Description
Street Light is the seventh studio album by the American rock combo DeGarmo & Key Band, released on Power Discs in September 1986, distributed by both the Benson Company and Capitol Records. The album was recorded by John Hampton at Ardent Studios in Memphis, Tennessee; with DeGarmo & Key and Hampton producing for Mint Productions. Digitally mixed by Hampton at Ardent Studios, assisted by Gary Westman. Featuring a re-recording of “Addey”, a song originally included on the band’s 1978 debut album, This Time Thru. All songs written by DeGarmo & Key.
Featuring Dana Key on lead vocals and guitars, Ed DeGarmo keyboards and vocals, Tommy Cathey on bass and vocals, and Greg Morrow on drums and vocals.
Like four slugs fired pointblank from an assault rifle, aggressive snare shots kick off ‘Street Light’ and make it clear that Ed DeGarmo and Dana Key have come full circle back to guitar-dominated rock ‘n’ roll. Key finally plays all the hot licks missing from the last three D&K albums; DeGarmo meanwhile has loaded his synthesizers full of crunchy, biting sounds. “Kids want to rock,” declares «Don’t Stop the Music». Even big kids.
Beginning with the ‘Mission of Mercy‘ album, the band broadened their appeal in order to garner radio respectability. Ironically, they decided to adopt a pop approach just as rock was beginning to find acceptance at the retail level.
‘Street Light’ is an album about “faith with lots of muscle,” and D&K have come up with appropriately muscular music. While some groups invariably yoke their most powerful tunes to dismal, negative lyrics describing the pits of perdition, D&K use the raw force of rock to express the joy of God’s saving grace. They’ve retained the best elements of their pop songwriting and generated tracks with a vigorous “live” feel.
«She Believes» opens with the rant of a psychedelic guitar straight out of the Jimi Hendrix-Robin Trower lexicon and bellowing like a wounded mastadon mired in a tar pit. Abruptly, the song cuts to a choppy guitar riff. The lyrics pay tribute to those who live by the strength of their faith: “Don’t count her out of the race, ’cause she believes/ Don’t ever laugh in her face, ’cause she believes.”
Not everyone will appreciate D&K’s reaffirmation of rock. Anticipating a backlash, Ed and Dana have taken the offensive and launched a pre-emptive strike against certain self-appointed prophets. «Soldier of Fortune» exposes an alleged evangelist whose satellites and “alligator tears help him to collect the loot,” a mercenary on a moral par with drug pushers in alligator shoes “selling junk to little children after school”. These vehement sentiments are supported by a chucking, churning track a la ZZ Top and chased down the block by a raw-boned guitar solo guaranteed to cause cardiac dysfunction in house plants.
Despite its aggressive posture, the album focuses clearly on the forgiving grace of God. «Up on a Cross» cuts through denominational hair-splitting and points again to the central issue: Jesus died on a cross for sinners. «Don’t Throw Your Love Away» cautions a girl weakening to sexual pressures, saying “You don’t have to be so willing.” The last line, however, is what lifts the song above mere legalistic do’s and dont’s: “If you ever lose your will/ Please don’t worry/ ‘Cause I’ll love you still.” DeGarmo & Key remind us that Christians look for hope to a cross, not a scoreboard.
At the risk of alienating their mellower fans and waking the watchdogs, DeGarmo & Key have produced a bold, challenging , and compelling work – one of their best. No Christmas card from Baton Rouge this year, boys. Welcome back. [Mark Eischer, CCM, November 1986]
> Apple Music (https://music.apple.com/us/album/streetlight/716440755)
LP tracklist:
Side One
A1. “Every Moment” – 3:51
A2. “War Zone” – 3:19
A3. “Addey” – 4:09
A4. “Soldier Of Fortune” – 4:00
A5. “Don’t Stop The Music” – 3:40
Side Two
B1. “Don’t Throw Your Love Away” – 3:16
B2. “Video Action” – 3:39
B3. “She Believes” – 4:15
B4. “Holy Hustle” – 3:08
B5. “Up On A Cross” – 2:45
B6. “Inside Out” – 2:58
Note: Simultaneously released on cassette and 12-inch vinyl LP by Power Discs, and soon re-issued on CD as well. Remastered by Rob Colwell of Bombworks Sound and re-issued on CD in 2022 by Girder Music, housed in a jewel case with expanded booklet featuring photos and lyrics.
An advertisement for DeGarmo & Key Band’s Streetlight was featured in the September 20, 1986 issue of Billboard Magazine. (“Capitol and The Benson Company unite for nationwide distribution of Streetlight, the new Power Discs release from DeGarmo & Key. Street Date: September 26th.”)
Reviews
There are no reviews yet.