As I believe I have gotten the Site at Sinbadthesailorman Dot Com under control.
Here is what the deal was my Hub and site “Sinbad The Sailor Man Dot Com” was acting up and when I put a ticket in I found out It has been UN supported for the last Year! But Now what is left of it and still up and working is at Sinbadthesailorman Dot Info.
I am currently Rebuilding the PW&OSfStSM Site at a WordPress Themed Site. It will still be Hosted at Fatcow.com and It will have the Original Dot Com address Sinbadthesailorman.com.
The Dot Info should be Up but, It may not be Fully Functioning not even as well as It did Yesterday! And It will decline in functionality as time goes by. There is nothing I can do about It as of today Its a third party website builder for Fatcow and It is being phased out! But like a way Back Site you'll be able to see what It is and was.
This Post will be a site wide Posting and you will see It at all my sites and on my FaceBook pages, Twitter.com, and wherever else I can think about getting It up and then remember to do so.
The New Wordpress Theme is Visible
But appears nothing like a Wordpress theme and It Won't for a good week and a half most likely. But the Addresses of both sites are showing up as Up and they are something and Bits and Pieces of both. They are not completely restored and the Old Website won't be to my understanding as I mentioned above here. So this is why I am putting this Info Out too you all. So you don't think I built a bunch of totally useless crap and slapped It up trying to make a buck.
Well I got to Run because I am under the Gun Here and I need to try and save the Christmas rush earnings ability If I can If Not Oh well It Looks like Easter and St Valentines Day will be my next chance to earn with Amazon.com and my other Affiliates.
Stuff Happens and It will Happen When You Least Expect It! Especially If You Don't Stay On Top of Things!
Howard Andrew "Andy" Williams (December 3, 1927 – September 25, 2012) was an American popular music singer. He recorded seventeen Gold-[1] and three Platinum-certified[2] albums. He hosted The Andy Williams Show, a TV variety show, from 1962 to 1971, as well as numerous television specials. Most recently, he performed at his Moon River Theatre[3] in Branson, Missouri, which was named after the Johnny Mercer and Henry Mancini song "Moon River", with which he is closely identified.
Williams was born in Wall Lake, Iowa,[4] the son of Jay Emerson and Florence (née Finley) Williams. Williams attended Western Hills High School in Cincinnati, but finished high school at University High School in West Los Angeles as a result of his family's move to California. He had three older brothers — Bob, Don, and Dick.
The Williams Brothers were signed by MGM to appear in Anchors Aweigh (1945) and Ziegfeld Follies(1945) but before they went before the cameras, the oldest brother Bob was drafted into military service and the groups's contract was canceled. Kay Thompson, a former radio star who was now head of the vocal department at MGM, had a nose for talent and she hired the remaining three Williams Brothers to sing in her large choir on many soundtracks for such MGM films as The Harvey Girls (1946).
When Bob was done with his military service, Kay hired all four of them to sing on the soundtrack to Good News (1947).
By then, Kay Thompson was tired of working behind the scenes at MGM so, with the four Williams boys as her backup singers and dancers, she formed a nightclub act called Kay Thompson and the Williams Brothers. They made their debut in Las Vegas in 1947 and became an overnight sensation. Within a year, they were the highest paid nightclub act in the world, breaking records wherever they appeared.
Andy Williams revealed in his memoir Moon River and Me that he and Kay became romantically involved while on tour, despite the age difference (he was 19 and she was 38). The act broke up in 1949 but reunited for another hugely successful tour from the fall of 1951 through the summer of 1953. After that the four brothers went their separate ways. A complete itinerary of both tours is listed on the Kay Thompson biography website [2].
Andy and Kay, however, remained very close, both personally and professionally. She mentored his emergence as a solo singing star. She coached him, wrote his arrangements, and composed many songs that he recorded (including his 1958 Top 20 hit "Promise Me, Love" and, later, "Kay Thompson's Jingle Bells" on his 1964 No. 1 The Andy Williams Christmas Album).
