Talk about a do-it-yourself guy. Eddy Grant’s albums were personal labors of love, featuring songs that he wrote and sang, music he composed and he produced the whole shebang in his own studio and record label. He got his start in the late 60s and continued releasing albums through the 70s and 80s.

The Guyana-born Englishman started his career as a member of the Equals, singing lead, playing guitar and writing tunes. The band had a #1 in 1968 with “Baby Come Back” (one of Grant’s songs) but Eddy left that group to launch a studio and a record label. During the next decade, Grant tirelessly worked on his music, developing a new sound he called ‘soca’, a blend of calypso, soul, pop and African rhythms. He released several singles that charted in the UK, like “Living on the Front Line” (#11), “Do You Feel My Love” (#8) and “Can't Get Enough of You” (#13).

In 1982, Grant left England for sunny Barbados in the Caribbean, where he established Blue Wave Studios and continued his work. He scored a major hit the single “I Don’t Wanna Dance” in 1982, reaching the #1 spot for the first time since 1968. Killer on a Rampage, an album released that same year, was his most notable success and climbed to the Top 10 in both the US and UK charts. A single from that album, “Electric Avenue”, became a breakthrough hit reaching the #2 spot with its catchy, Caribbean-flavored tune and Grant’s ringing voice. The album and song were not mere pop fodder, however. Grant had always been politically minded and infused his lyrics with social commentary and critique.

Crossing into the field of movie soundtracks, Grant recorded an eponymous single for the movie Romancing the Stone which did not feature prominently in the film but nevertheless made the Top 30 in the US charts. Blue Wave Studios had been attracting famous recording stars for some time now and in the 80s, the likes of Elvis Costello and the Rolling Stones passed through its doors.

Grant returned to the scene in 1988 after a brief absence with “Gimme Hope Jo’anna”, an anti-apartheid anthem set to a lilting reggae melody. It reached the Top 10 and became very popular in the international scene—unsurprisingly, the South African government weren't big fans and proceeded to ban the song. There you have it. Pop songs don’t need to suffer vacuous lyrics and protest songs don’t need to rely on discordant music arrangements to get their point across.

Grant continued to record and produce in the 90s, building up his label’s Calypso library (one of the biggest in the world), producing other artists and promoting world-music performers. His 80s hits are still popular and he continues to release new music. Well done, Eddy.