1981 – Real 80s CCM

Leon Patillo – Don’t Give In – 1981

This is Leon’s second album. His first album over on Maranatha! Music was a snorefest but his deal here with Myrrh records turned up the funky fun. This was really the album that established Leon’s long standing run in the CMM genre. Myrrh must have had some real confidence in Patillo as they paid licensing fees for 2 tracks that must not have been cheap. George Harrison’s “My Sweet Lord” and Jackie Wilson’s “Higher And Higher” are both excellent covers and both bring an element of fun to the album. The album did do well garnering 2 charting songs on the CCM charts. “Star Of The Morning” made it into the top 10 at #9 and the title track “Don’t Give In” made it to #16. The album also contains one of Patillo’s most famous tracks “Flesh Of My Flesh” which oddly didn’t single. This is a fun funk album that mainly stands in the Easy Listening crowd but has some upbeat tracks that made for some listening fun in 1981.

Tracklist
1 – Blessed Is – 3:33
2 – Have Faith – 4:33
3 – Flesh Of My Flesh – 4:42
4 – We Must Believe – 4:38
5 – (Your Love Is Lifting Me) Higher And Higher – 3:14
6 – Star Of The Morning – 3:48
7 – Don’t Give In – 4:13
8 – How Can I Begin – 4:04
9 – My Sweet Lord – 3:13
10 – Go – 3:27

Credits
Art Direction – Dennis Hill
Backing Vocals [Background, Additional] – Dennis Correll, Fred Field, Joni Dias, Kirsten Konte, Mickey Rooney, Jr., Patty Bolton, Regunia Peoples, Tim Correll
Backing Vocals [Background] – Donn Thomas, Leon Patillo
Bass – Charlie Souza
Booking – Dharma Artist Agency
Drums – Gaylord Birch
Engineer – Brook Johnson, Willie Harlan
Lead Vocals, Keyboards – Leon Patillo
Mastered By – Richard Donaldson
Mixed By – Willie Harlan
Orchestrated By – Dave Garland
Photography By – Alan Bergman
Producer, Percussion – Skip Konte
Written-By – Leon Patillo

Companies, etc.
Recorded At – International Automated Media
Mixed At – International Automated Media
Mastered At – International Automated Media
Record Company – Myrrh Records
Phonographic Copyright (p) – Word, Inc.
Copyright (c) – Word, Inc.
Published By – Dayspring Music
Published By – Chevis Music, Inc.
Published By – Warner-Tamerlane Publishing Corp.
Published By – BRC Music Corp.

B.J. Thomas – Amazing Grace – 1981

We have uploaded this album to YouTube on the day after B.J. Thomas passed away. This is 1 of 2 albums B.J. released in 1981. I was looking through his discography to pick an album and I was struck by how much work this man did. Most years he would release 2 albums and there’s even a few years where he released 3. This album is a collection of traditional hymns arranged and performed by BJ. Of all his albums this one seemed the best to honor his passing.

Tracklist
1 – Amazing Grace – 3:32
2 – His Eye Is On The Sparrow – 3:47
3 – The Unclouded Day – 2:56
4 – In The Garden – 3:05
5 – You’ll Never Walk Alone – 3:06
6 – The Old Rugged Cross – 3:04
7 – Just A Closer Walk With Thee – 3:33
8 – I Believe – 2:30
9 – Just As I Am – 3:14
10 – Beyond The Sunset – 3:05

Credits
Arranged By [Strings] – Bill Justis
Backing Vocals – The Jordanaires
Bass – Bob Moore
Design – Dennis HilL
Drums – Gene Chrisman, Jerry Carrigan
Engineer – Al Pachucki
Guitar – Andy Reiss, Bill Hullett, Billy Sanford, Harold Bradley, Phil Baugh, Ray Edenton
Photography By [Cover] – Russ Busby
Piano – Charles Cochran, Hargus “Pig” Robbins
Producer – Pete Drake
Steel Guitar – Pete Drake
Strings – Byron Bach, Carl Gorodetzky, Conni Ellisor, Dennis Molchon*, Gary Vanosdale, George Binkley, Marvin Chantry, Roy Christensen, Samuel Terranova, Sheldon Kurland

Companies, etc.
Recorded At – Pete’s Place
Pressed By – Monarch Record Mfg. Co.
Produced For – Pete Drake Productions, Inc.
Record Company – Word, Inc.
Published By – CanaanLand Music
Published By – The Rodeheaver Co.
Published By – T.B. Harms Co.
Published By – Tro-Cromwell Music, Inc.
Phonographic Copyright (p) – Word, Inc.
Copyright (c) – Word, Inc.

