Electric Avenue (song)

The title of the song refers to Electric Avenue in the south London district of Brixton, the first market street to be lit by electricity. According to Grant, he first became aware of the existence of the street during a stint acting at the Black Theatre of Brixton.{{cite news|first= Dave |last= Simpson |title= How we made Eddy Grant's Electric Avenue |newspaper= The Guardian |date= 3 September 2018 |access-date= 3 September 2018 |url= https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2018/sep/03/how-we-made-eddy-grant-electric-avenue |archive-date= 3 September 2018 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20180903204243/https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2018/sep/03/how-we-made-eddy-grant-electric-avenue |url-status= live}} The area is now known for its high population of Caribbean immigrants. At the beginning of the 1980s, as identified by the Scarman Report, tensions over unemployment, racism and poverty exacerbated by racist policing culminated in the street events now known as the 1981 Brixton riot. Grant, horrified and enraged, wrote and composed a song in response to these events. Shortly after, Grant left the UK to live in Barbados, and his most recent batch of songs was lost during baggage transit. "Electric Avenue" was one of the songs he wrote immediately afterwards to make up for the lost material.

Filmed in Barbados, the song's music video helped it to gain popularity in the United States. In the early years of MTV, the network ran music videos almost exclusively by white artists and was criticized by famous musicians, such as David Bowie, for not having black artists on the network.{{cite news|first= Elahe |last= Izadi |title= How David Bowie confronted MTV for ignoring black artists in the early 1980s |url= http://www.chicagotribune.com/entertainment/music/ct-david-bowie-mtv-20160112-story.html |newspaper= Chicago Tribune |date= 12 January 2016 |access-date= 12 March 2016 |archive-date= 12 March 2016 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20160312095132/http://www.chicagotribune.com/entertainment/music/ct-david-bowie-mtv-20160112-story.html |url-status= live}} After Michael Jackson's "Billie Jean" aired and was highly successful, MTV scrambled to get other black artists into their rotation. Once "Electric Avenue"'s video aired, it did not take long for the song to climb up to the No. 2 spot on the Billboard Hot 100.{{cite book|first= R. Serge |last= Denisoff |title= Inside MTV |year= 1988 |publisher= Transaction Publishers |isbn= 978-0-88738-864-4}}

The original B-side to this song was a non-LP track titled "Time Warp", itself a stripped-down instrumental of "Nobody's Got Time", originally released in 1977. 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. The "Time Warp" track is hailed as pre-dating the house genre by at least seven years, and has become a sought after track by DJs as a "lost" historic track.{{citation needed|date=November 2023}}

In 2001, Peter Black remixed "Electric Avenue" as the "Ringbang Remix", which was released on 28 May 2001.{{cite AV media notes|title= Electric Avenue (Ringbang Remix) |others= Eddy Grant |year= 2001 |type= UK CD single liner notes |publisher= EastWest Records, Ice Records |id= EW232CD}}{{cite magazine|title= New Releases – For Week Starting May 28, 2001: Singles |magazine= Music Week |page= 27 |date= 26 May 2001}} The single featured and reached number five on the UK Singles Chart in June 2001, as well as number 16 on the US Billboard Dance Club Play chart.

Grant initially released it as a single in 1983, and it reached No. 2 on the UK Singles Chart. In 1983, Portrait/CBS decided to launch the single in the US, where it spent five weeks at number two on Billboard magazine's Hot 100 chart{{cite book|first= Joel |last= Whitburn |author-link= Joel Whitburn |year= 2004 |title= The Billboard Book of Top 40 Hits: Eighth Edition |publisher= Record Research |page= 263}} and hit number one on Cash Box magazine's chart. "Electric Avenue" was a hit on two other US charts: on the Hot Black Singles chart, it went to No. 18,{{cite book|first= Joel |last= Whitburn |author-link= Joel Whitburn |title= Top R&B/Hip-Hop Singles: 1942-2004 |year= 2004 |publisher= Record Research |page= 235}} and on the Dance/Disco Top 80 chart, it peaked at No. 6.{{cite book|first= Joel |last= Whitburn |author-link= Joel Whitburn |title= Hot Dance/Disco: 1974-2003 |year= 2004 |publisher= Record Research |page= 113}} It was nominated for a Grammy Award as Best R&B Song of 1983 but lost to Michael Jackson's "Billie Jean".{{cite news|title= Michael Jackson Tops Grammy Nominations |newspaper= Detroit Free Press |date= 11 January 1984 |page= 5B}} Jamaican singer Bunny Wailer stated that "Electric Avenue" inspired the song "Electric Boogie", which he wrote for Marcia Griffiths in 1982.[https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/electric-slide-written-vibrators/][https://jamaicans.com/marcia-griffiths-authenticity-electric-boogie/]

