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The ¡Alarma! Chronicles Years
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1987
- iDEoLA's Tribal Opera is released on What? Records. Future Swirling Eddie Dave Raven hit stuff, along with Steve Hindalong and others.
- Harvest Rock Syndicate names the "25 Best Albums of Early Christian Rock," as chosen by their writing staff. Shotgun Angel was listed at #8, and Horrendous Disc came in at #4. #1 was Larry Norman's Only Visiting This Planet, #2 was Randy Stonehill's Welcome to Paradise, #3 was Bob Dylan's Slow Train Coming and #5 was Michael Omartian's White Horse. Other artists on the list include Phil Keaggy, Resurrection Band, Bruce Cockburn, DeGarmo & Key, T Bone Burnett, Second Chapter of Acts, Paul Clark & Friends, Richie Furay, Keith Green, Randy Matthews, Mylon LeFevre, and Love Song.
- Harvest Rock Syndicate Interviews Steve Taylor and Terry Taylor.
Man With A Mission: DA's Terry Taylor
- Early in the interview with Steve Taylor, he is asked about Terry & DA.
HRS: "Do you and Terry Taylor know each other? Is there already a connection there?"
Steve: "Yeah, there is. The most obvious connection for me is just Daniel Amos' music. For a while, I actually felt kinda guilty, because in many ways, Daniel Amos set groundwork that enabled me to do what I'm doing. Some of the issues they were tackling on the Doppelganger album just blew me away. It was great stuff, and very much ahead of its time."
HRS: "Do you and Terry know each other?"
Steve: "We know each other and we've talked a few times. There was even a time, uh--gosh, I haven't talked about this with anybody--there was a time during the Meltdown album where I had kicked around the idea of working with him. And for some reason, it just never came together."
January 1987
- Fearful Symmetry is reviewed by CCM Magazine.
View Album Reviews
January 14, 1987
- Daniel Amos performs in Lafayette, CA at Lafayette-Orinda Presber. The Choir opened the show.
January 15, 1987
- Daniel Amos performs in San Jose, CA. The Choir opened the show.
January 16, 1987
- Daniel Amos performs in Concord, California at the Hope Center. The Choir opened the show.
January 17, 1987
- Daniel Amos performs in Stockton, California. The Choir opened the show.
January 18, 1987
- Daniel Amos performs at Wolfgang's in San Francisco, California. The popular San Francisco club had hosted shows by artists such as John Hiatt, Romeo Void (which included Aaron Smith of the 77s and the Ragamuffin Band on drums), Lone Justice, Blue Oyster Cult, Roger McGuinn, James Brown, Midnight Oil, The Alarm, Cheap Trick, Spinal Tap, Ronnie Spector, Bourgeois Tagg, Los Lobos, Warren Zevon, and many others.
January 30, 1987
- Daniel Amos performs in Pheonix, Arizona. The Choir opened the show.
February 1987
- Australia's On Being Magazine publishes a review of Terry's Knowledge & Innocence.
View Album Reviews
- CCM Magazine includes an article about a DA concert at York Suburban High School in York, PA.
February 1, 1987
- Common Bond's Anger Into Passion is released. Common Bond covers DA's "Walls of Doubt." Terry also sings backing vocals.
February 4, 1987
- Phil Keaggy's The Wind and the Wheat is released. Alex MacDougall played percussion.
February 6, 1987
- Daniel Amos performs in Chicago, Illinois. The Choir opened the show.
February 7, 1987
- Daniel Amos performs in Milwaukee, WI. The Choir opened the show.
February 13, 1987
- Daniel Amos performs in St. Louis, MO. The Choir opened the show.
February 14, 1987
- Daniel Amos performs in Champaign, Illinois. The Choir opened the show.
Late February 1987
- Daniel Amos and Common Bond perform in Los Angeles, CA. at the Roxy.
March 1987
- Fearful Symmetry is reviewed by Campus Life Magazine.
View Album Reviews
March 1, 1987
- Daniel Amos performs in Seattle, Washington at the Montana Club.
March 13, 1987
- Daniel Amos performs in Pheonix, Arizona.
March 14, 1987
- Daniel Amos performs in Albuquerque, New Mexico. at "the Beach" waterpark on a very narrow stage overlooking the wave pool.
The idea was to have swimmers and people on tubes watching the concert on the stage above. However, a small landslide contaminated the pool and DA played facing an empty 1/4 acre of motionless, pea-green water. The audience was forced to watch from the sides. Opening the concert was a local band called 'Holy Smoke' which a visibly frustrated Terry referred to as the 'Smokin' Joes.' (Source: Walter R. Ratliff, Steven Swenson)
March 20, 1987
- Daniel Amos performs in Dallas, Texas.
March 28, 1987
- Daniel Amos performs in Denver, Colorado.
