My first foray into Eurythmics way back in 2018, which was my first year of starting Retro Spins. It was there that I played through their breakthrough album, 1983's Sweet Dream (Are Made Of This). At the time, it didn't blow me away.
In October of 2022, I finally got back around the to group, this time moving into their follow-up, Touch, also released in 1983. My review was short, and to the point. I dug the hits, and the rest was a hard pass. I ultimately finished the post by saying that I didn't see myself becoming a fan of Eurythmics.
This in and of itself was a problem because at that point, I had already obtained the majority of their 80's catalog. Mainly because of the hits which were sporadically spread across them all. As such, I still need to make my way through several albums. Since I'm a glutton for punishment, a decided before tackling this that I'd go ahead and pick up the only release from the 80's which I didn't have, their 1981 debit, In The Garden. It felt appropriate to go ahead and cross it off the list, and add it to the collection.
To get a full picture of Eurythmics foundation, one first need to go back to folk band, Longdancer, which featured Peet Coombes, and Dave Stewart. The two would move to London, where they would meet Annie Lennox, and in 1976 formed the band, The Catch. They would pick up members Eddie Chin, and Jim Toomey, while changing their name to The Tourists. As The Tourist, they released three albums, 1979's The Tourists, and Reality Check, and 1980's Luminous Basement. The band broke up shortly after a tour that year.
Stewart and Lennox had become a couple, and while staying in a hotel in Wagga Wagga, Australia, decided to work as the duo, Eurythmics, promising to remain the only two members, and only utilizing other players when needed. They also broke up as a couple shortly thereafter. Having already been signed to RCA as The Tourists, the two once again turned to them as Eurythmics, and were signed again. They would remain with the label for their entire studio discography, 1981 - 1999.
They released their debut, In The Garden, on October 16, 1981, relevant to me for being the day and month my brother was born. However, unlike my brother, the album didn't go far. It was met with critics and listeners not understanding its unique sound of psychedelia, punk and synth pop.
As I played through it, the song Belinda is where I started hearing those ghostly resonating notes that Lennox would make part of her sound in later songs, and it was with Take Me To Your Heart that I finally conceded that what I was hearing so far was actually pretty good.
She's Invisible Now gave me a bit of that synth pop sound that would become a mainstay for the duo. Meanwhile, Caveman Head took me back to what I felt, presumably, was the remnants of the punk band The Tourists. Despite being in French, Sing-Sing was also an intriguing tune.
Essentially, it became ironic at what critics and listeners panned In The Garden for because that's ultimately what ended up appealing to me. It's unique, different, and was a pretty solid debut, as far as I'm concerned. I liked the heavy bass, and mixture of guitar sounds, and it's kind of disappointing in retrospect that Eurythmics would lean so heavily into synthesizers and drum machines for future albums.
As noted above, Eurythmics broke through with their 1983 released Sweet Dreams (Are Made Of This), and from there, somewhat dominated the 80's with their catchy stylistic music. I always found it particularly interesting how their biggest hits were those which had rinse and repeat lyrics from start to finish, such as the title track to Sweet Dreams, and Here Comes The Rain Again. They always felt (to me) like a minimal effort artist as a result.
After releasing their second and third albums, the duo would set to work on the soundtrack to the film, 1984, released the same year as its namesake. However, Stewart and Lennox would later come to find out that their involvement was against the wishes of the film's writer / director, Michael Radford. He would go on to say that their music was forced upon him by the studio. Meanwhile, Eurythmics would say that they were misled by the producers, and ultimately wouldn't have provided any music if they knew their contribution wasn't wanted by the filmmaker.
We'll pause here, and pick up tomorrow with their 1985 album, Be Yourself Tonight.
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October 30, 1982 |