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{{Certification Table Entry|region=Canada|artist=Eddy Grant|title=Electric Avenue|award=Platinum|type=single|relyear=1983|certyear=1983|access-date=7 August 2023}}

{{Certification Table Entry|region=United Kingdom|artist=Eddy Grant|title=Electric Avenue|award=Silver|type=single|relyear=1982|certyear=1983|id=2025-2971-1|access-date=7 August 2023}}

{{Certification Table Entry|region=United States|artist=Eddy Grant|title=Electric Avenue|award=Platinum|type=single|relyear=1983|certyear=1989|access-date=7 August 2023}}

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{{Infobox song

| name = Avenues

| cover =

| alt =

| type = single

| artist = Refugee Camp All-Stars featuring Pras and Ky-Mani Marley

| album =

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| released = 1997

| recorded =

| studio =

| venue =

| genre =

| length = {{ubl|3:56 (single version)|3:59 (album version)}}

| label = Motor Music

| writer = Eddy Grant

| producer = {{hlist|Pras|Jerry Duplessis|Wyclef Jean}}

| prev_title =

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}}

In 1997, Refugee Camp All-Stars covered the song for the original soundtrack of the film Money Talks. This version is titled "Avenues" and features Pras and reggae artist Ky-Mani Marley.

The premier of the Canadian province of Ontario, Doug Ford, declared "Electric Avenue" to be Ontario's new "theme song" and then danced to the song during a visit to Oshawa on May 12, 2023, following a conference where he announced the creation of two new electric GO Transit buses for Oshawa and the Greater Toronto Area.{{Citation |title=Doug Ford dances to 'Electric Avenue' | date=12 May 2023 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aPTYch6G8Jg |access-date=2023-05-20 |language=en}} The new buses opened for passengers to ride as of the following Monday.{{Cite web |last=DeClerq |first=Katherine |title=Doug Ford dances to 'Electric Avenue' at announcement of new GO buses |url=https://toronto.ctvnews.ca/doug-ford-dances-to-electric-avenue-at-announcement-of-new-go-buses-1.6395574 |access-date=2023-05-20 |website=ctvnews |date=12 May 2023 |language=en}}

US president Donald Trump, while running for re-election in 2020, tweeted out a 55-second commercial which used the song as background. Grant sued for copyright infringement as a result.{{Cite news |last=Pengelly |first=Martin |date=2022-04-01 |title=Trump may face day in court thanks to lawsuit from reggae singer Eddy Grant |language=en-GB |work=The Guardian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/apr/01/trump-lawsuit-eddy-grant-electric-avenue |access-date=2023-10-18 |issn=0261-3077}}{{Cite news |last=Brittain |first=Blake |date=2023-09-25 |title=Trump, 'Electric Avenue' singer spar over ex-president's testimony |language=en |work=Reuters |url=https://www.reuters.com/legal/litigation/trump-electric-avenue-singer-spar-over-ex-presidents-testimony-2023-09-25/ |access-date=2023-10-18}}

On 15 September 2024, a federal judge in Manhattan ruled Trump had breached Grant's copyright for the song, and is now liable for damages as well as the singer's legal fees.{{Cite news |last=Grew |first=Tony |date=2024-09-15 |title=Trump loses Electric Avenue song legal fight |language=en-GB |work=BBC News |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c1488zz8jnzo |access-date=2024-09-15}}

Like most Grant songs, "Electric Avenue" was not available on music streaming platforms until January 2024, as Grant refused to allow his music onto streaming sites because of his dislike of how the platforms pay artists. The only streaming versions of the song available were cover versions.{{Cite web |last=Delaney |first=Gary |date=2021-05-28 |title=Eddy Grant Has Criticised Streaming Platforms For Their Payment Of Artists |url=https://www.nova.ie/eddy-grant-criticises-streaming-platforms-for-their-payment-of-artists-205922/ |access-date=2023-03-21 |website=Nova.ie |language=en-US}}

{{Portal|1980s}}

• List of Cash Box Top 100 number-one singles of 1983
• List of number-one singles of 1983 (Canada)

{{Reflist}}

• {{YouTube|4ykLV2yhSjk|"Avenues" (Refugee Camp All-Stars version) music video}}

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Category:1982 songs

Category:1983 singles

Category:1997 singles

Category:Eddy Grant songs

Category:British funk songs

Category:British new wave songs

Category:Cashbox number-one singles

Category:CBS Records singles

Category:EMI Records singles

Category:English rock songs

Category:Music videos directed by Steve Barron

Category:Parlophone singles

Category:Portrait Records singles

Category:Protest songs

Category:Reggae fusion songs

Category:RPM Top Singles number-one singles

Category:Songs about poverty

Category:Songs about London

Category:Songs written by Eddy Grant