1987 – Real 80s CCM

Earth, Wind & Fire – Touch The World – 1987

Kind of an interesting back story to this album. Philip Bailey started his solo career when Earth, Wind & Fire suddenly took a break in 1984. Some of Earth, Wind & Fire’s previous albums had lyrics that definitely did not jive with him being a Christian artist. This was of course because Maurice White (Lead band member) was not a Christian and had some questionable beliefs. Suddenly the band wants to make a return in 1987 but Philip was a full Christian artist at this point so how do they make a comeback? Voila a Christian album from Earth, Wind & Fire, problem solved. Personally I don’t care but it’s all very humorous. Anyway lets get into the most over produced album in the history of music. This album had 6 producers and 12 engineers. I discovered this as I listened to the album and became alarmed at the production so I checked the credits. Suddenly it all made sense. Now I just want to say that my favorite track on the album, “Money Tight”, is because of this overproduction. It has some great sampling and production which proves that overproduction is not always a bad thing. Most people and reviewers actually appeared to enjoy the production and I’m probably in the minority on this one. I’ve been a bit hard on the album but I actually quite liked it. The talent is there and the song writing is fantastic. But I think it would have been even better if it was a little more raw.

Tracklist
1 – System Of Survival – 4:59
2 – Evil Roy – 4:51
3 – Thinking Of You – 4:41
4 – You And I – 4:03
5 – New Horizons (Interlude) – 2:01
6 – Money Tight – 4:36
7 – Every Now And Then – 4:21
8 – Touch The World – 5:15
9 – Here Today And Gone Tomorrow – 3:59
10 – Victim Of The Modern Heart – 3:48

Credits

Band
Philip Bailey – lead vocals, backing vocals, synthesizer arrangements
Maurice White – lead vocals, backing vocals, vocoder, arrangements
Sheldon Reynolds – guitars, lead guitar
Andrew Woolfolk – saxophone solo

Additional musicians
Skylark – synthesizers, drum programming, backing vocals
Preston Glass – synthesizers, electric guitars, additional drum programming
Rhett Lawrence – Fairlight programming, drum programming, sequencing, Fairlight synthesizer, synthesizer programming, Moog bass, additional drums
Wayne Vaughn – sequencing
Bill Meyers – acoustic piano, arrangements, keyboards, synthesizer programming, drums
Larry Williams – additional keyboard programming, additional programming
Dan De Souza – keyboards, synthesizer programming, drums
Steve Lindsey – keyboards
Danny Sembello – synthesizer programming, drum programming
George Duke – acoustic piano, rhythm arrangements
Ian Prince – synthesizer programming, drums, arrangements
Attala Zane Giles – additional guitars, synth bass, percussion programming, additional backing vocals, arrangements
Ray Fuller – guitars
Paul Jackson Jr. – guitars
Nathan East – bass
Jeff Porcaro – drums
Ricky Lawson – drum overdubs, drums
Marc Russo – horns
Wayne Wallace – horns
Gary Grant – horns
Jerry Hey – horns, horn arrangements
Dan Higgins – horns
Bill Reichenbach Jr. – horns
Rev. Oliver Wells – arrangements, synthesizer arrangements
Wanda Vaughn – backing vocals
Jeanette Williams – backing vocals
The Hawkins Family – backing vocals
Walter Hawkins, Edwin Hawkins and Lynette Hawkins Stephens – additional lead vocals

Production
Maurice White – producer
Preston Glass – producer
Philip Bailey – co-producer
Attala Zane Giles – additional production
Wayne Vaughn – co-producer
Bill Meyers – producer
Acar Key – engineer
Tom Lord-Alge – engineer, mixing
Dave Rideau – engineer, mixing
Paul Brown – engineer
Red Davidson – additional assistant engineer
Jeff Lorenzen – assistant engineer
Jim “Watts” Vereecke – assistant engineer
Les Cooper – assistant engineer
Mitch Zelezny – assistant engineer
Liz Cluse – assistant engineer
Jeff Woodruff – assistant engineer
Mark Slagle – assistant engineer
Sterling Sound (New York City, New York) – mastering location
Tony Lane – art direction
Nancy Donald – art direction
Max Aguilera Hellweg – photography

