1980 – Page 2 – Real 80s CCM

James Felix – White As Snow – 1980

James was a member of supergroup Psalm 150. Of course that supergroup only had one album so to keep the numbers similar this is James only album also. But that said James’s fingerprints are all over the CCM industry. After Psalm 150 he played on several Andrae Crouch albums as well as a studio musician on several other albums. In fact he was very busy throughout the 70’s. He has also written many hit’s for artists and is still working in the industry as recently as 2019 at the age of 68. James really is one of the unsung hero’s of the CCM industry. As for this album it’s a great soul album and very well produced. To be honest I’m very surprised this was his only album as he obviously has a ton of talent.

Tracklist
1 – I Really Love You – 4:05
2 – That’s What It Takes – 3:41
3 – White As Snow – 5:10
4 – Open Up – 4:18
5 – He Is Coming Back Again – 4:15
6 – The Light Of His Love – 5:17
7 – I Don’t Want Much – 4:43
8 – I’ve Been Runnin’ Too Long – 5:10
9 – He’s All That – 3:56
10 – Let’s Reach Out – 3:52

Credits
Backing Vocals – Charity McCrary, Howard McCrary, Kristle Murden, Linda McCrary
Bass, Guitar – Hadley Hockensmith
Bass, Guitar, Backing Vocals, Arranged By – James Felix
Drums, Producer, Arranged By – Bill Maxwell
Organ – Mike Escalante
Percussion – Alex Acuña
Piano, Arranged By – Lou Pardini
Saxophone – Steve Tavaglione
Synthesizer – Larry Williams
Trumpet – Allen Gregory, Fletch Wiley

Companies, etc.
Record Company – Lexicon Music, Inc.

Famous Names – Venetian Blinds – 1980

The band here is actually Writz but they had to do a name change for their U.S. release due to a conflicting band name. Now everything after this is up for debate as I’ve read a few different stories of how this album came to be. Apparently some time in 1981 Bev Sage and Steve Fairnie joined up with David Hewson to form the Techno Twins. Apparently this album had been recorded but not mixed or even accepted by the record company. There’s some back biting and accusations involved but I’m not going to repeat them. Simply enough I will explain it as, it’s Rock & Roll. Anyway apparently Steve Rowles had possession of the album and it found it’s way on to the internet. I tend to believe that this is a pre-production mix as it just has that feel. Anyway if you liked Writz then this should be a treat for you. I really liked it but it does suffer from a poor mix but who cares, it’s bonus music.

Tracklist
1 – Muscle Culture II – 4:11
2 – Observation – 3:58
3 – Techno Refugee – 4:18
4 – Blind Girl – 6:37
5 – Jack’s Party – 3:19
6 – Change – 3:43
7 – Venetian Blinds – 4:54
8 – Dance On – 3:21
9 – Boy – 4:10
10 – Pain – 3:57

Donn Thomas – Live Wires – 1980

I really can’t find much about Donn. This was his first album but he had to have done some work before this. His singing style is very similar to Andraé Crouch and he would have fit in perfectly with that group of singers but I can’t find any record of him working with them. So that leaves us with this his first album and what a great album it is. Soul is not really my preferred genre but even I can appreciate how great this album is. The album contains the song “A Shield About Me” which has been covered many times but probably the most significant a cover by Tom Howard in 1985. Something rather odd is that we were searching for this album and we found several copies. They were all in horrible condition. I suspect that is was a poor pressing as that’s a little too coincidental.

Tracklist
1 – Live Wires – 3:57
2 – God’s Love (Is What The World Needs) – 4:04
3 – Not Now Doesn’t Mean Never – 4:17
4 – Walking With My Father – 4:32
5 – Oh My Livin’ Brother – 5:14
6 – Soul’d Out – 3:13
7 – A Shield About Me – 2:19
8 – Can’t Make It Without You, Lord – 4:34
9 – You Got Me Through – 4:22
10 – Soul’d Out – Reprise – 1:23

Credits
Alto Saxophone – Dave Boruff
Backing Vocals – Bob Carlisle, Carol Rogers, Denise Hunt, Donn Thomas, Elicesia Wright, Lillian Tynes, Steve Hunt
Design Concept [Cover Concept] – Garry Whitlock, Harry Langdon
Design, Layout – Dennis Hill
Engineer [2nd] [Davlen] – Ernie Sheesley, Jeff Borgeson, Steve Crimmel
Flute – Dave Boruff, Jim Coile
Lead Vocals – Donn Thomas
Mastered By – Steve Hall
Mixed By – Bill Bottrell
Photography By – Harry Langdon
Producer, Arranged By – David Diggs
Recorded By – Christopher Banninger
Strings – Doug Cameron String Section
Tenor Saxophone – Gary Herbig, Jim Coile
Trombone – Alan Kaplan, Bill Reichenbach
Trumpet – Charles Davis, Danny Ackerman, Jerry Hey, Terry Winch

