The Grid
The Grid are an English electronic dance group, consisting of David Ball (formerly of Soft Cell) and Richard Norris,[1] with guest contributions from other musicians. They are best known for the hits "Swamp Thing", "Texas Cowboys", "Crystal Clear", "Rollercoaster" and "Floatation".
The Grid | |
|---|---|
| Origin | London, England |
| Genres | House |
| Years active | 1988–1996 2003–present |
| Labels | East West, Virgin, Deconstruction, Some Bizzare |
| Members | Richard Norris David Ball |
| Past members | Sacha Rebecca Souter (vocals) |
Band members
- Richard Norris – keyboards, drum programming
- David Ball – keyboards, programming
- Sacha Rebecca Souter – vocals
History
The Grid formed in 1988, after both Ball and Norris had worked with Psychic TV on the Jack the Tab – Acid Tablets Volume One album. They recorded the track "Meet Every Situation Head On" together as "M.E.S.H.". The Grid had their first success with their debut single, "Floatation", released on East West Records in 1990. They went on to release a string of ten UK hit singles and four albums,[1] and toured the UK, Europe, Asia and Australia. The group's 1994 album Evolver reached No. 14 in the UK Albums Chart.[1] The lead single from this album, "Swamp Thing", features elaborate banjo lines played by Roger Dinsdale. "Swamp Thing" proved to be a commercial success in the UK, Europe and Australia, reaching No. 3 in the UK[1] and Australia,[2] and selling a total of one million copies.
In 1996, Norris and Ball agreed to a hiatus in order to pursue individual music interests. Norris formed The Droyds with Andy Chatterley, who went on to remix tracks by musicians including Armand Van Helden and Siobhan Fahey. Norris also wrote the official biography of Paul Oakenfold, published in 2007. Ball reformed Soft Cell with Marc Almond, and also wrote music scores for films. Norris has since formed the psychedelic duo, Beyond The Wizard's Sleeve, with DJ Erol Alkan, and has released a number of solo records and remixes under the name The Time and Space Machine.
The duo reunited in 2005, initially playing two gigs under the name GDM with female singer Misty Woods, before writing and recording new material as The Grid. A single, "Put Your Hands Together", was released in 2007 and an album, Doppelgänger, followed in 2008. Both were released on the Some Bizzare label. The album featured vocals by the British musician, Chris Braide.
In 2018, during the second reunion of Soft Cell, Ball and Norris released a new album as the Grid, One Way Traffic, which was recorded as part of Moog Music Inc.'s "The Moog Sound Lab" program, using Moog modular synthesizers.[3]
In 2021, Ball and Norris collaborated with Robert Fripp on a new album, Leviathan.
Discography
Albums
| Year | Album | UK [4] | AUS [2] | SWE [5] | SWI [6] | Label |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990 | Electric Head | – | – | – | – | East West Records |
| 1992 | 456 | – | – | – | – | Virgin Records |
| 1994 | Evolver | 14 | 51 | 27 | 46 | Deconstruction Records |
| 1995 | Music for Dancing | 67 | – | – | – | Deconstruction Records |
| 2008 | Doppelgänger | – | – | – | – | Some Bizzare Records |
| 2018 | One Way Traffic | – | – | – | – | Moog Recordings Library |
| 2021 | Leviathan (with Robert Fripp) | – | – | – | – | Discipline Global Mobile |
Singles
| Year | Single | Peak chart positions | Certifications (sales thresholds) |
Album | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UK [4] |
AUS [2] |
AUT [7] |
BEL (Fla) [8] |
GER [9] |
IRE [10] |
NED [11] |
NOR [12] |
SWE [5] |
SWI [6] | |||||
| 1989 | "On the Grid" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Single only | ||
| "Intergalactia" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Electric Head | |||
| 1990 | "Floatation" | 60 | 102 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |||
| "A Beat Called Love" | 64 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||||
| "Origins of Dance" | 96 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Single only | |||
| 1991 | "Boom!" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 456 | ||
| 1992 | "Figure of 8" | 50 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |||
| "Heartbeat" | 72 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||||
| 1993 | "Crystal Clear" | 27 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |||
| "Texas Cowboys" | 21 | — | — | — | — | 18 | — | — | 36 | — | Evolver | |||
| 1994 | "Swamp Thing" | 3 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 13 | 4 | 7 | 2 | 4 | 6 | |||
| "Rollercoaster" | 19 | 59 | — | 45 | — | 11 | — | — | 31 | — | ||||
| "Texas Cowboys" (re-release) | 17 | 74 | — | 40 | — | 18 | — | — | — | — | ||||
| 1995 | "Diablo" | 32 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Music for Dancing | ||
| 2006 | "Slammer / Slinker" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Doppelgänger | ||
| 2007 | "Put Your Hands Together" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Doppelgänger | ||
| "—" denotes releases that did not chart | ||||||||||||||
References
- Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19th ed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. p. 236. ISBN 1-904994-10-5.
- Australian (ARIA Chart) peaks:
- Top 50 peaks: "australian-charts.com > The Grid in Australian Charts". Hung Medien. Retrieved 3 September 2016.
- "Floatation" (ARIA) peak: "Week commencing 20 August 1990". bubblingdownunder.com. Retrieved 21 August 2021.
- Top 100 peaks to December 2010: Ryan, Gavin (2011). Australia's Music Charts 1988–2010. Mt. Martha, VIC, Australia: Moonlight Publishing.
- "Rollercoaster": "The ARIA Australian Top 100 Singles Chart – Week Ending 11 Dec 1994". Imgur.com (original document published by ARIA). Retrieved 3 September 2016.
- "Texas Cowboys": "The ARIA Australian Top 100 Singles Chart – Week Ending 05 Feb 1995". Imgur.com (original document published by ARIA). Retrieved 10 December 2016.
- "cargorecordsdirect.co.uk > The Grid 'One Way Traffic (Blue TB7 Series)' – Cargo Records UK". Retrieved 19 May 2019.
- UK chart peaks:
- All except "Origins of Dance": "Official Charts > Grid". The Official UK Charts Company. Retrieved 3 September 2016.
- "Origins of Dance" "Official Charts > Timothy Leary Meets The Grid". The Official UK Charts Company. Retrieved 3 September 2016.
- "swedishcharts.com > The Grid in Swedish Charts". Hung Medien. Retrieved 3 September 2016.
- "hitparade.ch > The Grid in der Schweizer Hitparade" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved 3 September 2016.
- "austriancharts.at > Suche nach: The Grid" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved 3 September 2016.
- "Ultratop > The Grid in Ultratop Vlaanderen" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 3 September 2016.
- "Offizielle Deutsche Charts > The Grid – Swamp Thing (single)" (in German). GfK Entertainment. Retrieved 3 September 2016.
- "The Irish Charts – All there is to know > Search results for 'Grid' (from irishcharts.ie)". Imgur.com (original source published by Fireball Media). Retrieved 3 September 2016.
- "dutchcharts.nl > The Grid in Dutch Charts" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 3 September 2016.
- "norwegiancharts.com > The Grid in Norwegian Charts". Hung Medien. Retrieved 3 September 2016.
- "BPI > Certified Awards > Search results for 'Grid' (from bpi.co.uk)". Imgur.com (original source published by British Phonographic Industry). Retrieved 3 September 2016.
- "The ARIA Australian Top 100 Singles 1994". Imgur.com (original document published by ARIA). Archived from the original on 25 October 2015. Retrieved 3 September 2016.
Further reading
External links
- The Grid official Facebook page
- Grid Central – unofficial page
- The Grid at AllMusic
- The Grid Myspace