DAVID GRANT-DAVID GRANT.

dereksmusicblog ♦ July 27, 2012 ♦ Leave a comment

DAVID GRANT-DAVID GRANT.

For any artist, leaving a successful group can be something of a gamble. Regardless of how successful the group has been, there’s no guarantee that a successful solo career will follow. Obviously, there are exceptions to this, with Teddy Pendergrass one that springs to mind. After he left Harold Melvin and The Blue Notes, his career headed for the stratosphere, while Harold Melvin and The Blue Notes never found the same success. Sometimes though, a group is stronger as a whole, than the sum of its parts. However, for David Grant this didn’t apply. He left Linx after two successful albums during 1981. Intuition reached number eight in March 1981 and Go Ahead reached number thirty-five in the UK in October. While Linx had six hit singles, only Intuition and So This Is Romance reached the top twenty in the UK. Linx had been part of a new wave of UK dance-floor friendly R&B groups, along with contemporaries Beggar and Co., Light of the World and Central Line. These groups had been influence by the new generation of American producers, including Niles Rodgers, Narada, Kashif, Luther Vandross and Michael Walder.  By 1983 however, Linx were no more. David Grant now a solo artist, a solo artist looking to record his debut solo album. For this he needed a producer. Then during a meeting at Red Bus Recording Studios, David Grant met Steve Levine, who’d produce his debut album David Grant, which will be rereleased on 30th July 2012 by BBR Records. Steve was one of the hottest producers of the early eighties, working with some of the most successful UK bands. Would his collaboration with David Grant on David Grant prove to be as successful? 

Now that David Grant was ready to record his debut solo album, he needed material for the album. David wrote two tracks for his debut solo album, cowrote one with producer Steve Levine and cowrote three with Derek Bramble of Heatwave. Derek Bramble write the other three tracks, including Watching You, Watching Me. These nine tracks were recorded at the Red Bus Recording Studios in London. Key to the sound on David Grant was the technology that Steve Levine was using. This included a Roland 808 drum machine, CSQ600 Sequencer and Linn LM1 with a trigger interface. All this was new to David. In Linx, they used real drums. However, if this new, electronic sound would give David a hit album, he wasn’t complaining. Would this be the case when David Grant’s debut album David Grant was released?

Before David Grant was released, three singles were released. The first was Stop and Go, released in April 1983. It reached number nineteen in the UK, but more importantly, gave David a breakthrough in the US. Although it only reached number seventy-five in the US R&B Charts and number forty in the US Dance Charts, it raised his profile stateside. Watching You, Watching Me became the most successful single in July 1983, reaching number ten in the UK. The third single was Love Will Find A Way, released in September 1983 and reaching number twenty-four. Then when David Grant was released in November 1983, it reached number thirty-two in the UK album charts. Released to coincide with the album’s release was Rock the Midnight, which stalled at number forty-six. Organize was the fifth single released from David Grant, reaching just number ninety in February 1984. Overall, David Grant’s solo career had started off where Linx finished. While it hadn’t matched the success of Linx’s debut album Intuition, it was a solid starting point for his solo career. However, what does the music on David Grant sound like, and with its reliance on electronic instruments has it aged well? 

When Rock the Midnight opens David Grant, you’re immediately struck by the electronic dominated sound of the arrangement. It has a real eighties sound, but has aged well. Synths and drum machines combine, providing a contrast to David’s tender vocal. He’s accompanied by punchy backing vocalists and melodic keyboards, while the drums crack. Later, squelchy synths are added, as David’s vocal grows in power and emotion. The result is a catchy, hooky track full of drama and emotion.

Love Will Find A Way was one of five singles released from David Grant, and was written by David and Derek Bramble. It’s a slice of dance-floor friendly R&B. Key to Steve Levine’s arrangement the Linn LM1 and Roland 808 drum machine. To that he adds percussion and keyboards. David adds an impassioned vocal, which is one of his best on the album. Swathes of soulful, backing vocalists added by Derek Bramble accompany David, as he delivers a heartfelt vocal against a dance-floor friendly arrangement from Steve Levine.

