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Eurythmics: Greatest Hits
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Weller was also in the process of establishing his own label, Respond. First
to score a hit for the new imprint was Tracie Young, the photogenic
backing vocalist on later Jam efforts and, of course, Speak Like A Child. Her
debut solo single, The House That Jack Built, entered the chart at #38
this week 21 years ago, but although the track went on to reach the Top 10 and
she was voted the Most Fanciable Female in Smash Hits magazine's 1983 Reader's
Poll, it never quite happened for Tracie.
The album was delayed until the summer of 1984 when any remaining interest had
all but disappeared, and by which time Respond's other great hope The
Questions had also misfired. Tracie was replaced in The Style Council by
former Wham! backing singer Dee C. Lee; Weller shut down Respond and
sold off the Solid Bond studios.
Meanwhile, two ex-members of The Tourists (who shone briefly with a
pair of Top 10 hits in 1979/80) had just made their belated Top 40 breakthrough
as Eurythmics. The duo of Annie Lennox and David A. Stewart
had been releasing singles since 1981, with only a #63 hit (Never Gonna Cry
Again) to their name prior to Sweet Dreams Are Made Of This. Taken
from the album of the same name, the track was in fact its fourth single,
following the failures of This Is The House, The Walk and Love Is A
Stranger in 1982.
This time, though, everything clicked; the song was as striking and memorable
as its video, the US market loved it, and the rest is history. By the week of
April 2nd, Sweet Dreams was on its way down the chart, slipping from #3
to #5, but Love Is A Stranger soon hit the Top 10 upon re-release and
Eurythmics briefly had two singles in the Top 40.
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