Electric Avenue (song)

"Electric Avenue"

UK cover
Single by Eddy Grant
from the album Killer on the Rampage
Released 1982
1983 (US)
Genre Funk[1]
Length 3:48
Label
Songwriter(s) Eddy Grant
Producer(s) Eddy Grant
Audio sample
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“Electric Avenue” is a song written, recorded and produced by Eddy Grant, who released it from his 1982 album Killer on the Rampage. In the United States, with the help of the MTV video he shot for it, it was one of 1983's biggest hits of the year. The song's title refers to an area historically known as Electric Avenue; this is a reference to the first place electricity lit the streets in the area of Brixton, South of London. This is an area known in the modern times for its high population of Caribbean immigrants and high unemployment. As the 1980s were beginning, tensions grew in the area until the street violence now known as the 1981 Brixton riot erupted. Grant, horrified and enraged, wrote and composed the song in response; a year afterwards, the song was playing over the airwaves.

Grant initially released it as a single in 1982, and reached No. 2 on the UK Singles Chart. In 1983, CBS decided to launch the single in the U.S., where it spent five weeks at No. 2 on Billboard Magazine's Hot 100 charts[2] and hit No. 1 in Cash Box Magazine. (It was kept out of the top spot on Billboard's Hot 100 by a combination of two songs, "Flashdance... What a Feeling" by Irene Cara and that year's song of the summer, "Every Breath You Take" by The Police.) "Electric Avenue" was a hit on two other US charts: On the soul chart it went to No. 18,[3] and on the dance charts, it peaked at No. 6.[4] It was nominated for a Grammy Award as Best R&B Song of 1983,[5] but lost to Michael Jackson's "Billie Jean."

Music video

The video was the crucial element for this song to go mainstream in America. The song was already a hit in the UK. When MTV ran music videos on its network, the producers put the song into rotation to add some racial diversity. MTV in their early years played videos by white artists almost exclusively and were criticized, by famous musicians like David Bowie, for not having black artists on the network.[6] After "Billie Jean" aired and was successful, soon MTV was scrambling to get other black artists into their rotation. Once "Electric Avenue" aired, it did not take long for the song to climb up to the no. 2 spot on the Billboard Hot 100.[7]

Other release information

The original B-Side to this song was a non-LP track titled "Time Warp." The 45 sold more than one million copies in the United States, earning a platinum certification. It was later re-issued with "I Don't Want to Dance" as the flip side.

Electric Avenue was re-released in 2001. The single featured the "Ringbang Remix," and reached number 5 in the UK Singles Chart in June 2001,[8] as well as reaching number 16 on the US dance chart.

The Ringbang Remix was also featured on Now That's What I Call Music! 49 as track 1 of disc 2.

Refugee Camp All-Stars version

Refugee Camp All-Stars covered the song in 1997 for the original soundtrack of the movie Money Talks. This cover was titled "Avenues" and featured reggae artist Ky-Mani Marley. Their version peaked at No. 35 on the Billboard Hot 100.[9]

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Chart (1983) Rank
Australia (Kent Music Report)[32] 20
Belgium (Ultratop 50 Flanders)[33] 46
Canada Top Singles (RPM)[34] 6
Germany (Official German Charts)[35] 63
Netherlands (Dutch Top 40)[36] 76
UK Singles (Official Charts Company)[37] 37
US Billboard Hot 100[38] 22
US Cash Box[39] 9
Chart (2001) Rank
UK Singles (Official Charts Company)[40] 99

