Nightwatch

Description

Nightwatch is a cassette-only album by the British singer and songwriter Graham Kendrick, released on Kingsway Music Ltd. in 1983. The album was recorded at Pollen Studios in Bishop Wilton, North Yorkshire, England. Keyboards/synthesizers played by Chris Norton. All songs written by Graham Kendrick. This tape has been specially produced for the Kendrick and Stevenson mime and music production ‘Night Watch’ (excerpt from the liner notes of the cassette)

Three of the songs have been covered by Sheila Walsh; “Sleepwalking” and “Private Life” were covered on Drifting (1983), and “Not Guilty” was covered on Don’t Hide Your Heart (1985)

Graham’s vocal style on the album is very Mark Knopfler-ish. I get the definite feeling from ‘Cresta Run‘ and ‘Nightwatch’ that Graham was heavily into Dire Straits at this time. The guitar sound is bright and raw-sounding, and the overall feel is much rockier than ‘The Blame‘.

«Love Come Down» is my all time favourite Kendrick track, and one I long to do on stage sometime, with some particular lighting effects and performance elements. Very dramatic, full of prog-rockish rythmic effects. The title and the style may well have been influenced by the Genesis (mostly Peter Gabriel) album ‘The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway’. It’s a song for an actor to perform, rather than a mere singer to sing. Graham’s rough but passionate performance does it complete justice. «Private Life» and «Not Guilty» were both covered on an album by Sheila Walsh, in heavily over-produced versions.

This is one of the weirder ideas in the tape underground, even though the music is not weird at all. This tape was “produced for the Kendrick/Stevenson mime and music production of the same name.” Graham Kendrick has been known as a Christian music for decades, and apparently teamed up in the 1980s with mime Geoffry Stevenson. The music sounds like Christian rock music – not too heavy, not too light. Some songs like «Private Life» have some nice 80s keyboards in them. I’m guessing Stevenson would perform to the music live. They did another tape like this in 1983 called The Blame. I’m not sure if one was released before the other, or both were released at the same time. But this tape lists other tapes by Kendrick and doesn’t mention The Blame, so I would guess it came first? [Christian Tape Underground, May 29, 2026]

Cassette tracklist:

Side One
A1. “Nightwatch”
A2. “Sleepwalking”
A3. “Oh the Human Heart”
A4. “Private Life”

Side Two
B1. “Hollywood Hacks”
B2. “War Games”
B3. “Not Guilty”
B4. “Love Come Down”

---

---