This is Arlen’s fourth album but you’ve probably never heard it or even heard him. Why have you never heard of him? Well it’s because his albums were never released outside of Canada. We’re not talking about someone who had one or two albums either. He had six albums in the 70’s, 80’s, and 90’s. The albums are for them main part great. Lot’s of good Rock & Roll and great lyrics. This album is no different it’s fantastic. The cover is horrible but it was his first release on label Image 7 and I have seen many times that a new label lobes to do a portrait cover for some reason. I’ve never understood it. So give this one a listen as I doubt you’ve ever heard it and it’s a great Pop Rock album.
Tracklist 1 – Hoping & Coping – 4:26 2 – Falling In Love Again – 4:11 3 – I’ve Been Hiding – 4:18 4 – Verdict – 3:46 5 – A Winner Like You – 4:13 6 – Sing Out His Name – 2:41 7 – Love Showed Us The Way – 3:19 8 – Outrageous – 3:35 9 – Let My Light Shine Bright – 3:13 10 – Rock On Which I Stand – 4:14
Avion Live is Sydney band Avion’s swansong independent release. The album was dedicated to the memory of the late Evan Murray, the band’s previous keyboard player who died in a motor vehicle accident. This album captures what they did best – performing their own particular brand of AOR live. The band’s last studio album, White Noise, features very strongly, as 7 of its tracks are performed live. Only 3 tracks from the band’s self-titled album are featured, which leaves the following 4 songs that, to my knowledge, have never been recorded – Long Night, Ransom, Money Or Love, and The Bigger You Are. On Being’s music editor, Vic Campbell, wrote: ‘These 14 tracks – five recorded in September ’86 at Sydney Entertainment Centre, the others at Selina’s in June ’87 – serve as a powerful reminder of this now-defunct Aussie band of talented rock ‘n’ roll Christians. Avion came so close to achieving widespread commercial success. This cassette-only release is a genuine collector’s item.’ (On Being, May 1989)
Tracklist 1 – Long Night – 3:34 2 – Where Do We Go From Here – 3:17 3 – In My Mind – 3:38 4 – Ships – 5:14 5 – Secrets – 4:06 6 – Warrior – 5:00 7 – Ransom – 4:09 8 – On And On – 5:06 9 – Money Or Love – 3:37 10 – Berlin Wall – 3:56 11 – Celebration – 4:17 12 – I Need You – 4:46 13 – The Bigger You Are – 4:15 14 – Never Too Late – 4:29
Credits Bass, Vocals – Kendall Waller Drums, Vocals – John Waller Guitar, Vocals – Paul Gannell Keyboards – Evan Murray Lead Vocals, Guitar – Randall Waller Producer, Engineer – John McConnell Recorded By – Wyn Wynyard Remix – John McConnell
Companies, etc. Recorded At – Selina’s Nightclub Recorded At – Sydney Entertainment Centre
In 1987 Bebe & Cece left the PTL Club singers to strike out on their own. This is their first album after striking a deal with Sparrow Records. The album was hugely successful with the first single, “I.O.U. Me” topping R&B and inspirational charts. It generated a Grammy nominations as well as making it to #1 on the CCM charts. CeCe also earned a Grammy for “Best Soul Gospel Performance, Female” for the track “For Always.” They also won the 1988 Dove award for New Artist Of The Year. That’s a pretty successful album. It was also the first heavily played R&B album on many CCM radio stations and it also received heavy airplay on secular R&B radio stations.
