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Lifesavers

Band:Lifesavers / The Lifesavors
Origin:California
Genres:Punk Rock
Alternative Rock
New Wave
Years Active:1980-1985 (as The Lifesavors)
1986-1999, 2008-2014 (as Lifesavers)
Labels:Ministry Resource Center
Refuge Records
Frontline Records
Blonde Vinyl Records
Brainstorm Artists International
Alarma Records
M8 Records
Retroactive Records
Members:(1980-1981) Chris Wimber, Ray Hersom
(1981-1982) Mark Krischak, Chris Wimber, Kevin Lee Annis, Michael Knott
(1982) Mark Krischak, Michael Knott, Kevin Lee Annis, John ? , Brandon ?
(1982) Michael Knott, Chris Wimber, Kevin Lee Annis
(1982) Michael Knott, Chris Wimber, Kevin Lee Annis, Brian Goins
(1983) Brian Goins, Kirk Heiner, Chris Wimber, Kevin Lee Annis
(1984) Mark Krischak, Kirk Heiner, Chris Wimber, Kevin Lee Annis
(1986) Michael Knott, Brian Doidge, Kevin Lee Annis
(1991) Michel Knott, Michael Sauerbrey, Steve Hindalong
(1995) Michael Knott, Brian Doidge, Chuck Cummings
(2008-2014) Michael Knott, Joshua Lory, Nick White, Cliffy Huntington
Associated Acts:L.S. Underground, J.C. Rose, Boaz

Early Versions: 1978 - 1979

The Lifesavers (and Undercover) formed out of members that came from two earlier bands, J.C. Rose and Boaz. Both bands started in 1978. They were described by John J. Thompson as “edgier than Larry Norman and Love Song.” Chris Wimber was in Boaz before forming The Lifesavors, but J.C. Rose and Boaz had line-ups that were changing and intermixing. By 1979, J.C. Rose was Jim Nicolson, Joe Taylor, and Dave Hackbarth while Boaz was Chris Wimber, Danny Pavlis, Ray Hersom and Ric Alba (among a few others). J.C. Rose was also noted as having a demo tape, but it is unknown if Boaz ever recorded.

Gary Wilson tells what he remembers of J.C. Rose in the book God's Not Dead (And Neither Are We). As of 1979, Jim Nicolson and Joe Taylor were both in the band, and they had a tape that Wilson liked. They were eventually able to convinced Wilson to join on drums. About 4-6 weeks after he joined, the band split up.

Jim Nicolson, Joe Taylor, Danny Pavlis (drums), and Ric Alba (bass) started Undercover. Undercover started rehearsing in a greenhouse owned by Danny's parents. Chris Wimber and Ray Hersom formed The Lifesavors.

Ric Alba had this to say about the two bands:

“I played keys in Boaz starting in 1978. I met them when my drummer-since-childhood Frank Pipitone auditioned and joined J.C. Rose. Frank and I had 'got saved' at a hippie bible study group at the home of Ross Mann, and we had a hippy folk trio with Ross that broke up when Frank joined J.C. Rose. Ojo had a friend, Chris Wimber, with a band that needed a singer and keyboard player, so Ross and I joined up and there was Boaz.

“Chris' dad being John Wimber, we found ourselves opening for Lonnie Frisbee a number of times. Then we got some local notoriety for going, (gasp) “New Wave” when I wrote the song, “Francine” in 1979. This was the only Boaz song to outlive the big switcheroo of personnel when J.C. Rose and Boaz became Undercover and The Lifesavors.

“I had secretly idolized Taylor and Nicholson for their prog-rock abilities, as I was becoming a huge fan of Yes and Chris Squire at the time. I would have muscled my way into a band with them sooner but J.C. Rose's bassist, Jerry Davis, had become a good friend of mine and I respected that. Jerry became John's bassist for the Vineyard worship team, which lasted many years after that.”

