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The Grid | |
|---|---|
| Origin | London, England |
| Genres | House |
| Years active | 1988–1996, 2003–present |
| Labels | East West,Virgin,Deconstruction,Some Bizzare |
| Members | Richard Norris |
| Past members | Sacha Rebecca Souter (vocals) David Ball |
The Grid were an Englishelectronic dance group, consisting ofDavid Ball (formerly ofSoft Cell) andRichard Norris,[1] with guest contributions from other musicians. They are best known for thehits "Swamp Thing", "Texas Cowboys", "Crystal Clear", "Rollercoaster" and "Floatation". Ball died on 23 October 2025.
The Grid formed in 1988, after both Ball and Norris had worked withPsychic TV on theJack 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 onEast West Records in 1990. They went on to release a string of ten UKhit singles and four albums,[1] andtoured the UK, Europe, Asia and Australia. The group's 1994 albumEvolver reached No. 14 in theUK Albums Chart.[1] The lead single from this album, "Swamp Thing", features elaboratebanjo lines played byRoger Dinsdale. "Swamp Thing" proved to be a commercial success in the UK, Europe and Australia, reaching No. 3 in the UK[1] and Australia,[3] 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 withAndy Chatterley, who went on toremix tracks by musicians includingArmand Van Helden andSiobhan Fahey. Norris also wrote the official biography ofPaul Oakenfold, published in 2007. Ball reformed Soft Cell withMarc Almond, and also wrote music scores for films.[citation needed] Norris has since formed the psychedelic duo,Beyond The Wizard's Sleeve, with DJErol Alkan, and has released a number of solo records and remixes under the nameThe 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 theSome Bizzare label. The album featured vocals by the British musician,Chris Braide.
In 2018, during the second reunion ofSoft Cell, Ball and Norris released a new album as the Grid,One Way Traffic, which was recorded as part ofMoog Music's "The Moog Sound Lab" program, using the Moogmodular synthesizers.[4]
In 2021, Ball and Norris collaborated withRobert Fripp on a new album,Leviathan.
| Year | Album | UK [5] | AUS [3][6] | SWE [7] | SWI [8] | 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 (withRobert Fripp) | – | – | – | – | Discipline Global Mobile |
| Year | Single | Peak chart positions | Certifications (sales thresholds) | Album | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UK [5] | AUS [3][6] | AUT [9] | BEL (Fla) [10] | GER [11] | IRE [12] | NED [13] | NOR [14] | SWE [7] | SWI [8] | |||||
| 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" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |||
| "—" denotes releases that did not chart | ||||||||||||||
