Tag: 1981

Gary Rand – Break That Ground – 1981

You probably know Gary more because of his second album but this is his first album which is far more worship oriented. Gary was one of those kids who was a musician from an early age. His first group was The Crimson Bridge who had an album back in 1971. He went unrecorded for many years but in 1981 Milk & Honey records released this his first solo album. As I said this is more of a worship oriented album but is very good for that style. Gary always struggled with the Christian music industry as he wanted to sing about current affairs in the world but the record companies wanted him to just sing about Jesus and keep his JPM count as high as possible. This album doesn’t really show that struggle but it was his first album and on a persons first album you pretty well have to do what the record company wants.

Tracklist
1 – Family Of Love – 3:12
2 – Isaiah 58 – 3:00
3 – You Have Turned My Sorrow Into Dancing (Psalm 30:11) – 2:27
4 – Let Justice Roll Down (Amos 5) – 3:29
5 – Time Of Jubilee – 3:02
6 – Break That Ground (Hosea 10:12) – 3:04
7 – Psalm 146 – 2:05
8 – Pass The Peace – 2:25
9 – Communion Song – 1:31
10 – Narrow Way – 2:53
11 – Psalm 121 – 2:20

Credits
Acoustic Guitar, Piano – Gary Rand
Bass – Andy Rae
Drums – Keith Edwards
Engineer – Brian Tankersley, Larry Goode, Rick Thigpen
Guitar – Jerry McPherson
Keyboards, Synthesizer, Engineer – Paul Mills
Percussion – Russell Dunlap
Producer, Arranged By, Flute, Synthesizer – Fletch Wiley
Saxophone – Larry Slezak

Companies, etc.
Phonographic Copyright ℗ – Singspiration
Copyright © – Singspiration
Distributed By – The Benson Company, Inc.
Recorded At – Rivendell Sound Recorders
Recorded By – Sam’s Tape Truck
Mixed At – Rivendell Sound Recorders
Mastered At – Masterfonics
Pressed By – Electrosound Group Midwest, Inc.

Gary Chapman – Sincerely Yours – 1981

This is the first album from Gary. He had already written the hit song for Amy Grant “Fathers Eye’s” so it was natural for him to get an album deal to try to recreate that success. But first lets talk a minute about Gary’s back story. Born in Waurika, Oklahoma he actually grew up in De Leon, Texas. His Father was a pastor at an Assemblies Of God church. After high school he attended Southwestern Bible College and after graduation he moved straight to Nashville. He was almost immediately hired as a guitarist for famed 60’s and 70’s CCM band The Rambos. Gary’s music writing received some attention and his first success was his song Father’s Eyes which Amy Grant performed on her 1979 album “My Father’s Eyes”. Somewhere about the time of this album he started dating Amy also and they would get married the following year. Amy actually appears on this album on the track “Anywhere” which is a duet between them. Also of interest on the album are Degarmo & Key who as well as producing the album played instruments and sang backing vocals. This album had one top 10 single with “Sincerely Yours” peaking at #4. 1981 was a good year for Gary as he also won the dove award for songwriter. Anyway as far as the album is concerned it is an easy listening effort that while not my style is definitely a great album.

Tracklist
1 – No Time At All – 4:18
2 – I Wanna Be Loved By You – 3:40
3 – Love Is A Name – 3:46
4 – Open Up My Eyes – 3:50
5 – Sincerely Yours – 3:07
6 – The Secret Of Love – 4:05
7 – Anywhere – 3:37
8 – I’d Really Like To Tell You – 3:45
9 – Feelin’ Right – 3:11
10 – One Hope – 3:54

Credits
Alto Saxophone, Tenor Saxophone – Andrew Love
Arranged By [Strings], Arranged By [Horns] – Carl Marsh
Backing Vocals – Gary Pigg, Jack Holder, Jimi Jamison
Baritone Saxophone – Gary Topper
Design [Album Design] – Bill Brunt
Drums – Chad Cromwell, John Hampton
Guitar [Solo] – Jack Holder
Lacquer Cut By [L.Nix in runouts], Mastered By – Larry Nix
Lead Vocals, Acoustic Guitar, Backing Vocals – Gary Chapman
Photography By [Album] – Mike Borum
Piano, Electric Piano – Keith Thomas
Producer [Executive Producer] – Dan Harrell, Dan Raines, Mike Blanton
Producer, Electric Guitar, Backing Vocals – Dana Key
Producer, Organ, Synthesizer – Ed DeGarmo
Producer, Twelve-String Guitar, Bass – Joe Hardy
Strings – The Claude O’Donnell Strings
Vocals – Amy Grant

