Whiteheart Retrospective – Part 13: The Other Songs
- Whiteheart Retrospective – Part 1: Introduction
- Whiteheart Retrospective – Part 2: The Self-Titled Debut
- Whiteheart Retrospective – Part 3: Vital Signs
- Whiteheart Retrospective – Part 4: Hotline
- Whiteheart Retrospective – Part 5: Don’t Wait for the Movie
- Whiteheart Retrospective – Part 6: Emergency Broadcast
- Whiteheart Retrospective – Part 7: Freedom
- Whiteheart Retrospective – Part 8: Powerhouse
- Whiteheart Retrospective – Part 9: Tales of Wonder
- Whiteheart Retrospective – Part 10: Highlands
- Whiteheart Retrospective – Part 11: Inside
- Whiteheart Retrospective – Part 12: Redemption
- Whiteheart Retrospective – Part 13: The Other Songs
Throughout their career, Whiteheart released a number of songs that didn’t end up on any of their full-length albums. I’m not going to do a deep dive into each song, but I did want to highlight a few of my favorites from their catalog. These songs span most of their run and are fun glimpses into where the band found itself at each given moment, stylistically speaking.
“Gloria” is a Christmas song early in the band’s career, when Scott Douglas was the lead singer. It’s big and bold and highlights the band’s incredible range.
Next up, we get a live performance of a song Billy and Gersh wrote but that never appeared on a Whiteheart album – other than their live album, Live at Six Flags from 1986. It was recorded in 1984 while Douglas was still the leader singer. The song in question, “Hosanna” was later recorded by Sandi Patty, with guest vocals by Second Chapter of Acts for Patty’s 1986 classic, Morning Like This. I’ve always loved this song, and I do wish Whiteheart had been able to find room for it on one of their albums.
Whiteheart really should have gone ahead and made an entire album of Christmas music. Here’s their version of “Lift Up Your Head” from Handel’s Young Messiah. The suits and hair are glorious!
Between Highlands and Inside, Whiteheart released two “Best Of” albums – the only band-approved best of albums. They were divided into two groups – Rock and Radio classics. For these two albums, the band recorded four new songs. They are all great, but unfortunately, they are not available on Spotify so here are the YouTube videos.
I’ve left the best for last. For many, this is the definitive version of “Little Drummer Boy“. Whiteheart’s take has everything you could want. It retains the classic hallmarks that make the song a Christmas favorite, but it does it in a way only Whiteheart could have come up with.
Final Thoughts
This is not mean to be comprehensive. Whiteheart released a number of songs that never made it on one of their albums that I didn’t mention here. These are just some of my favorites and highlight what I love most about their music. Feel free to let me know which songs you love in the comment section below or on any of our social media profiles. I have one more article planned for this series, and I hope to publish it over the next few weeks. Thanks so much for reading!
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