The band was formed by Eddy Grant along with John Hall, Pat Lloyd, and brothers Derv and Lincoln Gordon. They met while living on the Hornsey Rise Council Estate in north London. They started gigging in and around London and would end up opening for American touring acts such as Bo Diddley and Wilson Pickett. One of Grant’s neighbour’s introduced them to the head of President Records who, on hearing them, immediately signed the band. Their first single was ‘I Won’t Be There’ which did not chart initially in the UK but did make 39 on the German charts. Their next single was ‘Hold Me Closer’ which featured ‘Baby Come Back’ on the b-side. The DJ’s in Europe seemed to prefer the b-side and the song would go to number 11 in Germany and top the charts in Belgium. Their 3rd single, ‘I Get So Excited’ gave them their first UK chart hit, going to 44. Meanwhile the interest in ‘Baby Come Back’ in Europe prompted a re-release of the song in the UK and this time it would top the charts for 3 weeks. They ended up with 9 UK chart hits to their name, but ‘Baby Come Back’ would be their only chart topper. It would be their only US chart hit where it peaked at 32. In September 1969 the band were all injured in a motor vehicle accident in Germany and Eddy Grant suffered the worst injuries. He left the tour and decided to return to Guyana (his birthplace) a few years later after suffering a heart attack. He would later forge a very successful solo career.
Date of entry
Song
Peak (weeks at 1)
Weeks
19-Jul-1968
Baby Come Back
1 (3)
14
02-May-1969
Softly Softly
8
7
17-Oct-1969
Viva Bobby Joe
9
6
Total hits
3
Total weeks
27
Biggest climber awards
2
Star rater climbs
5
Biggest fallers
2
Weeks with oldest in the charts
0
Longest run in the charts (weeks)
14
Weeks with more than 1 in the charts
0
Biggest gap between hits (weeks)
27
Top 30 points ranking
254
Top 20 points ranking
=242
Top 30 points
582
Top 20 points
312
Solo hits by Eddy Grant:
Date of entry
Song
Peak (weeks at 1)
Weeks
29-May-1981
Do You Feel My Love
6
13
10-Dec-1982
I Don’t Wanna Dance
1 (8)
19
22-Apr-1983
Electric Avenue
9
14
23-Dec-1983
Till I Can’t Take Love No More
17
15
20-Jul-1984
Romancing The Stone
20
8
Total hits
5
Total weeks
69
Total chart involvement of the band and its members:
SA Singles Charts 