The Eurythmics consist of singer Annie Lennox and producer Dave Stewart. The two enter into a relationship in which they also click musically. Together they form a band, Catch, which soon evolves into another band, The Tourists. The band releases 3 albums in 2 years and scores 2 top 10 hits in England. When the relationship between Dave and Annie breaks down in 1980, The Tourists disband.
Eurythmics
They decide to continue performing together under the name Eurythmics. The duo heads to Germany to record an album, with help from Blondie drummer Clem Burke among others.
Albums
The first Eurythmics album, In The Garden, was released in 1981. The album flopped quite a bit. In 1982 the album Sweet Dreams (Are Made Of These) was released. The first single, 'Love Is A Stranger', became a minor hit. The next single 'Sweet Dreams' became a huge hit, partly thanks to the video. The record reached number 1 in the US. The re-release of 'Love Is A Stranger' became a top-10 hit in England.
Touch
The group's third album, Touch, was released at the end of 1983. Singles like 'Who's That Girl' and 'Here Comes The Rain Again' were successful. The single 'Sexcrime' from the soundtrack of the film 1984 was also a big hit.
Be Yourself Tonight
In 1985 Be Yourself Tonight was released, an album with more R&B influences. The duo collaborated with Aretha Franklin for the classic 'Sisters Are Doin' It For Themselves'. The singles 'Would I Lie to You?' and 'There Must Be an Angel (Playing With My Heart)' were also successful. The album Savage (1987) received poor reviews and flopped.
Duet
Annie Lennox sang a duet with soul singer Al Green for the soundtrack of the film Scrooged. In 1989 We Too Are One was released. The album did well in England, but flopped in the US.
Solo
When Annie Lennox began her solo career in 1992, it seemed the group was finished. However, in 1999 the comeback album Peace was released. Six years later the Greatest Hits CD The Ultimate Collection was issued.
Top 2000
In the 23rd edition of the Top 2000, the Eurythmics are listed as follows:
Sunday Morning Classic
And then on 4 September 2022 it was finally the turn of the Eurythmics. With their album "Be Yourself Tonight" from 1985, they were our Sunday Morning Classic.
With their fourth album, Dave Stewart and Annie Lennox made the big step from electronically driven music to live instruments. And the way they did it commanded a lot of respect. Namely with incredibly clever pop songs. From synth-pop duo, Eurythmics grew into a sparkling pop band on Be Yourself Tonight.
Be Yourself Tonight was largely recorded in Paris but also touched down in Detroit and Los Angeles. In Los Angeles, Stewart and Lennox brought in The Heartbreakers (from Tom Petty) to collaborate. This resulted, among other things, in the dazzling Sisters Are Doin’ It For Themselves. And the fact that the world was at their feet also meant they got old soul heroes Stevie Wonder on harmonica in There Must Be An Angel (Playing With My Heart) and Aretha Franklin on defining duet vocals on board.
There is only a year and a half between Touch and Be Yourself Tonight, but the musical step is much bigger. Lennox and Stewart embraced pop, rock and soul, and especially Lennox benefited from it. Her voice sounds better and deeper than on previous albums. Stewart does a fantastic job as producer and really gets the best out of the songs they wrote. With the nicely rocking Would I Lie To You as the album's lead single, a few weeks before the album's release. It became a huge worldwide hit that also reached the American top 5.
With the following singles There Must Be An Angel (Playing With My Heart) (with Stevie Wonder, of course) and It’s Alright (Baby’s Coming Back), equally big hits were scored. In between, the band made a fine feminist statement with the extremely energetic Sisters Are Doin’ It For Themselves, recorded with Queen of Soul Aretha Franklin, which proved timeless. Surprisingly, Aretha Franklin was the second choice. She became the duet vocalist after first choice Tina Turner couldn't make time. How good can 'second choices' be?
The rest of the album shows an energetic Eurythmics. Of course, the electronic elements that previously characterised the band have not completely disappeared, but Eurythmics reinvented themselves on Be Yourself Tonight in a very impressive way. And the fact that they now know how to write a hit becomes clear once again. But songs like Here Comes That Sinking Feeling, Conditioned Soul, Adrian (with Elvis Costello) and the particularly beautiful and nicely rocking album closer Better To Have Lost In Love (Than Never To Have Loved At All) prove that Stewart and Lennox are in the prime of their musical development.
Source: NPO, Wikipedia and Written in Music Photo: albums (cover)
