Everything but the Girl (occasionally referred to as EBTG) are an English musical duo formed in
Kingston upon Hull
Kingston upon Hull, usually abbreviated to Hull, is a port city and unitary authority in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England.
It lies upon the River Hull at its confluence with the Humber Estuary, inland from the North Sea and south-ea ...
in 1982, consisting of lead singer and occasional guitarist
Tracey Thorn
Tracey Anne Thorn (born 26 September 1962) is a British singer. She is best known as being one half of the duo Everything but the Girl from 1982 to 1999. She was a member of the band Marine Girls between 1980 and 1983 and since 2007 has bee ...
and guitarist, keyboardist, producer and singer
Ben Watt
Benjamin Brian Thomas Watt (born 6 December 1962) is a British musician, singer, songwriter, author, DJ and radio presenter, best known as one half of the duo Everything but the Girl.
Early life
Watt was born in Marylebone, London, and grew ...
. Everything but the Girl has received eight
gold
Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile me ...
and two
platinum
Platinum is a chemical element with the symbol Pt and atomic number 78. It is a dense, malleable, ductile, highly unreactive, precious, silverish-white transition metal. Its name originates from Spanish , a diminutive of "silver".
Pla ...
album
BPI certifications in the UK, and one gold album
RIAA Certification in the US. They have had four top ten singles and twelve top forty singles in the UK.
Their biggest hit song "
Missing" charted high in several countries and reached number two on the
U.S. ''Billboard'' Hot 100 in 1995 and spent over seven months on the UK Singles Chart thanks to an extremely popular remix by
Todd Terry
Todd Norton Terry (born April 18, 1967) is an American DJ, record producer and remixer in the genre of house music.
Musical career
Todd Terry was influential in moving House music beyond the early Chicago house sound of 1984–86. He crosse ...
which later led to a
Brit Award
The BRIT Awards (often simply called the BRITs) are the British Phonographic Industry's annual popular music awards. The name was originally a shortened form of "British", "Britain", or "Britannia" (in the early days the awards were sponsored ...
nomination for Best British Single.
The duo have also been nominated for
MTV,
EMA and
Ivor Novello Award
The Ivor Novello Awards, named after the entertainer Ivor Novello, are awards for songwriting and composing. They have been presented annually in London by the Ivors Academy (formerly the BASCA) since 1956, and over 1,000 statuettes have been ...
s and received an award from the BMI for sales of over 3 million in the UK alone.
Watt and Thorn are also a couple, though they are very private about their relationship and personal life. While their relationship started during their time at university, it was not a publicised fact that they were romantically involved, or that they had subsequently married; they married in 2009.
Until 2022, the band were inactive, and have not performed publicly since 2000.
Thorn has said in interviews she dislikes performing live and will no longer sing in front of a live audience. After the group's disbandment, Thorn and Watt released solo albums, and had indicated that it was unlikely they would ever record together again as Everything But the Girl. However, on 2 November 2022, Thorn announced on Twitter that a new Everything but the Girl album had been recorded and would be released in spring 2023.
History
Formation and early years
When Thorn and Watt met, they were both attending the
University of Hull
, mottoeng = Bearing the Torch f learning, established = 1927 – University College Hull1954 – university status
, type = Public
, endowment = £18.8 million (2016)
, budget = £190 million ...
and both had contracted with the
independent record company
An independent record label (or indie label) is a record label that operates without the funding or distribution of major record labels; they are a type of small- to medium-sized enterprise, or SME. The labels and artists are often represented ...
Cherry Red Records, as solo artists.
Thorn was also a member of the
trio Marine Girls
Marine Girls were an English post-punk group from Hatfield, Hertfordshire, England. The group was formed in 1980, by two sixth form schoolfriends; Tracey Thorn and Gina Hartman. Originally, Thorn just played guitar and Hartman was the lead voca ...
. 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 1983 debut LP – the follow-up to his 1982 5-track EP ''Summer Into Winter'' featuring
Robert Wyatt – was entitled ''
North Marine Drive
''North Marine Drive'' is the debut album of Ben Watt. The album was released on Cherry Red in 1983, prior to Watt's success in Everything but the Girl, and reached number one in the UK Indie Chart the same year. The tone of the album is r ...
''.
![Turners 1985](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9f/Turners_1985.JPG)
They formed a duo and adopted the name "Everything but the Girl" from the slogan used by the Hull shop Turner's Furniture on
Beverley Road
Beverley Road (known in local parlance as Bev Road) is one of several major roads that run out of the city of Hull in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. The road is noted for being a major arterial route into, and out of Hull. It also known ...
