This was the second and last studio album from German Band Semaja. It was released in late 1983 in Germany and early 1984 in North America.
Apparently there was also a UK release but I can’t find any info on it. The German release only has 3 songs in German, the rest were the same version as released in the U.S.A. & Canada. I have included the 3 German versions in the playlist.
The album has a decidedly pop sound and is well engineered and produced. I love the opening track “Hey Friend” and declare it the single.
Track Listing (English):
1 – Hey Friend – 4:14
2 – Green Land – 3:08
3 – He’s Real – 4:33
4 – Not Too Late – 4:28
5 – Flip-Flop – 2:24
6 – No Burning Out – 3:40
7 – No, No – 3:27
8 – Karen – 4:25
9 – Behind The Curtain – 4:28
Track Listing (German):
1 – Hey Friend – 4:14
2 – Grünes Land – 3:08
3 – He’s Real – 4:33
4 – Not Too Late – 4:28
5 – Flip-Flop – 2:24
6 – No Burning Out – 3:40
7 – Nein – 3:27
8 – Karin – 4:25
9 – Behind The Curtain – 4:28
Credits:
Artwork By [Cover Painting] – Klaus Oelmann
Bass, Vocals – Wilfried Herrmann
Design – Peter Klüger
Drums – Harald Nagel
Guitar [Guitars], Vocals – Ulrich Plinke
Keyboards – Claus Feldmann
Lead Vocals – Markus Egger
Management – Rainer Kierstein
Mastered By – SNB
Percussion – Klaus Herrmann
Producer, Engineer – Jan Nemec
Words By, Music By – Semaja
This 6 song EP from Katharsis was all that was ever released from this band.
It is a rather odd combination of Jazz, Funk, and straight out Rock & Roll. The varying styles might have been its commercial downfall but that said I believe it’s a great EP.
The different styles compliment each other and I think it was very well produced. Looking for the single? My suggestions are the title track, Drivin Too Fast!, and/or, Wrong Band. Nice gem from the 80’s here.
Track Listing:
1 – Drivin’ Too Fast
2 – Not A Chance In Hell (JC Funk)
3 – Wrong Band
4 – The Easiest Answer
5 – Within The Wild
6 – Clear Deception
Credits:
Bass [Bass Response], Vocals – Jerome Reeves
Design [Album], Graphics – Paul I. Pettys
Drums, Percussion – Eric Dean (2)
Engineer – Roger Fortner, Steve Easter (4)
Lead Guitar, Rhythm Guitar – Steve Helm (2)
Photography By – Bill Littell, Dan Wilson (21), Kevin Crafton
Producer – Katharsis (15)
Typography [Typesetting By] – Peggy Dunnagan
Vocals – Jim McLeod (4)
Vocals, Rhythm Guitar – Dwight Huthwaite
Written-By – Huthwaite*, McLeod* (tracks: A2, B1, B3)
Recorded in January 1980 and released on MRC in 1983, this live album features mainly songs from Darrell’s Get Ready album. The concert was recorded on a 2 track system at Calvary Chapel in California. The Get Ready album was released in 1980, so these songs were probably completely unknown to the audience at the time.
This band knows how to entertain. The live versions of these songs give them plenty of life. Darrell always has had a great stage presence, and he brings it out here.
MRC was not Darrell’s regular record label, and in fact this is the only album of his released by them. Darrell was signed to Polydor at the time and appears courtesy of Polydor.
The Amazing Grace guitar intro to “Mr. Rock and Roll” is the perfect setup for this song. As often happens, this fast paced tune is even faster live and the band just hums through it.
The band does an extremely polished version of “That’s Alright” from Darrell’s 1979 debut solo album. They catch the power of this song perfectly, and Darrell’s harmonica playing abilities are really let loose.
Track Listing:
1 – LIfesaver
2 – Mr. Rock And Roll
3 – That’s All Right
4 – Heaven Southwestern
5 – Power Of Love
6 – Get Ready
Credits:
Arranged By – The DMB
Artwork – Rick Griffin
Bass Guitar – Jimmy Perez
Drums – Donny Vosburgh
Electric Guitar – Tony Dean
Electric Guitar [Rhythm] – Dennis Carothers
Keyboards – Jeff Lams
Lead Vocals, Harmonica – Darrell Mansfield
Photography By – Chuck Schmid
This was the second, and last, album from Quickflight. After their first album their record label, Tunesmith, closed their doors and Quickflight had to find a new label.
