1987 – Real 80s CCM

Michael Peace – RRRock It Right – 1987

This is the first album from Rap artist Michael Peace who was one of the very early Rap artist in the Christian genre. I’m actually a little confused with this album because strangely it was produced and arranged by Michael Blanton and Dan Harrell who worked on all the Amy Grant albums of the day. Rap was an up and coming music style so I think Reunion Records wanted to get ahead of this trend. Inexplicitly they chose Michael Blanton and Dan Harrell to work on the project but neither of them had any experience with Rap or even with a black artist for that matter. As a result we have a great artist and idea for an album with horrible execution. I seriously wonder if they even listened to a Run DMC album before they worked this album. I will give them credit for one thing and that is that they had to be the enablers for Michael’s cover of “Wise Up” which is actually pretty darn good. My real problem with the album is that everything is thin. The music tracks, which I really really like, have no feel, no soul, and just feel like backing tracks. There is absolutely no effects on Michael’s voice with the exception of a bit of echo here and there. This was just the wrong team to work on this album and I know Rap isn’t only in black culture but that’s where it came from and other than Michael I don’t even see a black person involved with this album. Now that I’ve said that I do think this is a good album, there’s tons of talent here but the album just feels unfinished. I just wonder what it would have sounded like if someone like Rod Hui had a shot at the album.

Tracklist
1 – Heart Trouble – 4:25
2 – Rock Your World – 3:48
3 – J-E-S-U-S – 3:53
4 – Wise Up – 3:44
5 – RRRock It Right – 4:12
6 – Automatic Witness – 4:20
7 – No Solution – 3:39
8 – In The Ghetto – 4:52
9 – Rappin’ It Up – 1:14

Credits
Michael Peace – Songwriter, Vocals
Michael Blanton – Executive Producer
Mark Douthit – Saxophone
John Hammond – Drums
Dan Harrell – Executive Producer
Tom Hemby – Producer, Songwriter, Arranger, Synclavier, Keyboards, Guitar, Bass, Percussion
Wayne Kirkpatrick – Songwriter
Ken Love – Mastered
Jeff Moseley – Songwriter
Brett Perry – Synclavier Programming
Billy Simon – Songwriter
Tricia Walker – Songwriter
Bill Whittington – Engineer

Companies, etc.
Phonographic Copyright ℗ – Reunion Records
Copyright © – Reunion Records
Published By – Word Music
Published By – Edward Grant, Inc.
Published By – River Oaks Music Co.
Published By – Meadowgreen Music Co.

Abraham – Underground – 1987

As near as I can find this was the last album from The Watchmen aka Abraham & The Watchmen Band, aka Abraham. Their last 2 albums are self released and in my humble opinion their best 2 albums. I simply don’t understand how a respected recorded band with a strong history couldn’t get these 2 albums released on a proper label. There’s probably more to the story but it is what it is. While I think I prefer “Anti-Sin” I really really like this one too. Unfortunately our copy of this album simply isn’t the best and I really wish I could get my hands on the original tracks so I could give it a modern professional remaster. Hint hint guys. As for the album it has a pop rock feel with some tracks leaning a little more synth oriented and some leaning more Rock oriented. All around this is a great album for 1987 and probably would have sold well.

Tracklist
1 – Choose To Refuse – 3:18
2 – Think About Me – 3:05
3 – Never Give Up – 4:55
4 – Fightin’ Against The Tide – 4:05
5 – Overture – 1:14
6 – Can’t Wait – 2:25
7 – I Am Not Ashamed – 3:49
8 – Freedom In Jesus – 3:52
9 – If You Could Only See My Heart – 3:39

Credits
Bass Guitar, Vocals – Loren Greene
Drums – Ken Abraham
Lead Guitar – Pete Strayer
Lead Vocals, Guitar – Skip Addington
Producer – Dave Wagner, Stan Arthur, Tink Abraham
Technician, Sound Designer – Eric Abraham
Vocals, Keyboards – Tink Abraham
Vocals, Percussion – John Abraham

Various – Voices – 1987

I previously referred to this album as a sampler but it’s not really a traditional sampler. It is not a sampler of songs but instead a sampler of artists. Myrhh brought some of their best artists into Pakaderm Studios to record this album and almost all of these tracks are unreleased elsewhere even today. That makes this album a much listened to album from the day. The odd artist on the album is Tata Vega who was a secular artist but she did tons of work on several Christian albums of the period. This is a must listen to album of almost secret tracks from some of your favorite artists.

