The Tourists
Encyclopedia
The Tourists were a British rock and pop band, but are better known for two of their members (Annie Lennox
and David A. Stewart
) who went on to achieve great success as Eurythmics
. The band formed around a nucleus of two musicians from Sunderland in north-east England, Peet Coombes
and Dave Stewart
.
's Rocket Records
label. The two moved to London and encountered Scottish singer Annie Lennox
who had dropped out of her course at the Royal Academy of Music
, where she had been studying flute and keyboards, to pursue her ambitions in pop music. The three of them initially called themselves The Catch
, and released a single "Borderline" in 1977 on Logo Records
, which failed to chart.
By 1977, they had recruited bass guitarist Eddie Chin
and drummer Jim Toomey, and rechristened themselves The Tourists. This saw the beginning of a productive two years for the band and they recorded three albums: The Tourists
, Reality Effect
, and Luminous Basement
, as well as half a dozen singles, including "Blind Among the Flower" (1979), "The Loneliest Man in the World" (1979), "Don't Say I Told You So" (1980), and two major hits, the Dusty Springfield
cover "I Only Want to Be with You
" (1979) and "So Good to Be Back Home Again" (1980), both of which reached the top 10 in the UK. "I Only Want to Be With You" was also a top 10 hit in Australia, and made the US Billboard Hot 100
at no.83. Coombes was the band's main songwriter, although later releases saw the first compositions by Lennox and Stewart. The band's music expanded using their folk roots, demonstrating some punk energy, reggae
and 1960s pop influences. A key development was their decision to record later material with German avant-garde producer Conny Plank
, and a transfer to RCA Records
in 1980. The band toured extensively in the UK and abroad, including a support role on the Roxy Music
Manifesto Tour, but despite modest chart success, they were critically savaged by the punk-championing UK music press. This, combined with legal wranglings and some personal tensions, led to the group disbanding in 1980.
Coombes and Chin reputedly began a new project Acid Drops, but this met with little success and Coombes, despite originally being the main artistic force behind the Tourists, drifted out of the music business into obscurity. Lennox and Stewart split as a couple, but decided to continue working as an experimental musical partnership, under the name Eurythmics
. They retained their RCA recording contract and links with Conny Plank, and by 1983 had achieved global success with their hit single "Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)
".
It was the death of Peet Coombes in the late 1990s which acted as a catalyst for Annie Lennox and Dave Stewart to revive their friendship and musical relationship following the news of his demise.
The Luminous Basement album was re-issued on CD in 1998. The US version of Reality Effect (actually a compilation of the first two UK albums) was re-issued on CD in 2007. Currently there are no plans to re-issue The Tourists' debut album.
Annie Lennox
Annie Lennox, OBE , born Ann Lennox, is a Scottish singer-songwriter, political activist and philanthropist. After achieving minor success in the late 1970s with The Tourists, with fellow musician David A...
and David A. Stewart
David A. Stewart
David Allan Stewart , often known as Dave Stewart, is an English musician, songwriter and record producer, best known for his work with Eurythmics. He is usually credited as David A. Stewart, to avoid confusion with other musicians named "Dave Stewart".-Early life:Stewart was born in Sunderland,...
) who went on to achieve great success as Eurythmics
Eurythmics
Eurythmics were a British pop rock duo, formed in 1980, currently disbanded, but known to reunite from time to time. Consisting of members Annie Lennox and David A...
. The band formed around a nucleus of two musicians from Sunderland in north-east England, Peet Coombes
Peet Coombes
Peet Coombes was the guitarist and vocalist with Annie Lennox and Dave Stewart in the two pre-Eurythmics bands, The Catch, who only released one single, "Borderline/Black Blood" and the Tourists, who had quite a few UK hits in the late '70s...
and Dave Stewart
David A. Stewart
David Allan Stewart , often known as Dave Stewart, is an English musician, songwriter and record producer, best known for his work with Eurythmics. He is usually credited as David A. Stewart, to avoid confusion with other musicians named "Dave Stewart".-Early life:Stewart was born in Sunderland,...
.
History
Peet Coombes was a guitarist singer-songwriter, while Dave Stewart, also a guitarist, had been a member of the folk rock band, Longdancer, who were signed to Elton JohnElton John
Sir Elton Hercules John, CBE, Hon DMus is an English rock singer-songwriter, composer, pianist and occasional actor...
's Rocket Records
Rocket Records
The Rocket Record Company was a record label founded by Elton John, with Bernie Taupin, Gus Dudgeon and Steve Brown among others, in 1972. The name is from the hit, "Rocket Man"...
label. The two moved to London and encountered Scottish singer Annie Lennox
Annie Lennox
Annie Lennox, OBE , born Ann Lennox, is a Scottish singer-songwriter, political activist and philanthropist. After achieving minor success in the late 1970s with The Tourists, with fellow musician David A...
who had dropped out of her course at the Royal Academy of Music
Royal Academy of Music
The Royal Academy of Music in London, England, is a conservatoire, Britain's oldest degree-granting music school and a constituent college of the University of London since 1999. The Academy was founded by Lord Burghersh in 1822 with the help and ideas of the French harpist and composer Nicolas...
