Romany and Tom by Ben Watt – review | Books | The Guardian Romany and Tom by Ben Watt – review Ben Watt's vivid memoir about his bohemian parents captures their decline and the people they once were Ben Watt with his mother, Romany, in Barnes, west London in 1969. Share on Messenger Close Most famous for being one half of pop duo Everything But the Girl with his wife, Tracey Thorn, musician and DJ Ben Watt has plunged into his past before. In 1996, he wrote Patient , documenting his battle with Churg-Strauss syndrome, an autoimmune disease that often proves fatal. In short, perfect misery memoir stuff. But Watt's prose was different – elegant, crisp and clean. His approach to tough subjects was also unflinchingly unsentimental. His second book, a memoir about and named after his parents, has a similar tone. Fans of Watt's music will recognise its mood: melancholic, but with a definite edge. Romany and Tom's story begins near its end. It's May 2006, and Tommy Watt , Ben's father, now 80, is in hospital.

The wearing details of age are on display: a pyjama jacket "misbuttoned and stretched open", his breathing "a flimsy wheeze of air". Memories creep into Watt's mind of childhood holiday weekends as he watches his father: "empty motor-oil bottles on the tideline, a stretch of beach, salt rime, gulls squabbling". The past keeps invading the present as it inevitably does in times of crisis. Then his mother arrives, prompting other buried memories. Her face has the same look Watt remembers when he himself was in hospital: "half connected and involved; half ready to go home". She's a complicated character, brought to life brilliantly here. This scene also prepares us for the structure of Watt's memoir, which moves between now and then constantly, but dreamily, woozily. Such a timeline should be hard to follow, but it's not. Our hand is always in their son's hand. We slowly discover that Watt's parents were formidable sorts in their prime. Tom was a working-class jazz musician who became a successful band leader, winning an Ivor Novello in the late 50s, and leading the Centre 42 big band in the early 60s.

Romany was a Rada-trained actor whose career was cut short during her first marriage; after having her first child, she unexpectedly had triplets. She later became a successful feature writer and broadcaster, before her fortunes, as well as those of her second husband's, slowly trickled away. In Watt's recollections, their later years together are marked by mutual discord and the constant consumption of "large tumblers of brandy, not poured as a shot or even a double, but like full glasses of water". Watt holds back the main mystery about his parents until later on, though – the circumstances under which these very different people came together. This is a difficult thing to pull off, but Watt achieves it, keeping our interest sustained in the rich, raw descriptions of their deteriorating worlds. It's all there in the tiny details Watt captures perfectly: empty fridges, crumpled clothes, the blood pooling on a bathroom floor. He's also good at the lighter moments. Romany's interview with Richard Burton and Liz Taylor shows the joy his mother used to exude, while stories from her life now, dented by dementia, remind us of who she once was.

It's hard not to moved by his stories of her at her husband's funeral: "Thank you for a lovely day, whoever you are." When we find out how Romany and Tom got together, however, and how Ben Watt came to be, the effect is like a blow to the heart. Here were two people who were once, inexplicably, deeply in love, who struggled to make everything work, whose past still can't be touched by the son who clearly thought the world of them. Near the end of the book, he writes: "They just let me be to get on with it, working things out for myself." The result of their love, on this evidence, has worked things out very well. How We Met: Ben Watt and Tracey Thorn | The Independent How We Met: Ben Watt and Tracey Thorn Saturday 10 April 1993 23:02 BST Click to follow The Independent Culture Tracey Thorn, 30, was born in Peterborough; Ben Watt, also 30, was born in London. Both graduates of Hull University, in English and English and Drama respectively, they formed acoustic pop duo Everything But The Girl 11 years ago, while they were still students.

Everything But The Girl's biggest hit was 'I Don't Want To Talk About It', which reached No 3 in 1988. Two years later they were playing concerts at the Royal Albert Hall. Their new single, a cover version of Paul Simon's 'The Only Living Boy in New York', is released tomorrow. They live together in North London. BEN WATT: In West Hampstead there was a kind of punk new-wave club, the Moonlight Club, and I first saw Tracey when she was playing there with the Marine Girls, her first band, which she was in from school - it was in 1980 or 1981. Although we didn't know each other at the time, we were actually on the same record label, Cherry Red, in the Eighties post-punk independent label boom - I'd been signed as a solo artist. I thought the Marine Girls were a cool band, I was a big fan, I really loved her voice. I never met her that night in Hampstead, but we were both only making pin-money out of being in bands, and we both had the chance for higher education.

