Eurythmics

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For the approach to music education, see Eurhythmics.

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Eurythmics (often incorrectly referred to as "The Eurythmics") are a British musical duo, formed in 1980 by Annie Lennox and Dave Stewart.

The pair have achieved significant global commercial and critical success, winning numerous awards, and have toured worldwide. They are often highly regarded for their intellectual pop songs, which showcase Lennox's powerful and expressive alto voice, and Stewart's innovative production techniques. They are also noted for their striking promotional videos to accompany their singles.

Their entire song catalogue has been published by BMG Music Publishing since 1982.

Contents

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History

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Formation, In The Garden (1980-1982)

The pair had first worked together as members of The Tourists. During this time, they were also romantic partners. This band achieved modest commercial success, but the experience was reportedly an unhappy one. Personal and musical tensions existed within the group, whose main songwriter was Pete Coombes, the band often received very negative critical press in the UK, and there were legal wranglings with the band's management, publishers and record labels. Lennox and Stewart felt the fixed band line-up was not a good vehicle to explore their experimental creative leanings.

Lennox and Stewart decided their next project should be much more flexible and free from artistic compromise. They were interested in creating 'pop music', but wanted freedom to experiment with electronics and the avant-garde as well. Calling themselves "Eurythmics" (a re-spelling on a classical dance technique Lennox had encountered as a child), they decided to keep themselves as the only permanent members and songwriters, and involve others in the collaboration as they saw fit "on the basis of mutual compatibility and availability". RCA Records decided to retain the pair from their Tourists recording contract. Wanting to concentrate on their musical relationship, Lennox and Stewart decided to discontinue their romantic liaison in 1980 (see 1980 in music).

Their first album saw them continue to work in Cologne with the legendary Conny Plank (who had produced the later Tourists sessions). This resulted in the album In the Garden, released October 1981), including contributions from Holgar Czukay & Jackie Liebezeit of Can, drummer Clem Burke of Blondie, Robert Görl of Deutsch Amerikanische Freundschaft, and flautist Tim Wheater. A couple of the songs were co-written by guitarist Roger Pomphrey (now a TV producer). The album featured rather cold and melancholy songs, mixing psychedelic, krautrock and electropop influences. It received a lukewarm critical reception and poor sales. Two singles from the album also flopped, though Never Gonna Cry Again made some charts (their videos have seldom been seen subsequently). Lennox and Stewart then put their new Eurythmics mode of operation into action by touring the record as a duo, accompanied by backing tracks and electronics, carted around the country themselves in a horse-box.

Stewart and Lennox retreated to Chalk Farm in London, and used a bank loan to set up a tiny 8-track studio above a picture framing factory, giving them freedom to record without having to pay expensive studio fees. They began to employ much more electronics in their music, collaborating with such names as Raynard Faulkner and Adam Williams. They continued to record many tracks and play live using various line-up permutations. However, the three singles RCA released for them that year ("This is the House," "The Walk," and "Love Is a Stranger") all flopped on initial release in the UK. The band's state of affairs was becoming critical — although their mode of operation had given them the creative freedom they desired, commercial success was still eluding them, and the responsibility of running so many of their affairs personally (down to roadying their own equipment) was exhausting. Apparently Lennox suffered at least one nervous breakdown during this period, while Stewart was hospitalized with a collapsed lung.

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Sweet Dreams, Touch and 1984 - For The Love Of Big Brother (1982-1985)

Eurythmics' commercial breakthrough came with Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This) (1983 in music), whose hit single of the same name featured a dark, powerfully sequenced synth bass line and a striking video that introduced the orange crew cut Lennox sported to fame. The band's fortunes changed immensely from this moment on. The album became a huge British hit due to the title track, which quickly topped the American charts as well. Lennox was featured on the cover of Rolling Stone magazine. Stewart recently revealed that the famous synth bass line in the song was discovered by accident when he inadvertently played a track backwards. "Love Is A Stranger" was re-released and became a hit in its own right, though it was initially banned by MTV for its "gay" content (which actually involved Lennox in male drag and a fellow, not two men; MTV had to be convinced). The "Love Is A Stranger" video saw Lennox in many different character guises, which she would become known for in subsequent videos ("Beethoven" and "The King & Queen of America" among them).

