The Grid - Floatation (12" Subsonic Grid Mix)
- 12 INCH VINYL
- 3 days ago
- 3 min read
The Grid are Dave Ball (ex-Soft Cell) and Richard Norris (ex-music writer).
They met in 1987 when they were both invited to join a music project by the Psychic TV collective, headed by former Throbbing Gristle founder Genesis P-Orridge.
The plan was to create an album using new AKAI samplers that had just entered the market, which enabled a cut-and-paste style that would soon be made famous by the likes of M|A|R|R|S, Coldcut and Bomb The Bass.
The resulting record, Jack The Tab/Tekno Acid Beat, is regarded by some as the UK's first acid house album.
In 1988, Norris began attending London's revolutionary club night Shoom, run by Danny and Jenni Rampling, where whole nights were devoted to acid house for the first time, to a loved-up, drugged-up crowd of just a few hundred.
His subsequent trips to Ibiza and Café Del Mar left Norris keen for a new musical project, so he reached out to Ball, and the pair agreed to form The Grid, with the intention of blending a mixture of styles, including tacky disco, acid house and ambient music.
They released their first single, On The Grid, in 1989 before beginning work on their debut album, Electric Head.
After the record was complete, they decided one more track was needed.
Ball had some John Barry-style chords, to which Norris added a major chord. They imagined a track that might accompany film credits, with a flavour of Ibiza sunsets and the sensation of a session in a floatation tank, which Norris had just done for the first time, and enjoyed.
Floatation wasn't intended as a single, but as soon as somebody suggested it, it became the obvious focus for the album launch.
The record company suggested that Andrew Weatherall — who had just remixed Hallelujah for Happy Mondays and Only Love Can Break Your Heart for Saint Etienne — should remix Floatation.
Along with engineer Hugo Nicolson, they reworked the track with seashore sounds, added deep bass and kick drum, and invited their friend Sasha, from Shoom, to add vocals to complete the mix.
The resulting Subsonic Grid Mix became an Ibiza classic and a club favourite, and Floatation became a key track in the soundtrack to the "second summer of love" in 1990.
The Grid didn't enjoy the commercial success they'd expected, however, having been a low-priority act for their label at the time of Floatation and — with little promotion once again — the excellent follow-up, A Beat Called Love, also failed to make the Top 40.
As a result, they weren't offered a deal for a second album, but as they were so critically acclaimed, they were offered many other opportunities — remixing or producing tracks for Billie Ray Martin, Happy Mondays, Brian Eno and Pet Shop Boys, amongst others.
Crucially, Boy George also invited them to remix a track for his new act, Jesus Loves You, and recommended to his label, Virgin, that they should sign them up. Virgin did just that, and The Grid went on to have six Top 40 hits and a Top 20 album with them.
In 1996, the duo agreed to work on some solo projects again, and both have been active since with many different collaborations — including many more working together.
Ball also worked again with Marc Almond and Soft Cell, while Norris teamed up with DJ Erol Alkan to form the remix duo Beyond The Wizard's Sleeve, who were prolific in the 2000s.
Featured here is the aforementioned Subsonic Grid remix of Floatation. The 12-inch features the Sonic Swing remix on the reverse. A second 12-inch was released featuring the Original Studio Version and the Progressive Mix by Olimax & DJ Shapps.
Year:Â 1990 Label:Â EastWest Cat no:Â YZ475T