Tracklist
1 – Tata Vega – In Your Light – 3:50
2 – Bob Carlisle – Heaven Is Waiting – 4:29
3 – Bryan Duncan – Come As You Are – 4:32
4 – Matthew Ward – Light Of The World – 4:30
5 – Howard McCrary – In Your Presence – 4:23
6 – Kim Boyce, John Elefante – Helpless – 3:28
7 – Rick Riso – Heaven Must Have Sent You – 3:48
8 – Bob Carlisle – Teach Me How – 4:29
9 – Benny Hester – Then You Call My Name – 3:19
10 – Tommy Funderburk – Lift Up My Voice – 4:14

Credits
Arranged By – John Schreiner
Arranged By [Backing Vocals], Backing Vocals – Bob Carlisle
Arranged By [Strings] – John Andrew Schreiner
Art Direction, Design – Rhonda Jesson
Bass – John Pierce, Michael Hodge
Drum Programming, Overdubbed By – Mannie, Mike Mierau, Rick Thomson
Drums – Rick Thomson
Engineer [Assistant] – Mannie, Paul Abajan
Guitar – Dino Elefante, Michael Hodge, Randy Thomas, Terrance Elliot
Guitar [Solo] – Randy Thomas, Terrance Elliot
Horns – The Martin Brothers
Keyboards – James Raymond, John Andrew Schreiner, John Elefante, Tim Heintz
Mastered By – Doug Sax
Mixed By – Dino Elefante, Mike Mierau, Steve Ford
Orchestrated By, Conductor – Bill Kilpatrick
Producer – John Elefante, Mike Mierau, Rick Thomson
Recorded By – Mike Mierau
Saxophone – David Hlebo, Warren Ham
Strings – Andrew Byers, Liane Mautner, Marilyn Hutz, Steve Seharf
Synth [Bass] – John Andrew Schreiner

Companies, etc.
Phonographic Copyright ℗ – Word, Inc.
Copyright © – Word, Inc.
Made By – Discovery Systems – 1FF0100A
Recorded At – Pakaderm Studios
Mixed At – Mama Jo’s
Mixed At – Pakaderm Studios
Mastered At – The Mastering Lab
Published By – Word Music
Published By – Sherea Music
Published By – Noone Music
Published By – Uncle Pitts Music
Published By – Enchanted Dance

The Silencers – A Letter From St. Paul – 1987

Not only does this album possess one of the truly great album covers of all time (beauty in simplicity) there is not a single song on here worthy of being skipped. Jangly and atmospheric guitars, diving rhythms, sultry and subtle vocals and poignant and pinpoint lyrics. The Scottish quartet was formed out of the demise of a cool punk band called the Fingerprintz. They are still making records today, but nothing has come close to this amazing debut. Though not as aggressive as Simple Minds there is a similar quality though Del Amitri, The proclaimers and a softer version of Big Country would also work for a starting point. There are constant familiar images the modern Christian alternative fan could appreciate and the diversity in themes is impressive. “I Can’t Cry” is one of the best songs dealing with abortion I ever recall. The inner turmoil expressed is difficult and utterly believable. This not a song of condemnation, but rather of one where the protagonist is looking for help and reaching out to find no support. Songs like God’s Gift, Painted Moon and I See Red keep the same musical experiencing going with an unforgettable drive. They drone you into a helpless state and draw you in more than pound you ever the ears with hook and melody. There is a simplicity that goes deeper then initially thought. It is interesting to do a web search for this album and discover not a ton of results, but in every case there is a rave review. They may not have a large fan base, but the cult like status is filled with fans, like me, who are just continually amazed how such an impressive band went unnoticed.

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

Tracklist
1 – Painted Moon – 6:04
2 – I Can’t Cry – 5:24
3 – Bullets And Blue Eyes – 5:04
4 – God’s Gift – 4:50
5 – I See Red – 4:10
6 – I Ought To Know – 4:28
7 – A Letter From St. Paul – 4:34
8 – Blue Desire – 4:08
9 – Possessed – 7:32
10 – Painted Moon (Blues Mix) – 6:30

Credits
Bass – Joe Donnelly
Drums – Martin Hanlin
Engineer, Recorded By – Callum Malcolm
Guitar – Cha Burns
Guitar, Vocals – Jimme O’Neill
Mixed By – Mark Freegard, Mark Wallace, The Silencers
Photography By – Jill Furmanovsky
Producer – Dave Bascombe
Producer [With Help From] – The Silencers

