1988 – Page 4 – Real 80s CCM

Eddie DeGarmo – Feels Good To Be Forgiven – 1988

In 1988 Eddie DeGarmo was instrumental in the opening of ForeFront Records. I am guessing that he did this solo album to help jumpstart the label. Dana Key also did a solo album in 1990 which also went on ForeFront. Eddie assembled a group of studio musicians for this album but you can tell it was on a new label as most of them weren’t really first call material. Not that they are bad but it’s rather obvious that this is a group of people not under contract to another record company. As for the album I was a little surprised it wasn’t a little more keyboard oriented. Instead it is a blues rock album with an emphasis on guitar riffs. I think it’s a pretty good album but without Dana you can tell it’s just not quite as good without their team work. That said it deserves to be listened to.

Tracklist
1 – Heaven’s 911 – 3:40
2 – Stayin’ on the High Road – 4:51
3 – Feels Good to Be Forgiven – 4:47
4 – Pickin’ Up the Pieces – 4:58
5 – Turn On Heaven’s Power – 4:08
6 – Goodbye Mr. Heartache – 3:48
7 – Thank You – 3:39
8 – I Believe – 3:52
9 – Faith Like a Rock – 4:20
10 – I Ain’t Gonna Lose – 4:58
11 – I Wanna Praise You – 5:07
12 – Yes Indeed – 3:18

Credits
Art Direction – Connie Sneed
Backing Vocals – Helen Gray, Phyllis Duncan
Bass – Warren Pease
Design – Camille Engel Advertising
Drums – Willy Lucius
Engineer [Additional] – James Craft
Executive-Producer – Dan R. Brock
Guitar – Greg Redding*, Jack Holder
Keyboards, Lead Vocals – Eddie DeGarmo
Mastered By – Hank Williams
Photography By – Dave Hawkins
Producer, Recorded By, Mixed By – Ron W. Griffin
Saxophone – Andrew Love
Trumpet – Ben Cauley

Companies, etc.
Distributed By – The Benson Company, Inc.
Phonographic Copyright (p) – The ForeFront Communications Group, Inc.
Copyright (c) – The ForeFront Communications Group, Inc.
Published By – DKB Music
Recorded At – Crosstown Recorders
Remixed At – Crosstown Recorders
Mastered At – Mastermix
Glass Mastered At – Nimbus, Virginia

Randy Stonehill – Can’t Buy a Miracle – 1988

Can’t Buy A Miracle is the follow up to Randy’s wildly popular album The Wild Frontier. Randy was joined for backup vocals from Phil Keaggy, Gary Chapman, Russ Taff, and REZ on individual tracks. This enhances some excellent songs with the exception of the Rez track “Cold Rock The Groove” which I just didn’t like and no guest appearance was gonna save it for me. The album isn’t quite as good as Wild Frontier but it’s not a bad album. Wild Frontier was probably Randy’s best album so saying it’s not as good is not necessarily a criticism. My favourite track is the title track which made me feel like I was listening to an old Stones tune. The album did actually sneak a single onto the CCM charts with “Coming Back Soon” making it to #5. All in all a pretty darn good album that definitely deserves a listen.

Tracklist
1 – It’s Now – 4:03
2 – Don’t Break Down – 3:04
3 – Coming Back Soon – 4:46
4 – O How The Mighty Have Fallen – 4:10
5 – Brighter Day – 4:05
6 – Awfully Loud World – 3:02
7 – Cold Rock The Groove – 4:05
8 – Beyond The Veil – 4:55
9 – Can’t Buy A Miracle – 3:49

Credits
Artwork – Michael Hodgso
Backing Vocals – Dave Perkins (tracks: 6, 9), Gary Chapman (tracks: 5), Phil Keaggy (tracks: 2), Rez (tracks: 7), Russ Taff (tracks: 6)
Bass – Rick Cua
Drums – Mike Mead
Electric Guitar – Dave Perkins
Engineer – Dave Perkins, Malcolm Harper
Engineer [Additional] – Dave Shirley, Lynn Fuston
Executive-Producer – Ray Ware, Tom Willett
Guitar [Flat Top Guitars] – Randy Stonehill
Keyboards – Greg Husted
Mixed By – Dave Perkins, Malcolm Harper
Percussion – Lisa Cates
Photography By – Peter Nash
Producer – Dave Perkins