Companies, etc.
Phonographic Copyright ℗ – CBS Inc.
Copyright © – CBS Inc.
Made By – DADC Austria
Distributed By – CBS Records
Distributed By – CBS Disques S.A.
Recorded At – Studio Ultimo
Recorded At – Studio D, Sausalito, CA
Recorded At – Different Fur Studios
Mixed At – Larrabee Sound Studios
Mixed At – Lighthouse Studios
Produced For – Kalimba Productions

Martin Barret – Line of Vision – 1987

Here’s a Canadian artist that got one album out there in the mid 80’s thanks to his own hard work and financing. As a teen Martin played in coffee houses, churches, and many youth groups around Southern Ontario and upper New York State. Martin worked as a foot courier for a Toronto legal firm and was able to save $15,000 in 1985. Believe me that was no small feat in 1985. Instead of buying a cool car he headed to Rene Brossard’s studio and cut this album which shows an incredible dedication to his music. He subsequently appeared as the opening act for the likes of Twila Paris, Phil Keaggy, Daniel Band, Rick Cua, and others. He also played a side stage at the very first Kingdom Bound concert. It is rumoured that Larry Norman stopped to listen to him which was a proud moment for Martin as Larry was one of his favorite artists. As for the album it is a really good album and I can’t help but with some good distribution it might have been known to more of you reading this. It has a pretty good pop rock feel and the lead track sets the album up perfectly. Martin continues to make great music and you can visit his YouTube channel below

https://www.youtube.com/@martinbarretmedia

Tracklist
1 – Scapegoat Song – 2:20
2 – Who Will Tell Them – 4:19
3 – On And On – 3:55
4 – Line Of Vision – 4:09
5 – Their Own Bible – 4:00
6 – In The Future – 4:01
7 – Counterfeit Christian – 3:39
8 – In Loving Memory – 4:36
9 – Friends Like You – 4:25

Credits
Cover – James Clow
Engineer – David Musial, Yuri Jorbachow
Lead Vocals, Guitar, Keyboards, Percussion, Producer, Engineer – Martin Barret
Producer, Arranged By, Mastered By – René Brossard

Companies, etc.
Recorded At – Boss Productions
Recorded At – Trackmaster Audio
Recorded At – Master’s Workshop

Gary Chapman – Everyday Man – 1987

This is Gary’s 3rd album and my personal favourite. While his wife at the time, Amy Grant, was with Myrrh Records, Gary cut this album for Reunion Records. Reunion was trying to turn it up a notch at this point in history and this album was a huge help. This album showed a rockier side of Gary and there are some great pop tracks on this album. The album is still a little heavy on the ballad’s but this is Gary Chapman so he’s forgiven. Ballad’s after all were his cash cow. “I Love That Girl”, written by Randy Stonehill, could have easily singled on commercial radio but unfortunately Gary didn’t have the crossover success of his wife. I should also point out that this is a prime example of why you don’t ever put out a song with your girls name in it because like the internet, music is forever and you’re stuck with it for life. All joking aside that song is begging for a country cover as I think it has top 20 written all over it. Anyway if you avoided this on back in the 80’s like I did give it a listen now, it’s pretty good.

Tracklist
1 – Everyday Man – 3:33
2 – When Where Together (Love’s So Strong) – 3:42
3 – Love History – 4:55
4 – Breakin’ Hearts – 4:47
5 – Love Like Blood – 4:09
6 – Around The World – 3:52
7 – The Hurt Is Worth The Chance – 3:52
8 – Love That Girl – 4:41
9 – Cecil, (Life Goes On) – 6:09
10 – Your Love Stays With Me – 3:07

