Eurythmics: Sweet Dreams (1983) (V)

Genre:

Musik

Plot:

Plot Keywords:

Concert Film | Independent Film

Filmpreise:

1 nomination

Nutzerkommentare:

Sweet.

Besetzung

Annie Lennox	...	Herself
David A. Stewart	...	Eurythmics
Pete Phipps	...	Drums
Dean Garcia	...	Bass
Vic Martin	...	Keyboards
Howard Hughes	...	Grand Piano
Maggie Ryder	...	Backing Vocals
Gill O'Donovan	...	Backing Vocals
Susie O'List	...	Backing Vocals
Lorraine Luke	...	Gospel Choir
Juliet Fletcher	...	Gospel Choir
Errol Brown	...	Gospel Choir
Michael DeFlandes	...	Gospel Choir
Claire Neilson	...	Gospel Choir
Jennifer Simms	...	Gospel Choir

Länge:

USA:62 Min

Produktionsland:

UK

Sprache:

Englisch

Farbe:

Farbe

Tonverfahren:

Stereo

Altersfreigabe:

Australia:G | Iceland:L

Sweet.

This video captures Eurythmics at a pivotal point in their career. The majority of the material was clearly produced before they had achieved worldwide commercial success, and it depicts Eurythmics as being more experimental and quirky, but still displays the ingenuity and intrigue that brought them their eventual stardom.

The bulk of the program is a live concert filmed at the British club Heaven, but there is a brilliant skit that bookends the show, and in the middle section it breaks away into a series of three videos that presents "Love Is A Stranger", "Who's That Girl?", and a previously unseen live studio version of "This City Never Sleeps" performed with a live gospel choir. I love the way the non-concert material is presented, including the ingenious way the opening segment (where the weird guy shows up at the record exec's office to present the little Dave & Annie claymation figures) is augmented by a repeating synth/guitar line that shows up in the first song of the concert.

The show is unpolished and raw. Annie's voice is great as usual, but the staging is awkward, and some of the songs don't come across that great live.

Still, I think it's crucial to see this side of any band. The image that Annie was projecting at the time was very Grace Jones, by way of Michael J. Fox (with a shocking red dye job--I often wonder how she looks back on this period). They were still finding their legs, and the next couple of albums really secured their place in pop/rock history.

On the down side, the band's biggest number, "Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)", suffers through two disappointing presentations: a miscalculated live version that projects none of the song's mystery and attraction, and the seminal video, which is defaced by rolling credits almost throughout its entirety.

Still, the unique presentation of the show is well worth checking out, and by now everybody probably has the "Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)" clip in another format anyhow.