Billboard posted this glowing review of Coldwater Army‘s debut album on Agape, a subsidiary label of Starday-King, in their July 10, 1971 edition:
This is quite an extraordinary first record for a group. It features some of the tightest arrangements heard in a while and vocals that flow well with the music. To say the Coldwater Army is a brass based group would not be fair, although their brass section is dynamite. The LP must be taken as one unit as the Army marches along to the beat of a different drummer. One of the brightest groups to appear in a very long time.
“Hey People“
Coldwater Army (1971)
Four months prior, Billboard had posted a ‘General News’ item in their March 20, 1971 edition that announced “Starday-King Forms Agape, a New Label“:
NEW YORK — The Starday-King Music Group has formed a new label, Agape Records. According to Hal Neely, president of Starday-King, the new label will serve as an outlet for the increasing number of contemporary pop, rock and country-rock records scheduled for release later this month, while other labels within the Starday-King complex will continue their output of specialty product.
“The significance of the label name we’ve chosen,” said Neely, “derives from the Latin and means ‘love, feast and fellowship.’ In some early Christian times the Feast of Agape was celebrated in good spirit, brotherhood and acts of charity–so much of which is reflected in contemporary music and stressed in the lyric content of the new generation of songwriters. He added, “We hope to bring some of that early spirit of the ancients into modern times.” (Agape is pronounced ah-goh-pay.)
Several artists have already been signed to Agape including songwriter – singer – producer Myrna March from New York; Fort Worth, Tex. producer David Anderson; a rock group from Georgia known as Coldwater Army to be produced by Bobby Smith; First Friday who will be produced by Darrell Glenn, and a Miami-based unit whose production will be undertaken by veteran producer Kelso Herston.
Agape’s initial product will feature singles by Miss March and Anderson. While Miss March has written a great deal of product for Starday-King artists, and recently produced Tony & Carol and the Manhattans for King via her Make Music Productions with Bert Keyes, she is making her Agape debut with a Bee Gees song, “Touch and Understand Love” backed with her own “I Can Remember.” Recorded in Nashville, her sessions were under the personal supervision of Neely. Anderson’s release will be “Songbird.” Prior recordings by David Anderson with the company will ultimately be switched over to the Agape label.
Initially, the Agape label will be managed and administered by the staff of Starday-King with heavy responsibilities falling to sales manager Lee Trimble, Mike Kelly in the East, Bob Patton in the Midwest and Dexter Shaffer on the West Coast will coordinate regional promotion for all new releases and the over-all operations will be guided by Neely and vice-presidents Henry Glover and Jim Wilson.
The inception of Agape marks the latest in a series of moves towards the rebuilding of Starday-King under the encouragement and guidance of the LIN Broadcasting Corp., of which it is a division. In addition to strengthening the operations of the Starday and King labels, the company has reactivated the old Macon, Ga.-based Federal label and the original DeLuxe Records, a blues-rock label. Recent increased activity, too, has centered on the jazz-oriented Bethlehem label with particular interest focusing on the big sounds of Oscar Brandenburg.
Coldwater Army’s debut/only album Peace would also find release in 1971 in Canada, albeit on Columbia [speaking of which: Seymour Stein, you might recall, had curated a pair of King hits anthologies for “Big Red” in 1967 — see here and here]. Peace was issued for the first time on compact disc in 2017.
Auction prices for Coldwater Army’s debut album on Agape