Companies, etc.
Phonographic Copyright ℗ – Word, Inc.
Copyright © – Word, Inc.
Published By – Spoone Music Corp.
Published By – Word Music (2)
Recorded At – Davlen Sound Studios
Mixed At – Sound Castle Recorders, Los Angeles
Mastered At – MCA Whitney Recording Studios

Solid Air – Take A Little Interest – 1980

In my quest to find all things Iva Twydell I stumbled across this album that he produced. This is essentially the band that backed Iva on his “Secret Service” album. This is the only album we got from these guys though there was another UK band with the same name who released another album in 1986 but none of the members were the same. Anyway this is a great Pop album that definitely feels like ATF and or Iva Twydell in many spots. It’s another one I would have loved to have heard in the 80’s but I missed it due to it’s UK only release.

Tracklist
1 – King’s Business
2 – Open Door
3 – Misty Skies
4 – Smiling People
5 – Speak To Me
6 – Prayer
7 – Feet On Solid Ground
8 – City Of Gold
9 – Sleep In Your Eyes
10 – What Can I Do For You?
11 – Countdown
12 – Take A Little Interest

Credits
Backing Vocals, Producer – Iva Twydell
Guitar, Vocals – Andy Balmer
Synthesizer, Piano, Vocals – Dave Balmer
Drums, Backin]g Vocals, Art – Tim Burgess
Bass, Crowd Vocals – Pete Dillet
Engineer – Bryan Smith

Companies, etc.
Label – Rio Records, BANANA 500, Banana Records

After The Fire – 80-f – 1980

This album has a bit of an interesting backstory. Before this album Ivor Twidell left the band to work on a solo project and the band had Nick Brotherwood (Alwyn Wall Band) step in on drums. They recorded it at Utopia Studios and Tony Mansfield mixed and produced the album. It was presented and subsequently rejected by CBS records. CBS sent them back to a studio in Germany with ex-Fly’s drummer Peter King and producer Reinhold Mack. They reworked the album dropping 4 tracks and added 3, Wild West Show, Why Can’t We Be Friends, and Joanne. Somehow in all this confusion Epic Records ended up releasing the newly recorded album. Now here’s where it gets really interesting. In 1982 after the band had split Epic released a compilation album but used the Nick Brotherwood versions of Love Will Always Make You Cry, Starflight, and 1980-F. Anyway now I’ll give my opinion of the album. Bottom line CBS wrecked it. The 3 tracks they added are the 3 weakest tracks on the album. I have heard bits and pieces of Tony Mansfield’s production it was far superior. Tony knew the sound the band was trying to achieve and was able to mix it to that sound. Instead this album is poorly mixed and produced by Reinhold Mack and completely misses what the band was trying to record. Unfortunately I can only assume this didn’t help the morale of the band and probably contributed to the band splitting in 1982. ON a high note the album has one of the greatest songs of all time “Who’s Gonna Love You When You’re Old And Fat And Ugly?”

Tracklist
1 – 1980-F – 2:32
2 – Love Will Always Make You Cry – 3:30
3 – Can You Face It? – 3:15
4 – Who’s Gonna Love You (When You’re Old And Fat And Ugly?) – 4:05
5 – Starflight – 4:13
6 – Wild West Show – 3:30
7 – Billy, Billy – 4:40
8 – It’s High Fashion – 3:07
9 – Why Can’t We Be Friends? – 2:46
10 – Joanne – 4:10

Credits
Bass, Vocals – Andy Piercy
Drums – Pete King
Engineer – Pete Hammond
Guitar, Backing Vocals – John Russell
Mastered By – Kevin Metcalf
Producer [Backing Track] – Tony Mansfield
Producer, Mixed By, Engineer – Reinhold Mack
Synthesizer, Backing Vocals – Peter “Memory” Banks

Companies, etc.
Phonographic Copyright ℗ – CBS Records
Produced At – Utopia Studios
Mixed At – Utopia Studios
Engineered At – Utopia Studios
Published By – Heath Levy Music Co. Ltd.

