- David A. Stewart
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David A. Stewart 
Background information Birth name David Allan Stewart Born 9 September 1952 Origin Sunderland, England Genres Pop rock, Synthpop, folk Occupations Singer-songwriter, Musician, Record Producer Instruments Guitar, Bass guitar, Sitar, Piano, Organ, Synthesizer, Vocals Years active 1971–present Labels RCA (BMG), Anxious Records, Surfdog Records, The Artist Network, Weapons of Mass Entertainment Associated acts The Tourists
Eurythmics
The Spiritual Cowboys
Vegas
Platinum Weird
SuperHeavyWebsite http://www.davestewart.com David Allan Stewart (born 9 September 1952), often known as Dave Stewart, is an English[1] musician, songwriter and record producer, best known for his work with Eurythmics. He is usually credited as David A. Stewart, to avoid confusion with other musicians named "Dave Stewart".
Contents
Early life
Stewart was born in Sunderland, England.[2] In 1971, whilst still in his teens, Dave Stewart secured a record deal as part of folk-rock band Longdancer, but they did not achieve commercial success. Stewart then spent several years living in squats in London. In late 1976, he was introduced to Annie Lennox by a mutual friend. Soon, Stewart and Lennox became lovers. By 1977, the pair had teamed up with Sunderland musician Peet Coombes, releasing a single on Logo Records as The Catch. The band then developed into The Tourists who enjoyed modest success, including a hit in 1979 with a cover of the Dusty Springfield hit "I Only Want to Be with You".
Eurythmics
See also: EurythmicsThe Tourists (and Stewart & Lennox's romantic liaison) ended in 1980, though the pair continued to work together. They formed a new musical project named Eurythmics, and went on to be one of the most successful pop-rock duos of all time. After a string of hit singles and albums, the duo split in 1990, but reunited in 1999 for the album Peace and another world tour. Lennox and Stewart worked together again in 2005, recording two new tracks for the greatest hits package Ultimate Collection, released to coincide with Eurythmics' 25th anniversary.
Post-Eurythmics
When Eurythmics dissolved in 1990, Stewart moved to France and immediately released an album with his new band The Spiritual Cowboys. A second album followed in 1991. Both albums were Gold in France, where Stewart concentrated his efforts.
In 1992, Stewart collaborated with singer Terry Hall (formerly of The Specials, The Fun Boy Three and The Colourfield) on the project Vegas. The duo released one self-titled album but this was commercially unsuccessful, though one of the singles from the album ("Possessed") made the UK Top 40.
In 1993, Stewart appeared in an Apple Inc. advertisement for the Power Macintosh in which he riffed on the word "power". He also had a small cameo as a computer hacker in the 1995 film Hackers.
In 1994, Stewart released a solo album, Greetings from the Gutter. The album was not a commercial success, though Stewart scored a minor UK hit with the single "Heart Of Stone" which reached number 36. Stewart then became obsessed with new technology and released another album, Sly-Fi as the first album released solely on the internet.
In November 2002, Stewart worked with former South African president Nelson Mandela. Stewart came up with the idea of turning Mandela's prison number into a telephone number then wrote and recorded songs with Paul McCartney, Bono and Edge and various others that you could only hear if you dialled this number and whilst listening you were donating. He then began organising the 46664 campaign and series of concerts in the fight against HIV/AIDS in South Africa.
In 2007, Stewart announced on his MySpace page that he would be playing live concerts showcasing his entire career. According to the announcement, he was to be accompanied by various guest musicians as well as a 30 piece orchestra. Additionally, Stewart has stated that for the first time in many years, he has been writing new songs on his guitar, although he had no plans at that time for a new solo album.
On 21 March 2007, Stewart unveiled an initiative called "Greenpeace Works", which he labelled as a "think tank" to dream up ways celebrities and Greenpeace can work together on green issues.[3]
On the project, The Dave Stewart Songbook, he wrote a large coffee table size book full of stories and photographs and also re-recorded 21 hit songs which have been co-written or co-produced by him during the past decades and were originally released by artists such as Jon Bon Jovi, Celine Dion, Bob Geldof, Shakespears Sister, No Doubt, Bryan Ferry, Tom Petty and Eurythmics. Also included is the song "American Prayer" written by Stewart with Bono of U2, for which Dave Stewart shot a video clip in support of the campaign of US presidential candidate Barack Obama, featuring various film and music stars, which premiered on YouTube on 23 August 2008. Stewart also released a new solo track, Let's Do It Again, in 2008. In July 2010, Stewart recorded his first solo album of new material since 1998's Sly-Fi. Entitled The Blackbird Diaries, it was recorded in Nashville, Tennessee, and includes duets with Stevie Nicks, Martina McBride, Colbie Caillat and The Secret Sisters. Stewart has made a film of the making of the album and also filmed a live concert in Nashville at The Belcourt Theatre on 9 December 2010.