Just by chance we happened to go to the same university, which was Hull, in 1981. On the very first day I put a message over the university Tannoy system saying 'If Tracey Thorn of the Marine Girls is around, could she come up and meet me in reception' and she came along 10 minutes later. She was wearing what she always wore in those days - little rolled-up Fifties jeans, bare legs showing at the bottom, flat shoes and Fifties shirt. The first thing I said to her was 'Do you know who I am?' and she said 'I expect you're Ben Watt' - in fact she'd seen a picture of me. My next question was 'Have you brought your guitar?' We started off real pals - when you are in a strange place for the first time you try and side with people who you feel an affinity with, and it was record collections and pop music and films that we had in common. We struck a bond almost immediately, just us two against the rest of them. We used to hang out, drink, go to films. We just got closer and closer, firstly as friends.

I had quite a lot of ex-lover baggage to get rid of, pre-university stuff, which was quite awkward and unpleasant. Once that was resolved we strode on together as a couple. We were a bit cagey about an initial musical collaboration. It wasn't until someone at the record company suggested that we should do something together as we were living in the same town that we thought about anything like forming Everything But The Girl. The name of the group was taken from a furniture shop in Hull, Turner's, and their slogan was 'Everything but the girl'. The idea was that they could sell you everything to make your home complete except the girl. Deeply corny. We never thought Everything But The Girl would stick around - if we had, maybe we would have chosen a better name. We have a common world view, a common value system, we often draw the same things out of films and books, hate the same TV personalities. We spend pretty much all of the time together and we always have done. It's the way I enjoy living life, I'm not very good on my own, I don't enjoy my own company.

If Tracey goes away for a couple of days, I tend to spend the first couple of hours just tidying up, then I just sit there and get very bored. I'm used to living with her around. It's comforting, the sound of somebody else in the house. To me, the idea of going out to work at, say, seven, taking the train, working up in town, coming back, seeing your wife and your kids again at maybe eight in the evening, spending two fractious hours in each others' company, sleeping for another six hours, so you're basically spending only about a quarter of your life with the person you've chosen to marry, seems very strange. I've always liked the idea that we're still getting away with it by not being married, just hanging out with Tracey. I've always felt that's been one of the driving forces behind our relationship, like those very early days when we met and we were just blasting through life on our own, like some kind of couple out of a Godard movie. It's a romantic image. That sustains me somehow. We're as good as married, but I still kind of hold out.

I had to go into hospital quite suddenly last June, with a rare disease that attacks the intestines, and I ended up in there for about nine weeks, three weeks of which was on life support. I basically touched base with death and came back. Going through a really bad illness, you sink with it and your expectations sink with it and your parameters contract and you don't expect as much from life than when you just walk down the street on a sunny day - I think it was hardest for Tracey and my mother, who spent a lot of time at the hospital. It was an intensely emotional time for both of us, I think more so for Tracey during the illness, more so for me when I got home and was starting to come to terms with the fact that I'd pulled through it all and could concentrate on being Tracey's partner again rather than just on getting better. It involved a huge amount of building work, which cemented our relationship - if it ever needed cementing. TRACEY THORN: The first time I ever saw him was when we met in the union bar at Hull University, when he had me called up over the Tannoy.

He was wearing an overcoat, as opposed to all the other students who were in duffel-coats and trainers. As soon as we started talking, after about 10 minutes, I realised I liked him a lot. I thought he was very funny; he made me laugh pretty quickly. I wasn't particularly attracted to him straightaway, I don't think, but as soon as I spent any time in his company, after a few days, I was. We were thrown into each other's company by being at university together and doing quite similar courses, and also just by accident we were living very close to each other, about two doors apart, so we saw each other every day. I think we both felt isolated up there, as if we didn't have much in common with the other students. We found ourselves in households with people who didn't know who was in the charts, let alone who was in the indie charts. We were still young enough to feel that your alignment to certain types of pop music was more important than anything else - that's why we felt very quickly that there was a kind of alliance between the two of us. We went to whatever gigs there were - there weren't very many.

We used to do some music-making together, mostly covers. We didn't know Everything But The Girl would be so successful and I don't think we would even have been that interested, it would have been so far removed from our experience of making music that it wasn't even a goal we thought about. I think you only do ever tend to think of one step above where you are at the time, and we were thinking 'well, it would be really cool to be in the indie charts', but we certainly didn't think about mainstream pop success. Our relationship has been made a lot easier by the fact that our progress since we were students has been entirely equal. We've stayed on common ground, in an unusually close way. I'm not sure how many people know we are a couple - quite a lot now perhaps. It can be tricky, because one thing that pop thrives on is there being some hint of sexual availability - it's one of the things that makes pop stars appealing, and if you're known as a couple that's immediately taken away, you're spoken for. It changes your image.