.
EBTG's debut single, a
cover version
In popular music, a cover version, cover song, remake, revival, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording by a musician other than the original performer or composer of the song. Originally, it referred to a version of a song release ...
of
Cole Porter's "
Night and Day", was released in June 1982.
After steady sales and exposure from a
compilation album entitled ''
Pillows & Prayers
''Pillows & Prayers'' (subtitled ''Cherry Red 1982-1983'') is a compilation album released Christmas 1982, featuring artists on the Cherry Red record label. The record was originally sold at 99 pence (in fact, "pay no more than 99p" was printed ...
'', the single was re-issued in August 1983.
Their debut album, ''
Eden'', was released in the UK in 1984. It reached number 14 on the UK Albums Chart, spending twenty weeks on the chart.
It featured the single "
Each and Every One", which reached number 28 on the UK top 40.
Thorn wrote in 2016 that her lyric was misunderstood:
Our first single, "Each and Every One", was intended as an angry lyric about being a female musician, patronised and overlooked by male music critics. My band the Marine Girls
Marine Girls were an English post-punk group from Hatfield, Hertfordshire, England. The group was formed in 1980, by two sixth form schoolfriends; Tracey Thorn and Gina Hartman. Originally, Thorn just played guitar and Hartman was the lead voca ...
had attracted several reviews along the lines of "not bad for a girl" and so the opening lines addressed this: "If you ever feel the time/To drop me a loving line/Maybe you should just think twice/I don’t wait around on your advice". It was the instructions of music critics I wasn’t waiting around for, but I wrote it too subtly, and so it was heard as a lovelorn lament, a lonely girl waiting for a letter from a boy.
In spite of their early history as established independent artists, to newcomers Everything but the Girl was considered part of the jazz/popular music style known as "
sophisti-pop
__NOTOC__
Sophisti-pop is a subgenre of pop music which developed out of the new wave movement in the UK during the mid 1980s. The term has been applied retrospectively to describe acts who blended elements of jazz, soul, and pop with lavish pr ...
", alongside other British acts like
Carmel
Carmel may refer to:
* Carmel (biblical settlement), an ancient Israelite town in Judea
* Mount Carmel, a coastal mountain range in Israel overlooking the Mediterranean Sea
* Carmelites, a Roman Catholic mendicant religious order
Carmel may also ...
,
Swing Out Sister,
Sade
Sade may refer to:
People
* Marquis de Sade (1740–1814), French aristocrat, writer, and libertine
* Sade (singer) (born 1959, Helen Folasade Adu), British Nigerian musician and lead singer of the eponymous band
* Sade Baderinwa (born 1969), WAB ...
,
Matt Bianco
Matt Bianco are a British band that were formed in 1983. They are mainly known for their success in the mid-1980s and their jazz, Latin-flavoured music. The group's name suggests that Matt Bianco is a person, often assumed to be an alias for th ...
and
The Style Council
The Style Council were a British band formed in late 1982 by Paul Weller, the former singer, songwriter and guitarist with the punk rock/ new wave/ mod revival band the Jam, and keyboardist Mick Talbot, previously a member of Dexys Midnight Ru ...
. Both Watt and Thorn were guest musicians on the Style Council's ''
Café Bleu
''Café Bleu'' is the official debut album released by the English band The Style Council. It was released on 16 March 1984, on Polydor Records, produced by Paul Weller with Peter Wilson. It followed the compilation '' Introducing The Style Cou ...
'' album,
while EBTG worked with producer Robin Millar and
engineers
Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who invent, design, analyze, build and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while considering the ...
Ben Rogan and Mike Pela—who also collaborated with Sade—on their early albums. Although ''Eden'' was released in the UK, a different recording, ''
Everything but the Girl
Everything but the Girl (occasionally referred to as EBTG) are an English musical duo formed in Kingston upon Hull in 1982, consisting of lead singer and occasional guitarist Tracey Thorn and guitarist, keyboardist, producer and singer Ben Wat ...
'', was released in the United States on the Sire label. The US release contains six tracks from ''Eden'', two UK singles and four alternate tracks.
The 1985 album ''
Love Not Money
''Love Not Money'' is the second studio album by British band Everything but the Girl, which consisted of Tracey Thorn and Ben Watt. It was produced by Robin Millar, recorded at Powerplant Studios in London and was released in the UK on 15 Apr ...
