The Equals - A Retrospective Journey

 

Line-Up :

Derv Gordon - Lead vocals 

Lincoln Gordon - Guitar 

Eddy Grant - Guitar 

Pat Lloyd - Bass guitar 

John Hall - Drums

What to say about this awesome & forgotten band? At first, I didn't know this band before watching a Senders live video @ CBGB's, covering "Baby Come Back".. yeah, I came across internet, listening to the original version, and instantly thought "Damn, I sure have heard this tune at least three times!". So four times a fool! Whatever...

Some call The Equals a "skinhead band", others a "pop group", personnally I'd define it as true R&B.

From Wikipedia :

They started rehearsing on a council estate at Hornsey Rise, North London in 1965. In 1966 the group released the "Hold Me Closer" / "Baby Come Back" single, which did not capture much attention in the United Kingdom. However, in Germany and The Netherlands it went to #1 - a position its re-issue would later reach in the UK. Thus, the racially mixed London group gave President Records their only number one hit. A gold disc was presented to the group in June 1968 for a combined one million sales of the record. The year 1968 saw the release of "I Get So Excited" which appeared in the Top 50 of the UK Singles Chart. It was reported in September 1969 that all five members of the group had been injured in Germany, when their car ran off a motorway in a gale.

A string of single releases followed up to 1970, all of which charted in the UK. The group also attracted attention as one of the few racially integrated bands of the 1960s, which was reflected in the group's name: The Equals.

Following a collapsed lung and heart infection which put him out of action at the beginning of 1971, Grant went home to Guyana. He promptly left The Equals to pursue his solo career. In the late 1970s and early 1980s released several Top 40 singles, including "Living On The Front Line", "Electric Avenue" and "Romancing the Stone". Grant also topped the UK Singles Chart in 1982 with "I Don't Wanna Dance". Although The Equals never charted again after Grant's departure, they remained a popular live act, performing into the late 1970s and beyond.

In the late 1970s, The Clash recorded a successful cover version of The Equals' song "Police On My Back". In 2006 Willie Nile released his cover of "Police on My Back" on his Streets of New York CD.

The Equals' song "Green Light" was covered by The Detroit Cobras, on their 2007 album, Tied & True.

The song "Baby Come Back" refused to go away. It returned in 1994, when Pato Banton scored an unexpected UK number one with his cover.

01 - Baby Come Back
02 - I Get So Excited
03 - Laurel And Hardy
04 - Viva Bobby Joe
05 - I Won't Be There
06 - Michael And The Slipper Tree
07 - Green Light
08 - Help Me Simone
09 - Have I The Right
10 - I Can't Let You Go
11 - Police On My Back
12 - Black Skinned Blue Eyed Boys
13 - Diversion
14 - Honey Gum
15 - I Can See, But You Don't Know
16 - Funky Funky
17 - Softly Softly
18 - Rub A Dub Dub
19 - Giddy Up A Ding Dong
20 - Hold Me Closer


Download link in comments.

 

Here's a great gig in Germany, '66 :

1: Baby Come Back/2: Baby You're Sad/3: I Won't Be There/4: Hold Me Closer

And here's the great cover of "Baby Come Back" by The Senders @ CBGB's, '90 :