1988 – Real 80s CCM

Full Armor – Limited Edition 1988 4-Song E.P

This is all we got from Full Armor which is a total shame because these guys were pretty good. They were a metal band leaning to more glam part of the genre. They had this one 4 song EP and an appearance on a metal sampler “White Metal Invasion” the next year. Now I’d like to tell you more about the band but I can’t because I can’t find any info on them. This is complicated by the fact that there are at least 2 modern Christian bands with the same name but they do not have the same members. So we are left with the EP which may be a good thing because you can just enjoy some really good metal.

Tracklist
1 – White Knights – 2:45
2 – His Love – 4:14
3 – Start – 4:44
4 – Too and Fro – 3:55

Credits
Vincent Van Voltenburg – Voices, keys
Rex Michaels – Guitars, keys
Dion James – Bass
T.T. Townsend – Drums

Companies, etc.
Engineered – Mars studio.

Bryan Harden – Against The Tide – 1988

I can’t really find much info about Bryan. He was on several albums over the years a background vocalist but put out this self released cassette in 1988. It is apparently quite rare and only available on cassette if you can find it. The album is very Easy Listening with a strong emphasis on Bryan’s vocals which are very good but not really my style. Bryan is still performs with The Voices Of Liberty and is the Music Director of the Orlando Presbyterian Church.

Tracklist
1 – New Song – 3:34
2 – God Is – 2:35
3 – A Hiding Place, A Holy Place – 4:41
4 – Come Thou Fount Of Every Blessing – 4:18
5 – Against The Tide – 3:48
6 – You’re My Friend – 3:13
7 – Lazarus Arise – 3:51
8 – Exalt Him Evermore – 2:30
9 – I’m Undone – 3:09

Various – California Metal Volume II – 1988

This 1988 Regency Records sampler featured some of the best California Metal bands of the time and some very exclusive tunes. I have listed below where you can find the albums with the songs. Note that the CD and the cassette have one more track than the vinyl version.

Tracklist
1 – Vision – Runaway – Unreleased
2 – Emerald – Traitor – Unreleased until 2001 then bonus track on Armed For Battle re-release CD
3 – Recon – Light The Fire – Only released on a 1989 Demo
4 – Soldier – Borderline – On 1988 album Babylon
5 – Judea – Heart Of Stone – Unreleased Band
6 – Mastedon – Get Up – On 1989 album It’s A Jungle Out There
7 – Ransom – Sin Killer – Unreleased
8 – Emerald – Born To Die – Unreleased until 2001 then bonus track on Armed For Battle re-release CD
9 – Judea – Knock – Unreleased Band
10 – Soldier – Tears – Unreleased until 2002 then bonus track on The Definitive Collection 1985-1989 CD
11 – Recon – Dreams – On 1990 album Behind Enemy Lines – Different Version

Tracklist
1 – Vision – Runaway – 4:56
2 – Emerald – Traitor – 2:39
3 – Recon – Light The Fire – 3:25
4 – Soldier – Borderline – 3:33
5 – Judea – Heart Of Stone – 4:32
6 – Mastedon – Get Up – 3:58
7 – Ransom – Sin Killer – 4:34
8 – Emerald – Born To Die – 4:17
9 – Judea – Knock – 4:24
10 – Soldier – Tears – 3:57
11 – Recon – Dreams – 4:59

Heartbeat – The Winner – 1988

While this was their 5th album this was their second attempt at getting on the secular charts. Surprisingly they did just make it onto the charts in Apr 88 but they only peaked out at #70. Not too bad for what was essentially a worship and studio band that just turned it up for a few albums. I have to admit as much as I kind of dislike this band I am impressed that Myrrh was able to partner with Priority Records to get this album on the radio. That said I am trying to figure out why they would included the 12″ version of the single on the album. Admittedly the song wasn’t a huge hit but still they put out a 12″ to try to get a few more sales but then they included that version on the album. That said nothing about this whole Heartbeats idea made sense to me. That said if you like a little 80’s Europop this is the album for you and it actually is pretty good.