Companies, etc.
Phonographic Copyright (p) – Word, Inc.
Copyright (c) – Word, Inc.
Recorded At – Randy’s Rock Bunker
Recorded At – The Reelsound Truck
Mixed At – The Reelsound Truck
Manufactured By – Discovery Systems – 2W20100B
Published By – Stonehillian Music
Published By – Word Music
Published By – Undone Tunes
Published By – Blue Finch Music

Mylon & Broken Heart – Face The Music – 1988

This was without a doubt one of Mylon LeFevre’s most successful albums. It had 4 CCM singles. Again And Again made it to #1, Mercy Seat to #3, Modern Man to #37, and Lamb Of God to #26. It also won the 1989 Dove Award for Recorded Song of the Year, Rock for “Won by One”. That’s a pretty darn successful album. It is also probably his best produced album with his usual producer Joe Hardy hitting it out of the park on this one. This was his first album with Star Song records after being done with Myrrh. It was nice to see he could bring his producer over with him as sometimes after a label change inside politics gets involved and complicates staffing matters but obviously not here. Really I can’t add much more than that. This is a must listen to album for anyone that listened to CCM music in the 80’s.

Tracklist
1 – Won By One – 4:21
2 – Sixteen – 3:54
3 – Talk To Me – 2:35
4 – Modern Man – 3:43
5 – Mercy Seat – 3:35
6 – Again And Again – 4:46
7 – Change – 3:01
8 – Rock Of Safety – 3:27
9 – Lamb Of God – 4:08

Credits
Art Direction, Design – Dave Rogers, Toni Thigpen
Bass, Vocals – Kenneth Bentley
Electronic Drums [Digital Drums], Vocals – Ben Hewitt
Guitar, Vocals – Scott Allen, Trent Argante
Illustration – Randy Rogers
Keyboards, Vocals – Paul Joseph
Photography By – Jim Collins
Producer, Engineer, Mixed By, Programmed By [Fairlight Programming] – Joe Hardy
Vocals, Guitar, Producer – Mylon LeFevre

Companies, etc.
Distributed By – Sparrow/Star Song Distribution
Phonographic Copyright (p) – Star Song Records
Copyright (c) – Star Song Records
Published By – Angel Band Music
Made By – Discovery Systems
Recorded At – Ardent Studios
Recorded At – Doppler Studios
Recorded At – Twelve Oaks Studio
Mastered At – Masterdisk
Published By – Jerome Olds Music

Undercover – 3-28-87 – 1988

Here’s a live album from Undercover that was recorded on 3-28-87, hence the name, at Six Flags Magic Mountain. The album has the vocal stylings of The Smiths we heard on their previous album, Branded. The album features all the usual hits from previous album but also has 2 previously unreleased tracks, “You and I” and “One to One”. The album is very well engineered and probably one of the better live albums in the late 80’s. I heard that this album was unofficially billed as their retirement tour but of course that proved to be untrue with many more albums coming out after this.

Tracklist
1 – Is Anyone Thirsty – 4:12
2 – I’m Just A Man – 3:46
3 – God Rules – 1:22
4 – Three Nails – 3:27
5 – Boys & Girls – 3:43
6 – I Love God – 4:08
7 – Cry Myself To Sleep – 2:32
8 – Darkest Hour – 3:32
9 – Build A Castle – 4:00
10 – Pilate – 3:07
11 – You And I – 2:55
12 – I’d Rather Stay – 2:58
13 – One To One – 3:59
14 – Come Away With Me – 4:42
15 – If I Had A Dream – 5:22

Credits
Artwork [Logo] – Rick Griffin
Backing Vocals [Support Singers] – Jim Chevalier, Joy Broome, Riki Michele
Bass, Keyboards – Joey (Ojo Taylor)
Design [Album Design] – Gene Eugene, Riki Michele
Design [Album Design], Photography By – Brian Ray
Drums – Gary Olson
Engineer – Ray Thompson
Engineer [Assistent Engineer] – Tim Pinch
Guitar – Gym (Gym Nicholson)
Lead Vocals – Sim Wilson
Mixed By [Mixing Assistent] – Dave Hackbarth
Mixed By, Producer, Design [Album Design] – Ojo Taylor
Photography By [Gary’s Drums] – Steve Lanning

