Tag: 1986

Tonio K. – Romeo Unchained – 1986

Before this album Then there was four years of silence from Krikorian. He continued to write songs for others and had begun building friendships with many of the “disenfranchised” Christian artists who did not fit the mold of popular CCM like Leslie Phillips, T-Bone Burnett and Mark Heard. He had songs placed on mainstream Christian artists albums like Benny Hester and Burnett and Heard recorded some of his music. In 1985 some close friends of these artist that were working at the Myrrh Los Angeles offices started a sub-label in connection with A&M Records called What? Records. The label’s purpose was to be a home to artist who did not fit the CCM mold and would be a haven for more commercial, mainstream oriented artists with spiritual messages. The label was short-lived but released four of the greatest albums in Christian music including two from Tonio K, Mark Heard’s “iDEoLa” and Dave Perkins’ “The Innocence.” The theme of loves lost and found is not new. But in those silent four years a change took place in Krikorian. The beliefs he had for years became faith. According to the interview I had with him right after of the release of “Romeo Unchained” he had discovered grace for the first time in his life. He had also found love. The real kind. And rather than songs of frustration, anger and revenge, there are songs of grace, commitment and hope. That does not mean that he pushed aside the caustic wit and smart and stinging lyrics. Here the pen is pointed against a world that wants to tear down and destroy the love God has provided. The victim of Tonio K’s previous work are now the ones he defends. The whole album appears to be a picture of the juxtaposition of true love and the facade the world offers. I should also note that “Romeo Unchained” may have one of the best album covers ever. The images of half a man as mannequin, the made up attractive woman and iron display the struggles of modern women and the battle for the real and eternal they seek. All with K-9 (Tonio K.) observing this turmoil. There is a little story about K-9 I will mention later. The album was highly praised in both secular and Christian circles. Rolling Stone Magazine would even rave that it was the best Bob Dylan album since Bob Dylan lost interest in pop music. T-Bone Burnett handled much of the production and cast of LA heavyweights lent their talents in the studio including David Mansfield (Dylan) and David Miner (T-Bone Burnett) and David Raven and Tim Chandler of DA/Swirling Eddies.

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

Tracklist
1 – True Confessions – 3:40
2 – Perfect World – 4:12
3 – Romeo And Jane – 3:46
4 – You Belong With Me – 4:50
5 – Impressed – 4:24
6 – I Handle Snakes – 3:36
7 – Emotional War Games – 3:53
8 – Living Doll – 3:44
9 – You Don’t Belong Here – 5:51
10 – You Will Go Free – 6:37

Credits
Art Direction, Layout – Tim Alderson
Backing Vocals – Rick Neigher, T-Bone Burnett
Bass – David Miner, Eric Gotthelf, Phil Chen, Rick Neigher, Tim Chandler
Coordinator [Production Coordinator] – Penny Payne
Design Concept [Visual Concepts], Photography By – Linda Myers
Drum Programming – Rick Neigher, T-Bone Burnett
Drums – Burleigh Drummond, Freddy Alwag, Ron Aston
Engineer – Billy Taylor, Joe Chiccarelli, Larold Rebhun, Mark Heard, Nick Van Maarth, Rick Neigher
Engineer [Assistant Engineering] – Carolyn Collins, Joe Borja, Judy Clapp, Peter Doell, Steve Himelfarb
Guitar – Billy Steele, Charlie Sexton, Daryl Caraco, Nick Van Maarth, Peter Banks, Rick Neigher, T-Bone Burnett, Tonio K.
Horns – Little Effort, Phil Kenzie
Management – Gary Heaton Management
Mandocello, Violin – David Mansfield
Mandolin [Mandocello], Violin – David Mansfield
Mastered By – Bob Ludwig
Mixed By – Ed Thacker (tracks: A5, B3, B4), Joe Chiccarelli (tracks: A1 to A4, B1, B2)
Other [Assistant Engineering] – Milton
Other [Cover Girl] – Lisa Taylor
Percussion – Burleigh Drummond, Efrain Toro
Synthesizer – Bob Rose, Dave Aston, David Lewis, Rick Neigher
Technician [Productive Trouble-Shooting] – T-Bone Burnett
Vocals [Featured Vocalist] – Tonio K.

