Eurythmics -

Eurythmics were an English electro/art-pop duo that released seven studio albums and a soundtrack on RCA between 1981 and 1989. They scored multiple 1983–85 hits, including “Sweet Dreams,” “Who’s That Girl?” “Here Comes the Rain Again,” and “Would I Lie to You?”

The duo consisted of vocalist Annie Lennox and multi-instrumentalist David Stewart. They recorded their first album, In the Garden, fresh off their three-year stint in pop-rockers The Tourists.

Members: Annie Lennox (vocals, keyboards, sequencer, flute), David A. Stewart (guitar, sequencer, keyboards, dulcimer, xylophone)

Annie Lennox and David Stewart met in 1975 when she was working in a London cafe and he walked up and introduced himself. (His first words: “Will you marry me?”)

The Scottish-born Lennox (b. Christmas 1954, Aberdeen) had studied flute, piano, and harpsichord for three years at the Royal Academy of Music. One of her fellow students there was future recording artist Joe Jackson. After leaving the Royal Academy, she did a brief, unrecorded stint in the folk combo Windsong.

David A. Stewart (b. Sept. 9, 1952, Sunderland) had come off a three-year stint as the guitarist in folk-rockers Longdancer, which released two 1973/74 albums on Elton John‘s label, The Rocket Record Company. Stewart introduced Lennox to his guitarist/songwriter friend, fellow Sunderlandite Peter Coombes. Collectively, they formed The Catch, which issued the dream-pop/soul single “Borderline” (b/w “Black Blood”) on Logo in late 1977.

The Catch morphed into pop-rockers The Tourists with bassist Eddie Chinn and drummer Jim Toomey. Under this five-piece configuration, they released three albums (The Tourists, Reality Effect, and Luminous Basements) during 1979/80 and charted with a cover of Dusty Springfield‘s “I Only Want to Be With You” (UK #4, Aus. #6, US #83).

Most of the band’s material was written by Coombes, whose guitar-pop leanings came to be at odds with Lennox and Stewart. The two were gravitating to the electro/art-pop and ambient music associated with German engineer Connie Plank, who produced The Tourists debut immediately after his work on Systems of Romance, the 1978 release by synth-rock pioneers Ultravox. After a 1980 tour of Australia, the pair broke from Coombes and formed Eurythmics. (The word eurythmics stands for “the art of harmonious bodily movement.”)

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