'' was their second studio album release, and signalled a move away from jazz and Latin influences to a more traditional electric guitar, bass and drums arrangements. The US edition included two additional songs that were not on the original UK release: a cover version of
the Pretenders
Pretenders are an English–American rock band formed in March 1978. The original band consisted of founder and main songwriter Chrissie Hynde (lead vocals, rhythm guitar), James Honeyman-Scott (lead guitar, backing vocals, keyboards), Pete ...
' song "Kid" and "Heaven Help Me".
The next year they released ''
Baby, the Stars Shine Bright
is the name of a Japanese clothing brand created in 1988 by Akinori Isobe and his wife, Fumiyo. Baby, The Stars Shine Bright specializes in Lolita fashion. The company's flagship store, opened in 1999 in Daikanyamachō, Shibuya, was relocated t ...
'', recorded with an orchestra at Abbey Road Studios.
They revealed the album's inspiration by their choices of
B-sides
The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph records and cassettes; these terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or record company ...
for its single releases: songs from
Bacharach
Bacharach (, also known as ''Bacharach am Rhein'') is a town in the Mainz-Bingen district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It belongs to the ''Verbandsgemeinde'' of Rhein-Nahe, whose seat is in Bingen am Rhein, although that town is not withi ...
and
Jimmy Webb
Jimmy Layne Webb (born August 15, 1946) is an American songwriter, composer, and singer. He has written numerous platinum-selling songs, including " Up, Up and Away", " By the Time I Get to Phoenix", " MacArthur Park", " Wichita Lineman", " Wo ...
on the
12" versions (as well as a cover version of
Patsy Cline
Patsy is a given name often used as a diminutive of the feminine given name Patricia or sometimes the masculine name Patrick, or occasionally other names containing the syllable "Pat" (such as Cleopatra, Patience, Patrice, or Patricia). Among I ...
's "
I Fall to Pieces
"I Fall to Pieces" is a song written by Hank Cochran and Harlan Howard that was originally recorded by Patsy Cline. Released as a single in 1961 via Decca Records, it topped the country charts, crossed over onto the pop charts and became among C ...
"). The first single from the album was "Come on Home", followed by "Don't Leave Me Behind".
In 1988, EBTG released ''
Idlewild''. Blending acoustic instrumentation with sequenced drums and synthesisers, it reached number 13 on the UK Albums Chart, spending fifteen weeks on the chart.
A cover version of
Danny Whitten
Danny Ray Whitten (May 8, 1943 – November 18, 1972) was an American guitarist and songwriter, best known for his work with Neil Young's backing band Crazy Horse, and for the song "I Don't Want to Talk About It", a hit for Rod Stewart and Every ...
's "
I Don't Want to Talk About It
"I Don't Want to Talk About It" is a song written by American guitarist Danny Whitten. It was first recorded by American rock band Crazy Horse and issued as the final track on side one of their 1971 eponymous album. It was Whitten's signature ...
", previously a success for
Rod Stewart, was released as a single shortly afterwards. It reached number 3 on the
UK Singles Chart
The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...
and was added to the latter issues of the album.
Around this time,
Lloyd Cole and the Commotions
Lloyd Cole and the Commotions were a British rock/pop band that formed in Glasgow, Scotland in 1982. Between 1984 and 1989, the band scored four Top 20 albums and five Top 40 singles in the UK; it also had success in several other countries in ...
asked Thorn to contribute vocals to the song "Big Snake" on their final studio album ''
Mainstream
Mainstream may refer to:
Film
* ''Mainstream'' (film), a 2020 American film
Literature
* ''Mainstream'' (fanzine), a science fiction fanzine
* Mainstream Publishing, a Scottish publisher
* ''Mainstream'', a 1943 book by Hamilton Basso
Mu ...
''.
Tommy Lipuma produced the band's 1990 album ''
The Language of Life
''The Language of Life'' is the fifth studio album by British musical duo Everything but the Girl. It was released on 5 February 1990 by Atlantic Records and Blanco y Negro Records.
''The Language of Life'' became Everything but the Girl's se ...
'', which featured the single "Driving".
"Driving" received heavy rotation on American adult alternative radio. The album featured a host of leading west coast session musicians including
Omar Hakim
Omar Hakim (born February 12, 1959) is an American jazz, jazz fusion and pop music drummer, producer, arranger and composer. He has worked with Weather Report, David Bowie, Foo Fighters, Sting, Madonna, Dire Straits, Bryan Ferry, Journey, Kate ...