Companies, etc.
Produced For – Vogue Productions (2)
Recorded At – Lawrence Welk’s Champagne Recorders, Hollywood, CA.
Recorded At – Baby’O Recorders
Recorded At – Eldorado Recording Studios
Recorded At – Cherokee Studios
Recorded At – Hitman Studios
Recorded At – Fingerprint Recorders
Recorded At – Redwing Studios
Mixed At – Capitol Studios
Mastered At – Masterdisk
Pressed By – Electrosound Group Midwest, Inc.
Record Company – What? Records
Manufactured By – A&M Records, Inc.
Distributed By – A&M Records, Inc.

Billy Sprague – Serious Fun – 1986

This is the second album from Billy. It is a little more pop oriented than his first album and while not as successful it is a better album. While it had 2 CCM charting singles Out Of The Blue only made it to #31 but A Heart Like Mine made it to #3. Strangely the two tracks are almost identical and I really question what Billy was thinking as he is a fantastic song writer. Did he not hear how close these 2 songs are? Anyway those aren’t the best tracks on the album anyway, just the 2 that CCM charts liked and really they had no idea about music. Most of the rest of the album is good quality Pop songs but my favourite track is Invisible Hand in which I can almost hear David Edwards, such a great song.

Tracklist
1 – Rock the Planet – 3:30
2 – Love Has No Eyes – 4:38
3 – YMISIM – 4:51
4 – A Heart Like Mine – 3:44
5 – Invisible Hand – 4:13
6 – Phantom Living – 4:36
7 – Out of the Blue – 3:47
8 – Centered on You – 4:07
9 – Better Days – 4:52

Various – The Strait Tapes – Volume III – 1986

Here’s Volume 3 of the Strait Tapes and I believe the last in the series but we’ve had a few surprises in this series so I will will say I think it is the final one. Again we have quite a few unreleased tracks to enjoy. I didn’t do a count but I think this one has the most examples of secular bands of Christians. Anyway it’s another fantastic offering and we should give credit the the gang over at Strait Magazine for putting together such a great series of tapes. I’ve listed below what album these tracks showed up on if they did.

1 – The 77’s – The Lust, The Flesh, The Eyes And The Pride Of Life. – Released on their 1987 album The 77’s
2 – Talking Drums – You Do Cry A Lot – Released on their 1985 album Reassembly
3 – Maldwyn Pope – Reunion Of The Heart – Released on his 1990 album Love Will Find A Way
4 – Bryan McGlynn – Soul Doctor – still unreleased
5 – The Good Guys – Still A Mistake – Released on their 1984 album A System Of Grooves
6 – Charlie Peacock – Down In The Lowlands – Released on his 1986 album Charlie Peacock
7 – Trade Secret – With Or Without You – Released on their 1987 album Trade Secret
8 – One A.M. – Over And Over – still unreleased
9 – Mike Starkey – I Became A Johnson’s Baby – still unreleased
10 – Vector – America – Released on their 1984 album Please Stand By
11 – Deniece Williams – Straight Ahead – Released her 1986 album
12 – The Refuseniks – Quiet Time – Gag track as intro to next track
13 – Terry Scott Taylor – Old Time Gospel Camp Meeting Hour – Released on his 1986 album Knowledge & Innocence
14 – Bruce Cockburn – Wondering Where The Lions Are – Released on his 1979 album Dancing In The Dragon’s Jaws
15 – Steve Scott – Not A Pretty Picture – Released on his 1988 album Lost Horizon
16 – Jump The Nile – Proud To Be A Warrior – still unreleased
17 – First Strike – Power – Released on their 1987 album Crank It Up!
18 – Bryan McGlynn – Stranger At The Party – still unreleased

