The Equals

Eddy “Electric Avenue” Grant cut his teeth in the '60s with a London quintet that first drew attention for being one of the first racially integrated bands (hence their moniker The Equals). They cut their debut 45 single, “Hold Me Closer,” with the b-side “Baby Come Back” in 1966. It failed to gain traction at first. But after some DJs in the Netherlands and Germany began playing “Baby Come Back” a year later, the song hit No. 1 in the U.K., going gold in 1968. One listen to it here, and its awesomeness is immediately apparent. It's got a catchy British Invasion guitar hook, throttled R&B rave-ups, and an infectiously catchy chorus. “Black Skinned Blue Eyed Boys” laid down a funky wah-wah guitar and raised a black fist with then-topical lyrics that protested war, racism, and poverty. As the '60s seeped into the '70s, The Equals' take on bubblegum sounded more heavyhanded than that of bands like The Bay City Rollers and The Archies: check “Rub a Dub Dub” and “Michael and the Slipper Tree.”