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The First Album Back Cover That Wasn’t
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When we were first “discovered,” we were introduced to a whole separate world of the machinations of the So-Cal Christian music scene. We got to know Randy Ziegler, who “discovered” us, we were led through the catacombs of Maranantha! Music and MRC, which had basically put much of CCM on the map. We got to meet with Joe Taylor of Undercover, an imposing figure, to be sure. We met “Bugs” who apparently made everything happen.
When one gets put on a merry-go-round such as this, a certain blind faith is needed to trust that the people who are handling you will indeed act in your best interest. In large part, we had good people involved and it produced a chain of events that we will forever look upon with fondness.
But the downside of this whirlwind was the inevitable lapses that produced near disaster. We’d never done a record before, so we used our wits and the aforementioned faith in others to make sure everything was done that needed to be done. We didn’t formally go through MRC like so many of the other bands (Undercover, Lifesavers, The Lifters, etc.) we had a green but well-meaning financier/record exec in Harry Barnes, who was getting the same crash course in Rock Star 101.
Without a doubt the most amusing (now that we look back on it) chapter from this crazy spring and summer of ’84 was completing the back cover to our debut record. The Gialis had a cousin who was a graphic designer and he conceptualized and designed the great cube front cover, but we had no arrangements for the back. We let our newly-found “handlers” know of the situation with ample time to meet the deadlines and were told in classic Spinal Tap Stonehenge fashion “consider it done.”
Apparently someone in the chain got behind the eight-ball. We were told, with great confidence, that they themselves would create the back cover and, with a no more obvious harbinger of doom that exists on this planet, that his wife was helping him.
What resulted was an obviously well-intentioned but utterly disastrous piece of construction paper and rub-off letters that was nothing short of horrible.
Fortunately, we were able to rely on our own wits (with which we still depend on to this day) and found the young and talented Russell Heistuman who whipped a great piece up in no time. Russell also did the very popular 441 logo that was printed on thousands of shirts, buttons and concert flyers.
We owe gratitude to everyone who helped 4-4-1 get our start and share this with you in the spirit of chuckling at our well-intentioned missteps.