Growing up as a GenX kid, I developed an eclectic taste in music, but alternative rock grabbed me more than any other genre. Maybe it’s because the Athens music scene birthed so many college-rock stalwarts in the ‘80s and ‘90s, but regardless of the reason, I still have a soft spot for some of the alt-rock music from that era.
Of course, as a “church kid,” I listened to a lot of Christian music growing up as well. That was a time when the Christian music industry was expanding and spreading its wings, and some of it was actually worth listening to.
Imagine the thrill when I discovered Christian alt-rock. So many terrific bands and albums came out of that era of Christian rock, but one of the best was The Choir. The nucleus of The Choir is drummer Steve Hindalong, guitarist/lead vocalist Derri Daugherty, and sax player Dan Michaels. Hindalong and Daugherty are also the band’s songwriters and producers.
Their 1989 classic “Wide-Eyed Wonder” was one of the first CDs I ever bought, but the band’s masterpiece came a year later. 1990’s “Circle Slide” upped the ante on the band’s artistic ambitions while remaining accessible and listenable. The album is a cycle of songs about relationships — both vertical and horizontal.
The band bookends “Circle Slide” with longer, edgy pieces, and the title track leads off. It’s an expansive, atmospheric piece that explores eternal themes. Hindalong’s lyrics use the metaphor of a kid’s helter-skelter slide to imagine what heaven is like. The record label doubted the idea of using a seven-minute piece as an opener, but exec changed their minds when they heard the song.
The lengthy intro, middle, and outro instrumentals are artful and gorgeous, with Daugherty’s chiming guitars interplaying with Michaels’ avant-garde sax. Hindalong relied on a drum machine for the beat to achieve the precision he couldn’t achieve on his own. Let it all wash over you as you listen.
The closing track, “Restore My Soul,” explores the “already but not yet” nature of salvation and sanctification. It’s more poetic than a theological treatise, and the driving beat of the song might make you forget about the depth of the song’s lyrics.
The crown jewel of this track is the closing instrumental section. The band’s A&R rep said in the 25th-anniversary commentary on this song that he could listen to the instrumental over and over. It’s easy to see why.
Another track, “Merciful Eyes,” deals with our infidelity toward God, but the rest of the songs on “Circle Slide” deal with earthly relationships, specifically married life. “If I Had a Yard” is the band members’ wish that they could live in houses with yards instead of apartments, a wish the band fulfilled when they all moved from Los Angeles to Nashville a couple of years later.
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Two of the songs about romantic and marital love are the most radio-friendly cuts on the album — and it’s a shame that the label didn’t try to send either one of them to radio stations. “A Sentimental Song” is a husband’s wish that he could just sing a song that would ease his wife’s worried mind. It’s an upbeat yet minor-key tune (and I’m a sucker for songs in a minor key) that could’ve fit in nicely on college radio or a more adventurous rock station in 1990. I can even imagine Atlanta’s legendary 99X playing it a couple of years later had the song made its way onto the radio.
“About Love” deals with the tension in marriage and family, that bittersweet nature of good and bad things that families go through. It’s jangly, infectious, and tailor-made for radio, and it could’ve should’ve been a hit. A bonus to the song: Michaels said that his saxophone work on this song is a tribute to the Psychedelic Furs, one of my favorite bands from the '80s.
One line in the song captures an interesting perspective on the balance between the musician’s world and life as a husband and father. Daugherty sings lyrics that Hindalong wrote to his wife, “You kill me / You thrill me / You threaten my dreams, girl,” but the bittersweetness of the song overrides any idea that the band members regret having a family.
Daugherty, Hindalong, and Michaels didn’t do it all alone. The Choir had some help from Christian rock stalwarts like Jerry Chamberlain, Sharon McCall, and the late Mark Heard on backing vocals. Robin Spurs contributed bass to four tracks and vocals on “About Love” before leaving the band because she didn’t enjoy being the only woman in a cramped van on tour. The Choir’s original bassist Mike Sauerbrey enjoyed coming back to play on one track so much that he rejoined the band for a couple of years.
“Circle Slide” isn’t perfect by any means. The track “Blue Skies” doesn’t measure up to the rest of the record, and the harmonica on the track feels out of place. “Laugh Loop,” built around samples of guitars from another track, motorcycle sounds, and the looped laughter of Hindalong’s daughter Emily, is too experimental to hold up well. But the biggest fault of “Circle Slide” is its length; clocking in at nine tracks and just under 40 minutes, it leaves you wanting more.
Nevertheless, The Choir hit their major-label stride with “Circle Slide.” They’re still making music, but this album is always worth a listen after almost 35 years. You can check it out in lossless Apple Music below or on Spotify.