Different people respond in different ways, some people perhaps quite like it - I think people feel they know us quite well and feel quite close to us because they know we're a couple. When Ben was ill, we went through quite different experiences, so at the end of it, instead of feeling really bonded by it, I think we felt we had a lot of talking to do, to actually tell each other what had happened. Ben had been through a lot of physical suffering which I couldn't imagine. There was a long period in the middle where he was actually kept unconscious for a week so there was a whole week of my life when he was asleep, and he has no inkling of what happened during that week, the thoughts that went through my head. We had to talk to each other a lot to regain some of that ground. Marriage is not really there as an issue most of the time - it sometimes pops into our heads as a thought, a bit vague. I think both of our sets of parents might have the idea that it would be nice if we were married, but they're used to us being together, and they've seen other children of theirs get married and get divorced.

It's certainly not a problem with them - I think they look at us and think 'Well, as long as they're working it out, that's the most you can expect.'- (Photograph omitted) Tracey Thorn New Single. Cover of Kate Bush song. // Fri 23rd Jan 2015: 3h03 GMT Tracey has released a cover version of Kate Bush's Under The Ivy on my imprint Strange Feeling. It was recorded especially for BBC Radio 4's flagship news programme, Today, for which Tracey was guest editor on Dec 27, and it is now a single. Ben Watt plays piano on the recording. Beautiful strings written by Nick Ingman too! Buy direct , or buy on iTunes . No vinyl or CD. Tracey's new column for The New Statesman // Sun 31st Aug 2014: 9h09 GMT As she puts the finishing touches to her follow-up book to 2013's 'Bedsit Disco Queen' due next Spring, Tracey has been writing a regular column for The New Statesman.

If you want to catch up on all her columns and read her on a regular basis, go here New book and film music. // Mon 24th Mar 2014: 5h05 GMT Tracey is currently in the final stages of writing her new non-fiction book all about ideas and myths around singers and singing which she hopes to have published by Virago in 2015. She has also written, performed and sung new music and songs for the soundtrack of 'The Falling', the first feature film by English director Carol Morley (pictured), who made the brilliant semi-documentary 'Dreams of Life.' Hear Tracey read her new essay on Germaine Greer for the BBC. // Sat 1st Feb 2014: 8h08 GMT Asked to write and read something for BBC's 'The Book that Changed Me', Tracey chose Germaine Greer's 'The Female Eunuch'. A deep influence on her lyrics and thinking ever since, hear her read her new 15 min essay here .

Molly Drake songs to be released for Record Store Day 2014 // Fri 31st Jan 2014: 7h07 GMT Following the popularity of Tracey's performances of two Molly Drake songs for BBC Radio 4 recently, the tracks will be release as a special 7" vinyl single for Record Store Day 2104 on April 19, and then later as a digital download. Molly Drake was Nick Drake's mum. Tracey's partner in Everything But The Girl, Ben Watt, plays electric piano and guitar on the recordings. Tracey sings songs of Molly Drake for BBC Radio 4 // Thu 21st Nov 2013: 4h04 GMT Journalist Pete Paphides has made a half-hour documentary for BBC Radio 4 about the mother of acclaimed folk singer, Nick Drake. Molly Drake wrote her own songs which until recently were unknown to the general public. Alongside Nick's sister, actress Gabriella Drake, and producer Joe Boyd, Tracey takes part in the programme; she talks about Molly's songwriting and sings two of her songs accompanied by Ben Watt. Listen again for seven days here .

More readings and interviews announced for 'Bedsit Disco Queen' // Sun 12th May 2013: 8h08 GMT Tracey had added more dates to her tour for her ace memoir 'Bedsit Disco Queen'. Hear her read and chat in interview at the following - Wed May 15 - Bristol, Festival of Ideas Fri May 24 - Dublin, Writers' Festival Sun June 02 - London, Literature Festival Wed June 12 - Hull, Pave Sat June 22 - Hebden Bridge, Arts Festival Sat July 20 - Southwold, Latitude Festival Sun Aug 18 - Edinburgh, International Books Festival Sun Oct 13 - Cheltenham, Literary Festival Tracey live Q&A's for Bedsit Disco Queen // Thu 10th Jan 2013: 8h08 GMT Tracey will be in conversation about her new memoir Bedsit Disco Queen at the following events.

