Sweet Dreams: How Eurythmics Shocked America and Made MTV I New British Canon
When MTV first launched, there simply weren’t enough music videos to fill their 24 hour format. This forced the young channel to take a chance on previously-unknown-in-the-US artists to fill time, including A Flock of Seagulls, Adam and the Ants, The Buggles, U2, Spandau Ballet & Visage. It paid off: within a couple of years a whole wave of videogenic British New Pop bands would take over the Billboard Chart, almost single-handedly creating what was called The Second British Invasion.
But even in the age of MTV, The Eurythmics were striking. Annie Lennox's orange close-cropped hair and sleek tailored suit stood apart from other female pop stars of the time. The swirling darkness of their breakthrough single would define the sound of the 80s forever more. This is New British Canon and this is the story of “Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This).”
#eurythmics #80spop #musicdocumentary
Fact-checking by Serenity Autumn and Chad Van Wagner.
00:00 Introduction
01:38 It Starts With The Tourists
05:22 Goodbye The Tourists, Hello Eurythmics
08:49 Creating "Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)"
13:09 MTV & The Second British Invasion
20:34 Aftermath & Enduring Influence of Eurythmics
Bibliography
Sweet Dreams: The Story of the New Romantics by Dylan Jones, 2020, Faber
I Want My MTV: The Uncensored Story of the Music Video Revolution by Rob Tannenbaum & Craig Marks, 2012, Penguin
Eurythmics - 17 Again Documentary (1999) dir. unknown
Discovering Eurythmics (2013) Cal Saville
"The Tourists: Overcoming A Bad Press" Cynthia Rose, A.M., 1980
"The Tourists: It's Good To Be Back" Rosalind Russell, Record Mirror, Feb 1980
"Tourists But Not Exiles" Mark Cooper, Record Mirror, Jun 1980
"Eurythmics" Dave Rimmer, Smash Hits, Mar 1983
"We're Not Tourists, We Live Here" Cynthia Rose, NME, Mar 1981
"Eurythmics" Johnny Black, Smash Hits, Jun 1983
"Eurythmics: Sweet Soul Music (Is Made of This)" Betsy Sherman, Boston Rock, Aug 1983
"Eurythmics" Cynthia Rose, NME, Oct 1983
"Eurythmics: Sweet Dreams And Constant Friction" Jim Sullivan, Record, Oct 1983
"Annie Lennox: MaSQUERaDE!" Max Bell, The Face, Oct 1983
"Eurythmics: Side By Side" Adam Sweeting, Melody Maker, Nov 1983
"Anglomania: The Second British Invasion" Parke Puterbaugh, Rolling Stone, Nov 1983
"C'est Eurythmics N'est Pas?" Neil Tennant, Smash Hits, Mar 1985
"Eurythmics: The Ministry Of Truth" Adam Sweeting, Melody Maker, May 1985
"'I Am Not The Androgynous Annie Lennox. I Never Was. I Used It For Something Else'" Adam Sweeting, The Guardian, Nov 1986
"Annie Lennox: No worries? That’s worrying..." Phil Sutcliffe, Q, May 1992
"Eurythmics" Phil Sutcliffe, Los Angeles Times, 1999
"Sweet Dreams Again: After a Decade Apart, Annie Lennox and David Stewart are Eurythmics Once More" Jim Sullivan, The Boston Globe, Oct 1999
"Eurythmics: The Power Of Two" Bill DeMain, Performing Songwriter, Jan 2006
"The Return of the Sweet Dreamer" Jon Pareles, New York Times, Sep 2007
"Annie Lennox on passion, pop and peace" Teddy Jamieson, The Herald, Mar 2013
"Wrapped Up: Eurythmics' Sweet Dreams, 30 Years On" Matthew Lindsay, The Quietus, Apr 2013
"Annie Lennox: Twerking? It’s about the invasion of boundaries" Arwa Haider, The Metro, Nov 2013
"Dave Stewart: 'What Annie Lennox and I went through was insane'" Jim Farber, The Guardian, Feb 2016
"Eurythmics: how we made Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)" Dave Simpson, The Guardian, Dec 2017
"Chvrches Reveal Influence of Eurythmics' Dave Stewart and the National's Matt Berninger on 'Love Is Dead'" Ian Gormely, Exclaim, Feb 2018
"Classic Tracks: Eurythmics ‘Sweet Dreams (Are Made Of This)’" Tom Doyle, Sound on Sound, Jul 2018
"Classic Album: Eurythmics - Sweet Dreams (Are Made Of This)" Mark Lindores, Classic Pop, Sep 2019
"Flashback: Eurythmics Perform ‘Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)’ in 1983" Andy Greene, Rolling Stone, Dec 2019
"The Number Ones: Eurythmics’ “Sweet Dreams (Are Made Of This)”" Tom Breihan, Stereogum, Jul 2020
"13 essential Eurythmics songs" uncredited, Classic Pop, Nov 2021
"Eurythmics: The genre-fluid music ahead of its time" Arwa Haider, BBC Culture, Nov 2021
"Annie Lennox's 30 greatest songs - ranked!" Alexis Petridis, The Guardian, Apr 2022
"Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This) - how a drum machine helped create Eurythmics’ biggest hit" Helen Brown, Financial Times, May 2022
"Dave Stewart" Carl Wiser, Songfacts, Jul 2022
"40 Years Ago: Eurythmics Finally Make It With ‘Sweet Dreams’" Tyler Sage, Ultimate Classic Rock, Jan 2023
"40 years of Eurythmics' Sweet Dreams, the 'home recording' that took the world by storm" Matt Neal, ABC News Australia, Jan 2023
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8% Rod.
hey... missed Marilyn Manson's cover of Sweet Dreams in '95-96. great retrospective as usual....
