#292 LEGACY by Michael Card (1983)

LEGACY by Michael Card (1983)
Milk & Honey - MH 1045

Producers:

Randy Scruggs & John Thompson

File Under:
Acoustic Folk/Inspirational/CCM

Time Capsule-Worthy Track:

El-Shaddai

Intelligent music...Biblically literate...CCM for grown-ups. These are terms that have been used to describe Michael Card's ministry. Card always came across like more of a college professor than a rock star. He wrote popular songs that he and other artists turned into huge hits, but he never seemed to prioritize musical hooks over meaty lyrics. I don't remember ever hearing a Michael Card song that went for the easy God-as-my-girlfriend trope. No, he wrote songs that made us think... songs that gave us a deep appreciation for the Word of God.

Unlike so many kids who saw The Beatles on The Ed Sullivan Show and instantly decided, "That's what I want to do with my life," Michael Card did not set out to be a professional musician. "I started writing music because of the influence of a man named William Lane, who was my principle professor in college," Card explained. "He also gave leadership to the church I attended. One day he gave me his sermon for the next week and asked me to write a chorus, and that's basically how it started." Card was blessed to attend a local church that was very nurturing. "I wasn't the only person writing songs in that church," he recalls. "Several musicians came out of that encouraging place."

FIRST LIGHT (1981)

A connection to musician (and future Grammy winner) Randy Scruggs led to Michael Card's first recording contract. The result was a 1981 record called First Light. The very first song on the album was I Have Decided, which became a huge hit for Amy Grant.

Legacy was Card's 1983 sophomore release. While it contained some very memorable songs that believers have been singing ever since, Card himself is a little fuzzy on the details. "The recording was so long ago I don't have any specific memories," he admits. "Mainly I remember how excited I was to get to work with Randy Scruggs. He had been a boyhood hero of mine in Nashville. His brother Steve was a close friend." 

Musically, Michael Card had more in common with what was then called the "Inspirational" genre than with Christian rock. His records relied on acoustic-based instrumentation, memorable folk-style melodies and Card's unpretentious, high-pitched vocal.

The record opens with Love Crucified Arose. When I asked Michael to comment on the song he said, "That one was sparked by a quote from Emily Dickinson: 'When love was crucified it arose.' It was a broad overview of the resurrection."

The song became a staple of Christian radio airwaves and remains a popular Easter song to this day. Card's penchant for digging deeper lyrically was on display here:

Long ago He blessed the earth
Born older than the years
And in the stall a cross He saw
Through the first of many tears


A life of homeless wandering
Cast out in sorrow's way
The Shepherd seeking for the lost
His life the price He paid

Love crucified, arose
The risen One in splendor
Jehovah's sole defender
Has won the victory

Love crucified, arose
And the grave became a place of hope
For the heart that sin and sorrow broke
Is beating once again

Throughout Your life You've felt the weight
Of what You'd come to give
To drink for us that crimson cup
So we might really live

At last the time to love and die
The dark appointed day
That one forsaken moment when
Your Father turned His face away

Love crucified, arose
The One who lived and died for me
Was Satan's nail-pierced casualty
Now He's breathing once again

Now That I've Held Him In My Arms was a musical re-telling of Simeon's first encounter with a young Jesus. All these years later, it remains poignant and moving.

That old man in the temple
Waiting in the court
Waiting for the answer to a promise
And all at once he sees them
In the morning sunshine
A couple come in carrying a baby


Now that I've held Him in my arms
My life can come to an end
Let Your servant now depart in peace
Cause I've seen Your salvation
He's the Light of the Gentiles
And the glory of His people Israel

Now's the time to take Him in your arms
Your life will never come to an end
He's the only way that you'll find peace
He'll give you salvation 
He's the Light of the Gentiles
And the glory of His people Israel

The Bible education continued with The Voice Of The Child. This one had a fairly adventurous arrangement and a robust lead guitar solo. The song's ending is hauntingly beautiful.

This Must Be The Lamb was another crucifixion/resurrection-themed track, again providing much greater depth and Scriptural accuracy in the lyrical content than the typical CCM song.

