Tuesday, February 12, 2013

Eurythmics



Were a duo that had great success in the 1980s. The architects of the out fit were Singer Annie Lennox and Musician Dave Stewart. They both previously worked together in bands The Catch and The Tourists and they reunited to form a synth pop sound fused with soft rock overtures.

There previous work saw moderate success but nothing commercially and the effects saw them set up there own studio to use more electronic music. Between 1981-82 they released a few singles but again the top 40 was to elude them. Having to do everything on there own resulted in Annie having a nervous breakdown and Dave a collapsed lung. They were working hard but success was eluding them.

1983 was to be the turning point when 'sweet dreams' was released and the song reached number 2 in the UK singles chart, the rise of synth pop was evident and there decision to go that route was beginning to pay off as the song went number one in America. The duo released a album named 'torch' and this proved to be a huge success and went to number one in the UK album charts. The album produced three huge singles 'who's that girl', 'right by your side' and 'here comes the rain again'. All of them top ten hits and the juggernaut was on full roll.

The duo also provided the music for the remake of George Orwell film 1984 and the single released 'sex crime 1984' was a top five hit in the UK. The next album was 'be yourself tonight' and a move away from the electronic sound and more a conventional musical sound with instruments. There were some big names that provided that sound such as Tom Petty, Stevie Wonder, Elvis Costello. The singles released were absolute classic such as 'there must be an angel', 'it's alright' and the feminine anthem 'sisters are doing it for themselves'.

Three more albums followed quickly between 1986 and 1989 with 'revenge' in 1986 with a more rock sound and 1987 saw the release of 'savage' and 1989 saw the release of 'we too are one' which went straight to number one on the UK album charts and a huge world tour followed suit.

The Lennox/stewart combination then took a break then eventually decided to split in 1990. The band were very prolific and produced some great work.

During the 1980s they produced 8 studio albums and 25 singles. In terms of albums six of those reached the top ten with 'touch and 'we too are one' reaching the summit. They had a great success in the singles charts with nine top 10 singles with a 1985 number one hit 'there must be an angel'. There last top ten hit was in 1986 with 'thorn in my side'. In America they achieved three top ten singles hits with 'sweet dreams' reaching number one.

The duo were inducted into the UK music hall of fame in 2005 and a BRIT award in 1999 for outstanding contribution to music. They have since got back together and new material? we shall wait and see.

Recommended listening

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