1983 – Page 3 – Real 80s CCM

Wendell Burton – Closer – 1983

This is Wendell’s 4th album. This is another album that doesn’t fall in the style I usually listen to BUT I do listen to this one. This is a great Easy Listening album and Wendell was a great song writer. Now this album came out in 1983 and I should have heard of it but somehow I don’t remember anything about it. I’m pretty sure the album cover turned me off if I did see it. This is another example of a horrible album cover that I have complained about before from several labels. Strangely a track from this album ended up on a Sparrow records sampler but the album was on Lamb & Lion Records and Word Canada. I’m just guessing that Sparrow was doing the U.S. distribution but like I said that’s just a guess. Anyway there is one stand out track to me on the album. “America” just begs to have been covered by Springsteen. But I don’t want to say the original isn’t good, it’s very good and is gong into my regular rotation.

Tracklist
1 – Spreading All Over the World – 3:52
2 – Just Like You – 3:04
3 – Who He Is – 3:24
4 – The Battle Is Already Won – 3:50
5 – Come To Me – 3:27
6 – America – 5:17
7 – Today’s The Day – 3:34
8 – Only Be Strong – 4:11
9 – Greatly Rejoice – 4:04
10 – To Be Like Jesus – 2:46

Credits
Acoustic Guitar, Backing Vocals – Wendell Burton
Arranged By [Strings] – Allen Moore, Kristen Wilkinson
Backing Vocals – Christie Houser, Donna McElroy, Lynn Kellogg, Patti Burton*, Randy Thompson, Vicki Wilson
Bass – Larry Paxton, Tim Smith
Drums – Buster Phillips, Joe English
Keyboards – Bobby Wood
Keyboards, Synthesizer – John Lawry, Roger Morris, Shane Keister
Mixed By – Joe Wilson
Mixed By [Assistant] – Bill Cobb
Mixed By, Backing Vocals – Dan Collins
Percussion [Synthesized] – Dan Collins
Producer, Recorded By, Acoustic Guitar, Electric Guitar – Joe Wilson
Saxophone – Donnie Sanders
Synthesizer, Backing Vocals – Tom Howard

Companies, etc.
Phonographic Copyright ℗ – Lamb & Lion Records
Recorded At – Master’s Touch
Mixed At – Poiema Studios
Mixed At – Martinsound
Mixed At – Glaser Sound Studios, Inc., Nashville, Tennessee

Debby Boone – Surrender – 1983

This was Debby’s seventh album and considering we’re talking about Debby Boone here it didn’t do all that well. I’ve listened to it a few times and to be honest it’s just kind of boring. I know I’m not her target audience but the album just didn’t have any punch to it. It was produced by Brown Bannister so I don’t know why it has this feel. I’ve kind of decided it was due to song selection. I think they just got unlucky and didn’t have a great track that stuck. Now lets be clear the album was popular and did sell well. I’m just saying it didn’t sell well for a Debby Boone album.

Tracklist
1 – O Come All Ye Faithful – 4:05
2 – Keep The Flame Burning – 4:42
3 – Can You Reach My Friend – 4:09
4 – Lift Him Up – 4:23
5 – Wounded Soldier – 4:59
6 – Surrender – 3:35
7 – Keep Rollin’ On – 4:05
8 – Find A Hurt And Heal It – 2:38
9 – O Holy One – 4:12
10 – Blessing – 3:05