Using her contacts in the business, Kay helped Andy land his breakthrough television gig as a featured singer for two-and-a-half years on The Tonight Show starring Steve Allen (it helped that the producer of the series Bill Harbach was Kay's former aide de camp). Kay also got Andy his breakthrough recording contract with Cadence Records (the label's owner Archie Bleyer had gotten early career breaks because of Kay and he owed her a favor).
Meanwhile, Andy sang backup on many of Kay's recordings through the 1950s, including her Top 40 hit Eloise based on her bestselling book about the mischievous little girl who lives at the Plaza Hotel in New York.
Kay also served as a creative consultant and vocal arranger on Andy's three summer replacement network television series in 1957, 1958, and 1959. In the summer of 1961, Kay traveled with Andy and coached him throughout his starring role in a summer stock tour of the musical Pal Joey. Their personal and professional relationship finally ended in 1962 when Andy met and married Claudine Longet and Kay moved to Rome.
Solo career
Williams at the Moon River Theater in Branson, 2006
Williams' solo career began in 1953.[4] He recorded six songs for RCA Victor's label "X", but none of them were popular hits.[5]
After finally landing a spot as a regular on Tonight Starring Steve Allen in 1954,[6] Williams was signed to a recording contract with Cadence Records, a small label in New York run by conductor Archie Bleyer. His third single, "Canadian Sunset" reached No. 7 in the Top Ten in August 1956, and was soon followed by his only Billboard No. 1 hit – in February 1957 – "Butterfly" – a cover of a Charlie Gracie record. "Butterfly" also reached No. 1 on the UK Singles Chart in May 1957, where it spent two weeks.
More hits followed, including "The Hawaiian Wedding Song" (U.S. #11), "Are You Sincere" (U.S. #3 in February 1958), "The Village of St. Bernadette" (U.S. #7 in December 1959), "Lonely Street" (U.S. #5 in September 1959), and "I Like Your Kind Of Love" with Peggy Powers (U.S. #8 in May 1957) before Williams moved to Columbia Records in 1961, having moved from New York to Los Angeles and gaining another hit with "Can't Get Used to Losing You" (U.S. #2).
In terms of success on the singles charts, the Cadence era was Williams' peak although songs he introduced on Columbia became much bigger standards. The two top-ten hits from the Cadence era, "Butterfly" and "I Like Your Kind of Love", both sung in a style similar to Elvis Presley, were apparently believed not to suit Williams' later style; they were not included on a Columbia reissue of his Cadence greatest hits of the 1960s. Some of William's recordings sounded like multitracking. He admitted that he had occasionally asked one of his brothers to sing with him to save studio time.[citation needed]
In 1964, Williams ultimately became the owner of the Cadence master tapes, which he occasionally licensed to Columbia, including not only his own recordings, but also those of his fellow Cadence-era labelmates: The Everly Brothers, Lenny Welch, The Chordettes, and Johnny Tillotson.
In 1968, although he was still under contract with Columbia for his own recordings, Williams formed a separate company called Barnaby Records to handle not only reissuing of the Cadence material, especially that of the Everly Brothers (one of the first Barnaby LPs was a double LP set of the brothers long out of print Cadence hits) but also new artists. Barnaby also had several Top 40 hits in the 1970s with novelty artist Ray Stevens (who had done a summer replacement show for Williams in 1970), including number-one hits such as "Everything Is Beautiful" in 1970 and "The Streak" in 1974.
Also in 1970, Barnaby signed and released the first album by an unknown singer-songwriter named Jimmy Buffett (Jimmy Buffett Down to Earth) produced by Travis Turk. Columbia was initially the distributor for Barnaby, but later distribution was handled first by MGM Records and then General Recorded Tape. Once Barnaby ceased operating as a working record company at the end of the 1970s, Williams licensed the old Cadence material to various other labels (such as Varese & Rhino in the U.S.) after 1980.
During the 1960s, Williams became one of the most popular vocalists in the country and was signed to what was at that time the biggest recording contract in history. He was primarily an album artist, and at one time he had earned more gold albums than any solo performer except Frank Sinatra, Johnny Mathis and Elvis Presley.
