Chase The Kangaroo

Seventy Sevens  ~The 77's | Then and Now "The 77's will take you on a journey through the past, present, and future of rock & roll" ~ Island Records radio advertisement, 1987 Unfortunately for the 77's, this album was released the same year and on the same label as  U2's,  The Joshua Tree .  This is unfortunate because Island Records had become completely absorbed with the release of  The Joshua Tree  and had little resources for anything else. Another harsh reality was that, as Larry Norman put it, the Christian music industry had no idea how to deal with the 77's. "The 77's - Too Christian for the radio and too radio for Christian music. " ~Larry Norman Though the album received favorable reviews from Rolling Stone and their single, "The Lust, The Flesh, The Eyes and The Pride of Life" became a commercial success, radio stations didn't know what to do with these "Christians".  And in the days where y...

The Joshua Tree  ~U2 | Then and Now Today marks the 30th anniversary of U2's,  The Joshua Tree .  The anniversary will be celebrated with a full-blown  North American and European tour . I remember when this album came out.  There was much to be anticipated and it seemed like it took forever to be released after their amazing breakaway,  The Unforgettable Fire .  Where were they going to go?  What was next?  The earnest and post-punk days had come to an apparent end with  The Unforgettable Fire .  How would  The Joshua Tree  be different? The Joshua Tree was yet another breakaway for a band who had just broken free from their first three records.  As a listener, I didn't know what to think upon first hearing it.  The further they moved from  War , I found I was resistant to the change.   War  was my first real introduction to U2, so I found myself judging everything thru that lens. ...

The Turning  ~Leslie (Sam) Phillips | Then and Now This year marks the 30th anniversary of,  The Turning .  The Turning , is perfectly titled for Phillip's career in 1987.  Up to this point, Phillip's was in the throes of Contemporary Christian Music-dom. She had busted on the scene with true rock and pop-rock tunes that reflected the sound of the day, but still fit perfectly into CCM's radio format. With the release of,  The Turning , everything changed.  As Wikipedia puts it, " The Turning  stands out as a turning point in Phillips' career as a singer and songwriter; on one side, the cheerful, upbeat pop-rock albums that she recorded in the early 1980s, and, on the other, the quirky 60's music influenced rock and folk albums, with a much darker and more poetic tone lyrically."  A lot of that came with producer, T Bone Burnett, who she would marry shortly after the release.  You can clearly hear Burnett's musical influence all...