Seventh Avenue – New Life -The Album

The album was recorded in Johannesburg during 1978 at MSC Studios, and released early 1979 ©Promise Publishing House, a division of YFC (SA).

Songs can be heard at the Audio Recordings Tab

Producer:

Pat Berning

Recording Engineer:

Ton Den Teuling

Making a LP takes time!

Preparation for the recording took quite a while. The following entries were recorded in the diary:

June 1977 – Meeting with Pat to discuss Album

March 1978 – Start Recording

April 1979 – Album Released

Recording Facility: MSC Studios, Hillbrow Johannesburg. Musicians Sound Center (MSC), in Hillbrow Johannesburg was the group’s source for a lot of equipment. MSC had opened a small recording studio, so it made sense to record the album at their facility.

Preparation for the recording took quite a while. Much time was spent practicing the songs for recording.

The original Studio tapes have long disappeared, and the versions of the songs on this site are remastered from a 40 year old audio cassette recently discovered. The cassette was a recording of the actual studio sessions, before the Album was produced. It also included a song that never made it to the Album.

Seph: It was always fun going to MSC, as it would inevitably mean a trip to Milky Lane down the road (Their only location at that time), as well as the Fontana 24 hour Cafe across the road.

We had also bought quite a bit of equipment from MSC. The main guy I recall was a shortish balding chap called Peter Feldman, he ran the equipment sales side. Terry Acres ran the sound hire and “manufacturing” department.  I know I bought my Roland Strings from them. Mac & Les bought our Shure SM57 EV and PL 95 mics from them, as well as a cable snake, D&L Soundboard, and later their own brand Soundboard, as well as the hotspot foldback monitors.  Mac had contact with them in the ensuing years.

7th Avenue:

Theo – Vocals, Acoustic Guitar

Mac – Vocals, Harmonica

Steve – Vocals, Drums

Les – Electric & Bass Guitar

Seph – Strind Synth, Percussion

Lewis – Bass

Others:

Pat Berning – Acoustic Guitar

Sidney Daniels – Electric Guitar

Bas Norel – Flute

Mich Robb – Violin

The songs were all written by Theo. The album was produced by Pat Berning, who provided some beautiful guitar enhancements. Others who joined on the album were Bas Norell (Flute), Sidney Daniels (electric guitar), Mich Robb (violin). We had met Mich in Bulawayo (78), and he jammed with us. (Also appears on “Holding it Together”).

Seph: The diary has an entry : March 1978 – Start Recording. So it seems that we were long at it! We had decided to only do our own songs, but we did not have enough for a whole album, so Theo and Steve had to get busy penning a few more songs. Older songs were “Symbol of Love” had been one of Theo’s earlier songs, (it won the award for best song at Spree77), but I’m not sure which of the others had been dome before the album. We did have a few months to try them out on audiences before the recording was finalized. My personal favorite was “Peace of Mind” which never made it to the album, and was only recently discovered on the old tapes I had, of the studio recordings.

1 April 1979 – Album Released, Reviews

Seph: The album was released on YFC’s Promise label, with Pat Berning handling the copyright /music rights. I remember trying to get us some exposure.  Jeremy Thorpe had written articles in the Pretoria News as well as Music Maker. They were complimentary, but said we were too Christian for the Rock Market, and too Rock for the Christian Market! I think we had 300 copies of the LP pressed! I still think the cover has remained timeless (even if I have to say so myself!).

As part of the effort to get exposure, I had  called up Lance James, a radio music presenter on Sunday Night during his “Keep It Country” show on Springbok Radio.  I had sent him a copy of the album, and we chatted a bit about it on the  air.  He liked and played “The Cowboy Song”. In typical fashion he said  “I have on the line my good friend Seph” (I’d never met him before!) That’s Showbiz!  He also played “Light in My Eyes”. Both songs written by Theo. 

Another thing I did was enter the Album into the “Gramaphone Record / Pick & Pay Country Song of the year Contest”. We got a letter saying we made it to the semi-finals! 

I know we had cassettes too, but don’t think we sold too many.  A lot of people seem to have the music. Lots more than our total sales. We were early victims of Piracy!  Ah, but it was fun!

GOSPEL PIONEERS The Pretoria News Review, by Jeremy Thorpe – May 10th 1979

It takes courage and a considerable degree of faith to write, produce, and record a first album without any real professional help. Yet that is exactly what Seventh Avenue, a group of six young Pretoria Gospel musicians have done. And at no small price. They spent 3,000 hard earned rand on this pioneering project with little real hope of getting it back. The album is called “New Life” and it was recorded almost entirely at weekends over a six-month period at Johannesburg’s MSC Studios.

Members of the group are Les Spencer on bass & acoustic guitar, brothers Theo and Stephen Van Rooyen on acoustic guitar and drums respectively, Lewis van Rensburg on Bass and acoustic guitar, Malcolm Finlay on mouth organ and Seph Barnard on ARP and Roland string synthesizer.  All except Lewis and Seph contribute to lead and backing vocals.

All six members of Seventh Avenue are committed to Christianity, Seph told me this week. “New Life”, he said, was the best way of putting their music across since their style was too contemporary for the average church. “Originally the group’s name was New Life, but we changed it to Seventh Avenue just before we started on the album” Seph said. “Seven, of course is God’s perfect number, Avenue is the way ahead – hence the choice of the new name”.

Already “New Life” has achieved a degree of recognition at the SABC.  Lance James played two tracks from the album last Sunday: “Railroad” on his “Keep it Country” programme and “Light in My Eyes” in his request programme.

But to be realistic, “New Life” is not likely to find a wide market. Not because of its musical quality, which is high – especially considering the conditions under which the album was made. But because it strikes an uneasy compromise between gospel and contemporary music. My personal feeling is that the youngsters will be put off by the naively joyous religious oriented lyrics – while those who would have bought the album for its religious content will be put off by its modern country-rock style.

I dearly hope I’m wrong in this assessment because such a praiseworthy effort deserves to succeed. But I base it on the fact that my favourite track is a lovely “Yesterday “ type ballad called “Wandering” – possibly the only track that does not contain the word “Jesus”.

Seph: I remember the Photo Shoot vividly. I had asked my good friend Mike Dawson to take the pics. I had appointed myself in charge of the cover art, (he who has the vision, gets the job). The location was on the same street I worked (at Department of Community Development). I walked past the site every day, and thought it would make a great location for a sepia tone cover. (Probably inspired by Pat Berning’s “Warm September day in ’69” LP Cover.)

Mike took a number of shots as I tried to direct him as to the look I was going for. The final cover shot was even better the I had imagined.Then it was off to Mike’s darkroom to develop the pics (very different those years!) A bonus was the shot with the kid looking on… barefoot and wearing a watch. such was the anomalies of ’70’s South Africa. The kid reminded me so much of me, as that could well of been me 10 years earlier.

The pics were taken and in late December, but I had been conscripted to do my Military Service in January 1979. So I found myself having to wrk on the cover while doing my basics, my corporal arranged a room where I could work on getting the artwork done on an overlay. I had got a few sheets of Letraset transfer letters and a flourish for the titles, and set about writing the rest of the credits. Amazing how crude it was. And my spelling! So Pat or someone in the group had to take it to Norman Hanna for corrections. (I had no met him yet at this stage, but did a few months later, and we have become life long friends.