Tom Karlson – Living on the Edge – 1980

I seriously can not find a single piece of information about Tom Karlson. I can honestly say that this is the first time I have found absolutely nothing about an artist. So all we can talk about is the album itself. It’s a seventies style light rock album with a couple real rock tunes on it. I can hear a little early Larry on a few tracks but for the main part Tom makes this album his own. The album does have help from Benny Hester and Rick Crawford so this wasn’t a completely unknown project. The jacket is horrendous and does not let you know in any way that this is a rock album. There is zero chance we would have bought this in the day with that cover unless it was promoted as a rock album. It would appear it wasn’t promoted because I’ve never heard of it and I can’t find anyone else that ever heard of it either. That said it’s a pretty good album and I fully suggest giving it a listen.

Tracklist
1 – Take ‘Em – 3:52
2 – Questions – 3:53
3 – Look For Love – 4:07
4 – Yesterday, Today, Forever – 4:54
5 – Living On The Edge – 3:40
6 – Service To The Son – 3:24
7 – Dead End Street – 3:55
8 – If I Love You – 3:18
9 – Right Thru The Heart – 3:21

Credits
Gary Arthur – Bass
Bubba Chambers – Background Vocals
Rick Crawford – Background Vocals
Benny Hester – Arrangements, Background Vocals
Greg Jerden – Engineer
Tom Karlson – Songwriter, Acoustic Guitar, Vocals
Jeff Lams – Keyboards
Jerry McPherson – Electric Guitar
Paul Mills – Assistant Engineer, Synthesizer
John Parenti – Percussion
Brian Tankersley – Producer, Engineer, Electric Guitar, Background Vocals
Rick Thigpen – Assistant Engineer
Bobby Walzel – Saxaphone
John Wickham – Electric Guitar

After The Fire – Radio Sessions 1979 – 1981 – 2009

Apparently After The Fire played 3 years in a row at the BBC Paris Theatre, London, England. Luckily these appearances were recorded but they stayed on a shelf somewhere until Angel Air Records released them in 2009. You can buy the CD on their website below. ATF were an excellent live band and this is a great release. Thank you Angel Air Records.

http://www.angelair.co.uk/?tcp_product=after-the-fire-radio-sessions-1979-1981

1 – Joy – 3:17
2 – A Little Sun, A Little Rain – 3:11
3 – Laser Love – 3:05
4 – Time To Think – 3:31
5 – One Rule For You – 3:15
6 – Suspended Animation – 4:52
7 – Check It Out – 3:06
8 – Like The Power Of A Jet – 2:50
1980 In Concert
9 – Laser Love – 3:26
10 – Life In The City – 4:04
11 – Can You Face It? – 3:50
12 – Who’s Gonna Love You? – 4:14
13 – Billy Billy – 6:07
1981 In Concert
14 – Frozen Rivers – 4:06
15 – Dancing In The Shadows – 2:53
16 – Sailing Ship – 3:39
17 – Bright Lights – 4:09
18 – Take Me Higher – 7:06
19 – Starlight – 5:03

David And The Giants – Almost Midnight – 1980

While this is David & The Giants 4th Christian album it’s the one where I started listening and in my opinion is there best album. It has the original version of “Almost Midnight” which is much better than the 1985 remake which is probably the better known version. This album also welcomed back Keith Thibodeaux on drums. He was the original drummer for the band but left during their Christian transition but he’s back and you can tell as on this album I think the band was much tighter. A bit of trivia about Keith is that he played “Little Ricky” on the I Love Lucy show. Anyway here’s a great rock album that was perfectly timed for 1980.

Tracklist
1 – Almost Midnight – 2:55
2 – Keep On Keeping On – 3:47
3 – Keep On Singing My Song – 2:45
4 – Thank You Lord (For Coming Into My Heart) – 3:12
5 – Upper Room Experience (Recorded Live) – 6:02
6 – The Well (Will Never Run Dry) – 4:32
7 – Ten Miles High – 2:22
8 – Borrowed Time – 5:48
9 – Holy Rain (Recorded Live) – 5:15
10 – Daddy – 4:30

Credits
Bass, Backing Vocals – Clayborn Huff
Cover – Jim Paris
Drums – Keith Thibodeaux
Engineer – David Huff, David Yelveton (tracks: A5,B4), Rayborn Huff
Guitar, Mandolin, Piano, Vocals – David Huff
Harmonica – Lance Appleton
Organ, Synthesizer [Arp Quadra, Poly Korg], Strings [String Ensemble], Backing Band – Rayborn Huff
Piano, Synthesizer [Quadra], Backing Vocals – Gerald Hagan
Producer – David And The Giants
Written-By – Clayborn Huff, David Huff, Rayborn Huff

Companies, etc.
Recorded At – Huff Studios

Thomas Steven Smith – Fresh Start – 1980

This is the third album for Thomas Steven Smith who released his first 2 albums using his nickname Moose Smith. Strangely for an artist with 4 albums I really can’t find much about him. There are a few notes around the interwebs of people who saw him in concert saying how great he was but that’s about all I can find. So let’s talk about the album. It has a great 70’s sound and feel. It’s not particularly my style but there’s a couple tracks I quite liked. “You’ve Gotta Hear It To Believe It” is a great rock tune that deserves to be heard and “Loco Boy Made Good” also had a great seventies rock sound. I’m looking forward to hearing his other albums as there is some real talent here. It is absolutely the wrong cover for the album but it does have a cool 3d effect which makes it stand out.