They found a new home at Star Song and this album was on its way. They headed into Little Mountain Sound Studios in Vancouver, BC to record this album.
It was one of the first Christians recorded in digital format and was recorded almost entirely using synthesizers and sequencers. The result was a pretty distinctive sound for the time. New wave was in but this recording style made this album stand out.
Track Listing:
1 – Water Of Life – 4:58
2 – Remote Control – 2:43
3 – In The World – 3:52
4 – Safety In Numbers – 3:10
5 – System Breakdown – 4:15
6 – Fantasy – 4:00
7 – Fade To Glory – 4:25
8 – Messages – 2:00
9 – D.M.X. – 2:32
10 – Metro Alien – 5:14
11 – I Dream – 2:52
Rob Watson – Daniel Amos / The Swirling Eddies
Arthur Fhardy – The Swirling Eddies
Darrell Washington – The Rap-Sures
Very little is known about this project that resulted in these 2 songs. This is too bad because this was very good music and perfectly right for 1983. I’m sorry we can’t tell you more but you’ll just have to sit back and listen to the songs.
Track Listing:
A – Something’s Going On Here – 3:41
B – The Graylands – 5:59
Credits:
Musician – Arthur Fhardy
Musician – Darrell Washington
Musician – Rob Watson
Recorded At – 3-D Studios
Mixed At – 3-D Studios
Phonographic Copyright – Parbar Music
Copyright – Parbar Music
This was the final album from 100% Proof and I believe their best.
At this point they were tight and writing better than ever. White some consider this album to be a Metal album, but I call it Hard Rock and well done Hard Rock.
This album has the best version ever of “Jesus Loves Me” (yes the one from Sunday School). Toss in a Rockabilly tune to finish off the album and there is a very diverse album.
Track Listing:
1 – Power And The Glory – 4:40
2 – Don’t You Know – 6:34
3 – Out Of Bounds – 3:48
4 – Lost Soul – 5:14
5 – I’m Going To Win – 7:09
6 – Getting Me Down – 4:34
7 – Jesus Loves Me – 4:13
8 – Number Eight – 2:42
Credits:
Bass – Steve Harrison
Cover – Baglow Trueman & Partners Ltd., Felix Lucilla, Peter Grenville Smith
Drums – Phil Wright
Engineer – Lol Cooper
Keyboards – P. Savage
Lead Guitar – Steve Wright
Producer – 100% Proof, Lol Cooper
Rhythm Guitar – Charlie Wilson, Steve Wright
Vocals – Charlie Wilson, Phil Wright (tracks: B4), Steve Wright
The band was packed with talent including Charlie Peacock, who would go on to a solo career as well as producing many albums. He was only on this release from Vector and wrote some of the songs on this album.
The rest of the band were famous in their own rights, including members of The 77’s. The album is very heavily new wave with influences from Genesis to Bowie.
It was just what secular radio was looking for at the time, but alas, it would be relegated to Christian radio only which happened to far too many quality bands of the time.
Track Listing:
1 – Mannequin Virtue – 2:44
2 – Substitute – 2:32
3 – Running From The Light – 3:25
4 – Lost Without Love – 3:16
5 – The Shore – 3:50
6 – The Hunger And The Thirst – 3:48
7 – Desperately – 3:45
8 – All Around The World – 3:25
9 – Only To Fail Again – 3:21
10 – I Love Them All – 3:50
Credits:
Coordinator [Executive Coordinator] – Jan Eric Volz
Design – Jim Abegg, Mark Swanson
Design Concept [Cover Concept] – Jim Abegg, Michelle Abegg, Steve Griffith
Drums [Drum Kit] – Aaron Smith
Engineer [Assistant] – Steve Griffith
Engineer [Engineered By] – Daryl Zachman
Executive-Producer – Mary Neely
Guitar, Guitar Synthesizer, Backing Vocals – Jim Abegg
Illustration – Mark Swanson
Lead Vocals, Bass, Backing Vocals – Steve Griffith
Mastered By – John Golden
Mixed By – Larry Hirsch
Photography By – Jim Abegg, Sandi Robinson
Producer [Produced By] – Steven Soles
Synthesizer [Memorymoog], Backing Vocals – Charlie Peacock
There were moments when 1983’s CCM version of Weird Al Yankovic was Randy Stonehill. His sense of humour comes through on a number of songs in this collection.