Tracklist 1 – I. O. U. Me – 4:42 2 – I Don’t Know Why – 3:58 3 – For Always – 4:02 4 – No Hiding Place – 3:17 5 – Still In Love With You – 4:02 6 – Call Me – 5:18 7 – Love Said Not So – 4:30 8 – Change Your Nature – 4:56 9 – In Return – 3:47 10 – He’s Coming Soon – 4:21
Credits Arranged By [Backing Vocals] – BeBe Winans, CeCe Winans, Keith Thomas, Marvin Winans Arranged By [Strings] – Keith Thomas Backing Vocals [Additional] – Angie, Bebe & Cece Winans, Constance Jackson, Debra, Debra, Kevin Jackson, Michael, Regina, Ronald, Vicki Bass – Jimmie Lee Sloas Drums, Drum Programming – Mark Hammond Engineer [Assistant] – Bill Heath, Billy Whitington*, Michael Koreba Guitar – Tom Hemby Keyboards – Keith Thomas Mastered By – Steve Hall Producer – Keith Thomas Producer [Associate] – Brett Perry Recorded By, Mixed By – Jeff Balding Saxophone – Mark Douthit
This is the third album from First Call. It features the same lineup as their previous two albums and the magic continued with this combo. The album had 4 top 10 CCM charting singles including “The Reason We Sing” which sat at #1 for 6 weeks. The other three top 10 singles were, O Sifuni Mungu at #9, Back To His Heart at #10, and Lord Of All also at #10. The band actually never thought they would be as popular as they were and in fact when they started they just wanted to put out a Christmas album while still working on their solo careers. This album is a more worship oriented album and while not my style there is no denying that its a great album.
Tracklist 1 – The Comin’ Of The Lord – 3:21 2 – Somethin’ Takes Over – 3:23 3 – The Reason We Sing – 3:33 4 – Billy On The Boulevard – 4:14 5 – Forever In His Care – 4:03 6 – O Sifuni Mungu (All Creatures Of Our God And King) – 5:41 7 – The Look – 4:46 8 – Back To His Heart – 3:05 9 – Double Talk – 4:17 10 – Lord Of All – 4:59
Credits Wayne Berry – Songwriter George Binkley III – Strings Mike Brignardello – Bass Jonathan David Brown – Engineer Cole Burgess – Contractor, Alto Sax Paul Butcher – Trumpet Paul Butcher – Trumpet J.T. Cantwell – Engineer John Chisum – Songwriter John Darnall – Acoustic Guitar Randall Dennis – Songwriter Mark Douthit – Soprano & Alto Sax Connie Ellisor – Strings First Call – Vocal Arrangements Carl Gorodetzky – Strings Barry Green – Trombone Mark Hammond – Drums, Percussion Mike Haynes – Trumpet Tom Hemby – Guitar Robert Heuer – Horn JB Baird – Engineer, Mixed Neal Joseph – Producer Bonnie Keen – Vocals Shane Keister – Songwriter Lee Larrison – Strings Les Mas – Vocal Percussion Sam Levine – Alto Sax David Maddux – Producer, Songwriter, Arrangements, Piano, Keyboards, Drum Programming, Vocals Ted Madsen – Strings Asukulu Yunu Makalay – Songwriter Pam Mark Hall – Songwriter Rich Mayes – Bass Trombone Tom McAninch – Horn Marty McCall – Songwriter, Vocals Paul McCusker – Songwriter Chris McDonald – Trombone Phill McHugh – Songwriter Jerry McPherson – Guitar Doug Moffet – Tenor Sax Dennis Molchan – Strings Laura Molyneaux – Strings Farrell Morris – Percussion Mmunga Mwenebulongo Mulongoy – Songwriter Nashville String Machine – Strings Craig Nelson – Acoustic Bass John David Parker – Mix Assistant Bill Pearce – Trombone Brett Perry – Assistant Engineer Rick Ricker – Horn John Rommel – Trumpet Clarke Schleicher – Engineer Pam Sixfin – Strings Buddy Skipper – Tenor Sax Chris Teal – Strings Keith Thomas – Track Arrangements, Programming, Keyboards Becky Thurman – Songwriter Geoff Thurman – Songwriter Dick Tunney – Songwriter Melodie Tunney – Songwriter, Vocals Hank Williams – Mastered
This is yet another Geoff Mann project. Geoff must have been a pretty busy guy because he must have put out 10 albums using different names in the mid 80’s. As I said in a previous review of his work I am sorry I didn’t know about him in the 80’s as his music is exactly what I was listening to back then. As near as I can tell this album was only released in the UK which is probably why I never heard of him. Geoff is joined by Dave Mortimer, and Steve Ridley to form “The Bond”. It’s another excellent new wave album but less conceptual than his other work I have listened to.