Touch, the follow-up to Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This), was released in 1984 and spawned three major hits. "Here Comes The Rain Again" (number four in the U.S.) was a haunting orchestral/synth ballad that led album. The video went into heavy rotation on MTV. "Who's That Girl" was also a massive hit, the videoing seeing Lennox as a blonde chanteuse and featured cameos by Bananarama, Kate Garner of Haysi Fantayzee, Jay Aston and Cheryl Baker of Bucks Fizz, Kiki Dee, and "gender-bending" pop singer Marilyn, among others. The upbeat, calypso-flavored "Right By Your Side" showed a different side of Eurythmics altogether, and Touch solidified the duo's reputation as being major talents and cutting edge musicians.

In 1984, RCA released Touch Dance, a mini-album of remixes of four tracks from Touch, aimed at the 'club market'. The remixes were by prominent New York name producers François Kervorkian and John "Jellybean" Benitez.

Later in 1984, Virgin released the Eurythmics album 1984 - For The Love Of Big Brother. Virgin Films had contracted the band to provide a soundtrack for Michael Radford's re-make of George Orwell's 1984; Radford would soon say that the music was being "foisted" on him, and refused to use Eurythmics' score, replacing it with more conventional orchestral filler (except for the song "Julia," which played along with the end credits). However, the record was presented as "music derived from the original score of Eurythmics for the Michael Radford film version of Orwell's 1984." The album the hit single "Sexcrime (Nineteen Eighty-Four)" (huge in the UK, and a major dance hit in America), but its supposedly suggestive title (actually taken directly from Orwell's text) resulted in many U.S. pop radio stations refusing to play the track.

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Be Yourself Tonight and Revenge (1985-1987)

Their fourth studio album proper, Be Yourself Tonight, was produced in a single week in Paris. It showcased much more of a "band" and a centred sound (with an R&B influence), with real drums, brass, and much more guitar from Stewart. Almost a dozen other musicians were enlisted, including members of Tom Petty's Heartbreakers, guest harmonica from Stevie Wonder, bass guitar from Dean Garcia, string arrangements by Michael Kamen, and Lennox singing duets with Aretha Franklin and Elvis Costello. It continued the duo's transatlantic chart domination in 1985, and contained four hit singles: "Would I Lie To You?" was a U.S. Billboard top five hit, while "There Must Be An Angel (Playing With My Heart)" (featuring Wonder's contribution) became their first and only UK number one single. "It's Alright (Baby's Coming Back)" and the Franklin duet (originally intended for Tina Turner) "Sisters Are Doin' It For Themselves" also rode high in the charts.

Eurythmics released their Revenge album in 1986, which continued their move towards a band sound (some might even say verging on an AOR-pop/rock sound). Sales continued to be strong in the UK, but somewhat petered out in the U.S., though "Missionary Man" reached number 14 on the U.S. Hot 100 chart and would be regarded as something of a Eurythmics classic. Eurythmics went on a massive worldwide tour in support of this album, and a live concert video from the tour was released. The folk-tinged "Thorn In My Side" powered the UK success of Revenge, which remains Eurythmics' best selling album to date. Around this time, Stewart began producing, for Tom Petty and Bob Dylan, among others, while Lennox did some acting.

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Savage and We Too Are One (1987-1990)

Lennox and Stewart reunited in 1987 (see 1987 in music) for the critically acclaimed album, Savage. This saw a fairly radical change in the group's sound, being based mainly around drum loops, with synth and guitar parts fairly low in the mix (Lennox would later say that where Revenge was more of a Stewart album in sound, Savage was more of a Lennox one). Lyrically the songs showed an even darker, more psychological side to Lennox's writing. The entire record was also released as a video album, directed by Sophie Müller, with a film for each song. These largely followed Lennox's character of a frustrated housewife-turned-vamp (as exemplified in the bizarre "Beethoven (I Love To Listen To)," a UK hit and fan favorite). Much less commercial than the two previous albums, Savage was mostly ignored in the U.S., while sales in the UK were fair. The rocker "I Need A Man" remains a Eurythmics staple, as does the delicate "You Have Placed A Chill In My Heart".

