Tag: 1980

Little Bobby Emmons And The Crosstones – I Remember – 1980

This album has a bit of an odd history. I was produced by Larry Norman for his label, Phydeaux Records. It was recorded at Emmaus Sound Studio in New Jersey. As the story goes it was then mixed by Larry back in California. Then for some reason 3 songs, What Are You Doing, I Remember, and Sometimes I Run were later remixed by Mark Heard. The distribution for the album is also strange. It was supposed to be a mail order only record from Solid Rock records yet several people have stated that they bought it in a record store so I don’t know what’s correct. Anyway on to the album. This is a 50’s album with tons of doo-wop with Christian lyrics. At times this combination sounds a little odd but for the main part it works well.

Tracklist
1 – Malt Shop In The Sky – 1:36
2 – Oh Jesus – 1:59
3 – You – 2:06
4 – I Remember – 2:13
5 – Sometimes I Run – 2:14
6 – Doreen – 2:25
7 – We’re Gonna Rock – 1:30
8 – I’m So Thankful – 1:55
9 – If God Didn’t Care – 2:18
10 – I Love You – 2:19
11 – The Lord – 2:39
12 – What Are You Doing – 2:07
13 – I Saw You – 3:29

Credits
Vocals – Bobby Emmons, Fred Pope, Terri DeLorenzo, Mary Grace Shar, Josh Shar
Musicians – Terri DeLorenzo, Bobby Emmons, Janet Pope, Fred Pope, Tom Pope, Mike Nicolose, Peggy Andreev, Richie Malfitano.
Executive-Producer – Larry Norman
Producer, Arranged By – Fred Pope, Bob Emmons

Companies, etc.
Recorded At – Emmaus Sound Studio

Mark Williamson Band – Get The Drift – 1980

This is the first album from the Mark Williamson Band who you may also know as LYRIX. Several tracks from this album were released in the United States on Larry Norman’s record label using the name LYRIX and the album name “Songs From The Earth”. That said this album is a much better mix as apparently Larry remixed the album for his own release and most people agree that this is a much better mix. Larry wasn’t exactly known for his production prowess. Back to the album, this is a great Rock and Roll album that still has a flavour of the 70’s on it. It’s definitely one of my favourite 70’s to 80’s transition album.

Tracklist
1 – Midnight Diamond – 4:08
2 – All Very Well – 4:56
3 – Junior – 2:55
4 – Somebody Told Me – 5:00
5 – So Far So Good – 3:46
6 – Dance – 3:23
7 – Don’t Turn Your Back On – 3:21
8 – Feelin’ Alright – 3:58
9 – Rising – 4:00
10 – I Would Have Listened – 5:46

Jerusalem – Volume 2 (Volym 2) – 1980

This second effort from pioneering Swedish CCM rockers Jerusalem is just as good as the first, which is not an easy feat in the music biz. The style and tracks and tenacity are all consistent here from the first album.

Once again there were parallel version in Swedish and English for this album. The English translations were still struggling a bit on this record, which is a problem that seemed to be solved in later albums.

Similar to expressions from volume 1 like “Jesus, He is the most fantastic / that happened to my life” convey the right meaning but leave the listener with the knowledge that this is something different. It’s Swedish rock. No meaning is lost, and when you let go, it’s even a lot of fun just to run with it. Volume 2’s “Dialogue (between one person)” would probably have been titled “Soliloquy” if it were written in England, but this is some good rock’n’roll so we don’t really care.

Scroll down for the Swedish Release

Tracklist
1 – Wake Up – 5:35
2 – Rock-N-Roll! – 4:19
3 – Love Song – 3:38
4 – Gethsemane – 3:45
5 – I Depend On You, Jesus – 4:41
6 – Introduction – 8:04
7 – Dialogue (Between One Person) – 4:30
8 – By By World – 5:30
9 – A Flower – 4:11

Credits
Artwork By – Anders Buhlund
Bass – Anders Mossberg
Drums, Percussion – Klas Anderhell
Engineer – Boje Lundberg
Music By – Dan Tibell (tracks: B2)
Photography – Labe Alwlwin
Photography [Front] – Lennart Dannstedt
Piano, Organ, Synthesizer [Moog] – Dan Tibell
Producer – Swante Bengtsson
Vocals, Guitar, Written-By – Ulf Christiansson

Companies, etc.
Phonographic Copyright (p) – Prim Records
Copyright (c) – Prim Records
Distributed By – The Benson Company, Inc.
Engineered At – Supreme Studio
Mastered At – Masterfonics
Printed By – General Printing AB

