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Biography
for|the art movement|EurythmyInfobox musical artist| name = Eurythmics| image = Eurythmics Rock am Ring 1987.jpg| caption = Eurythmics at Rock am Ring and Rock im Park|Rock am Ring in Nürburgring, Germany, 1987.| image_size =| background = group_or_band| origin = London (England) and Aberdeen ( Scotland )| genre = Synthpop Dance-rock New Wave music|New Wave Pop rock | years_active = 1980–1990, 1999–2005| label = RCA Records|RCA , Arista Records|Arista | associated_acts = The Catch (British band)|The Catch , The Tourists | website = http://www.eurythmics.com/| current_members =| past_members = Annie Lennox David A. Stewart Eurythmics are a United Kingdom|British music duo consisting of members Annie Lennox and David A. Stewart , currently disbanded, but known to reunite from time to time. Stewart and Lennox were both previously in the bands The Catch (British band)|The Catch and The Tourists . Their musical style ranged from New Wave music|new wave and Synthpop|synthpop to Pop rock|pop rock and Soft rock|soft rock . Eurythmics originally came together in 1980 and disbanded in 1990. They reunited in 1999 and split again in 2005. The duo released their first album, In the Garden (Eurythmics album)|In the Garden , in 1981 to little fanfare, but went on to achieve global success with their second album Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This) (album)|Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This) , released in 1983. The Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)|title track was a worldwide hit, topping the chart in various countries including the US.
Eurythmics went on to release a string of hit singles and albums before they split in 1990. By this time, Stewart had already embarked on a parallel music career and was also a sought-after record producer, while Lennox began a solo recording career in 1992 with her debut album Diva (Annie Lennox album)|Diva . After almost a decade apart, Eurythmics reformed in the late 1990s to record their ninth album, Peace (Eurythmics album)|Peace which was released in late 1999. They reunited again in 2005 to release the single " I've Got a Life ", as part of a new Eurythmics compilation album, Ultimate Collection (Eurythmics album)|Ultimate Collection .
History
1976–1982: Formation and In the Garden
Lennox and Stewart met in 1975 in a restaurant in London, where Lennox worked at that time.cite book |title=Annie Lennox |last=O'Brien |first=Lucy |authorlink=Lucy O'Brien |year=1991 |publisher= Sidgwick & Jackson |location=London |isbn=0-238-06014 |page=55 They first played together in 1976 in the punk rock band The Catch (British band)|The Catch . After releasing one single as The Catch in 1977, the band evolved into The Tourists . Stewart and Lennox were also romantically involved. The Tourists achieved modest commercial success, but the experience was reportedly an unhappy one. Personal and musical tensions existed within the group, whose main songwriter was Peet Coombes , and legal wranglings happened with the band's management, publishers and record labels. Lennox and Stewart felt the fixed band line-up was an inadequate vehicle to explore their experimental creative leanings and 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. Calling themselves Eurythmics (after the Dalcroze Eurhythmics|pedagogical exercise system that Lennox had encountered as a child), they decided to keep themselves as the only permanent members and songwriters, and involve others in the collaboration "on the basis of mutual compatibility and availability." The duo signed to RCA Records . At this time, Lennox and Stewart also decided to discontinue their romantic relationship. During the period that Lennox and Stewart were in The Tourists, and later as Eurythmics, they were managed by Kenny Smith and Sandra Turnbull of Hyper Kinetics Ltd.
They recorded their first album in Cologne with Conny Plank (who had produced the later Tourists sessions). This resulted in the album In the Garden (Eurythmics album)|In the Garden , released in October 1981. The album mixed psychedelic , krautrock and electropop influences, and featured contributions from Holger Czukay and Jaki Liebezeit (of Can (band)|Can ), drummer Clem Burke (of Blondie (band)|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 director). The album received an indifferent critical reception and was not a commercial success (though the debut single " Never Gonna Cry Again " made the UK charts at #63).cite web |url= http://www.chartstats.com/artistinfo.php? id=795 |title=Chart Stats - Eurythmics |work=www.chartstats.com |accessdate=10 August 2009 Lennox and Stewart then activated their new Eurythmics mode of operation by touring the record as a duo, accompanied by backing tracks and electronics, carted around the country themselves in a horse-box.