Credits
Debby Boone – Vocals
Jim Baird – Engineer
Brown Bannister – Producer, Handclaps
Debbie Bannister – Handclaps
David Baroni – Songwriter
Laury Boone Browning – Background Vocals
Niles Borop – Songwriter
Harry Browning – Songwriter
Robbie Buchanan – Keyboards, Synthesizers, Background Vocals
Lenny Castro – Percussion
Bill Champlin – Background Vocals
Tamara Champlin – Background Vocals
Gary Chapman – Background Vocals
Claire Cloninger – Songwriter
Diana DeWitt Hanna – Background Vocals
Phil Driscoll – Duet Vocal
Nathan East – Bass
Gene Eichelberger – Engineer
Victor Feldman – Percussion
Marty Goetz – Songwriter, Piano
Richard Green – Handclaps
Debbie Hall – Background Vocals
Sandy Hall – Background Vocals
Russ Hollingsworth – Songwriter
John Houghton – Handclaps
Dann Huff – Guitars
Shane Keister – Keyboards, Synthesizers
Jim Keltner – Drums
Brent King – Engineer
Greg Laughery – Songwriter
Pam Mark Hall – Songwriter
Martyn Ford – Orchestra Strings
Dony McGuire – Songwriter, Keyboards, Background Vocals
Alan Moore – String Arranger
Farrell Morris – Percussion
Rich Mullins – Songwriter
Connie Nelson – Songwriter
Dean Parks – Guitars
Jack Joseph Puig – Engineer
Bill Purse – Songwriter
Reba Rambo – Songwriter, Background Vocals
John Rosasco – Songwriter
Rick Shlosser – Drums
Leland Sklar – Bass
Billy Sprague – Songwriter
Fred Tackett – Guitars
Carmen Twillie – Background Vocals
Jim Weber – Songwriter

Companies, etc.
Distributed By – Sparrow Records
Mastered At – The Mastering Lab

Phil Driscoll – I Exalt Thee – 1983

I’m pretty sure we will agree that this was Phil’s most successful album. The album got a Grammy nomination for Best Male Gospel Performance and also received the 1984 GMA Dove Award for Instrumentalist of the Year. It was also nominated for the GMA Dove Award for Inspirational Album of the Year. That’s pretty impressive. Now one of the stranger things about this album is that Phil went back into the studio are rerecorded the entire album so he could release it on his own label. He also added a track. I can’t say for sure but I’m pretty sure this was a big screw you to Sparrow records. Anyway if you only have time to listen to one track make it his version of “Amazing Grace”. It’s actually my favorite version of this classic hymn, Phil’s voice just makes it sound so great.

Tracklist
1 – I Exalt Thee – 7:23
2 – Wings As Eagles – 5:30
3 – Let The Whole World Know – 4:05
4 – Our God Reigns – 4:36
5 – Amazing Grace – 4:10
6 – Hosanna – 4:33
7 – El Shaddai – 3:55
8 – Everlasting Life – 4:18
9 – The Lord’s Prayer – 4:49

Credits
Backing Vocals – Beverly Baxter, Donna McElroy, Lari Goss, Melodie Tunney*, Roni Goss, Sharon Scott (3), Terry Blackwood
Bass – Ricky Keller
Congas, Timbales, Percussion – Alex Acuña, Laran Philpott
Drums – Buster Phillips, Jim Keltner
Guitar – Dann Huff, Mike Deasy
Keyboards – Jerry Cleveland, Lari Goss
Producer – Lari Goss, Phil Driscoll

Companies, etc.
Phonographic Copyright ℗ – Sparrow Records

Paul Field – Restless Heart – 1983

Many readers may be more familiar with Paul Field as a member of Nutshell for four albums, with two different incarnations. A very popular British folk trio, Nutshell was referred to by some as the British Second Chapter of Acts. But Field is quite the prolific songwriter, including writing a number one CCM single for pop group Avalon called “Testify to Love.” Winona Judd would actually cover song as it was used on the popular “Touched By An Angel” television series and made it a Top Ten Billboard Hit! But here we are discussing his first solo album, and the one that most may be familiar. He would later record a few other solo projects and spend much of his time writing musicals. Field is a prolific songwriter and has produced scores of albums though many reached widespread distribution in the US. Immediately “Restless Heart” sounds like it could just have easily been released by Cliff Richard. It also reminds me of the “Now You See Me, Now You Don’t” album by Richard, and not only because Richard would cover a song from this album (“Has to Be You, Has to Be Me”). Like the previously discussed Mark Williamson composition, Richard’s version is a bit more upbeat. The album kicks of with what would be the one single KYMS in Southern California really jumped on. “Rock with the Best of Them” is a fun song to start the album with a great horn section a la Chicago. If the world of CCM radio at the time had any justice, this would have been a monster hit! “Radio” follows with a much more mid-tempo feel very reminiscent of the sound for that day. Darker, more somber, I always saw the metaphor of the radio as being related to the Holy Spirit. The song always reminds me more of what the late 70’s Steve Winwood music was like. The album’s 12 songs (quite a few for the day) bounces back and forth between uptempo pop/rock and ballads. One stand out in the Loggins & Messina vein is “The Storm Is Over.” Something that perhaps Scott Wesley Brown would have done at the same time, it may be the most obviously evangelical song on the album. At the same time, it should have been a hit. The whole album is filled with great songs, but the last song I would like to highlight is the most upbeat song on the album, “Fair Fight.” This could just as easily fit on an album from Mark Williamson/Lyrix or even Morgan Cryar or David Edwards, both musically and lyrically. Never released on CD that I know of (at least in the US) and missing from virtually every streaming service (like much of early 80’s Myrrh releases), the album is worth tracking down. I have seen it for a reasonable price on Amazon and Ebay.

