1983 was a breakthrough year for the Eurythmics, a duo comprised of singer Annie Lennox and David A. Stewart (then known simply as Dave Stewart), who handled multiple instruments. The pair had split from previous band The Tourists in 1980, releasing their debut as Eurythmics 'In The Garden' to only limited success the year later. All that would change for them with their second album, 'Sweet Dreams (Are Made Of This)'; released at the beginning of 1983 the record spawned two hits in this year, the title track and 'Love Is A Stranger'.
The band's synth-heavy music (at least during this period) fitted in well with the era, alongside Lennox's soulful vocal. With the importance of promotional videos growing, thanks to the still-new MTV channel, they embraced that medium fully, producing memorable videos for their singles. Lennox, with her closely-cropped hair dyed bright orange, and dressed in a suit, made a memorable impression in the video for 'Sweet Dreams (Are Made Of This)'. They took it a stage further for the 'Love Is A Stranger' video; Lennox playing the role of a high-class hooker in furs, glamorous make-up and in a blonde wig is chauffered by Stewart, removes the wig to reveal (once again) a style of short, dyed orange hair, the video ended with her once again dressed in a suit. Her frequent changes of image were reminiscent of David Bowie, and helped ensure the band were featured in magazines and on television. The album was a success, reaching number 3 on the UK album chart, and a follow-up album ('Touch', released June 1983) soon followed.
The 'Touch' album was recorded in just three weeks, and its lead-off single 'Who's That Girl' was another smash hit single. Once again, Lennox was exploring the gender roles in the video to that song, playing both a male and female. She was seen as a female nightclub singer and also as a male member of the audience, and the video included numerous cameos from pop stars of the day, including all of Bananarama, Cheryl Baker and Jay Aston of Bucks Fizz, Kiki Dee, and notably 'gender-bender' pop star Marilyn (aka Peter Robinson) whose appearance in this clip helped his own music career, also in this year.
A further single, the poppier 'Right By Your Side' followed in autumn of 1983 and by this time Eurythmics were one of the UK's biggest bands. They went on to enjoy a string of hits throughout the decade, slowly moving on from their synth-orientated sound to include other instrumentation. Their biggest hit came in 1985 with the gospel-influenced number 1 hit 'There Must Be An Angel (Playing With My Heart)', featuring Stevie Wonder on harmonica. They eventually called it a day in 1990 after seven albums and went their separate ways; Lennox would score more hit singles as a solo artist while Stewart became known as a renowned producer and respected guitarist. The pair made one final album together in 1999 ('Peace') before splitting once and for all.
From the Eurythmics' golden year of 1983, here is 'Who's That Girl'
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