During 1982 the duo retreated to Chalk Farm in London, and used a bank loan to establish a small 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 Raynard Faulkner and Adam Williams, recording many tracks in the studio and playing live using various line-up permutations. However, the three new singles they released that year (" This Is the House ", " The Walk (Eurythmics song)|The Walk " and " Love Is a Stranger ") all performed badly on initial release in the UK. 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 transporting their own stage equipment) took its toll on both of them. Lennox apparently suffered at least one nervous breakdown during this period,cite web |url= http://www.nndb.com/people/404/000025329/ |title=Annie Lennox |work= NNDB |accessdate=17 September 2009 while Stewart was hospitalised with a pneumothorax|collapsed lung .cite book |title=Annie Lennox |last=O'Brien |first=Lucy |authorlink=Lucy O'Brien |year=1991 |publisher= Sidgwick & Jackson |location=London |isbn=0-238-06014 |page=64
1983–1984: Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This) and Touch
Eurythmics' commercial breakthrough came with their second album, Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This) (album)|Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This) , released in January 1983. The successful Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)|title track featured a dark and powerful sequenced synth bass line and a dramatic video that introduced the now orange crew-cut Lennox to audiences. The song reached no.2 on the UK Singles Chart , becoming one of the year's biggest sellers, and later topped the US charts. The band's fortunes changed immensely from this moment on, and Lennox quickly became a pop icon, gracing the covers of numerous magazines including Rolling Stone . Their previous single, "Love Is a Stranger", was also re-released and became another chart success. The video for the song saw Lennox in many different character guises, a concept she would employ in various subsequent videos. The album's working title was Invisible Hands (as was a track left off the album), inspiring the name of UK independent company Invisible Hands Music - known for releasing music by Hugh Cornwell , Mick Karn and Hazel O'Connor . The album also featured a cover of the 1968 Sam & Dave hit "Wrap It Up", performed as a duet between Lennox and Green Gartside of Scritti Politti .
The duo quickly recorded a follow-up album, Touch (Eurythmics album)|Touch , which was released in November 1983. It became the duo's first no.1 album in the UK, and also spawned three major hit singles. " Who's That Girl? (Eurythmics song)|Who's That Girl? " was a top 3 hit in the UK, the video depicting Lennox as both a blonde chanteuse and as a gender-bending Elvis Presley clone. It also featured cameo appearances by Hazel O'Connor , Bananarama (including Stewart's future wife, Siobhan Fahey ), Kate Garner of Haysi Fantayzee , Thereza Bazar of Dollar (band)|Dollar , Jay Aston and Cheryl Baker of Bucks Fizz (band)|Bucks Fizz , Kiki Dee , Jacquie O'Sullivan and the gender-bending pop singer Marilyn (singer)|Marilyn , who would go on to musical success of his own that same year. The upbeat, calypso-flavoured " Right by Your Side " showed a different side of Eurythmics altogether and also made the Top 10, and " Here Comes the Rain Again " (number eight in the UK, number four in the U.S.) was an orchestral/synth ballad (with orchestrations by Michael Kamen ).
In 1984 RCA released Touch Dance , a mini-album of remix es of four of the tracks from Touch , aimed at the club market. The remixes were by prominent New York producers Francois Kevorkian and John Benitez|John "Jellybean" Benitez . Also released in 1984 was Eurythmics' soundtrack album 1984 (For the Love of Big Brother) . Virgin Group|Virgin Films had contracted the band to provide a soundtrack for Michael Radford 's Nineteen Eighty-Four (film)|modern film adaptation of George Orwell 's Nineteen Eighty-Four . However, Radford later said that the music had been "foisted" on his film against his wishes, and that Virgin had replaced most of Dominic Muldowney 's original orchestral score with the Eurythmics soundtrack (including the song " Julia (Eurythmics song)|Julia ", which was heard during 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 ". Eurythmics charged that they had been misled by the film's producers as well,cite journal |last1= |first1= |date=January 1992 |title=Eurythmics |journal= Record Collector |publisher=Diamond Publishing |pages=14–15 and the album was withdrawn from the market for a period while matters were litigated. The album's first single, " Sexcrime (Nineteen Eighty-Four) ", was a top 5 hit in the UK, Australia and across Europe, and a major dance success in the United States, but its supposedly suggestive title (actually taken from the newspeak phrase used in Orwell's book) resulted in many U.S. pop radio stations refusing to play the track.
1985–1986: Be Yourself Tonight and new musical direction
The duo's next album, Be Yourself Tonight , was produced in a week in Paris. It showcased much more of a "band style" and a centred sound (with an rhythm and blues|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 Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers|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? (Eurythmics song)|Would I Lie to You? " was a U.S. Billboard top five hit and Australian number one, while " There Must Be an Angel (Playing with My Heart) " (featuring Wonder's harmonica contribution) became their first and only UK number one single. " It's Alright (Baby's Coming Back) " and the feminism|feministic Franklin duet (originally intended for Tina Turner ) " Sisters Are Doin' It for Themselves " also rode high in the charts. In September 1985, Eurythmics performed "Would I Lie to You? " at the 1985 MTV Video Music Awards at the Radio City Music Hall in New York. http://www.mtv.com/ontv/vma/performers.jhtml 1985 MTV Video Music Awards MTV.com. Retrieved 5 December 2011
1986–1989: Revenge , Savage and We Too Are One
Eurythmics released their next album, Revenge (Eurythmics album)|Revenge , in 1986. The album continued their move towards a band sound, verging on an album-oriented rock|AOR -pop/rock sound. Sales continued to be strong in the UK, but were somewhat slower in the U.S., though " Missionary Man (Eurythmics song)|Missionary Man " reached number 14 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100|Hot 100 chart and went all the way to No. 1 on the US Album Oriented Rock chart (AOR). Revenge would eventually certify double Platinum in the UK and Gold in the U.S. The band went on a massive worldwide tour in support of the album, and a live concert video from the Australian leg of the tour was released.