Tracklist 1 – Trumpet Call – 5:58 2 – Rest Assured – 4:11 3 – New – 3:59 4 – Cry Out – 4:37 5 – His Love – 4:18 6 – Too Modern – 4:59 7 – After The Storm – 6:03 8 – Certainly – 5:47 9 – Willy Welsh – 8:04
Credits Backing Vocals [Backing Voices], Keyboards, Wind [Wind Instruments] – Steve Ridley Bass Guitar – Adrian Cathcart Engineer – Clive Davenport Guitar [Ghastly Green Gibson] – Dave Mortimer Lyrics By – Geoff Mann Mastered By – Jack Adams Music By [Music Written], Arranged By, Performer – Dave Mortimer, Geoff Mann, Steve Ridley Producer – Clive Davenport, The Bond Voice [Voices], Guitar [Wobbly/Non-Wobbly Guitars], Programmed By, Drum Programming [Realtime Drum Machines] – Geoff Mann Written-By – Dave Mortimer Written-By [Songs By] – Geoff Mann
This is the first album from Take 6 and I believe it’s the only A Capella album we’ve uploaded to YouTube. The group started out in 1980 when Claude McKnight started to assemble a group of singers who would be know as Gentleman’s Estates Quartet. Once the band was complete they changed their name to Alliance. When they signed with Reprise Records/Warner Bros. in 1987, it was discovered that there was another group with the same name. So the band sat down and picked a new name using the level of laughter as the deciding factor and Take 6 was born. The band won two Grammy awards for this album, Best Jazz Vocal Performance, Duo Or Group, and Best Soul Gospel Performance By A Duo, Group, Choir Or Chorus. Humorously the song that won Best Jazz Vocal Performance, Duo Or Group only made it to #25 on the CCM charts. If this isn’t proof of the idiocy that was the CCM charts then I don’t know what further proof I would need.
Tracklist 1 – Gold Mine – 3:52 2 – Spread Love – 3:29 3 – If We Never Needed The Lord Before (We Sure Do Need Him Now) – 4:59 4 – A Quiet Place – 2:43 5 – Mary – 3:31 6 – David And Goliath – 4:25 7 – Get Away, Jordan – 4:23 8 – He Never Sleeps – 3:10 9 – Milky-White Way – 4:47 10 – Let The Words – 0:55
Credits Arranged By – Mark Kibble, Mervyn Warren Art Direction, Design [Cover] – Kav Deluxe Engineer – Don Cobb Executive-Producer – Jim Ed Norman Hair – Jeffrey Johnson Lacquer Cut By – Denny Purcell Make-Up, Stylist [Wardrobe] – Vanessa Ware Management – C.H.O.I.C.E., Nashville Mastered By [Originally] – Denny Purcell Mixed By – C. McKnight, D. Cobb, M. Kibble, M. Warren Percussion [Finger Snaps], Effects [Sound] – David Humphries Photography By – Jeff Katz Producer – Claude V. McKnight III, Mark Kibble, Mervyn Warren Vocals – Alvin Chea, Cedric Dent, Claude V. McKnight III, David Thomas, Mark Kibble, Mervyn E. Warren
You might know Terri Gibb better due to her top Pop hit “Somebody’s Knockin'”. She had a pretty good secular Pop/Country career but when it started to fail she decided to do Gospel music. I’m not saying anything negative but this is a trend we saw in the 80’s and admittedly it gave several artists a second run. She had a 3 album run in the Christian music industry and this is the first of those albums. Terri was a great artist so I was expecting a good album. I was not disappointed and while it is an Easy Listening album I quite liked it. I’ve been on a bit of a run lately with Easy Listening albums I quite like but I hope my taste in music isn’t changing because generally this isn’t my preferred genre.
