This is the fourth and final album from the duo. Roy went on to do a couple solo albums and then of course a huge producer career. Mulder on the other hand slipped behind the scenes but I understand he did continue to do some writing. This was also the first album released on Roy’s short lived label River Records INC. This is by far my favourite album from these guys but we don’t have any sales numbers so we don’t know if listeners shared my view. This album contains what is their most famous tune though, “The Turkey Song”. It would be played at many Thanksgiving parties for years. This album was only released in Canada but I have read many U.S. comments about it so it must have got some distribution in the U.S.
Tracklist 1 – Breaking Away – 2:55 2 – You Make It Easy – 3:02 3 – And He Said… – 2:02 4 – The Turkey Song – 2:40 5 – Light Shines In – 2:58 6 – Strength To Be Weak – 4:16 7 – What Am I Worth? – 3:04 8 – Government Man – 2:37 9 – Stone Cold Heart – 3:38 10 – South Side Of Chicago – 7:03
Credits Guitar, Vocals – Mike Mulder Guitar, Keyboards, Vocals – Roy Salmond Guitar, Piano, BG Vocals – Jim Woodyard Bass – Don Biggar Drums – Phil Robertson BG Vocals – Gayle Salmond BG Vocals – Faye Mulder Bass – Steve Pugsley Synth – Dave Pickell Drums – Kat Hendrickse
There is very little info on this album out there but I have put together a few things. The band included husband and wife team John & Sue Ritter. They went on to record another album in 1994 that included a couple tracks from this album. Unfortunately it is even more obscure than this album. Sue was a prolific writer in the 80’s and 90’s having written several Christian books. As for the album it’s kind of a mix of styles including some Ska and some new wave. I hear a lot of talent here and I wish they would have recorded another album which this lineup. The album was produced by Mark Williamson (Mark Williamson Band/Lyrix) but this was relatively early in his career and I don’t think he was a strong producer at this point. Maybe a more experienced producer could have lead this band to a more consistent album. That aside I actually really like this album for some reason. I definitely hear some things I like here.
Tracklist 1 – Laugh – 2:33 2 – Someone’s Hero – 3:41 3 – Face To Face – 3:01 4 – One Way Love – 3:47 5 – Bad Boy At School – 3:24 6 – Second Time Around – 3:10 7 – Shadows Falling – 3:13 8 – Rebel – 3:03 9 – The Moon Shines Red – 3:50 10 – Movin’ On – 2:17
Credits John Ritter = Lead Vocals, Guitar, Writter Sue Ritter = Lead Vocals, Keyboard, Writter Andy Clark = Guitar, Vocals. Paul Raper = Bass, Vocals. Jo Stephens = Drums, Vocals. Mark Williamson – Produce, Engineer Vladimir Vanazzawith & Max Waxahotti – Mix Wesley Mahan & Quest Graphics – Album Art
Companies, etc. All songs published through Thankyou Music. Kingsway Music record company
This is the second in a series of samplers form A&S Records. This is one is a treasure trove of unreleased and barely released material. The first album in this series had more mainstream tracks but this time they went with some real obscure stuff. Below I’ve listed the tracks and the album they came from;
1 – Bill Batstone – Silver And Gold – Unreleased 2 – Spurr And McNeil – Walkin’ Again – Unreleased 3 – Apocalypse – Call On Jesus – Unreleased 4 – Michael Gonzales – Mountaintop – Mountaintop – 1983 5 – The Lifters – Living Water – The Lifters – 1983 6 – Eden – Break Out Of The Night – released on a 45 – 1983 7 – The Altar Boys – Where’s It Gonna Lead Ya – Altar Boys – 1984 8 – Sheryl Olguin – Easy Rider – Unreleased 9 – James Ledlie – Strangers – released on a 45 – 1983 10 – Danny Daniels – Flyer – Sons Of Thunder – 1982
Tracklist 1 – Bill Batstone – Silver And Gold – 3:50 2 – Spurr And McNeil – Walkin’ Again – 3:44 3 – Apocalypse – Call On Jesus – 4:32 4 – Michael Gonzales – Mountaintop – 3:58 5 – The Lifters– Living Water – 1:48 6 – Eden – Break Out Of The Night – 4:09 7 – The Altar Boys – Where’s It Gonna Lead Ya – 2:21 8 – Sheryl Olguin – Easy Rider – 3:50 9 – James Ledlie – Strangers – 3:38 10 – Danny Daniels – Flyer – 3:40
This was the first album released after Keith’s untimely death. It is a compilation album but includes a few previously unreleased live cuts which is why we are uploading it to YouTube. We generally don’t upload compilation albums unless they have some bonus material such as this one does. The album was also released with a booklet insert which you can see on our web-page. It is full of industry people relating their Keith Green stories.