In 1987, Lennox and Stewart released the album Savage (album)|Savage . This saw a fairly radical change within the group's sound, being based mainly around programmed samples and drum loops (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 obsessive side to Lennox's writing. A video album was also made, directed by Sophie Muller , with a video for each song. This was largely a concept piece, following characters portrayed by Lennox, specifically one of a frustrated housewife-turned-vamp (as exemplified in " Beethoven (I Love to Listen To) ", a UK top 30 hit). The brazen, sexually charged rocker " I Need a Man (Eurythmics song)|I Need a Man " remains a Eurythmics staple, as does " You Have Placed a Chill in My Heart ". Much less commercial than the two previous albums, Savage was mostly ignored in the U.S., although rock radio in more progressive markets supported "I Need a Man". In the duo's native UK however, the album was a top 10 success and was certified Platinum.
In 1989, Eurythmics released the album We Too Are One , which entered the UK album chart at no.1 (their second no.1 album after Touch ) and gave the duo four UK Top 30 hit singles. The album was a return to the rock/pop sound of their mid-80s albums and was certified Double Platinum in the UK, but was less successful in the U.S. (although the single " Don't Ask Me Why " grazed the Billboard Top 40). Other singles from the album included " Revival (Eurythmics song)|Revival ", " The King and Queen of America " and " Angel (Eurythmics song)|Angel ". The duo also conducted a world tour for the album in late 1989.
1990–1998: Hiatus and solo careers
After strenuous years of touring and recording (Eurythmics had released eight studio albums in eight years), a rift had developed between the duo and Eurythmics disbanded, although no official notice was given. Stewart began writing film soundtracks and had a big international hit in 1990 with the instrumental track " Lily Was Here " (featuring saxophonist Candy Dulfer ). The single reached no.6 in the UKcite web |url= http://www.chartstats.com/songinfo.php? id=17316 |title=Chart Stats - David A Stewart Featuring Candy Dulfer - Lily Was Here |work=www.chartstats.com |accessdate=6 August 2010 and the Top 20 throughout much of Europe, as well as in Australia and the US. He also formed a band called The Spiritual Cowboys , releasing two albums with this group in the early 1990s. Lennox took time off from her career to have a baby and to consider a life after Eurythmics. Accordingly, the duo had very little communication with each other from 1991 to 1998. In 1991, Eurythmics' Greatest Hits (Eurythmics album)|Greatest Hits collection was released, entering the UK album chart at #1 and spending a total of 10 weeks at that position, as well as becoming a massive worldwide seller. New remixes of "Sweet Dreams" and "Love Is a Stranger" were also released as singles at this time. During 1993, a live album entitled Live 1983–1989 featuring recordings from various years throughout Eurythmics' career was also released.
In 1992, Lennox released her first solo album, Diva (Annie Lennox album)|Diva . The album was a critical and popular success, entering the UK album chart at no.1 and achieving quadruple platinum status (more than any Eurythmics studio album had done), as well as producing a string of five hit singles. She followed this up in 1995 with her second album, Medusa (Annie Lennox album)|Medusa , an album of cover versions. It became her second number one album in the UK, reaching double platinum status both there and in the US.
Stewart, meanwhile, released the solo albums Greetings from the Gutter (1995), and Sly-Fi (1998), but neither of these albums were commercially successful.
1999–2005: Peace and Ultimate Collection
In the late 1990s, Eurythmics reunited and recorded a new album, Peace (Eurythmics album)|Peace , which was released in 1999. The single " I Saved the World Today " reached number 11 in the UK singles charts, and a remix of " 17 Again (song)|17 Again " gave the duo their first chart-topper on the U.S. Hot Dance Club Songs|Hot Dance Music/Club Play chart. The band also embarked on a world tour, dubbed the "Peacetour", to support the album. The tour started on 18 September 1999 at Cologne 's Lanxess Arena|Kölnarena and ended on 6 December 1999 at the London Arena|London Docklands Arena (which was filmed and released on video and DVD). All proceeds from the tour went to Greenpeace and Amnesty International . The year 2000 saw numerous European festival appearances by Eurythmics (at Germany's Rock am Ring, among others). In 2001, Stewart performed with U2 for the America: A Tribute to Heroes benefit concert. In 2002, he collaborated with Bryan Ferry on his album Frantic (album)|Frantic .