A lot of great female vocalists from that time, Chrissie Hynde, Maddy Prior, Karen Carpenter, Pat Benatar, to name a few, but only Annie could sing the outro to one of the all time great literary works made into film... Into the West
Thx for the invite. But im not sure if you're very informed. Are you old enough to appreciate this music?
Just my 2 cents. But in 1980 and before music had a meaning. Now the only true musicians are gone. Best recovery might be "The traveling willberry's"
Lennox is one of the best pop singers ever. Amazing voice, powerful personality and yet very vulnerable. She gives me the chills.
She is the WORST EVER UGH !!
I saw her live while on vacation in the military... I flew over from Germany to Tucson AZ and saw her at the University of Arizona. Had some Australian pop band that opened for her that essentially got boo'd off the stage... their studio song sucked, but their live performance was absolutely horrible and NO ONE wanted to hear them. Annie came out and put on one of the best concerts I've ever attended. Absolutely stunning.
It requires towering strength to be that vulnerable.
SHE IS *SO* HOT....BUT I' D BE AFRAID TO TAKE MY CLOTHES OFF NEAR HER.......SHE LOOKS A LITTLE DANGEROUS.....BUT SHE'S LIKE 6' PR 6'1" TALL.....OW OW OWWWW!!! HE HOWLED AT THE DARK YET MOON FILLED SKY....
Is she an overpowering dominatrix? is a vulnerable sweet girl? Is she androgynous? is she feminine? Is she heart broken? or does she have a heart?
You are missing a very important detail here, the recording began at Chalk Farm but was finished on a Tascam 8 track in a small room at the back of a church in Crouch End, London, Dave and Annie went on to buy the whole building and turn it into the now legendary Church Studios which is still churning out hits to this day
🎉
Sweet 😋
That's wonderful ❤
It took eight tracks for this? LOL. must have had a few blank tracks left.
Tascam 8 track, a reel to reel?
Wow that was really well done. I'm so sick of the youtube videos that sensationalize rock stories and turn them into dramatic tragedies. This was just perfect. Mad respect for Annie and Dave - a real class act.
You've sais it all there, David.
Not KZhead videos, TV does that
I turned 16 in the Deep South as Sweet Dreams (Are Made Of This) hit MTV and the airwaves. Annie Lennox's look was the antithesis of what the girls my age looked like: long, curled hair, perfect make-up, feminine dresses, etc. I chopped my below-the-waist hair almost as short as hers but didn't have the guts (or the $$) to dye it orange. My boyfriend didn't speak to me for 4 days, my Dad was furious and my classmates didn't recognize me - I **LOVED** it! I found myself because of that song and Annie Lennox!
love this! iconique
Isn't it amazing how other people try to own your hair? Always drove me crazy. Even now, in most grade schools (our leading conformity factories), girls can't have chopped hair like Annie or big 'fros like Pam Grier, and boys can't just have long hair. (Most young guys had long hair in my school back in the early to late 70s, some really long.) We've gone backward since the 70s (my Junior High and High School era). I even dyed my light brown hair a very dark brown at 13, just for fun. My mom bought me the dye when I asked for it. School had no opinion on it. Unbelievable what I see now being imposed on students... and parents want it. Sad.
Good on ya! After all it's just hair and it will grow back if you so wish
@@ShakepearesDaughter It's all a reaction to rapid change, I think. When things change quickly as they have in the last 5 years, let alone decade, people rush to try and maintain a status quo or worse, go back to a "simpler" time.
Great story! You go girl!!! Song reminds me of our student committee planning sessions for the Seniors prom, which was the year belows responsibility
I will never forget being 15 and Sweet Dreams coming out of my cousin’s car’s crappy radio. I’m not a musical person, and it was one of the few times music ever “spoke” to me. I’m a little teary writing this - I was so depressed and contemplating ending things. I didn’t know how to be dramatic and pull myself out of it. That song snapped me to attention - it was so weird, but it opened up this whole idea that there was a lot more to the world than my tiny existence. It motivated me. Thank you, Dave and Annie!
I hope you can find more music to pull you out of the abyss that you’re in. Music can be light or dark and definitely touches everyone who hears. I hope you find much light to see your worth and find your strength to get back up. I’m in my sixties and home on medical and a local AM talk radio station plays an hour of music daily M-F and most of the songs are from the 60’s to the early 80’s, my childhood. Have to admit I am transported back in time upon hearing the songs. Better times? Not so sure, but definitely more innocent times with all of life ahead of me. I find that hour to be uplifting and look forward to it everyday. I hope you find something to look forward to also 😊
Brilliant! I hope songs are still doing that for today's youth. The first song I heard on a car stereo was I want to break free by Queen ... amazing!
I don`t know you, but I am glad you pulled through.
I was 14. I remember saying to my brother on the TOTP broadcast "There's no chorus" My brother said "What do you mean?" Four years later I was writing music in my own band !
I never thought of this before,but listening to music can make people feel listened to.
My 13 yo daughter just walked in, saw the screen (no sound, my headphones are on) and started singing Sweet Dreams and dancing, stating "It's the law, you have to sing it." Not only do I feel like I have done something right, but she just proved your concluding words. Annie's voice is pure liquid gold and her strength and beauty and openness about her troubled soul has long been an inspiration to me.