Marty McCall & Fireworks – UP – 1981

The whole naming of “Fireworks” is an issue for me. One album they are called “Fireworks Featuring Marty McCall” but this album they are called “Marty McCall & Fireworks” and of course a couple albums they were just “Fireworks”. So I decided to do some research on who Fireworks were. This is when I discovered that on this album the entire band was replaced from the previous. So essentially the whole Fireworks thing should have just been released using Marty McCall’s name. I am actually quite mystified why they kept trying to represent that their was a band called Fireworks. While researching this story I was reading some writing by Marty and I have to admit it was hilarious. He was talking about the band taking risks by doing Rock & Roll. Marty if you ever read this no offence man but this is not Rock & Roll. Nothing you ever recorded even approached Rock & Roll and their was NO risk in what you were doing as bands such as the Imperials were selling hundreds of thousands of records. Now that I’ve had my poke at Marty lets get to the album. It is good, I can’t take that away from Marty. He was/is an excellent musician and songwriter and quite frankly the stuff he was doing was as good as the Imperials and it is sad he never saw the same sales numbers. So if your a easy listening kind of person this is an excellent album for you to listen to.

Tracklist
1 – Givin’ It Up – 3:00
2 – Let Me Be The One – 3:58
3 – Legal Now – 2:45
4 – Adam – 3:54
5 – Cleanin’ Up Our Act – 3:02
6 – Can’t Stop Running – 3:29
7 – Frontrunner – 3:47
8 – Maybe I’ll Trust You Now – 3:54
9 – Unless God Builds Your House – 3:07
10 – Thanks To You – 4:55

Credits
Art Direction – George Osaki
Backing Vocals – Gary Pigg, Gwen Moore, Jackie Cusic
Bass – David Hungate
Concertmaster – Anshel Brusilow, Steve Hall
Design – John Georgopoulos
Design Concept [Cover] – Vickie McCall
Drums – Mark Hammond
Engineer [Basic Tracks & Vocals] – Brian Tankersley
Engineer [Mixdown] – Bill Deaton
Keyboards – Shane Keister
Lead Vocals, Backing Vocals – Marty McCall
Management – Dharma Artist Agency
Percussion – Russell Dunlap
Photography By – Jim McGuire
Producer, Keyboards, Horns – Fletch Wiley
Saxophone – Bill Tillman

Companies, etc.
Copyright (c) – MCA Records, Inc.
Phonographic Copyright (p) – MCA Records, Inc.
Manufactured By – MCA Records, Inc.
Produced For – Chris Christian Productions
Produced For – Home Sweet Home Productions
Recorded At – Gold Mine Studio East
Recorded At – January Sound Studio
Recorded At – Sumet-Bernet Sound Studios
Recorded At – Rivendell Sound Recorders
Mixed At – Gold Mine Studio East
Mastered At – MCA Recording Studios
Pressed By – MCA Pressing Plant, Pinckneyville

Tom Howard – Danger In Loving You – 1981

Tom Howard was another one of the Solid Rock posse that circled around Larry Norman throughout the 1970s. This 1981 release was on NewPax records, produced by Terry Taylor of DA, after his debut on Solid Rock with Larry. Danger In Loving You has some strong rock songs and also a lot of the softer side that Tom became known for in his career. “Power Play” is radio single material, while “This Quiet Place” is a song that lives up to its name. “The Serious Occupation of Fish” is a quirky tune that uses humour to get at a profound point. Randy Stonehill also makes an appearance on this album. He’s uncredited, but you can hear his voice come out of the background vocals in places.

