The
thirty-first edition of YHO takes as a starting point the sequence of LPs Eddy
Grant recorded in the late 1970s and the context in which they were recorded
and first heard. The opening lines of this issue set the scene pretty
clearly:
“Are there any pop figures as full of
contradictions as Eddy Grant? He is so famous that he’s almost
invisible. He is an enduring global superstar, but how much is really known about his
work? His hits like Electric
Avenue and I Don’t
Wanna Dance are known the whole world over, but what about all his
other activities? Compilations of his Greatest Hits are easy enough
to buy, but how often do you see his old LPs?
“Eddy Grant is in a pretty unique
position in that aspects of his work are revered by all sorts of musical
communities. He is regarded as a pioneer by connoisseurs of skinhead
reggae and soul, freakbeat, glam rock, rare groove, disco, soca, electro,
house, and so on. But there is no one definitive discography or
documentary, book or boxed set, which draws all these strands
together.
“There are very few artists who
have been as passionate about independence and self-sufficiency, but you won’t
find many mentions of him in high-brow titles published by Faber. There
have been few artists of Caribbean origin who have been as successful, but he
gets barely a mention in Dick Hebdige’s Cut ‘N’ Mix. There have been few singers as outspoken
about the Black British experience, but you won’t find a chapter on him in Paul
Gilroy’s There Ain’t No Black In
The Union Jack. He is, like Jorge Ben, a master of musical miscegenation,
but his artistic achievements are not analysed at length by academics.”
The
contents of this edition of YHO take in a variety of locations, from Stamford
Hill to Notting Hill, via Jamaica, Trinidad, Nigeria, New York and
Knebworth. Eddy’s labels, Torpedo and
Ice are featured, as are his productions from The Pioneers to Sonny Okosun, and
his side projects from the 32nd Turnoff to the Coach House Rhythm
Section. And then, of course, there’s
The Equals.