By 1973 he had earned as many as 18 gold album awards. Among his hit albums from this period were Moon River,Days of Wine and Roses (number one for 16 weeks in mid-1963), The Andy Williams Christmas Album,Dear Heart,The Shadow of Your Smile,Love, Andy,Get Together with Andy Williams, and Love Story. These recordings, along with his natural affinity for the music of the 1960s and early 1970s, combined to make him one of the premier easy listening singers of that era. In the UK, Williams continued to reach high chart status until 1978. The albums Can't Help Falling In Love (1970), Andy Williams Show (1970) Home Lovin Man ( No. 1 1971), Solitaire (1973), The Way We Were (1974) and Reflections (1978) all reached the Top 10.
Williams forged an indirect collaborative relationship with Henry Mancini, although they never recorded together. Williams was asked to sing Mancini and Johnny Mercer's song "Moon River" from the movie Breakfast at Tiffany's at the 1962 Oscar Awards. The song won the Oscar and quickly became Williams' theme song; however, because it was never released as a single, "Moon River" was never actually a chart hit for Williams.[7] The next year Williams sang "Days of Wine and Roses" which was written by Mancini and Mercer (this song also won). Two years later, he sang Mancini's "Dear Heart" at the 1965 awards and "The Sweetheart Tree" (also written with Mercer) at the 1966 awards.
On August 5, 1966, the 14-story, 700-room Caesars Palace casino and nightclub opened in Las Vegas, Nevada, with the stage production of "Rome Swings", in which Williams starred. He performed live to a sold-out crowd in the Circus Maximus showroom. He headlined for Caesars for the next twenty years.
In 1968, Columbia released a 45-rpm record of two songs Williams sang at the funeral of Robert F. Kennedy, his close friend: "Ave Maria" and "The Battle Hymn of the Republic". These were never released on a long-playing record.
Williams also competed in the teenage-oriented singles market and had several charting hits including "Can't Get Used to Losing You", "Happy Heart", and "Where Do I Begin", the theme song from the 1970 blockbuster film, Love Story. In addition, Williams hit the Top 10 of the UK Singles Chart with "Almost There" (1965), "Can't Help Falling In Love" (1970), "Home Lovin' Man" (1970) and "Solitaire" (1973).
Both Williams and Petula Clark recorded "Happy Heart" around the same time, just prior to his guest appearance on her second NBC-TV special. Unaware that she was releasing the song as a single, he asked to perform it on the show. The exposure ultimately led to his having the bigger hit with the song. The song "Happy Heart" is played during the final scene, and throughout the end credits, of the Danny Boyle film Shallow Grave.
Building on his experience with Allen and some short-term variety shows in the 1950s, he became the star of his own weekly television variety show in 1962. This series, The Andy Williams Show, won three Emmy Awards for outstanding variety program. Among his series regulars were the Osmond Brothers. He gave up the variety show in 1971 while it was still popular and reduced his show to three specials per year. His Christmas specials, which appeared regularly until 1974 and intermittently from 1982 into the 1990s, were among the most popular of the genre.[8]
Williams recorded eight Christmas albums over the years and was known as "Mr. Christmas",[8] due to his perennial Christmas specials and the success of "It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year", which appears on all of his Christmas albums.
Williams hosted the most Grammy telecasts, from the 13th Annual Grammy Awards in 1971 through to the 19th awards in 1977, seven consecutive shows. He returned to television to do a syndicated half-hour series in 1976–1977.
In the early 1970s, when the Nixon Administration attempted to deport John Lennon, Williams was an outspoken defender of the former Beatle's right to stay in the United States.
A caricature of Williams is included in the montage of caricatures displayed on the cover of Ringo Starr's 1973 album, Ringo.
"Carol of the Bells" (also known as
the "Ukrainian Bell Carol") is a choral miniature work originally
composed by the Ukrainian composer Mykola Dmytrovych Leontovych.