Contributor David Lowman – https://legacyccmsgreatestalbums.wordpress.com/

Tracklist
1 – Rock With The Best Of Them – 3:23
2 – Radio – 3:56
3 – Has To Be You, Has To Be Me – 4:42
4 – Solo – 3:48
5 – Positive – 2:57
6 – The Storm Is Over – 3:51
7 – Fairfight – 2:46
8 – Stranger In Your Eyes – 3:45
9 – Just Around The Corner – 3:04
10 – You’re The One – 5:12
11 – Nearly Midnight – 3:48
12 – Restless Heart – 3:46

Credits
Paul Field – Vocals, Guitar and Piano
Graham Jarvis – Drums
Mark Griffiths – Bass
Martin Jenner – Guitar
Dave Cooke – Piano, Keyboards, Guitar and Backing vocals
Luís Jardim – Bass
Linda Jardim – Backing vocals
Marilyn David – Backing vocals
Tom Blades – Guitar
Colin Larne – Drums
Bill Thorpe – Violin
Martin David – Percussion
Barry de Souza – Drums
Ray Russell – Guitar
Henry Lowther – Horn
Nick Pentelow – Saxophone
Nick Firkle – Trumpet
Steve Jones – Violin
Penny Thompson – Viola
Jan Sharpe – Cello

Companies, etc.
Phonographic Copyright ℗ – Word, Inc.
Copyright © – Word, Inc.
Produced For – Friday Productions
Recorded At – Riverside Recordings
Mixed At – Riverside Recordings
Mastered At – Liberty Recording Studios
Pressed By – Monarch Record Mfg. Co. – △26054

Jerusalem – Cant Stop Us Now – 1983

Jerusalem’s 4th album “Can’t Stop Us Now” was a departure from their previous style. Up until this album they had been a 70’s style rock band. Surviving in the 80’s required an updated sound and they easily achieved it. The new pop rock sound was poorly received by their regular listeners but gained new users like myself. The album sold much better than their previous offerings proving their direction change to be a good idea. The album was released in both Swedish and English with the Swedish version retaining 3 English tracks. There does appear to be some minor mix changes between the two versions but for the main part it sounds like they used the same instrument tracks. The English version was reissued in 2018 with 2 bonus tracks. A new song “Time” which is more their traditional style and a remix of “Heartbeat”. We have included those tracks in oar playlist.

Tracklist
1 – Can’t Stop Us Now 4:02
2 – Loves You More 3:58
3 – The Wind Is Blowing 4:24
4 – Tomorrow’s World 5:34
5 – The Waiting – 4:33
6 – Let’s Go (Dancing) – 3:41
7 – Mourner’s Parade – 4:35
8 – Read Between The Lines – 4:08
9 – The Missing Piece – 3:43
10 – Heartbeat – 3:15
Bonus Tracks
11 – Time – 5:50
12 – Heartbeat (Light Remix) – 3:15

Credits
Bass – Peter Carlsohn
Drums – Mikael Ulvsgärd
Keyboards – Dan Tibell
Vocals, Guitar – Ulf Christiansson
Composed By – Ulf Christiansson
Layout, Design – Scott Waters
Producer [Produced By] – Andy Kidd
Remastered By – Rob Colwell

