Eddy Grant
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This article's lead section may not adequately summarize key points of its contents. (January 2012) |
| Eddy Grant | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Background information | |
| Birth name | Edmond Montague Grant |
| Born | 5 March 1948 Plaisance, Guyana |
| Origin | London, England |
| Genres | Reggae, Reggae rock |
| Occupations | Musician |
| Instruments | Vocals, guitar, bass, drums, keyboards |
| Years active | 1968–present |
| Labels | Ice, Portrait, Epic, Enigma, Parlophone |
Edmond Montague "Eddy" Grant (born 5 March 1948) is a musician, born in Plaisance, Guyana.[1]
Life and career
When he was still a young boy, his parents emigrated to London, UK, where he settled. He lived in Kentish Town and went to school at the Acland Burghley Secondary Modern at Tufnell Park. He had his first number one hit in 1968, when he was the lead guitarist and main songwriter of the group The Equals, with his self-penned song "Baby, Come Back".[2] The tune also later topped the UK Singles Chart again when covered by Pato Banton.[3] Notably, he openly used his songwriting for political purposes, especially against the then-current apartheid regime of South Africa. The Clash recorded a version of "Police On My Back" for their Sandinista! set.
Musical achievements
- In 1982, his solo recording of "I Don't Wanna Dance" spent three weeks at Number one in the UK Singles Chart.[4] He scored a Top Ten album in the same year, with Killer on the Rampage.[5]
- "Electric Avenue" was both a UK and US number 2 in 1983, selling over a million copies. A later remix also made the UK Top Ten, in 2001.[5]
- In 1984, Grant had a hit single in the US with his original song written to accompany the Michael Douglas and Kathleen Turner film, Romancing the Stone. Despite being commissioned by the film's producers, all but the guitar solo (which played when Douglas and Turner were in a small house in the jungle) would be cut from the film during its final edit. The song, which was Grant's latest Hot 100 hit, did not appear on its soundtrack. Grant released the song as a single with the original video that featured scenes from the film. Later the video was re-edited without the Romancing the Stone clips.
- His later single, "Gimme Hope Jo'anna", during the apartheid regime ("Jo'anna" stands for Johannesburg, South Africa) was a song about apartheid in that country, and was subsequently banned in South Africa.
- Other songs, such as "War Party" were also political protest songs. "The only decoration is the one upon the grave". "Living On The Front Line" was another. "They got me living on top of my existence, oh appreciating my resistance".
- Defined a Caribbean music meta-genre and philosophy called ringbang,[6] which he first described in 1994.
Ice Records
Grant set up his own recording company, Ice Records and the Coach House studio,[1] but more recently has returned to the West Indies from London, choosing Barbados as a more realistic venue for a recording company, rather than his country of origin. He has also produced Sting, Mick Jagger and Elvis Costello.
Discography
| Releases | |
|---|---|
| ↙Studio albums | 13 |
| ↙Live albums | 1 |
| ↙Compilation albums | 8 |
| ↙Singles | 18 |
Studio albums
| Year | Information | Chart positions | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| UK [7] |
NZ [8] |
US | ||
| 1975 | Eddy Grant
|
- | - | - |
| 1977 | Message Man
|
- | - | - |
| 1979 | Walking on Sunshine
|
- | - | - |
| 1980 | Love in Exile / My Turn To Love You
|
- | - | - |
| 1981 | Can't Get Enough
|
39 | 43 | - |
| 1982 | Killer on the Rampage
|
7 | 9 | 10 |
| 1984 | Going for Broke
|
- | - | 64 |
| 1986 | Born Tuff
|
- | - | - |
| 1988 | File Under Rock
|
- | 24 | - |
| 1990 | Barefoot Soldier
|
- | - | - |
| 1992 | Paintings of the Soul
|
- | - | - |
| 1993 | Soca Baptism
|
- | - | - |
| 2001 | Hearts and Diamonds
|
- | - | - |
| 2006 | Reparation
|
- | - | - |
Live albums
- Live at Notting Hill (1981, Ice Records)
Compilation albums
- All The Hits (1984, K-tel) UK #23[7]
- Walking on Sunshine (The Best of Eddy Grant) (1989, Parlophone Records) UK #20