Yes, even in the grocery store. Three old folks there in the condiments isle, with a bunch of young kids watching. Two of us lip-sinked, all of us danced, one old deaf guy with hearing aids sang.
Cute 😊
My 12 year old son loves this song. Great music is timeless.
oh rebecca
And the whole world cried and clapped at the same time ~
"Sweet Dreams" is so unbelievably catchy. How could the label not recognize this?! Thanks for this super interesting video!
Very simple. The song was about them and it did not paint them in a positive light.
@@kirbyjoe7484Exactly
How could they not recognize it? Annie wasn't wearing big hair and a little skirt and acting like a 10 year old girl. Cretins.
As a 13yr old when sweet dreams was released I was absolutely mesmerised by the beauty of Annie Lennox. The strong look was sexy not masculine. I know , the effect nearly killed me, but what a way to go.
I was also 13. It was something unexpected and new and a little shocking.
i was introduced to the sounds by my cousins around your age. i think i was 8 or something, it was either this band, yazoo, depeche mode or duran duran when everyone in class were still singing to nursery tunes. and it helped me picked up English and understand the newspaper after months of trying to read the lyrics while stopping to smell the cassette sleeves once in a while listening to it. lol good times. ever since then i was very much into music until today now that i am almost 50. still doing what i did as a teenager with music. lol anybody still playing with turntables? lol
I was 11, also mesmerized - and to me, it was deliberately masculine in that it was an artistic challenge to gender norms. I thought the end result was beautiful and provocative. Lennox was a groundbreaker then, and to this day, I'm endlessly fascinated by her.
@@MrNajibrazaki wondered if anybody else loved the scent of cassette sleeves 😁
Grace Jones was another he did the suit look well :)
I was 11 when this music came out. Could not stop listening to it. I'm Brazilian, grew up poor in the low suburbs of Rio, did not understand English at all, but some how, it got through the barriers of my understanding, into the heart of my emotions.
City of God
That's awesome, thanks to the internet I have been able to find music in many other languages that whilst I have a varying understanding of their lyrical content (I have a smattering of knowledge of a few languages, though am far from fluent in any of them but English lol) I find myself thoroughly bonded with them emotionally. It really is a universal language and unites us where our words are liable to fail. All the best to you from the UK!
@@slktool Bangu was worse... Hotter. Summer as hot as 47oC.
Music has no language and is a feeling. I listen to a lot of music from different countries which I don't know the language but the feeling the singer gives is more than enough to understand the song. The best example for me is the song from the South Korean drama Flower of evil. The song Feel You describes the lead's anguish and you don't need to know what the lyrics are saying
I first listened to it as russian preteen. And yet I love it so many years later, now that I can understand the lyrics even more
The last time I DJed at a goth club I still packed the floor with this hit. When I think of MTV this is the very first thing that comes to mind. Lennox Is a QUEEN!
She is Queen 👸
what song is it? don’t have time to watch the video rn
The last time you DJd a goth club was 1985!
@@harkingmadwing5112 Nope. June 2019. Cincinnati, Oh.
Have you ever tried to do something with Stay? Seems prefect for goth.
I will never forget the day when "Sweet dreams" was aired on the UK music show "Top of the Pops". I was at a friends house and there was a gang of us. The song forced us to stop what we were doing and we all instantly knew this was totally fresh and original. The story of the Eurythmics, and how "sweet dreams" was born, is a lesson to anyone who is trying to achieve a dream. It shows just how many obstacles one has to over come and how one should never give up. Of course having huge talent can help.
£2000 state of the art drum 🥁 machines help.
@@aclark903 An arrow does not fire itself.
Annie Lennox spoke at my graduation in 2013 from Berklee. One of the highlights of my life thus far, she is such an inspirational artist in every sense of the word imho
Thanks for giving the Eurythmics their due slot in the New British Canon. The story behind Sweet Dreams shows what a massive struggle Dave and Annie endured. Legends!!
There is no great art without great pain.
Thanks for being vegan johnny
@@wobblybobengland Yes, thanks for being vegan, Johnny. Eurythmics don't have a "the" at the start of their name. 🙂 Yes, they deservedly became legends. :-)
I'm surprised they didn't mention Annie Lennox singing "Into the West" near the end of LOTR.
Can't believe America banned love is stranger such a realy good song
So glad they persisted. For me it's hard to imagine anyone not recognizing Annie's voice is pure gold
I am eternally grateful that MTV ushered in the second British Invasion. It was so refreshing and a little shocking, coming out of the 70’s into new wave. Eurythmics we’re shocking to this Midwest boy, Annie’s hair, the haunting lyrics and diverse subject matter really drew me in. Her astounding vocals drove the nail home.
I *AM* from the midwest. I *WAS* very confused when I first saw Annie "...with [her] orange hair...with [her] green eyes..." But by half way through that first hearing of Sweet Dreams, and first viewing of the video, I was in love! Their amazing new style, their musical ability, I was enthralled! And they have never ceased to impress. Thanks for the video, and thanks to Eurythmics for their great work over the years!
As a 51 year old American male I can honestly say I am still infatuated with Annie Lennox. Love her voice and really dug her look . She was the subject of an art project I had in college . I put so much passion and time into that piece , my art teacher asked to have it. I really wish I would have said no. Stewart heard and saw the same thing . A rough diamond, now a polished jewel.
I'm 47 - 100% Even in her late 60s she is still attractive. Maybe it's the artists eye in us.
