In early 1986 the Altar Boys headed into the studio to record 11 new songs for a third record that would result in the critically acclaimed release: “Gut Level Music.” Initially, the group recorded a basic guitar, bass, and drum tracks for all 11 songs. Somewhere in the recording process the producers of the record and band decided to trim the album down to just 10 songs. The song they decided to leave off GLM was called “I Just Can’t Let Go.” This decision meant that “I Just Can’t Let Go” would not be finished and was permanently shelved, and literally forgotten. With the original GLM 24 track tapes long gone and damaged in the early 90s, the only remaining recording of this song was a on a reference mix found on a cassette tape stuffed in Mike Stand’s desk drawer. Mike recounts some of the history of ‘I Just Can’t Let Go:’ The odd thing about this song is that I don’t believe we had ever played it live. Therefore, it was virtually untested and kind of put together and arranged by the band rather quickly. All of the tunes on GLM, as well as all of the songs on previous Altar boys recordings, were always put out there before a live audience and tweaked quite a bit before heading into the studio. So the idea of recording a song in this manner was very unlike us, as we were always wanting to make sure that we really owned the songs before going into the studio, We never had the time to do a lot of experimenting when doing an album, so we had no choice but to be very prepared before heading into the studio.” According to Mike’s lyric book, I “Just Can’t Let Go” was written sometime in the summer of 1984 when he lived on Stephens street in Fullerton. The song is sandwiched between early sketches of “Final Hour” and a finished version of “Calling to You” - both of these songs wound up on GLM. “I don’t remember exactly why we didn’t finish ‘I Just Can’t Let Go in the studio,” Mike recanted. “Perhaps we really only had time to finish 10 songs, and so one had to be left off, and that was ‘I Just Can’t Let go.’ It is also possible that we felt ‘I Just Can’t Let Go’ was not as strong as some of the others. Either way, we kind of just forgot about the song and moved on to the next record.” Whatever the case is for not finishing “I Just Can’t Let Go,” had it not been for a cassette tape that contained all the basic tracks from GLM, this song would have been virtually forgotten. At the urging of both Greg Hays at Girder records and his son Keith, Mike revisited the basic track of “I Just Can’t Let Go” and was able to remember the vocal melody line some 30 years later – that in it self is a real miracle, as the basic track of the song contained only a guitar, bass, and drums. “I had listened to the song several times over the years and didn’t know the name of it nor the vocal line. For some reason, I kept thinking it was this song called “Secret Fight” – but then I kept thinking, ‘well that couldn’t be it, because we recorded that for Against the Grain, and didn’t release it, so it must be another song.’ I had no idea what song it was.” In the fall of 2014 Girder Records decided to license, re release and re master “Gut Level Music.” As Mike was organizing photos and Altar Boys paraphernalia for the new artwork on the re release he came across an original press release from “Frontline Records” that detailed among other things about the band, a listing of 11 songs, and sure enough listed in the song lineup for “GLM” was a tune called “I Just Can’t Let Go.” Mike began frantically looking through his stash of old lyric books trying to find “I Just Can’t Let Go.” After a good amount of time of digging through a myriad of notebooks Mike found what he was looking for: the original lyrics to “I Just Can’t Let Go” from 1984. So Mike had the lyrics and a basic track with guitar, bass, and drums, but at the time had nothing with a vocal melody. He hunkered down, listened to the basic track while reading the lyrics and tried to remember the vocal line – and nothing came to him. It didn’t click. He tried several times over a week to remember the vocal melody and it just was not coming back to him. He was talking to his son about his frustration and out of the blue his son turned to him and said: “You are Mike Stand, you can do this, go back and try again.” “For some reason his words just woke me up,” Mike remarked. “Keith’s words were sort of a verbal slapping or shaking, and it made me think:‘okay, maybe I can do this, after all, if not me? Then who?’” Mike went back into his studio, sat down, prayed and tried it again. In a short amount of time, it all came back to him. Every lyric line, and musical nuance in “I Just Can’t Let Go” just flowed out of Mike as if he had just written it that day. He quickly made a demo, and believed it was a true miracle from God that it all came back to him. A few weeks later Mike finished off the guitar tracks with his beat up 1953 “GLM” Telecaster and Marshall JCM 800 combo. The same guitar and amp setup he had used on the GLM session. In a few hours he finished a vocal track, and invited band mate Jeff Crandall to do a vocal harmony on the chorus. The song was Mixed and mastered by his son Keith Rogers, and is an Altar Boys anthem that holds up with the best of them. It is a miracle that some 30 years later, a “new” song from the Altar Boys has come into fruition. The release and history of this song is a testament to the longevity and ministry of the Altar Boys. “I Just Can’t Let Go” has found its rightful place alongside all of the groups songs and is a welcome part of the Altar Boys musical history! Addendum: In early 2017 we were made aware of a live youtube video of Altar Boys playing "I Just Can't Let Go" from early 1986. This was an amazing discovery that we were not aware of - much less of the song even being played live in any version. Although there are subtle differences between the early rendition of the tune and the "finished" 2015 recording, the completed studio version of this song, for all intents and purposes, is as good as it gets and is 100 percent Altar Boys! History of the Altar Boys The Altar Boys were one of the most influential Christian punk rock band of the 80’s, hailing from Orange County California. Known for their 3 chords, high-energy, fist in the air, rebels for Jesus anthems, their Ramones-style punk rock was infectious and the delivery by Mike Stand (lead singer) was bold and aggressive. His endless energy was reminiscent of a long distance runner gone rock’n roller. The Altar Boys shared the stage with some of the greatest bands of their time such as The Alarm, Foghat, and Lone Justice and found themselves early on in Southern California playing regularly with their musical buddies Undercover, Lifesavors, Common Bond, The Lifters and The Choir and eventually landing major concert tours taking them throughout Europe, Chile and South America. Altar boys recorded five records in all. \ The Altar Boys first album (self-titled) was released on MRC in 1984. Their follow-up release, “When You’re a Rebel” in 1985 was released on Alarma Records. It wasn’t till Gut Level Music (1986), or GLM as it was commonly referred to, aimed at a more mainstream audience, hit the streets that Altar Boys was ushered into the spotlight, selling nearly 50,000 units. Gut Level Music landed at No. 5 in HM Magazine's “The Top 100 Christian Rock Albums of All Time.” By Doug Van Pelt and was described by JJT (John Thompson) in the book Raised by Wolves, ”Arguably the band's high point”. Steve Rowe of Mortification was quoted saying, “GLM is timeless rock classic, outdoing not just all Christian rock releases, but equal to or better than their secular counterparts The Clash, Bruce Spingsteen & John Cougar Mellencamp.” Altar Boys where Mike Stand (vocals, songwriting, and guitar), Jeff Crandall (drums and BGVs), Ric Alba. (Bass, songwriting, and BGVs). Often joining the group on guitar was Steve Pannier., Mark Robertson later replaced Ric Alba on bass For Fans of The Ramones, The Clash, the Replacements, and other great punk influenced bands from the late 80s, both the music and the message of the Altar Boys album “GLM” is a force to be reckoned with. GLM did not reinvent the “rock’n roll wheel” by any means. However, by its own merit it did set a certain standard by which many artists in this genre could glean and learn from. Like the Gospel itself, GLM is simple, stands on its own, and wants to let you know that in the end:”Life does begin at the Cross”