Tracklist
1 – Horizon – 2:35
2 – Shine Your Light – 3:35
3 – House Of The Father – 3:32
4 – Passing In The Night – 4:24
5 – Run The Race – 4:30
6 – This Quiet Place – 3:24
7 – Strong Love – 4:15
8 – The Serious Occupation Of Fish – 3:15
9 – Power Play – 2:54
10 – Danger In Loving You – 4:40

Credits
Art Direction – Ronald Thomas
Backing Vocals – Bill Batstone, Dori Lynn Howard, Elsa Harris, Gerry Limpic, Jerry Chamberlain, Jessy Dixon, Linda McCreary, Randy Stonehill, Sam Allen, Terry Taylor, Tom Howard
Bass [Alembic Five-string Base] – Flim Johnson
Drums – Bill Berg
Electric Guitar, Acoustic Guitar – Wayne Johnson
Engineer – Thom Roy
Lacquer Cut By – Wally
Percussion – Alex MacDougall
Percussion [Percussive Embellishments] – Bruce Brown
Photography By [Black and White] – D.C. Riggott, Kim Halliday
Photography By [Color] – Marlene Nelson Millican
Piano, Electric Piano [Fender Rhodes], Synthesizer [Oberheim Polyphonic; Moog], Lead Vocals – Tom Howard
Producer – Terry Taylor, Tom Howard
Saxophone, Oboe – Jon Clarke
Typography, Design – Kim Halliday
Written-By, Arranged By – Tom Howard

Companies, etc.
Produced For – Rebel Base Productions
Recorded At – Whitefield Studios
Mastered At – Capitol Mastering
Pressed By – PRC Recording Company, Richmond, IN
Distributed By – The Benson Company, Inc.
Copyright (c) – NewPax Records
Phonographic Copyright (p) – NewPax Records
Copyright (c) – Tongsongs Music
Copyright (c) – Lifesong Music Press
Copyright (c) – Joyful Road Music
Published By – Tongsongs Music
Published By – Lifesong Music Press
Published By – Joyful Road Music
Published By – The New Benson Music Company, Inc.

Leviticus – Stå Och Titta På – 1982

Leviticus formed in 1981 when brothers Kjell and Håkan Andersson came together with Björn Stigsson. In 1982 they released this 4 song EP as their first offering. It was recorded entirely in Swedish and was only released in Sweden. It is comprised of strong keyboard oriented heavy metal. Björn’s guitar is very strong and aside from the production quality the band was album ready at this point and in fact recorded their first album very quickly after this release. Luckily the EP was re-released as part of the 2000 “The Strongest Power” CD release. This is where it started for Leviticus and you can hear that they were a strong band right from their start.

Tracklist
1 – Stå Och Titta På – 5:13
2 – Följ Mig – 4:05
3 – Leva Som Han Lär – 4:24
4 – Min Mästare – 7:31

Credits
Drums, Percussion – Kjell Andersson
Engineer – Thomas Gertz
Guitar, Vocals, Lyrics By, Music By, Guitar Synthesizer – Björn Stigsson
Illustration, Design – Inge Vidare
Photography By – Lars Lindgren
Producer – Leviticus
Synthesizer [Moog Taurus], Vocals, Bass – Håkan Andersson

Companies, etc.
Printed By – SIB-Tryck, Tumba
Recorded At – Studio Bastun
Distributed By – Gummessons

Freeway – Freeway – 1981

I was unable to find any information on this band. This album was released on the obscure Canadian Label, “New Born Records”, which was a sister label to Tunesmith Records. Though this album was only released in Canada I actually suspect the band was from California as it was recorded and mixed at Studio Masters Recording Studios in West Hollywood California. It was actually Engineered by Tim Jaquette who worked with several well known CCM artists. But that’s all I can find and none of the members appear to have worked on any other projects. Anyway let’s talk about the album. It’s a strong Funk/Jazz album with a style that wasn’t very common in the industry. It’s actually well done and this style did have a market so it’s too bad we didn’t get any more from them. So if you like your CCM with some funk this one is for you.