Companies, etc.
Distributed By – The Benson Company, Inc.
Phonographic Copyright ℗ – Lamb & Lion Records
Copyright © – Lamb & Lion Records
Produced For – Blanton/Harrell Productions
Recorded At – Ardent Studios
Recorded At – Great Circle Sound
Mastered At – Ardent Mastering
Designed At – Private Eye Studio
Pressed By – PRC Recording Company, Richmond, IN

The Winans – Introducing – 1981

This is the introductory album from The Winans who at this point considered of 4 members of the Winan family, Ronald, Marvin, Carvin, and Michael. They were “discovered” by Andrae Crouch and he invited them into the studio to record this album. The album is an excellent soul pop album and I really enjoyed listening to it even if this isn’t my preferred style. That said I do have some criticisms for Andrae who produced the album. First of all the tracks are too long, not every track has to be over 4 minutes. I saw this album as having “superstar” production. Well it didn’t. It did have superstar engineering courtesy of Bob Cotton but that’s where it fell apart. I know Andrae was a very good producer at the time but he missed the ball on this one. The album as great as it was did not have any charting singles which was probably not helped by the track lengths. My final complaint abut the album was why on god’s green earth did Andrea pick the snooziest track on the album to put as the lead track. This album has some fantastic rhythm and soul and it should have been on display right from track 1. Instead we have to wait until track 4 to hear it.

Tracklist
1 – The Question Is – 4:40
2 – Self – 3:43
3 – Are We Really Doing Your Will? – 4:13
4 – I Know Someone – 4:03
5 – Goodness, Mercy And Grace – 4:06
6 – Fallow Ground – 4:34
7 – How Good It Feels To Be Loved – 5:37
8 – Flyin’ Away – 5:29
9 – Restoration – 4:39

Credits
Arranged By [Rhythm] – T.J. Keene
Art Direction – Dan Lienart
Bass – Abraham Laboriel
Engineer [with Bob Cotton], Mixed By – Peter Haden
Engineer, Mixed By – Bob Cotton
Graphics – Rhonda Dempsey
Guitar – David Williams, Hadley Hockensmith, Wil Keene
Keyboards – T.J. Keene
Mastered By – Bernie Grundman
Oboe – John Phillips
Percussion – Alex Acuña, David Williams
Photography – David Randle
Producer, Arranged By [Horns], Drums, Percussion, Mixed By – Bill Maxwell
Producer, Arranged By [Vocal & Horns], Mixed By – Andraé Crouch
Saxophone, Arranged By [Horns], Flute – Steve Tavaglione
Trumpet – Allen Gregory
Vocals, Arranged By [Vocal] – The Winans
Words By, Music By – Marvin Winans

Companies, etc.
Phonographic Copyright ℗ – Lexicon Music, Inc.
Copyright © – Lexicon Music, Inc.
Published By – Crouch Music
Produced For – Crouch Productions
Recorded At – Paramount Recording Studios
Mixed At – Paramount Recording Studios
Mastered At – A&M Studios
Pressed By – Monarch Record Mfg. Co.

Watchmen – Can’t Stop Talkin’ – 1981

You absolutely have to give credit to the Abraham brothers for putting out albums. They were getting little or none label support so they just kept self releasing their albums. This is one of those self released albums. It’s really a pity they couldn’t get a proper record deal because they were easily as good as anything else in the genre at the time. The lead track on this album is a fun pop track with a hook intro that probably would have done quite well with proper distribution. Anyway it’s a fun easy listening album from a group of guys who knew how to make music. You probably never heard this one so give it a listen. The lead track should hook you in.

1 – Can’t Stop Talkin’ – 4:40
2 – I Don’t Wanna Be the One – 4:07
3 – Previews of Coming Attractions – 4:55
4 – The Cross Calls Today – 4:28
5 – Good News Tonight – 4:15
6 – Song to An Unsaved Father – 6:28
7 – Lonely Out Tonight – 3:15
8 – Superman – 4:27
9 – This Generation/Any Day Now (I Shall Be Released) – 9:58

Donn Thomas – You’re The One – 1981

Donn is one of my favourite soul artists at this point and I’m not a big soul music guy. This is his second album on Myrrh produced by David Diggs which was a recipe for success. This album had a CCM single with “The Keeper Of My Love” making it to #7. After this album David Diggs tried to get Donn onto a secular label with a secular release but unfortunately this didn’t work out so we didn’t hear from Donn again until 1992. He probably should have continued his Christian format as he was very good and you can hear that he was getting better every album.