Companies, etc.
Phonographic Copyright ℗ – Refuge Records
Copyright © – Refuge Records
Distributed By – The Benson Company, Inc.
Copyright © – Uffe Music
Published By – Uffe Music
Published By – Snellsong

Jerusalem – Vi Kan Inte Stoppas – 1983

This is the Swedish version of Jerusalem’s 4th album “Can’t Stop Us Now” instead titled “Vi Kan Inte Stoppas”. It was a departure from their previous style as up until this album they had been a 70’s style rock band. Surviving in the 80’s required an updated sound and they easily achieved it. The new pop rock sound was poorly received by their regular listeners but gained new users like myself. The album sold much better than their previous offerings proving their direction change to be a good idea. The album was released in both Swedish and English with the Swedish version retaining 3 English tracks. There does appear to be some minor mix changes between the two versions but for the main part it sounds like they used the same instrument tracks.

Tracklist
1 – Vi Kan Inte Stoppas – 3:58
2 – Loves You More – 3:58
3 – Vinden Blåser… – 4:27
4 – I Skuggan Av Det Förflutna – 5:37
5 – Kärlekseld – 4:35
6 – Let’s Go (Dancin’) – 3:42
7 – Sorgsnas Parad – 4:37
8 – Regn – 4:09
9 – Pusselbiten – 3:36
10 – Heartbeat – 3:15

Companies, etc.
Printed By – SIB-Tryck AB
Phonographic Copyright ℗ – Royal Music
Copyright © – Uffe Music
Published By – Uffe Music
Published By – Snellsong

Matrix – PG13 – 1983

This is where it all started for Bride. If you don’t know Bride were originally called Matrix and this is their first Demo. There are several versions of this demo and some apparently have different tracks so don’t hold us to this particular lineup. Apparently this demo was cut fairly early in the bands development which is rather amazing if you listen to it. Apparently none of these tracks ever made it onto an album which is a real pity as there are some really really good songs here. To be honest I’m quite surprised how good this demo really is. These guys had it together and they had it together quick. Some of the tracks lean a little more Rock & Roll than the work they would be best known for and I sure would have liked to hear more from them in this style. To me the standout track is “Spell House” which has a bit of a Rush feeling to it. Maybe not the best track on the Demo but it’s the one that stood out to me. Best track? For me it is probably “What’s The Point?”.

Tracklist
1 – We Got The Rhythm – 3:19
2 – Who Killed The Rock Hero – 3:24
3 – Get Away – 3:10
4 – What’s The Point – 4:36
5 – Good Rock ‘N’ Roll – 3:19
6 – Stand Up And Shout – 3:01
7 – West Of The Moon – 2:13
8 – Spell House – 3:13
9 – To Make You Think It’s Real – 3:00
10 – Missing Children – 4:35

Credits
Drums – Steve Childers
Guitar, Bass – Troy Thompson
Vocals, Bass – Dale Thompson
Photography By – Scott Hall
Songwriter [All Songs Written By] – Dale Thompson, Troy Thompson

Tom Franzak – Walk That Talk – 1983

This was Tom’s first album. Myrrh / Word Records took a real chance on Tom as he was actually Catholic and not evangelical. I’m actually quite surprised they took this chance but it was a good idea as he was quite well received. He had been working in secular music with no success and his faith called him to do Christian music. This album is a little heavy on the worship tracks and strangely none of them singled. Several were certainly good enough for the CCM charts but I suspect there was some hesitance due to his denomination. There are a few good pop tracks and I really like “I Know What Love’s About”. CCM needed more songs like this. HIs next album is better and much better known so if you liked his second album, Shadowboxing, you should give this one a listen.

Tracklist
1 – Walk That Talk
2 – The Call
3 – Messiah
4 – (You’re Only As) Sick As Your Secrets
5 – Piece Of The Mountaintop
6 – HGT (Heavy Guilt Trip)
7 – Thank You For Loving Me
8 – I Know What Love’s About
9 – Live On In My Love
10 – Just Passing Through

Leon Patillo ‎– Live Experience – 1983 – Full Album

Leon recorded this album in 82 or 83 while on tour to support his “I’ll Never Stop Lovin’ You” release. It includes most of his big hits up to this point along with renditions of Amazing Grace and This Is The Day. Strangely Leon played the entire concert by himself using backing tracks of Bass and Drums recorded by himself earlier. I found this rather odd and was wondering if it was a tad egotistical but I decided in the end that it was simply a money decision. Normally of course you’d have to pay a support band for the tour as well as their expenses. Doing every thing yourself avoids this splitting and additional costs. Pretty smart financial move but I would think it would have hurt the live experience. If it did you can not tell from the recording. The fans are quite into the concert and it does sound like it was a great show.