Tracklist 1 – Introduction – 2:00 2 – My Eyes Are Dry – 3:08 3 – Trials Turned To Gold – 3:29 4 – O Lord, You’re Beautiful – 4:37 5 – You Are The One – 2:39 6 – Song To My Parents (I Only Want To See You There) – 4:15 7 – Until That Final Day – 4:37 8 – If You Love The Lord – 7:20 9 – Pledge My Head To Heaven – 3:00 10 – Draw Me – 4:35 11 – Stained Glass – 2:49 12 – Altar Call – 4:20
Credits Art Direction – Stan Evenson Design Coordinator [Cover Coordination] – B. Charlyne Hinesley Engineer [Assembly and remixes] – Winn Kutz Illustration – James Henry Liner Notes – Billy Ray Hearn Mastered By – Steve Hall Producer, Liner Notes – Bill Maxwell
Peter had performed as a studio musician in the 70’s and 80’s and in his whole career he appears on over 100 albums. Strangely though this is his only personal album. You may know Peter better as the CEO of Sparrow Records and Capitol Christian Music Group. He was involved with Sparrow records in some form for 37 years and just retired in 2020. Anyway back to the album. It was only released in Australia and only on cassette so I am guessing most people have never heard it. It was recorded in 1983 after Peter was able to find a benefactor to pay for the studio time. Peter put together a pretty good team of relatively unknown studio musicians and the album turned out great. I’m actually quite confused that this album didn’t get picked up as it is really good and as Peter was connected in the industry. Oh well thankfully the album is on the internet for us to enjoy today.
Tracklist 1 – Key To My Heart 2 – I’m Alone 3 – Lovely Smile 4 – It’s All Right 5 – On This Day 6 – Noonkanbah 7 – Close To The Bone 8 – Blow Your House Away 9 – Willie’s Blues 10 – So Good To Be Alive
Credits Martin Zammit – drums Duane Mitchell – bass. Graham McCoy – guitar Jordie Young – flute, vocals Les Price – keyboards Rowan Shinkfield – bass on “Willie’s Blues” Peter Fiddler – guitar on “Blow Your House Away”
After the official breakup of After The Fire Andy Piercy hit the studio for a solo album with Producer John Eden. They had some material left over from the final days of ATF so that’s where they started. The album was to be called Free Heat which was an anagram of After The Fire, with the missing letters creating the word “rift”. Musicians who worked on the album with Piercy and Mal Pope included Roger Taylor (Queen), Henry Spinetti & Bob Jenkins – drums, John Giblin & Andy – bass, Alan Murphy & John Russell – guitar, Adrian Lee – keys. Mal Pope and John Russell both did some backing vocals. CBS released “8 Ball in the Top Pocket” (b-side “Deep Waters Still Run”) as a single and it did not get any airplay. They also pressed an extended version of the single but they ditched it before the release though some copies did sneak out. Work on the album had begun to get difficult as the demos were not turning into the tracks Piercy wished for. Then towards the end of recording, the producer, John Eden, told Piercy that he “didn’t like” any of the styles, bands or writers he was aspiring to. The whole project was dropped by CBS and was never released. Piercy recalls “I think they could have been good but I now realize I didn’t get the production help and direction I needed at the time.” Okay that’s enough of the history lesson so now my opinion. The choice of “8 Ball In The Top Pocket” was absolutely the wrong choice. Then they put “Deep Waters Still Run” on the B side which was even a worse decision. Everyone involved in the project knew the single was “Stop Go” followed up by “We Gotta Get Out Of This Place” but CBS didn’t care what all the talent thought. Now as for the album as a whole I actually think I agree with Andy that there were production problems. Normally this is where I would scream and yell about the mix but in this case it’s not the mix that is the problem. Actually I think the production is fantastic BUT the problem is that the tracks were mixed in different styles. I feel that there is 3 distinctly different sounds here. I think they’re all good but the album doesn’t have that continuity that great albums have. That said I believe producer John Eden did a good job but it just didn’t work out. One last gripe was the choice of the album name being a negative attitude towards After The Fire. In my opinion that just wasn’t called for or appropriate and knowing that Andy and Peter Banks were still trying to be friends it was in poor taste.
Tracklist 1 – Stop Go – 4:36 2 – We Gotta Get Out Of This Place – 4:44 3 – Terry – 6:20 4 – Young Love – 4:32 5 – Deep Waters Still Run – 4:13 6 – 8 Ball In The Top Pocket – 5:04 7 – Break Out – 4:53 8 – One Down For The Highway – 4:12 9 – Jewel In The Night – 4:52 10 – 4th Street Room 101 – 4:23
Credits Artwork By [Design] – Roslav Backing Vocals – Mal Pope, John Russell Bass – John Giblin, Andy Piercy Drums – Roger Taylor, Heny Spinetti, Bob Jenkins Guitar – Alan Murphy, John Russell Keyboards – Adrian Lee Photography By – Eric Watson Producer – Andy Piercy, John Eden Vocals – Andy Piercy
After living the previous decade as the overtly sexual queen of disco Donna Summer entered the 80s experimenting with a few different musical styles and appeared to have lost herself in the wandering. With return to her roots with more of an 80-‘s pop/rock edge, a ferocious vocal delivery and a new born again spirit Donna Summer released one of the biggest albums in her lengthy career entitled “She Works Hard for the Money.” My little Christian bookstore was probably the second store in the country to carry it after I saw it being sold at Maranatha Village. I grabbed a copy immediately, both out of fascination and also to see if it was something I could convince my bosses to carry. Once you get past the often misunderstood innuendo of the opening cut’s title and realized that it actually is a powerful, woman endorsing tribute the rest of the album was an easy fit. “He’s a Rebel” is clearly a testimonial song about her new found faith in the “rebel” Jesus Christ and has a decidedly more rock edge and clearly influenced by producer Michael Omartian. “Unconditional Love” featured popular reggae sensation “Musical Youth.” The song would later receive a punk remodel when covered by Christian punk/rock band the Altar Boys. Another mainstay in Christian Music circles, Matthew Ward (2nd Chapter of Acts) does a duet on “Love Has a Mind of It’s Own” and, as a result, received some pretty good reception of Christian radio. Summer would continue to add more Gospel tinged lyrics to future releases but would not match the success or create such an overall realized album of Christian content.
