Of bedroom antics and books you’re missing
Eddy Grant’s hit ‘Electric Avenue’ celebrated at Super Bowl
Caribbean Life, February 18-24, 2022 49
By Terri Schlichenmeyer
Bodice-rippers.
That’s what they’re sometimes
called: you know, those
romance books that feature a
hard-bodied, handsome man
on the cover, and he’s holding
the shoulders of a lovely,
swooning woman wearing a
dress with a ripped bodice.
Steamy inside and out, but
does the couple in question
look like you? In the new
book, “Black Love Matters,”
edited by Jessica P. Pryde,
they might.
For much of history, Black
love didn’t end in Happily
Ever After (called “HEA” in
several places in this book).
Black love was controlled by
someone else, or it was hard
to keep, or it was just plain
forbidden. As for Black literature,
it was much the same
– until the late 1800s, when
poet and activist Frances
Ellen Watkins Harper wrote
what may be the first Black
romance novel, Iola Leroy,
or Shadows Uplifted.
In the couple decades after
Harper’s book was released,
fans might’ve seen Black
romance stories in Black
newspapers here and there.
In the middle of the last century,
readers could find magazines
with spicy titles that
featured kiss-and-tell stories.
It wasn’t until the 1980s that
romance authors began writing
specifically for a Black
audience, and readers in the
know learned to look for certain
authors or publishers to
find love literature.
Seeing those books on the
shelf, says contributor Allie
Parker, is a what representation
is all about; the characters
in Black romance books
show a reader that HEA
is possible and “That people
like you are worth rooting
for.” Carole V. Bell says
romance novels are “inextricably
bound in Black solidarity.”
Nicole M. Jackson says
it’s now very possible to find
queer Black romances, if you
want them. Jasmine Guillory
Book cover of ” Black Love Matters.”
says that readers shouldn’t
be surprised if there’s lots of
food involved because “When
I love someone… I want to
feed them.”
And yet, editor Pryde calls
for integration.
“We might want more
black couples in our media,”
she says, “but not at the
expense of the relationships
those people were already in.
Just give us more. Give us
balance.”
It’s about time, isn’t it?
Time that a book like “Black
Love Matters” brings a rarely
talked-about subject to
the forefront and asks why
Black readers have had to
wait to see themselves and
their history inside the kinds
of books that white readers
take for granted.
In this book, you’ll learn
the history of Black romance
novels. Readers and writers
weigh in on the delight
they’ve felt when they’ve
discovered Black romances
on a shelf somewhere, the
reason they sometimes hid
those novels from others,
and what‘s being done to
promote Black love stories.
The entire genre, overall, has
often been dismissed as fluff
but the contributors here
explain why it’s important to
give Black love stories their
own HEA.
In the purest sense, this
is a love letter to Black
romance novels. The bonus
is that romance readers will
find lots of great recommendations,
so bring your Must-
Have List with you when you
start “Black Love Matters.
It’s a book you’ll rip through,
quick.
“Black Love Matters:
Real Talk on Romance,
Being Seen, and Happily
Ever Afters” edited by
Jessica P. Pryde
c.2022, Berkley
$17.00
263 pages
Author Ricky Tucker. James Galloway-Reed
By Tangerine Clarke
Guyanese-born international
superstar, Eddy Grant, ahead
of the recent 54th Super Bowl,
took to his Facebook page to
thank fans, adding, “I was told
by the people of BMW that
they’re going to use “Electric
Avenue” in its 40th year, featuring
Arnold and Selma, that’s
lovely, he said, repeating, “Electric
Avenue” 40 years, it’s going
to be a hell of a super bowl, and
I am going to watch it.”
Grant, a hit making musician,
honored with his Forever
Stamp by the Guyana
Post office, and who recorded
the multi-platinum hit in
1982, spoke of the German car
company (Bayerische Motoren
Werke, a German company)
that featured movie star, and
former California Governor,
Arnold Schwarzenegger, and
Mexican-born actress Selma
Hayek, in a script featuring the
highly rated commercial, singing
“Electric Avenue,” as they
drove the 2022 automobile.
The singer, songwriter,
smiled as he talked about his
hit being used in another commercial.
The advertisement
started with the stars in a skit,
before they got into the BMW
iX electric car, befitting for
the melody, and joyfully sang,
“Electric Avenue, and then
we’ll take it higher,” as Grant’s
voice was heard singing his hit
in the background.
Recorded, under his then
famous Carriage House Studios
in London, Ice Records,
40 years ago, “Electric Avenue”
became an international sensation,
and was featured in commercials
by various companies
to sell their brand.
Named, Edmond Montague
Grant, the “Gimme Hope
Jo’anna” singer, who now
records under his Ringbang
Label, and will turn 74, next
month, once said, “Guyana is
really everything, I can put
Guyana against any country in
the world — Guyana means a
lot to me because it has given
me a lot. It’s given me my
mother, my father, my family,
and a lot of my values.”
He later tweeted “Who noticed
that “Electric Avenue” got double
play last night in the Super
Bowl Ads? and shared, “check
out a clip from the Ad for Florida
Power and Light. Another
advert, that used the tune.”
The singer told the media,
“It’s not once that BMW has
chosen me and this song. It’s
twice and that must be a world
record, because I can’t think
of anybody else in the space of
five years who had the same
song used by a company for
the Super Bowl. It’s a massive
stage and every artiste, every
writer, would like to have this
opportunity.”
Born in the rural area of
Plaisance on the East Bank of
Demerara, Grant, whose last
album “Plaisance” was released
in 2017, said he enjoyed interacting
with nationals when he
walks the streets of his homeland,
and quipped, “Where else
in the world can you see your
superstar, your artist on the
road?”