In May 2011 it was announced that Mick Jagger of the Rolling Stones had formed a new supergroup called Super Heavy which includes Dave Stewart, Joss Stone, Damian Marley, and A.R. Rahman.[4]
Other projects
Writer/producer
Stewart produced or co-produced all of Eurythmics' albums and, once the band became established, he also became a producer of other artists. In 1985, as well as producing Eurythmics' hit album Be Yourself Tonight, Stewart co-produced the album Southern Accents for Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, as well as co-writing several songs for the album including the hit "Don't Come Around Here No More". The same year, Stewart also produced the debut solo album by Feargal Sharkey, which included the UK number one hit "A Good Heart". Due to these accomplishments, Stewart won "Best Producer" at the 1986 BRIT Awards in London.
Stewart would go on to write and produce for a variety of other artists throughout the years. In 1986, he collaborated with Bob Geldof on tracks for his debut solo album Deep in the Heart of Nowhere. Working together, the duo named themselves "The Brothers of Doom".
Stewart also co-wrote and co-produced several tracks for Mick Jagger's 1987 album Primitive Cool.
Along with his then-wife, Siobhan Fahey, he co-wrote the Shakespears Sister hit single "Stay" (under the pseudonym "Jean Guiot"), as well as several other tracks for their second and third albums.
In 1996, Stewart produced the debut album by Alisha's Attic, Alisha Rules the World.
In 1997, Stewart co-produced the album Destination Anywhere for Jon Bon Jovi, as well as co-writing several tracks.
Stewart collaborated with Bryan Ferry on his 2002 album Frantic, co-writing several tracks and co-producing one of them.
He also co-wrote "Friend or Foe" for the Russian pop duo t.A.T.u., which is on their 2005 album Dangerous and Moving.
In 2008, Stewart was brought in by Ringo Starr to produce his album Liverpool 8, after Starr dismissed the album's original producer, Mark Hudson. Hudson's work on some tracks earned both Stewart and Hudson credits as co-producers (along with Starr himself).
In 2010, Stewart announced on his Twitter account he was co-writing and producing the new studio album by Stevie Nicks. The album, entitled In Your Dreams, was co-produced by Glen Ballard and released in May 2011.
On 24 February 2011, Stewart tweeted that he had just produced a new album by Joss Stone, stating that they also wrote 10 songs together.[5]
On 12th October 2011, the Stewart produced Fire EP for artist Orianthi was released as an iTunes download.
Film, television and soundtrack work
Though he co-wrote the theme song for the 1986 comedy Ruthless People with Mick Jagger and Daryl Hall, Stewart took a greater involvement in the film industry in 1989 by writing and producing the soundtrack Lily Was Here for the Dutch film De Kassière. The single of the same name, featuring saxophone player Candy Dulfer, topped the Dutch charts for five weeks. The single also reached the UK Top 10 and peaked at #11 on the Billboard Hot 100 in the summer of 1990.
Though he had previously directed music videos, he made his feature film directorial debut in 2000 with Honest, a black comedy set in Swinging London in the late 1960s featuring three members of the British girl group All Saints.
Stewart also performed the song Everybody, All Over The World (Join The Celebration) for the 2004 remake of the film Around the World in 80 Days.
Stewart, in conjunction with his brother John J. Stewart of Oil Factory Productions, and in collaboration with music critic and author Robert Palmer and documentary filmmaker Robert Mugge made a documentary dealing with Delta Blues music. Deep Blues: A Musical Pilgrimage to the Crossroads, released in 1991, was filmed in Memphis, Tennessee and various north Mississippi counties. Palmer narrated.[6]
Stewart was the main interviewer for the HBO series Off the Record, which is a show that highlights songwriting and features prominent musicians. The pilot aired on HBO on 24 November 2006 and featured Bono and The Edge from U2.