Throughout the composition, Leontovych used a four note motif as an
ostinato which was taken from an ancient pagan Ukrainian New Year's
chant known in Ukrainian as "Shchedryk" [the Generous One]
One Must Remember Not all Pagans were worshipers of the Devil or Satan per say they were supposedly Unaware of GOD as their Father. Are as Many of us So Called "Christians of today" are today! We Know not OUR Father and have forsaken-ed HIS Only Begotten Son. Do You Know Who God is and do you Know the difference between GOD and the God of this Our world our Earth?
Kenneth Donald "Kenny" Rogers[1] (born August 21, 1938) is an American singer-songwriter, photographer, record producer, actor, entrepreneur and author.
Though he has been most successful with country audiences, he has
charted more than 120 hit singles across various music genres and
topping the country and pop album charts for more than 200 individual
weeks in the United States alone.
Two of his albums, The Gambler and Kenny, are featured in the About.com poll of "The 200 Most Influential Country Albums Ever".[2] He was voted the "Favorite Singer of All-Time" in a 1986 joint poll by readers of both USA Today and People.[3]
He has received numerous such awards as the AMAs, Grammys, ACMs and CMAs, as well as a lifetime achievement award for a career spanning six decades in 2003.[4]
Later success includes the 2006 album release, Water & Bridges, an across the board hit, that peaked at No. 5 in the Billboard Country Albums sales charts, also charting high in the Billboard 200. The first single from the album, "I Can't Unlove You," was also a chart hit. Remaining a popular entertainer around the world, the following year he completed a tour of the United Kingdom and Ireland, telling BBC Radio 2 DJ Steve Wright his favorite hit was "The Gambler".
He has also acted in a variety of movies and television shows, most notably the title roles in Kenny Rogers as The Gambler and the MacShayne series as well as his appearance on The Muppet Show.[5][6]
Kenny Rogers
Kenny Rogers, concert, Chumash Casino Resort hall, Santa Ynez, California, September 27, 2006.
Kenneth Ray Rogers was born in Houston, Texas, in 1938, the fourth of eight[7] children born to Lucille (née Hester; d. 1991), a nurse's assistant[8], and Edward Floyd Rogers (d. 1975), a carpenter.[9] Rogers graduated from Jefferson Davis High School in Houston.
Career
Early career
His career began in the mid 1950s when he recorded with a rockabilly
group called The Scholars, who had some success with a single called
"Poor Little Doggie." Rogers was not the lead singer of the group and
after two more singles they disbanded when their leader went solo.
Now on his own, Kenneth Rogers (as he was billed then) followed the
breakup with his own single, a minor solo hit called "That Crazy
Feeling" (1958). After sales slowed down, Rogers joined a jazz group called The Bobby Doyle Trio, who got a lot of work in clubs thanks to a reasonable fan following and also recorded for Columbia Records.
Feeling that the Minstrels were not offering the success they wanted,
Rogers and fellow members Mike Settle, Terry Williams, and Thelma
Camacho left the group. They formed The First Edition
in 1967 (later renamed "Kenny Rogers and The First Edition").
When the group split in 1976, Rogers launched his solo career. Rogers soon developed a more middle of the road
sound, with a somewhat rough but tuneful voiced style that sold to both
pop and country audiences; to date, he has charted more than 60 top 40
hit singles (including upwards of 25 No. 1's) and 50 of his albums have
charted. His music has also been featured in top selling movie
soundtracks, such as Convoy, Urban Cowboy and The Big Lebowski.[10][11]
Solo career
Rogers in 1981.
After leaving The First Edition in 1976, after almost a decade with the group, Rogers signed a solo deal with United Artists. Producer Larry Butler and Rogers began a partnership that would last four years.[12]
Rogers first outing for his new label was Love Lifted Me. The
album charted and two singles "Love Lifted Me" and "While the Feeling's
Good" were minor hits. The song "Runaway Girl" was featured in the
motion picture Trackdown. Later in 1976, Rogers issued his second album, the self-titled Kenny Rogers, whose first single "Laura (What's He Got That I Ain't Got)", was another solo hit.