, where she had been studying flute and keyboards, to pursue her ambitions in pop music. The three of them initially called themselves The Catch
The Catch (British band)
The Catch was a British band, formed in 1975 by Annie Lennox, Dave Stewart, and Peet Coombes.They released one single, 1977's "Borderline/Black Blood" on Logo Records. The single was released in the UK, Holland, Spain and Portugal...
, and released a single "Borderline" in 1977 on Logo Records
Logo Records
Logo Records was a British record company formed in the mid-1970s by British record executives Geoff Hannington and Olav Wyper. It was originally funded and part-owned by UK publishing company Marshall Cavendish. In 1977, the company purchased Transatlantic Records which was at that time owned...
, which failed to chart.
By 1977, they had recruited bass guitarist Eddie Chin
Eddie Chin
Eddie Chin is an American bassist who was formerly a part of The Tourists.As part of his early career Chin joined the skiffle group, The Pigsty Hill Light Orchestra along with fellow musician Robert Greenfield....
and drummer Jim Toomey, and rechristened themselves The Tourists. This saw the beginning of a productive two years for the band and they recorded three albums: The Tourists
The Tourists (album)
The Tourists is the debut album from the same titled band The Tourists, released in 1979. The album was not hugely successful, peaking at #72 in the UK for only one week....
, Reality Effect
Reality Effect
Reality Effect is the second album by The Tourists, released in 1979. This album received much more favorable reviews than its predecessor with catchier songs and a stronger reliance on the vocals of Annie Lennox. The album included two hit singles, "So Good to Be Back Home Again" and their first...
, and Luminous Basement
Luminous Basement
Luminous Basement is the third and final studio album from the band The Tourists, released in 1980. The album was not hugely successful, peaking at #75 in the UK for only one week...
, as well as half a dozen singles, including "Blind Among the Flower" (1979), "The Loneliest Man in the World" (1979), "Don't Say I Told You So" (1980), and two major hits, the Dusty Springfield
Dusty Springfield
Mary Isobel Catherine Bernadette O'BrienSources use both Isabel and Isobel as the spelling of her second name. OBE , known professionally as Dusty Springfield and dubbed The White Queen of Soul, was a British pop singer whose career extended from the late 1950s to the 1990s...
cover "I Only Want to Be with You
I Only Want to Be with You
"I Only Want to Be with You" is a rock-and-roll song by Mike Hawker and Ivor Raymonde. It was the first solo single released by British singer Dusty Springfield under her long-time producer Johnny Franz...
" (1979) and "So Good to Be Back Home Again" (1980), both of which reached the top 10 in the UK. "I Only Want to Be With You" was also a top 10 hit in Australia, and made the US Billboard Hot 100
Billboard Hot 100
The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...
at no.83. Coombes was the band's main songwriter, although later releases saw the first compositions by Lennox and Stewart. The band's music expanded using their folk roots, demonstrating some punk energy, reggae
Reggae
Reggae is a music genre first developed in Jamaica in the late 1960s. While sometimes used in a broader sense to refer to most types of Jamaican music, the term reggae more properly denotes a particular music style that originated following on the development of ska and rocksteady.Reggae is based...
and 1960s pop influences. A key development was their decision to record later material with German avant-garde producer Conny Plank
Conny Plank
Konrad "Conny" Plank was a German record producer and musician. He was born in Hütschenhausen. His creativity as a sound engineer and producer helped to shape some of the most important and innovative recordings of postwar European popular music, covering a wide range of genres including...
, and a transfer to RCA Records
RCA Records
RCA Records is one of the flagship labels of Sony Music Entertainment. The RCA initials stand for Radio Corporation of America , which was the parent corporation from 1929 to 1985 and a partner from 1985 to 1986.RCA's Canadian unit is Sony's oldest label...
in 1980. The band toured extensively in the UK and abroad, including a support role on the Roxy Music
Roxy Music
Roxy Music was a British art rock band formed in 1971 by Bryan Ferry, who became the group's lead vocalist and chief songwriter, and bassist Graham Simpson. The other members are Phil Manzanera , Andy Mackay and Paul Thompson . Former members include Brian Eno , and Eddie Jobson...
Manifesto Tour, but despite modest chart success, they were critically savaged by the punk-championing UK music press. This, combined with legal wranglings and some personal tensions, led to the group disbanding in 1980.