Credits
Art Direction – Bill Brunt, Mary Hamilton
Backing Vocals [Background Vocals] – Amy Grant, Chris Harris, Gary Chapman, Ricky Skaggs, Wayne Kirkpatrick
Bass – Mike Brignardello
Coordinator [Production Coordinator] – Kimberly Smith, Steve Lindsey
Drums, Percussion – Keith Edwards
Engineer [Assistant] – Ben Williams, Billy Whittington, Carey Summers, Dave Parker, Jean Kinney, Jeff Coppadge, Keith Odle, Michael Koreiba
Executive-Producer – Dan Harrell, Michael Blanton
Guitar [Guitars] – Jerry McPherson
Guitar [Guitars], Pedal Steel Guitar – Gary Chapman
Keyboards – Michael W. Smith, Phil Naish, Shane Keister
Mandolin – Mark O’Connor
Mastered By – Bob Ludwig
Mixed By – Brent King, Frank Filipetti, Jeff Balding
Overdubbed By [Overdubs Recorded By] – Brent King, Gene Eichelberger, James Baird, Jeff Balding, Joe Scaife
Percussion [Additional] – Terry McMillan
Photography By – Chuck Kuhn
Producer – Brown Bannister, Gary Chapman, Mark Wright
Recorded By – Gene Eichelberger, Jeff Balding, Joe Scaife
Stylist – Mary Beth Felts
Written-By – Gary Chapman

Companies, etc.
Copyright © – BMG Music
Phonographic Copyright ℗ – BMG Music
Manufactured By – Word, Inc.
Distributed By – Word, Inc.
Manufactured By – Word Records Limited
Distributed By – Word Records Limited
Recorded At – The Music Mill, Nashville, TN
Recorded At – Sixteenth Avenue Sound
Overdubbed At – The Music Mill, Nashville, TN
Overdubbed At – Riverock Studio
Overdubbed At – Sixteenth Avenue Sound
Overdubbed At – OmniSound Studios
Overdubbed At – GroundStar Studios, Nashville
Overdubbed At – Masterfonics
Mixed At – Masterfonics
Mixed At – Sixteenth Avenue Sound
Mixed At – The Music Mill, Nashville, TN
Mastered At – Masterdisk Corp.

The Lonely Now – Original Intentions – 1987

Yet another The Lonely Now album that sounds like it was recorded on a potato. Again we have done everything we can to improve the sound and I think we did pretty good on this one. This is their second album and it pretty well picks up where their first album left off. Again we have a strong new wave album but maybe a little more goth oriented this time. Think The Cure. Here is another album that I obviously missed out on in the 80’s. Independently released albums from California never quite made their way to rural Canada. I really wish i had heard these guys because this was my favourite style of music in the mid 80’s. My favourite track is probably “The Few” which has an early U2 musical sound with an Ultravox vocal style and just hits it right. I’ll say it now, this album will likely end up being in my top 50 from the 80’s.

Tracklist
1 – Original Intentions – 3:28
2 – Fall Again – 5:00
3 – If I Could – 2:47
4 – Tomorrow Is Today – 4:30
5 – Sanctuary Lasts – 3:20
6 – The Few – 3:42
7 – Have You Seen – 3:34
8 – Make It Happen – 3:35

Credits
Engineer – Fred Eichel
Photography – Lee Schugar
Producer – The Lonely Now
Vocals, Bass Guitar – Phil Watson
Vocals, Drums – Kevin Reimer
Vocals, Guitar – Greg Sostrom
Vocals, Guitar, Violin – Masaki Liu
Written-By – Greg Sostrom

Companies, etc.
Phonographic Copyright ℗ – Narrowpath Records
Designed At – Klein Graphics and Communications

Cross – Metal From Above – 1987

In 1987 Cross self released this demo album. 1987 was a big year in Christian metal and many bands appeared on the scene. Cross unfortunately was pretty short lived as they broke up the following year so this is all we got from them. The album is very Guitar heavy and borders on thrash occasionally. As far as metal goes it’s okay I guess. Nothing here really stood out to me but poor production didn’t help the situation much. However the people who enjoy this genre will likely enjoy this one. In 2006 Steel Legacy Records rereleased the album on CD and vinyl along with 3 very very poorly recorded live tracks. As they are so poor we chose not to release them.

Tracklist
1 – Sign Of The Cross (Instrumental) – 4:46
2 – Metal From Above – 8:01
3 – The Final Journey – 10:35
4 – Deliverance – 4:35
5 – The Ascension – 6:16

Credits
Bass – Mike Cano
Drums – Steve Cano
Guitar – Henry Chavez, Tommy Salas
Lead Vocals – James Sanchez

DC Talk – Christian Rhymes To A Rhythm – 1987

This is a very simple 2 side 2 track cassette that was sold by DC Talk before Kevin Max even joined the group. It is purported to have sold 3000 copies when Toby and Michael performed the song Heavenbound for their fellow students at Liberty University in Lynchburg, Virginia in 1987. It was copied countless times and spread through the CCM industry and the band shortly after prepared a proper 10 track demo.

