Eddy Grant appreciation and discussion thread

I can't believe this guy doesn't have a dedicated thread here.

I always kinda dug his 80s hits in a sort of "Where Are They Now?" kind of way. Discovered The Equals through a dollar-bin find a while back (and have a fun time playing "can you guess who the singer here is?" with victims -- er, houseguests). The Equals kindled curiosity about his later career. Picked up a few of his 80s albums & found KotR and (to a lesser extent) Going for Broke really enjoyable. Born Tuff was pretty dire. Have been looking for a copy of Walking on Sunshine (which has a rave review on Allmusic FWIW) for a while now -- finally picked one up today & am just about to spin it.

There's precious little info about the other albums he released in the early 80s, from which I surmise they're awful. But maybe not! Whaddaya know, ilx?

I've had Electric Avenue on a K-Tel collection since I was a little kid. Beyond that I don't know anything about Eddy Grant.

I'm romancing the stone, never leaving your poor heart alone

is there a thread for soundtrack songs that awkwardly insert the film title into the lyrics?

I think Grant wrote that song hoping the movie's producers would pick it up for the theme, but they never did. I remember going to the movie hoping (and expecting) to hear it & was baffled by its non-inclusion.

Title track of "Walking on Sunshine" is a total jam. RIYL Prince for sure.

"Living on the Front Line" is really good too, socially conscious electro-reggae. There's a total "WHOA!" moment when it transitions from the track proper into a crazy dub version.

Side 2 isn't nearly as compelling until the final track which is this crazy proto-house burbler with jazzy overtones and eerie chanting in the background. This record would have been an amazing EP.

I went as Electric Avenue once for Halloween and it was my favorite costume ever. I also love the 12" version of Time Warp.

I'm romancing the stone, never leaving your poor heart alone

is there a thread for soundtrack songs that awkwardly insert the film title into the lyrics?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tajdHgg6TF8

4 eva

followed by

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pS8jalMb0VM

'Do You Feel My Love' is so great:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BTeRY95lLS0

And one of my favorite discoveries so far from the ~~~1970s SOUL/DISCO/FUNK ALBUMS POLL~~~:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C_9lZG91cyY

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2sP2R4tGC5s

compare + contrast

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zOk0TrgG7gw

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gRmUCqr5KDs

Time Warp forever and ever

Best thing I ever read about Eddy Grant: https://m.box.com/shared_item/https%3A%2F%2Fwww.box.com%2Fs%2Fqq9kia82v8vyeuq9sz6c

(Linked from here if it works better: http://yrheartout.blogspot.co.uk/2012_03_01_archive.html )

There's a great chapter on EG in Lloyd Bradley's Sounds Like London

Discovered The Equals through a dollar-bin find a while back (and have a fun time playing "can you guess who the singer here is?" with victims -- er, houseguests).

Eddy Grant wasn't the singer in the Equals, he played guitar.

political bossa
it's political bossa bossa

Eddy Grant wasn't the singer in the Equals, he played guitar.
Well, that would explain why the game is so hard.

Tim - thanks for that article. Great stuff! Exactly what I was hoping for when I started this thread.

Mystic Syster: holy shit!

I had no idea about his involvement in the original Police on my Back until like a year ago

Classic obviously

he is so fucking great

his greatest hits are just jam after jam after jam

I Don't Wanna Dance was a big hit with my parents back when I was really young.

As a kid I instantly loved anything on the radio which had crazy synth sounds so electric avenue was my instant favorite jam when it hit the top 40

Listening to all the Equals stuff on Spotify tonight, can't. Relieve I've never heard this stuff before, apart from Baby Come Back (and the Clash's version of Police on My Back). They were great!

Can't believe I mean.

I had not heard 'me till tonight either I confess. Some great funky, soulful rockin tunes

Listened to top tracks again today. Good stuff

Just now getting to their amazing later stuff.

