One record at a time: 158. The Grid - Electric Head

The Grid's debut, "Electric Head" was released at a time when dance music was beginning to infiltrate the mainstream and become the driving force in electronic music.

This move towards dance music was personified by band member Dave Ball who formed The Grid with producer and DJ Richard Norris following the demise of Soft Cell. It's crazy to think now that this album only came out nine years after "Tainted Love" dominated the charts. Nine years seemed an eternity in my youth, now it passes in the blink of an eye.

I first bought this album on CD in 1992. Having heard (and bought) the single "Figure of 8" I decided to buy this album in the hope of finding something similar. Whilst this album isn't as dance orientated as later efforts, it doesn't lack in imagination or groove.

The opening track "One Giant Step" is a ride through sweeping special effects, piano riffs and samples of astronauts that builds to a satisfying crescendo. "Are You Receiving" is a more laid back and hypnotic track that immediately demonstrates this album is not a one trick pony.  Similarly diverse is "Islamatron" which weds Kraftwerk style beats with Islamic chants to great effect. 

"The Driving Instructor" is a bit of a disappointing and sparse song that features a vocal by Richard Norris. Richard's vocals aren't bad, but equally I can see why this trend didn't extend beyond this album. Whilst "A Beat Called Love" is pure catchy pop, the disappointing verses point to why it wasn't a hit single back in 1990. The synth spotters will notice lots of Korg M1 sounds on this record with the choir patches, piano, finger snap, pan flute and voice wave presents the most obvious.

The press release correcting the release date

One of my favourite tracks is "Intergalactica" which is a hard driving dance track with some great Roland SVC350 vocoder vocals by Richard. Unfortunately, Richard's natural vocal on "This Must Be Heaven" isn't quite as good and it's easy to hear this was recorded in the days before auto-tune. "Doctor Celine" is a bizarre song that moves between synth-pop and weird passages of noisy guitars but it remains entertaining. "Strange Electric Sun" is a jaunty number with another fragile but endearing vocal by Richard.

The highlight of the album, and the track that probably brought many listeners to the record in the first place, is the classic "Floatation". This song is somehow downtempo and driving at the same time. The synths soar as a wonderful clarinet solo fills the air before falling away too soon. Whilst the CD and cassette feature a bonus track not on the LP, it is nothing more than a drone type ambient piece that holds little interest.

I bought my copy of the vinyl from eBay in 2017 and it came with a "Promotional Copy Only Not For Sale" sticker on the back and contained a letter stating the release date for the record had been delayed from 1st October 1990 to the 22nd. Wikipedia and Discogs give the seemingly incorrect release date but I can't face changing it and having to argue with the self appointed guardians of truth and justice that seem to moderate such websites. We dear reader will hold the secret. 4/5

Confessions of a producer

I recently stumbled upon a website featuring the reminiscences of producer Mike Thorne. Amongst the fascinating essays on the site is a production note centred on the recording of the band’s first album ‘Non Stop Erotic Cabaret’.

In terms of the history of electronic music, this album is of prime importance. For the first time electronic music was becoming more than just a curio obsessed over by an underground cult. Soft Cell took the purely electronic formula and thrust it firmly into the pop charts all over the world.

Yes Kraftwerk wrote some great purely electronic albums in the 1970’s but they didn’t achieve the success of ‘Non Stop Erotic Cabaret’. Similarly, Gary Numan had topped the charts with his electronic sound for some time, but all of his work included a conventional rhythm section with an electric bass and a drummer.

Mike Thorne and Soft Cell were amongst the first who ditched the conventional drummer and let their drum machine do the work. In 1981 this was a bold move for a group attempting to achieve commercial success.

Thorne gives us a fascinating insight into the production of early electronic music and this site comes highly recommended. If nothing else it has put ‘Non Stop Erotic Cabaret’ back on my play lists and that can’t be a bad thing.