Tracklist
1 – The Winner (7″ Version) – 3:52
2 – Common Language – 3:52
3 – Dancin’ – 3:20
4 – The Only One – 3:33
5 – Air That I Breathe – 4:25
6 – Tease Your Media Mind – 3:33
7 – Tears From Heaven – 3:22
8 – People With No Direction – 3:56
9 – One True Love – 3:51
10 – The Winner (12″ Version) – 7:21

Credits
Bass – Steve Bassett
Drums – Clive Urquhart
Executive-Producer – Barry Evans, Ray Goudie
Guitar, Vocals – Ian Townend
Keyboards – Dave Bankhead
Lead Vocals – Sue Rinaldi
Producer – Barry Evans, Simon Humphrey
Vocals – Su Reeves Bassett*

Companies, etc.
Phonographic Copyright ℗ – Word (Uk) Ltd.
Copyright © – Word (Uk) Ltd.
Distributed By – BMG Records (UK) Ltd.
Recorded At – Hot Nights Studios, London
Mixed At – Hot Nights Studios, London
Mixed At – PWL Studios
Pressed By – Sonopress – C-2638

Billy Sprague – La Vie – 1988

This is the third album from Billy and the best one yet. If yo listen to Billy’s albums back to back in order you can hear the progression of quality of his music. This album continues his guitar heavy pop style. Unfortunately Sprague would take a break after this album due to his fiancé was killed in a car accident. That said Reunion Records did release a greatest hits package during his hiatus. Only have time for one track? ‘What Goes Around Comes Around’ is probably the best track on the album. Bottom line, La Vie is c’est bon.

Tracklist
1 – I Gotta Hand It To You – 4:28
2 – What Goes Around Comes Around – 4:35
3 – La Vie – 3:58
4 – I Call It Love – 3:55
5 – Someone Is There – 4:49
6 – Heart Of The Infidel – 3:54
7 – You Can’t Walk The Wire – 5:13
8 – The Ultimatum – 4:20
9 – If I Know Love – 3:25
10 – A Little Broken Bread – 4:40

Credits
Gary Chapman – Producer
Jeff Moseley & Terry Hemmings – Executive Producers
Doug Scarret, Michael Pool – The Engineers
Jerry (Neil) McPherson – electric guitars
Phil Naish – keyboards
Keith Edwards – drums
Mike Brignardello – bass
Shane Keister – greasy grand on “Walk The Wire”
Gary Chapman – pedal steel,bazouki,sitar,danelectro six-string bass & shotgun solos on “The Ultimatum”

The Technos – Songs For A Nervous World – 1988

The Technos actually started out as the Techno Twins in the secular market. They released their first album in 1982 with the single “Falling in love again” which did very well in the European market. The band is generally credited with being the origin of the term “techno” which is something to be proud of. It’s pretty cool when your band name becomes a international term for a style of music. Anyway, after a couple of fairly successful secular releases they put out this one and only Christian release. It is actually a little different in that the songs are social/political oriented and they touch on subjects that weren’t often touched on by Christian artists. I don’t know if this was a popular album or not but I really like it.

Tracklist
1 – Friends & Frontiers – 4:02
2 – Dare To Dance – 3:47
3 – Share Food Like The Bees – 3:29
4 – Beat The Wings – 3:37
5 – Mechanical Ballet – 4:23
6 – Half A Story – 3:39
7 – War: One Voice – 4:18
8 – Pioneer´s Song – 4:02
9 – Walk Into The Light – 4:27
10 – What You Believe – 3:33

Credits
Backing Vocals – Bev Sage, Carolyn Nieto, Cynthia Rizas, Martin Bass, Steve Fairnie
Drums – David Prater
Engineer – Doug Oberkirker
Engineer [Assistant] – Dan Rudin
Guitar – Ronnie Drayton
Keyboards, Arranged By – George Small
Photography By – David Rose
Producer – Joey Powers
Saxophone [Sax] – Sydell Carter

Companies, etc.
Recorded At – Grand Slam Studios
Phonographic Copyright ℗ – Refuge Records
Copyright © – Refuge Records
Distributed By – Mainroads Music Inc

Priority Paid – Image – 1988

This was the first album form Priority Paid. I still can’t find much info on this Australian band but I’m still enjoying their work. The album is a great 80’s Pop album with above average lyrics in my opinion. As this was only released in Australia many of you haven’t heard it so here’s your chance to catch up on an 80’s rarity.

Tracklist
1 – Night After Night – 5:11
2 – Can You Come Over Tonight – 4:50
3 – Going Home – 5:07
4 – Forever – 5:20
5 – Robin Hood – 3:20
6 – Do You Know – 4:17
7 – Voice – 4:00
8 – Shut Up And Dance – 3:03
9 – In Your Image – 4:03

Credits
Acoustic Guitar, Vocals – Peter Downey
Bass, Vocals – Owen Craig
Drums, Vocals – Rik Petereit
Electric Guitar – Iain McDonald
Percussion, Vocals – Bill Marsden
Vocals, Keyboards – John Burns

Companies, etc.
Engineered At – Rich Studios
Engineered At – Silver Wood Studios

Garth Hewitt – Scars – 1988

This is Garth’s offering for 1988 and this one like most of his albums in this period was only released in the U.K. I have heard that the few albums he did release in the U.S. just didn’t sell well but they sold well in the U.K. I don’t kind of understand why that would be but anyway lets get to the album. This album has several different styles. There’s some folk, some country, some pop, and even a Rock & Roll tune. This many different styles means the album doesn’t have a flow but they are well done and if you’re a fan of his I’m sure you don’t care about the flow of the album. This was the first album of his I listened too so the differing styles was a bit jarring.