Disco-funk and glam-punk.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P5G3Ffta-ic

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NXIORSJQ99E

And this clip for "Police on My Back" is something.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WXJxYNUoJKs

http://pitchfork.com/features/article/9916-black-skin-blue-eyed-boys-the-story-of-pioneering-interracial-rock-band-the-equals/

Interesting article from July 2016

here's an eddy grant soca production from the '90s:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ig_gWaJSyHw

he is so fucking great

his greatest hits are just jam after jam after jam

Ah man, knowing you're a fan just makes me kick myself harder for not pointing out Electric Avenue when we walked past it!

oh man! a shame for sure but we will remedy this wrong next time around!

I'm not sure there'll be a next time - I don't live in London any more! Unless you plan on playing in Hastings. Which I suppose isn't completely out of the question. The Jesus & Mary Chain are playing in Bexhill next April and that's only a few miles away.

By which I mean some bands do play within a few miles of me. Not to compare you to the JAMC, that wouldn't make much sense.

we will inaugurate the Electric Avenue of Hastings

Is this not on the thread? So great.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zh7hwlWf2II

just ran across this one randomly. great 12" from around the time of the "mystic syster" lp. goddamn monster this is.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5tJ1HokH5wY

is there a thread for soundtrack songs that awkwardly insert the film title into the lyrics?

was gonna post about Eddy Grant but I read this post and it reminded me of my favorite comedy sketch so here you go

http://www.cc.com/video-clips/outmdh/key-and-peele-ray-parker-jr--theme-songs

Jesus someone just repress the Zappatta Schmidt and 32nd Turn Off records already, I can’t pay what they’re askin

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RtC0_Ch22m8

he is so fucking great

his greatest hits are just jam after jam after jam

― though she denies it to the press, (Joan Crawford Loves Chachi), Tuesday, September 27, 2016 12:10 AM (six years ago) bookmarkflaglink

saw a greatest hits LP at the shop this week and remembered this post so I bought it. you're right, this is so much fun. the keyboards he uses are so cool

He's brilliant, stupidly underrecognised. Walking on Sunshine is a top 20 album ever for me.

So underrecognised in fact that his discography is really hard to navigate. I went a long time without even knowing his 1975 self-titled was an actual album and not just a compilation because some of his little internet biographies don't even mention it. Likewise, he was supposed to have left the Equals in the early 70s, but how does that explain the Mystic Syster album from 78 that is basically never mentioned anywhere?

Basically he needs a good book written about him and his discography. He's an incredibly interesting figure as it is anyway - a pre-80s entrepreneurial Black Briton who started two pioneering world labels in the 70s, had his own recording studio but who for a lengthy period only sold his solo albums outside the UK (mostly in Nigeria it would seem) until the whole unlikely UK breakthrough story about unloading leftover stock of WoS in random London record shops when Nigeria banned imports and etc. etc. All the while making incredibly inventive hybrid pop music.

Loads of Equals collections on streaming, but "Stand Up and Be Counted" is a top tier Sly Stone type thing and I can't find it! I used to have the single.

Not a book, and I’ve talked about this zine before on these boards but the pdf linked from here is the best thing I’ve ever read about Eddy:

https://yrheartout.blogspot.com/2012/03/

Didn't know about this. Can't get the pdf to work :( Opens a blank window

I tried once to do Eddy a bit, it's alright. https://jointhedotsreview.blogspot.com/2021/06/eddy-grant-walking-on-sunshine-1978.html

I love that piece.

Try this link: https://www.dropbox.com/s/9lpiogjdsuglhpv/yho%20-%20cognition.pdf?dl=0

that doot-do-do-do keyboard bit during the chorus of Electric Avenue is like one of the funniest musical figures I've ever heard in a song

actually a lot of his songs sound really funny to me. "Romancing the Stone" and "Hello Africa" particularly. even "Boys on the Street" which sounds like an 80s WWE theme. man when I was 12 I remember seeing an Eddy Grant CD in the shop and utimately passing on it, too bad I think I really would've liked it

There's a great chapter on EG in Lloyd Bradley's Sounds Like London

― mahb, Monday, 26 September 2016 14:56 (six years ago) bookmarkflaglink

Second this

I'm gonna have to read that (belated thanks to Tim/Tracer Hand for that excellent zine feature btw). I do maintain he desperately needs a biography written.