In 1989, Eurythmics released the solid We Too Are One, a UK number one hit that did rather poorly in the United States, although "Don't Ask Me Why" grazed the Billboard top 40. Other singles from the set are "Revival," "The King & Queen of America," "Angel," and "(My My) Baby's Gonna Cry," the latter of which featured Stewart in his first prominent vocal role with Lennox.

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Hiatus and solo years (1991-1998)

After strenuous years of touring and recording (Eurythmics released eight albums — excluding the remix "Touch Dance" — in eight years), Lennox needed a break and took time off to have a baby and to consider a new direction after Eurythmics. Years of being constantly together had created a rift in the relationship between the duo; the two had virtually no communication with each other from 1990 to 1998. Through these years, a greatest hits collection would be issued (with new remixes of "Sweet Dreams" and "Love Is A Stranger" helping to promote it), as would a live set.

In 1992 (see 1992 in music), Lennox released a solo album, Diva, which was a critical and popular sensation, while Stewart began writing film soundtracks and formed a band called "the Spiritual Cowboys," releasing two albums with this group.

Stewart released proper solo albums in 1995 (see 1995 in music), Greetings from the Gutter, and 1998 (see 1998 in music), Sly-Fi; neither of these albums were as well-received as his 1990 duet with saxophonist Candy Dulfer, "Lily Was Here." Lennox's Medusa, a cover album, fared much better, reaching number one in the UK.

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Reunion, Peace, and I've Got A Life (1999-2006)

Eurythmics reunited in 1999 (see 1999 in music) and released Peace. Peace highlighted the duo's enduring musical bond and creativity. "I Saved The World Today" reached number 11 in the UK singles charts and a remix of "17 Again" gave the duo their first chart-topper on the U.S. Hot Dance Music/Club Play chart.

In June of 2003, Lennox released her third solo album, entitled Bare, which was a good hit, with three singles at the top of Hot Dance Music/Club Play in 2003 and 2004. She also recorded the song "Into the West" for Peter Jackson's film The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, where it appeared as the closing theme and earned Lennox the 2004 Academy Award for Best Song.

On November 7 2005, Eurythmics released Ultimate Collection, a remastered greatest hits package with two new songs. One of them, "I've Got a Life," was released as a single and went Top 20 on the UK singles chart, as well as hitting number one on Billboard's Hot Dance Music/Club Play in the U.S.. On November 14, Sony BMG re-released their eight studio albums in remastered and expanded editions featuring rare b-sides, remixes and unreleased songs. The remasters are available separately as digipaks with expanded artwork and together in a collector's box set, Boxed.

In March of 2006, the Steve Angelo remix of "Sweet Dreams (Are Made Of This)", hit the Top 10 in France [1].

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Eurythmics and The Simpsons

Many British musicians have appeared on "The Simpsons". Examples include The Who, Elton John, and the living members of The Beatles. Though Annie Lennox and Dave Stewart have never appeared on the animated sitcom, the Eurythmics' music has been referenced thrice on the successful cartoon series. First, Milhouse Van Houten convinces Bart Simpson to dress in drag and sings "Sisters Are Doin' It For Themselves" Second, Artie Ziff turns snoring sounds into "Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)." Third, Lisa Simpson tries to change personas, once becoming a goth, while "Who's That Girl?" plays as background music.

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Discography

For a detailed listing of albums, singles and videos, see Eurythmics discography.

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Video releases

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See also

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External links

fi:Eurythmics fr:Eurythmics it:Eurythmics ja:ユーリズミックス nl:Eurythmics pl:Eurythmics pt:Eurythmics sv:Eurythmics

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