Description
All Fall Down is the sophomore album by the American rock band The Seventy Sevens, released on Exit Records in 1984, a division of Word. Also manufactured and distributed by A&M Records. The album was recorded during May and June 1984 by Daryl Zachman, with Steve Griffith of Vector fame, at The Warehouse Ministries’ Sangre Studios in Sacramento, California; with fellow labelmate Charlie Peacock producing. Mixed by Zachman, Patrick Cyccone, and David Coe at Salty Dog Studios in Van Nuys, California.
Shortly before recording All Fall Down, 77’s guitarist and frontman Michael Roe actually did participate in the recording of Charlie Peacock’s self-produced solo debut album Lie Down in the Grass. After completing Lie Down, the next project lined up for Peacock to produce was The 77s’ sophomore album. According to Roe, “it was as if we didn’t stop recording when Lie Down was finished. We merely picked up where we left off, and that feeling led to a similarly successful artistic achievement for All Fall Down because myself, Peacock and engineer Daryl Zachman remained in the same head and heart space that we had already been in for Lie Down. The results were equally as rewarding and long lasting.”
All Fall Down was included among CCM Magazine‘s Top 10 Albums of the Year, voted number four on a list featuring ten albums released between November 1, 1983 and October 15, 1984. – Here’s the first real surprise of this compilation. The second LP from the California-based 77s was reviewed by Smith-Newcomb last September: ” ‘All Fall Down’ is an exceedingly listenable record, full of fine, artistic musical and lyrical energy… a thought provoking record that… will have a powerful impact on any listener.”
January 1986 saw the addition of the band’s second music video “Mercy Mercy” to MTV‘s new rotation. Both videos – “Mercy Mercy”, directed by Francis Delia (Starship’s “We Built This City”) and “Ba Ba Ba Ba”, directed by David Rathod (Huey Lewis, John Parr) – were also running on Music Box, Europe’s music video network reaching upwards of 6 million subscribers. The 77’s dropped in for a live appearance on Music Box in London during their recent European tour. Other tour events included a performance at the prestigious Pandora’s Music Box festival in Rotterdam, Holland (the largest festival of its kind in Western Europe back in the day).
All Fall Down was the first of many 77’s albums to feature drummer Aaron “The A-Train” Smith, probably best known for his iconic drum part on The Temptations’ mega hit “Papa Was a Rolling Stone” which was a number-one hit on Billboard Hot 100 and won three Grammy Awards in 1973. (An autographed pair of Smith’s drumsticks can be found in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, next to a pair of sticks used by Beatles drummer Ringo Starr.) Aaron Smith remained a member of the 77’s for ten years until the 1994-release Drowning With Land in Sight. (After leaving The 77’s Smith actually joined Rich Mullins’ backing group, known as A Ragamuffin Band.)
All Fall Down, the follow-up to last year’s successful debut Ping Pong Over the Abyss, reveals the 77s to be one of the more innovative and creative of the new ’80s bands. Rich in the sounds, textures, and melodies of nearly 20 years of radio hits, All Fall Down catures the sound and styles of the most relevant new music while forging a solid identity of its own.
Lyrically, All Fall Down addresses the issues, lifestyles, and philosophies that press in upon us in the modern world, looking with compassion on those victims “caught in an ungarded moment”, crying out for “mercy, mercy’ under the heat.”
The 77s have not produced a record that falls easily into the category of contemporary Christian music. All Fall Down avoids the traditional language to the point where it could be sold in the general marketplace, yet it possesses significant and thoughtful Christian strength.
«Caught in an Ungarded Moment» opens the first side, setting a high musical and lyrical standard that the 77s sustain throughout the album. The final rhyme sequence in the chorus captures some of the group’s energy and artistery of songwriting: “Her fate was inapropos/ She’d been a pleasure to know/ She’d made a brief cameo/ Something she could not foreknow/ All fall down like dominoes/ Eternal sorrow and woe.”
The sense of urgency and need is played out in various vignettes: «Something’s Holding On», a song of lust’s control over a person; «You Pretty Baby», an ode to an aborted child; «Ba-Ba-Ba-Ba», a song about cults, and «Under the Heat», which captures the fear of the post-nuclear age.
«Another Nail» expresses the steadfastness of God’s love for each individual, even though man’s actions tend to drive wedges between him and God. The possibility of forgiveness, newness and hope are found in «Mercy, Mercy», «Make a Difference Tonight», and an ’80s remake of «Someone New» from Ping Pong.
«You Don’t Scare Me», based on a riff from Talking Head’s version of Al Green‘s «Take Me to the River», puts “I will fear no evil” of Psalm 23 in a contemporary context, alluding to Paul’s defiance against defeated death.
All Fall Down is an exceedingly listenable record, full of fine, artistic musical and lyrical energy. It is a provoking record that, though directed toward the unbeliever, will have a powerful impact on any listener. [Quincy Smith-Newcomb, CCM, September 1984]
> Apple Music (https://music.apple.com/us/album/all-fall-down/378638667)
LP tracklist:
Side One
A1. “Ba-Ba-Ba-Ba” – 4:14
A2. “Under The Heat” – 3:19
A3. “Mercy Mercy” – 2:50
A4. “You Don’t Scare Me” – 5:51
A5. “Make A Difference Tonight” – 3:05
Side Two
B1. “Caught In an Unguarded Moment” – 3:17
B2. “Someone New” – 3:35
B3. “Something’s Holding On” – 3:13
B4. “Your Pretty Baby” – 3:59
B5. “Another Nail” – 4:47
Note: Simultaneously released on cassette and 12-inch vinyl LP by Exit Records. Re-issued on CD by VIA Records in 1995 as a part of a triple disc box set entitled 1 2 3. Fully remastered and re-issued on CD by Lo-Fidelity Records in March 2012, featuring bonus tracks and housed in a 4 panel deluxe digipak with art restored and inspired by the original vinyl pressing of the album. Available at Bandcamp: https://the77s.bandcamp.com/album/all-fall-down-deluxe
All Fall Down, Deluxe Edition (Lo-Fidelity Records 2012)
“Ba-Ba-Ba-Ba” (MUSIC VIDEO)
“Mercy Mercy (safety dub)”(MUSIC VIDEO)
77s – Live at Cornerstone 1984
CREDITS. Produced by Charlie Peacock. Recorded by Daryl Zachman. Assistant Engineer: Steve Griffith. Recorded at Sangre Studios, The Warehouse/Sacramento, CA, May-June 1984. Mixed by Daryl Zachman, Patrick Cyccone, and David Coe at Salty Dog Studios, Van Nuys, CA. Mastered by John Golden at K-Disc, Hollywood, CA. Art Direction by Mark Swanson. Front Photography by Sam Emerson. Back and Sleeve Photography by Dave Howard. Special Thanks to Don McKenney. Typesetting by Vintage TypoGraphics. Executive-Producer: Mary Neely. Executive Coordinator: Jan Eric Volz. “Modern man is drinking and drugging himself out of awareness, or he spends his time shopping, which is the same thing.” – Ernest Becker
Musicians: The 77’s – Michael Roe (Vocal, Guitar, Mouth Organ), Mark Tootle (Keyboard, Vocal, Guitar), Jan Eric Volz (Bass, Guitar, Vocal), Aaron Smith (Pounding & Thrashing On Gretsch Drum Kit). Additional Musicians: Bongo Bob Smith (Ethnic & Orchestral Percussion), Steve Griffith (Background Vocal), Charlie Peacock (Linn Program, Background Vocal, Keyboard).
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