Since "Black
Skin, Blue Eyed Boys" through "Living
on the Frontline", Eddy Grant has
been recognised as a vociferous promoter,
through socio-political commentary, of
the culture and achievements of contemporary
black people. Eddy’s meticulous
method of recording is to a great degree
responsible for his reputation –
he has played every single instrument,
sung every vocal part and produced every
track on all of his solo albums –
a time consuming and little known fact,
which only a man of his committed vision
could so painstakingly ensue.
Born in the Caribbean
nation of Guyana in 1948, Eddy was exposed
during his childhood to the distinctive
sounds of African and Indian music which
is indigenous to Guyana along with the
music of the surrounding countries such
as Surinam and in particular Trinidad
and Tobago. As a pre-teen, his musician
father moved the family to Kentish Town,
North London. In the stark, post-war period
(from 1960 onwards) suburban environment,
he was exposed to the rock and roll of
Chuck Berry and the nascent pop music
scene. This early combination of ethnic
and commercial pop influences culminated
in Eddy founding the Equals, probably
the finest and certainly the first multi-racial
pop/rock outfit to achieve international
acclaim. The Equals topped the chart with
their classic "Baby Come Back,"
and with Eddy as songwriter, lead guitarist
and producer, they went on to achieve
three more major top 10 hits in the following
18 months.
At
23, the pressures of his hectic recording
and touring schedules took its toll. Though
a tea-totaler and a staunch vegetarian,
Grant suffered a severe heart attack which
forced him to undertake a major evaluation
of his future. He canceled all touring
activities and eventually had to leave
The Equals. During the ensuing period
of introspection, Eddy opened his own
recording studio in order to record at
his pace and to help cultivate the careers
of other artists he had discovered. Subsequently,
during the 1970’s, he began the
process now crystallized in his more recent
albums to merge the influences of early
pop, rock and soul with the calypso music
of the Caribbean countries and the African
rhythms of his childhood, to form a unique
hybrid – the influential sound of
Soca music.
Grant recorded
what is generally recognized by the cognoscenti
as the very first Soca record "Hello
Africa" and this remains a classic
golden oldie in many parts of the world
inhabited by Soca aficionados. He has
successfully fostered leading Soca artists
such as Gabby, Superblue, Black Stalin,
David Rudder, and Grynner, and thanks
in no small part to Eddy Grant’s
patronage, soca music now enjoys an expanding
popularity in all corners of the world.
Grant’s
enthusiasm and devotion to his musical
heritage continues. He recently acquired
the record and song catalogues of Calypso
legends: "Mighty Sparrow", the
"Roaring Lion" “Atilla
The Hun” and "Lord Kitchener"
among a multitude of other great Classic
Calypsonians from the Golden Age of Calypso,
in order to personally preserve, and to
introduce to a wider audience, this historic
and important musical heritage. This passionate
interest in African rhythm and Soca, and
his individualistic style has put a lasting
influence on a range of other artists,
as diverse as Sting, UB40, The Rolling
Stones, and even The Clash who covered
his "Police on my Back" for
their celebrated ‘Sandinista’
album.
Commercially, the
first half of the 1980’s was enormously
successful for Eddy Grant; in less than
four years he enjoyed eight major international
hit singles, including the US#1 –
"Electric Avenue", "I Don’t
Wanna Dance" and "Romancing
the Stone". By that time he had established
his own label, Ice Records, with which
he astutely avoided the pitfalls of many
long since formed, failed and forgotten
independent labels, by occasionally tapping
into the distribution muscle of the major
companies (viz. Phonogram, Virgin, RCA,
CBS, EMI and Warner) without ever losing
control of either his music, or his destiny.
When the mid-eighties
pressure of his solo success again threatened
to compromise his newly defined game-plan,
Eddy moved his family back to the Caribbean,
not to his birthplace of Guyana, but as
a compromise with commercial reality,
to the island of Barbados, where communications
with the outside world were more highly
developed at that time.
Here, he again
built a commercial recording studio complex
known as Blue Wave, whose clients have
included Mick Jagger, The Rolling Stones,
Sting and Elvis Costello. It’s where
the Rolling Stones prepared for their
Garangutan "Steel
Wheels" tour. His excursions from
this temporary sanctuary have been mainly
for live performances at such events as
the "Sport Aid" stadium show,
ground breaking concerts in Yugloslavia,
Hungary, Cuba and South America, and the
"Farewell to the GLC" concert
which he headlined on the banks of the
River Thames in London.
The dawning of the New Millennium saw
him performing via satellite to the rest
of the world, from an event held in Tobago
called The Ringbang Celebration 2000 Today.
However, his studio
is at the center of his drive to record,
promote and market Classic Calypso, Soca
and ‘Ringbang’. This new genre
that has taken the Caribbean by storm;
a distinctly Caribbean musical concept
that Grant has developed, that he loosely
defines as a "bridge between rhythms,
focusing one’s attention on rhythm
and the part it plays internationally.
What Ringbang seeks to do is envelop all
the rhythms that have originated from
Africa so that they become one, defying
all geographical boundaries." It
also carries with it a philosophy conceptualised
for the Caribbean People in particular
the Youth, though it may be applied to
any group of people.
Over the past fourteen
years Eddy Grant has been assiduously
acquiring all the old calypso catalogs
of such greats as Roaring Lion, Mighty
Sparrow, Lord Kitchener and Lord Melody
. At the same time, the label has been
signing a number of today’s hottest
Soca and Ringbang exponents. As Grant
wrestles with the day to day problems
of setting up a profitable recording company
as President and CEO of his company, he
must confront sales, promotion and marketing
nightmares, the direct consequence of
the traditionally seasonal aspect of Classic
Calypso, Soca and Ringbang. He asserts
that music pirates in the Caribbean and
the United States are the biggest culprits,
keeping the production and packaging quality
down. However, he is passionately committed
to the artists and the music of the region,
and believes that with proper management,
these artists can indeed finally start
to profit from their artform. With offices
in Barbados, London, and the United States,
Ice Records has become in a few short
years the premier international Classic
Calypso, Soca and Ringbang record label.
The company is aggressive and does continuous
marketing research to determine what will
make these genres, the last "unexploited"
English-speaking music in the world, the
mega-hits that they surely deserve to
be. In 1995, Gabby’s "Dr. Cassandra
and Roaring Lion’s "Papa Chunks"
broke the previous sales records many
times over. As Eddy says, "in my
heart, I know that Soca and Ringbang have
the same potential as reggae to achieve
great popularity… but there has
never been any proper commitment to marketing
these artists and their music. We are
not Sony, and the artists on board realise
it will take time. It is an upliftment
process." Without a doubt, this music
has finally found someone prepared to
put his money, time, talent and, perhaps
most importantly, love, right there where
his mouth is.