Tickets are available for most: Feb 7th - Launch at Rough Trade East Feb 13th - New Writing South, Brighton Feb 19th - UEA Literary Festival, Norwich Feb 27th - Virago Book Club at Foyles, London 6th April - Laugharne Weekend, Wales 12th April - Aye Write! Glasgow Book Festival 13th April - Cambridge Word Fest 2nd May - Liverpool Sound City Tracey's new memoir 'Bedsit Disco Queen' is published on Feb 7 // Wed 9th Jan 2013: 1h01 GMT Starting with her first teenage band, 'Bedsit Disco Queen' charts Tracey's journey through the music industry through her own eyes. Published by Virago you can order it through Amazon (UK) or Amazon (US). In Tracey's words: 'I was only sixteen when I bought an electric guitar and joined a band. A year later, I formed an all-girl band called the Marine Girls and played gigs, and signed to an indie label, and started releasing records.

Then, for eighteen years, between 1982 and 2000, I was one half of the group Everything But the Girl. In that time, we released nine albums and sold nine million records. We went on countless tours, had hit singles and flop singles, were reviewed and interviewed to within an inch of our lives. I've been in the charts, out of them, back in. I've seen myself described as an indie darling, a middle-of-the-road nobody and a disco diva. I haven't always fitted in, you see, and that's made me face up to the realities of a pop career - there are thrills and wonders to be experienced, yes, but also moments of doubt, mistakes, violent lifestyle changes from luxury to squalor and back again, sometimes within minutes.' Tracey on NPR's World Cafe on Dec 24 // Mon 17th Dec 2012: 6h06 GMT On Dec 24 Tracey's latest acoustic session and interview can be heard on National Public Radio’s prestigious World Cafe show with host David Dye on over 200 North American stations nationwide.

Fans can find their local station and broadcast time here or worldwide fans can connect to the WXPN Philadelphia stream Monday through Friday, 2pm to 4pm EST, here . Late in the day of broadcast, NPR will feature it as the "Current Show" on the World Cafe website and post the audio stream, here . Tracey's Online Advent Calendar // Sat 1st Dec 2012: 1h01 GMT We've made an advent calendar to get you in the mood for Christmas. Each day features a festive link to pics and clips and exclusive stuff connected with Tracey's ace current album 'Tinsel and Lights'. Happy Christmas. Check it out here 'Joy' to be new single from 'Tinsel and Lights' on Dec 10 // Wed 14th Nov 2012: 7h07 GMT ‘Joy' is the second single to be released from Tracey's acclaimed album of modern and retro Christmas classics, 'Tinsel and Lights’.

The stand-out track for many writers reviewing the album ( **** The Guardian, **** Uncut, **** Q), it is a Tracey Thorn original that stands among her finest songs, ‘recasting Christmas,’ writes Jim Writh in Uncut ‘as a desperate, defiant celebration of life’. A video for the song is being shot in the centre of one of Christmas’ quintessential locations – Lille Christmas Market in Northern France. A new stripped-back acoustic version with Tracey’s long-time musical partner, Ben Watt, on guitar, is also included as part of the release. 'Tinsel and Lights' Christmas card set // Wed 7th Nov 2012: 5h05 GMT Look! Get yourself an ace 'Tinsel and Lights' Christmas card set. Five limited editions cards all drawn from the artwork for Tracey's current album. Only £6.50. Buy here . Sneak an upfront listen to 'Tinsel and Lights' courtesy of WNYC // Wed 24th Oct 2012: 10h10 GMT Ace New York radio station WNYC is preview-streaming Tinsel and Lights this week. Sneak an upfront listen here.

Double A-Side digital single from 'Tinsel and Lights' out now // Tue 23rd Oct 2012: 10h10 GMT A unique transatlantic double A-side single from 'Tinsel and Lights' is released today. UK fans can get 'In The Cold, Cold Night' on iTunes now, while US fans can buy the title track 'Tinsel and Lights' . You will not be asked to buy the tracks again if you complete your album purchase on iTunes next week when the whole album is released. It's here! The gorgeous deluxe vinyl gift set of Tracey's Christmas album 'Tinsel and Lights' // Fri 12th Oct 2012: 3h03 GMT Heavy 180gm vinyl, bonus track not on CD, inner sleeve, standard fully-artworked CD, set of five Christmas cards, one sheet of giftwrap, hard box. Pre-order it or get the standard CD or iTunes version here 'In The Cold, Cold Night' streaming on YouTube // Wed 3rd Oct 2012: 4h04 GMT It's been on Soundcloud, it's been on the radio.