The Lifesavors

Formation: 1980 - 1981

Band photo from Us Kids insert

The Lifesavors were an early Christian pogo punk/new wave band that formed in 1980. According to the liner notes to Undercover's Volume 1 compilation, The Lifesavors were formed by Chris Wimber (the son of Vineyard founder John Wimber) on bass and Ray Hersom on guitar. Mark Krischak (vocals, guitars) and Kevin Lee Annis (brother of Mike Stand of the Altar Boys, drums) joined in 1980 as well. Their first concert as The Lifesavors was at a roller skating rink in Yorba Linda sometime late in 1980. Undercover and a band called The Chosen Ones also played at the concert. The next year, they recorded and released a live demo called 3-14-81 Live (recorded at a church in Downey, CA). Krischak served as the early leader of the band performing as lead vocalist, primary songwriter, and lead guitarist. In early 1981, The Lifesavors and Undercover were both asked to release albums through the Ministry Resource Center (MRC) label. Hersom left during the recording of their debut full length album Us Kids. Michael Knott was brought in to replace him on rhythm guitars, even recording a few parts on Us Kids. Knott has later stated that he was about 16 or 17 years old at this time. Knott's involvement with The Lifesavors on Us Kids was minimal at the most. According to Kevin Sorrells, ”Mike stepped in the middle of the recording. I think he only collaborated on one song.”

Altar Boys bassist Ric Alba also worked with The Lifesavors at one point. According to Alba:

“I did some keys for The Lifesavors, but was never a member. They were forming while Undercover was at the same time. Lifesavors rehearsed in Ray Hersom's living room when Chris and I were renting spare rooms in Ray's house. At that time though, Ray was in Undercover. At the same time we held open jam sessions at the house, often attended by Kevin's (Lifesavor's drummer) little brother Mike, who became Mike Stand.”

Knott described the band's early sound as “psuedo punk rock songs.” Many outlets refer to Us Kids as the first Christian Punk album (although No Sham! by the Bill Mason Band preceded it by two years). The album's producer Thom Roy refers to the sound as Power Pop. The band had its fair share of controversy in the early days, including being banned from playing at Calvary Chapels because Knott would dance on stage during concerts. But the band also played local California rock clubs with other punk icons, including Darby Crash.

Transition: 1982

A live bootleg from 1982 features Krischak, Annis, and Knott - as well as mentioning John, Brandon and former member Ray. It is unknown who John and Brandon are. They also talk about recording their second album on their own label. Eight songs from the bootleg were never released, so those were probably meant for the new album that never materialized. Michael Knott mentions writing one of the unreleased songs called “For You.”

At some point in 1982, Krischak leaves the band and Knott takes over to record the two song You and Me single. John and Brandon are not listed on this release. The line-up for the single is just the trio of Knott, Wimber, and Annis. The full story of what happened is unknown at this time, but Kevin Sorrells had this to say at one time about internal disagreements within the band: “Mark got jealous of Mike and quit after [he had] invited Mike in the band in the first place…. We begged Mark not to leave. [Chris] Wimber always had to be the boss, and that caused tension. But Chris was a very creative guy [with a] strong personality and a trendsetter. I love the guy and miss him.” Krischak was also known to later refer to Knott on discussion boards as a “spawn of Satan” that he would never work with again.

Constant Changes: 1983

At some point after they recorded the 1982 single, Brian Goins was brought into the band. One live photo with Knott, Wimber, Annis, and Goins does exist, but according to Annis there was only one concert with this line up. The band began recording the first version of Dream Life with Knott on lead vocals and guitars.

At some point during the recording, Knott says that John Wimber told them that he wanted the band to travel around the United States planting churches. Knott didn't feel led to do that, so he left the band and formed Idle Lovell. Kirk Heiner joined the band after Knott left. According to Heiner, at this point they decided to re-record the vocals on Dream Life, with Goins singing lead vocals on about five songs and Heiner handling lead vocals on about six. Knott's background vocals were left in the mix, as well as some of his guitar work. Most songs on the Dream Life album are credited in part to Knott. At the time of the album's release, Annis and Wimber are still listed as members, with Kirk Heiner now listed as guitarist and Brian Goins listed as the new vocalist.

Goins was not able to tour for Dream Life, so Krischak was brought back in for the tour.

