Wide-Eyed Wonder - Recording History

Recording History

Making up for their almost non-existent promotion of Chase the Kangaroo, Myrrh Records pulled out all the stops with this album, which was—perhaps not coincidentally—the band's most commercial release to date. Wide-Eyed Wonder was everywhere, from a Christian radio special to non-stop advertisements in a wide variety of Christian magazines to heavy promotion in Christian bookstores to the band's first CCM Magazine cover story. Even two music videos and a making-of documentary were released in conjunction with the album. If that wasn't enough, the band's profile was raised even further when they were the sole opening act for Russ Taff on a national tour.

A lot of important events had taken place in the prior two years which gave the record company much to promote, but more importantly, gave The Choir a lot to address musically. The band had added its first (and to date, only) female member in Robin Spurs, who joined The Choir as their new bassist after a stint with local Los Angeles phenomenon The Toasters. A female bassist was quite a novelty in itself, but Spurs was unique in Christian music at the time, and the fact that she was also very attractive certainly helped the promotion of the album. It was obvious from band newsletters and the Wide-Eyed Wonder documentary that Spurs brought a new energy to the band, becoming the first member to have a song written specifically about them ("Robin Had A Dream").

However, the real story of the album comes from the life of songwriter and drummer Steve Hindalong. In the same year that Wide-Eyed Wonder was recorded, he and his wife Nancy had their first child, Emily, which made the tragic personal events detailed in "Sad Face" on their prior record seem like a distant memory. Most of the songs on the album deal with Hindalong's joy over new fatherhood ("To Cover You," "When She Sees Me" and the title track) or the importance of family life ("Happy Fool," "To Bid Farewell"). As a result, the album is the most upbeat recording The Choir ever released, although hints of darkness sneak out in songs like "Robin Had A Dream" and especially "Car, Etc." which shows that the band had not abandoned its penchant for moody experimentation. In keeping with the spirit of the album, the band even spoofs that tendency on the final track.

After assisting with the recording of Chase the Kangaroo, late singer/songwriter Mark Heard came onboard to produce two tracks for the album, including the band's first cover song, "Behind That Locked Door", written by ex-Beatle George Harrison. This unusual choice didn't sit well with many critics at the time, who pointed out that the song didn't fit with the rest of the record. Whether stung by that criticism or not, The Choir would never again record another cover song for one of their own albums, although after the death of Heard, they recorded one of his songs ("Tip of My Tongue") featured on two tribute albums dedicated to him.