Now you can hear Tracey's new single 'In The Cold, Cold Night' on YouTube 'Tinsel and Lights' song premiere at RollingStone.com // Sat 29th Sep 2012: 5h05 GMT Following the premiere at Guardian.co.uk last week of 'In The Cold, Cold Night' (the first track to be pulled from Tracey's upcoming Christmas album, 'Tinsel and Lights' and now on preview in the Listen section of this site), you can now hear another courtesy of RollingStone.com. Check it here Pre-order and preview Tracey's Christmas album // Mon 24th Sep 2012: 10h10 GMT Tracey's Christmas album 'Tinsel and Lights' will be out Oct 29/30 but we have early previews and pre-orders available now at the Buzzin' Fly online shop for the standard CD, the deluxe vinyl gift set and the iTunes version. Jump here for more info.

North American fans should check out the Merge Records versions too Official news of Tracey's Christmas album // Thu 2nd Aug 2012: 7h07 GMT Pitchfork announce tracklist, release date with front cover artwork here Big interview with Tracey in The Word this month // Wed 13th Jun 2012: 2h02 GMT Catch up with Tracey chatting to David Hepworth about the EBTG re-issues, life on Twitter, singing live, her new upcoming Christmas album and her new book. Tracey's alternative Christmas album // Fri 25th May 2012: 1h01 GMT Tracey has been in the studio over the past few weeks putting together her alternative Christmas album for release later this year. It is largely cover versions all with a 'winter' theme plus two new originals, and features songs by writers such as Stephen Merritt, Ron Sexsmith, Jack White and Randy Newman. As with 'Love And Its Opposite' the album will be released on Strange Feeling except in the US where Merge will handle it.

The album is being produced by Ewan Pearson, and Tracey's longtime EBTG partner, Ben Watt is guesting on guitars and piano. Expected release date - late October/early November. Signed copies of 'Love And Its Opposite' // Fri 25th Nov 2011: 15h15 GMT Fresh stock of Tracey's classic 2010 album, 'Love And Its Opposite' on CD has just arrived, and Tracey has signed a load of them! They are on sale now on the Buzzin' Fly online shop. Brighten someone's Christmas! Only £10.99. (Unsigned stock also on sale at £7.99.). Get them here . New compilation out this week // Wed 9th Nov 2011: 8h08 GMT Gathering together all the remixes and B-sides that have accompanied the singles released from her acclaimed 2010 album 'Love And Its Opposite' and throwing in her new 'Night Time' single for good measure, this week sees the release of Tracey's new digital-only collection 'Extended Plays 2010-2011'.

Highlights include covers of Vampire Weekend's 'Taxi Cab', Sufjan Stevens' 'Sister Winter' and The xx's 'Night Time' (especially commissioned by The xx themselves) plus a slew of remixes from stellar underground names from the house and bass music scenes such as Morgan Geist, Visionquest, Walls and Black Acre's Blue Daisy. Get it direct from us here . Pre-order and hear 'Night Time EP' // Mon 17th Oct 2011: 17h17 GMT Limited edition signed blue vinyl copies of the 'Night Time EP' are now for sale on the Buzzin' Fly and Strange Feeling Online Shop . You can also pre-order the download version from iTunes . Tracey covers The xx on new EP // Sun 2nd Oct 2011: 19h19 GMT In the summer of 2010 Mercury Music Prize winners (and Everything But The Girl fans) The xx asked Tracey Thorn and her long-time partner in EBTG Ben Watt (also Strange Feeling label boss) to record a track from the The xx's debut album for a special compilation the band were commissioning of covers of the album's songs by their favourite artists.

Unfortunately the project fell apart a few months later for numerous logistical reasons (not least the second wind breathed into the original album by the Mercury Prize victory) but not before Tracey had sung a new version of one the album most beautiful tracks, 'Night Time'. The track gathered dust for a few months but it is rightfully seeing the light of day on a new EP from Tracey Thorn called the 'Night Time EP', released on Strange Feeling on October 31, much to the delight of all concerned. The flip side will feature new mixes of 'Swimming' from 'Love And Its Opposite'. Audio clips soon. Free download // Thu 5th May 2011: 11h11 GMT Quick bit of trivia for you. Did you know the title track of Tracey Thorn's new EP 'You Are A Lover' was written by another band on Strange Feeling, The Unbending Trees? We have an ace remix of The Unbending Trees' original version for FREE download, plus a chance to peep at the new video re-edit made especially for the remix. Click to grab . Out tomorrow.