,
Joe Sample
Joseph Leslie Sample (February 1, 1939 – September 12, 2014) was an American keyboardist and composer. He was one of the founding members of The Jazz Crusaders in 1960, the band which shortened its name to "The Crusaders" in 1971. He remained ...
and
Michael Brecker
Michael Leonard Brecker (March 29, 1949 – January 13, 2007) was an American jazz saxophonist and composer. He was awarded 15 Grammy Awards as both performer and composer. He was awarded an Honorary Doctorate from Berklee College of M ...
.
Stan Getz contributed a
tenor sax
The tenor saxophone is a medium-sized member of the saxophone family, a group of instruments invented by Adolphe Sax in the 1840s. The tenor and the Alto saxophone, alto are the two most commonly used saxophones. The tenor is pitched in the key ...
solo on the song "The Road".
In 1991, they released the self-produced album ''
Worldwide
Worldwide may refer to:
* Pertaining to the entire world
* Worldwide (rapper) (born 1986), American rapper
* Pitbull (rapper) (born 1981), also known as Mr. Worldwide, American rapper
* ''Worldwide'' (Audio Adrenaline album), 2003
* ''Worldwide' ...
''. It charted at number 29 on the UK Albums Chart.
1992 saw the release of the acoustic ''Covers''
EP. It reached number 13 on the UK top 40.
The lead track was "
Love Is Strange
"Love Is Strange" is a crossover hit by American rhythm and blues duet Mickey & Sylvia, which was released in late November 1956 by the Groove record label.
The song was based on a guitar riff by Jody Williams and was written by Bo Diddley ...
". It also included cover versions of
Bruce Springsteen's "Tougher Than the Rest";
Cyndi Lauper
Cynthia Ann Stephanie Lauper Thornton (born June 22, 1953) is an American singer, songwriter, actress, and activist. Her career has spanned over 40 years. Her album ''She's So Unusual'' (1983) was the first debut album by a female artist to achi ...
's "
Time after Time" and
Elvis Costello's "
Alison".
These four tracks were included on the US only album, ''
Acoustic''.
In the summer of 1992, the duo was forced to curtail
recording
A record, recording or records may refer to:
An item or collection of data Computing
* Record (computer science), a data structure
** Record, or row (database), a set of fields in a database related to one entity
** Boot sector or boot record, r ...
and
touring for several months when Watt developed
Churg–Strauss syndrome
Eosinophilic granulomatosis with polyangiitis (EGPA), formerly known as allergic granulomatosis, is an extremely rare autoimmune condition that causes inflammation of small and medium-sized blood vessels (vasculitis) in persons with a history of ...
, a rare
autoimmune
In immunology, autoimmunity is the system of immune responses of an organism against its own healthy cells, tissues and other normal body constituents. Any disease resulting from this type of immune response is termed an "autoimmune disease". ...
disease. Hospitalised for 10 weeks, and enduring several life-saving operations, he subsequently wrote a memoir, ''
Patient
A patient is any recipient of health care services that are performed by healthcare professionals. The patient is most often ill or injured and in need of treatment by a physician, nurse, optometrist, dentist, veterinarian, or other hea ...
'', about his near-death ordeal.
In 1993, EBTG released two EPs in the UK. One featured a cover version of
Paul Simon's "
The Only Living Boy in New York
"The Only Living Boy in New York" is a song written by Paul Simon and performed by Simon & Garfunkel. It is the eighth track from the duo's fifth and final studio album, '' Bridge over Troubled Water''. The song was also issued as the B-side t ...
". The other spawned a subsequent top ten UK hit, "I Didn't Know I Was Looking for Love", for
Karen Ramirez.
Worldwide acclaim
1994 saw EBTG release their seventh album, ''
Amplified Heart
''Amplified Heart'' is the eighth studio album by British musical duo Everything but the Girl. It was released on 13 June 1994 by Blanco y Negro Records in the U.K. and on 19 July 1994 by Atlantic Records in the United States and Canada. The ...
'', a hybrid of
folk rock
Folk rock is a hybrid music genre that combines the elements of folk and rock music, which arose in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom in the mid-1960s. In the U.S., folk rock emerged from the folk music revival. Performers s ...
and
electronica featuring contributions from guitarist
Richard Thompson, double bassist
Danny Thompson
Daniel Henry Edward Thompson (born 4 April 1939) is an English multi-instrumentalist best known as a double bassist. He has had a long musical career playing with a large variety of other musicians, particularly Richard Thompson and John Mart ...
