Spirit’s 12 minute self-titled track from the 1979 album ‘Put Your Hands Together’ gets an official re-issue on Rain&Shine. Backed with a perfectly edited edit for DJ and dancefloor use, contributed by legends Zaf & Phil Asher. A tough (and expensive) pull destined to never see a re-issue despite years of persuasion by Rain&Shine has finally come together with the blessing of producer Tim Johnson. Spirit was a group from Washington DC that formed after a chance encounter with Ohio Gospel musician Tim Johnson in a carpark on a Saturday morning. Tim had played alongside and opened for great acts including Shirley Caesar, The Ohio Players, The Hawkins Family and The O’Jays to name a few. Tim quickly become the band leader and started writing original songs for the group to perform. Prior to recording ‘Put Your Hands Together’ the band stopped all engagements for 3 months and rehearsed relentlessly. This enabled them to travel back to Peppermint Studios in Ohio and lay down the entire album in a single day! Spirit’s sound was ahead of it’s time, incorporating funk and other secular music to progress the Gospel sound. Tim say’s it a great feeling to see his music being enjoyed on the dancefloor around the globe almost 40 years after it’s original release. His message for the world today is written in another song from ‘Put Your

Hands Together’ (Help Your Fellow Man). “We must learn to help our fellow man and spread a little Joy and Peace all through the land”. Music with a message more relevant now than ever.