Tracklist 1 – You Can Say It To Him – 3:32 2 – I Can See Heaven – 3:04 3 – Gettin’ Ready – 3:22 4 – Driving Nails – 3:44 5 – Turn Around – 4:22 6 – Run To You – 3:49 7 – What About Him – 4:22 8 – Have You Made Your Reservation – 4:18 9 – Already There – 3:16 10 – Merciful Lord – 3:25
Credits Eddie Bayers – Drums George Binkley III – Strings Jonathan David Brown – Engineer David Davidson – Strings Connie Ellisor – Strings Michael English – Background Vocals Terri Gibbs – Vocals Carl Gorodetzky – Strings Richard Grosjean – Strings Ron Hemby – Background Vocals Jim Horn – Saxophone Danny Johnston – Assistant Engineer Ted Madsen – Strings Carl Marsh – Fairlight Bob Mason – Strings Gary McSpadden – Producer Laura Molyneaux – Strings Farrell Morris – Percussion Brent Rowan – Guitars Gene Sisk – Keyboards Elisabeth Small – Strings Wendy Suits – Background Vocals Dianne Tidwell – Background Vocals Alan Umstead – Strings D. Bergen White – Producer, Background Vocals Bill Whittington – Assistant Engineer Kristen Wilkinson – Strings Hank Williams – Mastered John C. Williams – Bass
Strangely I couldn’t find much info on Glen. He was a songwriter in the early 80’s and wrote some stuff we’ve all heard. He wrote “We Are The Light” by Servant, “Run” by Steve Archer, and “Take The Cross” by Joe English among others. This is actually his second album and again Chris Christian was the executive producer and it was on Chris’s label Home Sweet Home Records. Glen’s first album was full of big names but this one seemed a little more reserved with Glen handling most of the instruments except the guitar and bass tracks. As for the album it’s a fun Pop oriented album and is quite fun to listen to. You may have missed this one in the 80’s so I would suggest you listen to it now.
Tracklist 1 – Love Is Waiting Here – 5:23 2 – Down This Avenue – 4:32 3 – Living For Babylon – 5:05 4 – Eternity – 4:55 5 – Look Up – 4:15 6 – Turn Up The Music – 4:03 7 – A Million Miles Away – 4:54 8 – Out West – 5:15 9 – Famine Of The Heart – 4:45 10 – Not In The Grave – 4:36
Credits Art Direction, Design – Rod Brown Design Backing Vocals – Christopher Davis, Grant Cunningham Bass [Additional Arrangements] – Matt Pearson Engineer, Drum Programming – Kent Davis Executive-Producer – Chris Christian Guitar – Jerry McPherson Producer, Arranged By, Keyboards, Drum Programming, Backing Vocals – Glen Allen Green
Valor rose out of the ashes of another band named Golgotha. The band was pretty much the same lineup but with Chris Price replacing Todd Price. Chris brought a more thrash sound to the band. Vic Sardon was brought on as a second guitarist to solidify that thrash sound. The band had a pretty good following as Golgotha so they had a head start as they toured and played across the U.S. They actually stayed together for several years and though they never got a real record deal (they did release a full self produced album) they were quite popular. Now it’s well known that thrash bands had a very difficult time with record deals I am kind of surprised that Valor had this problem. Their version of thrash is far more bearable than most. The lyrics are clear and good. The guitar has distinguishable chords and quite frankly this is probably one of the best thrash albums I’ve ever heard. Even if you’re not a fan of thrash I’d really suggest you give this one a quick listen. You might be pleasantly surprised.
Tracklist 1 – Masquerade – 4:26 2 – Fight For Your Life – 2:42 3 – Burn – 5:00 4 – Didn’t I – 4:27 5 – The Flesh Is Weak – 4:11
Credits Bass, Backing Vocals – Adam Alvarez Drums – Jim Maxwell Guitar – Chris Price, Vic Sardon Vocals – Michael Brueck
Will McFarlane self released his 3rd album though his previous label Refuge Records did take care of distribution. Because it was self released it was virtually guaranteed not to have a charting single. This is too bad because the album definitely had a couple tracks that could have singled. It has a bit of an Imperials sound and feel. The album is not my preferred genre but I actually quite liked the album. If you missed this one in the 80’s you should give it a listen now.
Tracklist 1 – I Can Depend On You – 3:44 2 – Can’t Go Back – 5:07 3 – Who Can Separate Us – 3:54 4 – The End Of Me – 5:44 5 – Only The Heart – 3:45 6 – Don’t Be Fooled – 5:33 7 – Come Unto Me – 5:24 8 – Blessed Jesus – 5:35
