Various Artists – Blueprint

Description

Blueprint, sub-titled A Compilation Recording of Redsky Music Artists, is a multi-artist sampler cassette featuring 15 tracks by five British artists, independently released in the UK on Redsky Music in the mid-80s.

This is a compilation of songs from albums by the artists featured. I mainly decided to digitize it based on the fact that it had some of the solo songs from Iva Twydell (After the Fire fame). I had also heard the Rev Houston songs before as well (you can find it poking around online) but wanted to hear the others as well. Rev Houston’s 1985 album The Power and the Preacher is a mixture of alt rock, new wave, and rock – even though the three songs chosen for this comp are more of the rock vein. Kenny Spence has put his full album Class of 84 up on SoundCloud, His album has a bit more of a rock edge that almost borders on hard rock at times than the songs on this tape. McCurry Co is a keyboard-driven pop band, but the songs here don’t really have any new age to them. Like the others, their full-length album Pleased to Meet You might be different. Iva Twydell’s songs come from Duel (1982) and Secret Service (1981). Twydell is also a bit more alternative/progressive than the three songs present here. Pearson’s songs all come from his Brighten album. Can’t find that album, but the songs present here are more avant-garde and experimental than the other artists here. No date is given for this compilation, but the Rev Houston album was released in 1985, so probably not much later than that. [Christian Tape Underground, January 31, 2024]

Cassette tracklist:

Side One
A1. Rev Houston – “Celestial Rock” (from The Power and the Preacher)
A2. Rev Houston – “The Power and the Preacher” (from The Power and the Preacher)
A3. Rev Houston – “My Love and I” (from The Power and the Preacher)
A4. Kenny Spence – “Running Song” (from Class of 84)
A5. Kenny Spence – “India” (from Class of 84)
A6. Kenny Spence – “Prodigal One” (from Class of 84)

Side Two
B1. McCurry Co – “My Redeemer” (from Pleased to Meet You)
B2. McCurry Co – “The Way” (from Pleased to Meet You)
B3. McCurry Co – “Life is a Symphony” (from Pleased to Meet You)
B4. Iva Twydell – “The Warning” (from Duel)
B5. Iva Twydell – “I Surrender” (from Secret Service)
B6. Iva Twydell – “The Dance Has Just Begun” (from Secret Service)
B7. Pearson – “I Want to go to Heaven” (from Brighten)
B8. Pearson – “Angel” (from Brighten)
B9. Pearson – “We Need a Lot More of Jesus (and a Lot Less Rock ‘n’ Roll)” (from Brighten)