"Electric Avenue" is a song by Eddy Grant, from his 1982 album Killer on the Rampage. It was released as a single in 1982, and reached number two on the UK Singles Chart and in the United States. The song's lyrics refer to the 1981 Brixton riot, the title referring to Electric Avenue, a market street in the Brixton area of London.
Other release information[edit]
The B-Side to this song is a non-LP track entitled "Time Warp."
Electric Avenue was re-released in 2001. The single featured the "Ringbang Remix", and reached number 5 in the UK Singles Chart in June 2001.[1]
The Ringbang Remix was also featured on Now That's What I Call Music! 49 as track 1 of disc 2
Other versions[edit]
The song has been covered by many artists since its original release:
- Grindcore band Anal Cunt covered the beginning of the song on track "Eddy Grant" from their 1994 album Everyone Should Be Killed.
- Canadian rapcore band Raggadeath covered the song on their self-titled 1997 album.
- Refugee Camp All Stars (featuring Pras Michel, former member of The Fugees) covered the song in 1997 for the original soundtrack of the movie Money Talks. This cover was titled "Avenues", featuring Reggae artist Ky-Mani Marley. Their version peaked at #35 on the Billboard Hot 100.
- The Christian rock band Tait covered the song on their 2003 album, Lose This Life.
- Velvet, a Swedish singer sampled it on her 2006 album Finally. Velvet's version is called "Rock Down To (Electric Avenue)".
- In 2007 Los Rabanes covered the song on their album Kamikaze, using their own lyrics in Spanish.
- Rapper C-Rayz Walz covered the song on his 2007 album Monster Maker.
- House duo Firefox sampled the song for their single "Pull My Trigger".
- Servotron covered this album on a 7-inch record release with the B-Side of "Finest Work Song".
- "Weird Al" Yankovic performed a concert-only[2] parody of this song called "Flatbush Avenue". The recording was never released on any of his albums.[3]
- Gefilte Joe and the Fish released a parody called "Fairfax Avenue".
- In 2009 Skindred released a cover of the song on their third studio album Shark Bites and Dog Fights.
- There is a version with Wyclef Jean, Pras and Ky-Mani Marley, featuring the chorus of the original and verses from each contributor.
- In 2011 Swedish rock band Vains of Jenna released their cover on the studio album Reversed Tripped.
- The song "Special Request" on PlayStation Home sampled the recurring beat from "Electric Avenue".
- Powerman 5000 covered the song on their 2011 album Copies, Clones & Replicants.
- EOTO has incorporated the song into several of their live performances.
- Lazlo Bane, an American alternative rock band, covered the song on its 2012 EP Guilty Pleasures the 80's Volume 1.
- In the Family Guy episode "And The Weiner Is", the James Woods High School marching band plays this as part of its halftime show.