Description
People of Power is the debut album by the British contemporary praise and worship group Heartbeat (also known as “The British Youth for Christ Band”), released on Kingsway Music in 1982. The album was recorded by Derek Murray and Dave Aston at Smile Recording Studios in Manchester, England; with Aston and band member Ray Goudie producing. Mixed at ICC Studios in Eastbourne, England. Arranged by Chris Rolinson.
Heartbeat features Nancy Goudie and Jackie Stoner on vocals, Chris Rolinson on keyboards, Jonny Billingsley on guitar and vocals, Colin Vallance on bass and vocals, and Ray Goudie on drums and percussion. (Prior to recording their debut album, Heartbeat keyboardist Chris Rolinson, as well as the band’s rhythm section Colin Vallance and Ray Goudie, were enlisted as session band for Sheila Walsh’s 1981 solo debut album Future Eyes. The band did also play on Graham Kendrick’s worship album The King Is Among Us recorded at ICC Studios during 1981.)
The band’s roots go back to 1981 when Scottish-born Ray and Nancy Goudie, who were heading up the music department of British Youth For Christ (a job previously done by Graham Kendrick), identified the need for a backing band to work with other BYFC – associated musicians like Sheila Walsh and Dave Pope. A loose knit band of musicians were assembled: Ray (drums) and Nancy (vocals) with musicians Chris Rolinson (the keyboards-man later to become a major worship composer), Colin Vallance on bass and Jonny Billingsley on guitar. Sometimes as a backing unit, sometimes as a band in their own right, Heartbeat went into schools, colleges and prisons. But as a worship band they also zigzagged Britain in seemingly never-ending tours.
Despite the dangers of quiche poisoning, the hectic tour schedule did ensure that the band quickly built up a sufficient following to warrant a recording contract, so in 1983 ‘People Of Power’ was released by Kingsway. It was not an album Heartbeat look back on with much fondness.
“That first Kingsway album was a disaster”, comments Ray. “Firstly, Christian bookshops banned the cover because they said it had a naked man leaping across the sky; in fact, it was a picture of Samson in his loincloth!… Then there was the music itself. When we went to the studio in Manchester we were fairly involved. But they’d had a cleaner into the studio and what happened was that they had switched off the EQ when they were cleaning it. When they had finished cleaning, they put the grille back on but forgot to switch on the EQ system, so what we were hearing was not actually what was on the tape! In those days we weren’t wise enough to take tapes and listen to them outside. So when we heard the finished album we all went ‘What!! We died.”
Despite its un-EQ’d sound, ‘People Of Power’, heavily plugged by the BYFC/Spring Harvest/Buzz publicity machine, sold quite well and one song on it «Praise Him On The Trumpet» became something of a praise and worship hit despite its thin-sounding vocals and dated beat group instrumentation.
[Excerpt from the article “Heartbeat: Charting the history of Britain’s pop-evangelists-cum-praise-band”, written by Tony Cummings and published in Cross Rhythms Magazine #7, August 1991]
LP tracklist:
Side One
A1. “Looking Unto Jesus”
A2. “Praise Him On the Trumpet”
A3. “Let There Be Love”
A4. “Awake O Zion”
A5. “Sing and Rejoice”
A6. “Wait on the Lord”
Side Two
B1. “Come On, Come On”
B2. “For I’m Building A People of Power”
B3. “I Love You Lord”
B4. “Majesty”
B5. “Make Me A Servant”
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