Those 5 thousand pounds that changed the history of Eurythmics

Those 5 thousand pounds that changed the history of Eurythmics

ByJohn

It is difficult to imagine what the pop of the 80s would have been if Eurythmics had not existed, 75 million copies sold worldwide thanks to hits such as – just to name a few – “Sweet dreams (Are made of this)”, “Love is a stranger”, “Who’s that girl?”, “There must be an angel (Playing with my heart)”. Yet the story of the duo composed of Annie Lennox and Dave Stewart was about to end before it even began, if a bank manager had not lent the two musicians 5 thousand pounds to record the second album, after the first had failed to enter the sales charts.

Dave Stewart himself told the story, more than forty years later, in an interview with the Times: «We had a record company and we made an album, but it didn’t sell and the record company thought we were crazy and wanted to abandon us,” the musician recalled. The reference is to “In the garden”, the album that marked the debut of Eurythmics in 1981, sent to stores by the British RCA: a colossal flop, which seemed to have put an end to the duo’s career.

Not being able to count on the support of record companies, but believing very much in the project, Stewart decided to ask for a bank loan: «I thought: “Why don’t I go and see the manager of Barclays bank and explain to him that I want this equipment and that we can record on it, and then record the next record too?'” Annie Lennox replied: “He’ll think we’re crazy.” But Stewart was more than determined: «We went to find the bank manager, it was a rather young manager. He listened to us and said: “Okay, we’ll lend you £5,000.” With that money we made the album “Sweet dreams (Are made of this)”.

Recorded on 8-track tape in an old warehouse in Chalk Farm and at Church Studios in Crouch End, the 1983 record sold over a million copies and reached top positions in the UK and US charts following its release in 1983. The album’s title track became one of the most popular singles of the decade, reaching number two in the UK and number one on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart.

John
John

With an untamed passion and deep, eclectic knowledge of music, John is the soul of RadioWise UK. Having worked in the music industry for over two decades, his vision was to create a platform that embodies the love and respect for music. John is known for his great attention to detail and insatiable thirst for discovering new talents and music genres.