Companies, etc.
Mixed At – 3-D Studios, Costa Mesa CA.
Mastered At – Motown Recording Studios
Edited At – Motown Recording Studios

Zero Option – Absolute Zero – 1988

Zero Option was actually just one guy, Ralph Ward. I guess you could call him the Thomas Dolby of Christian music. Well maybe more the Howard Jones due to his vocals. This is actually his second album, his first album was titled “Ralph Ward” but using the artist name Zero Option. Does that qualify as a self titled album? When asked why he didn’t refer to his work by just his name he said “…..people expect you to be one bloke standing there with an acoustic guitar!” He took the name Zero Option from the nuclear disarmament policy of the same name which I guess was big in the U.K. in the early 80’s. He played anywhere he could including pubs, schools, and Churches. The album is a synth affair with upbeat vocals. At times I hear Harold Faltermeyer, Howard Jones, and even Men Without Hats. Speaking of Men Without Hats the album cover looks like it’s right out of the music video for “Safety Dance”. This is the style of music I loved i the 80’s and it’s too bad I had to wait until 2021 to hear this album because I really like it.

Tracklist
1 – Throwing It All Away – 5:32
2 – Let Me Die On Platform 9 – 6:09
3 – Still In Love With You – 3:31
4 – Let Go And Let God – 5:43
5 – The Telephone Song – 5:30
6 – Caught Up On The Wrong Side – 3:42
7 – In My Dreams Tonight – 5:47
8 – For Eternity – 4:33
9 – Love Looks Down – 3:19
10 – Hold Out Forever – 5:00

Credits
Instruments, Vocals, Producer, Songwriter – Ralph Ward
Producer, Engineer – William Jackson

Petra – On Fire! – 1988

The 10th studio album from Petra turned it up to 11 on the Hard Rock scale. Well OK maybe not 11 but then a strong 10 out of 12. Only one personnel change for this album, Ronny Cates replaced Mark Kelly on Bass and this marked a return to some stabilization of band members which was well relieved by fans. This album also closed out their contractually obligations with Star Song but I don’t get the feeling that they just put out an album due to contractual obligations. I really feel they put a lot of effort and time into this album. The mix/engineering is dead on but that’s not surprising from the Elefante brothers. But even for them this album is very well mixed and produced. The lead track “All Fired Up” sets the tone for the album with a sound that almost has a commercial Metal feel. All in all an excellent album.

Tracklist
1 – All Fired Up – 4:30
2 – Hit You Where You Live – 4:20
3 – Mine Field – 4:28
4 – First Love – 4:10
5 – Defector – 4:30
6 – Counsel Of The Holy – 3:37
7 – Somebody’s Gonna Praise His Name – 4:02
8 – Open Book – 4:28
9 – Stand In The Gap – 4:10
10 – Homeless Few – 4:33

Credits
Arranged By – Bob Hartman, Dino Elefante, John Elefante, John Lawry
Art Direction, Design – Dave Rogers
Backing Vocals – Bob Carlisle, John Elefante, John Lawry, John Schlitt, Riki Michelle*
Bass Guitar – Ronny Cates
Drums – Louie Weaver
Keyboards – John Lawry
Lead Guitar – Bob Hartman
Lead Vocals – John Schlitt
Engineer [Asst. Engineers] – Greg Parker, Jeff Simmons, Mannie Parker
Engineer – Dino Elefante, John Elefante, Mike Mierau
Illustration – Ken Westphal
Mastered By – Steve Hall
Keyboards, Programmed By [Programming] – John Andrew Schreiner
Programmed By [Programming] – Tim Heitz
Producer – Dino Elefante, John Elefante
Programmed By [Computer Programming] – John Lawry

Companies, etc.
Phonographic Copyright (p) – Star Song Records
Copyright (c) – Star Song Records
Record Company – Jubilee Communications, Inc.
Distributed By – Sparrow/Star Song Distribution
Recorded At – Pakaderm Studios
Recorded At – Woodland Studios
Mixed At – Pakaderm Studios
Mastered At – Future Disc
Glass Mastered At – Nimbus, Virginia
Published By – Petsong Publishing
Published By – Uncle Pitts Publishing
Published By – Birdwing Publishing
Published By – Shepherd’s Fold Music