Tracklist
1 – Heavenbound – 3:50
2 – Always Leaning – 3:50

Credits
Performer [Uncredited] – Michael Tait, Toby McKeehan
Written-By, Producer – Toby McKeehan

Companies, etc.
Record Company – Ministries Of Tait & McKeehan

Randy Matthews – Streets Of Mercy – 1987

This has to be one of the most mysterious albums I have come across and it is without a doubt the strangest album from Randy. It is his one and only album with Refuge Records. Randy put this album out in 1987 but his previous album was in 1981 on Spirit Records. A 6 year gap in albums when you are at your height is bizarre enough but then this album got completely ignored by the entire industry. I know it didn’t sell well as it took us a long time to find a copy so maybe Refuge just didn’t distribute it very well but that is strange too as Randy was a very highly respected artist. There is also radio silence on this album with no one talking about it. The internet’s a big place but this album takes an incredibly small space on it. In fact there’s very little info on what Randy was doing at this point in his career. The album itself is actually very very good and is probably now my favourite album from him. I would say the single is “The Day Death Died” which is a great rock & roll track. Probably his hardest track ever. The other highlight of the album is probably the only CCM track about Santa Claus but be warned it is a very sad song actually about abortion. That said it is a stunningly good track.

Tracklist
1 – Amazing Grace – 1:15
2 – Hearts On Ice – 3:22
3 – Grumble Alley – 3:30
4 – Ti Chapé-Kum Ba Ya – 4:33
5 – Eyes Of The Heart – 3:34
6 – Streets Of Mercy – 2:57
7 – I Wish It Were Only Make Believe – 3:55
8 – No Cross, No Crown – 3:04
9 – The Day Death Died – 3:52
10 – Nuclear Hymn – 3:27

Credits
Acoustic Guitar, Cover [Concept] – Randy Matthews
Art Direction, Design – Jeff Spencer
Backing Vocals – Anthony Nelson, Demetrius Alexander, Duane Hamilton, Eddie Williams, Grace Rosenburger, Greg Tornquist, Kim Hill, Monty Matthews, Robbie Anderson, Roger M. Major
Booking – Barbara Matthews
Electric Guitar, Acoustic Guitar – Greg Tornquist
Engineer – Gary Wysocki
Engineer, Remix – John W. Thompson
Keyboards, Acoustic Guitar – John W. Thompson
Management – Dave Peters II, Image Communications International
Photography – Peter Nash
Producer – John Thompson

Companies, etc.
Distributed By – Refuge Music Group
Phonographic Copyright ℗ – Refuge Records
Copyright © – Refuge Records
Copyright © – Stowaway Music
Copyright © – Group Seven Music
Copyright © – Morning Gate Music
Recorded At – Morning Gate Studio, Franklin Tennessee

Bloodgood – Detonation – 1987

The second release from Bloodgood continues the raw metal sound they had in their first album. This album is better produce and engineered but some fans preferred the edgier first album. But that said Detonation placed 8th in a poll by Heaven’s Metal fanzine of the top 100 Christian metal albums of all time. The band toured heavily for this album and as the world was dumb in 1987 the tour was heavily protested by the more conservative element of Christianity. The tour was quite successful and continued into Europe in 1988. Bloodgood is a mainstay in the Christian metal genre and most hold up this or their first album as their best work.

