40 years of "Sweet Dreams" - Eurythmics anniversary
Few hits from the 80s are as memorable and timeless as "Sweet Dreams (Are Made Of This)" by the Eurythmics. The synth-pop hit made Dave Stewart and Annie Lennox world-famous in 1983, partly thanks to the surreal music video. It was filmed in a cellar - with a real cow. "Fortunately, MTV had just started," says Stewart (71) in an interview with the German Press Agency in London. "The record company had doubts that it would be played because they thought it was so strange. But MTV just broadcast it and people went crazy."
It is now 40 years since the British pop duo celebrated their international breakthrough. To mark the anniversary, Dave Stewart is now bringing the music of the Eurythmics back to the stage. As part of the tour "Eurythmics Songbook: Sweet Dreams - 40th Anniversary" tour, he is playing concerts in Düsseldorf, Frankfurt and Berlin. The 68-year-old Annie Lennox, with whom Stewart performed at last year's induction into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame and with whom he is still friends today, will not be there.
Stewart goes on tour with three female singers
"Over the last 20 years, Annie and I have been offered pretty much every tour you can imagine, they've almost begged us, but Annie doesn't want to go on tour," Stewart reports without any resentment as he sips his tea. "That's why I called it the Eurythmics Songbook, otherwise it would be the Eurythmics."
Stewart brings three singers with him - his daughter Kaya, soul singer RAHH from Manchester and Australian pop musician Vanessa Amorosi. "Annie was there when my daughter was born, she's her godmother," says Stewart. "Kaya has been singing Eurythmics songs since she was three years old. She used to sit on Annie's lap and sing 'There Must Be An Angel' and stuff like that." So she was born with music in her cradle.
Vanessa Amorosi also had a big hit in Germany in 2000 with the whimsical "Absolutely Everybody". Since then, the Australian has reinvented herself several times - including as a rock singer. "She's simply an incredible singer," enthuses Stewart. "She's a powerful, soulful singer with a hint of gospel. And RAHH is also very soulful, but in a softer way."
20 songs each evening
With the different female singers, Stewart, who has written countless hits and produced artists such as Mick Jagger, Ringo Starr and Joss Stone, wants to do justice to the different musical styles of the Eurythmics. "We've never allowed ourselves to be pigeonholed," he clarifies. "So that works well in the show."
The concert will be accompanied by a film that he produced himself. According to Stewart, however, the choice of songs was not easy. After all, the Eurythmics had many other hits in addition to "Sweet Dreams (Are Made Of This)" - from "Love Is A Stranger", which only became a success after a delay, to "Here Comes The Rain Again" and "Sisters Are Doin' It For Themselves", as well as "The Miracle Of Love" and "Missionary Man". Stewart plans to perform around 20 songs each evening.
"It's a kind of retrospective where we take every album into account," announces the guitarist and songwriter. "That's how I've put the show together - along the lines of: look, we've evolved from here to there and then there and there. And I'm lucky that I can talk about a songbook and that people know the songs."
With the cow in the cellar
The best-known Eurythmics song has long since developed a life of its own - "Sweet Dreams (Are Made Of This)" has been covered or sampled countless times. "A lot of kids have no idea that it's an old song," says Dave Stewart with amusement. "They just listen to it on Spotify or at some EDM festival or something."
When asked about the anniversary of the cult hit, Dave Stewart laughs. "It makes me feel old," he says. "When people remind me that "Sweet Dreams" is 40 years old, I don't get nostalgic. I just remember being in the basement with a cow, sitting at that machine to get that 'boom' sound, or Annie and I playing at Wembley Stadium and the crowd going absolutely mental. It brings back a lot of memories."
Eurythmics Songbook: Sweet Dreams - 40th Anniversary Tour: 15.11. Düsseldorf, Mitsubishi Electric Hall; 26.11. Frankfurt, Jahrhunderthalle; 27.11. Berlin, Tempodrom
- Dave Stewart, the Eurythmics co-founder, mentioned in the interview that the surreal music video for their hit song "Sweet Dreams (Are Made Of This)" was filmed in a cellar with a real cow, which aided in its popularity despite initial doubts from the record company due to its strange nature.
- As part of the "Eurythmics Songbook: Sweet Dreams - 40th Anniversary" tour, Dave Stewart is performing various Eurythmics hits with three female singers, including his daughter Kaya, who has been singing Eurythmics songs since she was three years old and was present at her birth with Annie Lennox.
- Stewart noted that the Eurythmics' music is diverse and cannot be pigeonholed as pop or rock, so the tour and show with different female singers can do justice to their various musical styles like synth-pop, soul, gospel, and rock.
Source: www.dpa.com
