Ruscha
Encyclopedia
Ruscha was a Christian rock
band formed in the mid 80s, by two Siberian immigrant brothers Nikolai and Peter Pankratz who escaped Communist Russia, then testified to the plight of their fellow believers after safely reaching the USA, where they formed a band at Liberty University in VA.
At first, the band released three album
s under the name "The Russians" (The Russians, I Want To Talk To You & Love Forever More).
The band underwent a name change for the fourth album called "Ruscha" Testimony in 1987.
Their fifth & most popular album was "Ruscha" Come Alive which in 1988 rose to moderate success. The album included the song "Come Home", which went to #4 at Christian radio in the US in 1988. The original album (defunct Pan-Trax Records, Inc. in Dickson, Tennessee) has been long out of print, but a CD was re-issued in 1996 on an import label (Victor Entertainment, Inc. in Tokyo, Japan). This newer version doesn't have the printed lyrics the US version had, but does have all the same songs in English and cover art.
Their sixth and final album was "Ruscha" Invisible Hands in 1992. This album was very rare because it was entirely sung in Russian.
Three of the members of Ruscha (Andy Denton, Mike Jacobs, & Billy Williams) went on to form Legend Seven
in 1990 by Word Records
. Andy Denton created the two solo albums Midnight Of Hope in 1999 by KMG Records (Nashville, TN), and 50 Years From Now. Andy Denton was also half of Identical Strangers (Damascus Road Records) with Randy Thomas
(Allies & co-writer of Butterfly Kisses (song)
) in 1995.
Christian rock
Christian rock is a form of rock music played by individuals and bands whose members are Christians and who often focus the lyrics on matters concerned with the Christian faith. The extent to which their lyrics are explicitly Christian varies between bands...
band formed in the mid 80s, by two Siberian immigrant brothers Nikolai and Peter Pankratz who escaped Communist Russia, then testified to the plight of their fellow believers after safely reaching the USA, where they formed a band at Liberty University in VA.
At first, the band released three album
Album
An album is a collection of recordings, released as a single package on gramophone record, cassette, compact disc, or via digital distribution. The word derives from the Latin word for list .Vinyl LP records have two sides, each comprising one half of the album...
s under the name "The Russians" (The Russians, I Want To Talk To You & Love Forever More).
The band underwent a name change for the fourth album called "Ruscha" Testimony in 1987.
Their fifth & most popular album was "Ruscha" Come Alive which in 1988 rose to moderate success. The album included the song "Come Home", which went to #4 at Christian radio in the US in 1988. The original album (defunct Pan-Trax Records, Inc. in Dickson, Tennessee) has been long out of print, but a CD was re-issued in 1996 on an import label (Victor Entertainment, Inc. in Tokyo, Japan). This newer version doesn't have the printed lyrics the US version had, but does have all the same songs in English and cover art.
Their sixth and final album was "Ruscha" Invisible Hands in 1992. This album was very rare because it was entirely sung in Russian.
Three of the members of Ruscha (Andy Denton, Mike Jacobs, & Billy Williams) went on to form Legend Seven
Legend Seven
Legend Seven was a Christian hard rock band formed in the early 1990s by three former members of Ruscha, another Christian band from the 1980s....
in 1990 by Word Records
Word Records
Word Records is a Christian record label based in Nashville, Tennessee. It is a division of Word Entertainment , which, itself is co-owned by Warner Music Group and Curb Records...
. Andy Denton created the two solo albums Midnight Of Hope in 1999 by KMG Records (Nashville, TN), and 50 Years From Now. Andy Denton was also half of Identical Strangers (Damascus Road Records) with Randy Thomas
Randy Thomas (musician)
Randy Thomas is an American Christian musician best known for being a member of the Sweet Comfort Band and Allies. In 1984 He formed "Allies" with Sam Scott and teamed up with Bob Carlisle. They spent 9 years between 84-93 doing concerts and recording six albums...
(Allies & co-writer of Butterfly Kisses (song)
Butterfly Kisses (song)
"Butterfly Kisses" is the title of a song written by Bob Carlisle and Randy Thomas from Carlisle's third studio album Butterfly Kisses . The song was written for his daughter Brooke's 16th birthday. Carlisle also wrote a journal entitled Butterfly Kisses for fathers and their daughters...
) in 1995.
"'Come Alive'" track listing
- 1. Come Alive (4:52)
- 2. Someone Listening (3:51)
- 3. Broken Heart (4:09)
- 4. Holy & True (3:41)
- 5. Come Home (4:22)
- 6. Thy Word Stands Forever (4:43)
- 7. Burning Bridges (4:22)
- 8. Exalt The Name (3:43)
- 9. Do You Care? (3:51)
- 10. Lord Of The Impossible (3:17)
Band members
- Nikolai Pankratz - rhythm guitar, keyboard programming, bgvs
- Peter Pankratz - bass guitar, bgvs, lead vocals
- Andy Denton - lead vocals, bgvs
- Billy Williams - drums, percussion programming
- Michael Jackson - keyboards, bgvs, vocoder vocal, keyboard programming, string programming
- Michael Jacobs - lead guitar, background vocals (now currently solo artist. See www.sacrednation.com)
Come Alive studio credits
- Produced by: Bubba Smith
- Executive Producer: Nikolai Pankratz
- Mike Radovsky - drums
- Duncan Mullins - bass, drum programming
- Tom Hemby - guitar
- Phil Naish - keyboards, bass programming
- Tim Akers - keyboards
- George Cocchini - guitar
- Mark Douthit - sax
- Jeff Teague - drums
- Bubba Smith - cymbals
- Recorded at: Gold Mine, Omni, Bullet, & Stage III studios
- Mixed at: Woodland Studio