Gimme hope Jo'anna - Eddy Grant - 1988

Eddy Grant

Gimme hope Jo'anna

Eddy Grant

Fonte: rockol.it

Eddy Grant nasce a Plaisance, in Guyana, il 5 marzo 1948. Negli anni Sessanta la famiglia emigra in Inghilterra, dove incomincia la sua carriera musicale: nel 1965, infatti forma la sua prima band, gli Equals, gruppo che si esibisce per il circuito dei club e dei pub locali. Nel 

1967 gli Equals riescono a firmare per la President Records debuttando con il singolo "I won't be there", che anticipa l’album UNEQUALED EQUALS; nel 1968 viene pubblicata la hit "I get so excited", seguita dall’album EQUALS EXPLOSION, che però ha meno 

successo del precedente, così come il terzo lavoro, SENSATIONAL EQUALS.


Parallelamente Grant si concentra sulla carriera solista sotto il nome di Little Grant, pubblicando anche un paio di singoli; superati dei seri problemi di salute (ha infatti un 

attacco di cuore nel 1971 a soli 23 anni), decide di aprire un proprio studio di registrazione per produrre altri artisti. Solo nel 1977 esce il suo primo disco da solista MESSAGE MAN. Due anni più tardi segue WALKING ON SUNSHINE, che contiene il brano "Living on the 

frontline", diventato poi "di culto" in Inghilterra. Seguono LOVE IN EXILE (1980), CAN’T GET ENOUGH (1981) e il disco dal vivo LIVE AT NOTTING HILLE (1981). L’anno successivo esce KILLER ON THE RAMPAGE, accolto bene sia in patria sia negli Stati 

Uniti, così come GOING FOR BROKE (1984). L’ultimo grande successo di Grant è però del 1988 con "Gimme hope Jo'anna", contenuta in BAREFOOT SOLDIER (1990).
Negli anni Novanta continua a dedicarsi alla propria musica sperimentando il genere ibrido chiamato 

“ring bang”, pubblicando dischi e facendo il produttore (tra gli artisti con cui collabora ci sono Sting e Elvis Costello). Nel nuovo millenio esce HEARTS & DIAMONDS (2001), seguito nel 2006 da REPARATION (2006).

Source: Wikipedia

Edmond Montague "Eddy" Grant (born 5 March 1948) is a Guyanese British musician. The AllMusic journalist Jo-Ann Greene noted: "Eddy Grant stands among an elite group of artists as one who has not just merely moved successfully across the musical spectrum, 

but has actually been at the forefront of genres and even created one of his own. From pop star to reggae radical, musical entrepreneur to the inventor of ringbang, the artist has cut a swathe through the world of music and made it his own.

Grant was born in Plaisance, British Guiana.[2] When he was a young boy, his parents emigrated to London, England, where he settled. He lived in Kentish Town and went to school at the Acland Burghley Secondary Modern at Tufnell Park.

Grant is a supporter of Forbes Burnham, former Premier of Guyana. Forbes Burnham's government rigged elections and systematically discriminated against Indo-Guyanese and

caused the exodus of thousands of Indians from Guyana for over 20 years. On August 5th, 2015 Eddie Grant bent his knees and placed a wreath at the dictators grave to honor him and his legacy.

Grant 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".[3] The tune also topped the UK Singles Chart in 1994, when covered by Pato Banton featuring 

Robin and Ali Campbell of the reggae group UB40. 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.

In 1982, his solo recording of "I Don't Wanna Dance" spent three weeks at Number one in the UK Singles Chart. He scored a Top Ten album in the same year, with Killer on the Rampage.

"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.

In 1984, Grant had a hit single in the US with his original song, "Romancing the Stone", 

written to accompany the 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 political protest songs included "War Party" and "Living on the Front Line".

Defined a Caribbean music meta-genre and philosophy called ringbang,[7] which he first described in 1994.