Side One of Legacy wrapped with the dramatic Dragonslayer, reminding one of something C.S. Lewis might've penned, had he been a songwriter. 

The starlit wizards came to see
Who might this newborn Dragonslayer be
He come the serpent's lies to cease
To win for us a never-ending peace

The serpent reared his ugly head
In the stillness of the garden
To bite the Dragonslayer's heel
And defeat His plan of pardon

But the Mighty One provided for
The fallen ones instead
And the quest began to slay the beast
To finally crush his head
To finally crush his head

Behold the Dragonslayer
He stills the serpent's scream
He stops his accusations
He spoils the dragon's dream

Behold the Dragonslayer
He died to set us free
The dragon thought he'd won then
It wasn't meant to be
It wasn't meant to be

The dragon sought to take the child
Of the woman clothed in sunlight
But once again the King stepped in
And began to fight the last fight

And so the battle raged between
The heavens and the sky
And the dragon was defeated
And at last was doomed to die
At last was doomed to die

Side Two of Legacy begins with another song that was embraced wholeheartedly by Christian radio. Abba Father is centered around spiritual adoption, sonship, and our relationship to Father God. It's an upbeat track that holds a special place in the hearts of many believers.

The next song, El Shaddai, is remembered as one of the most beloved CCM songs of all time, once again demonstrating the Scriptural integrity for which Card became noted. "I wrote the words and John Thompson wrote the music," Card says. "He gave it to me in the studio one day and asked if I heard anything in it. I took it home that night and the words came pretty quickly." The song gained massive popularity after being recorded by Amy Grant, though Card's rendition is more organic and earnest. El Shaddai was included on RIAA's 365 Songs of the Century list.

The solemn God Will Provide A Lamb gave us an example of something else Card would become quite adept at in future releases - exploring Old Testament accounts and tying them in with New Testament principles. To me, this song shows the connection between Abraham's willingness to sacrifice his son and Father God's willingness to do the same. This application is not accomplished in an overt, heavy-handed way, but rather is implied. It's subtle and effective. 

A departure, Livin' We Die begins with what sounds like an acappella gospel choir before transitioning into an uptempo track of exhortation and encouragement.

Legacy ends with Tell The World That Jesus Loves You, a children's ditty that Michael wrote with Randy Scruggs. It's sort of reminiscent of John Fischer's All Day Song.

"I think I was pretty happy with the record," Michael says, "although, when I listen now to all the old records, I mostly hear the mistakes."

The eighties were a busy time for Michael Card. "Back in those days I just kept writing songs and kept my head down," he remembers. "A lot of work. A lot of time away from home. A lot of time in the studio."

Michael Card wasn't a typical CCM star (which is fitting, since the Body of Christ is a great, big, diverse community). Many of the artists profiled on this blog started garage bands as teenagers and hit the road for Jesus after dramatic, Damascus Road-type conversion stories. Others came to serve the Lord after tasting fame and fortune in the mainstream arena. As we've already noted, Michael Card took a less traveled route. The son of a doctor and grandson of a pastor, he's a graduate of Western Kentucky University, where he earned bachelors and master degrees in Biblical studies. He's also received honorary Ph.D.’s in music and Christian education from Whitfield Seminary and Philadelphia Biblical University. It takes all kinds.

After Legacy, Card rose to further prominence in the 1980s as a songwriter and recording artist, but he eventually felt limited by having to pack what he called "the vast depth and richness of Scripture" into 3-minute songs...ones that would hopefully be popular enough to be played on the radio. While many of his songs were played extensively on Christian radio airwaves from coast to coast, Card also became a respected, award-winning author of books and articles, rubbing shoulders with well-known Biblical academics such as Brennen Manning, Dr. Larry Crabb, Kirk Whalum, Don Wyrtzen, and many others. 

According to the bio on his website, Card's chief aim is "to know and be known by God by asking questions and entering into meaningful discussion with one another." He continues to encourage and build up fellow believers in the United States and around the world by sharing what he's learned. During an era that has come to be defined by mega-churches, Card is busy facilitating the growth of smaller and more intimate communities within his audience’s churches and neighborhoods.“Thomas Merton said, ‘The least of learning is done in the classroom,’ and he is so right,” says Card. “The bulk of what I’ve learned whether academically, musically, or personally is through interacting with people, which is why I think community is so important to our growth as Christians.”

