This appears to be the only thing ever released from Urgent. It has a normal mid 80’s Rock/Pop sound with vocal flavours of Scandal.
While only 5 tracks long the album/ep has a nice feel and structure to it. I’m actually kind of surprised that a record label didn’t pick them up and do a full album. I know what was out at the time and this definitely ranked above some of the stuff I heard.
Track Listing:
1 – Not Ashamed Of Love
2 – No Secrets
3 – Hands From Heaven
4 – Don’t Run
5 – Counting The Days
Credits:
Producer – Russ Kirkland
David C. Brown – Drums
Kerwin Hickey – Guitar
Kristy Hickley – Vocals
Dennis Roberts – Bass
Glenn Winslow – Keys
This was the 2nd album from Kerry Livgren after he and Dave Hope left Kansas.
While Kansas headed into obscurity Kerry Livgren’s Christian music career was just starting to take off. While most of the band members had connections to Kansas the album really doesn’t have much of a Kansas sound.
It has almost a funkier sound and features a brass section. Livgren wanted to have the band perform under the name AD, but the record label insisted he attach his name to the album making for a rather odd name for the band.
Track Listing:
1 – Time Line 4:04
2 – Tonight 4:53
3 – Make Or Break It 3:49
4 – Take Us To The Water 4:28
5 – Beyond The Pale 3:33
6 – New Age Blues 3:54
7 – Slow Motion Suicide 4:46
8 – High On A Hill 3:52
9 – Life Undercover 3:27
10 – Welcome To The War 4:11
Credits:
Art Direction – Ken Marcellino
and, Bass Guitar – Dave Hope
Band, Drums, Percussion – Dennis Holt
Band, Guitar [Guitars], Keyboards, Programmed By [DMX Prog.], Bass – Kerry Livgren
Band, Lead Vocals, Backing Vocals, Keyboards, Percussion – Michael Gleason
Band, Lead Vocals, Backing Vocals, Woodwind [Woodwinds], Harmonica – Warren Ham
Concept By [Front Concept] – Ken Marcellino, Kerry Livgren, Mark Ferjulian, Rick Griffin
Engineer [Assisted By] – Davy Moire (tracks: 10), Michael Gleason
Executive-Producer – Budd Carr, Ken Marcellino, Mark Ferjulian
Illustration [Front Cover], Design [Logo] – Rick Griffin
Management – Ken Marcellino, Mark Ferjulian
Mastered By – Glen Meadows
Photography By [Back Cover] – Mark Tucker
Producer [Produced By], Engineer [Engineered By] – Kerry Livgren
In 1984 on a sampler from record label MRC (Ministry Resource Center) there was a track from a band called CIA. For almost all of us this was our entire exposure to the band as we never saw an album from them.
However, there actually was a demo/EP release from them and this is it. It is very rare and was actually only released on cassette. They were a new wave band that fit well in the MRC family that included Altar Boys and Undercover.
They really should have had more success, but the music industry is a strange world where sometimes we don’t get to hear the best.
Track Listing:
1 – Your Eyes
2 – Reaching Out
3 – I Don’t Choose the World
4 – I Want to Dance
5 – Don’t Turn Away
6 – In God We Trust
Credits:
Lead vocals – Rob Hall
Bass guitar – Bob Wohler
Lead guitar – Larry Worley
Drums – James Mohline
Synthesizer – Hans Van Tatenhoue
This album was a sampler from the record label “Ministry Resource Center”.
It features some known bands but there are a few bands on the album which never released an album. There are also some songs that were previously unreleased. All in all a must have album.
Track Listing:
1 – Undercover – One Of These Days – 2:24
2 – The Proclaimers – Rejoice – 2:10
3 – Stephen Crumbächer – It Don’t Matter – 4:00
4 – Youth Choir – It’s So Wonderful – 1:56
5 – Altar Boys – Go For It – 2:14
6 – The Lifters – Listen Children – 2:15
7 – The Omega Band – Idols – 2:43
8 – Sharon McCall – From The Grave – 3:50
9 – Malcolm And The Mirrors – Apathy – 4:00
10 – CIA – Your Choice – 2:30
11 – Stephen Crumbächer – It Don’t Matter (Reprise) – 1:02
This 4 song EP 12 inch release was the first release from The Imitators.
They were a short lived New Wave band that had a full length album after this but that was it. It is very well produced and sounds like the typical sound at the time.
I would compare it to Psychedelic Furs with slightly stronger vocals.
Track Listing:
1 – When The Deal Goes Down – 3:30
2 – I Want To Walk In The Light – 5:04
3 – Paradoxical Faith – 5:37
4 – Human Sacrifice – 5:19
Credits:
Bass – Robert Villegas
Drums – Richard Cabrera (2)
Engineer – Gordon Driver
Guitar – Barry Edge, David Price (12)
Keyboards – Philip Mason (2)
Mastered By – Steve Hall
Mixed By – Gordon Driver
Producer – Gordon Driver, The Imitators
Vocals – Barry Edge, David Price (12), Philip Mason (2)
This is Charlie Peacock’s introductory album. Up until this he was best known as being a producer, having produced the Seventy Sevens amongst others.
This album is strongly new wave with very strong synth influence. It is highly produced which I guess is to be expected when a producer produces their own album.
As an aside, in my opinion this album has one of the worst album covers in the 80’s.