Lost Years: 1984 - 1985

One oddity exists from 1984 - a demo usually referred to as the Lost Nashville Demo. Sources have confirmed that Krischak was the band leader at this time. Kirk Heiner had this to say about the song writing process for the album:

“The song 'Voices / Lost in the Darkness' was completely written by me. The other songs were pretty much written by Mark Krischak but came together as a collaboration of Mark, Chris, Kevin and me. We recorded late that evening. Chris, Mark & Kevin had all flown in earlier, but I flew in a day later than the rest because at the time I ran a business. We got to the recording studio around midnight. The building was amazing: a two story brick building with a two story waterfall in the entry. The recording room was large enough for a full orchestra. It had a new technology system of recording using glass sheets hanging in the air. Wires connected to the glass would vibrate, sending back a perfect recording of the sounds in the studio. We had a studio musician show up for the keyboard tracks. He worked for Refuge Records. I had been working on the song 'Voices' that was about all of the voices that try to influence us. Some good, some bad, some just our own thoughts. I asked the keyboard player if he had any kinda scary, haunted house type sounds in his synthesizer, so he pulled one up. When he did, it was playing through these huge speakers in the recording booth. It sounded like the devil himself came out of that keyboard - scared the crud out of all of us. I said, ‘Put that thing back’.”

After recording, The Lifesavors embarked on a major tour. Heiner recalls:

“Right after that recording we began a national tour with Rick Cua (formerly of the Outlaws) and a heavy rock band called Jerusalem. It was an amazing experience. 21 guys in a bus for a month touring over 20 states and even into Canada. Every stop a different band seemed to be the “Big Deal” of the night. One stop it would be Rick Cua, and other venue it would be Jerusalem. In Canada, we were the big hit. They were all wearing Hawaiian shirts in honor of the California phenom band and a couple hundred kids danced in the front of the concert singing every word of all our songs.”

Heiner also went on to record a solo album, which contained the song 'Voices.' According to Heiner, “My solo album was never released. We were shopping to secular record labels trying to reach a larger audience.”

Dream Life was also the last official album by The Lifesavors before Knott took over for good and changed the name to simply Lifesavers.

Lifesavers

Permanent Name Change: 1986

At some point between 1984 and 1986, several changes occurred: Krischak left the band (with Knott taking over as leader), Wimber also left (to be replaced by Brian Doidge - formerly of The Chosen Ones - on bass), and the name of the band was changed slightly. In 1986, Lifesavers signed to Frontline Records and released Kiss of Life. The name was not the only thing to change - Knott also steered the band in a more alternative direction, drawing comparisons to The Psychedelic Furs. Some sources also claim that Knott no longer likes this album, even though some songs do occasionally make it in to his solo live shows from time to time.

Side Project: 1987 - 1999

In 1987, Knott decided to take Lifesavers in a darker direction, both musically and lyrically. This major change in direction caused him to also change the name of the band to Lifesavers Underground (also known as L.S.U. or L.S. Underground). Several albums were released under this name and it appeared that the Lifesavers were no more.

In reality, the Lifesavers were just dormant and in 1991 Knott would begin releasing albums under both names. 1991's Poplife saw the Lifesavers head in a more surf rock direction. It also saw an entirely new band behind Knott, with Michael Sauerbrey on bass guitar and Steve Hindalong (The Choir) handling drums.

The Lifesavers went quiet for a few more years until 1995 when they released Huntington Beach. This album saw the return of Doidge on bass guitar and the addition of Chuck Cummings on drums. Huntington Beach was also the heaviest Lifesavers album to date - a return to their punk rock roots. Songwriting was split between Doidge and Knott on this album, with less spiritual lyrics that focused on many humorous aspects of life on the title beach.

The late 1990s saw several Lifesavers album re-issued by various labels - Kiss of Life in 1995 on Alarma Records and both Us Kids and Poplife on M8 Records in 1999. After that, the Lifesavers went dormant again for almost a decade.

Chris Wimber went on to be a record producer as well as manager of the Vineyard Music Group. Sadly, Chris Wimber died on February 6, 1998 at his Southern California home after a long-term battle with melanoma cancer. He was 40. Almost two months prior to Wimber's death his father, John, founder of the Vineyard stream of churches, died from a brain hemorrhage at age 63.

Resurrection: 2008 - Present

Through the years after the 1990s, there were various rumors about different versions of Lifesavers making a come back. Most of these were not based on substantial claims from members of the band. Krischak even made mention of trying to get the band back together (without Knott) on different Christian band message boards.