The single "Lucille"
(1977) was a major hit, reaching number one on the pop charts in 12
countries, selling over five million copies, and firmly establishing
Rogers' post-First Edition career. On the strength of "Lucille", the
album Kenny Rogers reached No. 1 in the Billboard Country Album Chart.
More success was to follow, including the multi-million selling album The Gambler and another international Number 1 single, "Coward of the County", taken from the equally successful album, Kenny. In 1980, the Rogers/Butler partnership came to an end, though they would occasionally reunite: in 1987 on the album I Prefer the Moonlight and again in 1993 on the album If Only My Heart Had a Voice.
In the late 1970s, Rogers teamed up with close friend and Country Music legend Dottie West
for a series of albums and duets. Together the duo won 2 gold records
(1 of which later went platinum), 2 CMA Awards, an ACM nomination, two
Grammy nominations and 1 Music City News Award for their two hit albums
"Every Time Two Fools Collide" (#1) and "Classics" (#3), selling out
stadiums and arenas while on tour for several years, as well as
appearing on several network television specials which showcased them.
Their hits together "Every Time Two Fools Collide" (#1), "Anyone Who Isn't Me Tonight" (#2), "What Are We Doin' in Love"
(#1), "All I Ever Need Is You" (#1) and "Till I Can Make It On My Own"
(#3) all became Country standards.
Of West, Rogers stated in a 1995 TNN
interview "She, more than anybody else I ever worked with, sang with
such emotion that you actually believed what she sang. A lot of people
sing words, Dottie West sang emotions." In a 1978 press release for
their album "Every Time Two Fools Collide", Rogers credited West with
further establishing and cementing his career with Country Music
audiences.
In the same release, West credited him with taking her career
to new audiences. Rogers was with West only hours before she died at
age 58 after sustaining injuries in a 1991 car accident, as discussed in
his 2012 biography "Luck Or Something Like It". In 1995 he starred
opposite Michele Lee as himself in the CBSbiopicBig Dreams and Broken Hearts: The Dottie West Story.
He went on to work with the Bee Gees to record and produce his 1983 hit album Eyes That See in the Dark, featuring the title track and yet another No. 1 hit "Islands in the Stream", a duet with Dolly Parton. The Gibbs originally wrote the song for Marvin Gaye in an R&B style, only later to change it for the Kenny Rogers album.[13]
The partnership with Bee Gees only lasted one album, which was not a
surprise considering that Rogers' original intentions were to work with Barry Gibb in only one song but Barry insisted on them doing the entire album.
"Islands in the Stream", Rogers' duet with Dolly Parton, was the first single to be released from Eyes That See in the Dark in the United States, and it quickly went to No. 1 in the Billboard Hot 100 (it would prove to be the last country single to reach No. 1 on that chart until "Amazed" by Lonestar
did so in 2000), as well as topping Billboard's country and adult
contemporary singles charts; it was certified Platinum by the Recording
Industry Association of America for shipping two million copies in the
United States.
Rogers would reunite with Parton in 1984 for a holiday
album and TV special, Once Upon a Christmas, as well as a 1985 duet "Real Love", which also topped the U.S. country singles chart.[citation needed]
Despite the "Islands in the Stream"s success, however, RCA insisted on releasing Eyes'
title track as the first UK single, and the song stalled at a
disappointing No. 61 there, although it did stay in the top 100 for
several weeks (when it was eventually released in the United States, it
was more successful, charting high on the Adult Contemporary chart and
making the country top 30).
"Islands in the Stream" was issued as a
followup single in Britain and sold well, making No. 7. The album itself
reached No. 1 on the country charts on both sides of the Atlantic and
enjoyed multi-million sales. "Buried Treasure," "This Woman" and
"Evening Star"/"Midsummer Nights" were also all successful singles from
the album.
Shortly after came the album What About Me?, a hit whose title track, a trio performance with James Ingram and Kim Carnes, was nominated for a Grammy award; the single "Crazy" (not to be confused with the Willie Nelson-penned Patsy Cline hit) topped the country charts. David Foster was to work again with Rogers in his 1985 album The Heart of the Matter, although this time Foster was playing backing music rather than producing, a role given to George Martin. This album was another success, going to No. 1, with the title track making to the top ten category in the singles charts.