Randy was a serious musician and had been for a long time. He has several very serious songs on this album, including the opener “Light of the World”, “China”, and “Turning Thirty.” However there is a good collection of novelty songs on this one. He always enjoyed hamming it up, going all the way back to “Lung Cancer” on his Welcome to Paradise album.
American Fast Food, Shut de do, Cosmetic Fixation, Big Ideas, are all fun songs but not light on message.
Track Listing:
1 – Light Of The World – 4:10
2 – Big Ideas (In The Shrinking World) – 4:37
3 – Shut De Do – 2:46
4 – Even The Best Of Friends – 4:52
5 – American Fast Food – 3:19
6 – China – 5:32
7 – Cosmetic Fixation – 4:17
8 – Turning Thirty – 3:49
9 – Hide Them In Your Love – 3:29
10 – World Without Pain – 3:54
Credits:
Art Direction – Paul Gross (3)
Concept By [Album Cover] – Randy Stonehill, Terry Taylor
Engineer [Engineered By] – Thom Roy
Illustration – Kurt Triffet
Management – Ray Ware
Musician, Acoustic Guitar, Electric Guitar, Lead Vocals – Randy Stonehill
Musician, Bass Guitar [Base Guitar] – Tim Chandler
Musician, Drums, Percussion – Alex MacDougall
Musician, Keyboards [All Keyboards] – Tom Howard
Photography By [Inner Sleeve Photography] – Charles Allen (7)
Producer [Produced By] – Terry Taylor
This record was released in 1983. The etching on the lead-out of the vinyl says “The Tune 1977 (c) 1971”. Larry seems to have had his most creative times in the 60s and 70s and struggled for decades after to get the releases out.
If you read various articles written by Larry (including all the liner notes) this matches up with his story. He talks about post-concussion syndrome, although it wasn’t named yet at the time. He got hit with a bag from the overhead compartment on an airplane apparently. After that he couldn’t remember the lyrics to his own songs most of the time, and he says that he forgot stuff that he had written before getting it down.
The story of “The Tune” is like that. He spontaneously started playing a few notes on the piano, then lost the flow and said, “Well, once there was a tune.” He riffed on that for over 20 minutes, live. It was never recorded. He did his best to re-create it in the studio and recorded The Tune.
The Tune is also “Something New Under the Son Part 1.” S.N.U.T.S. part 2 is the one that was well known and although it was recorded in 1977 we finally got to hear it mid-80s. Let That Tape keep Rollin’ and a lot of good blues came from that one.
Side 2 of The Tune has some good tracks that seem to have been lying around the studio. On the back of the album jacket it references the albums they are from. these include Rough Mix, Twenty Five Years, Rehearsal For Reality, Behind the Curtain. These albums never existed, but Larry must have planned to put them together. There are others that I heard or read the names of (from Larry’s own sources) but they never existed. I heard about Rough Mix(1), Rough Mix(2), Ose Enco, Brothers at Last. I tried ordering these from the Phydeaux store and Joe wrote back saying these albums didn’t exist.
I’m grateful for every release we eventually got from Larry’s archives. We heard all of them at least 10 years after they were written and recorded. When I finally realized that, it only added to his genius in my mind. In another Land sounded “old” in the 80s. But it was released in 1976. When was it conceived and written? Who knows.
I noticed today that in the notes for In Another Land, there is a quote from The Tune. At that point The Tune was unreleased. Few if any had heard the material outside of its original ad-hoc performance. Larry clearly had a vision of releasing many things that we will never hear.
FYI the other etchings in the lead-out, aside from the identifier “ARF-99” are “Larry Finch and Charly” “The Solid Rock Street Choir” and “89 is really 99”
Tracklist
1 – The Tune
2 – Country Church, Country People
3 – Swing Low Sweet Chariot
4 – Soul On Fire
5 – If I Got My Ticket
Credits
Drums – Alex McDougall*
Engineer, Mixed By, Bass – Tim Jaquette
Guitar – Jon Linn
Producer, Arranged By, Voice, Guitar, Piano, Synthesizer – Larry Norman
