There are few bands that have not only come to define a decade, but also to transcend it, with music that’s inarguably timeless.

Looking back over the seven albums that Euryhtmics released between 1981 and 1989 – that’ll be ‘In The Garden’, ‘Sweet Dreams (Are Made Of This)’, ‘Touch’, ‘Be Yourself Tonight’, ‘Revenge’, ‘Savage’ and ‘We Too Are One’ – it becomes manifestly clear why.

Unlike so many of the synth pop duos of the era they rubbed shoulders with, Eurythmics were possessed of a restless and searching nature that saw them move on from their new wave roots and blossom into a hit making phenomenon. Deftly straddling genres, their appeal crossed les to mainstream success and a mantelpiece buckling with awards.

Formed from the ashes of The Tourists – themselves no strangers to chart action with the hits ‘So Good To Be Back Home Again’ a cover of Dusty Springfield’s ‘I Only Want To Be With You’ – Eurthymics was the brain child of singer Annie Lennox and multi-instrumentalist and producer David A. Stewart.

Bored with the concept of band with fixed members and fascinated with the possibilities of synthesizers, the pair initially headed to Germany to work with Kraftwerk producer Conny Plank, Blondie’s Clem Burke on guest drums and a variety of other musicians. Though their debut album failed to find a wider audience, the experience proved a dry run for the success that was to come

Eurythmics’ second album, ‘Sweet Dreams (Are Made Of This)’, was released in early 1983 and found the pair breaking through as they caught the zeitgeist of the time. Bridging new wave with pop music smarts, Eurthymics were canny enough to make much of singer Annie Lennox’s striking image via the emerging medium of video. And while the title track stopped one place short of pole position in the UK, it topped the US singles chart.

Moving fast, Eurythmics released, ‘Touch’, their second album of 1983, in November. The singles ‘Who’s That Girl?’, ‘Right By Your Side’ and ‘Here Comes The Rain Again’ all went Top 10. In a classic example of the time, the video for ‘Who’s That Girl’ played on Lennox’s gender-bending image and went on heavy rotation on MTV.

But, as evidenced by 1985’s ‘Be Yourself Tonight’, there was so much more to Eurythmics than just image. Moving in a more pop and R&B-influenced direction, it spawned the global hits ‘Would I Lie To You?’, ‘Sisters Are Doin’ It For Themselves’ (an incredible duet by Lennox and the Queen of Soul herself, Aretha Franklin) and the No. 1 smash, ‘There Must Be An Angel (Playing With My Heart)’, featuring a harmonica solo from Stevie Wonder.

Their last two albums, ‘Savage’ (1987) and ‘We Too Are One’ (1989), found Eurythmics bringing the decade to a close on a high as they went to No. 7 and No. 1 in the UK album charts respectively.

Together with 1999’s ‘Peace’, this astonishing series of albums are this year the subject of a sumptous vinyl re-issue.

Eight amazing LPs containing more than twenty international hits, re-pressed and re-affirming the enduring brilliance of Eurythmics on a format that consolidates an analogue past with a digital present.

Sweet dreams really are made of this…

Preorder here, and you could win test pressings of all eight signed by Annie Lennox and Dave Stewart.