Once Annie Lennox and Dave Stewart parted ways with their post-punk band, The Tourists, in 1980, both moved on and needed to find a band name that would define their sound and movement, and sting a few. curiosities.

Eurythmics, which was also spelled as gymnasticrefers to a late 19th century learning exercise that Lennox had encountered as a child where music was taught through movement and dance.

Music (and dance) lessons

First developed by Swiss composer, musician and pedagogue Émile Jaques-Dalcroze, the “Dalcroze Eurhythmics” learning method involved varied bodily movements in dance linked to specific musical rhythms.

Once the name of the band was settled, Stewart and Lennox, who were no longer a couple, decided to remain a duo and the main songwriters and band members of Eurythmics “on the basis of compatibility and mutual availability”.

For the duo, the name embodied their artistic experimentations and eccentricities that would later become visualized around the music television (MTV) boom lending a portrait to the electronic kraut rock, post-punk, psychedelic pop jumble of Eurythmics.

Sweet dreams

The duo released their first album in 1981, In the garden, and more synth and drums on the sequel Sweet dreams are made of this), with the release of their first hit, the title track. For Sweet dreams, Stewart crafted more productions, experimenting with different sounds using wine glasses filled with water, while recording in the basement of a timber warehouse in London. When released in the US in 1983, the title track topped the charts and the vocals were now visible on MTV with a stoic Stewart and sexist Lennox adding more mystery behind the band and the name Eurythmics.

The end

That same year, they released another album, To touch, with the hits “Here Comes the Rain Again” and the genre “Who’s That Girl?” They continued to make music under the name Eurythmics, releasing eight albums, including their fourth album, Be yourself, with a duet by Aretha Franklin on “Sisters Are Doin’ It for Themselves” and Revenge in 1986 with the singles “Thorn in My Side”, “When Tomorrow Comes” and “Missionary Man” – which won the duo a Grammy for Best Rock Performance by a Vocal Duo or Group.

A decade after the release of their seventh album, We too are oneEurythmics ended with their final release, Peacein 1999.

More than 40 years after its formation, Eurythmics has been chosen for induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2022.

(Photo by Gabor Scott/Redferns)