Tracklist
1 – Love Will Find A Way – 3:28
2 – And When All Is Said And Done – 2:50
3 – Holy, Holy, Holy – 2:39
4 – Loco Boy Made Good – 3:50
5 – Anything Worth Doin’ Is Worth Doin’ Right – 3:57
6 – There Is A Way – 4:07
7 – Turn Around And See – 2:46
8 – Fresh Start – 3:26
9 – One Song – 4:04
10 – You’ve Gotta Hear It To Believe It – 3:03

Credits
Art Direction – Michael Harris Design
Engineer – Brian Tankersley, Paul Mills
Executive-Producer – Phil Brower
Horn [Arrangements] – Fletch Wiley
Photography By – Michael Borum
Producer – Fletch Wiley
Synthesizer [Programming] – Paul Mills

Glad – Beyond A Star – 1980

Glad was, for a time, one of the most influential and important groups in Christian Music. An incredibly high standard of quality, interesting and creative arrangements and some of, if not the best, harmonies in CCM history. After their debut showed a much more “progressive” rock and jazz influence, Beyond a star would carry their original form into the 1980’s with more pop and the introduction of the a capella vocal style they would later by primarily known for. Though less progressive than their debut the album still contain several classic influences such as the Yes sounding “Away” and a touch of the 2nd Chapter of acts on “Sing a New Song.” “Iron Sharpens Iron” has a Steely Dan or Alan Parsons Project feel. The opening track, “The Reason” would introduce the a capella vocal style that would end of being the trademark for the band through much the 1980’s. In fact, their biggest selling album would be the firs “A Capella Project,” going gold and beyond. This would not have been possible without the perfect combination of voices the band possessed. Many members are still actively involved in music, most notable Bob Kauflin, who is spearheading a great modern worship label based on more doctrinally solid lyrical content than what is found in most of today’s worship music.

Contributor – David Lowman https://ccms500bestalbums.wordpress.com/

Tracklist
1 – The Reason – 1:50
2 – Take A Stand – 3:32
3 – Beyond A Star – 3:49
4 – Away – 4:11
5 – Sing A New Song – 3:37
6 – Iron Sharpens Iron – 3:36
7 – Lying – 3:25
8 – Lonely Love – 4:31
9 – It Is Good – 4:54
10 – Pierce My Ear – 3:19

Credits
Arranged By [Special Assistance, Strings & Horns] – Dan Wolgemuth
Arranged By [Strings & Horns] – Bob Kauflin, Ed Nalle
Arranged By [Vocals] – Bob Kauflin
Booking – Logsdon Associates
Design [Art Design] – Michael Harris
Drums – Brad Currie, Mark Farley, Roger Clark
Electric Guitar – John Goin
Engineer – Brown Bannister, Skip Plant
Executive-Producer – Michael Blanton
Flugelhorn – George Tidwell
Mastered By – Larry Nix
Photography By [Back Cover] – Mimi Roth Mandel
Photography By [Front Cover] – Michael Borum
Producer – Brown Bannister, Ed Nalle
Saxophone – Billy Puett, Dennis Solee
Strings – The Shelly Kurland Strings
Trombone – Dennis Good
Trumpet – Don Sheffield
Vocals, Acoustic Guitar, Electric Guitar – Jim Gheen
Vocals, Bass [Alembic] – Don Nalle
Vocals, Electric Guitar – John Bolles, Wayne Farley
Vocals, Keyboards – Bob Kauflin
Vocals, Percussion – Ed Nalle

Companies, etc.
Record Company – Word, Inc.
Recorded At – King’s Place
Recorded At – Gold Mine Studio
Mixed At – Gold Mine Studio
Mastered At – Ardent Studios
Pressed By – Monarch Record Mfg. Co.
Phonographic Copyright ℗ – Word, Inc.
Copyright © – Word, Inc.
Copyright © – Word Music, Inc.
Copyright © – Dayspring Music
Copyright © – Organon Key Music
Published By – Dayspring Music
Published By – Word Music, Inc.
Published By – Organon Key Music