Album · The Ruts
Grin and Bear It by The Ruts
Grin and Bear It is an album by The Ruts, released in 1980. 2 songs from it have charted on rock radio countdowns, with 6 countdown appearances in total. The biggest is “In A Rut”, on 4 lists with a best position of #11.
Grin and Bear It, the Ruts' second album, landed on Virgin in 1980, a scrapbook of singles, B-sides and live cuts recorded for the French TV show Chorus, released in the same year singer Malcolm Owen died of a heroin overdose and cut the band's rise short.
The oldest tracks, "In a Rut" and "H Eyes", go back to the band's first single, taped on an 8-track in Hayes in 1978, and "In a Rut" still hits like a boot through a shop window. "Staring at the Rude Boys" came from sessions at Air and Townhouse in early 1980, "Demolition Dancing" and "Secret Soldiers" from a John Peel session, and "Babylon's Burning", "Society" and "S.U.S." were caught live with no overdubs. "S.U.S." goes after the Sus law, which let British police stop and arrest people on suspicion alone. It all bristles with the reggae-fired punk that made Owen, Paul Fox, Segs Jennings and Dave Ruffy so dangerous.
Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.
Songs from Grin and Bear It on radio countdowns
| # | Song | Strength | Lists | Best | #1s | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | In A Rut | 4 | #11 | – | 1979–1982 | |
| 2 | Babylon's Burning | 2 | #47 | – | 1979–2002 |
Only songs that appear on at least one countdown are listed. Release data from MusicBrainz.