Swedish Release

Tracklist
1 – Pass På – 5:35
2 – Bara Rock ‘N’ Roll – 4:19
3 – Kärlekssång – 3:38
4 – Getsemane – 3:45
5 – Jag Behöver Dej – 4:41
6 – Introduktion – 8:04
7 – Dialog – 4:30
8 – Ajöss Med Dej Värld – 5:30
9 – Jag Vill Ge Dej En Blomma – 4:15

Resurrection Band – Colours – 1980

This was the third album from Resurrection Band and the first on Light Records. The move to Light Records shocked a lot of people as the label was known for easy listening and worship music. This release changed that up in a rather abrupt manner. This was the only release from Resurrection Band that did not have any keyboards so many consider it a true Rock & Roll album. Resurrection Band continued their social conscience writing on this album especially with “N.Y.C.”, “Beggar in the Alleyway”, and “American Dream”. The album was very well received and many count this as their favourite Resurrection Band album. It is unknown why they chose the European spelling for the title “Colours”

Tracklist
1 – Autograph – 4:02
2 – Colours – 4:59
3 – N.Y.C. 3:23
4 – Hidden Man – 2:49
5 – Amazing – 2:22
6 – American Dream – 3:21
7 – Benny And Sue – 3:54
8 – City Streets – 3:23
9 – Beggar In The Alleyway – 3:57
10 – The Struggle – 3:47

Credits
Bass – Jim Benton
Cover [Album Cover Concept] – JPUSA Graphics
Cover [Outside Cover Art] – Dick Randall
Drums – John Herrin
Engineer – Tom Hanson
Engineer [Assistant] – Mike Szarzynski, Roger Heiss0
Engineer, Mixed By [Mix-Down] – Phil Bonanno
Guitar [Solos] – Glenn Kaiser (tracks: 1, 4, 5, 8)
Guitar, Guitar [Solos] – Stu Heiss
Photography – Tom Fjelstad
Producer, Mixed By [Mix-Down] – Resurrection Band
Vocals – Wendi Kaiser
Vocals, Guitar – Glenn Kaiser

Phil Keaggy – Ph’lip Side – 1980 / 1982

Ph’lip Side generally doesn’t get a lot of mention by fans but it honestly deserves to.

The set up of the album is novel in that one side is acoustic guitar and the other electric. The album jacket represents this by having an acoustic guitar on one side and an electric on the other. A novel approach and idea for an album which I like.

Keaggy’s guitar work is flawless as usual and this album gives us examples of his varying styles. The original album was released in 1980 and then re-released in 1982 with a substitute song as well as the order being changed. The 1982 release has stickers on the jacket to represent the changes. Piece of trivia – Greg X. Volz and Matthew Ward both do some backing vocals on this album.

Playlist Includes “Send Out Your Light” courtesy of Elisha Belcher

Track Listing:
1 – Just A Moment Away – 4:00
2 – Sunday School – 4:32
3 – A Royal Commandment – 5:46
4 – Pulling Down – 5:28
5 – A Child (In Everyone’s Heart) – 3:55
6 – Little Ones – 4:27
7 – Spend My Life With You – 4:13
8 – I Belong To You – 4:10
9 – In Your Keep – 3:28

Credits:
Backing Vocals – Dan Collins, Greg X. Volz, Jamie Owens-Collins, Matthew Ward (2)
Bass [Electric Synthisized] – Leon Gaer
Coordinator [Production] – B. Charlyne Hinesley
Drums – Paul Leim
Electric Guitar, Acoustic Guitar – Phil Keaggy
Engineer – Jack Joseph Puig
Percussion – Alex Acuña
Piano, Piano [Rhodes], Synthesizer – Richard Souther
Producer – Dan Collins, Phil Keaggy

The Cynics – Beat The Cynics – 1980

The Cynics were a band out of Fairbanks Alaska who recorded, mixed, produced, and distributed their own EP.

It’s your standard early 80’s Rock and Roll sound that with better production would have been successful in my opinion.

However professional production does not come cheap and is all but impossible to get on a self funded album. Other than that I know nothing about this band.

Track Listing:
1 – Gas Riot
2 – American Economics
3 – Rock Apocalypse
4 – Fools In Hell

Credits:
Producer – The Cynics
Written-By – Pasillas, States

Daniel Amos – Horrendous Disc – 1980

The album Horrendous Disc by Daniel Amos was a very popular early 80’s CCM album.