Michael Card has also been somewhat of an energizer bunny across the decades. He comes across as a laid-back guy, but my goodness...the musical and literary output over the years is astounding. Thirty-seven albums, 25 books, a radio program, tons of magazine articles...and no signs of slowing down anytime soon. You can avail yourself of albums, Bible studies, books, DVDs, sheet music and more at store.michaelcard.com.  

Whether it’s through writings, concerts, or teaching, the core of Michael Card's contributions to the body of Christ can be summed up in a couple of words: Biblical Community. That was true when Legacy was recorded back in 1983, and it's still true today. “I strive to reach people where they are,” explains Card. 

Card lives in the Nashville area. At the time of this writing, he and his wife, Susan, have four children and one grandchild. More than 4 million albums bearing his name have been sold, and he's written more than 19 #1 hits. 

Not bad for a guy whose primary goal in life is simply to be a Bible teacher.  

#293 CIRCLE OF TWO by Steve and Annie Chapman (1984)

CIRCLE OF TWO by Steve & Annie Chapman (1984)
Star Song Records – SSR 8055

Producer: Jonathan David Brown


File Under: CCM

Time Capsule-Worthy Track:

Circle of Two

Family.

It's the foundation for civilization. It's the single most important building block of society. It's where you probably experienced your greatest triumphs and deepest vulnerabilities. 

Family, hopefully, is where we learn the meaning of loyalty, cooperation, and trust. It is where we learn to love, and to bear one another’s burdens. It is the single most important influence in a child's life. 

In a perfect world, family provides us with security, identity and teaches us right from wrong. It provides us with experiences, traditions, and a sense of belonging. 

And it was the first and most important institution created and sanctioned by God Himself. Before government...even before the Church...there was the family.

Husband-wife team Steve and Annie Chapman have always understood the importance of family. They are authors, speakers and musicians who've always sought to strengthen and encourage marriages and families through their ministry. It has been the central theme of their life's work, the common thread that runs through whatever they put their hands to.

While the duo has continued to record and release new music throughout subsequent decades (much of it available on their website), the primary musical output of Steve and Annie Chapman came as a result of their relationship with Star Song Records in the 1980s, with 1984's Circle of Two being a high-water mark due to radio airplay, a memorable group of songs, a top-notch cast of studio musicians, and the superior production talents of the late Jonathan David Brown. But the Chapmans were creating what would later be called "contemporary Christian music" as early as the mid-1970s in a band called 
Dogwood.

During a recent conversation with Steve Chapman, I asked him to take us back to the beginning. 

"Well, I grew up in the home of a pastor in West Virginia and music was a big part of our family of four," he recalled. "We sang as a quartet with my mother providing accompaniment on guitar. When I was around 12 she decided to pass on the instrumental responsibility to me and taught me a few chords. Most of our songs were, as they’d say in the Pentecostal world, 'three chords and a shout.'"

Having grown up a Pentecostal preacher's kid myself, I can relate to Steve's experience. Southern Gospel was the musical genre of choice in my childhood home in Alabama, as it was for Steve in the riverside town of Point Pleasant, situated on the West Virginia-Ohio border.   

"My family was influenced mainly by folks like The Happy Goodman Family, The Singing Rambos and other similar groups," Steve remembers. "But I personally also enjoyed pop music at the time with a particular interest in artists like Glen Campbell, Marty Robbins, and Merle Haggard. My favorite type of song was, and still is, a story song…and it shows in my writing." 

When Steve was around 16 years of age he met guitarist Ron Elder at a "Gospel sing." 

"Ron played guitar and sang with his brothers and sisters as a group and we began a friendship that eventually led us to Nashville in 1974," Steve said. They formed a group called Dogwood (named after the legend of the dogwood tree and its cross-shaped spring blossom). Within months, Steve's wife Annie became a full-time member of the group.

I asked Steve how Dogwood came to the attention of a then-aspiring young producer in the fledgling CCM music scene.

