Allies
Virtues
Remembered primarily as the first successful pairing of Bob Carlisle and Randy Thomas, the Allies produced classic rock-pop albums that were ahead of their time for the Christian market in the late '80s. Before the Allies, Thomas was already well known in Christian circles for his role in the highly influential group, Sweet Comfort Band (which also included Bryan Duncan). The demise of that seminal act led him to contact old friends for a reunion of ex's from two previous outings: he had played with Carlisle and Jim Erikson in the 1970's band Psalm 150 (which also included future members of Andraé Crouch's Disciples, Damn Yankees, and Night Ranger) and with Sam Scott and Matt Chapman in a group called Sonrise. Thus in 1984 the Allies were born in San Bernardino, California. In later years, Chapman would turn up playing bass in Clash of Symbols, and Carlisle would earn fame for his ballad "Butterfly Kisses," written with Thomas.