Tracklist
1 – Lie Down In The Grass – 3:29
2 – Watching Eternity – 2:58
3 – It’s Gone, It’s Over – 3:47
4 – Human Condition – 3:00
5 – Lost In Translation – 3:47
6 – One, Two, Three (That’s Okay) – 3:45
7 – Whole Lot Different (Whole Lot The Same) – 3:32
8 – Till You Caught My Eye – 3:30
9 – Turned On An Attitude – 2:57
10 – Who Is Not Afraid? – 3:00
Credits
Artwork By – Jim Abegg
Bass – Eric Heilman, Erik Kleven
Bass, Tom Tom, Vocals – Steve Griffith
Design – Jim Abegg
Engineer – Daryl Zachman
Executive Producer – Mary Neely
Guitar – Jim Abegg
Guitar, Vocals – Mike Roe
Mastered By – John Golden
Mixed By – Larry Hirsch
Other [Executive Coodinator] – Jan Eric Volz
Percussion [Additional] – Jim Caselli
Percussion [Ethnic & Orchestral] – Bongo Bob Smith
Photography – Kent Lacin
Producer – Charlie Peacock
Saxophone – Michael Butera
Trumpet – Larry Lunetta
Vocals, Keyboards, Drums – Charlie Peacock
Written By – Charlie Peacock
The songs on Labor of Love are a refreshingly different sound to hear from Larry Norman. They are far less brooding, and much less singer-songwriter or blues artist approach to songs. The reason? These songs are written by Tom Howard.
Labor of Love is one of 3 records included in the bARCHAEOLOGY boxed set released in 1984. Labor, and Letter of the Law, another of the 3 records in the set are comprised mainly of songs written by Tom Howard. There was also an album released called Quiet Night, under the name “Larry Norman & The Young Lions” although there is no evidence that the Young Lions were anyone other than Larry and his brother Charly. Actually that’s a pretty credible theory.
Larry was promoting Tom Howard on the Solid Rock label, and produced one album for him. Apparently at one point Larry decided that if he recorded some of Tom’s songs, they would be easier to promote, and it would result in better album sales for Tom.
There isn’t any evidence that this was a big boost for Tom Howard’s career, but he did have a few albums out on his own, including the one on Solid Rock Records.
There are a couple of “L’Etudes” tracks here, which are the only pieces written by Larry on this record. They serve as interludes between some of the songs.
Track Listing:
1 – Where His Love Touches Down
2 – Let The Master Make It Right
3 – Stairway L’Etudes
4 – Farther On
5 – Come On In
6 – Piano L’Etudes
7 – Mansion On The Sand
8 – Twilight L’Etudes
9 – Higher Calling
10 – Jesus Is The Song
11 – Drum L’Etudes
12 – One More Reason
Great rock’n’roll out of Canada! This is Daniel Band’s third album and by this time they had everything going. They had the sound, they had the energy, and they had the clear response to all those 666 t-shirts the rock fans in the 80s were wearing.
The 1980s high school uniform for a while was one of those baseball style 3/4 sleeve shirts done in black and white with an upside down cross, a bat, some blood, and a 666 on it.
Daniel Band took that 666 and drew a circle around it and put a line through it. They found a way to embrace the genre without embracing the wrong message and it really took for them.
Track Listing:
1 – Don’t Give Up – 3:51
2 – Run From Darkness – 4:41
3 – Walk On The Water – 3:38
4 – Never Gonna Die – 3:42
5 – Sixteen – 3:07
6 – Live Connection – 2:50
7 – Let’s Get Ready – 4:19
8 – Walls – 3:52
9 – It’s Over – 4:15
Credits:
Drums, Percussion – Matt DelDuca
Lead Guitar, Rhythm Guitar, Lead Vocals – Tony Rossi
Lead Vocals, Bass Guitar, Keyboards – Dan McCabe
Mastered By – George Graves
Mixed By, Recorded By – Mark Wright (3)
Rhythm Guitar – Bill Findlay
This album was a followup to Steve Taylor’s EP “I Want to Be a Clone”. It is slightly more refined, but for the main part it followed the new wave sound of the previous EP.
The album features some strong “political” messages, something Steve Taylor was well known for. The album did well commercially, reaching the No. 10 spot on Billboard’s Top Contemporary Christian chart and No. 18 in the 2001 book CCM Presents: The 100 Greatest Albums in Christian Music.
The single was “Meltdown” though I preferred “Am I in Sync?”
Track Listing:
1 – Meltdown (At Madame Tussaud’s) – 4:26
2 – We Don’t Need No Colour Code – 2:43
3 – Am I In Sync? – 4:32
4 – Meat The Press – 3:48
5 – Over My Dead Body – 5:21
6 – Sin For A Season – 4:14
7 – Guilty By Association – 3:21
8 – Hero – 3:40
9 – Jenny – 4:04
10 – Baby Doe – 3:51
Credits:
Arranged By – Steve Taylor
Bass – Chris Richards
Cover – The Graphics Studio
Cover [Coordination] – B. Charlyne Hinesley
Drums – Cactus Moser
Engineer – Jonathan David Brown
Guitar – Kerry Conner
Keyboards – Woody Waddell
Management – Rob Marshall
Photography By – Greg Wigler
Producer – Jonathan David Brown
Saxophone – Dave Thrush
Vocals, Other [Anything Else That Requires No Talent] – Steve Taylor
Written-By – Steve Taylor
Extended dance remixes were popular in 1984, often released on 12″ 45 RPM vinyl.
Steve Taylor was keeping up with the likes of Simple Minds, Tears for Fears, Depeche Mode and other new wave artists with this release.
The Meltdown album came out, this 12″ EP, and videos produced for some of the songs on the album. It was a busy year, coming very quickly after 1983’s I Want To Be A Clone.