, drummer
Dave Mattacks
David James Mattacks (born 13 March 1948) is an English rock and folk drummer. Best known for his work with Fairport Convention, Mattacks has also worked both as a session musician and as a performing artist. Apart from playing the drums, he ...
, and producer/programmer
John Coxon. Producer
Todd Terry
Todd Norton Terry (born April 18, 1967) is an American DJ, record producer and remixer in the genre of house music.
Musical career
Todd Terry was influential in moving House music beyond the early Chicago house sound of 1984–86. He crosse ...
remixed the track "
Missing", and when released as a single, it became an international success.
It reached the top ten around the world, including the US, where it peaked at No. 2 in the
''Billboard'' Hot 100.
While recording ''Amplified Heart'' Thorn and Watt wrote lyrics and music for two tracks – "
Protection
Protection is any measure taken to guard a thing against damage caused by outside forces. Protection can be provided to physical objects, including organisms, to systems, and to intangible things like civil and political rights. Although th ...
" and "Better Things" on
Massive Attack
Massive Attack are an English trip hop collective formed in 1988 in Bristol by Robert "3D" Del Naja, Adrian "Tricky" Thaws, Andrew "Mushroom" Vowles and Grant "Daddy G" Marshall.
The debut Massive Attack album '' Blue Lines'' was releas ...
's second album ''
Protection
Protection is any measure taken to guard a thing against damage caused by outside forces. Protection can be provided to physical objects, including organisms, to systems, and to intangible things like civil and political rights. Although th ...
''. Thorn sang lead vocals on both. The single "Protection" reached number 14 on the UK top 40.
The album reached number 4 on the UK Albums Chart.
Buoyed by the recent successes and out of contract at WEA, EBTG released the self-produced ''
Walking Wounded
In first aid and triage, the walking wounded are injured persons who are of a relatively low priority. These patients are conscious and breathing and will often have only relatively minor injuries; thus they are capable of walking. Depending on t ...
'' in 1996 exclusively licensed to
Atlantic Records for the United States and Canada and
Virgin Records
Virgin Records is a record label owned by Universal Music Group. It originally founded as a British independent record label in 1972 by entrepreneurs Richard Branson, Simon Draper, Nik Powell, and musician Tom Newman (musician), Tom Newman. It ...
for the Rest of the World. Featuring collaborations with
Spring Heel Jack
Spring Heel Jack is an English electronic music duo, consisting of John Coxon and Ashley Wales.
Formed in 1993 in London, England, Spring Heel Jack began their career exploring drum and bass and jungle, but have since branched out into free ...
and
Howie B
Howard Bernstein (born 18 April 1963, Glasgow, Scotland), professionally known as Howie B, is a Scottish musician, producer and DJ who has worked with artists including: Björk, U2, Tricky, Siouxsie and the Banshees, Soul II Soul, Robbie ...
it ushered in a new electronic sound for their own work. It charted at number 4 on the UK Albums Chart and spawned two top ten UK singles – "Walking Wounded" and "Wrong". Two further singles – "Single" and "Before Today" – reached number 20 and number 25 respectively.
In 1999, the duo followed it up with their ninth and final studio album, ''
Temperamental''. It charted at number 16 on the UK Albums Chart.
The duo performed their final show at the
Montreux Jazz Festival
The Montreux Jazz Festival (formerly Festival de Jazz Montreux and Festival International de Jazz Montreux) is a music festival in Switzerland, held annually in early July in Montreux on the Lake Geneva shoreline. It is the second-largest annual ...
in 2000.
Extended hiatus
Between 2000 and 2022, there were no new recordings from Everything but the Girl. In 2002, 2004 and 2005, the duo curated compilations of their material. The 2004 compilation, ''Like the Deserts Miss the Rain'', was a DVD release that included footage of a 1999 performance at the Forum venue in London, UK, for which
John McKenzie and long-time collaborator
Martin Ditcham
Martin Ditcham is an English drummer, percussionist and songwriter.
Ditcham is a prolific session musician, working with artists such as Henry Cow, Status Quo, Elton John, The Rolling Stones, Roger Daltrey, Sade, Mary Black, Nik Kershaw, Ch ...
performed alongside the pair as session musicians.