Tracklist
1 – Believe – 3:44
2 – You’re The One – 4:25
3 – The Keeper Of My Love – 3:37
4 – Where Are You Going? – 3:59
5 – Something’ ‘Bout The Things You Do – 2:54
6 – How Can I Help But Love You – 3:02
7 – When He Comes – 4:02
8 – Any Other Love – 3:58
9 – You Are My Light – 3:27
10 – Don’t Lose Your Dream – 3:20

Credits
Arranged By [Strings], Arranged By [Horns], Arranged By [Track], Arranged By [Vocals] – David Diggs
Bass – Leon Gaer, Louis Johnson
Drums – Ed Greene
Electric Piano [Rhodes], Synthesizer [Prophet] – David Diggs
Flugelhorn, Soloist – Larry Hall
Guitar – Paul Jackson Jr.
Lead Vocals – Donn Thomas, Edie Lehmann
Piano – Charles Williams

Companies, etc.
Phonographic Copyright ℗ – Word, Inc.
Distributed By – Word Records Australia
Copyright © – Word, Inc.

Stephanie Boosahda – I Know That I Know – 1981

This is Stephanie’s 5th album. I can only assume that her music sold well because she had seven albums. But I had never heard of her and there’ is very little info about her online. Unfortunately she passed away in 2022 at the young age of 70 years old. So her music lives on and gives a testament to her. This album is definitely more pop oriented but with a disco feel and sound. Certainly not one of my favourites but it is a good album if you like late 70’s disco infused worship music.

Tracklist
1 – More Than Enough – 3:37
2 – You Knew Just What I Needed – 2:56
3 – I Know That I Know – 2:19
4 – Lord, I Give It To You – 3:25
5 – You Know Me Better Than I Know Myself – 2:55
6 – Give A Little Bit Of Your Love – 3:17
7 – Where Would I Be Without You? – 3:13
8 – There Is A Way – 5:11
9 – Highway To Heaven – 4:36
10 – The Best Is Yet To Come – 3:05

Credits
Alex Acuna – Percussion
Steve Archer – Background Vocals
Stephanie Boosahda – Songwriter, Arrangements, Piano, Vocals
Wayne Boosahda – Producer
Jonathan David Brown – Producer, Engineer, Remix, Mixed
Marji Clark – Songwriter
Denny Correll – Background Vocals
Tim Correll – Background Vocals
Mike Demus – Electric Guitar, Acoustic Guitar
Keith Edwards – Drums
Stan Endicott – String Arrangements, Conducting
Bob Farrell – Songwriter
Jon Goin – Electric Guitar
Thurman Green – Horns
Bernie Grundman – Mastered
Hadley Hockensmith – Electric Guitar
Sheri Huffman – Background Vocals
Don Juntnen – Electric Guitar, Acoustic Guitar
Alex MacDougall – Percussion
Beau MacDougall – Electric Guitar
Michael James Murphy – Songwriter
Norman Neeley – Assistant Engineer
Jay Patton – Sax
Bobby Price – Songwriter
Anne Ramhorst – Songwriter
Ralf Rickert – Horns
Harlan Rogers – Arrangements, Piano, Fender Rhodes, Organ, Synthesizers
Kenny Sarkey – Assistant Engineer
Bob Shepherd – Horns
Lisa Silver – Background Vocals
Stan Endicott – Strings
David Stearman – Songwriter
Steve Tavaglione – Sax
Gary Tedder – Songwriter
Dianne Tidwell – Background Vocals
Jerry Wilson – Bass
Steve Wright – Drums

Companies, etc.
Phonographic Copyright ℗ – NewPax Records
Copyright © – NewPax Records

First Love – Nothing Can Keep Me Away – 1981

OK so I did a bunch of looking and I can’t find anything about this band. Their proper name was First Love Band and the main members were John P. Volz & Joan C. Volz. I have no idea whether they were brother and sister or husband and wife. I also have no idea if they are related to Greg Volz. This is the second of three albums by them. Generally when a band has 3 albums I can find out a little more about them but this time I’m stumped. Anyway as for the album it has a seventies easy listening sound and is actually really well engineered and produced. Best track is probably “Child Of The King” which features some pretty good guitar work. If you like obscure 70’s CCM bands then I’m pretty sure you’ll like this one.

Tracklist
1 – Closer To The Light – 4:06
2 – Fishes And Loaves – 4:01
3 – Paradox – 4:46
4 – Crockpot Christian – 5:09
5 – Nothing Can Keep Me Away – 3:11
6 – Hands Off The Altar – 3:36
7 – Give It All Up – 4:14
8 – Child Of The King – 2:26
9 – Raise A Praise – 5:32