In June 2008, the new bass player for the Lifesavers, Joshua Lory, announced that a new album was being recorded. Joining Lory and Knott on the album would be Nick White on drums and Cliffy Huntington on guitar. No definite plans or release dates were initially announced, but the band mentioned that songs were being worked on in a Beach Boys / Ramones vibe.

As of December 2008, 16 music demos had been completed and were ready for the lyric and harmony writing process. According to the Lifesavers MySpace page, “Our goal is to make the ultimate soundtrack for Summer, rockin' songs with lush vocal melodies from start to finish!”

At the beginning of 2011, the band started a kickstarter campaign to fund the rest of the album. Originally titled Dog Days Of An Indian Summer, the name was changed to Heaven High.

The album was recorded and released in 2013. Two mixes were completed of the album. The first one by Masaki Liu was released in cardboard sleeve as the “Kickstarter Edition.” In 2014, the second mix by J. Powell was re-issued as a digipack by Retroactive Records as the “Retroactive Edition,” with modified and expanded artwork.

Discography

as "The Lifesavors"
1981 3-14-81 (live demo)
1981 Us Kids Swing Records
1982 You and Me (7-inch) Swing
1982 Live 1982 (bootleg)
1983 Dream Life Refuge Records
1983 Unplugged (bootleg)
1983 Fourteen (promo 7“) Refuge Records
1984 The Lost Nashville Demo
as "Lifesavers"
1986 Kiss of Life Frontline Records
1991 Poplife Blonde Vinyl Records
1995 Huntington Beach Brainstorm Artists International
2013 Heaven High [kickstarter version]
Re-Issues
1990 3-14-81 (live demo) Key Records (new cover)
1990 Us Kids Key Records (new cover)
1995 Kiss of Life Alarma Records
1999 Poplife M8 Records (with bonus songs)
1999 Us Kids M8 Records (with bonus songs)
2014 Heaven High [retroarchives edition] Retroactive Records (new cover and mix)

3-14-81 (live)

1981 Independent
1990 Key Records (KEY 8)

Mark Krischak
Mike Knott
Chris Wimber
Kevin Annis

  1. Christianity
  2. On the Street
  3. You Don’t Know
  4. I’ve Got to
  5. Record
  6. Take Us Home

Us Kids

1981 Swing Records
1999 M8 Records

Michael Knott – rhythm guitar, BGVs
Mark Krischak – lead guitar, lead vocals, BGVs
Chris Wimber – bass, acoustic guitars, rhythm guitars, BGVs
Kevin Annis – drums, percussion, BGVs

Produced by: Thom Roy

  1. Where You Going
  2. Jetstream
  3. Life
  4. Oh Yeah
  5. New
  6. Youn
  7. Blue
  8. Operation
  9. I Am
  10. Us Kids
  11. Take Me Over
  12. Genocide
  13. Isaiah 36
  14. Christianity
The 1999 M8 re-issue includes these bonus songs:
  1. In My Room
  2. I Have a Car
  3. Lotsa Girls
  4. A Lot Like You
  5. My Life
  6. Down Again
  7. Go Around
  8. Little Maids
  9. Fighter

You And Me

1982 Swing Records

Mike Knott - Guitar, lead vocals
Chris Wimber - Bass, rhythm guitar, vocals
Kevin Annis - Drums, percussion, vocals

Mike Annis (Mike Stand - Lead guitar

Produced and engineered by Thom Roy

  1. You and Me (2:22)
  2. The One (1:50)

Live 1982

1982 Independent

Michael Knott – rhythm guitar, BGVs
Mark Krischak – lead guitar, lead vocals, BGVs
Kevin Annis – drums, percussion, BGVs
John – unknown
Brandon – unknown

  1. For You
  2. Oh, Yeah
  3. I Am
  4. Front Slider
  5. Go Go to Jesus
  6. Trends (aka “Passin’ Trends”
  7. Try Anything
  8. Take Me Over
  9. New
  10. Where You Going
  11. Jetstream
  12. Operation
  13. Life
  14. Us Kids
  15. Open the Door
  16. Blue
  17. Jesus Hold Me Closer
  18. Time to Praise the Lord
  19. Christianity

