Womad

Eddy Grant & The Frontline Orchestra

One of the Caribbean's greatest musical ambassadors

If the world has a single mental image of Eddy Grant, it's of him shaking his dreadlocks on a Caribbean beach in the video to I Don't Wanna Dance, his 1982 single that was a hit the size of a small planet. But Eddy's achieved far more than that in his 40-year career. Aside from those other '80s hits (Electric Avenue, Gimme Hope Jo'anna), he also scored big with The Equals in the late '60s, no more so than with the anthemic Baby Come Back. He also penned Police On My Back, covered to rousing effect by The Clash on Boris Johnson's (genuinely) favourite all-time record, Sandinista. Since departing the pop charts, Eddy's become arguably the most vocal ambassador for calypso and soca, reissuing the classic records of Roaring Lion, Lord Kitchener and Mighty Sparrow on his Ice label while simultaneously recording the current stars of soca and the hot Barbadian sound of ringbang. While the easiest thing might have been to throw in the towel creatively and live off the royalty cheques of past glories, Eddy Grant is a man for whom the future is not only unknown, it's eagerly awaited.

Biog by Nige Tassell