Finally gave up on ever finding these in the wild, ordered and received Mystic Syster and Zappatta Schmidt off Discogs. Worth it!

Man, Numero or someone should do a career-spanning box set. Even of just the Equals stuff. Their early 70s glam-stomping period (e.g.) has never been properly represented on LP.

And then there’s Eddy’s production and writing work for all those President groups (another box set)

And then there’s Torpedo Records — looks like a single LP comp was released a while back, but not a comprehensive one.

Not to mention Ice and all his solo stuff, just up to the major label years. Man, what a machine he was.

I can't even get Walking on Sunshine on CD at a decent price and that's one of my 20 favourite albums ever

Early 80s CDs that weren’t multibillion sellers are often worth more than you might expect.

If you’re in the US, shipping on this one is probably ok — pretty much every other copy is $$$ tho

https://www.discogs.com/sell/item/1670938375

I’ll keep an eye out for you — CD inflation really isn’t a thing in my town yet (double-edged sword because I have thousands to get rid of)

hey HD! do you think the below is a good representation of the Equals ooover? are the later tracks the glam stompers two which you refer?

https://www.discogs.com/release/2986429-The-Equals-Black-Skin-Blue-Eyed-BoysThe-Anthology

I didn't realise until today due to a coincidence that this thread was revived the same day I decided to play the Rockers Revenge 12" I bought last week, that Walking On Sunshine was an Eddy Grant cover.

xps I'm UK-based so unfortunately the p&p there is quite hefty. £32 probably isn't bad as a total for an album I want so much but I live in hope I can find the 2008 edition for a similar amount, as I once did when I couldn't afford it.

But yes thanks though!

hey HD! do you think the below is a good representation of the Equals ooover? are the later tracks the glam stompers two which you refer?

https://www.discogs.com/release/2986429-The-Equals-Black-Skin-Blue-Eyed-BoysThe-Anthology🕸

I’m hardly an expert, just kind of finding stuff out as I go along

so it's not just a clever name.

(just goofin - really enjoying your check-ins here!)

LOL, no, I am indeed a hardcore dilettante. ADHD stops me taking over the world.

For the benefit of anyone trying to dig into the Equals on Spotify, it’s just crammed with low-rent bootleg comps — most of which, sadly, are derived from what appears to be 1980s re-recordings of their hits. (Dead giveaway is anything with “Domino” on it — yes, the Van Morrison song — which appears to first show its sorry face on a comp of re-recordings.)

This comp, though, as far as I can tell, uses the original recordings.

https://open.spotify.com/album/5JOahHmuGncBJqkCH6RuXZ?si=5GbHthGhT_6hTtG1Wwu3JA

And it has a bunch of otherwise tough to find songs — including (so improbably!) their last President single, “Beautiful Clown,” a glam stomper to be sure. My best guess with Beautiful Clown is that it was an early-70s recording from the same vein (maybe even session?) as “Diversion”, and that President hauled it out of the vaults for some reason in ‘77.

Spinning that comp, I can’t understand why the Equals aren’t revered as gods in the world of garage & bubblegum soul. I hadn’t realized just how MANY high-energy fuzz mod stompers they cut. If the songwriting is less than cutting edge or emotionally resonant, the performances are almost always compelling. Much of their output sits somewhere between, like, the Ohio Express and the Seeds or something.

one of my fav new indie bands (being dead) did a fun cover of "michael and the slipper tree"

https://www.thefader.com/2023/11/16/being-dead-michael-and-the-slipper-tree-cover

Yeah the Equals kind of amazed me when I found them (documented upthread somewhere), like how did I not know about this? I'm sure lack of a major U.S. impact is part of it, at least on this side of the Atlantic. But they were great!

electric avenue is not on any streaming services, which I discovered to my annoyance while being on Electric Avenue in Venice

i am listening to electric avenue on spotify right now!