"Well, we ended up being the house band for the Koinonia Coffeehouse, sort of a gathering place for Christians on Music Row," Steve explained. "The crowds grew larger week to week and the buzz eventually caught the attention of Chris Christian, and he offered us the opportunity to record some of our original songs."

One of those songs, Water Grave, would become one of the most popular and memorable songs on baptism ever written. Water Grave, written by Steve Chapman, would also be recorded by the Imperials, Servant, the Boone Girls, and many others. 

Annie Chapman decided to leave the trio in the latter part of 1977 to be a full-time mom. Two years later, with a wife and a toddler at home, Steve started reconsidering this "life on the road" thing. 

"Dogwood’s travels were taking me away from home for many days at a time," Steve lamented, "and consequently I felt like I was becoming a stranger to my son, not to mention the strain it put on my marriage to Annie. It was not an easy thing to do but I felt compelled to make an announcement to the guys that I would have to exit the group. I gave a six-month notice and did so with no idea what I would do after leaving."

"During the time between announcing my resignation and actually leaving, Dogwood still traveled and while on the road I started writing songs about the one thing I missed the most, my wife and child," Steve said, revealing that the Chapmans' famous focus came into being as a natural outgrowth of life experiences. "One by one, I began adding songs on the subjects of marriage and parenting," Steve said.  

So the Chapmans would be a duet and focus on marriage and family...it's settled, right? 

Wrong.

"I introduced Annie to the idea of the two of us working together with an emphasis on family life but she was so satisfied to be a stay-at-home mom that she firmly resisted the idea," Steve revealed. "I realized that it would not be wise to force her to embrace working together as a duet so I did the only thing I knew to do…I went quiet and gave the matter to the Lord in prayer." 

Early in 1980, Annie Chapman had a change of heart that changed the course of history for her family...and thousands of other families. Steve explains: "I was very delighted when she told me that she felt led of the Lord to 'take our home on the road.' In her words, 'Home is where we are, it's not necessarily in a house.' I didn’t actually realize it at the time but leaving it in the Lord’s hands and letting Him change her heart was the very best thing to do, and for a very good reason. By the time she agreed to travel with me we had added a second child, a daughter. Traveling with two little children in our un-air-conditioned van was, to say the least, a relentlessly grueling challenge. In those times when Annie was exhausted and her nerves were raw, she couldn’t blame me for coercing her to travel…she had to take it up with God!"

And thus it began...a family trying to build up other families using songs, stories, and Biblical insights. "On a commercial level, having the focus of our music on family matters made us strange birds in the Christian music world," Steve acknowledged. "However, while it was a negative to some of the gatekeepers in the music industry, to pastors whose goal was to strengthen the families in their congregations, we were a positive source of encouragement. The invitations to come to their churches began to pour in."

So, if the CCM "industry" was resistant to the theme of the Chapmans' ministry, how did they end up on a label like Star Song Records? "Star Song was a growing company based in Houston, Texas," Steve noted, "and the founders of the label, Darrell Harris and Wayne Donowho were familiar with Dogwood. When they heard that the group had disbanded and that Annie and I were working together, they contacted us. After a few meetings, they decided to add us to their roster of artists."

The Chapmans released a self-titled album in 1981 and Second Honeymoon in 1982, both produced by Brian Tankersly, and both leaning heavily on Steve and Annie's acoustic country sound. The family-oriented songs definitely found an audience among concert-goers and brought the Chapmans to the attention of James Dobson and Focus On the Family. But they weren't getting played a lot on the radio.

Steve explains: "Stylistically, the first two recordings were very acoustic based and featured our country music flavor. They represented who we were very well, but Christian radio, in general, was not highly accepting of our sound. For the sake of gaining wider appeal on the radio, the Star Song staff decided to 'slicken' our sound a bit." 

Enter Jonathan David Brown. 

Jonathan David Brown

"Working with Jonathan on Circle of Two was unforgettable," Steve said. "Star Song sent us to Los Angeles to record, and that alone was a culture shock to a couple of West Virginians!"

Jonathan David Brown recruited guitarist Hadley Hockensmith, percussionist Alex MacDougall, bassist John Patitucci, and pianist George "Smitty" Price for the project. John Schreiner played synthesizers, Steve Swinford provided additional acoustic guitar, and David Mansfield played guitars, mandolin and violin. Brown produced, engineered, and mixed the album. 

