Pantano-Salsbury

Back when Ron Salsbury started JC Power Outlet in 1971 with his good friend John Pantano, they were part of one of the few Christian rock bands in existence. Although at first the group lacked experience, it wasn't long before JC Power Outlet developed into a polished band of professionals with many admirers. One of the admirers, Larry Norman, asked the band to play on a couple of songs in the studio with him.

JC Power Outlet soon recorded their first album for Word Records on the newly formed Myrrh label. The album contained several Ron Salsbury classics, but it was never widely accepted because Christian rock was too new to be fully appreciated. The group's second album, FORGIVEN, featured several popular Jesus Music tunes like "I Choose To Follow You" and "Don't Let Jesus Pass You By."

In 1975, JC Power Outlet left the Myrrh label and Ron and John disbanded the group. Although they stopped touring and dropped the name, the duo still continued to write songs together. During all the years the band had been together, Ron and John had still been in contact with Larry Norman . When Larry began forming his own record label, he asked them if they wanted to join him. They agreed, and Pantano/Salsbury became a part of Solid Rock.

Hit The Switch Solid Rock 1978
I'm Just A Record
People Tend To Forget
John Pantano and Ron Salsbury were the main dudes behind the JC Power Outlet, who cranked out two classic slabs of raw, uproarious Jesus music in the early 70's. Linking up with Larry Norman for this session, the boys smoothed out the edges some, attempting to be taken more seriously as rock artists. The end results are mixed. 'Soul Seeker' and 'Hold On' are both decent slow jams, more progressive than anything they'd done previously, allowing some stretched-out guitar soloing for Pantano. Outside of that though there's precious little rock here, side two being almost entirely ballads. As far as soft rock goes it's ok stuff, but if you're expecting more JC Power Outlet grunge look elsewhere. KS