While it was released in 1981 it has a strong mid 70’s sound. The reason for this is that it was actually recorded in 1978. It was rejected by Maranatha Music and ended up in the hands of Solid Rock Records.

For reasons only known to Larry Norman (owner of Solid Rock at the time) it was not released until 1981. It played a part in a messy situation that ended up with Daniel Amos at Newpax Records.

All that said it was a well received album with the single “I Love You #19” still very popular.

Track Listing:
1 – I Love You #19 – 3:33
2 – Hound Of Heaven – 4:06
3 – (Near-Sighted Girl With Approaching) Tidal Wave – 3:05
4 – Sky King (Out Across The Sky) – 4:05
5 – On The Line – 5:20
6 – I Believe In You – 3:45
7 – Man In The Moon – 4:00
8 – Never Leave You – 3:08
9 – Horrendous Disc – 5:20

Credits:
Bass [Uncredited], Backing Vocals [Uncredited] – Marty Dieckmeyer
Drums [Uncredited], Percussion [Uncredited], Backing Vocals [Uncredited] – Ed McTaggart
Guitar [Uncredited], Lead Vocals [Uncredited], Backing Vocals [Uncredited] – Jerry Chamberlain, Terry Taylor
Keyboards [Uncredited], Backing Vocals [Uncredited] – Mark Cook (2)
Percussion [Uncredited] – Alex MacDougal*
Producer [Uncredited] – Daniel Amos, Mike D. Stone

Barnabas – Hear The Light – 1980

I either forgot huge parts of this album or I blocked them out. It’s weird.

Track 1: Drop the needle, and the first thing you hear is the beginning of “Greensleeves”. Where’d that come from? The first verse of “Saviour” might fit in as a Christmas song, but only on the Lump of Coal CD.

So many lyrics I’ve forgotten, like “I want an angel for a next door neighbor / Hey, Gabriel just might drop in for tea!” Maybe I forgot because you can’t make them all out unless you read the liner notes.

“Little Faith” has an almost Israeli-style feel, but like everything else on the album, the operative word seems to be “almost”.

One lyric you can’t forget (I didn’t) is from what is truly the signature song on the album: “Marshalls and drums! Cymbals and bass! / Get out and blow ’em away – playin for Me! / You’ll be playin’ for Me.” The next time around, it’s “We’ll make all the noise we can, so you’ll believe in Him / Marshalls and Drums! Cymbals and bass! Get out and blow ’em away – playin’ for Him!”

“No More Blues” starts laying down a nice bluesy bass line, but don’t get too into it, because before you know it, they’ve added a punk rock vocal and some hard rock guitar riffs, especially in the solos. I don’t know what it is at that point, but despite the underlying bass line, there really are no more blues in there.

The next track is “Father of Lies”, which lays down a nice little beat that you can start grooving on until… once again, the vocal comes in.

The lyric sheet is truly worth reading if you want to know what the lyrics are. Some of them are really over the top. The sheet includes a short statement of faith and thanks JPUSA and the Vineyard of West Los Angeles. Maybe they even met Larry Norman out there somewhere, but neither seems to be advertising it.

Track Listing:
1 – Saviour – 3:02
2 – There’s A New World Coming – 2:35
3 – Directory Assistance – 3:55
4 – Little Faith – 2:54
5 – He Loves You – 3:20
6 – B.C. – 2:22
7 – Playin’ For Him – 3:33
8 – No More Blues – 7:28
9 – Father Of Lies (A Song About The Other Guy) – 2:30
10 – It’s Up To You – 3:00

Credits:
Art Direction – Dan Lienart
Photography By – David Randle
Producer – David Storrs
Written-By – Barnabas
Bass – Gary Mann
Drums – Kris Klingensmith
Guitar – Monte Colley
Lead Vocals – Nancy Jo Mann

Geri Baird – Cool Age – 1980

Geri Baird has been described as the Pat Benatar of Christian music.

This album doesn’t really have any hard rock tunes but I think it could have held it’s own in the secular music scene that was the 80’s. My research into this album indicates that it was only released in Canada which is a pity as I think it was ripe for the U.S. market.

The fan favourite was “Backside Of The Desert” but my personal favourite was “Taking My Baby For A Ride”. Oh and she was very attractive which is probably the reason we bought this album 🙂

Track Listing:
1 – Super Heroes
2 – Backside Of The Desert
3 – Cool Age
4 – Somebody Loves Me
5 – Family
6 – Taking Baby For A Ride
7 – Living On Broken Hearts
8 – Visions
9 – Just A Heart
10 – I Know