"The recording process involved a collection of highly skilled musicians that Jonathan had gathered," recalls Steve Chapman. "The combination of their professionalism and Jonathan's very creative mind was amazing to observe. Singing with the band in the vocal booth was intimidating…but we were put at ease by their smiles and how approving they were of the lyrics in our songs. The result was a recording that became our best seller as a duet."

Songs like Home Fires, Kiss of Hearts, Open Arms, David's Song, and State of the Union solidified what was now a tradition for the Chapmans - recording albums with a specific emphasis toward strengthening marriages and families. 

And this time, the record got played on the radio. 

"The title song, written by Mickey Cates, was a definite departure from our country style," Steve admits, "but we fully embraced the message about a couple’s need to pray together in a 'circle of two' and we were eager to use the song. It got a lot of radio airplay. Another cut that radio added was a song written by Tom Taylor and Brian Kunzelman called Goodnight Kiss. It’s a touching encouragement to parents to remember how quickly kids grow up. It became one of our most requested songs at our live events."

     
"Her Daddy’s Love was one of the songs on Circle of Two that was written by the two of us," Chapman recalls. "Our goal for the lyric was to help dads understand how important a father’s love is to a daughter. It was a favorite of Dr. James Dobson and he featured it on his radio show, Focus on the Family as well as the film series Turn Your Heart Toward Home. He also highlighted our song If You Leave a Hurt on a Focus On The Family broadcast. That one was a lyrical paraphrase of a passage in Malachi 2 that warns men that hurting a woman can hinder his prayers." 

The fact that their songs primarily address a single topic (family life) is unique among CCM artists...or any type of music, for that matter. On one hand, it could be perceived as limiting...then again, if you're going to explore a single topic, family life is one that is rich with endless lyric ideas. Having felt directed of the Lord to pursue this path, the Chapmans have enjoyed a rewarding and fruitful ministry. "We have never been deterred from lyrically focusing on family issues by things like commercialism, or the lack of it," Steve said. "We would see the tears on faces in audiences while we sang challenging songs like Daddy Please Find A Reason, Her Daddy’s Love, David’s Song, or Goodnight Kiss. The comments after concerts by the attendees and the letters from listeners to the recordings were filled with encouragement and thanks for being bold enough to address the various and important facets of family life and for 'packaging' such challenges in the palatable media of music."
       
I asked Steve if the Circle of Two album opened doors for them to minister in a greater capacity. "Commercially speaking, Circle of Two did indeed open some doors for us," he answered. "Perhaps the most effective way it helped was the acceptance the recording found on Christian radio. This was accomplished mainly by including songs by other songwriters whose writing styles were more 'mainstream.' We were well aware that our West Virginia, southern gospel/country roots were showing a bit on our first two projects and that our style didn’t blend with many of the stations with a more contemporary format. So it was a wise decision on Star Song’s part in terms of gaining more airtime and thus a greater live audience." 

Steve and Annie are still going strong, authoring books, leading marriage conferences, speaking at retreats, and singing their songs. And that's a good thing -- with rampant divorce and after a legal and cultural redefinition of the very concept of marriage, theirs is a message that is needed now more than ever before. 
     
"After all these years strengthening the family is still our mission through music," Steve Chapman says. 

Check out books, music, blog posts and more at steveandanniechapman.com.

#294 HEART & SOUL by Kathy Troccoli (1984)

HEART & SOUL by Kathy Troccoli (1984)
Reunion Records - SPCN 7-01-000512-5

Producer: Brown Bannister

File Under: CCM

Time Capsule-Worthy Track:

Long Distance Letter

Throaty. Powerful. Breathy. Sultry. Chesty. Dusky. All of these adjectives have been used to describe the wonderful alto voice of Kathy Troccoli, a New Yorker with an Italian Catholic upbringing and a star quality that has taken her beyond the confines of Contemporary Christian Music.

