Eurythmics – Sweet Dreams (Are Made Of This)

“Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)” – Single by Eurythmics from the album Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This).
Released: 21 January 1983
Songwriters: Annie Lennox, David A. Stewart
Producers: David A. Stewart
First video on the top: Live at Sydney, Australia 1987.

Appearing with orange cropped hair and wearing a man’s business suit in the music video, the BBC stated Annie Lennox’s “powerful androgynous look” was the music video that “broke the mould for female pop stars“. Rolling Stone called the song “a synth-pop masterpiece that made Lennox and Dave Stewart MTV superstars”.

Recorded by Eurythmics in a small project studio in the attic of an old warehouse in north London where they were living, the song’s success heralded a trend of musicians abandoning larger recording studios for home recording methods.

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Eurythmics - Sweet Dreams (Are Made Of This)

Eurythmics, Annie Lennox, Dave Stewart - Sweet Dreams (Are Made Of This) (Official Video)03:35

The innovative video for “Sweet Dreams (Are Made Of This),” directed by Stewart with Chris Ashbrook, presented Lennox with close-cropped orange hair and a tailored black suit, making it the first popular video presenting an androgynous female. The cow in the video was Dave Stewart’s idea – he was a big fan of surreal artists Salvador Dali and Luis Bunuel. Said Stewart: “A few people were saying, ‘Dave, why the cow? Annie is so good looking.’ Those people should go buy a copy of Purple Cow by Seth Dogin, about how to make your business remarkable. It was written 20 years after I had the purple cow in our video – which certainly did the trick and made my whole life remarkable.”

The cow, while very eye-catching, posed a logistical problem because most studios can’t accommodate them. Eurythmics found a basement studio in London with an elevator big enough to transport the animal. Lennox recalls the shoot with the bovine walking around as being one of the more surreal experiences of her life. Regarding what it all meant, she said in the book I Want My MTV: “The video is a statement about the different forms of existence. Here are humans, with our dreams of industry and achievement and success. And here is a cow.”

“Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)” was Eurythmics’ commercial breakthrough in the United Kingdom and all over the world. The single entered the UK Singles Chart at number 63 in February 1983 and reached number two the following month, spending a total of six weeks in the Top 5. The duo performed the song on the BBC’s music chart show Top of the Pops on 24 February 1983 (when it was number 21 in the charts), and its continued climb up the charts saw them play it on the show’s year end Christmas special. It was the 11th best-selling single of 1983 in the UK and has been certified double platinum by the British Phonographic Industry.

“Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)” was the first-ever single released by Eurythmics in the United States when it was released in May 1983. The single debuted at number 90 on the Billboard Hot 100 and slowly eased up the chart. By August, the single had reached number two and stayed there for four weeks before it took the number one spot in the first week of September. The song also peaked at number one in France and Canada, and reached the top ten in a number of countries including Australia, West Germany, Spain and South Africa.

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