He collaborated with Mick Jagger to record songs which appear on the soundtrack to the movie Alfie, released in 2004. The soundtrack includes the critically acclaimed song "Old Habits Die Hard", which won a Golden Globe award for Best Original Song from a Motion Picture.
Musical theatre
Stewart wrote the musical Barbarella, based on the 1968 film, which premiered in Vienna on 11 March 2004. Stewart has written the musical Ghost which opened in Picadilly Theatre in London's West End on 22 June 2011.
Record label
Though most of Stewart's own music (specifically with Eurythmics) was released via the RCA/BMG label, he also formed his own record label in the 1980s called Anxious Records. The label has included a roster of artists such as Terry Hall, Londonbeat, and Curve vocalist Toni Halliday.
Platinum Weird
Main article: Platinum WeirdIn 2006, Stewart resurrected Platinum Weird, a band he allegedly formed in the early 1970s in London with singer Erin Grace, but which was in reality created in 2004.[7][8] According to the fictional account, Erin was moody and mysterious, and disappeared shortly before the band's eponymous album was due to be released in 1974. Platinum Weird features noted songwriter Kara DioGuardi on vocals and the band has re-recorded some of the fictional original band's songs and some new ones as well for an upcoming album. The album was produced by John Shanks.
In July 2006, VH1 premiered a mockumentary entitled Rock Legends – Platinum Weird, an examination of the band’s unusual story, complete with cameo appearances from such rock legends as Mick Jagger, Annie Lennox, Ringo Starr, and Elton John, all reminiscing about the former band’s short-lived heyday and their impressions of the mysterious Erin Grace. The album was further promoted by a series of bogus World Wide Web fan sites, some of which are registered by the New Media Department of Interscope Records and hosted on the same server as interscope.com,[9][10][11] and related false documents for the "lost" group.
Much of the Platinum Weird story line is apparently identical to an earlier promotion by the unrelated band Unicorn.[12][13]
Publishing
Stewart co-created the comic books Walk-In (2006) and Zombie Broadway (2008), both published by Virgin Comics.
In 2010, Stewart and co-author Mark Simmons released "The Business Playground: Where Creativity and Commerce Collide" [1], a book on the importance of creativity in business. The book is published in the UK by Pearson PLC and in the United States by Peachpit.
Personal life
Previously married from 1973 to 1977,[14] Stewart married former Bananarama member Siobhan Fahey (who later formed Shakespears Sister) in 1987. The couple have two children (Sam and Django) but divorced in 1996. On 4 August 2001, Stewart married Dutch photographer Anoushka Fisz with whom he has two daughters, Kaya and Indya.
In 2004, Stewart and Fisz relocated to Hollywood so Stewart could concentrate on his soundtrack work.
Discography
Studio albums
Year Album Notes 1990 Dave Stewart and the Spiritual Cowboys 1991 Honest (Dave Stewart and the Spiritual Cowboys) 1994 Greetings from the Gutter 1998 Sly-Fi 2008 The Dave Stewart Songbook Vol. 1 2011 The Blackbird Diaries Collaborations and soundtrack albums
Year Album Collaborator Notes 1985 Southern Accents Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers Co-wrote and co-produced three tracks 1986 Three Hearts in the Happy Ending Machine Daryl Hall Co-wrote and produced several tracks 1989 Lily Was Here Candy Dulfer Soundtrack album to the Dutch film De Kassière Radio Silence Boris Grebenshchikov Dave played guitar on all tracks and produced the album Waltz Darling Malcolm McLaren and the Bootzilla Orchestra Co-produced and co-wrote "Algernon's Simply Awfully Good At Algebra" 1991 Jute City Soundtrack album to the BBC film Jute City' 1992 Vegas Terry Hall released under the name 'Vegas' 1993 Jack and the Beanstalk Michael Palin Stewart provided music to this audiobook version of Jack and the Beanstalk 1994 The Ref Soundtrack album to the 1994 film The Ref (alternately known in some regions as Hostile Hostages) 1999 Cookie's Fortune Soundtrack album to the Robert Altman film, Cookie's Fortune 2001 Stay Younger, Live Longer Deepak Chopra 2002 D.U.P. Gary "Mudbone" Cooper un-released album "Da Univerzal Playaz" – different version released as solo album by Cooper 2004 Alfie Mick Jagger Soundtrack to the film Alfie 2008 Liverpool 8 Ringo Starr Co-produced and played guitar on the album as well as performing live promotional shows One of the Boys Katy Perry Co-wrote "I'm Still Breathing" Repo Men Co-wrote "Love lives" 2011 LP1 Joss Stone Producer In Your Dreams Stevie Nicks Producer SuperHeavy SuperHeavy References
- ^ http://www.bullz-eye.com/music/interviews/2006/dave_stewart.htm
- ^ Harris, Will (10 October 2006). "A chat with Dave Stewart". bullz-eye.com. http://www.bullz-eye.com/music/interviews/2006/dave_stewart.htm. Retrieved 12 October 2007.