April 1987
- Daniel Amos performs in Anahiem, California at the CBA convention.
Set List: Revolution (Beatles), Endless Summer, Safety Net, Mall (All Over the World), Darn Floor - Big Bite, The Pool, Dance Stop, I Didn't Build it For Me/Favorite Things/I Didn't Build it For Me
A Briefing for the Ascent
- Terry Taylor's A Briefing For The Ascent is released.
View Album Reviews
Album Info & Lyrics
Terry, on the song "A Briefing for the Ascent": "The song was composed just before Grandma passed away, and through my tears and the lump in my throat I managed to sing it to her as she lay dying. She had reached the state in which she had essentially ceased to express herself verbally, but after I sang 'Briefing' to her, in response she stirred and then whispered loud enough for all of us in the room to hear, 'I will be there.' And so she is, in fact, 'there.'"
The heavy "drum" heard througout the song "Changeless" is actually a plastic water
bottle sampled from the Beach Boys' classic, "Caroline No".
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April 25, 1987 - June 18, 1987
- Tim Chandler performs with the Choir opening for Randy Stonehill's Wild Frontier Tour
Tim: "I usually rode with the choir in the van and Randy and the rest of the other band would follow in a giant motorhome. (they were constantly taunting us because they were riding around in relative luxury, and we were bouncing around in a beatup old van.) One day, at a truck stop, we (The Choir) bought fireworks, rope and a lot of pastry (without letting Randy or the band see the stuff we bought.) One of the rodies and I climbed into the back of the van, and he tied a rope to the back door so that he could let it open (while driving 70 mph) and then pull on the rope to close it back. When we got on the freeway, the rodie let the back door open, I put several firecrackers into a chocolate creme-filled cupcake, lit it up, and then the idea was to launch it at Randy's giant motorhome so that the pastry would explode all over their windshield. (keep in mind, we were 27 to 30 year old men at the time. pretty mature, huh?!)
The first time I tried it, my timing was off, the back door didn't open wide enough or quickly enough and the creme-filled cupcake exploded all over me. (I always wished that I could have seen that first try from their point of view. They had no idea what we were up to and all they saw was the van back door opening, me holding a dessert item up in the air, the thing suddenly going off daffy-duck-style and covering me in chocolate cake and creme, and then the back door slowly closing.)
We finally got our timing down and launched a chocolate creme pie which exploded about a foot in front of their windshield, and then the driver turned the windshield wipers on, completely smearing it, and they had to pull over."
May 16, 1987
- Daniel Amos performs in Fresno, California at Sanger Music Festival.
May 17, 1987
- Daniel Amos performs in San Jose, California.
May 20, 1987
- Daniel Amos performs in Los Angeles, California.
Summer 1987
- Newsound Magazine features a news blurb about DA in the studio.
"DA is back in the studio, finally free of their six year commitment to the Alarma! Chronicles. Just when you thought it would be safe to say you finally understand DA, drummer Ed McTaggart tells us the new record is going to be called Darn Floor, Big Bite. The title comes from an authentic schientific experiment in which apes were taught a small vocabulary using sign language. The scientists had the apes watch T.V. (a great way to introduce them to advanced civilization) and "describe" what they saw. When one ape watched an earthquake, the hairy thing described it saying "darn floor, big bite." Well, Terry Taylor and co. relate this to how inadequately we, Man, describe God with our language. Perhaps we're no more accuate than the ape's description of the earthquake. Ed says to expect a similar train of throught on the rest of the record. Hold on to your seats, folks."
June 1, 1987
- Isaac Air Freight's Over Our Heads is released. Ed McTaggart handles cover design and layout. Terry Taylor is credited as a member of the cast. The album's musicians include Terry Taylor, Doug Doyle, Greg Flesch, Tim Chandler, Ed McTaggart and John Mehler. The album is also noteable for the first appearance of the song "Sprinkler Head," written by Terry Scott Taylor with Isaac Air Freight's Dan Rupple and Dave Toole.
- Crumbacher's Thunder Beach is released on Frontline Records. Ed McTaggart handled art direction and layout for the album.
- L.S.U.'s Shaded Pain is released. Ed McTaggart handles the art direction and design.
June 15, 1987
- The Rap'sures OT Rap is released on Star Song Records. The songs are written and performed by Terry Taylor, Doug Doyle and Robert Watson.
Terry: "Well, there wasn't any (rap) on the Christian labels. We do a kids thing, we see it as appealing to 7 and 9 year olds. No one was doing it. We just brainstormed a little bit, Rob (Watson) and Doug (Doyle) and I, we were just looking for something to do, something to work on, we did it and then didn't think that much about it, and it was successful. Don't ask me why. We thought, no one will take this seriously, we're just doing it for kids, a little Bible story kind of thing. Megamouth was kind of the same thing. We looked at it that way."