Contributor David Lowman – https://legacyccmsgreatestalbums.wordpress.com/
Tracklist 1 – She Works Hard For The Money – 5:19 2 – Stop, Look And Listen – 5:46 3 – He’s A Rebel – 4:22 4 – Woman – 4:19 5 – Unconditional Love – 4:41 6 – Love Has A Mind Of Its Own – 4:16 7 – Tokyo – 4:25 8 – People, People – 4:38 9 – I Do Believe (I Fell In Love) – 4:34
Credits Art Direction, Design – Chris Whorf Backing Vocals – Dara Lynn Bernard, Mary E. Bernard, Matthew Ward, Roberta Kelly Bass – Nathan East Concertmaster – Assa Drori Congas – Lenny Castro Coordinator [Production] – Yvonne Garcia Drum Programming [Simmons] – John Gilston Drums – Mike Baird Engineer [Assistant] – Larry Fergusson, Ross Pallone Horns – Charlie Loper*, Chuck Findley, Dick Hyde, Gary Grant, Jerry Hey Liner Notes – Donna Mastered By [A&M] – Bernie Grundman Mastered By [Future Disc] – Steve Hall Photography By – Harry Langdon Piano, Synthesizer – Michael Omartian Producer, Arranged By – Michael Omartian Programmed By [Synthesizers] – Michael Boddicker Recorded By, Mixed By – John Guess
Diller & Anderson are Ronnie Lee Diller and Steve Anderson. The duo met up in 1975 and soon after started a band called Radiance. Radiance enjoyed some success in the NW USA but never put an album out. In 1980 the guys left the band to work as a duo. They quickly recorded this album and self released it. The album starts out early 80’s country rock but then transitions to more of an early 80’s easy listening album. All in all it’s a pretty good album and I’m pretty sure we would have been happy listening to this one in 1983 if it had been available to us. As I understand it their next 2 albums are much more rock oriented but I haven’t heard either of them yet but I am looking forward to hearing them.
Tracklist 1 – Fallin’ Fallin’ – 3:20 2 – Hearts A Fire – 3:32 3 – Annabelle – 3:52 4 – Valuable – 3:12 5 – Tarnished Treasures – 4:35 6 – Makebeliever – 4:05 7 – Sweet Jesus – 3:14 8 – The Way, The Truth & The Life – 3:17 9 – Echo Of Your Voice – 3:35 10 – Everybody’s Gonna Bow To Him – 4:30
This is the final album from the Barratt Band. The lineup changed slightly from their first album with Dave Engel replacing Russell Caldwell on drums. This album is fantastic as was their first one and it is the epitome of what my group of friends listened to in 1983. Of course we didn’t actually listen to this one because it as only released in the UK and NZ & Australia. Why their albums were not released in North America is completely beyond me. They both are excellent and I’m positive would have sold well. The sound is a Pop Rock sound and I guarantee you’ll enjoy this one.
Tracklist 1 – December – 6:13 2 – Stereo – 6:28 3 – Computer Failure – 2:52 4 – Loud Silence – 5:09 5 – Play My Guitar – 5:39 6 – Exit Through Exit – 3:07 7 – Being Alive – 3:17 8 – The Voice – 7:32
Credits Bass – Dave Markee, Les Williams Drums – Dave Engels Engineer – Derek Murray Guitar, Vocals – Norman Barratt Keyboards – Dave Morris Producer – Norman Barratt Written-By – Dave Morris, Norman Barratt
Companies, etc. Phonographic Copyright ℗ – Chapel Lane Productions Distributed By – Concorde Productions
There’s not much to say about this album because no one knows anything about this band. They self released this 4 track EP in 1983 though it has a 70’s sound and feel. It’s pretty good but probably a bit dated in 1983. And that’s it, I can’t tell you anymore, I don’t even know who’s in the band. Even David Lowman has no info on this album and if he has no info then there’s none to be had. So if you are 70’s style loved this one is definitely for you.
Tracklist 1 – Creation Crowned – 5:18 2 – My Son – 3:30 3 – Reach Out – 4:53 4 – Words Create – 3:15
Credits Producer – Dan Westerbeck, Rapid Flight
Companies, etc. Pressed By – Artist’s Recording Co. – 830443
