BURNING THE GROUND EXCLUSIVE 1983

NEW 2020 Transfer!
Meticulously Remastered!

Originally posted: June 11, 2013

“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 the biggest hits of 1983. The song’s title refers to Electric Avenue in the south London district of Brixton which was the first market street to be lit by electricity. According to Grant, he first became aware of the street’s existence during a stint acting at the Black Theatre of Brixton. The area is now known for its high population of Caribbean immigrants. At the beginning of the 1980s, tensions over unemployment, racism, and poverty culminated in the street events now known as the 1981 Brixton riot. Grant, horrified and enraged, wrote and composed the song in response; a year afterward, the song was playing over the airwaves. Grant had left the UK shortly after the riots to live in Barbados: his most recent batch of songs had been lost in baggage transit, and “Electric Avenue” was one of the songs he wrote immediately afterward to make up for the lost material.

Grant initially released it as a single in 1983 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 and hit No. 1 in Cash Box Magazine. (It was kept out of the No. 1 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, and on the dance charts, it peaked at No. 6. It was nominated for a Grammy Award as Best R&B Song of 1983, but lost to Michael Jackson’s “Billie Jean”.

SIDE A:
Electric Avenue (Extended Version) 6:19
Arranged By – Eddy Grant

SIDE B:
Walking On Sunshine (American Version) 6:12

VINYL GRADE:
Vinyl: Near Mint
Sleeve: Near Mint

U.S. CHART HISTORY:

RELEASE INFORMATION:
Label: ICE ‎– ICET 57
Format: Vinyl, 12″, 45 RPM
Country: UK
Released: Jan 1983
Genre: Electronic
Style: Synth-pop, Reggae

CREDITS:
Producer, Written-By – Eddy Grant

NOTES:
Track A is a special version from the LP:
“Killer on the Rampage”

Find the 12″ at DISCOGS

VINYL RESTORATION BY:
-DjPaulT
burningtheground.net

EQUIPMENT USED:
Turntable: Pro-Ject Debut Carbon (DC)
Cartridge: Ortofon 2M
Stylus: Ortofon 2M Bronze
Isolation: Auralex Acoustics ISO-Tone Turntable Isolation Platform
Platter: Pro-Ject Acryl-It platter
Stabilizer: Pro-Ject Record Puck
DAC/Phono Pre-amp: Alpha Design Labs GT40a USB DAC
Record Cleaning: VPI HW 16.5 Record Cleaning Machine
Artwork Scans: Epson Workforce WF-7610 Professional Printer/Scanner

SOFTWARE USED:
Recording/Editing: Adobe Audition 3.0 (Recording)
Down Sampling/Dither: iZotope RX Advanced 2
Artwork Editor: Adobe Photoshop CS5
Click Removal: Manual
FLAC/MP3 Conversion: dBpoweramp
M3U Playlist: Playlist Creator

RESTORATION NOTES:
All vinyl rips are recorded @ 32bit/float
FLAC (Level Eight)
Artwork scanned at 600dpi

Username: btg
Password: burningtheground

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