friend and frequent co-producer) which they named Sounds of Joy. This led to an opportunity to play at the high school they attended which opened many opportunities to share their faith with other classmates during this remarkable time in history. Sounds of Joy covered artists like Love Song and Larry Norman. The group ended up recording 3 albums of their own, one of which was produced by Gary Paxton. At one point in the 70s, Sounds of Joy got the opportunity to open for the Imperials who were recognized as one of the trailblazing artists in the field of what became known as Contemporary Christian Music (CCM). The Imperials Sometime prior to 1976 Taff toured as a singer with evangelist Jerry Seville. Aside from the opportunity to perform, he was "really studying the Bible" after his many years of being influenced by the emotionalism of his Pentecostal upbringing. In 1976, having made an impression on the group 2 years earlier, The Imperials called with an offer to audition for the position as the group's new lead singer. Two weeks before his 23rd birthday, Taff traveled to Nashville where the try outs were taking place. Taff said "I sang with them that afternoon and that evening they hired me. I joined the Imperials when I was 22, and I’ve been riding buses ever since." His first appearance on an Imperials album was on 1977's Sail On which won the Grammy for Best Gospel Performance, Contemporary Or Inspirational. Taff remained their lead singer from 1976 through 1981 for what is recognized as the Imperials most successful period as a group. Part of the reason Taff left the group in 1981 was due to the financial arrangements he had with them. He was paid a straight salary for his work within the group which meant he did not share in any of the monies generated by ticket or album sales. Mark Allen Powell, writing in the ECCM, opined that this arrangement was likely fine when he first signed on with the Imperials, but was not an equitable situation when Taff's membership turned the group into the ‘single best-selling contemporary Christian music group’ in the US for the period of time he was a member. During his time with the Imperials the group garnered 3 Grammys and 5 Dove Awards with Taff earning 1 Dove Award himself. It was also during this time, at