Tracklist
1 – Battle Of The Flesh – 2:45
2 – Vagrant People – 3:26
3 – Self-Destruction – 3:29
4 – Alone In Suicide – 4:04
5 – Heartbeat (Of The City) – 3:25
6 – Eat The Flesh – 4:25
7 – Holy Fire – 3:10
8 – Crucify – 3:05
9 – The Messiah – 4:25
10 – Live Wire – 2:37

Credits
Arranged By – Bloodgood
Art Direction, Layout – Ed McTaggart
Bass, Backing Vocals – Michael Bloodgood
Drums – Mark Welling
Engineer – Doug Doyle
Guitar, Backing Vocals – David Zaffiro
Illustration [Cover] – John Dickenson
Mastered By – John Matousek
Mixed By – David Zaffiro, Doug Doyle, Les Carlsen, Michael Bloodgood
Other [Litho Prep] – Graphic Masters, Santa Ana, CA
Other [Stage Clothes] – Brent Flemming
Photography By – Ken Baley, Lynn DeBon
Producer – David Zaffiro, Les Carlsen, Michael Bloodgood
Vocals – Les Carlsen

Companies, etc.
Published By – Broken Songs
Phonographic Copyright ℗ – Frontline Records
Copyright © – Frontline Records
Distributed By – The Benson Company, Inc.
Distributed By – The Master’s Collection
Distributed By – Kingsway Publications Ltd.
Recorded At – Rocshire Records
Recorded At – 3-D Studios, Costa Mesa CA.
Edited At – Digital Brothers
Mastered At – Motown Records

Glory Fire – Decision – 1987

I can’t find anything about this band online except that their contact info was based in Montana so I have to guess they were from Montana. Anyway what we have here is an album sound that I’ve heard several times at this point. There were several bands in the 80’s that would have this pop sound with a female vocalist. I am not insulting this recipe it’s just that at this point I’ve seen it many many times. As for this album specifically it’s pretty good. In fact there’s a couple tracks here that are pretty well written. If they had got a second album deal they could have capitalized on their writing but unfortunately for them this was the only album they had.

Tracklist
1 – New Day – 3:59
2 – Heart Beat – 4:03
3 – How Long – 4:22
4 – Cross Road – 4:23
5 – Skybound – 4:23
6 – C’mon Home – 3:03
7 – Little Bit of Heaven – 3:55
8 – Jesus Is Outta Sight – 4:16
9 – Lift Your Eyes – 4:19
10 – Let Love Reign – 4:13
11 – Decision – 0:39

Credits
Bass – Clint Shaules
Drums, Percussion, Vocals – Duane Nichols
Guitar – Brad Spear
Keyboards, Vocals – Lindsay Nesheim

Companies, etc.
Label – The Barn

Phil Driscoll – Make Us One- 1987

Let it never be said that Phil Driscoll was lazy. He was able to get an album out almost every year. This is his album in 1987. I think Phil and the record label were trying to produce an album that was a little more Pop than he usually does. The album cover shows a much younger Phil than his covers usually did. it should be noted that this album cover portrayed his correct age, he was 40. For some reason they usually portrayed him as much older on his record covers. As is the case with just about every album from Phil this one is fantastic. I will say it again for the record. I do not like most of the songs Phil does BUT his fantastic vocals always sell me on them anyway. This album the standouts are the hymn “Holy, Holy, Holy”, Cool Rain”, and the rocker for this album “Trumpet In A Heavenly Band”.

Tracklist
1 – Make Us One – 3:24
2 – I’ll Be Ridin’ With Him – 4:28
3 – I Can Feel Your Love – 4:35
4 – Wait On The Lord – 5:20
5 – Cool Rain – 4:17
6 – Trumpet In A Heavenly Band – 3:40
7 – All Around The World – 2:55
8 – Standin’ In The Shadow – 3:40
9 – Holy, Holy, Holy – 3:44
10 – The Magnificat – 7:21

Credits
Arranged By – Bill Maxwell, Jerry Cleveland, Phil Driscoll
Art Direction – McConnell Graphics
Backing Vocals – Alfie Silas, Jean Johnson, Rose Banks, Von Faggett
Bass – Abraham Laboriel
Drums – Bill Maxwell
Engineer – Doug Rider
Executive-Producer – Dennis Blackburn, Gregory Pope
Guitar – Hadley Hockensmith
Lead Vocals, Trumpet, Flugelhorn – Phil Driscoll
Percussion – Alex Acuna*
Photography By – Dean Dixon
Piano [Acoustic], Electric Piano, Organ – Harlan Rogers
Producer – Bill Maxwell, Phil Driscoll
Remix – Bill Maxwell, Doug Rider, Phil Driscoll
Synthesizer – Claude Gaudette