Companies, etc.
Phonographic Copyright ℗ – BMG Records (UK) Ltd.
Copyright © – BMG Records (UK) Ltd.
Distributed By – RCA/Ariola-Ariola/RCA
Distributed By – Ariola/RCA-RCA/Ariola
Designed At – T&CP Associates
Pressed By – Sonopress – B-7941

In The Silence – It’s Only Time – 1987

This was In The Silence’s first album. They had released a single before this called “Reaching” that eventually appeared om the Star Song Records 1991 Brave New Music compilation album. This album was self released in 1987 and is really really well put together. Production is really good and the engineering is good too. I really haven’t found out much more about this band so I am going to refer you to Frank Axel Rasenberger’s review of the bands next album to learn a little more about the band.

In The Silence – Things To Come – 1988

As for this album it’s a little rawer than their subsequent work but has a great New Wave feel. The quality of musicianship is excellent and this is yet another band that should have had an album deal but they are from Australia and it was 1987. The industry was starting a transition that really abandoned many Australian artists unfortunately. So much great music to be heard and it was essentially hidden from us.

Tracklist
1 – Who Am I – 5:57
2 – Are You Satisfied – 3:13
3 – Draw Me Nearer – 4:51
4 – In My Life – 4:40
5 – I’m So in Love – 5:03
6 – The State of Your Heart – 4:58
7 – Why’d You Never Tell Me? – 4:23

Credits
Bass – Angus McLeay
Drums – Jacques Zeelie
Lead Vocals – John Dickson
Guitar, Backing Vocals – Ben Shaw
Engineer, Mixed By, Produced by – Jeff Todd
Produced by, Engineer – Bill Hurst

Companies, etc.
Recorded at – Windwood Studios, Black Inc. Studios

Sheila Walsh – Say So – 1987

This is Sheila’s 8th studio album and it has a bit of an interesting history. It was released in 1987 around the world but not in the U.S. It was subsequently released the next year in the U.S. which was coincidentally after Sheila Walsh took a co-host seat on the television talk-show, The 700 Club. I don’t know if they held the release or weren’t going to release it but anyway it was released in the U.S. and did very well on the CCM charts. It had 3 top 10 singles, “Angels With Dirty Faces”, “Jesus Loves The Church”, and “Wind Of Change”. Interestingly the album included a cover of the Todd Rundgren’s Utopia song “Love Is the Answer”. I can’t really judge if it’s a good cover as I don’t acre for the song no matter who did it. You should always read the credits for Sheila’s albums and on this one Phil Keaggy stepped in to help out on “Angels With Dirty Faces” and “Hope For The Hopeless”. Personally I have always struggled listen to Sheila. My first exposure to her as her duet with Steve Taylor of David Edwards “Not Going To Fall Away” which is one of my all time favourite recordings. Also on that E.P. was her cover of Bryn Haworth’s “We’re All One”. These two recordings were certainly not her usual style and as such I ended up judging all her subsequent work against something she wasn’t particularly known for. This ended up causing this strange situation where I absolutely loved her as an artist but didn’t really like her music. Strange I know but I stand by my misguided love of her.

Tracklist
1 – Wind Of Change – 4:07
2 – Surrender – 4:27
3 – Love Is The Answer – 4:32
4 – Trapeze – 5:03
5 – Dorai Sani – 6:33
6 – Empty Boxes – 5:05
7 – Angels With Dirty Faces – 3:50
8 – Jesus Loves The Church – 4:16
9 – Human Cry – 4:12
10 – Hope For The Hopeless – 4:24

Credits
Jimmy Abegg – Songwriter
J.J. Belle – Guitars
Richard Blackford – Orchestra Arrangmenets, Conductor
Simon Chamberlain – Piano
Clem Clemson – Guitars
David P. Cook – Songwriter
Neil Costello – Guitar
Pandit Dinesh – Percussion
Colin Elswood – Background Vocals
Dave Engel – Drums
Martin Green – Saxophones
Steve Griffith – Songwriter
Phil Keaggy – Guitars
London Community Gospel Choir – Choir
Basil Meade – Background Vocals
Charlie Morgan – Drums
Lynn Arthur Nichols – Executive Producer
Stuart Ongley – Executive Producer
Richard Osborne – Producer, Drum Programming, Keyboards, Guitars
Alan Park – Piano
Todd Rundgren – Songwriter
Bruce Spencer – Songwriter
Miriam Stockley – Background Vocals
Jon Sweet – Producer, Songwriter, Keyboards
Rod Trott – Songwriter
Sheila Walsh – Executive Producer, Songwriter, Vocals
Paul Westwood – Bass