(Source: Brian Quincy Newcomb in "The HRS-Terry Taylor Interview Part Three")
June 18, 1987
- The last night of the Choir/Randy Stonehill Wild Frontier Tour in 87.
Tim: "Everyone probably knows the old last-gig-of-the-tour routine, right? it's become a cliche that on the last gig, the opening and headlining bands play pranks on each other (usually right before or during each other's set.) I was playing in both bands so, whatever happened, I'd get it both ways. When the Choir was getting ready to play, we were expecting the worst, in part because of that whole Exploding Chocolate Cream Pie On Their Windshield Which Made Them Reflexively Turn On Their Windshield Wipers And Smear The Chocolate So That They Couldn't See And Then Almost Wreck Their Giant Motorhome incident. As it turned out, they either ran out of imagination, or were afraid of reprisals because the worst they did was to duct-tape steve's sticks together or something. (no! not that!!) and of course Steve and Derri and Dan wouldn't tell me what they had planned for Randy because I was playing in his band. When I took the stage with Randy's band I could see that the Choir had done some of the usual things (vaseline all over the keyboard keys, etc.) but I could sense that they were planning something more. Somewhere into the last half of the set, I saw Steve and Derri carrying large trays of greying backstage lunchmeat out into the audience. They convinced the audience members that we WANTED them to throw lunchmeat at us, and fairly soon, (what seemed like) a few hundred slices of leftover backstage lunchmeat began making their airborne way up to the stage. It was fairly spectacular as the whole thing accelerated and lunchmeat filled the air. I tried throwing them back as I was playing but I'm not sure I hit anyone. It got completely out of hand from there. The choir guys started emptying sacks of baking powder, or something, into the air over the back of the rear curtain as meat was still flying every which way. The most spectacular moment though was as I was standing just behind Randy, to his left, and I saw this happen in slow-motion as we were still playing: Some kid stood up with a large wadded-up piece of ham in his hand and launched it at Randy. When it left this kid's hand, it was about the size of a golf ball. As it approached the stage, it began unfolding, one tiny flap at a time. As it flew, it began unfolding faster and faster. By the time it hit the stage, it was completely unfolded and it wrapped perfectly around the upper half of Randy's face as he kept singing. it just doesn't get any better."
(In Finland: Fan Anssi Helläkoski's "Daniel Amos Car")
July 1987
- Terry Taylor is featured in CCM Magazine.
"The Mad Genius of Terry Scott Taylor"
In the article, it is mentioned that DA's next album would possibly be a double album - two sides of new, studio material and two sides recorded live. There is also some talk around this time of the album possibly being distributed through Capitol Records.
Greg: "There is a thing going on to see if the next record will be released on Capital. We feel that, hopefully, being a regular band will widen the things out for touring. We see ourselves sort of breaking out beyond Christian music."
July 3, 1987
- Daniel Amos performs in Akron, Ohio.
July 4 1987
(Photo of Cornestone 87, courtesy of Michael R. Turkett)
(Photo of Cornerstone 87, courtesy of Walter R. Ratliff)
- Daniel Amos performs in Grayslake, Illinois at Cornerstone. The band also takes part in an interview with Harvest Rock Syndicate just hours before the performance. The interview would be published later in the fall. ("da Takes That Big Bite")
Set List: Revolution (Beatles), Endless Summer, Safety Net, Mall (All Over the World), Strong Points Weak Points, Dance Stop, The Pool, New Car!, Bad Boy (Larry Williams), Dizzy Miss Lizzy (Larry Williams), Instruction Through Film, Neverland Ballroom, Darn Floor - Big Bite, Dance Stop #2, Q&A Time, Memory Lane, I Didn't Build it For Me, Misty, I Didn't Build it For Me (Continued), Dance Stop #3, Pump It Up (Elvis Costello), Sanctuary, Encore: I Love You #19 (Audience Band), Travelog, Dance Stop #4
(DA Heading to the Main Stage at Cornestone 87, courtesy of Garland Owensby)
July 6, 1987
- Daniel Amos performs in Minneapolis, MN.
August 15, 1987
- The Altar Boys "Against the Grain" is released. Terry Taylor produced and Ed McTaggart handled the art direction and design for the album.
August 17, 1987
- Daniel Amos performs at the ZOE 87 Festival. Other performers include Steve Taylor, Bary McGuire and Crystal Lewis.
August 22, 1987
- Daniel Amos performs at the Flevo Festival in Amsterdam, Holland.
August 28-31, 1987
- Daniel Amos performs at the Greenbelt Festival in London, England. Other performers include The Alarm, Bruce Cockburn, Phil Keaggy and Steve Taylor.
Fall 1987
- Daniel Amos is featured in Harvest Rock Syndicate.
