It was the Dundee concert Annie Lennox described as “the worst gig yet” when Eurythmics were showered in spit and cigarette butts.
Their initial album, In the Garden, recorded in Cologne and released in 1981, lacked any obvious singles material and garnered lukewarm reviews.
But the memories of In The Garden were quickly forgotten when their second album Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This) was released in January 1983.
Annie Lennox and Dave Stewart went on tour in support of the album which snaked its way round a route of relatively small venues across the UK in spring.
For the tour, Annie and Dave recruited drummer Clem Burke from Blondie and Mick Gallagher from Ian Dury and the Blockheads.
Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This) was released as the final single and got to number 2 in the UK Singles Chart where everything changed.
Venue change
All the English dates sold out and 200 people were turned away from Night Moves in Glasgow which prompted a venue change by the organisers in Dundee.
Dundee’s Dance Factory used a variety of venues for gigs and the February 27 date was moved from the Royal Hotel to the Barracuda “to cope with the crowd”.
Annie had short spiky cropped hair dyed orange and wore a grey suit on stage with Eddi Reader singing backing vocals after leaving punk band Gang of Four.
Set highlights during the 90-minute show included This is the House, The Walk, Love Is a Stranger, This City Never Sleeps and Sweet Dreams (Are Made Of This).
The concert will be remembered by Annie and Dave for all the wrong reasons.
The sound quality was rubbish and the stage so low that most people couldn’t see the band unless they were standing in the first few rows at the front.
Annie and Dave spoke to interviewer Hilary Smart from fanzine Deadbeat afterwards where they described what was one of their worst concerts.
“It was the worst gig yet,” said the Aberdeen-born singer.
“Loads of things went wrong, like the PA cutting out, people spitting and throwing fags from above and we were all really tired anyway.
“Also with the stage being so low it was impossible to get any rapport with the crowd.
“Some nights when you come off the stage you feel lifted – the audience have had a great experience and so have you.
“That feeling of mutual respect where you give, they give back, you give more and it all snowballs.
“It can work against you though like tonight.”
Hilary asked Annie and Dave if they were pleased with the new backing band and singer Eddi Reader who herself would go on to enjoy a glittering pop career.
“Eddi has a great voice, she really melts in,” said Annie.
“The Gang of Four just put her down, they used her for effect, but her harmonies are of intrinsic value to us.”
Dave spoke about the songwriting partnership between the pair who would go on to produce some of the biggest songs of the 1980s.
“Annie writes nearly all the lyrics and I occasionally suggest changes,” he said.
“I write lots of backing tracks like The Walk or I’ve Got An Angel and Love Is a Stranger.
“Annie always seems to have exactly the right feeling with the words.
“Other times we both sit down and write a lot of music together in our studio.”
Annie described the “totally different” experience of playing Top of the Pops and responded to people who thought she looked like David Bowie!
“Oh no, not Bowie – I thought more an albino Grace Jones,” she said.
“But the music is more important than the image.
“The whole image thing’s really getting out of hand.”
Future ambitions
The interview concluded with Dave talking about the band’s plans for the future after the UK tour which was followed by 10 days in New York.
“When we come back from that we’ll work on a new album which we are recording in our new studio in a church in London,” he said.
“We’re also interested in recording music for films and animation.
“Annie and I both want to produce other people and I would like to direct videos for other groups.
“All of this is subject to 24 hours in a day.”
Eurythmics entered into strenuous years of touring and recording, including eight albums in less than a decade.
In 1990 Annie and Dave decided to head their separate ways.
It didn’t mean an end to the music, and the band’s Greatest Hits collection entered the UK chart at No 1 in 1991 and spent no less than 10 weeks at the summit.
Annie unveiled her debut solo album Diva which achieved quadruple platinum status.
After almost a decade apart, they reunited to create a new CD, Peace, as the millennium beckoned.
The album’s title was designed to reflect the duo’s ongoing concern with global conflict and world peace.
They reunited again in 2005 to release the single I’ve Got a Life, as part of a new Eurythmics compilation album, Ultimate Collection.
Despite remaining close friends, Annie and Dave have not performed as the Eurythmics since 2019 at Sting’s 30th We’ll Be Together benefit concert in New York.
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