She uses her face so well in the Sweet Dreams video; not a single wasted expression... Gold
i think part of it is how she stepped out of the cliche of what we normally saw with women in music at that time. i think thats why cindi lauper did so well. she blasted out with a wild look, awesome talent, and tons of energy. two of the most powerful women in 80s music
53 year old and I feel the same way
Sooooo, what country are you from? The uploader is a European. You see no one cares what continent you're from.
Also, Lennox's voice is incomparable. x
She still does little snippets on instagram of her playing on the piano at home, occasionally with her daughter. She's still got it. Hauntingly vulnerable or terrifyingly strong, but always beautiful. She is absolutely one of my favourite singers.
I like their music, but Lennie Annox irritates, as a person.
@@esoxlucius6884 when did you meet her? Oh....you didn't?
absolutely agree! The control she has is outstanding, I would love to see her live.
I believe Lennox was classicly trained.
I was a complete metal head back then. When sweet dreams came out, I loved it... and still do. I'm still a metal head but I've broadened my taste a lot since 83. Great video.
Same here!
If you were bobbing your head to this manufactured synth pop song you were definitely NOT a metalhead 😂🤣😂🤣. What an absurd statement. That would be like a goth jamming to Britney Spears
The idea you have to restrict yourself to one genre of music has always been ridiculous.
@@grodesby3422 I didn't say one genre. I'm pointing out that one is music and the other is mind numbing product jingles stretched in length.
@@epstein_isnt_dead7726 What an idiot comment. That's like saying the Ministry cover of this song at 24:19 is music and all the other cover versions aren't. As it happens, the Ministry version is utter shit.
I literally wore out my Eurythmics vinyl albums by playing them over and over and over in the eighties. Couldn't get enough, and I still love them just as much now as I did then.
In 1983, I was stationed in "West" Germany - this was pre unification - with the US Army. I had also gotten married there. On our honeymoon in Spain, this song was blasting in every club, disco, street market, and venue in Costa Bravo (a beach resort town about 45 minutes from Barcelona)I became a huge fan of Annie's hauntingly beautiful voice. For nearly 40 years now, this song has had a constant place on my top 5 songs EVER!
Hell yeah - it's a stone cold classic! I loved it from the first time I heard it back in '83, and the album of the same name remains one of my favourites till this day. Ta for sharing your memories of it!
It was still playing a lot when I was stationed there in the late '80's. Used to pull me onto the dance floor at the club, no matter what else was going on
Not to be picky but Costa Brava isn't a resort, it's the name for a stretch of coast including several towns and villages, some of which are tourist traps.
@@Xiroi87 Picky or not, facts is facts.
It's one of the most powerfully emotive songs I know of... Annie wailing during the bridge (shiver)
It's difficult to express what it felt like to hear this song for the first time. Nobody had heard anything remotely similar. It was a massively powerful song that immediately transformed you.
It sure did.
The first time I heard this song, my mind was absolutely blown. It was everything you explained. I was going through a dark period and it hit like a ton of bricks. I played it in my car, driving, endlessly.
all i heard as a young teenager and then again as an adult was meaningless new wave garbage like brian eno's crap... even the talking heads sound good in comparison; this goes to show how doing acid and cocaine and trying to be artsy cannot compete with having actual musical talent... lennox did make some OK stuff in the 90s so i guess she refined herself somewhat and even had a decent song featured in the end credits of a sopranos episode
I grew up with this song on the radio as a small kid. It's one of those songs that stuck around and "haunted" me. Annie Lenox, a name and a personality I still remember, even though I was to young to understand any of it. Still listen to the song from time to time even though synth pop or what this is, is not really my thing. Thinking about it as I write this, I think that I appreciate the song especially because it's not the standardized pop&rock music from this era, which I most certainly do not like. It wants more than just being "ear candy".
@@larsbundgaard5462 It is an anomaly. Eh!
It was eye opening to see how many songs that Stewart had collaborated on. I think he deserves much more recognition for his talent.
Who knows what random circumstances create artistic greatness? I was a washed up disco kid who grew up on the British Invasion, got lost in the singer/songwriter early 70s and then baptized in American Pop Rock and then the craziness of the disco era. Electronic and synth oriented music began to intrigue me as a palate cleanser to everything else. It threw conventions out the window and reimagined sounds and rhythms in new and sexy ways. But when The Eurhythmics dropped Sweet Dreams it really sounded like nothing else and Annie with her radical image. Incredible! I became an instant and lifelong fan. Great post and great subject matter - I subscribed!
Annie's classic beauty shone through any outfit she wore, and her pure vocal talent was obvious to anyone who wasn't tone deaf. It was all just really good music.
So true, I remember not thinking about what she was wearing, didn´t care. I was fascinated by her voice and presence, she could captivate you with her eyes.
I am a little tone deaf and I think she has a amazing voice!
Yeah, that whole "controversy" was just bizarre to me at the time. It was never a question that Lennox is a woman, and a striking one at that. She rejected some of the superficial presentation stuff, which is just cool and frankly feminist IMO. If you've never seen it, definitely watch the video for the Eurythmics track "Beethoven"... It is just awesome. BTW: I did have friends who were freaked out by Boy George (and Pete Burns too)... I didn't really get that either, but I could at least imagine the way it might trigger a homophobic backlash in some guys.
@@travcollier Only the guys who were not confident in their own sexuality had problems with Boy George and Adam Ant. Both nice blokes to talk to at promotions at nightclubs.