The next few years saw Rogers scoring several top country hits on a
regular basis, including "Twenty Years Ago," "Morning Desire," "Tomb of
the Unknown Love", among others. On January 28, 1985 Rogers was one of
the 45 artists who recorded the worldwide charity song "We Are the World" to support hunger victims in Africa.
The following year he played at Giants Stadium.[citation needed]
In January 1987, Rogers co-hosted the American Music Awards at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles. In 1988 Rogers won a grammy "Best Country Collaboration with Vocals" with Ronnie Milsap —
"Make No Mistake, She's Mine". In the 1990s Rogers continued to chart
with singles such as "Crazy In Love", "If You Want To Find Love" and
"The Greatest".
His second Christmas album entitled "Christmas in
America" was released in 1989 for Reprise Records. From 1991-94, Rogers
hosted The Real West on A&E, and on The History Channel
since 1995 (Reruns only on The History Channel). He visited Miller's
during this time period. From 1992-95, Rogers co-owned and headlined Branson, Missouri's 4,000 seat Grand Palace Theatre. In 1994, Rogers released his "dream" album titled Timepiece
on Atlantic Records. It consisted of 1930s/40s jazz standards; it was
the type of music he performed in his early days with The Bobby Doyle
Three in Houston.[citation needed]
In 1996 he released an album Vote For Love where the public
requested their favorite love songs and Rogers performed the songs
(several of his own hits were in there). The album was the first for the
TV shopping channel QVC's record label, onQ Music. The album, sold exclusively by QVC,
was a huge success and was later issued in stores under a variety of
different titles. It reached No. 1 in the UK country charts under the
title Love Songs (a title also used for various compilations) and also crossed over into the mainstream charts.
In 1999 Rogers scored with the single "The Greatest", a song about
life from a child's point of view (looked at through a baseball game).
The song reached the top 40 of Billboard's Country singles chart and was
a Country Music Television Number One video. It was on Rogers' album She Rides Wild Horses
the following year (itself a top 10 success). In 1999, Rogers also
produced a song, "We've Got It All", specifically for the series finale
of the ABC show Home Improvement. Not on any album, the recording sells for a high sum at auction.[citation needed]
Source: Wikipedia
TTFN
TTFN
Happy Holidays
When you Know Christ Our Lord Jesus! Everyday is a Holy Day!
See You Soon! Live Life and do so more Abundantly!
Walking in a Winter Wonderland -Eurythmics- with Lyrics
Eurythmics were a British music duo consisting of members Annie Lennox and David A. Stewart, now disbanded but known to reunite from time to time. Stewart and Lennox were both previously in the bands The Catch and The Tourists.
Their musical style ranged from new wave and synthpop to pop rock and soft rock.
Eurythmics originally came together in 1980 and disbanded in 1990. They
reunited in 1999 and split again in 2005. The duo released their first
album, In the Garden, in 1981 to little fanfare, but went on to achieve global success with their second album Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This), released in 1983.
The title track was a worldwide hit, topping the chart in various countries including the US.
Eurythmics went on to release a string of hit singles and albums
before they split in 1990.
By this time, Stewart had already embarked on
a parallel music career and was also a sought-after record producer,
while Lennox began a solo recording career in 1992 with her debut album Diva.
After almost a decade apart, Eurythmics reformed in the late 1990s to record their ninth album, Peace which was released in late 1999.
Lennox and Stewart met in 1975 in a restaurant in London, where Lennox worked at that time.[2] They first played together in 1976 in the punk rock band The Catch. After releasing one single as The Catch in 1977, the band evolved into The Tourists.
Stewart and Lennox were also romantically involved. The Tourists
achieved modest commercial success, but the experience was reportedly an
unhappy one.
Personal and musical tensions existed within the group,
whose main songwriter was Peet Coombes,
and legal wranglings happened with the band's management, publishers
and record labels. Lennox and Stewart felt the fixed band line-up was an
inadequate vehicle to explore their experimental creative leanings and
decided their next project should be much more flexible and free from
artistic compromise.