From 1999, Watt concentrated on DJ and production/
remix work, finding success as one half of
Lazy Dog, with partner Jay Hannan, and collaborating with
Beth Orton on her 1999 album ''
Central Reservation'' and her 2002 album ''
Daybreaker''. Watt then proceeded with a new angle on his solo career that included launching the Buzzin' Fly record label in 2003, and becoming the part-owner-founder of the Neighbourhood and Cherry Jam nightclubs from 2002–2005.
Watt released a string of club-oriented productions including the ''Bright Star'' EP, with producer Stimming and British singer
Julia Biel
Julia Biel is a British jazz singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist.
Early life
Biel was born in London on 22 February 1976. She was brought up in Sutton, then studied French and German at the University of Oxford. There, she was in a ban ...
, on Buzzin' Fly in 2010.
In 2005, Thorn co-wrote and recorded vocals for the song "Damage", a collaboration with German band
Tiefschwarz
Tiefschwarz () are a German house group consisting of brothers, Alexander "Ali" (June 7, 1967-) and Sebastian "Basti" (December 28, 1969-) Schwarz, which formed in Stuttgart in 1996.IMO Records"Tiefschwarz Biography", '' IMO Records''. Retrieve ...
that appeared on their ''
Eat Books
Tiefschwarz () are a German house group consisting of brothers, Alexander "Ali" (June 7, 1967-) and Sebastian "Basti" (December 28, 1969-) Schwarz, which formed in Stuttgart in 1996.IMO Records"Tiefschwarz Biography", '' IMO Records''. Retrieve ...
'' album. Thorn's second solo album, ''
Out of the Woods'', was then released in 2007, followed by her third solo album, ''
Love and Its Opposite
''Love and Its Opposite'' is the third solo studio album by former Everything but the Girl singer Tracey Thorn, released on 18 May 2010. The album was released on Thorn's husband Ben Watt's label Strange Feeling in the UK, and on Merge Records in ...
'', in 2010. In October 2011, Thorn released a cover version of
The xx
The xx are an English indie rock band from Wandsworth, London, formed in 2005. The band consists of Romy Madley Croft (guitar, vocals), Oliver Sim (bass guitar, vocals), Jamie Smith, also known as Jamie xx (beats, MPC, record production), a ...
's "Night Time", on which Watt played guitar and sang backing vocals. This was their first recording together in over a decade, although it was not an Everything but the Girl release.
In an April 2011 interview, Thorn was asked whether she would ever work again with Watt as 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." A collection of Christmas songs, ''Tinsel and Lights'', for which Thorn recorded cover versions of Christmas songs with two new original songs, was released in October 2012 on Buzzin' Fly's sister record label Strange Feeling. Watt and the couple's children provided backing vocals on the original song "Joy".
In 2012, the band's first four albums were reissued by
Edsel Records as "deluxe"
double CDs, with demo recordings and other additional material. At the time, Watt explained that
Warner Music Group
Warner Music Group Corp. ( d.b.a. Warner Music Group, commonly abbreviated as WMG) is an American multinational entertainment and record label conglomerate headquartered in New York City. It is one of the " big three" recording companies and t ...
still maintained control over their back catalogue: "our big fear was that one day we'd wake up and they'd have reissued them, without telling us."; when the representative from Edsel, a company that specialises in reissued material, made contact, the couple decided that the time was appropriate. Additionally, Thorn stated that the thought of reforming the band and playing live filled her "with cold dread"—upon re-listening to the early EBTG records, Thorn experienced a sense of "Gosh, well, I'm not really that person any more."
A second tranche of Demon/Edsel reissues, covering the four albums released between 1990 and 1994, was announced in September 2013. According to the EBTG website, "Once again, Ben and Tracey have helped at every stage of the process, sourcing demos, rarities and memorabilia for the releases."
The band's final two albums, ''Walking Wounded'' and ''Temperamental'' were given the deluxe treatment and were reissued by Demon/Edsel on 4 September 2015.
Watt hit the pause button on his record labels and DJ activities to return to his folk-jazz singer-songwriter roots in 2014. His first solo album since 1983, ''
Hendra'' was released on 14 April 2014. It featured collaborations with
Bernard Butler
Bernard Joseph Butler (born 1 May 1970) is an English musician, songwriter and record producer. He is best known as the first guitarist with Suede, until his departure in 1994. He has been hailed by some critics as the greatest guitarist of hi ...