@@Demun1649 Definitely true. My friend who freaked out most about Boy George did finally come out as gay when he went to college. As for me, I had a girlfriend who liked to hang out in the "gay" part of town (one of the few places a girl could feel relatively safe)... I was decent looking when I was younger, and got pretty comfortable turning down flirting guys nicely. Never a problem, just took it as a compliment... I was the weirdo ;) Though I don't think I knew anyone who was freaked out by Adam Ant... He's just flash
When I saw Annie cropped and oranges her hair, my own hair stood on end. I was so inspired and so proud of what she was expressing. At the time, I had bought my first house and had to endure incoming workmen asking me if I should speak to my husband before making any decisions - the husband I didn’t have. Fist pump Annie. X great video, thank you.
YES ! I had just bought my home too during the early 80s and remember those types of moments. It wasnt until that I realized women still werent really viewed as equals. I hadnt thought that much about those things prior to being on my own .
@@neverettebrakensiek8771 exactly, neither had I. ❤️
Sorry, but you guys are gross. Oops. I mean ladies. ... guys... ...ladies... (???)
This is a great history you have provided. I grew up in New York and was a teen in the 80s, and you are correct: British New Wave bands were dominant on the airwaves in the early part of the decade....
I grew up in the UK, and was in late teens early 20s by the height of New Wave and Brit Punk popularity. Brit Punk being harder, darker, edgier and much more raw. The reason they were so popular for us was threefold. One was the hopeful resurgence of Brit Pop after a lull dominated by big US bands post Beatles. Another was they looked like us, dressed like us, from our streets, Americans were different to us, much more so than now. Finally, they resonated with the depression of growing up in hard nosed Thatcherite Britain, contrasting with the inspiration of a connected Europe. The lyrics frequently touch on what was going on for us as British youth, rather American concepts that really meant nothing.
Fucking great presentation! I love the Eurythmics and just about every band they were up against for air time. You treated them as equal contenders instead of comparing them against each other, which is professional and respectful. The deep dive selections you made for interview cutaways gave your video the gravity to keep me watching, offering more than trivia-they offered insight. And that's a rare beast on KZhead. Kudos!
Honestly I'm glad that they reinvented themselves as the Eurythmics, the song writing got better. Sweet Dreams was a spark of genius. It was very similar in the Simple Beauty synth wave of Love is a Stranger.
Of a different kind
I love the idea of 'Sweet Dearms' coming from just fooling about on instruments and accidentally finding an amazing sound, saying 'what the f*** was that?' and inspired by it, immediately improvising a song from it!
@@frglee music is like that.. takes a bird whistle for example, and everyone knows that tune... one person hums, another involuntarily joins in, someone taps a foot boom next club banger
@@nolesy34 ... and new Universe is born ! :)
Love is a Stranger is such a great song. It's right up there with Say Hello, Wave Goodbye.
love soft cell
Love is a Stranger may be my favourite track of theirs. I'm also very fond of their soundtrack for 1984.
‘This City Never Sleeps’ is the dark gem that is always overlooked. An acoustic version with a great singer like Annie, would be epic.
Such a great song I'd forgotten about. I was 13, this time shaped my taste in music with it's explosion of electronic delight ❤
It sounds so natural, like it's composing itself out of thin air as you listen to it. I can see why SD was the hit, though.
As a midwestern kid, my suburb didnt't have cable available until maybe 1986, so I didn't have MTV. There was a music video program afteramschool uHF channel 60 ( later 50). The Eurythmics video that got lots of play there was " Here comes the Rain Again".
This was just beautiful. Thank you. Love from Norway.
Annie's every tiniest gesture during the Sweet Dreams video is pure gold... Every little head tilt, every tiny hint of a smirk... Brilliant
She's an amazing actor and singer, obviously capable of channeling her every thought through movement and sound!
So peculiar just as I noticed that your comment appeared immediately under my eyes.
Sweet Dreams was the first album I ever bought. Love Is a Stranger is one of the most hauntingly beautiful songs ever.
I love Annie Lennox. When I saw Sweet Dreams on MTV the first time, I was fascinated and amazed. A strong fabulous female presence doing what she wanted, how she wanted. ❤
Annie was and is divinity in human form. Her talent and the respect the people in the industry have for her says it all. She's the artist's artist.
Nobody who makes music can ignore the touch of this song.
It’s interesting to see/hear the media/industries back lash on how Annie dressed and the way she presented herself back in the 80s whilst looking at that thru 2023s lens, that she is one of the most beautiful women to ever front any international group. Although the focus on her looks vs her talent is something that modern artists still live with today. 23/04/2024: just as a comment on the 180+ replies, I’m not agreeing with the point of views raised in the video or even if the points raised are that valid (or at least were as widespread as the video states). Simply that the points were raised and that they’re interesting vs what’s generally considered perfectly fine now. IMHO Annie is one of the most important people in modern music. Be it her incredible talent or the way she pushed the norms of the early 80s in regards to her style.
She was something something special
she was a trailblazer in helping kick down another door of patriarchal gender role conformity, but it's depressing that she had to go through so much.
@@mj.l thats why she was driven away.. she wasn't strange she was a different kind, she could have been something something special
*try to
Her being so f'in pretty is probably one of the reasons for the strength of the reaction. Especially from people who suddenly began to doubt themselves.
This is more than I ever expected! I loved it all, well done, beautifully done.
Amazing! Great work! I had no idea the Eurythmics were so influential, and how close we came to not hearing them at all! I loved getting more insight into them. I always knew Annie and Dave were special, but I wasn't aware how much backlash Annie got for her image. To me, she was a normal woman who liked short hair and suits.