Tracklist
1 – The 77’s – The Lust, The Flesh, The Eyes And The Pride Of Life. – 3:25
2 – Talking Drums – You Do Cry A Lot – 3:07
3 – Maldwyn Pope – Reunion Of The Heart – 4:31
4 – Bryan McGlynn – Soul Doctor – 3:28
5 – The Good Guys – Still A Mistake – 2:16
6 – Charlie Peacock – Down In The Lowlands – 4:28
7 – Trade Secret – With Or Without You – 3:42
8 – One A.M. – Over And Over – 3:12
9 – Mike Starkey – I Became A Johnson’s Baby – 2:01
10 – Vector – America – 4:05
11 – Deniece Williams – Straight Ahead – 4:07
12 – The Refuseniks – Quiet Time – 0:44
13 – Terry Scott Taylor – Old Time Gospel Camp Meeting Hour – 3:17
14 – Bruce Cockburn – Wondering Where The Lions Are – 3:27
15 – Steve Scott – Not A Pretty Picture – 4:03
16 – Jump The Nile – Proud To Be A Warrior – 4:13
17 – First Strike – Power – 4:51
18 – Bryan McGlynn – Stranger At The Party – 3:13

Heartbeat – Voice To The Nation – 1986

I have to admit that here in Canada we had no idea who Heartbeat was never mind the controversy they caused. This is their 3rd album and I think by now most of the controversy had died down. They still proclaimed to be a charting pop band but really they were a backup worship band that made the majority of their money playing on other peoples albums. This album does not have a secular single release and that’s probably a good thing as it did not deserve to be on the secular charts. As for the album it is primarily a worship album with a couple pop tunes mixed in. The problem with the pop tracks is that the vocals do not fit them. We saw this several times in the 80’s as worship oriented bands tried to do a pop album and failed miserably due to vocals. This album isn’t too bad if you listen to it for what it is and that’s a worship album.

Tracklist
1 – Prelude/Voice To The Nation – 4:04
2 – Heal Our Nation – 4:42
3 – Out Of Your Great Love – 2:09
4 – Dance People Dance – 4:05
5 – Lord, Release My Mouth – 2:25
6 – Dancing In The City – 4:11
7 – Holy Fire – 4:02
8 – Jesus, I Love You – 2:15
9 – Arise – 4:52
10 – Unto You, Oh Lord/Lord Of This Land – 4:48

Credits
Bass Guitar – Pete Moore
Drums, Percussion, Producer – Ray Goudie
Engineer, Producer – Andy Kidd
Guitar, Vocals – Ian Townend
Keyboards, Vocals – Dave Bankhead
Vocals – Dorry Townend, Nancy Goudie, Trish Morgan

Blue Trapeze – Mask & Marquee – 1986

There is very limited info out there about Blue Trapeze but they did have several EP’s and were a mainstay on the alternative Christian music scene in California in the 80’s. That said their work is all self released so they either didn’t want an album deal or were never offered one. The only member to have gone on with other work was Daniel Koenig who appeared as a studio musician on several projects. As for the album it has an alternative 80’s sound and is actually pretty well done. I listened to it three times and while I am usually a fan of alternative 80’s this one left me wanting for more for some reason. Good album but nothing here to go in my regular rotation.