Born in 1958, Troccoli grew up on Long Island. After college she found work as a nightclub singer, but a co-worker at her day job witnessed to her and led her to faith in Christ. After opening for the group Glad, Ed Nalle helped her record a demo; the demo wound up in the hands of Mike Blanton and Dan Harrell (the management team for Amy Grant and Michael W. Smith)...and the rest is history. Kathy ended up contributing background vocals on Grant's Age to Age album before releasing a project of her own in 1982. The title song from that '82 album - Stubborn Love - became a huge radio hit, causing the album to be the best-selling debut by any female artist in the history of CCM. Kathy Troccoli was on her way.

Expectations were high for Troccoli's sophomore release, 1984's Heart & Soul...and, for the most part, the album delivers. Yes and Know, Open My Eyes, I Belong to You and Island of Love are standard CCM pop fare, but songs like Hearts of Fire, the opener (Long Distance Letter), and Bittersweetness are memorable, danceable, and anything but "standard." Overall, Heart & Soul showcases radio-friendly arrangements, hooks that stay on your mind, and rhythms that cause your feet to want to move. The production and arrangements would've been right at home on mainstream Top 40 radio. The record boasted a list of top-flight session players, including drummer Paul Leim, Dann Huff on guitar, and Ernie Watts on sax. The danceable grooves on this album were driven primarily by keyboards and percussion. Lenny Castro provided the rhythmic accompaniment, while keys were played by the accomplished quartet of Michael W. Smith, Keith Thomas, Phil Madeira and Shane Keister. 

Long Distance letter is a song I remember playing over and over when I was a young, very green radio DJ at WEAB ("The Rock of the 80s!") in Greer, South Carolina. Mighty Lord, written interestingly enough by Phil Madeira, is gospel-infused and contains a "scat vocal" (something you don't hear everyday on CCM pop albums). Holy, Holy is a danceable worship song (?) that was ahead of its time and sounded for all the world like something off Michael W. Smith 2. It benefits from a myriad of instruments, expertly played, and some stratospheric background vocals. The list of backing singers on this record is lengthy and impressive. It includes Chris Harris, Donna McElroy, Gary Pigg, Jackie Cusac, Kim Fleming, Marty McCall and Melody Tunney. Hearts of Fire gives the studio musicians a chance to show off a bit, especially bassist Mike Brignardello. The songwriting roster for Heart & Soul is also a who's who: Gary Chapman, Keith Thomas, Brown Bannister, Michael W. Smith, Phil Madeira, Amy Grant, Pam Mark Hall, Billy Sprague, James Ward, Mark Gersmehl, and Chris Eaton, among others.

Troccoli's New York attitude was effectively captured on the album cover. She's always been a pretty lady, something that did not hinder her career in the least -- a career, by the way, that often straddled CCM and the secular music business. She hosted television shows like Queens and VH1 Countdown, opened for a time for Jay leno in Las Vegas, and toured with acts such as Michael Bolton, Boyz II Men, the Beach Boys and Kenny Loggins. Other TV appearances include The Tonight Show, Live with Regis and Kathie Lee, The 700 Club, and Entertainment Tonight. She's had a mainstream Top 40 hit in the early 90s (Everything Changes) and has won 2 Dove Awards, one for a powerful pro-life song titled A Baby's Prayer. 

All in all, 24 recordings, 18 number-one radio hits, 19 Dove Award nominations, 2 Dove Awards, and 3 Grammy nominations...and she shows no signs of slowing down. A Kathy Troccoli concert these days is likely to include big band classics, jazz standards, tender hymns, and, of course, her CCM hits. In addition to her music, she has authored a handful of books and is a popular speaker at women's conferences. It's been a career that has spanned more than thirty years.  

“I am doing exactly what I believe I was created to do,” Kathy says on the bio page of her website. “To encourage, motivate, and offer hope. What a privilege.”

