Reviewed by Mike Rimmer

In some areas of the Church, the work of the London Community Gospel Choir has attracted criticism and controversy. Their choice to add their talents to the biggest mainstream acts in the world from Madonna to Luther Vandross and their appearances as the spiritual music of choice for big name celebrity weddings means that they are salt and light out in the world rather than just playing in churches and who could argue that this isn't a good thing? Well plenty of people sadly! Right from the very start, it was thus as choir members struggled with the pressures of rival denominations objecting to the inclusive nature of the choir. And then of course, a debut single on a mainstream record label. Down the road, The Inspirational Choir were doing their thing on Stiff Records but LCGC came out with a much more poppy commercial sound for their debut single "Fill My Cup" in 1984. The 12 inch has a wonderful extended version of the tune and if memory serves me correctly, Howard Francis is contributing the lead vocals. This being the '80s and a 12 inch single, there's a dub mix as the B side with plenty of production trickery and some nice vocals that are just waiting there to be sampled by a DJ. Sadly it wasn't a hit so the label lost interest in taking things forward which is a shame. Still just over 25 years later, the sound of the cutting edge of gospel in the '80s still retains its charm.

The opinions expressed in this article are not necessarily those held by Cross Rhythms. Any expressed views were accurate at the time of publishing but may or may not reflect the views of the individuals concerned at a later date.

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