Tracklist
1 – Mask & Marquee – 2:58
2 – Afraid Of Real – 2:57
3 – A Reason – 3:35
4 – See Them Turn – 2:55
5 – The Old Home – 3:34
6 – Midnight Sun – 2:41

Credits
Arranged By – Blue Trapeze
Bass, Vocals – Roger Arendse
Drums, Vocals, Keyboards – Lisa Kline – Koenig
Guitar, Vocals – Daniel Koenig
Lacquer Cut By – John Golden
Layout – Richard Beach
Producer – Daniel Koenig, Stephen Zepeda
Written-By – Dan Koenig

Companies, etc.
Phonographic Copyright ℗ – Blue Trapeze
Copyright © – Blue Trapeze
Mastered At – K Disc Mastering
Lacquer Cut At – K Disc Mastering

The Lonely Now – Captive – 1986

First of all I would like to apologize for the poor quality of this release. We did the best we could with a 35 year old cassette that sounds like it was recorded on a 4 track with a potato. Now I’m gonna cut the band some slack here because they admit they recorded it in their house so it probably was recorded on a 4 track. My real criticism is for Narrowpath Records who should never have released an album with this quality. Normally we wouldn’t release something this poorly recorded but in this instance we decided due to high quality of the songs we are going to. The Lonely Now was Greg Sostrom (Strange), Kevin Riemer, and Phil Watson and wow did these guys mesh nicely. This album has some of the best New Wave in the Christina Genre. This became one of my favourite New Wave bands of the 80’s instantly upon hearing it. Or at least after I worked on it for several hours trying to improve the quality. So my whole point here is try to forgive the quality because the music here is fantastic if you like New Wave.

Tracklist
1 – Reject A Thought – 3:19
2 – If I Could – 3:52
3 – Running Faster – 4:05
4 – A.R.C. – 3:22
5 – All My Dreams – 3:19
6 – Captive – 3:36
7 – Dead Of Night – 3:47
8 – Thunderclouds – 3:39
9 – Traitor – 3:28
10 – No Secrets – 3:00
11 – How Many More – 3:17

Credits
Greg Sostrom – Lead vocals, guitar
Kevin Riemer – Vocals, drums
Phil Watson – Vocals, bass guitar

Companies, etc.
Label – Narrowpath Records

Rick Riso – Shouting At The Walls – 1986

This is the second album I’ve covered by Rick. When I listened to the first album I really couldn’t find much info on Rick but since then I’ve learnt much more about him. While he only had 3 solo albums he also has 5 albums with his wife Cathy and I look forward to listening to them soon. He is also very active in the Christian community and still travels and sings in many sanctuaries. As for the album it’s a fun easy listening pop album which was the style of the day. The only charting single of the album, “Faithful” made it to #21 on the CCM charts and quite frankly there’s a few more tracks that could have singled in my opinion.

Tracklist
1 – Forever – 3:53
2 – Faithful – 4:05
3 – Even If – 4:34
4 – I Find Your Love Again – 4:00
5 – Sure Thing – 4:30
6 – Shouting At The Walls – 4:50
7 – No Fear Of Flying – 4:43
8 – Heart’s Desire – 4:25
9 – Edge Of Darkness – 4:35
10 – See The Light – 4:44

Credits
Artist – Rick Riso
Arranged By – Brad Cole
Composer – Ralph Blane, Hugh Martin, Randy Thoma
Engineer – Tim Jaquette
Executive Producer – Chris Christian
Producer – Rick Riso, Tim Jaquette

Companies, etc.
Phonographic Copyright ℗ – Home Sweet Home Records
Copyright © – Home Sweet Home Records
Recorded At – Studio Masters
Mixed At – Studio Masters
Mastered At – Bernie Grundman Mastering
Manufactured By – Word, Inc.
Distributed By – Word, Inc.

Bill Price – Brave The Proud The Few – 1986

This is the second album from Bill but I really can’t find out very much about him. I found that there are quite a few copies of this album for sale and it’s on almost all the streaming sites but that’s all I could find. I did find him on Facebook and he seems to have had a long career in the radio business and still performs mainly at his church. He might be doing more than that musically but like I said it was difficult to put the pieces together. Anyway the album is a really good pop album and the production is fantastic. It’s one that should be listened to.