Coombes and Chin reputedly began a new project Acid Drops, but this met with little success and Coombes, despite originally being the main artistic force behind the Tourists, drifted out of the music business into obscurity. Lennox and Stewart split as a couple, but decided to continue working as an experimental musical partnership, under the name Eurythmics
Eurythmics
Eurythmics were a British pop rock duo, formed in 1980, currently disbanded, but known to reunite from time to time. Consisting of members Annie Lennox and David A...
. They retained their RCA recording contract and links with Conny Plank, and by 1983 had achieved global success with their hit single "Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)
Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This) (song)
Marilyn Manson released a cover version of "Sweet Dreams " as the first single from the EP, Smells Like Children. This version became an MTV staple and helped to establish the band in the mainstream. It also appears on the band's greatest hits album, Lest We Forget: The Best Of...
".
It was the death of Peet Coombes in the late 1990s which acted as a catalyst for Annie Lennox and Dave Stewart to revive their friendship and musical relationship following the news of his demise.
The Luminous Basement album was re-issued on CD in 1998. The US version of Reality Effect (actually a compilation of the first two UK albums) was re-issued on CD in 2007. Currently there are no plans to re-issue The Tourists' debut album.
Band members
- Peet CoombesPeet CoombesPeet Coombes was the guitarist and vocalist with Annie Lennox and Dave Stewart in the two pre-Eurythmics bands, The Catch, who only released one single, "Borderline/Black Blood" and the Tourists, who had quite a few UK hits in the late '70s...
- vocal, guitarGuitarThe guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with... - David A. StewartDavid A. StewartDavid Allan Stewart , often known as Dave Stewart, is an English musician, songwriter and record producer, best known for his work with Eurythmics. He is usually credited as David A. Stewart, to avoid confusion with other musicians named "Dave Stewart".-Early life:Stewart was born in Sunderland,...
- guitar - Annie LennoxAnnie LennoxAnnie Lennox, OBE , born Ann Lennox, is a Scottish singer-songwriter, political activist and philanthropist. After achieving minor success in the late 1970s with The Tourists, with fellow musician David A...
- vocal, keyboards - Eddie ChinEddie ChinEddie Chin is an American bassist who was formerly a part of The Tourists.As part of his early career Chin joined the skiffle group, The Pigsty Hill Light Orchestra along with fellow musician Robert Greenfield....
- bass guitarBass guitarThe bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick.... - Jim Toomey - drumsDrum kitA drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
Albums
| Year | Title | UK UK Albums Chart The UK Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales in the United Kingdom. It is compiled every week by The Official Charts Company and broadcast on a Sunday on BBC Radio 1 , and published in Music Week magazine and on the OCC website .To qualify for the UK albums chart... |
SWE Sweden Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund.... |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1979 | The Tourists The Tourists (album) The Tourists is the debut album from the same titled band The Tourists, released in 1979. The album was not hugely successful, peaking at #72 in the UK for only one week.... |
72 | — |
| 1979 | Reality Effect Reality Effect Reality Effect is the second album by The Tourists, released in 1979. This album received much more favorable reviews than its predecessor with catchier songs and a stronger reliance on the vocals of Annie Lennox. The album included two hit singles, "So Good to Be Back Home Again" and their first... |
23 | 45 |
| 1980 | Luminous Basement Luminous Basement Luminous Basement is the third and final studio album from the band The Tourists, released in 1980. The album was not hugely successful, peaking at #75 in the UK for only one week... |
75 | — |
| 1984 | Should Have Been Greatest Hits | — | — |
| 1997 | Greatest Hits | — | — |
Singles
| Year | Title | UK UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ... |
IRE | AUS ARIA Charts The ARIA charts are the main Australian music sales charts, issued weekly by the Australian Recording Industry Association. The charts are a record of the highest selling singles and albums in various genres in Australia. ARIA commenced compiling its own charts in-house from the week ending 26 June... |
CAN RPM (magazine) RPM was a Canadian music industry publication that featured song and album charts for Canada. The publication was founded by Walt Grealis in February 1964, supported through its existence by record label owner Stan Klees. RPM ceased publication in November 2000.RPM stood for "Records, Promotion,... |
USA Billboard Hot 100 The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday... |
Album |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1979 | "Blind Among the Flowers" | 52 | — | — | — | — | The Tourists |
| "The Loneliest Man in the World" | 32 | — | — | — | — | ||
| "I Only Want to Be with You I Only Want to Be with You "I Only Want to Be with You" is a rock-and-roll song by Mike Hawker and Ivor Raymonde. It was the first solo single released by British singer Dusty Springfield under her long-time producer Johnny Franz... " |
4 | 13 | 6 | 50 | 83 | Reality Effect | |
| 1980 | "So Good to Be Back Home Again" | 8 | 9 | — | — | — | |
| "Don't Say I Told You So" | 40 | — | — | — | — | Luminous Basement | |
| "From the Middle Room" | — | — | — | — | — | ||