New EP for Record Store Day 2011 // Fri 15th Apr 2011: 20h20 GMT The gorgeous 10" green vinyl version of the 'You Are A Lover EP' is out tomorrow at an indie store near you. This is a limited edition collectors release. If we get any returns they will go on sale at the online Buzzin' Fly and Strange Feeling Shop in a couple of weeks. The digital version is out on Apr 26 through iTunes etc. Hear the Clock Opera remix of the new single 'You Are A Lover' for Record Store Day 2011 // Sat 26th Mar 2011: 22h22 GMT Following its exclusive premiere on The Guardian website, we now have the ace Clock Opera remix of 'You Are A Lover' streaming on the Buzzin' Fly/Strange Feeling Records listening page . Tune in.

New single 'You Are A Lover' for Record Store Day 2011 // Wed 16th Feb 2011: 11h11 GMT Tracey has a new single 'You Are A Lover' lined up for Record Store Day 2011 on April 16. Taken from her acclaimed current album 'Love And Its Opposite' the release features a brand new remix of the song by the brilliant Clock Opera (above). The B-side also includes Tracey's pre-Christmas free download 'Sister Winter' written by Sufjan Stevens on vinyl for the first time. The single will be be released on limited edition 10" vinyl. If you cannot get one from a local indie store near you, we will have some on sale online with international shipping. There will also be an MP3 download available a few days later through normal online retailers. Listen About | Ben Watt Ben Watt Biography Best known for his seventeen years (1983-2000) as songwriter-performer-producer with Tracey Thorn in alt-pop duo Everything But The Girl, Ben Watt is also an award-winning solo artist, a prize-nominated non-fiction writer, a DJ and a radio presenter.

Early Years (1981 - 1983) Born on December 6 1962 in London to Glaswegian jazz arranger, pianist and bandleader Tommy Watt and journalist Romany Bain , Ben Watt first appeared in 1981 on London indie Cherry Red as a young nineteen-year-old experimental songwriter-singer-guitarist. His first single Cant was produced by folk maverick Kevin Coyne . The follow-up, 1982's 5-track EP, Summer into Winter featured Robert Wyatt on piano and backing vocals. Watt's guitar-playing - rich folk-jazz voicings and propulsive echo/delay - set him apart from many of his contemporaries. His early work culminated in his sparse atmospheric debut album North Marine Drive (1983, UK Indie Album Chart Top 10) and featured solos from British alto sax giant, Peter King. Everything But The Girl (1983 - 2000) In 1983 Watt put aside his solo plans and formed alt-pop duo Everything But The Girl with singer-writer-partner Tracey Thorn after meeting each other at Hull University in late 1981.

Over the next sixteen years they wrote and recorded nine critically-acclaimed studio albums and sold nine million records, receiving eight gold, and two platinum album BPI Certifications in the UK, and one gold album RIAA Certification in the US. Commercial highpoints included their debut Eden (1984), Idlewild (1988, incl. the UK Top 40 No. 3 hit I Don't Want To Talk About It), The Language of Life (1990, incl. US VH1 hit Driving), Amplified Heart (1994, incl. US Billboard Hot 100 No. 2 and global No. 1 Missing ) and Walking Wounded (1996, incl four UK Top 40 hits). Their 1993 song I Didn't Know I Was Looking For Love became a UK Top 40 No. 8 hit for Karen Ramirez in 1997, and in 1994 they both contributed to Massive Attack's second album, Protection. Ceding lead vocal duties mostly to Thorn, Watt still turned in memorable performances throughout the duo's career on songs such as The Night I Heard Caruso Sing, 25th December and The Road.

He branched out from guitar-playing and songwriting into arranging and orchestration (most notably on 1986's Baby, The Stars Shine Bright) before moving into sampling and electronic production techniques. His work on Walking Wounded earned him a nomination as Producer of the Year at the 1996 Q Awards. Quitting on a high, Everything But The Girl made their last appearance at the Montreux Jazz Festival in 2000 as Thorn moved out of the limelight to spend more time with their family and Watt looked for new challenges in underground electronic music. (A more in-depth Everything But The Girl history is carried at ). Beth Orton (1999-2002) In 1999 Watt produced two tracks for Beth Orton 's second album, Central Reservation (1999, nominated for Mercury Music Prize) and mixed her third album Daybreaker (2002, nominated Best Album at Q Awards).

