The Tourists - London 1980

This is The Tourists who came in to being from 1977 through to 1980. The band, are now better known for two of their members Annie Lennox and David 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.

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 John'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.

They disbanded not long after this concert performance recorded for the BBC at the Paris Theatre, London in 1980.  

Source: BBC radio Broadcast

Sound Quality: Very good mp3@320kbps.

Genre: Power pop, new wave.

Set:  Full radio set.

Set List:

1.The Golden Lamp.
2.Don't Get Left Behind.
3.Loneliest Man In The World.
4.Useless Duration Of Time.
5.Fools Paradise.
6.Another English Day.
7.Deadly Kiss.
8.Blind Among The Flowers.

Comments:

Peet Coombes - guitar, David A. Stewart - guitar, Annie Lennox - vocal, keyboards, Eddie Chin - bass guitar, Jim Toomey - drum kit

New file link in comments below - Re-uploaded 2012 (Stealth project).