Tracklist
1 – Born Again – 5:04
2 – Flesh Of My Flesh – 3:02
3 – Dance Children Dance – 6:46
4 – Amazing Grace – 1:55
5 – Don’t Give In – 4:36
6 – Star Of The Morning – 4:02
7 – Cornerstone – 4:05
8 – Visions (Talk) – 8:00
9 – We Must Believe – 6:17
10 – This Is The Day – 4:46
11 – Go – 5:15

Credits
Design, Layout – Dennis Hill
Engineer – Skip Konte
Engineer [Assistant] – Biff Vincent
Mastered By – Bernie Grundman
Photography By – Roger Hanlon
Piano, Electric Piano [Rhodes], Bass, Drums – Leon Patillo
Producer – Leon Patillo, Skip Konte
Programmed By [Horns, Strings, Percussion] – Leon Patillo
Vocals – Leon Patillo

Companies, etc.
Phonographic Copyright (p) – Word, Inc.
Copyright (c) – Word, Inc.
Mixed At – Front Page Studio, Costa Mesa, CA
Mastered At – A&M Mastering Studios
Pressed By – Monarch Record Mfg. Co. – △26047

Teri Desario – A Call To Us All – 1983

This was Teri’s 4th album but her first in the CCM genre. She had a very successful run in Secular music before having a disagreement with her record company and switching to Word/Dayspring records. As a point of trivia her separation from secular Casablanca records left an album on the shelf that has never been released. Another weird piece of trivia is That she put out a secular album in the same year as this one but it was only released in Japan. Anyway onto this album, it was produced by her hubby, Bill Purse. He didn’t have much of a production history but did a great job on this album. The album had 2 singles with “Battleline” making it to #8 and “I Dedicate All My Love To You” to #10. Pretty successful album but given her secular success this isn’t surprising. Actually I’m a little surprised they didn’t pull a 3 and 4th single off the album. The album is a Easy Listening affair but has a couple pretty good upbeat tracks. “Dig A Little Deeper” is the track that most resemble her secular work and has a nice pop dance feel to it.

Tracklist
1 – Thank You – 3:30
2 – Battleline – 3:40
3 – I Dedicate All My Love To You – 4:57
4 – Dig A Little Deeper – 4:00
5 – Clouds Without Water – 5:30
6 – All I Need – 4:30
7 – Jesus, Call Your Lambs – 4:10
8 – I’ll Carry On – 4:54
9 – A Call To Us All – 7:25

Credits
Acoustic Guitar, Mandolin – John Chiodini
Art Direction, Design – Paul Gross
Backing Vocals – Bill Purse, David Roitstein, Kelly Koehr, Kim Fox, Nicole Ann Kujala, Rosalina R. Sackstein, Stephen R. Kujala, Teri DeSario Purse
Berimbau, Kalimba, Caxixi – Michael Fisher
Concertmaster – Doug Cameron
Design [Inner Sleeve] – Steve Elowe
Drums – Carlos Vega, Tony Lewis
Engineer [Assistant] – Steve Ford
Flute – Rosalina R. Sackstein
French Horn – William Alsup
Guitar – Kevin Clark
Harp – Amy Shulman
Mastered By – Bernie Grundman
Photography By – Harry Langdon
Producer, Arranged By, Piano, Synthesizer – Bill Purse
Recorded By, Mixed By – Kevin Clark
Saxophone – Dave Boruff
Sitar – Dan Ratkovich
Tabla, Percussion – Ron Wagner

Companies, etc.
Mastered At – A&M Studios
Phonographic Copyright (p) – Word, Inc.
Copyright (c) – Word, Inc.