''On the Fritz'' is the title of the third release and second full-length album by Christian rock singer-songwriter Steve Taylor. It was released in 1985 on

Sparrow Records Sparrow Records is a Christian music record label and a division of Universal Music Group. History Sparrow Records was founded in 1976 by Billy Ray Hearn, then artists and repertoire (A&R) director at Myrrh Records. Purchased by Thorn EMI in ...

. Produced by musician Ian McDonald (who co-founded the bands

King Crimson King Crimson are a progressive rock band formed in 1968 in London, England. The band draws inspiration from a wide variety of music, incorporating elements of classical, jazz, folk, heavy metal, gamelan, industrial, electronic, experime ...

and Foreigner), Taylor arranged and wrote all of the tracks on the album. After its release, the album peaked at the No. 8 slot on '' Billboard''s Top Contemporary Christian album chart.

Track listing

Written and arranged by Steve Taylor. ; Side one # "This Disco (Used to Be a Cute Cathedral)" – 4:06 # "On the Fritz" – 3:56 # "It's a Personal Thing" – 2:58 # "To Forgive" – 3:54 # "You've Been Bought" – 2:45 ; Side two # "You Don't Owe Me Nothing" – 3:22 # "I Manipulate" – 5:07 # "Lifeboat" – 4:35 # "Drive, He Said" – 4:30 # "I Just Wanna Know" – 4:40

Song details

"To Forgive" was inspired by the

personal appearance ''Personal Appearance'' (1934) is a stage comedy by the American playwright and screenwriter Lawrence Riley (1896–1974), which was a Broadway smash and the basis for the classic Mae West film ''Go West, Young Man'' (1936). ''Personal Appe ...

Pope John Paul II Pope John Paul II ( la, Ioannes Paulus II; it, Giovanni Paolo II; pl, Jan Paweł II; born Karol Józef Wojtyła ; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 1978 until his ...

with his attempted assassin,

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, and the Pope's message. "This Disco (Used To Be A Cute Cathedral)" was inspired by

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, which was in operation from 1983 to 2003. It was once known as the " Episcopal Church of the Holy Communion." Track "This Disco (Used to Be a Cute Cathedral)" later appeared on the Taylor releases ''Limelight'', ''The Best We Could Find (+3 That Never Escaped)'', and ''Now the Truth Can Be Told'', which came out in 1986, 1988, and 1994 respectively.

Personnel

* Steve Taylor – vocals, Lin Drum 9000 on "I Manipulate" * Ian McDonald – percussion, guitars, keyboards on "Lifeboat", alto saxophone on "You Don't Owe Me Nothing" * Tony Davilio – guitars *

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– guitars * George Small – keyboards * Alan Childs – drums *

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– bass *

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– guitar solo on "To Forgive" and "You've Been Bought" * Cactus Moser – percussion and Simmons drums on "I Manipulate" * Dave Thrush – alto saxophone on "Its a Personal Thing", tenor saxophone on "You Don't Owe Me Nothing" * Mary Davis – background vocals * Beverly Slade – background vocals * Kitty Markham – background vocals * Cactus Moser – finger snaps on "Drive He Said" * Debbie Taylor – finger snaps on "Drive He Said" * Produced and engineered – Ian McDonald and Steve Taylor * Synthesizer Programming –

Larry Fast Lawrence Roger Fast (born December 10, 1951) is an American synthesizer player and composer. He is best known for his 1975–1987 series of synthesizer music albums (''Synergy'') and for his contributions to a number of popular music acts, inclu ...

and George Small * Engineered – Alan Douches * Recorded and Mixed at Grand Slam Studios,

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* Assistant Engineers – Joey Flamingo and Jay Healy * Mixed – Ian McDonald and Alan Douches * Mastered – Greg Calbi at Sterling Sound, New York City

References

{{Authority control On the Fritz Steve Taylor albums