Degarmo & Key
Straight On
AUDIO CD
BRAND NEW FACTORY SEALED


Girder Records
GR1110
UPC | 763416069855
1979, 2021

►CD with 8 Page Booklet in Jewel Case with lyrics
►#97 on HM's TOP 100 CHRISTIAN ROCK ALBUMS OF ALL-TIME
►Includes LTD Trading Card
►Remastered by Rob Colwell (Bombworks Sound)

TRACK LISTING
01. Jericho
02. Livin' On The Edge Of Dyin'
03. Go Tell Them
04. Bad Livin'
05. Enchiridion
06. Long Distance Runner
07. Let Him Help You Today
08. I Never Knew You
09. Mary

Musicians / Lineup
Edward Degarmo ~ Keybaords, Lead Vocals
Dana Key ~ Guitar, Lead & Background Vocals
Ken Porter ~ Bass
Terry Moxley ~ Drums
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Carl Marsh ~ Recorders
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DeGarmo and Key were forerunners and pioneers of early Jesus music.  Their music transcended generations and musical boundaries releasing 15 albums spanning 3 decades.   Their first three albums This Time Thru (1978), Straight On (1979) and This Ain't Hollywood (1980) have been completely remastered on CDs with 8 page booklets, lyrics and photos with LTD Trading Card.
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Straight On, #97 on HM's TOP 100 CHRISTIAN ROCK ALBUMS OF ALL TIME and the second album by DeGarmo and Key, raised the bar for quality even higher. Eddie and Dana took part in its production, and established a tight knit band that gelled together like a well-oiled machine. On the opening track, “Jericho,” a classic rocker that features impeccable sound quality, we hear a band at the top of their game. On the catchy “Livin’ on the Edge of Dyin’,” Eddie is featured on lead vocals and this track hit #25 on the Christian radio charts. Flourishes of the progressive rock sound of their debut continue on “Bad Livin’,” but the band also mix in elements of gospel and soul on tracks like “I Never Knew You” and funkiness on the classic rocker “Long Distance Runner.” There’s even some Southern rock flavor blended in on “Let Me Help You Today.” This album helped establish DeGarmo and Key as musicians and songwriters of the highest order and is widely considered their masterpiece.
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From The Liner Notes: As tight as This Time Thru was, a year of brutal live shows and new day (or actually night) jobs at Ardent Studios drove Eddie DeGarmo and Dana Key to dig even deeper on their second LP, Straight On. Where their debut album's songs had come from years of writing and performing locally, the songs for Straight On were more of the moment. They were tougher, denser, at times darker, and more connected to the band's growing interest in the intersection between blues and progressive rock. Taking full advantage of the world-class studio at their fingertips, and using it (and the array of microphones, tape machines, and analog synthesizers it afforded them,) Eddie, Dana, and their production team crafted an album that stands up, some forty years on. as one of the best examples of Gospel Rock ever produced.

If Straight On had been on a mainstream label it would have been considered alongside releases by contemporary bands such as Dire Straits, Emerson Lake and Palmer, Allman Brothers, or Eric Clapton. It certainly referenced elements of those artists and more, along with its own secret sauce. In the tiny Christian music world of its day. however. Straight On was an absolute outlier. From the saturated guitar tones to the long instrumental passages and complicated arrangements, it was rock and roll through and through. It was intense enough to earn The DeGarmo and Key Band a top slot on the hit list of anti-rock preachers coast to coast. The kids that heard it. though, loved it. Early fans of the band would be heard shouting "Jericho!" and "Long Distance Runner!" long into the band's arena rock days of the 80s.

The intensity of Straight On was not limited to the musical arrangements or musicianship, though. The songs established a unique lyrical chemistry by being simultaneously evangelistic in a highly relevant way to non-Christians, and pastorally encouraging to young disciples, at the same time. This balancing act flowed, no-doubt, from Key and DeGarmo's day-to-day life ministering to people in Memphis and their experiences on the road. Music was clearly not merely a means to an end for them, and the Gospel was not a simple "set it and forget it" decision. Straight On began to establish the tone of endurance and struggle that would become a critical element of DeGarmo and Keys message for decades to come. John J. Thompson (TrueTunes)
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