In June 2003, Lennox released her third solo album, entitled Bare (Annie Lennox album)|Bare , which was a top 5 hit in the UK and the US, with three tracks reaching the top of the US Billboard Hot Dance Club Songs| Hot Dance Music/Club Play chart . She also recorded the song " Into the West (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 Academy Awards|Academy Award for Academy Award for Best Original Song|Best Song . In November 2003, Eurythmics played three songs at the 46664 (concerts)|46664 in Cape Town , South Africa , for which Stewart was one of the primary organisers. They played an unplugged version of " Here Comes the Rain Again ", " 7 Seconds (song)|7 Seconds " with Youssou N'Dour and " Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)|Sweet Dreams ". Stewart collaborated with The Rolling Stones vocalist Mick Jagger on the soundtrack to the movie Alfie (2004 film)|Alfie , released in 2004, including the critically acclaimed " Old Habits Die Hard ", which won a Golden Globe Award for Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song|Best Original Song from a Motion Picture .
On 7 November 2005, Eurythmics released Ultimate Collection (Eurythmics album)|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 reached no.14 on the UK singles chart as well as spending three consecutive weeks at number 1 on Billboard's Hot Dance Music/Club Play in the US. Lennox and Stewart appeared on a number of TV shows to promote their new compilation album, which was a Top 5 hit and certified Platinum in the UK. On 14 November 2005, the duo's label, RCA, re-released their eight studio albums in remastered and expanded editions featuring rare B-side s, remix es and unreleased songs. The remasters were made available separately with expanded artwork, and also together in a collector's box set , entitled Boxed (Eurythmics)|Boxed . However, the 1984 soundtrack album 1984 (For the Love of Big Brother) was not included in this re-release campaign as Virgin Records holds the rights to that album. Also in 2005, Eurythmics were inducted into the UK Music Hall of Fame .cite web |url= http://www.dnafiles.net/dna/awards/awards.htm |title=Eurythmics discography - awards |work=www.dnafiles.net |accessdate=10 August 2010 In 2007, Lennox resumed her solo career with her fourth album, Songs of Mass Destruction , which was a top 10 success in the UK and the US. In 2009, she released her first solo "greatest hits" package, The Annie Lennox Collection . The same year, Lennox stated that although she and Stewart remain friends, she does not foresee any further Eurythmics projects in the future.cite web |url= http://www.topnews.in/no-more-eurythmics-reunion-says-annie-lennox-2136274 |title=No more Eurythmics reunion, says Annie Lennox |author=|date=6 March 2009 |work=Top News |accessdate=13 June 2009
Discography
Main|Eurythmics discography col-begincol-break Studio albums
1981: In the Garden (Eurythmics album)|In the Garden
1983: Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This) (album)|Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)
http://www.annielennox.com Awards listed on Annie Lennox website Access date Oct 2010
1984: Ivor Novello Awards|Ivor Novello Award - Songwriters of the Year
1984: MTV Video Music Awards - MTV Video Music Award for Best New Artist|Best New Artist for "Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)"
1987: Grammy Awards|Grammy Award - Grammy Award for Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal|Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal for "Missionary Man"
1987: Ivor Novello Award - Songwriters of the Year
1987: Ivor Novello Award - Best Contemporary Song for "It's Alright (Baby's Coming Back)"
1999: Brit Awards|Brit Award - Outstanding Contribution to British Music
2000: Silver Clef Award
2000: American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers|ASCAP Award for "Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)"
2003: Kindred Spirit Music Award
2008: ASCAP Award for "Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)"
2009: ASCAP Award for "Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)"
2010: ASCAP Award for "Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)"
References
Reflist
External links
http://www.eurythmics.de/ The Official German Eurythmics site
http://www.annielennox.com/ The Official Annie Lennox site
http://www.davestewart.com/ The Official Dave Stewart site
EurythmicsAnnie LennoxUse dmy dates|date=August 2010Use British English|date=August 2010 Category:Annie Lennox Category:Brit Award winners Category:British musical duos Category:British New Wave musical groups Category:Electronic music duos Category:English dance music groups Category:English electronic music groups Category:English pop music groups Category:English rock music groups Category:Grammy Award winners Category:Ivor Novello Award winners Category:Musical groups disestablished in 2005 Category:Musical groups established in 1980 Category:Musical groups reestablished in 1999 Category:RCA Records artists Category:Synthpop groups