Tracklist
1 – Namibia – 3:49
2 – Strange Weapons – 3:07
3 – Land Of Palestine – 3:11
4 – Johnny Cash – 2:55
5 – Our Silent Eyes – 3:22
6 – Tears Of God – 2:44
7 – Peace Like A Phoenix – 3:44
8 – Amusing Ourselves – 3:06
9 – 32 Years – 3:46
10 – The Sky That Wouldn’t Weep – 3:54
11 – Polish Winter – 4:30
12 – Get Up And Dance – 3:37
13 – Jesus Of The Scars – 2:54

Credits
Acoustic Guitar – Doyle Grisham, Tom Blades
Backing Vocals – Barb Smith, Billy Bob Shane, Craig Wiseman, Darryl Adams, Gilly Sue Blades, Jan Pulsford
Bass – Jimmy Carter
Design – James Kessell
Drums – Craig Wiseman
Electric Guitar – Tom ‘Razor’ Blades, Walt Houston
Engineer – Lori Larsen, Roger Holmes
Fiddle – Hank Singer
Harmonica – Garth Hewitt
Keyboards – Howard Duck
Keyboards [Additional] – Jan Pulsford
Lead Vocals – Garth Hewitt
Mandolin – Hank Singer
Photography – Michael Rock
Steel Guitar – Cal Freeman

Jeff Scheetz – Warp Speed – 1988

The story goes that Jeff cut this album/demo in 3 days to demo his guitar work. The story is that it was picked up by a Mexican label and then he got a record deal with Pure Metal records but in reality the timeline doesn’t work so I have no idea how that all worked. I do know that in 2005 this album along with his second album “Woodpecker Stomp” were released as a single CD. As for what we have here is some excellent heavy guitar work. The album is an instrumental which is a little disappointing because there’s some great tracks here but it was recorded as a demo so I understand why. Many people consider Jeff one of the best guitarists in the genre and I have to admit listening to this album will probably support that view.

Tracklist
1 – St. Valentine – 3:46
2 – Warp Speed – 3:44
3 – The Black Cat – 0:42
4 – Tornado Alley – 4:04
5 – Shark Attack – 3:32
6 – Lone Wolf – 5:46
7 – Amazing Grace – 3:38

Credits
Bass – Eddie Pruitt
Drums – Gabriel Anthony
Engineer – Alan Pangelinan
Guitar, Producer – Jeff Scheetz
Keyboards – Eric Greif
Producer – Eric Greif

Zipcodes – Sold Sight Unseen – 1988

While Andy Piercy was off recording his new album Peter Banks and Pete King went into the studio to record this rather excellent album. Even though it was recorded and mixed in Peter’s home studio it sounds radio ready to me. I am assuming they shopped the album around but like all things After The Fire the record labels didn’t want it. I will try to not go off on a tangent again about how After The Fire and subsequent member recordings were treated but I just simply can’t understand how this didn’t get picked up. Anyway it lived on a shelf until Pete King’s death in 1987 when Peter took it back out to try to get it released in memory of Pete. Lucky for us Christian label Plankton Records picked up the ball and released the album. Unfortunately it looks like it was only released on cassette and of course it had a tiny distribution so most of us never heard it but here it is. This is yet another excellent 80’s sounding album that we should have been able to hear at the time.

Tracklist
1 – Got My Reasons – 3:46
2 – Making It Tougher – 2:58
3 – I Won’t Go Home – 2:34
4 – Hold Me Tight – 3:38
5 – Where Are You Now – 3:36
6 – Let It Go – 3:38
7 – Hold On – 2:53
8 – Never Let It Be Said – 3:37
9 – Nothing You Can Say – 3:22
10 – Found You Out – 3:04
11 – Call Me Up – 4:22
12 – Something special – 3:28

Credits
Peter Banks
Peter King
Stewart Van Blandameyer
Elana Harris
Mark Pearson
Colin Pye
Keith Smith
Dave West
Simon Wilkinson