How anybody could not recognize that Sweet Dreams is a massive hit escapes my mind
I doubt it was a mistake. Marilyn Manson is someone best left to be forgotten
@@sprinkleddonuts6094 sex offenders should never be remembered
The Eurythmics was one of those groups that just jumped out of the TV at me. I remember seeing Sweet Dreams for the first time on Friday Night Videos (no cable or MTV where I lived). At 11:30 on Friday night, my eyes, ears and mind were open wide! I bought the 45 at Ames department store that weekend! Still have it. Thank you Annie and Dave!
Wow this was Awesome. I remember all this music...crazy... Thanks for keeping it Alive💪💪
I'm a drum major, and my band is performing this song in marching competitions. I've had to memorize every nook and cranny of this song, and this is really interesting to learn!
Great video as always ! Sweet Dreams is an absolute timeless masterpiece. Annie Lennox performing it dressed as ELVIS at the Grammys ? What a badass ! Her voice is commanding and angelical at the same time, she's an incredible performer. And it is true : Even the supermarket becomes a dancefloor when it comes on.
Sweet Dreams was released the year I graduated from high school in the U.S and I worked part time for a top 40 fm radio station. I don't recall America being "Outraged". We never had any negative feedback at the station (located in rural east Tennessee) concerning Sweet Dreams, in fact it was a top requested song for quite some time.
@@horacesheffield7367you realise that the outrage on both sides of the political divide is, for the most part, the product of carefully planned prodding and provocation right? Neither side is for the most part (of course there are exceptions) as extreme as the other paints them as and the entire point is to have you all at each others throats rather than finding any commonality and holding the people who are leading you around by the nose accountable for the things that they're doing in spite of you both.
Indeed. Zero outrage. Video maker is making stuff up.
Thankyou!! What the hell are they talking about? Nobody cared.
@@WeWillAlwaysHaveVALIS Your comment is way too intelligent. Say it louder for the people in the back.
yeah this video is a huge exaggeration, this was one of the most popular songs ever, nobody was outraged
What a band and what a VOICE. Loved your video, thank you.
At last, I learned the history of one of the greatest band of the '80-'90 era. Great video! Just one thing is missing at the end with the covers, you forgot Marylin Manson who skyrocketed his career with Sweet Dreams.
I came here for this comment! This song made me a Eurythmics fan and later a Marilyn Manson fan.
You killed it with this one. Got chills at the end. Thanks for honoring Annie and Dave in the best light possible. This channel rocks.
40yrs ! And still a song that gets me singing ( croaking rather) and Annie Lennox is so eerily beautiful ! The 80s was such an extraordinary time . Brit Pop played a massive bang in it. Thanks for the video !
Extraordinary and evolutionary.
I remember when I first saw the Sweet Dreams video on MTV. I thought 'What an odd looking woman!', 'What a great voice!' and 'What a great song!'
I was seven in 83 and we had MTV and a commodore 64. I used to run around saying "I want my MTV". I remember all the songs and my first records were Survivor and Cyndi Lauper. I remember Prince, M J, Tina Turner, Beastie Boys, Boy George, Twisted Sister, Flock of Seagulls, Devo, Eddie Grant, Grateful Dead , Tom Petty, Thompson Twins, Safety dance, Madonna, The Police, Eurythmics, Men at Work, Dire Straights, David Bowie, Paul Mccartney, John Cougar, ZZ top, Rolling Stones...... and watched soul train too on saturday afternoon.
Annie’s voice is simply amazing!
well, it has over a billion listens on Spotify alone...so i'd say its still culturally relevant. way to go, Annie and Dave. you stuck it out and changed music forever.
Ms. Lennox has the most amazing pipes, I heard her sing a'capella on the Arsenio show in the 80's. Just picked up a mic and started throwing down tunes and that was when I realized that she had a greater talent than anyone would ever give her credit for... no auto tune, no nothing, just raw vocal power.
Whoa! That must have been magical! Lucky You!
Amazing production! I didn't know any of this remarkable story, yet I worshipped Annie as a Goddess! And still do. Thank you for your hard work!
Wow! I always loved them but hearing about the struggles they endured just makes me love them more. And I love that Annie was a Drag King for an awards show 🥰 she's amazing.
I remember watching that awards show, at the time, and being thoroughly confused by Annie's presentation. I had expected the orange haired, New Wave lady, but got Elvis instead! LOL
how a masterpiece is born
..The Drag King, indeed... that's just class all the way😂
You bring back the memories when MTV was actually good. The Eurythmics / Annie Lennox will always be at the top! Thank you!
Really good piece. Eurythmics was one of my favorite bands growing up. I have their greatest hits album. Hard to believe the music producers were afraid to play it. Grateful to the lone station that gave it air and allowed Annie Lennox to fly.
Really, really good. Dave and Annie were a miraculous act that defied convention. Stunning. A great great video tribute to them both.
I remember seeing the Eurythmics perform in Wellington New Zealand and Annie stopped the show andhad a guy who was hitting his girl friend escorted out of the venue. Aside from the fact I already loved her voice and Daves musical chops, they both went up hugely in my estimates after this. They're legends!
Is that a fact, it really doesn’t surprise me at all that Annie stopped the show to shame that fool right out of the venue. Like yourself I loved Annie’s voice from the beginning. Like Mr Bowie, Annie’s voice has aged better than most. Absolutely loved your story I’d loved to have been there to see the spectacle unfold however I wz in Auckland still buzzing from a live performance I’ll never forget.
That's legendary. I am going to enjoy this song even more now that I know this
Was the incident ever captured on "film?". Someone might have it? JAT
Was the incident ever captured on "film"? Someone may have?.
