The Grid

For other uses, see Grid (disambiguation).

The Grid
OriginLondon, England
GenresHouse
Years active1988–1996
2003–present
LabelsEast West, Virgin, Deconstruction, Some Bizzare
MembersRichard Norris
David Ball
Past membersSacha Rebecca Souter (vocals)

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".

Band members

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.[citation needed]

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.[citation needed] 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][5]		 SWE
[6]		 SWI
[7]		 Label
1990 Electric Head – – – – East West Records
1992 456 – 199 – – 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][5] 		AUT
[8] 		BEL
(Fla)
[9] 		GER
[10] 		IRE
[11] 		NED
[12] 		NOR
[13] 		SWE
[6] 		SWI
[7]
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" 72 188 — — — — — — — —
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

  1. ^ a b c d Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19th ed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. p. 236. ISBN 1-904994-10-5.
  2. ^ a b c Australian (ARIA Chart) peaks:
  3. ^ "cargorecordsdirect.co.uk > The Grid 'One Way Traffic (Blue TB7 Series)' – Cargo Records UK". Retrieved 19 May 2019.
  4. ^ a b UK chart peaks:
  5. ^ a b "The Grid ARIA chart history". ARIA. Retrieved 26 July 2024 – via Imgur.com. N.B. The High Point number in the NAT column represents the release's peak on the national chart.
  6. ^ a b "swedishcharts.com > The Grid in Swedish Charts". Hung Medien. Retrieved 3 September 2016.
  7. ^ a b "hitparade.ch > The Grid in der Schweizer Hitparade" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved 3 September 2016.
  8. ^ "austriancharts.at > Suche nach: The Grid" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved 3 September 2016.
  9. ^ "Ultratop > The Grid in Ultratop Vlaanderen" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 3 September 2016.
  10. ^ "Offizielle Deutsche Charts > The Grid – Swamp Thing (single)" (in German). GfK Entertainment. Retrieved 3 September 2016.
  11. ^ "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.
  12. ^ "dutchcharts.nl > The Grid in Dutch Charts" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 3 September 2016.
  13. ^ "norwegiancharts.com > The Grid in Norwegian Charts". Hung Medien. Retrieved 3 September 2016.
  14. ^ "BPI > Certified Awards > Search results for 'Grid' (from bpi.co.uk)". Imgur.com (original source published by British Phonographic Industry). Retrieved 3 September 2016.
  15. ^ "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