- Greatest Hits (1997, EMI)
- Hits From the Frontline (1999, MCI)
- Hit Collection (1999, Wagram Records)
- The Greatest Hits (2001, London Records) UK #3, NZ #3
- Greatest Hits Collection (2001, Ice/Sequel-Castle) UK #94
- The Very Best of Eddy Grant - Road To Reparation (2008, Greenheart Music) UK #14
Singles
| Year | Single | Peak chart positions | Certifications (sales threshold) |
Album | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UK [9] |
GER [10] |
IRE [11] |
NL [12] |
NZ [13] |
US [14] |
US Dan [15] |
US R&B [16] |
|||||||
| 1979 | "Living on the Front Line" | 11 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Walking on Sunshine | ||||
| "Walking on Sunshine" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 86 | ||||||
| 1980 | "Do You Feel My Love" | 8 | 12 | 16 | 8 | 3 | — | — | — | Can't Get Enough | ||||
| 1981 | "Can't Get Enough of You" | 13 | 22 | 19 | — | 26 | — | — | — | |||||
| "I Love You, Yes I Love You" | 37 | 58 | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||||||
| 1982 | "I Don't Wanna Dance" | 1 | 7 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 53 | — | — |
|
Killer on the Rampage | |||
| 1983 | "Electric Avenue" | 2 | 9 | 3 | 8 | 32 | 2 | 6 | 18 | |||||
| "War Party" | 42 | 47 | 7 | — | — | — | — | — | ||||||
| "Till I Can't Take Love No More" | 42 | 26 | — | — | — | — | — | — | Going for Broke | |||||
| 1984 | "Romancing the Stone" | 52 | 42 | — | — | 28 | 26 | 12 | — | |||||
| "Boys in the Street" | 78 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||||||
| 1988 | "Gimme Hope Jo'anna" | 7 | 4 | — | 1 | 3 | — | — | — | File Under Rock | ||||
| "Harmless Piece of Fun" | 90 | — | — | 76 | — | — | — | — | ||||||
| "Put a Hold on It" | 79 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||||||
| 1989 | "Walking on Sunshine" (re-issue) | 63 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | The Best of Eddy Grant | ||||
| 2001 | "Electric Avenue" (remix) | 5 | 68 | 11 | 31 | — | — | 16 | — | The Greatest Hits | ||||
| "Walking on Sunshine" (remix) | 57 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||||||
| "—" denotes releases that did not chart | ||||||||||||||
Other charted songs
| Year | Single | Peak positions | Album |
|---|---|---|---|
| UK [9] |
|||
| 1984 | "Living on the Front Line" | 47 | Non-album song |
References
- ^ a b Gregory, Andy (2002) International Who's Who in Popular Music 2002, Europa, ISBN 1-85743-161-8, p. 202
- ^ Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19th ed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. p. 185. ISBN 1-904994-10-5.
- ^ Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19th ed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. p. 42. ISBN 1-904994-10-5.
- ^ "I Don't Wanna Dance", Chart Stats, Retrieved 19 July 2010
- ^ a b "Eddy Grant", Chart Stats, Retrieved 19 July 2010
- ^ Rollins, Scott. "Eddy Grant Talks About Ringbang". Kofi's Page. Retrieved 23 April 2012.
- ^ a b Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19th ed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. p. 234. ISBN 1-904994-10-5.
- ^ "charts.org.nz - Discography Eddy Grant". Hung Medien. Retrieved 22 April 2010.
- ^ a b "Chart Stats - Eddy Grant". chartstats.com. Retrieved 17 May 2011.
- ^ "Die ganze Musik im Internet: Charts - German Singles". Hung Medien. Retrieved 17 May 2011.
- ^ "The Irish Charts". IRMA 2006 - 2008. Retrieved 17 May 2011.
- ^ "dutchcharts.nl - Dutch charts portal". Hung Medien. Retrieved 17 May 2011.
- ^ "charts.org.nz - New Zealand charts portal". Hung Medien. Retrieved 17 May 2011.
- ^ "Eddy Grant Album & Song Chart History - Hot 100". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved 17 May 2011.
- ^ "Eddy Grant Album & Song Chart History - Dance/Club Play Songs". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved 17 May 2011.
- ^ "Eddy Grant : Allmusic : Billboard Singles". Allmusic. Retrieved 17 May 2011.
- ^ a b c "BPI Search Results". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 17 May 2011.
- ^ "RIAA - Recording Industry Association of America - Searchable Database". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved 17 May 2011.