@@mikeneill6813 If anyone did capture it on film / video, they absolutely should do nothing with it without the female victim's permission.
I grew up in the 90's, so I never knew there was moral panic for this song. The song is an absolute banger, and Lenox's response to the attacks was fabulous.
Because there wasn't. I don't remember anyone caring about how she was dressed in the video.
Clubbing in NYC in the 1980's ... The drag thing never registered with my friends as it all seemed pretty normal at that point. Sweet Dreams was definitely unique for its time & still sounds fresh.
Remember, this was the time when right-wing Christians like Jerry Falwell and Jesse Helms were making a lot of noise about "satanic" influence in music, etc. I find it hilarious that even MTV was too nervous to put Annie Lennox on.
@@barryj388 Exactly! This song was released when I was 16 years old growing up in the suburbs of the American Mid-West. Absolutely no one cared about how she was dressed.
There wasn't an backlash at all. Nobody gave a shit one way or the other. It was a popular song that was literally overplayed to death.
I loved 80s and 90s MTV!!!!
Annie Lennox is an unsurpassed singer, I heard her sing a song, unaccompanied, hitting every note perfectly and beautifully. I think on the same show there were small children who came to talk to her and she was so patient, kind and gentle with them. I have nothing but admiration for her.
A fantastic chronicle of one of my favorite bands. I learned so much! It must have been amazing for Annie Lennox to work with Stevie Wonder, who performed the harmonica solo on There Must Be an Angel, considering that his album inspired her to drop out of music school. There is a wonderful performance of that song with her daughter Lola that was put up on KZhead last year. Its good to know that she still can belt it out when she wants to. Thank you so much for the amazing video! I'll check out more of you videos, they are so well researched and produced!
I was a young teen when I first saw the SD video and I was hypnotized by her looks. She was so alien, fascinating. And the song purely synthetic sound, with that harsh repetitive beat killed me. They're one the reasons I have loved electronic music all my life.
Absolutely. It's what made me love techno-pop.
I get the same feeling when I watch Kim Wilde's videos for "Cambodia" and "View from a Bridge". It's the true sound and vibe of synth-pop (which is equally true of Eurythmics and Annie Lennox of course).
Another view of this AWSOME pice of music history. GREAT WORK !
These videos are true quality work. Presentation, script & editing are top shelf. Looks like I found a reason to keep visiting KZhead. Well done.
Saw the Eurythmics in NYC in the 80’s. Still remember the power of Annie’s voice live! ❤
YESSSSSSS! my dearly departed aunt and i shared a passion for the music of eurythmics and annie as a solo artist. i will watch this and fondly remember my aunt. thank you trash theory!
I grew up in Motown and I’m a contralto. When Sweet Dreams came out, I was blown away. When I saw the video I was unable to take my eyes off the screen. I was hooked!!!
Excellent! What's funny is that back in the early 80's, I scarcely noticed Annie's male attire or trimmed hair, because I was too overwhelmed by her angelic voice and sheer beauty...
🤣😂🤣😂 what? Dude, her entire gimmick was to look outlandish to distract from her total lack of talent and unattractiveness. That's the kinda marketing they do when the product is bad
Being me, born 1967 having a beer with friends in my local bar-nightclub in Sweden ~2010. Second floor nightclub, they had an evening for university students. We went up to check it out. Sweet Dreams comes on. "Whoa! DJ goes oldies!" I did not even have time to finish my thought, because at the first tones of Sweet Dream there was a roar, hands waiving and singing young people ran to the dance floor. This song is eternal!
I’m a 64-year-old woman so of course I got to go down memory lane like it was yesterday I shared it with so many people, my friends that lived those years with me and my kiddos who are now in their early 20s and all their friends they are very jealous of what a great era I got to be in you did a great job with this documentary, and I am a new subscriber
I'm 62 and I agree with you all the way.
61!
Thank you Britain for the second wave that brought alternative masters like The Smiths, Morrisey and one of my all time favorites Depeche Mode. So many others I failed to mention but thank you again! :)
I love how a lot of creativity is geniuses recognizing accidents as something amazing.
For me, their "lost" masterpiece is the 1984 For the Love of Big Brother soundtrack. From the manic, propulsive throb of Sexcrime 1984 & Room 101 to the chillingly haunted Julia & For the Love of Big Brother to the dark electronic menace of The Ministry of Love (which is still as sinister as anything on Massive Attack's Mezzanine), this was Annie & Dave at their creative outsider peak. THANK YOU for this well-deserved segment!
I loved 'Sexcrime (1984)'. It was one of the first pop records that genuinely unnerved or even scared me. I was just at the right age though. In '84, Britain was in a pretty bad state (the long running miners' strike, high unemployment) and we were constantly worried about nuclear war, so Orwell's book about a dystopian future was ideal reading matter for young teenagers at school. It felt like there was a lot of scary stuff around (AIDS was an emerging threat too) so some of the pop music reflected that. Maybe this happens in every era though. I don't follow popular culture closely enough any more to know if the pandemic led to any sinister - but good - art or music.
Good call. That whole album has a dark and seductive tone, it really grows on you.
Absolutely, I've always loved 1984 ❤
I love that album. I love the idea that when it was presented to the filmmakers they rejected it, even though for me so many of those dark moody synths feel appropriately Orwellian regardless. Some of my favourite vocal work of Annie is on that album.
Oh yeah, the 1984 soundtrack! I forgot about that.
