Richard Nicholson was a relatively important figure in independent Christian music in the 80s and 90s, but sadly too few American listeners are familiar with his work, largely because of his British origins. So let’s start with a little history lesson. He first became known through his work with new wave/punk act Giantkiller, who released three influential albums in the 1980s. Sadly only one of those reached American shores, 1981’s Valley of Decision (or Whose Side You On? as it was known in their native UK).
After Giantkiller finished, Nicholson went in a completely different direction doing folk rock, under the moniker Billy Penn’s Brother. In an interview with Crossrhythms Music (found here), the artist explains that he chose the name out of respect for William Penn, and his Gospel work in Philadelphia. Billy Penn’s Brother put out two cassettes. The first one was a purely solo effort, while the second–still in an acoustic folk style–featured a full band. (For more info, check out our friends’ site The Christian Underground Encyclopedia.)
For their third offering, Nicholson teamed up with The Telephone Church, which was actually members of Lies Damned Lies (featured in a previous Song of the Day post here), including Sticky Music founder Steve Butler. For for the album Ruckus in Real Time, the music took a decidedly darker, alternative rock direction. There was still a sort of prophetic edge to it, but it was less hopeful this time around.
From “When the War is Over”:
Checkout girls with vacant eyes
gaze into the distance
will a prophet there arise
will it make the slightest difference?
Sounds as relevant now as it did then!
