‘Electric Avenue’ is a song written, recorded, and produced by Guyanese-British singer and songwriter Eddy Grant, who released it on 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.
Grant initially released it as a single in 1983, and reached No. two 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 charts and hit number one on Cash Box Magazine's chart. (It was kept out of the No. 1 spot on Billboard's Hot 100 by two different songs: first by "Flashdance... What a Feeling" by Irene Cara and then by 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/R&B 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 "Billie Jean"
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. 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. 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.
Labels – CBS, Portrait, Parlophone, EMISongwriter – Eddy Grant
Producer – Eddy Grant
SONG LYRICS
[Intro]Oi!
Oi!
[Verse 1]
Now in the street, there is violence
And a lots of work to be done
No place to hang out the washing
And I can't blame all on the sun, oh no
[Chorus]
We gonna rock down to Electric Avenue
And then we'll take it higher
Oh, we gonna rock down to Electric Avenue
And then we'll take it higher
[Verse 2]
Working so hard like a soldier
Can't afford a thing on TV
Deep in my heart, I abhor ya
Can't get food for the kid, good God
[Chorus]
We gonna rock down to Electric Avenue
And then we'll take it higher
Ho, we gonna rock down to Electric Avenue
And then we'll take it higher
[Interlude]
Oh, no
Oh, no
Oh, no
Oh, no
Oh, Lord
[Chorus]
We gonna rock down to Electric Avenue
And then we'll take it higher
Ho, we gonna rock down to Electric Avenue
And then we'll take it higher
[Verse 3]
Who is to blame in one country?
Never can get to the one
Dealing in multiplication
And they still can't feed everyone, oh no
[Chorus]
We gonna rock down to Electric Avenue
And then we'll take it higher
Ho no, we gonna rock down to Electric Avenue
And then we'll take it higher
[Bridge]
Ho, out in the street
Out in the street
Out in the daytime
Out in the night
[Chorus]
Oh, we gonna rock down to Electric Avenue
And then we'll take it higher
Ho, we gonna rock down to Electric Avenue
And then we'll take it higher
[Bridge]
Out in the street
Out in the street
Out in the playground
In the dark side of town
[Chorus]
Ho, we gonna rock down to Electric Avenue
And then we'll take it higher
Hey, we gonna rock down to Electric Avenue
And then we'll take it higher
[Outro]
Rock it in the daytime
Rock it in the night
Rock it in Miami mama, meh
Whoa, in a Brixton