Wrap Yourself Around Me sees the tempo drop way down, to about eighty-four beats per minute. This allows us to hear a different side of David Grant. His vocal is delivered with feeling and tenderness. He delivers his vocal against an understated arrangement, where keyboards, drum machine and equally impassioned backing vocals. Later, a soprano saxophone solo from Ian Ritchie adds the finishing touch to the track. It adds to the emotion and beauty of the track, on a track where a very different and quite beautiful side of David Grant is revealed.

After the beautiful slow track that was Wrap Yourself Around Me, the tempo increases on Stop and Go. It’s a much more dance-floor oriented track. The arrangement is busier, with synths, keyboards and crisp drums cracking. Above the arrangement sits David’s vocal, delivered in sharp bursts, with punchy backing vocalists accompanying him. They add to the energy and drama of the track.

Organize sees another change in style. There’s a moody, dramatic sound, with the lyrics delivered with urgency and anger by David. He’s urging people to make a stand, organize themselves and stand firm against those that divide and discriminate. David adds backing vocalists that reflect his anger and frustration. Waves of synths and marauding beats provide the perfect backdrop, accompanied by swathes of dramatic harmonies. This results in an impassioned, fervent protest sound, albeit one with a dance-floor friendly sound. 

In The Flow Of Love is another chance to hear the tender side of David we heard in Wrap Yourself Around Me. Again, there’s a tenderness and sincerity in David’s vocal, while percussion, soprano saxophone and keyboards accompany him. With the slower tempo, and a much more subtle delivery, David displays a maturity beyond his years. He seems much more at home on tracks like this, bringing out the best in his vocal. Sometimes, when his voice grows in power and passion, there’s a similarity with Prince. Although this similarity is brief, both men share one thing, their ability to deliver a ballad with feeling, fervor and passion.

Holding On was written by Derek Bramble of Heatwave. David’s vocal is stronger and louder, but always in control. He’s accompanied by crunchy beats, jagged synths and backing vocalists, before a guitar drifts in and out. It leaves the synths, keyboards and drum machine to produce a mid-tempo, sometimes edgy, dance-floor centric arrangement, that’s certainly not short of hooks. 

Watching You, Watching Me was the most successful single released from David Grant, reaching number ten in the UK. David seems to have reserved one of his best vocals for this track. His vocal combines emotion and passion, sometimes almost becoming a plea.  Swathes of backing vocalists accompanying him. Key to Steve Levine’s arrangement was the use of the Roland 808 drum machine, augmented by stabs of synths. The synths added to the drama of the track, while the Roland 808 drum machine provided the memorable beat and hook-laden arrangement. Two things made this such a memorable and successful track, Steve Levine’s arrangement and David’s vocal. One couldn’t exist without the other, 

Closing David Grant is You Are All another slow ballad. This is the slowest track on the album and gives David another chance to demonstrate how good he is at delivering a ballad. His tender vocal is accompanied by multi-tracked vocals, keyboards and percussion. They provide an understated arrangement, allowing David’s gorgeous vocal to take centre-stage, where it rightly belongs.

David Grant was the first of four solo albums David released between 1983 and 1990. Two years later in 1985 came Hopes and Dreams, with Change following in 1987. His solo career ended with The Anxious Edge, before he launched a successful career as a vocal coach. However, of his solo albums David Grant, which launched his nascent solo career contained a song that will forever be synonymous with him, Watching You, Watching Me. Back in 1983, David was at the forefront of a new generation of UK R&B singers whose music was dance-floor friendly. Interestingly, on David Grant, three of the best tracks are slower tracks. Wrap Yourself Around Me, In the Flow of Love and You Are All are a trio of heartfelt, beautiful ballads that show a very different, tender side to David Grant. Maybe if this was a road he’d pursued, his career would’ve enjoyed much more longevity and success. These songs show a maturity beyond his years, and are the polar opposite to the more uptempo, dance-floor oriented tracks. Having said that, David Grant which will be rereleased on 30th July 2012 by BBR Records, is a mixture of uptempo tracks and beautiful ballads and will appeal to people who were fans of the new wave of early eighties UK R&B pioneers, with their dance-floor friendly music. The music on David Grant has aged well, and is a welcome reminder of the times when UK R&B was producing a new generation of artists. Standout Tracks: Wrap Yourself Around Me, In the Flow of Love, Watching You, Watching Me and You Are All.

DAVID GRANT-DAVID GRANT.