| Everything but the Girl | |
|---|---|
Tracey Thorn and Ben Watt, 1996 |
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| Background information | |
| Also known as | EBTG |
| Origin | Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England |
| Genres | Alternative rock, New Wave, Sophisti-pop, Lounge, Trip hop, Alternative dance, House, Chill out, Dance, Pop rock, Ambient, Electronic, Smooth jazz, Electro |
| Years active | 1982–2000 |
| Labels | Atlantic, Blanco y Negro, Virgin |
| Associated acts | Marine Girls, Lazy Dog |
| Website | http://www.ebtg.co.uk |
| Members | |
| Tracey Thorn Ben Watt |
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Everything but the Girl (often shortened EBTG) was a two-person English band, formed in Hull during 1981, consisting of lead singer and occasional guitarist Tracey Thorn (born 26 September 1962) and guitarist, keyboardist, and singer Ben Watt (born 6 December 1962). They are currently inactive although vocalist Tracey Thorn hinted that they may reform someday. They have not performed publicly since 2000 [1]
Watt and Thorn are also a couple; they are very private about their relationship and personal life. It was not a publicised fact for some time that they were a couple, or that they had married subsequently.[2] The duo have expressed a strong desire to raise their three children with as much privacy as possible.
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When Thorn and Watt met, they were both attending the University of Hull, and both had contracted with the independent record company, Cherry Red Records, as solo artists. Thorn was also a member of the trio, Marine Girls, and Watt contributed a photograph to the cover of their first album, Lazy Ways. The pair each had solo album releases through Cherry Red: Thorn's 1982 LP was A Distant Shore, an eight-track mini-album. Watt's LP was entitled North Marine Drive.[1]
They formed a duo and adopted their name 'Everything but the Girl' from the slogan of well-known Hull shop, Turners' "[3] Furniture, on Beverley Road.[1] The store had originally built a window sign that read, "for your bedroom needs, we sell everything but the girl,"[4] the last part of which was later added to the shop's main signage.
EBTG's debut single, a cover version of Cole Porter's "Night and Day", was released during June 1982.[1] After steady sales and exposure from the Pillows & Prayers compilation album, the single was re-issued during August 1983. Their first album was released during 1984 in the UK as Eden.[1] During 1984 they also released the singles "Mine", and "Native Land" in the UK. Their first UK successful single, "Each and Every One", had a jazzy sound, and EBTG was considered part of the jazz/popular music style known as "sophisti-pop" that included other British acts like Swing Out Sister, Sade, Matt Bianco, and The Style Council, on whose Café Bleu album they guested.[1] EBTG and Sade both worked with record producer Robin Millar and engineers Ben Rogan and Mike Pela for their debut albums.
Although Eden was released in the UK, a different recording, Everything But the Girl, was released in the United States. The U.S. release contained about half the tracks from Eden, along with some different tracks, including "Mine" and "Native Land".
Subsequent releases underscored EBTG's versatility and range. Their 1985 album Love Not Money included a cover version of The Pretenders' song "Kid" (although this was not on the original UK release).
The next year they released the self-produced Baby the Stars Shine Bright, an album of original popular music songs recorded with an orchestra.[1] They revealed the album's inspiration by their choices of B-sides for its single releases: songs from Bacharach and Jimmy Webb on the 12" versions (as well as a cover version of Patsy Cline's "I Fall to Pieces"). The first single from the album was "Come On Home", followed by "Don't Leave Me Behind".
During 1988, EBTG released Idlewild, a collection of songs that began a trend towards "middle-of-the-road", adult-oriented contemporary music.[1] A cover version of Danny Whitten's "I Don't Want to Talk About It" (previously a success by Rod Stewart) was released as a single; it achieved a strong position in the UK Singles Chart and was added to the latter issues of the album.[1] Around this time, Lloyd Cole and the Commotions asked Thorn to contribute vocals to the song "Big Snake" on their final studio album Mainstream.
Tommy Lipuma produced the band's 1990 album The Language of Life, which featured the single "Driving".[1] Stan Getz contributed a tenor sax solo on the song "The Road".[1] Next was Worldwide, and its single "Old Friends" during 1991.
During 1992 they produced another successful UK single with the release of the Covers EP The lead track was "Love Is Strange", and the EP featured cover versions of Bruce Springsteen's "Tougher Than the Rest"; Cyndi Lauper's "Time after Time" and Elvis Costello's "Alison".[1] These four tracks were included on the U.S. only album, Acoustic.[1] In 1993, EBTG released a cover version of Paul Simon's "The Only Living Boy in New York" as a single in the UK.
The duo were forced to curtail recording and touring for a few years when Watt contracted Churg-Strauss syndrome, an autoimmune disease (he subsequently wrote a memoir, Patient, about his ordeal).[1] The next work of original music was not until 1994, when EBTG released Amplified Heart. Producer Todd Terry remixed the track "Missing", and when EBTG released the remix as a single, it became an international success.[1] It reached the top ten around the world, including the US, where it peaked at #2 in the Billboard Hot 100.[1]
The success of that track, along with a collaboration Thorn had with Massive Attack and Deep Dish, influenced them and helped usher the band into a more electronic sound. Having completed contractual obligations to WEA, they were free to shop their recordings and had complete ownership of their future recorded works. They signed licensing deals with Virgin Records for the United Kingdom and Europe, and Atlantic Records for the United States and Canada. Their subsequent albums Walking Wounded and Temperamental, showed the band's musical progress as well as establishing Watt as a dance music producer.[1] Between the two albums he produced "Stars All Seem To Weep" for Beth Orton.
The group curated compilations of their material in 2002 and 2005, but there have been no new recordings as Everything But the Girl since 1999. According to Thorn, the group is "currently mothballed".[5] Watt played guitar and other instruments for some filmed performances of Thorn's solo material in 2010 which have appeared on YouTube.
In an April 2011 interview, Thorn was questioned about whether she would work together with Watt, and do more Everything But The Girl. Thorn responded, "Yes, we do keep saying we are nearly ready to maybe do some work together again. There are certain obstacles, some practical, some psychological, that we would need to overcome. But it may well happen."[6]
In October 2011, Thorn released a cover version of the xx's Night Time, on which Watt played guitar and sang backing vocals. This was their first recording together in a decade, although it was not an Everything But The Girl release.[7]
Their most recent release is a double album of remixes, highlighting their electronica-influenced music including a trio of newly commissioned remixes.
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