Archive for the ‘The Equals’ Category

THE EQUALS

Sunday, November 16th, 2008

Viva Bobby Joe / The Equals

Listen: Listen: Viva Bobby Joe / The Equals 01 Viva Bobby Joe.mp3

Ok, so a good friend of mine, who follows this blog, has on several occasions suggested I post an Equals single. And every time I agree I should. So I guess I take requests.

Like The Foundations, they were marketed as a multi-racial rock band. Back then, it was an anomaly, maybe novelty and possibly a little dangerous. I’m sure those late night motorway stops had their fair share of comments. This was England 1968 remember. Vicki Wickham has told me a few jaw droppers about the experiences she had when bringing over the Motown acts, and James Brown, for her READY STEADY GO!!! program in that era. Check out photos and footage of them, they looked fantastic in flowered shirts and Carnaby Street trousers. It’s hard to find an Equals track that doesn’t sound big and booming. Eddy Grant’s voice certainly didn’t hurt. I saw him live a few times, years later, when ‘Electric Avenue’ was a hit – and he had lung power. Seems like he didn’t even need to get near the mike.

I’m not going to say ‘Baby Come Back’ isn’t the greatest, but ‘Viva Bobby Joe’ is an absolute runner up and a hard one to hear very often.