See also

References

  1. ↑ Greene, Jo-Ann. "Eddy Grant – Killer on the Rampage". AllMusic. All Media Network. Retrieved 16 March 2016.
  2. ↑ Whitburn, Joel (2004). The Billboard Book of Top 40 Hits: Eighth Edition. Record Research. p. 263.
  3. ↑ Whitburn, Joel (2004). Top R&B/Hip-Hop Singles: 1942-2004. Record Research. p. 235.
  4. ↑ Whitburn, Joel (2004). Hot Dance/Disco: 1974-2003. Record Research. p. 113.
  5. ↑ "Michael Jackson Tops Grammy Nominations". Detroit Free Press. 11 January 1984. p. 5B.
  6. ↑ Izadi, Elahe (12 January 2016). "How David Bowie confronted MTV for ignoring black artists in the early 1980s". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 12 March 2016.
  7. ↑ Denisoff, R. Serge (1988). Inside MTV. Transaction Publishers. ISBN 978-0-88738-864-4.
  8. 1 2 "Archive Chart: 2001-06-03" UK Singles Chart. Retrieved 6 May 2016.
  9. ↑ "Refugee Camp Allstars – Chart History". Billboard Hot 100. Retrieved 14 May 2016.
  10. ↑ "Forum – ARIA Charts: Special Occasion Charts – CHART POSITIONS PRE 1989, part 2". Australian-charts.com. Hung Medien. Retrieved 6 May 2016.
  11. 1 2 "Austriancharts.at – Eddy Grant – Electric Avenue" (in German). Ö3 Austria Top 40. Retrieved 6 May 2016.
  12. ↑ "Ultratop.be – Eddy Grant – Electric Avenue" (in Dutch). Ultratop 50. Retrieved 6 May 2016.
  13. ↑ "Top RPM Singles: Issue 6231." RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved 6 May 2016.
  14. ↑ "Le Détail par Artiste" (in French). InfoDisc. Select "Eddy Grant" from the artist drop-down menu. Retrieved 6 May 2016.
  15. ↑ "Offiziellecharts.de – Eddy Grant – Electric Avenue". GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved 6 May 2016.
  16. 1 2 "The Irish Charts – Search Results – Electric Avenue". Irish Singles Chart. Retrieved 6 May 2016.
  17. ↑ "Nederlandse Top 40 – Eddy Grant - Electric Avenue search results" (in Dutch) Dutch Top 40. Retrieved 6 May 2016.
  18. ↑ "Dutchcharts.nl – Eddy Grant – Electric Avenue" (in Dutch). Single Top 100. Retrieved 6 May 2016.
  19. ↑ "Charts.org.nz – Eddy Grant – Electric Avenue". Top 40 Singles. Retrieved 6 May 2016.
  20. ↑ "South African Rock Lists Website SA Charts 1969 – 1989 Acts (G)". Rock.co.za. Retrieved 6 May 2016.
  21. 1 2 "Swedishcharts.com – Eddy Grant – Electric Avenue". Singles Top 100. Retrieved 6 May 2016.
  22. ↑ "Swisscharts.com – Eddy Grant – Electric Avenue". Swiss Singles Chart. Retrieved 6 May 2016.
  23. ↑ "Archive Chart: 1983-01-30" UK Singles Chart. Retrieved 6 May 2016.
  24. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Eddy Grant – Awards". AllMusic. All Media Network. Retrieved 6 May 2016.
  25. ↑ CASH BOX Top 100 Singles – Week ending JULY 9, 1983 at the Wayback Machine (archived 11 September 2012). Cash Box magazine.
  26. ↑ "Danishcharts.com – Eddy Grant – Electric Avenue". Tracklisten. Retrieved 6 May 2016.
  27. ↑ "[Ringbang+Remix&cat=s Ultratop.be – Eddy Grant – Electric Avenue [Ringbang Remix]"] (in Dutch). Ultratip. Retrieved 6 May 2016.
  28. ↑ "Offiziellecharts.de – Eddy Grant – Electric Avenue [Ringbang Remix"]. GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved 8 May 2016.
  29. ↑ "Nederlandse Top 40 – Eddy Grant - Electric Avenue (Ringbang Remix By Peter Black) search results" (in Dutch) Dutch Top 40. Retrieved 6 May 2016.
  30. ↑ "[Ringbang+Remix&cat=s Dutchcharts.nl – Eddy Grant – Electric Avenue [Ringbang Remix]"] (in Dutch). Single Top 100. Retrieved 8 May 2016.
  31. ↑ "[Ringbang+Remix&cat=s Swisscharts.com – Eddy Grant – Electric Avenue [Ringbang Remix]"]. Swiss Singles Chart. Retrieved 6 May 2016.
  32. ↑ "Forum – ARIA Charts: Special Occasion Charts – Top 100 End of Year AMR Charts – 1980s". Australian-charts.com. Hung Medien. Retrieved 6 May 2016.
  33. ↑ "Jaaroverzichten 1983" (in Dutch). Ultratop. Hung Medien. Retrieved 6 May 2016.
  34. ↑ "The Top Singles of 1983". RPM. Vol. 39 no. 17. 24 December 1983. Retrieved 6 May 2016.
  35. ↑ (in German) Jahrescharts – 1983 at the Wayback Machine (archived 9 May 2015). Offiziellecharts.de. GfK Entertainment Charts.
  36. ↑ "Top 100-Jaaroverzicht van 1983" (in Dutch). Dutch Top 40. Retrieved 6 May 2016.
  37. ↑ Scaping, Peter, ed. (1984). "Top 100 singles: 1983". BPI Year Book 1984. British Phonographic Industry. pp. 42–43. ISBN 0-906154-04-9.
  38. ↑ "Top 100 Hits for 1983". The Longbored Surfer. Retrieved 6 May 2016.
  39. ↑ The CASH BOX Year-End Charts: 1983 at the Wayback Machine (archived 11 September 2012). Cash Box magazine.
  40. ↑ "ChartsPlusYE2001" (PDF). UKChartsPlus. Retrieved 6 May 2016.
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