Electric Avenue (Karaoke Version) doesn’t count.

lol

one of my fav new indie bands (being dead) did a fun cover of "michael and the slipper tree"

https://www.thefader.com/2023/11/16/being-dead-michael-and-the-slipper-tree-cover🕸

Listened to the cover. It’s cute. I liked the accompanying interview:

What does this song/band mean to you personally?

Within every one of us is a slipper tree blooming with gorgeous footwear for all the world to see and enjoy. It’s important not to lose sight of that, ya know?

Does anyone know of a definitive Eddy discography? As I've said in this thread before his catalogue is pretty hard to follow - stuff just gets omitted randomly in ones I've seen, and sometimes other things appear that I had no idea about. It's sort of like being into Barry Blue but ten times as strange.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iqmZTKXEhWQ

Eddy is a Partizan fan

Great interview with Eddy here: https://online.berklee.edu/takenote/podcast-episode-041-eddy-grant-on-arriving-at-electric-avenue-by-fortuitous-events-that-included-heart-problems-lost-luggage-and-more/

I think California Style is my favorite song by him. one of those songs that should go on for an hour

I really wish he would just set up a bandcamp site. I'd love to pay him for FLACs. The MP3 store on his site is...better than nothing, I guess? It's missing a couple of his solo albums (s/t, Barefoot Soldier) and has none of The Equals. And then there is the pricing - each album of mp3s is $10, but each individual track is $0.90 - so for 9 of the albums it's cheaper to buy the individual tracks (Love In Exile only comes out to $6.30) and for 6 others it's cheaper to pay $10 (the Hit Collection comes out to $23.40...)

I started reading this thread only the other day. I remember years ago I wouldn't have bothered listening to the Equals. I probably just thought it was some old junk that was completely outmoded. And I also didn't like his early '80s solo hits. At that time I was into funk and jazz funk and so on, and I just didn't like those Eddy Grant tracks at all. I think I didn't like the poppiness of them.

But after reading some of this thread, I listened to quite a few Equals tracks and also a couple of the '80s hits and I have completely revised my opinion. I think Eddy Grant is a genius. I also watched a very long YouTube interview with him, which was really interesting. I loved his account of coming to London for the first time in the early 1960s, and his perception of the Beatles when they first emerged.

it's interesting. sometimes in the past i'd hear people talk positively about their own work and think they were exaggerating. listening to grant, i hear someone who has a lot of insight into his work and his career. when he says that he can play pretty much every style of music, that he's done all kinds of stuff that nobody except for the hardcore record collectors knows about, i believe it. i've heard so little of what he's done but what i hear is the work of someone who's incredibly talented, and hearing grant talk, he's grateful for the success and recognition that he's had and at the same time... like, what he said about "electric avenue", he worked in music for a long time, went through all kinds of weird circumstances, had hits everywhere except america, and he finally breaks through in america with a song that was maybe the best song he'd written to that time.

and then america is like "that was nice, what else you got?"

Boy, the Equals stuff is so good!! Tho, "Softly Softly" is... startling... to the extent the folks involved clearly listened to "Satisfaction" a time or two:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=guUtQ5YfZkk

"Michael and the Slipper Tree" is an amazing track...

What is the hardest jam in the world, and why is it "I Get So Excited"? (!)

xp agreed, hardcore dilettante notm

Obv some folks dig it. That I’m not among them shouldn’t tarnish your enjoyment.

brand new shoes for you and me!

Oh, I didn't see hd's post about re-recordings... huh. Both the comps I listened to today have "Domino" on them... guess I'll have to scour YouTube more for verified originals (...not that this knowledge makes the versions I heard any less awesome-sounding!)