Tracklist
1 – His Love Has Carried Me Away
2 – The Brave, The Proud, The Few
3 – Jesus You’re The One
4 – I Want To Thank You Lord
5 – Great Is The God Of Heaven
6 – He Takes Care Of Me
7 – Walkin’ Down The Street
8 – We’ve Got To Tell Them
9 – Steppin’ In The Shadows

Credits
Drums – Brian Willis, Brian Brickley
Bass – Rich Gooch, Mark KIngen, Bill Price
Keyboards — Gary Hemenway, Rob Farley, Scott James
Guitars, Procussion – Bill Price
Saxophone – Susie May
Background Vocals – Dave Bray, Russ Finley, Scott James, Curt Cassingham, Jeff Michel, Linda Price, Melani Bray, Laura Evitt, Martin Woodrow, Bill Price
Engineers – Scott James, Curt Cassingham
Mix – Scott James
Produced by – Scott James and Bill Price

Companies, etc.
Recorded at – Northstar Recording Studio

Geoff Mann – Psalm Enchanted Evening – 1986

Geoff Mann is rapidly becoming one of my favourite 80’s artists that I didn’t even know existed in the 80’s. The information on this album is pretty scant and I don’t even know where it was released though I am assuming the UK. As for the album I guess it could be best described as conceptual New Wave though your description might be different. It only came out on LP but was re-released in 1994 on a compilation disc. Strangely the re-release was actually missing the track “Peacemeal” but it was included on the re-release of Chants Would be a Fine Thing in 2004. The album appears to be entirely Geoff and Dave Mortimer but we do know Steve Millie did step in to do the Bass track on “Creation”. So if you are a fan of New Wave and you missed this one in the 80’s I strongly suggest a listen to it now.

Tracklist
1 – Creation – 3:50
2 – Dance – 6:29
3 – Gethsemane – 4:15
4 – Waves – 8:04
5 – Peacemeal – 8:40
6 – Flowers – 11:38

Credits
Electric Guitar – Dave Mortimer
Electronic Drums – Geoff Mann
Guitar – Dave Mortimer
Producer – Geoff Mann
Synthesizer – Geoff Mann
Voice – Geoff Mann

Companies, etc.
Recorded – Pullman Studios, Manchester.
Record Company – Wobbly Records

Tony Elenburg – First Things First – 1986

Tony is better known to those in the industry as a songwriter. He wrote Steven Curtis Chapman’s hit single “Waiting For Lightning” as well as several more. As is normal at some point he decided to do an album of his own. He actually had 3 albums but this is the only one on a label. Greentree stepped up to release the album and given that it’s on Greentree Records I’m pretty sure you’ve already figured out that it’s an easy listening album. I must admit however that I have listened to this album a few times now and I really like it. That’s not something you usually hear from me as Easy Listening is not my preferred genre. Maybe I was just in the mood for something easy listening but this album definitely hit a good spot for me.

Tracklist
1 – Count It All Joy – 2:43
2 – All The Time – 3:08
3 – Wash Their Feet – 4:06
4 – Our God Reigns – 3:56
5 – We Are One – 3:18
6 – Holy, Holy, Holy – 3:37
7 – Believe – 4:05
8 – The Righteous Shall Endure – 3:21
9 – First Things First – 4:19
10 – It’s Just The First Farewell – 3:46

Credits
Bass – Mike “The Duke” Brignardello
Executive-Producer – Greg Nelson
Graphics – Barnes & Company
Guitar – Jon Goin
Keyboards – Phil Naish
Photography By – Matt Barnes
Producer – Phil Naish
Recorded By, Mixed By – Jeff Balding
Strings – The Nashville String Machine

Companies, etc.
Distributed By – The Benson Company, Inc.
Produced For – 19th Street Productions
Phonographic Copyright ℗ – 19th Street Productions, Inc.
Copyright © – Greentree Records
Recorded At – Gold Mine Studio East
Mixed At – Gold Mine Studio East
Recorded At – Treasure Isle Recorders
Recorded At – Bullet Recording
Published By – John T. Benson Pub. Co.