- ^ Reuters (22 March 2007). "Eurythmics' Dave Stewart Plans Green Think Tank". http://newsmax.com/archives/articles/2007/3/22/103025.shtml. Retrieved 12 October 2007.
- ^ Greene, Andy (20 May 2011). "Mick Jagger Forms Supergroup with Dave Stewart, Joss Stone and Damian Marley". Rolling Stone. http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/mick-jagger-forms-supergroup-with-dave-stewart-joss-stone-and-damian-marley-20110520. Retrieved 22 May 2011.
- ^ http://twitter.com/#!/search/joss%20album
- ^ Deep Blues at the Internet Movie Database
- ^ "Platinum Weirdo Dave Stewart Is Having Acid Flashbacks". psychoPEDIA Daily News. 5 July 2006. http://www.psychopedia.com/dailynews/2006/07/platinum_weirdodave_stewart_is.html. Retrieved 10 July 2006.
- ^ Lee, Chris (5 June 2006). "Fact or fiction? It can get a bit Weird". Los Angeles Times: p. E1. http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/cl-et-weird5jul05,0,6307963,full.story?coll=la-home-entertainment. Retrieved 5 June 2006.[dead link]
- ^ weirdos.info WHOIS record. Hosted on 216.193.195.52 (iscopelvw.fullerene.com), the same server as interscope.com. Retrieved on 6 September 2006
- ^ weirdshit.biz WHOIS record. Hosted on 216.193.195.52 (iscopelvw.fullerene.com), the same server as interscope.com. Retrieved on 6 September 2006
- ^ platinumweirdos.com WHOIS record. Hosted on 216.193.195.52 (iscopelvw.fullerene.com), the same server as interscope.com. Retrieved on 6 September 2006
- ^ "Platinum Weird – Plagiarism?". Popdirt. 10 July 2006. http://popdirt.com/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=50326. Retrieved 10 July 2006.
- ^ "Unicorn's Cosmic Storyteller Home Page". Unicorn. http://www.cosmicstoryteller.com/. Retrieved 10 July 2006.
- ^ "Fearless Innovator". SuperiorPics.com. 2007. http://www.superiorpics.com/dave_stewart/. Retrieved 12 October 2007.
External links
Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song (2000s) "Things Have Changed" Music & Lyrics by Bob Dylan (2000) · "Until..." Music & Lyrics by Sting (2001) · "The Hands That Built America" Music & Lyrics by Bono, Adam Clayton, The Edge, & Larry Mullen (2002) · "Into the West" Music & Lyrics by Annie Lennox, Howard Shore, Frances Walsh (2003) · "Old Habits Die Hard" Music & Lyrics by Mick Jagger, David A. Stewart (2004) · "A Love That Will Never Grow Old" Lyrics by Bernie Taupin, Music by Gustavo Santaolalla (2005) · "The Song of the Heart" Music & Lyrics by Prince Rogers Nelson (2006) · "Guaranteed" Music & Lyrics by Eddie Vedder (2007) · "The Wrestler" Music & Lyrics by Bruce Springsteen (2008) · "The Weary Kind" Music & Lyrics by Ryan Bingham, T-Bone Burnett (2009)
Complete List · (1960s) · (1970s) · (1980s) · (1990s) · (2000s) · (2010s) Categories:- 1952 births
- Brit Award winners
- English guitarists
- English male singers
- English New Wave musicians
- English songwriters
- Ivor Novello Award winners
- Living people
- People from Sunderland, Tyne and Wear
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