I’ve loved Eurythmics since 1983, when they debuted with their first USA hit, Sweet Dreams. But I had no idea until just recently, that Annie Lennox and Dave Stewart of Eurythmics were originally members of the short-lived British band The Tourists.
The Tourists released three albums between 1979-1980. And although their second album, Reality Effect, reached a respectable #23 on the British Album charts and earned Silver Status, their other two albums stalled in the upper 100 (at #72 and #75). None of their albums charted in the States.
Their most successful single, on both sides of the Atlantic, was I Only Want to Be with You, which peaked at #4 in the UK, but stalled at #83 in the USA. They released a total of six singles, the other five failed to chart in the States, before the band split. One other single, So Good to Be Back Home Again broke the Top 10 (#8) in the UK, but it was downhill from there.
The Tourists had a sort of New Wave/Post Punk/Pop sound. They sounded very different from Eurythmics, with the exception of Annie Lennox’s vocals. As Eurythmics, Lennox and Stewart were able to weave a much more pop-friendly and trending 1980s synthpop sound that quickly took the world by storm following the release of the sophomore album, Sweet Dreams Are Made of This.
I’ve only heard a few tracks by The Tourists, so far. But I liked them well enough to order their 1997 Greatest Hits (?) album today. An album was released in 1984 entitled Should Have Been Greatest Hits. I’d say that title is still more appropriate if you think of hits in terms of chart play. But there are many “hits” that were never released as singles. They’re “hits” to me, even if no one else ever heard them. Often times, I think I could do a better job of choosing singles than the record execs do. To this day, I don’t understand how Eurythmics Cool Blue was overlooked as a single. It’s dynamite. But nobody asked me back in 1983 after the album Touch was released!
Meditation to the Groove! 