Lazy Dog (1998 - 2003) Encouraged by DJ-producer Howie B to start DJing, Watt was thirty-two when he first started mixing freestyle sets of jazz, drum 'n' bass and deep house in London in 1995. Guest sets followed at London nights such as James Lavelle's Dusted, Fabio's Swerve and Howie B's own west London Sunday parties at The Paradise. In 1998 he established the London Sunday day-night club Lazy Dog with Blackmarket Records's Jay Hannan at the tiny 200-capacity Notting Hill Arts Club in west London focussing on the then underground sound of deep house. The night forged a pioneering path in the capital's now ubiquitous day-night Sunday clubbing scene. It became a runaway success, and soon a bi-monthly Friday night party the 900-capacity central London club The End was added. Sell-out US tours and three performances at Miami's Winter Music Conference cemented the duo's reputation.

Moving away from Everything But The Girl's mainstream eclecticism and into club-oriented dance music production, Watt also turned out an accompanying string of hit dancefloor remixes for Sade, Sunshine Anderson, Zero 7, Maxwell and Meshell Ndegeocello. Lazy Dog folded in 2003 after five years of sell-out parties around the world and mix compilation sales of 100,000. Cherry Jam, Neighbourhood (2002 - 2005) In 2002, deepening his ties with clubland, Watt became part-owner-founder of two new west London event spaces - Cherry Jam (a tiny 160-capacity basement in Royal Oak); and a year later, Neighbourhood (built from the shell of the old 600-capacity Subterania club near Portobello Road). Resident DJ at each venue, he orchestrated the design and music policy for both and helped establish their three-year reputation at the forefront of London's club scene. Cherry Jam hosted international DJs and rock bands - The Libertines played their first official debut show there - and launched art exhibitions and spoken word events including Book Slam (still a cornerstone of the London book scene).

At the larger Neighbourhood Watt brought in Groove Armada, the Rough Trade Records 25th Anniversary and the inaugural House Music Awards before leaving both venues and ending his stakeholding in 2005. Buzzin' Fly, Strange Feeling (2003 - 2013) April 2003 saw Watt launch his own independent record label Buzzin' Fly Records focussing on underground electronic music. As well as a new home for his own club-oriented productions - incl the underground hits Lone Cat, Pop A Cap In Yo' Ass (with Estelle), and Guinea Pig - the label fostered new talent, unearthing Justin Martin, Rodamaal, and Flowers and Sea Creatures. The label won Best Breakthrough Label at the House Music Awards 2004 and was runner-up as Best Label at the DJ Magazine Best Of British Awards in both 2007 and 2008. Watt was nominated in the Outstanding Contribution to Dance Music category at the DJ Magazine Best Of British Awards 2009. Widening the musical output, 2006 saw the launch of sister imprint, Strange Feeling, focussing on alternative pop and rock.

Early signings included Danish band Figurines, and Hungary's The Unbending Trees. In 2010 the imprint signed Watt's partner Tracey Thorn as she returned to the indie scene to release the solo albums Love And Its Opposite (2010) and Tinsel and Lights (2012). As a club DJ, Watt's reputation grew widely in 2005 when he was booked on the festival circuit (Good Vibrations, Homelands, Coachella, Lovebox, Electric Picnic). In 2008 he went on to open the prestigious Sonar Festival in Barcelona and became a resident DJ at We Love on the Space Terrace on Sundays in Ibiza. In New York he was given a Giant Step residency at Cielo. Back home he moved Buzzin' Fly's intimate twice-monthly label parties to east London basement venue, Plastic People and regularly filled The End in central London with special additional nights. In March 2013, on the anniversary of Buzzin' Fly's tenth birthday, Watt announced a change of direction . He was closing the label to new signings and freezing the release schedule to find time to return more fully to his own creative work.

He simultaneously hit the pause button on his DJ schedule. Radio, BBC 6Music (2006 - 2014) In 2006 Watt launched a weekly online radio show focussing on house and electronic music. It broadcast over 150 editions over three years with transfers onto the Galaxy Network and Kiss 100 in the UK plus several global syndications. He finally closed the show in 2009 and accepted an ongoing role as a resident DJ on BBC Radio 6Music's flagship electronic music programme, the 6 Mix , until the show moved off the schedule in 2014. Return to Solo (2013 - Now) In March 2013 Watt announced he was returning to the solo career he put on hold in 1983. His record labels and DJ career were mothballed and he launched a new imprint and production company called Unmade Road as a vehicle for his new work. Writing a raft of new songs, he teamed up with ex-Suede guitarist Bernard Butler and producer Ewan Pearson to record Hendra, his first solo album for thirty-one years.