DeGarmo And Key – Rock Solid Absolutely Live – 1988

I believe D & K were trying to recreate the huge success of their 1982 Live album “No Turning Back”. This album also came out as a video entitled “Rock Solid…The Rock-U-Mentary”. I took in the “No Turing Back” tour and while this album is good it’s not even in the same ballpark. I have seen the video for this album and it is mainly the guys hamming it up for the camera and this effects the music quality in my opinion. Also the noted for the album state that the sound is raw and not enhanced. This is plainly obvious when you listen to it as the engineering is questionable. In my OPINION live albums need “enhancing” to relay the feel of the concert to the listener. Now all that said it’s a pretty good album and I enjoy listening to it but I strongly prefer “No Turning Back”

Tracklist
1 – Casual Christian (Chorus) – 1:11
2 – Rock Solid – 7:09
3 – Ready Or Not – 3:27
4 – Soldier Of Fortune – 4:24
5 – Six, Six, Six – 5:35
6 – Don’t Stop The Music – 6:16
7 – Holy Hustle – 3:54
8 – When The Son Begins To Reign – 3:04
9 – Are You Ready – 3:43
10 – Addey – 7:37
11 – Let The Whole World Sing – 1:22
12 – Alleluia, Christ Is Coming – 1:07
13 – Destined To Win – 2:21
14 – Rock Solid (Reprise) – 3:33

Credits
Artwork [Art Coordination] – Connie Sneed
Bass, Vocals – Tommy Cathey
Design – Katherine DeVault Design
Engineer – Gary Hedden
Engineer [Assistant] – Jim Kaiser
Executive-producer – Dan R. Brock, Ron W. Griffin
Guitar, Vocals – Steve Taylor
Keyboards, Vocals – Eddie DeGarmo
Lead Vocals, Lead Guitar – Dana Key
Management – Brock & Associates
Mastered By [Digitally Mastered] – Hank Williams
Mixed By [Assistant Engineer] – James Craft
Mixed By, Drums, Percussion – Greg Morrow
Photography By – Paul Wharton
Producer, Mixed By – Degarmo & Key
Recorded By [Remote Recording] – GHL Audio Engineering

Companies, etc.
Phonographic Copyright (p) – ForeFront Records
Copyright (c) – The Benson Company, Inc.
Distributed By – The Benson Company, Inc.
Mixed At – Crosstown Recorders
Mastered At – Mastermix

Lust Control – This Is A Condom Nation – 1988

Lust Control was formed by Doug Van Pelt. He brought together Maury Millican, Philip Owens, and Paul Q-Pek into the project. Strangely Owens and Q’Pek are from One Bad Pig. Lust Control were doing something different in singing (I use that term loosely) about very controversial topics. They maintained an anonymous identity by using pseudonyms on the albums and even more strangely wearing ski masks while performing. This was their demo and was also put on cassette and CD for sale. They quickly developed a cult following however their controversial (read bizarre) nature pretty well terrified most the record companies so no record deal was gong to happen obviously. As for my opinion? I hate thrash, not just dislike, I actually hate it. That said I found the album humorous and fun and I really don’t think they were taking themselves too serious which isn’t a bad thing. I understand why they do have fans though because no one was doing anything this controversial.

Tracklist
1 – Grace – 1:43
2 – Rude Awakening – 0:43
3 – Madolyn Murray O’Hair – 2:07
4 – Wretched – 0:14
5 – Apocalyptic Nightmare – 2:56
6 – I Want To Die – 1:22
7 – Mad At The Girls – 1:54
8 – The Big ‘M’ – 3:49
9 – You Make Me Puke – 1:37
10 – There Is A Fountain/Grace Reprise – 2:42

Credits
Doug Van Pelt – Vocals
Maury Millican – Bass
Philip Owens – Drums
Paul Q-Pek – Guitar
Steve Allen – Producer, Engineer
Paul Lamond – Engineer

Imperials – Free The Fire – 1988

This was the Imperials album for 1988. They didn’t put out an album every year but almost. They toured so heavy that they missed the occasional year. After the shock of their previous album, “This Year’s Model”, this one wasn’t quite as rock and leaned back to Pop. Not that that album was rock but it was Rock for them. This is a solid Pop album and the vocals are even better than “This Years Model” in my opinion. This album is probably my second most liked from them and it’s a solid Pop effort. The album had an awesome 2 #2 singles, “Free The Fire”, and “The Boss”. “You” also made it to #24. I really like Dann Huff’s guitar work on the intro to “Higher Things” though that’s where I end liking the song. The intro doesn’t fit the song and they did one of those stupid abrupt ends. Not a producing masterpiece that one. That said this is a pretty good album and one of their best in my opinion.