Credits
Piano, Lead Vocals – Joan C. Volz
Lead Vocals, Latin Percussion – John P. Volz
Organ – John Drymon
Lead Guitar – Jim Scott
Classical Guitar – Steve Stoutenberg
Strings – Loretta Shotwell, Mary Burke
Sax – Richard Malfitano
Congos, Drums – John Allen
Bass, Lead Guitar, Acoustic Guitar – Henry Triplett
Horns – Gary Laustsen
Woodwinds – Bill Davis
Trombone – Henry Pearlberg
Background Vocals – Joan C. Volz, John P. Volz, Joe Saint, Henry Triplett
Synth – Tom Cook
Engineer – Joe Saint
Producer – Joe Saint, First Love

Companies, etc.
Copyright © – John Volz Music
Phonographic Copyright ℗ – John Volz Music
Published By – John Volz Music
Recorded At – Emmaus Sound Studio

Iva Twydell – Secret Service – 1981

Iva, whose real name is Ivor was in After The Fire from 1978 until some point in 1980. This is his first album after ATF. He had an album before he joined ATF but I warn you know it is a completely different style than what he’s known for. Anyway this album has a lot of similarities to ATF stuff and quite frankly it’s fantastic. It has this spy/secret service/CIA theme going on which is pretty cool. The single was “Secret Service” which I personally believe would have been a great radio single but unfortunately the album was on an unknown label. I know that Ivor and ATF as a whole always had label problems and it’s sad because they were all very very talented. Interestingly the only person Ivor brought into the project that had any interesting history was the drummer Nick Brotherwood from The Alwyn Wall Band. Anyway this one is must listen and I doubt many people have heard it as it was on an obscure label and only released in the U.K.

Tracklist
01 – No Good At All – 2:14
02 – Some People – 2:28
03 – The Dance Has Just Begun – 2:38
04 – I Guess I’ll Always Be (Someone Like Me) – 3:12
05 – King Of Hearts – 2:43
06 – Part Time Hero – 2:39
07 – Cold War – 3:49
08 – Secret Service – 2:27
09 – I Surrender – 2:27
10 – CIA And The KGB – 2:32
11 – Independence – 1:59
12 – Resting In Your Love – 2:47
13 – Save Me – 2:26
14 – Cover Me – 3:35
15 – Don’t Be Afraid – 1:45

Credits
Acoustic Guitar – John McNaughton
Arranged By – Iva Twydell
Bass – Tony Hudson
Drums – Nick Brotherwood
Lead Guitar, Vocals – Andy Balmer
Organ, Piano, Strings – Graham Noon
Saxophone – Derek Williams
Sleeve, Design – Steve Bamford
Triangle – Marianda Twydell
Violin – Phil Henderson
Vocals, Acoustic Guitar, Electric Guitar, Flute, Synthesizer, Percussion – Iva Twydell
Vocals, Noises – Dave Balmer, Kieran McGrath
Vocals, Percussion – Tim Burgess

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

Sonseed – First Fruit – 1981

This band/album are one of the strangest stories in Christian music. Sonseed were a Christian band formed in 1978 at the Church of Our Lady of Perpetual Help in Brooklyn, New York. Yes this was a catholic band. They came together to play songs at the 75th anniversary of the church. Several members from that day continued on and in 1981 recorded and self released this album. Okay nothing strange there but in 2009 someone uploaded to YouTube an appearance the band had made on a local religious television show. The song they uploaded was “Jesus Is A Friend Of Mine” which is a real catchy ska track and the YouTube video took off with millions of views. The Arena Rock Recording Company soon put out an EP featuring 5 tracks from the album. They subsequently re-released the entire album in 2023. There was apparently some argument as to whether the album even existed in 2009 but indeed it did and here it is today. There are countless articles all over the internet about the band and if you’re interested it makes some great reading. As for the album it mainly has a great 70’s sound and I loved it instantly upon listening to it. It even has a really good cover of “Sail On” by the Imperials. I assume it never really got any attention in the industry as the band were catholic which is too bad, people would have loved it.

Tracklist
1 – Born Of The Flesh – 2:27
2 – Another Kind Of Love Song – 3:15
3 – Jesus Is A Friend Of Mine – 2:43
4 – The Gospel Ship – 3:01
5 – Sonseed – 2:52
6 – The Opened Door – 2:58
7 – Sail On – 2:12
8 – Oh Happy Day – 3:37
9 – Gettin’ Back – 2:36
10 – And The Father Will Dance – 2:48
11 – Say Yes – 2:21

Credits
Acoustic Guitar – Frank Esposito
Backing Vocals – Anne Lessing, Jimmy Archer, Joe Ciccone, Melody M. Sorrentino
Design – Angela Marie Franco
Design [Logo] – Joe Ciccone
Drums – Nicky Sciarra
Engineer – Audie Lebensfeld, Joe Marciano
Lead Vocals – Steve Musso
Percussion – Tommy Zawacki
Producer – Patricia Costagliola
Twelve-String Guitar – Karen Archer

Companies, etc.
Recorded At – Systems Two