Ken and Paul Janz 1987

I believe this was the birthday party of Leo Janz.
Special music provided by his sons and ex-Deliverance members, Ken and Paul Janz. Danny Janz was around, but not involved in this piece.

Ever since I attended Black Forest Academy in the late 70's, I have had this mild obsession with our local band, the European rock band Deliverance. The band has hung around in my mind like the ghost of a person taken too soon, by unexplained means, doomed to roam the earth until their vindication. Like Canada's Avro Arrow, a program nipped in the bud by paranoid governments. Like a scratch I can't itch, I continue to search for that elusive radio version of my favorite song by my favorite band, that for some reason has been shrouded in secrecy since their disbandment 25 years ago. Despite their very best efforts to the contrary*, this band has made a lasting impression on me, both with their stunning harmonies and talent, and through their continued devotion to the message they were trying to spread in the 70's.

Until the advent of the internet, the only trace of Deliverance I could find has been the delete bins of old record stores where the occasional Attic Records version of Tightrope or Atlantic's Lasting Impressions could be found, and the occasional person who was returning from Germany and had contact with the band members. Now there are a handful of websites that present a reasonably accurate history of the band, not totally accurate but better than nothing. The secrecy, I believe is due to two facts: one, the band no longer exists, and two there was a lawsuit which invalidated the licence of the group for radio play, thus ending all distribution. I am continually amazed that in this age of the internet that the music hasn't resurfaced, but all searches through Kazaa, GNU networks, Napster, etc lead to a dead-end. Why? Where is the music? What happened to the fans? Are the only fans friends of the group who, like me, feel like they're betraying a friendship by pirating and distributing these works? If a band is invalidated by law are their works still protected?

I am opening up this site to everyone who may have material and stories to share regarding the European band Deliverance. If you want to be a member of this blog so you can add entries, let me know in the comments, and I'll add you to the list. Please, I don't want anything from the metal band Deliverance, which emerged in the US a few years later. If you know if this other Deliverance had something to do with the demise of the former (namely - are they the plaintiffs in the lawsuit?) Please let us know!

For starters, I have the contents of a few web pages with fairly complete history's of the band. Soon I'll have scanned cover art of their four albums (yes, there's four! not three) and other tidbits. I am in the process of converting the three later albums to mp3's for my own use. If smell is the sense most closely linked to memory, music has to be the second, and I am ready for a trip to my past.


* Danny and Ken were asked to speak to each of the domitories of Black Forest Academy, to encourage us to NOT buy their newest album Tightrope, because it wasn't overtly Christian, and was not sanctioned by the Janz Team nor the BFA school board. They did however explain to us their target audience, and how this kind of music is the only way to get close to those people, and this was their ministry. Funny ... we couldn't listen to their music, but we attended the same church, they had their kids in our elementary school, and the drummer was their art teacher! Perhaps distributing albums at school (at first) wasn't such a good idea.
In retrospect there were issues we were shielded from, and the people in charge, had ample grounds for their cautious attitude. I am happy to see that everyone has turned out OK in the end.