Tracklist
1 – Freeway – 4:52
2 – Help Me Make It Through – 2:20
3 – It’s So Dark – 3:40
4 – Living Crazy – 2:55
5 – Change Your Ways – 4:40
6 – Child Of The King – 4:45
7 – You Can Be So Happy – 3:05
8 – I Need Your Love – 3:38
9 – Are You Gonna Worry? – 3:30
10 – I Need To Know – 3:22

Credits
Arranged By [Strings] – Larry Rench
Engineer, Mixed By – Tim Jacquette*
Musician – Brian Houston (2), Don Dial, Mary Maybee, Paul Maybee, Ricky Washington*, Sam Mazzola
Producer, Written-By, Arranged By [Horns] – Artie Dison

Companies, etc.
Recorded At – Soundhouse Studios
Mixed At – Soundhouse Studios
Published By – Noteworthy Pub. Co.

Isaac Air Freight – Snooze Ya Looze – 1981

This is the 4th sketch comedy album from Isaac Air Freight also known as Dan Rupple, Dave Toole, and Larry Watt. These albums were a lot of fun to listen to, and hearing the jokes again, and the great comedic performances is a great trip down memory lane. Still fun to listen to now.

Tracklist
1 – People Say The Darndest Things – 6:20
2 – Leave It To The Squirrellie – 11:43
3 – Time Wasters Looks At TV – 5:37
4 – Pilgrim Race – 4:15
5 – Spec’s O’Keefe In The Case Of The Missing First Love – 18:21

Credits
Cover – David Schiedt, Tom Obbema
Engineer – David Schober
Mastered By – Bernie Grundman
Mixed By – David Schober
Photography By – Tom Obbema
Producer – Dan Rupple, Dave Toole
Technician [Sound Technician] – Tom Obbema
Written by – Dan Rupple, Dave Toole, Larry Watt

Companies, etc.
Distributed By – Word, Inc.
Phonographic Copyright (p) – Maranatha! Music
Copyright (c) – Maranatha! Music
Published By – Maranatha! Music
Mastered At – A&M Mastering Studios

Dion – Only Jesus – 1981

This was Dion’s 3rd Christian album. It followed pretty closely in the path of the first two but did concentrate more on the teachings of Christ rather than the misgivings of his own personal life. There really isn’t much more to say about the album. I do not mean this to be disrespectful but let’s face it, most Dion albums sound similar and are rinse and repeat. Now I’m not saying it’s a dull album, in fact it’s a good album as were all of Dion’s albums in my opinion.

Tracklist
1 – Hearts Made Of Stone – 3:58
2 – The Best – 3:29
3 – Sweet Love Of Jesus – 4:18
4 – It’s Gonna Rain – 3:35
5 – Only Jesus – 4:30
6 – Train For Glory – 3:32
7 – Thank You Lord – 3:07
8 – Sailing Ahead Of The Wind – 4:51
9 – Puttin’ On My Crown – 3:29
10 – Greater Is He – 4:12

Credits
Alto Saxophone – Jeff Kirk
Arranged By – Dion DiMucci (tracks: A4)
Artwork By – Rick Garcia
Backing Vocals – John Sambataro, Kitty Woodson
Bass – Jeff Caswell
Co-producer, Keyboards, Harp – Paul Harris
Co-producer, Recorded By, Engineer – Eric Schilling
Congas – Santos
Design – Jim Osborn
Drums, Percussion – Joe Galdo
Electric Guitar, Backing Vocals – Tony Battaglia
Engineer – George Gomez
Lead Guitar – George Gomez (tracks: A1)
Mastered By – Bob Ludwig
Photography By – Alan Messer
Producer, Arranged By, Acoustic Guitar – Dion DiMucci
Synthesizer – Reed Arvin, Ron Taylor
Tenor Saxophone – Charles Chalmers
Written-By – Bill Tuohy (tracks: A1), Dan Beck (tracks: B5), Dion DiMucci (tracks: A1, B2, B3, B5), John Fowler (tracks: A2), John Hanley (tracks: A5), Bob Smith (tracks: A3, B1, B4)