This is fascinating! I was 13 when MTV came out and these bands are embedded in my very essence. Annie Lennox has a fabulous voice, I'm so glad they succeeded.
Sweet Dreams was released at the same time fm radio was rolled out here in NZ. Fm produced a crisper sound than what we were used to and it could finally heard in stereo. Just like listening to the record. It sounded like this song was made for fm radio. Unforgettable. I will always associate the three together. I was at their Revenge tour concert in Auckland in1987. I just wasnt expecting it to be as great as it was. I was blown away. Annie is an amazing front person with perfect vocals. Dave is a wicked musician. Clem Burke on the drums. Wow......total energy plus.......The whole band was amazing. I rate it right up there as one of the best concerts ive been to.
Well done. Wow. Amazing story and video references. I can’t believe I can see this for free. Well done to whoever has written and produced this video. Please keep doing more of them. Thanks
this is beautiful. Didnt know that she and they had to nearly break completely before pulling one of the most recognizable songs ever out of their desperation. So much more meaningful than a song someone bought off of someone else and performed. No matter how good it is.
Desperation is the source of a lot of great art... soul laid bare because there is nothing left to lose
It totally makes sense, though; I always wondered where all the pathos in this song came from
Annie Lennox has such a powerful, unique voice and delivery. I supported her and Stewart’s music from their early days as the Eurythmics. I recall being in university in Britain. They performed there in a pub atmosphere and had bottles thrown at them. Their struggles and eventual success vindicated them as dedicated visionaries.
So brave to continue! They really had to believe on themselves to keep on going!
I'm glad you were there to support them! You threw no bottles did you?!
Annie's look in that video was flawless. I absolutely love her voice, too.
The first time I heard Annnie's voice in 82 I was in love. And that love has not faded in all these years.
I love that this video exposes the "shameful truth" of early MTV that most music histories fail to acknowledge: that for the first year or two, MTV focused heavily on AOR and adult pop (genres more associated with VH1), and that the idea of MTV as being the home of youth and alternative culture wouldn't come until 1982 and 1983.
I watched the very first two hours of MTV's first broadcast here on YT and was surprised by the amount of Rod Stewart and REO Speedwagon videos shown lol I'm glad it came up in this video.
It flashed up on the screen that of the first 100 videos on MTV, eight featured Rod Stewart. The guy's a legend, but that factoid blew my mind. It must have been quite a monoculture at the start. I knew that it was overly white and male to begin with, but *that much* Rod Stewart?!
@@AutPen38 Didn't help that MTV was conceptualized and initially programmed as strictly a MOR rock station instead of a true variety Music channel that their name suggested until David Bowie called them out.
Baby steps.
Probably after the success had been proven. Innovation usually goes that way.
9:58 After 40 years I now know why 'Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This) grabbed my interest! It was the damn 'backbeat' standing by itself instead of connected to the lyrics! So inspirational. Thankyou Dave and Annie for not correcting it.
It does make your brain stop and go, "What was that? Let me hear that again..."
For me, Annie Lennox is one of the best vocalists I have ever heard in my life. I followed her career from The Tourists. She's a queen. Long may she reign.
I was born in late 1981 and I think my literal earliest memory is of a UK broadcast of the Sweet Dreams music video - I remember Lennox with the short cropped red hair walking around the boardroom table and being both entranced and terrified... I must have been 2 or maybe nearly 3, but it's totally stayed with me. They were channeling some deep magic back then. Loved the docu- wonderful stuff! :)
Firstly, Annie Lennox is stunning and always gets my undivided attention. Secondly, every time there's a new Trash Theory video up, I suddenly wind up with a bunch of tabs open to check out the bands mentioned that I haven't heard before.
I'm 53, and was 13 when this song came out, and I still have the original vinyl LP that I used to wear out over and over listening to this song in the summer of '83! That's a great album.
I was 15 when the song/video was released. Annie Lennox looked like no one I’d ever seen…mesmerizing. Such a fantastic singer!!!
Amazing documentation! Thank you very much! Cheers from Outback Australia...
I was 14 when MTV came online and my brother and I could only watch it whilst visiting my grandparents who were the only people we knew back then that had cable. They'd let us watch an hour a day. :) I remember Eurythmics- and Annie in particular - as being nothing but pure revelation! Loved her!
Can I say that I absolutely love the story telling behind these videos. They are not only informative but they make you hang off every word.
This video clip is awesome!! So much I didn't know of the duo as we know them; The Eurythmics!! Just loved it, & Thank you!! Annie Lennox is a legend in my eyes!!
Without doubt the best female/male group ever. Even after they separated Annie's albums are superb and Dave's album "Dave Stewart and The Spiritual Cowboys" is also one of my all time favourites.
One of the best vocalists ever. Walking on broken glass my all time favourite.
Brilliant song! Love it. Along with There must be an angel.
I am a serious heavy metal head. But I love the song little bird. I’ve got my metal version in my head of that song
This was more interesting than I was expecting. Visually, Lennox is a work of art. I’m so glad she has the character to match.
My teenage years were an obsession about Eurythmics and a crush on Annie Lennox
And the talent too.
@@Keyboardje Definitely
Not sure it's very sensitive to objectify them like that though. It smells kinda problematic.
@@etsequentia6765 they're fricking pop stars, it's what they aim for
Wow!!! I was there when the second British invasion hit and I didn't know half of this about the Eurythmics! This was so well done. I'm a Chicago House Head and yeah, Sweet Dreams is iconic in House Music! Thank for making such a great video. Even if I am seeing it a year after it was posted, it's very fresh!