They were interested in creating pop music, but
wanted freedom to experiment with electronics and the av-ant-garde.
Calling themselves Eurythmics (after the pedagogical exercise system
that Lennox had encountered as a child), they decided to keep
themselves as the only permanent members and songwriters, and involve
others in the collaboration "on the basis of mutual compatibility and
availability."
The duo signed to RCA Records.
At this time, Lennox and Stewart also decided to discontinue their
romantic relationship. During the period that Lennox and Stewart were in
The Tourists, and later as Eurythmics, they were managed by Kenny Smith
and Sandra Turnbull of Hyper Kinetics Ltd.
A couple of the songs were co-written by guitarist Roger Pomphrey (now a
TV director). The album received an indifferent critical reception and
was not a commercial success (though the debut single "Never Gonna Cry Again" made the UK charts at No. 63).[3]
Lennox and Stewart then activated their new Eurythmics mode of
operation by touring the record as a duo, accompanied by backing tracks
and electronics, carted around the country themselves in a horse-box.
During 1982 the duo retreated to Chalk Farm
in London, and used a bank loan to establish a small 8-track studio
above a picture framing factory, giving them freedom to record without
having to pay expensive studio fees.
They began to employ much more
electronics in their music, collaborating with Raynard Faulkner and Adam
Williams, recording many tracks in the studio and playing live using
various line-up permutations. However, the three new singles they
released that year ("This Is the House", "The Walk" and "Love Is a Stranger")
all performed badly on initial release in the UK.
Although their mode
of operation had given them the creative freedom they desired,
commercial success was still eluding them, and the responsibility of
running so many of their affairs personally (down to transporting their
own stage equipment) took its toll on both of them. Lennox apparently
suffered at least one nervous breakdown during this period,[4] while Stewart was hospitalized with a collapsed lung.[5]
1983–1984: Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This) and Touch
Eurythmics' commercial breakthrough came with their second album, Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This), released in January 1983.
The successful title track
featured a dark and powerful sequenced synth bass line and a dramatic
video that introduced the now orange crew-cut Lennox to audiences. The
song reached no.2 on the UK Singles Chart,[3]
becoming one of the year's biggest sellers, and later topped the US
charts.
The band's fortunes changed immensely from this moment on, and
Lennox quickly became a pop icon, gracing the covers of numerous
magazines including Rolling Stone.
Their previous single, "Love Is a Stranger", was also re-released and
became another chart success.
The video for the song saw Lennox in many
different character guises, a concept she would employ in various
subsequent videos. The album's working title was Invisible Hands
(as was a track left off the album), inspiring the name of UK
independent company Invisible Hands Music - known for releasing music by
Hugh Cornwell, Mick Karn and Hazel O'Connor. The album also featured a cover of the 1968 Sam & Dave hit "Wrap It Up", performed as a duet between Lennox and Green Gartside of Scritti Politti.
The duo quickly recorded a follow-up album, Touch,
which was released in November 1983. It became the duo's first no.1
album in the UK, and also spawned three major hit singles.
The upbeat, calypso-flavoured "Right by Your Side" showed a different side of Eurythmics altogether and also made the Top 10, and "Here Comes the Rain Again" (number eight in the UK,[3] number four in the U.S.) was an orchestral/synth ballad (with orchestrations by Michael Kamen).
Nevertheless, the record was
presented as "music derived from the original score of Eurythmics for
the Michael Radford film version of Orwell's 1984". Eurythmics charged that they had been misled by the film's producers as well,[6] and the album was withdrawn from the market for a period while matters were litigated.
The album's first single, "Sexcrime (Nineteen Eighty-Four)", was a top 5 hit in the UK,[3]
Australia and across Europe, and a major dance success in the United
States, but its supposedly suggestive title (actually taken from the newspeak phrase used in Orwell's book) resulted in many U.S. pop radio stations refusing to play the track.
Annie Lennox performing during Revenge Tour in 1986
