The complete picture of a band hitting a fantastic stride at a very early stage.
Tracey Thorn and Ben Watt formed Everything but the Girl in 1982, following limited previous indie success for both members, Thorn having been a member of Marine Girls. Having met at Hull University and taking their name from a slogan on a local furniture shop, they began their pop life with a cover of Cole Porter’s Night and Day in 1983. But it would be another year before they really broke through with their first LP, Eden, freshly reissued alongside three following LPs.
The duo’s debut chimed nicely with their ‘anti-rock’ stance and soon found its way into 500,000 homes. Tracks such as Each and Every One, Tender Blue and Crabwalk swooned jazzily, set alongside more mellow (conga-assisted) numbers such as The Spice of Life. Coming just as the likes of The Style Council were leaping all over anything un-rock, it offered a bit more depth than what was available elsewhere.
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Source: BBC Music