Companies, etc.
Record Company – Word, Inc.
Recorded At – Bayshore Recording Studios
Mixed At – Bayshore Recording Studios

Randy Matthews – Plugged In – 1981

This 1981 offering from Randy showcases his ability to stay relevant in the 80’s. Randy was an artist throughout the 70’s releasing 8 albums. This is his second album in the 80’s and his style was evolving without doing anything that would qualify him as a sellout. I compared his previous album as having a Joe Cocker sound and Scott commented that it also had a Bob Seger feel. This album has a strong Seger sound with a lot less of a Cocker sound. All in all an excellent album and if you can only listen to one song on the album I suggest the title track Plugged In. Point of trivia, Steve Scruggs engineered this album and his brother Randy played guitar on the album. They were the sons of the legendary Earl Scruggs.

Track Listing:
1 – Plugged In – 3:42
2 – Ball & Chain – 3:50
3 – Can’t They See – 3:51
4 – Sooner Or Later – 3:21
5 – Hold Fast, Hold Tight – 4:04
6 – Over & Over – 2:43
7 – Prodigal Son – 3:13
8 – Loud Shroud – 3:44
9 – White Boat – 4:10
10 – Praise These Days – 3:41

Credits:
Acoustic Guitar – Randy Matthews
Backing Vocals – Bonnie D. Hatcher, Francine Belcher, Gary Scruggs, Kimberly D. Fleming
Bass, Backing Vocals – David McCaskell
Drums, Backing Vocals – Louie Weaver
Electric Guitar, Acoustic Guitar – Randy Scruggs
Electric Guitar, Backing Vocals – Allen Holmes
Engineer – Steve Scruggs
Engineer, Mixed By – Tom Semmes
Executive Producer – Kent Washburn
Keyboards, Backing Vocals – Gene Sisk
Producer – John Thompson

Amy Grant – In Concert Volume Two – 1981

This was the second of 2 albums featuring Amy Grant in concert released in 1981. It was recorded at Mabee Hall in Tulsa Oklahoma and Lloyd Noble Center in Norman Oklahoma. It featured four “new” songs: “I’m Gonna Fly”, “You Gave Me Love” which was a cover of a BJ Thomas song, “Fill Me With Your Love”, and “Nobody Loves Me Like You” which was a song by DeGarmo & Key and featured DeGarmo & Key. Wikipedia states “Although the two should have been issued as a double album, budget problems forced the two to be released separately.” This is absurd, there was no shortage of money at Myrrh and A&M for their gold mine performer so I’d love to hear the real reason.

Tracklist
1 – I’m Gonna Fly – 4:11
2 – Too Late – 4:41
3 – So Glad – 4:23
4 – You Gave Me Love – 3:17
5 – Fill Me With Your Love – 2:44
6 – What A Difference You’ve Made – 2:33
7 – If I Have To Die – 3:31
8 – That’s The Day – 3:29
9 – Look What Has Happened To Me – 3:12
10 – Keep It On Going – 1:03
11 – Nobody Loves Me Like You Do – 3:26

Credits
Acoustic Guitar, Vocals – Billy Sprague
Backing Vocals – Dave Durham, Gary Pigg, Jan Harris, Teresa Ellis
Bass – Mike Brignardello
Drums – Gregg Morrow
Electric Guitar, Vocals – Dana Key
Engineer [Recording and Mix Engineer] – Jack Joseph Puig
Executive-Producer – Dan Harrell, Mike Blanton
Keyboards – Eddie DeGarmo
Photography By [Cover Photo] – Glen Wexler
Producer – Brown Bannister
Recorded By [Mobile Recording] – Malcolm Harper
Remastered By – Steve Hall
Synthesizer [Oberheim] – Gerry Peters

Companies, etc.
Phonographic Copyright (p) – Amy Grant Productions
Copyright (c) – Amy Grant Productions
Licensed To – Sparrow Records
Distributed By – EMI CMG Distribution
Recorded At – Mabee Center
Recorded At – Lloyd Noble Center, Norman
Remixed At – Mama Jo’s
Remastered At – Future Disc
Pressed By – Cinram, Richmond, IN