, formerly of the band
Suede
Suede (pronounced ) is a type of leather with a fuzzy, napped finish, commonly used for jackets, shoes, fabrics, purses, furniture, and other items. The term comes from the French , which literally means "gloves from Sweden". The term was firs ...
, Berlin-based producer
Ewan Pearson
Ewan Pearson (born 1 April 1972) is an English electronic music producer/remixer who works under various aliases including Maas, Sulky Pup, Villa America, World of Apples, and Dirtbox. He is also in Partial Arts with Al Usher. He has remixed ...
and
David Gilmour of
Pink Floyd. The album won the 'Best 'Difficult' Second Album' category at the AIM Independent Music Awards 2014. It was included at No 27 in ''Uncut''s Top 75 Albums of 2014. He followed it up in 2016 with ''
Fever Dream
Fever Dream(s) may refer to:
Film and television
* ''Fever Dream'', a 1979 film by Chick Strand
* ''Fever Dream'' (film), an adaptation of Samanta Schweblin's novel (see below)
* Fever Dreams (company), a film-development division of the Americ ...
''. It continued his relationship with Bernard Butler, and added guest cameos from MC Taylor of North Carolina folk-rock band,
Hiss Golden Messenger, and Boston singer-songwriter
Marissa Nadler
Marissa Nadler (born April 5, 1981) is an American musician and fine artist. Active since 2000, she is currently signed to Sacred Bones Records and Bella Union, and released her ninth full-length studio album, ''The Path of the Clouds'', in Oc ...
. It received a 9/10 review in ''
Uncut
Uncut may refer to:
* ''Uncut'' (film), a 1997 Canadian docudrama film by John Greyson about censorship
* ''Uncut'' (magazine), a monthly British magazine with a focus on music, which began publishing in May 1997
* '' BET: Uncut'', a Black Enter ...
'' magazine. In a four-star review, ''
The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
'' said: 'In his early 50s, he is making some of the best music of his career.'
In addition to solo music projects, both Thorn and Watt have each written two books. Thorn's 2013 memoir, ''Bedsit Disco Queen'', covers a significant portion of the history of EBTG as a band.
In July 2017, Everything but the Girl reclaimed the rights to eight of their albums, plus the American rights to ''Temperamental'' and ''Walking Wounded'' from
Warner Music Group
Warner Music Group Corp. ( d.b.a. Warner Music Group, commonly abbreviated as WMG) is an American multinational entertainment and record label conglomerate headquartered in New York City. It is one of the " big three" recording companies and t ...
; this catalogue will now be distributed through
Chrysalis Records under licence from Watt's Strange Feeling label.
Comeback and new album
On 2 November 2022, Thorn announced on Twitter that a new Everything But the Girl album had been recorded and would be released in spring 2023.
Awards and nominations
{, class=wikitable
, -
! Year !! Awards !! Work !! Category !! Result
, -
, rowspan="4" , 1996
,
MTV EMA
The MTV Europe Music Awards (originally named MTV European Music Awards, commonly abbreviated as MTV EMA) are awards presented by Paramount International Networks to honour artists and music in pop culture. It was originally conceived as an al ...
, rowspan=2, Themselves
, Best Dance
,
, -
,
Viva Comet Awards
, Best International Act
,
, -
,
Brit Awards
The BRIT Awards (often simply called the BRITs) are the British Phonographic Industry's annual popular music awards. The name was originally a shortened form of "British", "Britain", or "Britannia" (in the early days the awards were sponsored ...
, rowspan="2" , "
Missing"
, Best British Single
,
, -
,
Ivor Novello Awards
The Ivor Novello Awards, named after the entertainer Ivor Novello, are awards for songwriting and composing. They have been presented annually in London by the Ivors Academy (formerly the BASCA) since 1956, and over 1,000 statuettes have been a ...
, The Best Selling Song
,
, -
, 2000
,
''Billboard'' Music Video Awards
, "Five Fathoms"
, Dance Clip of the Year
,
, -
, 2007
,
BMI London Awards
, "
Missing"
, 3 Million Award
,
Collaborations
*''Under the Cover – Other People Sing Other People's Songs'' – "
Alfie
Alfie may refer to:
Theatre and film
* ''Alfie'' (play), a 1963 play by Bill Naughton
* ''Alfie'' (1966 film), a film based on the play starring Michael Caine
* ''Alfie'' (2004 film), a remake of the 1966 film
* ''Alfie'' (2013 film), an Indi ...
