CIA – (self titled) EP – 1984

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

MRC Sampler – What’s Shakin – 1984

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

The Imitators – (self titled) EP – 1984

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)

Charlie Peacock – Lie Down In The Grass – 1984

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

Larry Norman – bARCHAEOLOGY / Labor of Love – 1984

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

Daniel Band – Run From The Darkness – 1984

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

Steve Taylor – Meltdown – 1984

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

Steve Taylor – Meldown Dance Remix – 1984

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.

 

Stryper – Yellow and Black Attack – 1986

Originally released in 1984 as a 6 song EP was “The Yellow and Black Attack”. This is the 1986 blue vinyl re-release which featured 2 bonus tracks. While this was Stryper’s debut album it didn’t sell well until their second release “Soldiers Under Command” achieved gold then fans hunted out this album. It had the typical Stryper sound which of course was strong heavy metal. Like them or not Stryper did fill a gap in Christian music and they did have some crossover success. Point of trivia is that the Japanese version of this album featured another bonus track “Winter Wonderland”.

Tracklist
1 – Loud ‘N’ Clear – 3:28
2 – From Wrong To Right – 3:47
3 – My Love I’ll Always Show – 3:39
4 – You Know What To Do – 4:48
5 – Co’Mon Rock – 3:44
6 – You Won’t Be Lonely – 3:43
7 – Loving You – 4:12
8 – Reason For The Season – 6:31

Credits
Art Direction – Brian Ayuso
Bass, Keyboards, Backing Vocals – Tim Gaines
Drums – Robert Sweet
Guitar, Backing Vocals – Oz Fox
Illustration [Cover] – Tom Utley
Lead Vocals, Guitar – Michael Sweet
Mastered By – Eddy Schreyer
Mixed By – Jim Faraci
Photography By – Glen La Fermin
Producer – Ron Goudie (tracks: A1 to 2, A4 to B3), Stryper
Programmed By [Synclavier] – Chris Currell

Companies, etc.
Copyright (c) – The Enigma Entertainment Corporation
Distributed By – Capitol Records, Inc.
Mastered At – Capitol Mastering
Mastered At – Sheffield Lab Matrix – ? 13003
Phonographic Copyright (p) – The Enigma Entertainment Corporation
Pressed By – Allied Record Company – B-24020
Pressed By – Allied Record Company – B-24021
Published By – Sweet Family Music
Recorded At – Amigo Studios
Recorded At – Clover Recorders

Sweet Comfort Band – Perfect Timing – 1984

The 1984 album “Perfect Timing” was a shift in style for Sweet Comfort Band. Previously known as an easy listening band this album struck a departure from that style. Perfect Timing move more to light/medium rock. The album also featured a few tracks in a new wave/pop style and even a track with more of a 70’s funk feeling. This was the last studio album for Sweet Comfort Band with the exception of a reunion album released in 2013. All in all “Perfect Timing” did indeed have perfect timing and was an excellent album for the time period.

 

Tracklist
1 – Perfect Timing – 3:26
2 – Habit Of Hate – 3:32
3 – You Led Me To Believe – 5:08
4 – Don’t Bother Me Now – 3:49
5 – Computer Age – 3:32
6 – Sing For The Melody – 3:42
7 – Lookin’ For The Answer – 4:45
8 – Envy & Jealosy – 4:20
9 – Prodigal’s Regret – 4:10
10 – Neighborhood Kids – 3:48

Credits
Art Direction – Kevin Thomson
Bass [Alembic] – Kevin Thomson
Co-producer [Production Assistance] – Randy Thomas (2)
Cover – Kernie Erickson
Drums – Rick Thomson
Edited By – Marvin McNeil
Engineer [2nd Engineer] – Mike Mierau
Guitar – Randy Thomas (2)
Keyboards – John Schreiner, Peter Robinson Lacquer Cut By – RD
Lead Vocals – Bryan Duncan, Randy Thomas (2) (tracks: A5)
Mastered By – Richard Donaldson
Mixed By – Dino Elefante
Photography By – Spencer Pendergrass
Producer – Dino Elefante
Recorded By – Dino Elefante
Vocals – Ben Mendoza, John Elefante, Randy Thomas (2), Rick Thomson
Vocals [“Neighborhood Kids”] – Ben Mendoza, Lisa Lantz

Companies, etc.
Record Company – Lexicon Music, Inc.
Phonographic Copyright (p) – Lexicon Music, Inc.
Copyright (c) – Lexicon Music, Inc.
Published By – Lexicon Music, Inc.
Published By – Libris Music
Published By – Mastadon Publishing Company
Designed At – Visual Communications
Recorded At – Pakaderm Studios
Mixed At – Pakaderm Studios
Mastered At – Sound Dome
Pressed By – Electrosound Group Midwest, Inc.