Old Enough to Forget

I'm kind of surprised I didn't write about In Another Land earlier. I suspect this may be longer than it needs to be (likely a lot longer), sorry in advance but you should stick around anyway - it may be worth it. In terms of watershed albums this is right near the top of the most influential albums I have ever heard. The album was released in 1976 and a number of the older kids knew about him, but I was pretty clueless about Christian music. I was at a youth conference in '77 or '78 (things get fuzzy ) and the cool kids (who were likely four or five years older) were talking about an upcoming concert he was going to have in Vancouver, likely the Queen Elizabeth theatre but honestly the details are sketchy. The fact I remember anything at all is kind of amazing.  It was the youth group dances in the late '70s and early '80s where I first got a taste of his music. The big dance songs were "Why Should the Devil Have All the Good Music" and "The Roc...

Here I have Stranded , the second album by Edwards Hand, released in 1970. I never knew this existed. For decades I had been curious about the duo of Rod Edwards and Roger Hand. I first saw their names listed in the credits for Larry Norman's Only Visiting This Planet, and his follow up So Long Ago the Garden . Those two albums were recorded in England and produced by Edwards Hand along with Jon Miller. To say those albums were foundational to me is an understatement. I'd again see the same team behind a pair of albums by Malcolm & Alwyn: 1973's Fool's Wisdom and their 1974 follow up Wildwall . The two Malcom & Alwyn albums I discovered in the early '80s and while both are very good, I was especially drawn to their first album. This is a rather long preamble, but through these early albums I became aware a number of rather stellar musicians. John Wetton would of course go on to be a member of King Crimson, and later Asia, while others I wouldn't really...

I can't put into words the impact Larry Norman's music had on me when I was a teenager. In the mid '70s there were a bunch of older kids who were into Larry Norman, and I wanted to be like those kids. At the time Larry had just released  In Another Land (1976) that was the final album in his trilogy, and a few years later that would be my first Larry Norman album. By the early '80s Larry had started his own mail order company and under the Phydeaux imprint he was releasing some of his earlier albums, and a lot of live and compilation albums. I ate it all up, and went back for seconds. "Please sir, can I have some more?" In his newsletters there was also something new coming, and there was a map of upcoming albums ... that never materialized. At the time though it was still pretty exciting. I had heard snippets of Bootleg, although thinking on it now, I'll bet it was Street Level , (it was, thank you internet) from my friend Gerry, who seemed to have ever...

Back in '82 Larry Norman was top lining a slew of releases into the North American market with "Larry Norman Presents." At the time I had no idea these were merely repackaged releases. The Gap had come out a couple of years earlier, but in '82 this was the first time I'd seen or heard of Bryn Haworth, and it seemed intriguing. At the time, any association with secular artists was an odd badge of honour and here was Bryn Haworth with the Eric Clapton Band: Dave Markee, Chris Stainton, Henry Pinetti and Bruce Rowland. Well, that must mean something. I wasn't sure what to expect. I wasn't expecting what I got.  It was different, but man was it ever good.  At this point Toto IV was out, and that was constantly on my turntable, along with their earlier release Turn Back . Resurrection Band had dropped D.M.Z. and "Military Man" was one of my favourite songs. My goodness Stu Hess was near the top of my favourite guitar players ... a list that was cons...

Although the album came out in 1976, it wasn't until a few years later that I picked this up. For me it served as a bookend to Larry Norman's 1975 album In Another Land . Both albums were produced by Larry Norman, and both engineered by the legendary Andy Johns, with assistance from Tom Trefethen. These were the albums that introduced me the guitar playing of Jon Linn a player who was mind mindbogglingly tasty and did stuff that still makes my head spin.  Welcome to Paradise was a rock record filtered through Randy's acoustic guitar and his distinctive voice. The album kicks off with "King of Hearts" a song that has more than stood the test of time. Randy followed up with a two punch combination "Keep Me Running" and "The Winner (High Card)" that are still among my favourite songs - ever. It's these three songs alone that have made this album such an important part of my musical journey. As good as he'd be in later albums, with flashes...

Over the last year and a bit I've been accumulating more dollar store treasures than I have time to actually process. It doesn't mean I'm not giving them a proper listen and consideration, it's just that not everything has a story that can meanderamble for a while and still say nothing at the end. Also there are a lot of bands where there are numerous albums in their discography that are sitting on my shelf (more than one, as my wife reminds me) and they deserve a shout out. I figured since no one really reads this nonsense anyway and this is all about me fuelling my own inflated sense of hubris I'd start a new segment I'd slot in maybe once a week, or once a month, or perhaps quarterly, or as an annual thing. I'm hedging my bets as I generally have a lot of ideas and poor follow through. Not everything is a dollar store treasure, some of these I've had a long time, some not so long, and some were more than a buck. However, let's be optimistic and se...

I suppose I really should have gone with In Another Land as that was my first Larry Norman album, and one that was a really big deal to me - but it was also the foundation upon which my love for this particular album was built. An album I felt at the time was the best thing he'd ever done - of course with the benefit of hindsight I can unequivocally say that isn't true. Larry Norman is a polarizing figure to a lot of people but I only knew him from his music, and first hand accounts from my dear dead dear friend Dave who went on tour with him doing live sound many years ago. Dave had nothing bad to say about him, and to quote good ol' Forrest Gump, " And that’s all I’ve got to say about that." To me Larry was as big a deal as there was and for many years I eagerly bought everything I could get my hands on - heck I even mail ordered all of those rehashed Essential anthologies. Even if he was more "Do what I say, not what I do" what he said made a big im...

1981 was a great year for Daniel Amos. First Horrendous Disc, was finally able to see the light of day after being held up in red tape and label shenanigan at Solid Rock for a number of years. Then a few weeks later they would release the first volume of the Alarma! Chronicles ... this would start a life long love for the band and the many offshoots and tangents that would follow.  It was Horrendous Disc I picked up first, and I'll admit it was because of the association with Larry Norman and Solid Rock records. Many of my favourite artists were on this small label: Larry Norman, Randy Stonehill, and Mark Heard - so when this showed up I immediately bought it. Other than my small circle of friends who had similar taste in music no one else seemed to have heard of these bands. There were no "hits" it was word of mouth. The cover was awesome, the insert photos were awesome - the band looked awesome. I dropped the needle and the first cut hooked me good. "I Love You ...