Protest hidden behind funky reggae made for a massive hit in 1982!
Eddy Grant began his career in 1965 as one of the founding members of The Equals. The band would go on to release multiple albums, producing multiple top forty hits, including the number one hit, Baby Come Back.
In 1969, while on tour, all five members were severely injured in an accident, with Grant suffering the greatest. Though he continued to write songs for the group, he withdrew from the shows. However, in 1971 he suffered from a collapsed lung, and heart attack which caused him to return to Guyana. It was upon recovering that he opted to pursue a solo career.
Grant released his first self titled album in 1975, and followed this up with 1977's Message Man. However, it would be his third album, Walking On Sunshine (1979), which would be his breakthrough as a solo artist, thanks to the UK top twenty hit, Living On The Frontline.
While he would release two albums in 1980, Love In Exile, and My Turn To Love You, it would be his 1981 album, Can't Get Enough which would put him back on the charts. The album spawned two hits, the title track, Can't Get Enough, and I Love You, Yes I Love You.
Bigger things were on the horizon, and this started with Grant relocating to Barbados, and opening Blue Wave Studios. It was here that he would set to work on his biggest album to date, 1982's Killer On The Rampage.
Firing up the album, I was immediately treated to the number two Billboard hit, Electric Avenue. I honestly didn't have high expectations beyond this point, and figured I would end up tuning the remainder of the album out as background noise. Boy, was I wrong. Well, sort of.
Killer On The Rampage is a pretty solid album. Well, at least the first half. After enjoying I Don't Wanna Dance, It's All In You, and War Party, I dipped out until being brought back with the title track of the album. From there, I kind of tuned things out again.
Overall, it was good enough that I would be willing to table in more of his stuff from the decade. I'm particularly interested in his albums, Can't Get Enough, and Go For Broke. The latter because it features the cut song originally intended for the soundtrack, Romancing The Stone.
Grant continued to release albums fairly steadily through the 80's, and like most artists of that time, dabbled a bit in the 90's, but then disappeared, only to return in the new millennium with a handful of additional albums. To date, Killer On The Rampage remains his only album to go gold in the USA.
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THIS WEEK ON THE CHARTS
February 27, 1982
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