" (1988)
*"
Protection
Protection is any measure taken to guard a thing against damage caused by outside forces. Protection can be provided to physical objects, including organisms, to systems, and to intangible things like civil and political rights. Although th ...
" (with Massive Attack)
*''
Batman Forever Soundtrack'' – "
The Hunter Gets Captured by the Game
"The Hunter Gets Captured by the Game" is a 1966 song written by Smokey Robinson. It was a hit single in 1967 for the American girl group The Marvelettes for the Motown label, from their self-titled album released that same year. In 1980, Jamaican ...
" (with Massive Attack)
*''Back to Mine'' – mix CD compiled by Everything but the Girl
*''
She's Having a Baby
''She's Having a Baby'' is a 1988 American romantic comedy film directed and written by John Hughes and starring Kevin Bacon and Elizabeth McGovern. It tells the story of a young newlywed couple who try to cope with married life and their parents ...
Soundtrack'' – "Apron Strings"
* ''
Red Hot + Rio
''Red Hot + Rio'' is a compilation album produced by Béco Dranoff and Paul Heck as part of the Red Hot AIDS Benefit Series intended to promote AIDS awareness. This installment is a contemporary tribute to the bossa nova sound, especially the mus ...
'' (1996 AIDS benefit album produced by the
Red Hot Organization) – "
Corcovado
Corcovado (korcovádo) which means "hunchback" in Portuguese, is a mountain in central Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It is a 710-metre (2,329 ft) granite peak located in the Tijuca Forest, a national park.
Corcovado hill lies just west of the c ...
(Quiet Night of Quiet Stars)"
*''The Saint Motion Picture Soundtrack'' – "Before Today" (2005)
Discography
*''
Eden'' (1984)
*''
Everything but the Girl
Everything but the Girl (occasionally referred to as EBTG) are an English musical duo formed in Kingston upon Hull in 1982, consisting of lead singer and occasional guitarist Tracey Thorn and guitarist, keyboardist, producer and singer Ben Wat ...
'' (1984, US only)
*''
Love Not Money
''Love Not Money'' is the second studio album by British band Everything but the Girl, which consisted of Tracey Thorn and Ben Watt. It was produced by Robin Millar, recorded at Powerplant Studios in London and was released in the UK on 15 Apr ...
'' (1985)
*''
Baby, the Stars Shine Bright
is the name of a Japanese clothing brand created in 1988 by Akinori Isobe and his wife, Fumiyo. Baby, The Stars Shine Bright specializes in Lolita fashion. The company's flagship store, opened in 1999 in Daikanyamachō, Shibuya, was relocated t ...
'' (1986)
*''
Idlewild'' (1988)
*''
The Language of Life
''The Language of Life'' is the fifth studio album by British musical duo Everything but the Girl. It was released on 5 February 1990 by Atlantic Records and Blanco y Negro Records.
''The Language of Life'' became Everything but the Girl's se ...
'' (1990)
*''
Worldwide
Worldwide may refer to:
* Pertaining to the entire world
* Worldwide (rapper) (born 1986), American rapper
* Pitbull (rapper) (born 1981), also known as Mr. Worldwide, American rapper
* ''Worldwide'' (Audio Adrenaline album), 2003
* ''Worldwide' ...
'' (1991)
*''
Acoustic'' (1992)
*''
Amplified Heart
''Amplified Heart'' is the eighth studio album by British musical duo Everything but the Girl. It was released on 13 June 1994 by Blanco y Negro Records in the U.K. and on 19 July 1994 by Atlantic Records in the United States and Canada. The ...
'' (1994)
*''
Walking Wounded
In first aid and triage, the walking wounded are injured persons who are of a relatively low priority. These patients are conscious and breathing and will often have only relatively minor injuries; thus they are capable of walking. Depending on t ...
'' (1996)
*''
Temperamental'' (1999)
References
External links
Official website*
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Everything but the Girl
1982 establishments in England
English electronic music duos
English new wave musical groups
English pop music duos
British indie pop groups
Female-fronted musical groups
Male–female musical duos
Married couples
Musical groups from Kingston upon Hull
Musical groups established in 1982
Musical groups disestablished in 2000
Musical groups reestablished in 2022
Rock music duos
Blanco y Negro Records artists
Sire Records artists
Atlantic Records artists
Virgin Records artists
Sophisti-pop musical groups
Trip hop groups
Video game musicians
Cherry Red Records artists
Chrysalis Records artists