#299 A KISS OF LIFE by Lifesavers (1986)

A KISS OF LIFE by Lifesavers (1986)
Frontline - RO-9007

Producer: Doug Doyle


File under: Pop Alternative

Time Capsule-Worthy Track: 

I Can’t Wait

Inner Seeds Festival. Lawrenceville, Georgia in 1993. I was completely transfixed on the stage as Mike Knott and his LSU mates gave a performance for the ages. Knott ended up in a patterned moo moo, rubbing Crisco all over his face and massaging it into his hair as he sang Rocket and a Bomb. It was, in a word, unforgettable. 

Then the cops arrived. 

I was standing close enough to hear a police officer negotiating with an audio engineer. “We’ve had a lot of complaints, and y’all are gonna have to bring this volume way down.” Then the officer, representing a conservative, rural Georgia county, looked at the stage, squinting his eyes as if to make sure that he was actually seeing what he thought he was seeing. By this point, Mike Knott was covered in Crisco and was slinging water all over the crowd. The cop looked at the sound man and said, “I don’t know who that is up there and I don’t care. But that boy needs to take that dress off, and we’re shuttin’ this thing down.” And they did shut it down. But not before Michael Knott and the boys delivered one truly legendary performance.

Mike Knott is considered a genius. But he’s also considered to be an erratic, idiosyncratic oddball. He’s appreciated as a singer, an important songwriter, and a talented painter. In some ways, he became the Larry Norman of the Christian alternative rock scene: controversial, edgy, and impulsive…but undeniably gifted. Knott has also kept his fan base on its toes by releasing multiple projects under different names, with different spellings and incarnations (Idle Lovell, Lifesavors, Lifesavers, LSU, Lifesavers Underground, L.S. Underground, Mike Knott, Michael Knott, Aunt Betty’s Ford, the Aunt Bettys). But it all began when a group of teenagers got saved at a place you might’ve heard of – Calvary Chapel in Costa Mesa, California. 

Lifesavors was originally a “pogo punk/new wave band” and came along at about the same time as The Lifters, The Chosen Ones, The Altar Boys and Undercover. Then in 1986, Lifesavors altered the spelling of their name (to Lifesavers), switched labels (to Frontline), and moderated their sound to a more accessible pop vibe. A Kiss of Life was the result.

A Kiss of Life is the record for LSU fans who wish Mike Knott could be a lot more musically mellow and a little more up front about his faith. It’s been described as “contemporary music with a slight alternative/new wave punk edge” and has been compared favorably to The Psychedelic Furs, The Cure and The Waterboys. Despite glowing reviews from some bloggers, fans and music critics, Mike Knott has said that he wished A Kiss of Life had never existed. 

A Kiss of Life talks about the Christian faith, addresses boy-girl relationship issues, features some fine sax work by Allen Palmer, and includes a cover of The Byrds’ Turn, Turn Turn. Unlike the punk rock of the band’s earliest offerings and the dark, guitar-dominated alternative rock of the latter years, A Kiss of Life just aspires to be a pop record. At this point, the band was comprised of Knott, Brian Doidge, Doug Doyle and Kevin Lee. After this album, Knott and his mates would go down some dark, weird roads, both musically and personally…losing some fans, but gaining lots of others. They would soon leave pleasant pop behind. Shaded Pain was just around the corner.

   

Fun Fact: Art Direction for A Kiss of Life was the responsibility of Ed McTaggart, drummer for the band Daniel Amos. McTaggart was VP of Creative Services for Frontline Records.