Tracklist
1 – Free The Fire – 5:11
2 – Wild Geese – 4:08
3 – City In The Sky – 4:56
4 – You – 4:55
5 – The Boss – 5:17
6 – Higher Things – 5:11
7 – Rest In Your Arms – 4:16
8 – Let It Go – 4:15
9 – Better Than I Know Myself – 4:08
10 – Touchin’ Me – 4:03
11 – I Just Came To Praise The Lord – 1:59

Credits
A&R – Lynn Nichols, Mark Maxwell
Art Direction, Design – Roland Young
Band [The Imperials Are] – Armond Morales, David Will, Jimmie Lee, Ron Hemby
Engineer – Bart Stevens, Wade Jaynes
Mastered By – Doug Sax
Bass – Jimmie Lee Sloas
Drums – Paul Leim
Guitar – Dann Huff
Keyboards – Robbie Buchanan
Percussion – Lenny Castro
Piano, Synthesizer – Michael Omartian
Photography By – Howard Rosenberg
Producer, Engineer – Bill Schnee
Producer – Deborah Klein

Companies, etc.
Phonographic Copyright (p) – Word, Inc.
Copyright (c) – Word, Inc.
Manufactured By – Word, Inc.
Pressed By – Discovery Systems
Recorded At – Bill Schnee Studios
Recorded At – The Bunny Hop
Recorded At – 41B Studios
Recorded At – O’Henry Sound Studios
Mixed At – Bill Schnee Studios
Mastered At – The Mastering Lab
Published By – See This House Music
Published By – Swot Patch Music
Published By – Marquis III
Published By – Word Music
Published By – Martin Noyes Publishing
Published By – Todah Music
Published By – Nanacub Music
Published By – California Phase Music
Published By – Whitney Katherine Music, Inc.
Published By – Birdwing Music
Published By – Waif Productions Ltd.
Published By – ATV Music Ltd.
Published By – Paragon Music Corp.

David & The Giants – Strangers To The Night – 1988

Unfortunately by this point David and The Giants were producing albums too regularly. This album while good feels like they just went into the studio to get another album out. The album is a good listen but there just aren’t any real stand out tracks. Probably the best track is “Perfect Love” which features harmonies from David’s daughter Kellye Huff. Of course CCM charts missed this entirely and picked “Show Them the Light” and “Strangers to the Night” as the charting singles. But while I think “Perfect Love” is a great track it’s not gonna make it onto my regular rotation. To sum up, it’s a good album but unfortunately not a great album.

Tracklist
1 – Celebrate His Power – 3:50
2 – Show Them the Light – 3:54
3 – Lively Stones – 4:22
4 – I’m Not Ashamed – 3:23
5 – Perfect Love – 4:28
6 – Restless – 5:30
7 – Strangers to the Night – 3:49
8 – No Compromise – 4:34
9 – I Believe in You – 3:48
10 – I Was the Nails – 3:40

Credits
Backing Vocals – Dave Mullen, James Bolton, Karen Harding, Kellye Huff, Rick Florian
Concept By, Design, Art Direction – P. R. Allen
Drums, Percussion, Backing Vocals – Keith Thibodeaux
Engineer, Arranged By, Keyboards, Backing Vocals – Rayborn Huff
Engineer, Bass, Backing Vocals – Clayborn Huff
Engineer, Engineer [Assistant Remix Engineer] – Terry Ostovich
Mastered By – Denny Purcell
Percussion – Lance Huff
Producer, Arranged By, Backing Vocals – Tommy Sims
Producer, Engineer, Mixed By [Remixed By], Guitar, Lead Vocals, Backing Vocals – David Huff
Saxophone – Donnie “Sax” Sanders

Companies, etc.
Phonographic Copyright (p) – Giant Records (13)
Copyright (c) – Giant Records (13)
Distributed By – The Benson Company, Inc.
Recorded At – Huff Recording Studios
Mixed At – Huff Recording Studios
Mastered At – Georgetown Masters