RICK CUA - KOO-AH (1982, REFUGE RECORDS)
Rick Cua - lead vocals, bass
Will McFarlane, Freddie Salem, Hughie Thomasson - guitars
Robbie Dupree - harmonica, background vocals
John Rosasco - keyboards, background vocals
Jeff Levine - organ
Joe English, David Dix - drums
Matt Greeley - percussion
Jim Hall, Diane Tidwell, Lisa Silver, Donna McElroy, Marty McCall - background vocals

Background
The Christian music scene in 1982 was strange to say the least with numerous rockers from well known bands coming out of the 'born again' closet. Suddenly it was cool for religious bookstores to carry Kansas albums because of the 'conversion' of a couple group members. Fine and dandy, but when it came to light former Outlaws bass player Rick Cua was a Christian and released a solo album, you couldn't score a copy of 'Ghost Riders' in any Christian outlet to save your life, yet the religious press embraced Cua as one of their own, pumping every last drop of his hard rock to salvation story for all it was worth.

The Songs
Of course a musician's past does not guarantee a future and of all his solo albums, 'Koo-ah' is the most representative of his southern rock roots, although it's far from a kick ass, triple guitar extravaganza. Some familiar names pop up on the record, former Outlaws band mates Freddie Salem and Hughie Thomasson, west coast wonder boy Robbie Dupree, Jim Hall from Orleans and others contribute to an album that in my opinion never quite gets off the ground despite its all-star cast. The Bob Halligan Jr penned 'Fly Me To Heaven' is a promising start, as is 'Spirit' which brings to mind the early albums by Louisiana's Le Roux, but it's down hill from there, at least on side one. 'The Rock Was Rolled Away goes on way too long while 'Eternity' and 'Heaven Was Made For Everybody' just don't cut it as good songs, more as filler really with the latter a sing-along feel good tune so common with early 80's CCM that in the end just makes me want to cringe. Side two's cleverly(!) titled 'You Can Still Rock N' Roll' is just Ok, nothing spectacular, although 'Crossfire' and especially 'I Wanna Be Like You' are actually quite good and again the LeRoux comparisons are inevitable. It's too bad he didn't do more of this; it would have made for a better record.

In Summary
Despite this shaky start, Cua did pretty well for himself throughout the 80's and early 90's, touring relentlessly and selling a fair amount of product. I had a chance to see him at a local High School gym in 1992 and I was surprised by his ability to put on a good show despite some questionable material, although towards the end of the concert when everything turned 'preachy' I bolted for the nearest exit!

URL: www.rickcua.com

Track Listing:
01 Fly Me To Heaven
02 Spirit
03 The Rock Was Rolled Away
04 Eternity
05 Heaven Was Made For Everybody
06 You Can Still Rock 'N' Roll
07 Crossfire
08 Just A Little Bit More
09 I Wanna Be Like You
10 Melt My Heart

Related Articles:

Rick Cua - 1982 Koo - Ah

Rick Cua - 1992 The Way Love Is

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