"da Takes That Big Bite"
November 1987
- Tim Chandler begins recording with the Choir for what would become their Chase The Kangaroo album.
- Megamouth and the Rap Blasters Rap Battle in the Big City is released on Frontline Kids. Terry Taylor and Greg Flesch compose the music.
Terry: "What's great about Megamouth is that kids will eat it up, once kids know about it. My kid will come in and say I just say this new Nintendo game on t. v. that I want really bad. But in the Christian market it doesn't work that way. Mom or Grandma comes into the bookstore looking for something to get the tykes. So if it's syrupy and sweet, that'll be the thing they'll bring home. They'll be satisfied if the kid listens to ten minutes of it before running away, because they're getting the Word of God. But the phenomenon of Megamouth is that kids listen to it. I know that once the kids have it they listen to it, they absorb it and it'll do them some good. There's so much bad stuff out there. Everybody thinks they can do a kids record, and in a way anybody can. You can go in and do little voices, and cliche ridden dialog and put it out there, and you might even sell it. But I wanted to do something that really hit the kids at the place that Saturday morning cartoons hits them."
November 15, 1987
Darn Floor - Big Bite
- DA's Darn Floor - Big Bite is released.
View Album Reviews
Album Info & Lyrics
The album's title Darn Floor - Big Bite comes from a news story where Koko the gorilla, who had been taught English sign language, was asked about an earth quake. Koko reportedly responded with the words "Darn darn floor bad bite." DA relates this simple description of an earth quake to our own feeble attempts to describe God. For more information on the original story, see the article below:
"When A Gorilla Speaks" (Washington Post, January 31, 1985)
Terry: "Many people thing this is the best DA album. But then again, when people ask me what my favorite record is, I'll answer 'It's hard to say. They all had their charm at the time, but probably Darn Floor.' And they get an odd look on their faces. I realize they're one of the many who don't think that." (1996)
"When I look back on all my records I think I'm proudest of that record." (Source: "The HRS-Terry Taylor Interview Part Three"
"It was a liberating thing for us, but it didn't sell well at all. Here we had finally found a musical voice of our own, and like it or not, no one else could have done that record. The fact that it didn't connect was a real blow to us and our record company." (Source: "Da-The Band That Won't Go Away")
Terry (on the song, "Shape of Air"): "I was inspired with 'Shape of Air'. The phrase actually came from Annie Dillard. It was something she used somewhere, and I was intrigued by it. I thought, that's a great expression of a certain degree of the intangible -- which, again, is the mystery of God. I don't believe that was her intent whith the phrase, but for me it expressed what the whole record was about". (June 1990)
Tim, on the title song: "The song started with the bass part which sort of just popped into my head (actually my hands) and then I had only the very basic guitar part and chord structure, and then Terry, and Greg (with all the great guitar invention) made the song what it is. I think I've said this before: it all really starts and ends with Terry. He's the one who puts it all together and there would be no DA if there were no Terry. The other thing about that record is that, to me at least, sonically speaking, Greg practically owns the record with all the guitar stuff he did. It was the first DA record that Greg, and Terry and I sat around in a room and made stuff up (musically) together. The music (Terry always comes up with the vocal melody and writes the lyrics) was mostly created and captured initially on a cassette player in the living room of Greg's apartment in Pasadena, CA. It was the second record we recorded on Doug Doyle's recently purchased 24 track machine at 3-D studios (the other half of his orange county duplex.) We recorded Vox Huamana on an 8 track at 3-D, then he bought the 24 track and we did Fearful Symmetry on it."
Terry, on the title song: "I wrote the lyrics and melody and did most of the arranging. We had made little basic track demos of the majority of the songs on Darn Floor before going into the studio, and we loved what we heard. What you hear on the record is pretty much what you hear on the demos, with the addition of vocals. In keeping with the demos we kept the production on the songs pretty sparse, and I think this created the record's uniqueness. There is a certain starkness to Darn Floor, but rather than it being something cold and off-putting, it's minimalism serves to allow the songs to breath and in turn I think this draws the listener in. I think Darn Floor, and I would add Mr. Buechner's Dream, are two of D.A.'s best records."
Ed McTaggart handles the art direction and design. A video was made of the band, by Dave Perry of Videocon, and then Ed and Dave took photographs off of the TV screen for the album cover. Some versions of the CD also included an outtake shot from this video printed on the disc itself. The cover shoot was edited and included on the Instruction Through Film DVD set to the music of "Strange Animals."
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Winter 1987
- Terry Taylor interviews himself in Calendar Magazine.
"Terry Scott Taylor by Terry Taylor"
Winter 1987/88
- Mark Eischer reviews Darn Floor-Big Bite for Syndicate Magazine.
View Album Reviews
Darn Floor Tour T-Shirt
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