A product of north London’s Hornsey Rise council estate, the Equals unapologetic approach to race in name and make-up (three black members, two white), stood them apart. It shone through their sound too, a meaty, beaty, bouncy amalgam of pop, R&B, rock and ska that helped them onto bills with visiting US greats such as Wilson Pickett, Solomon Burke and Bo Diddley. Despite landing a deal with Edward Kassner’s President Records, a clutch of mid-60s singles that showed the depth of Eddy Grant’s songwriting chops failed to significantly dent the UK charts. While the same fate seemed to await the imploring, persuasive ‘Hold Me Closer’, the Equals career spun on a flip of the disk by European radio DJs, who bought into the taut chorus and simple but brutally infectious guitar riff of the subtly Caribbean-tinged ‘Baby, Come Back’. Reissued as a British A-side in 1968, it knocked the Rolling Stones’ ‘Jumpin’ Jack Flash’ off top spot and racked up over a million sales. The Equals were far from done, slaying a fervent German fan base with ‘Viva Bobby Joe’ and ‘Black Skin Blue Eyed Boys’. Their career skidded off the rails after a devastating 1969 autobahn accident, with 23-year-old Grant faring the worst, suffering a heart attack and a collapsed lung. Grant would return with plenty of fire in his belly in the late 70s (returning to the chart pinnacle with 1982’s ‘I Don’t Want To Dance’) while this B-side became a UK number one twice, courtesy of Pato Banton’s dozy 1984 reggae cover.