#295 RED ALERT by Malcolm and the Mirrors (1982)

RED ALERT by Malcolm and the Mirrors (1982)
Maranatha! Music - AS 0004A

Producer: Thom Roy

File Under: New Wave

Time Capsule-Worthy Track:

Can't Live Without Him

In the early to mid 1980s, some people were just certain that President Ronald Reagan was going to get us into a nuclear conflict with Russia, either accidentally or on purpose. The good folks in Resurrection Band were as scared of the Soviets back then as "progressives" are of Russia today. In the end, they got everybody all stirred up for nothing. As a result of Reagan's policy of "Peace Through Strength," along with his considerable personal charm and negotiating skills, the Soviet Union was dismantled, the Berlin Wall came down, and we won the Cold War without firing a shot. But there for a while, some folks were just sure that we were goners. This record, with its warnings of nuclear war and the coming apocalypse, came from that same mindset to a degree...except that these guys were Brits and referenced British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher by name rather than Reagan.

The album's title track is about Cheyenne Mountain, a missile base set up as a US defensive during the Cold War. The song talks about men who are not killed, but merely "rendered inoperable." References to the 'red phone' and 'finger on the button' were frightening enough...but Malcolm Wild pretty much scared the crap out of me when he screamed lyrics like these:

Whatcha gonna do when the bombs start fallin'?
Where you gonna hide?

Why, tell me why 
Must we blow ourselves sky high? 

If Moscow and Washington live
You know Omaha won't survive

Paint Your Windows White begins with a British female news anchor talking about bomb shelters and warning people to put a coat over their head and, well, paint their windows white in the event of a nuclear war.

But several of the record's songs had more traditional Christian lyrical themes. You Are My Love was basically a love song to God. Look Up (His Coming is Near) was obviously a song about the Second Coming of Christ. By the way, Look Up fades out with a really nice analog synthesizer solo...such solos were still cool in the early 80s. And Alright By Me is a song that extols the character and attributes of the Lord Jesus. By the time the album is over, fear and paranoia have been replaced with faith, hope and love.

Malcolm & Alwyn

Malcolm Wild and Alwyn Wall grew up in England and performed together in a band called The Zodiacs prior to their conversion to Christianity. After becoming Christians, Malcolm and Alwyn were a "first wave" pioneering Jesus Music duo. Just think Simon and Garfunkel...except with a powerful anointing from the Holy Spirit. Their music was folk rock in the vein of Bob Dylan and certain Beatles songs; the lyrics were compelling, intelligent and pointed straight to Jesus. They released an all-time classic LP titled Fool's Wisdom in 1973 and followed that with another very solid collection called WildWall before going their separate ways. Post-Malcolm and Alwyn, they each formed bands and recorded solo projects before becoming full-time pastors in the Calvary Chapel movement.


Red Alert is the only full-length LP ever released by Malcolm and the Mirrors, and boasted one of the coolest covers ever. It featured a nuclear missile bursting through the screen of a coin-operated video game. It just doesn't get any more 80s than that. 

At times wildly aggressive and very different from Malcolm and Alwyn, this was full-on new wave and owes a great deal to The Knack and Andy McCarroll & Moral Support. On several songs, Wild half sings and half screams the lyrics, sounding more like Darrell Mansfield or Glenn Kaiser than he ever did when he was singing with his buddy Alwyn Wall.  Blogger David Lowman wrote, "Loud, fun and entirely British, there really are very few duds." Reviewer Gord Wilson points out, "This is one of those Maranatha discs that seem to be different on side A and B, and some people may think the new wave on the flip side is too subtle and restrained." True...but after having the living daylights scared out of us by Side One, the more relaxed tunes (in both tempo and lyric content) were a welcome and almost necessary change of pace!


During a recent wide-ranging interview with veteran radio host Jerry Bryant, Malcolm Wild describes how Red Alert came to be recorded in the first place: "I was now a part of the Maranatha Music Group. I was leading the Musicians' Fellowship there in California. And that led to them inviting me to form a band that we called Malcolm and the Mirrors, and we started to tour England. We would take bands and teams of people over from California and tour England, specifically in the schools. We had a marvelous opportunity to go into the schools and share the Lord there through the music. And so we wrote Red Alert. I wrote most of the songs on Red Alert for the specific reason of reaching the kids in the schools in England. That's how that album came about."

Malcolm Wild today

Still walking with Jesus, Malcolm Wild is senior pastor of Calvary Chapel in Merritt Island, Florida, imparting wisdom to others gained from a lifetime of following Jesus.