Posted on by Monsoon River

Cross Rodes – Never Gonna Die

Cross Rodes
Never Gonna Die
1988 (no label)
Spring, Texas, USA

Daryl Youngblood – Guitar, keyboard sequencing
Rick Weinland – Drums, percussion

Donna Dockery – Lead vocals on a3
Chris Rodriguez – Lead vocals and background vocals on a1 and a3
Tommy Simms (White Heart) – Bass and fretless bass on a1 and a3
Jeff Nelson – Keyboards and strings on a3
Mark Pogue – Stratospheric wailing on a1, lead and background vocals on a2, a4, b1, b2, b3, and b4
Bryan Lennox – Sampling, misc. noises & effects on a1 and a3, lead and background vocals on a2, a4, b1, b2, b3, and b4
Shauna Haygood – Lead and background vocals on a2, a4, b1, b2, b3, and b4
Matt Ramsey – Bass on a2, a4, b1, b2, b3, and b4
Matt Everett – Keyboards on a2, a4, b1, b2, b3, and b4

Choir on “Merry Christmas Baby Jesus” – Daryl, Rick, Donna, Bryan, Mark, Gail, and Pat
Gang vocals on “Never Gonna Die” – Daryl, Rick, Chris, Bryan, and Mark

Side 1:

  1. Never Gonna Die
  2. Lives
  3. Merry Christmas Baby Jesus
  4. They’ll See the Lights

Side 2:

  1. Where is the Lightning
  2. Stronger Than Before
  3. Do You Remember
  4. Gotta Let It Go

So I wasn’t sure what to expect stylistically from this band – and I’m not sure if I know what “Rodes” is a reference to. But it seems that Daryl Youngblood is a member of this band, and this band is from the Houston area… so this is possibly an early version of Imagine This? There are male and female vocals (mostly female), but the style really isn’t a whole lot like Imagine This. This is 80s AOR with lots of keyboards and 80s guitars. Well, I say they don’t sound like Imagine This, but they do have some good funky bass lines, and a mix of styles like Imagine This. They even get a bit heavier by the last track.

Update: A few tracks from this tape were posted on YouTube, and I can see that Daryl Youngblood and Rick Weinland were both in this band before forming Imagine This and the Lloyd. I wonder what happened between this tape and 1995? There were also several big name players on this like Chris Rodriguez, Tommy Simms, and Mark Pogue.

Missing Information: Who played on this tape?

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