly this is not my style of music but I love this album. While I researched the band I found it interesting that drummer Dave Spurr had previously played with Phil Keaggy and other worship oriented bands, wow what a shift. Breakaway and Come Alive are on regular rotation on my personal mp3 playlist.

 

Track Listing
1 – Breakaway – 4:00
2 – Silent Hope – 4:05
3 – Take It – 4:41
4 – Feeling the Heat – 4:15
5 – Come Back to Me – 4:07
6 – Overdrive – 4:33
7 – From the Heart – 5:01
8 – Come Alive – 4:24

Credits
Mark Ambrose – Composer, Guitar, Keyboards, Vocals
Bill Baumgart – Composer, Keyboards, Producer, Vocals, Engineer, Producer
Allison Beech – Vocals
Tim Browne – Guitar
Terrence Elliot – Guitar
Michael Hamilton – Guitar
Tim Heintz – Keyboards
Marc Hugenberger – Keyboards
Chuck King – Composer, Guitar, Vocals
Pete Lomakin – Composer, Keyboards, Vocals
Eric Marienthal – Saxophone
Steve Shannon – Bass, Composer, Vocals
Bob Somma – Guitar
Dave Spurr – Drums
Ed McTaggart – Art Direction, Design
Dave Jahnsen – Engineer [Assistant]
Kirt Shearer – Engineer [Assistant]
Jeff Foster – Illustration
Linda Dillon Baley – Photography

Rev Counta & The Speedoze – Life Begins At Thirty – 1980

This is yet another project from Ishmael (Ishmael United). It follows in the footsteps of Ishmael’s usual style which was fun/punk/reggae/rockabilly. Yea good luck in categorizing this album. Personally I categorize it as fun. Ishmael actually re-released this album along with Ishmael United as a single CD set. This album was a real treat for me when I found it as Ishmael United is one of my favourite albums and I had no idea there was more. In fact there are a few more albums, Ishmael never really used the same band name twice. For those who don’t know Ishmael has gone on to release over 20 very popular Christian children’s albums.

Tracklist
1 – All Mixed Up
2 – Love So Great
3 – Motex
4 – Hell Ain’t For Heroes
5 – For What We’re About To Receive
6 – Dr Heckle & Mr Snide
7 – Marksman
8 – No Coincidence
9 – 2 Years On A Camel (Full Of Eastern Promise)
10 – Every Circus Needs A Strongman
11 – Marmite Sandwiches
12 – Ferguson’s Mule
13 – Miss Us
14 – Wot A Life

Mike Warnke – Hey Doc! – 1978

Mike gets on stage to bring some Christian humour and talking about his service in Vietnam. Though dated I still find this album quite humorous.

It should be noted that Warnke was revealed as a liar and fraudster in 1991 by Cornerstone magazine. This recording is offered as a historic record of what was being listened to in the Christian community in the late 70’s and early 80’s.

Credits
Cover [Concept] – Dennis Hill
Cover [Design] – Charles Wallis, Inc., Patrick Pollei, Roger Sanders
Management – Dharma Artist Agency, Inc., Wes Yoder
Narrator – Mike Warnke
Photography By – John Miller
Producer – Mike Blanton*, Wes Yoder
Recorded By – Malcolm Harper

Companies, etc.
Published By – Warbird Publishing Company
Recorded At – Century II Concert Hall, Wichita, KS
Recorded By – Reelsound
Edited At – Studio 1, Nashville, TN
Edited At – Reelsound
Record Company – Word, Inc.
Copyright (c) – Warbird Publishing Company
Phonographic Copyright (p) – Warbird Publishing Company

Vengeance Rising – Human Sacrifice – 1988

Originally known as Vengeance they had to change their name to Vengeance Rising due to a name conflict with a band from the Netherlands. This album used the name Vengeance for the first 1000 pressing but subsequent pressing used Vengeance Rising. The band constantly had different members and the only regular member was Roger Martinez. Martinez has since claimed to be a Satanist and then an atheist and actually plans to release atheist/satanist albums using the same band name. It has been surmised that he was actually never a Christian and was just in it for the shock value. As such this is the only album that Real 80s CCM will release by this band/person. I’m not a fan of thrash metal as a whole but really this album isn’t even good as Thrash metal. The whole popularity of the album was the shocking style which was new to CCM music. Quite frankly if you want to listen to Thrash Metal try listening to The Lead, they are much better at it.

Tracklist
1 – Human Sacrifice – 2:42
2 – Burn – 3:52
3 – Mulligan Stew – 3:00
4 – Receive Him – 0:06
5 – I Love Hating Evil – 3:58
6 – Fatal Delay – 3:18
7 – White Throne – 3:09
8 – Salvation – 0:16
9 – From The Dead – 4:37
10 – Ascension – 5:24
11 – He Is God – 0:53
12 – Fill This Place With Blood – 2:53
13 – Beheaded – 3:13

Credits
Art Direction – Atticus Farlow, Farlow Lark
Artwork [Cover Art Make Up & Special Effects] – Christopher Keene
Bass – Roger Martin
Drums – Glen Mancaruso
Engineer [Neverland Studios] – Dave Hackbarth
Engineer [Sutton Place] – Jason Brown, Robert Feist
Guitar – Doug Theime, Larry Farkas
Mixed By – Ron Goudie
Photography By [Back Photos] – Nar, Ruby Michael
Photography By [Cover] – Nar
Producer – Caesar Kalinowski
Vocals – Roger Martinez

Companies, etc.
Published By – Broken Songs
Phonographic Copyright (p) – Intense Records
Copyright (c) – Intense Records
Glass Mastered At – Nimbus, Virginia

The Archers – All Systems Are Go – 1984

The Archers took a break from making albums 81 – 84 reportedly because Steve was off doing the solo thing. Strangely in the middle of his solo career he returned to the family to do this album. The Archers “80’d” it up for this album with an album cover that best displayed my personal clothing choices of that year. Yea looking back not so stylish. Janice turned up the 80’s hair and was probably entirely responsible for me listening to this album in 1984. Anyway they turned up John Andrew Schreiner’s keyboards to 11 in an effort so seem a little more with the times. But in the end they were the same Archers the world had come to love and as such the album sold very well. As far as the charts “Heaven In Your Eyes” charted at #2 and “All Systems Are Go” made it to #33. Very respectable numbers but don’t be fooled by the 80’s look, the album is still The Archers that you love or hate.

Tracklist
1 – All Systems Are Go – 4:09
2 – What’s It Gonna Take? – 4:24
3 – Heaven In Your Eyes – 4:00
4 – Get Ready, Get Right – 4:10
5 – My Hope – 4:22
6 – Walk Like He Walks – 3:42
7 – Winnin’ Again – 4:26
8 – Don’t Let It – 3:22
9 – Every Good And Perfect Gift – 6:28

Credits
Arranged By, Keyboards – Herb Jamerson
Art Direction – Kernie Erickson
Bass – James Jamison
Cover – Bob Payne (2)
Drums – Lee Kicks
Executive-Producer, Management – Tim Archer
Guitar – Bob Somma
Keyboards – John Andrew Schreiner
Mastered By – Bernie Grundman
Percussion – Joe Lala
Photography By – Craig Incardone
Producer – Steve Archer, Tim Archer
Producer, Engineer – Skip Konte
Saxophone – Albert Wing

Companies, etc.
Phonographic Copyright (p) – Straight Ahead Productions (2)
Recorded At – Front Page Studios