Dream Life

1983 Refuge Records

Kevin Annis – drums, percussion, vocals
Chris Wimber – bass, rhythm & acoustic guitars, backing vocals
Kirk Heiner – guitar, keyboards, vocals
Brian Goins – vocals

Michael Knott – additional guitars

Produced by: Thom Roy

  1. Break in My Head
  2. Christian Twisters
  3. Glamour Girls
  4. Christian Army
  5. Physical
  6. Waiting for You
  7. Sooner or Later
  8. False Identity
  9. I Won’t Give In
  10. The One
  11. Hurt, Out of My Heart
  12. Fourteen
  13. I’m Not
  14. Watch Nowhere

Unplugged

1983 Independent

  1. Under One Sun
  2. 3 Months
  3. Central Park
  4. 3 Months (reprise)
  5. After All
  6. It’s So Cool
  7. I Remember
  8. You Can Do It
  9. So What
  10. Another Day
  11. Pet Monkey
  12. It’s All I Can Stand
  13. Central Park (reprise)

The Lost Nashville demo

1984 Independent

Mark Krischak – vocals, guitar
Kirk Heiner – guitar
Chris Wimber – bass guitar
Kevin Annis – drums

  1. New Boy (3:47)
  2. Reach Out Your Hand (2:48)
  3. Lost in the Darkness (4:04)
  4. When I’m… (2:56)
  5. Inside Looking Out (3:16)
  6. Time (3:04)

Kiss of Life

1986 Frontline Records

Michael Knott – vocals, electric and acoustic guitars, keyboards, percussion
Kevin Lee – drums, percussion
Brian Doidge – bass guitar

Produced by: Doug Doyle

  1. She’s on Fire
  2. I Pray You Pray
  3. I Can’t Wait
  4. Choose to Be True
  5. Highway to Zion
  6. Dreamin’
  7. Love Boy Love Girl
  8. Turn! Turn! Turn!
  9. We Live for the Son
  10. Free Her
  11. See Me Fall

Poplife

1991 Blonde Vinyl Records

Michael Knott – Vocals, guitars; bass on “Surf With God”, cover art
Michael Sauerbrey – Bass
Steve Hindalong – Drums
Christopher Colbert – guitar on “Surf With God”

Produced by: Michael Knott

  1. I Don’t Know (Sister, Sister)
  2. Queen of the Captive
  3. Jet Plane
  4. Skate
  5. It’s a Crazy Thing
  6. Surf with God
  7. Comin’ Up Roses
  8. Lookin’ for a Suit
  9. Surf With God
The 1999 M8 re-issue includes these bonus songs:
  1. Money
  2. I Want Your World
  3. Touch Me in the Wind

Huntington Beach

1995 Brainstorm Artists International

Michael Knott – Vocals, guitar, bass
Brian Doidge – Vocals, guitar, bass
Chuck Cummings – Drums

Produced by The Lifesavers

  1. When She’s Gone
  2. Disappointed
  3. Huntington Beach Police
  4. Mrs. King
  5. Rent a Cop
  6. Out
  7. Big Kimono
  8. Sick
  9. Daddy’s Womp
  10. The Day Elvis Died
  11. Should Have Known
  12. Joey Ramone
  13. Who is She (bonus track)
  14. Get Outta My Life (bonus track)
  15. Susie’s Got Eyes For You (bonus track)

Heaven High

2013 Independent
2014 Retroactive Records

Michael Knott – Vocals, additional Guitar on track 10
Joshua Lory – Bass, additional guitar on track 6
Masaki Liu – Guitar, Synth, Keys, Programming
Nick White – Drums
Chris Dugan – Drums on track 7
Rick McDonough – Lap Steel on track 10

Produced by Masaki Liu and Joshua Lory

  1. Heaven High (2:09)
  2. All Fall Down (3:25)
  3. Bark/Bite (1:54)
  4. Offed My Head (2:27)
  5. I Love It When (2:30)
  6. Dog Days of an Indian Summer (2:28)
  7. Oh Baby (2:52)
  8. Stereo Radio (4:46)
  9. Ocean View Lane (2:19)
  10. Last Spring (3:10)

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lifesavers.txt · Last modified: 2024/02/10 16:08 by admin