Force 3 – Opposing Forces – 1987

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Force 3 only had one album but they did have this demo. There is a lot of debate on when this demo was released but given all my reading I have settled with 1987.I could be entirely wrong however that’s pretty rare. As for the album it has 2 tracks that aren’t on their album and was released on a double sided cassette. There is not credits or year out there so I can’t tell you much more than that. If you’re a fan of Charlie Wilson here’s a couple bonus tracks for you.

Tracklist
1 – Opposing Forces – 6:32
2 – Devil In Disguise – 5:57

Reneé Garcia – Living In The Vertical – 1987

This is the first of 2 solo albums from Reneé. I first saw this album posted in our Facebook group and found it in the stack so gave it a listen. It was described in that post as the “CCM Madonna”. While I generally don’t agree when people compare artists on this one I feel the poster was correct. This album has a definite Madonna pop dance style sound but quite frankly Reneé’s vocals are better. Honestly though I was never a fan of Madonna’s vocals. Anyway a little back ground on Reneé is that she was born in Indiana and moved to Nashville in her mid 20’s. She actually sang backup on several Amy Grant tours before this album so she had some good exposure in the industry. Chris Eaton produced the album and he is well known for “finding” a lot of his projects but I don’t know if this project was his idea or the record companies. Anyway this is a great album and really should have been much better known but perhaps it was just a little late in 1987 for this sound.

Tracklist
1 – More Than Fascination – 4:30
2 – Running From A Legacy – 4:15
3 – I See Love – 5:30
4 – Deepest Love – 6:23
5 – Living In The Vertical – 4:10
6 – I’ve Got My Eye On You – 4:20
7 – The Bounce – 3:57
8 – Imagination – 4:35
9 – I Want To Be Used For You – 4:27

Credits
Administrator [Covert Operations] – Terry Hemmings
Art Direction – Bill Brunt Designs
Backing Vocals – Chris Eaton, Mark Williamson, Reneé Garcia
Bass [Fretless] – Steve Greetham
Cymbal [Additional] – Lang Bliss
Drums, Bass, Programmed By [Percussion], Keyboards – Chris Eaton
Engineer – Laurence Burrage, Steve Boyce-Buckley
Engineer [Additional] – David Holmes, John Revenhall, Jon Sweet
Executive-Producer – Dan Harrell, Jeff Moseley, Michael Blanton
Guitar – Neil Costello
Lead Guitar – Peter Brooks
Mastered By – Glenn Meadows
Mixed By – Glenn Tommey, Raine Shine
Photography By – Peter Nash
Producer – Chris Eaton
Programmed By [Additional Keyboards] – Richard Osborne
Rhythm Guitar [Additional] – Richard Osborne
Saxophone – Martin Green

Companies, etc.
Phonographic Copyright ℗ – Reunion Records
Copyright © – Reunion Records
Distributed By – Word, Inc.
Made By – Discovery Systems – 18A0100B
Recorded At – The Justice Room
Recorded At – Square One Studios
Recorded At – Swot Productions
Mixed At – Crescent Studios
Mastered At – Masterfonics

Jamboree – Independence Day – 1987

Jamboree are back with their 2nd EP and this one is even better than their first one. If you don’t know Jamboree is an early version of Hoi Polloi without Jenny on vocals. The title track of this EP is actually a cover of a 1980 The Comsat Angels track that didn’t chart. Quite frankly this version is much better. Anyway, the other 2 tracks are equally good and this is an EP I would have loved in 1987 but alas it was only released in New Zealand so there’s no way I would have heard it. Strange printing error on the album, the cover calls track 3 “Cloak & Sickle” but the vinyl label says “Hammer & Sickle”.

Tracklist
1 – Independence Day – 3:47
2 – The Longing – 4:49
3 – Cloak And Sickle – 4:18

Credits
Bass Guitar, Backing Vocals – Andrew Horst
Drums – Josef Fityus
Guitar, Synthesizer – David Steunebrink, David Ball
Vocals – Brent Tasker

Companies, etc.
Phonographic Copyright ℗ – Hit Singles
Recorded At – Mandrill Studios

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