After a chance encounter on the eve of the recording sessions, the album also included a rare cameo from Pink Floyd's David Gilmour. Hendra signalled a move away from electronic music and a return to his earliest roots in folk and jazz and art-rock. Following widespread acclaim, the album won the Best Second Album category at the AIM (Association of Independent Music) Awards 2014 in London. Watt played sixty live shows in support of it, travelling to North America, Japan and Australia. Japan's Music Magazine made it No. 3 in their Albums of the Year. Rolling Stone (Germany) made it No. 2 in their Albums of the Year. Rolling Stone (US) included it in their '15 Great Albums You Didn't Hear In 2014'. In 2015 Watt returned to the studio to record the follow-up, Fever Dream, renewing key partnerships with Bernard Butler and engineer Bruno Ellingham, and sprinkling guest vocal cameos from Boston’s singer-songwriter Marissa Nadler , and Hiss Golden Messenger ’s M.C. Taylor. The Guardian and Stereogum trailed the first single/video Gradually in February 2016.

The album was released globally on Unmade Road through Caroline International on April 8 2016. Uncut Magazine posted a 9/10 review . The Guardian commented: 'In his early 50s, he is making some of the best music of his career.' The Washington Post noted: 'Jazzy, bluesy, slightly overdriven, passionate and poetic … Watt has worn many hats but these songs fit him like a glove.' Author (1996 - Now) In addition to his years as a musician, Watt has written two compelling memoirs.

1996 saw his first, Patient - the True Story of a Rare Illness published to wide acclaim by Viking/Penguin in the UK ( a Sunday Times Book of the Year for William Boyd; Shortlisted for the Esquire Non-Fiction Award 1996 ) and by Grove Atlantic Press in the US (a New York Times Notable Book of The Year.) The book details his extraordinary life-and-death battle in 1992 with a rare and almost-career-ending auto-immune disease Churg-Strauss Syndrome during which he was dramatically hospitalised for nine weeks and endured several life-saving operations, losing 80% of his small intestine. The book has since been translated into Spanish, Swedish and Italian, and was republished in a new edition by Bloomsbury in 2014. 2014 saw the publication of his second memoir, Romany and Tom (Bloomsbury). Both a personal journey and a fearless portrait of his parents, it was nominated for the Samuel Johnson Non-Fiction Prize 2014 , and featured in the Guardian’s Best Biographies and Memoirs 2014, and the Guardian's Readers’ Books of the Year 2014.

Nominations and Awards Nominated, Best Producer of the Year at Q Awards 1996 (UK) Nominated, Outstanding Contribution to Dance Music, DJ Magazine Best of British Awards 2009 (UK) Winner, Best Second Album Award for 'Hendra', Association of Independent Music AIM Awards 2014 (UK) Writing Everything But the Girl’s Biography — Free listening, videos, concerts, stats and photos at Last.fm Listeners Biography Everything But the Girl (EBTG), was a Hull, Yorkshire, UK, folk-pop / trip-hop duo of Ben Watt and Tracey Thorn . They débuted with a single for a Cole Porter cover, Night And Day (Mar 1982, Cherry Red). Their final album was Temperamental (Sept 1999, Virgin). Ben met Tracey when they were at Hull University and she was singing in pop girl-band Marine Girls . Ben contributed a photograph, for a forthcoming album cover, after which, the pair became partners (later getting married). They formed Everything But the Girl in 1982, the name inspired by a Turner's Furniture advertising slogan (a popular store near the university).

For a period, Tracey was active in both bands and the album with Ben's photo materialised, Lazy Ways (Apr 1983), which was to be Marine Girls' last. EBTG soon achieved national success and singles from The Language of Life (1990), got VH-1 airtime - heralding USA notoriety. Once internationally established, they successfully achieved one of the greatest stylistic changes in modern music; originally a 'folk-pop with jazz influences' band, their fortunes changed with Amplified Heart (Jul 1994) and Todd Terry 's successful remix of its track " Missing " (Aug 1994). Since then, EBTG have become more widely known as an electronic act, with Walking Wounded (May 1996), being a well-received example of their metamorphosed sound. As of 1999, EBTG as a duo are currently on hiatus, as the couple raise their children, out of the public eye. Watt is a very successful club DJ, Buzzin Fly label-manager and remixer, releasing several 'Lazy Dog' mix compilations (named after his London-based deep house night).

Thorn's 2006 collaboration with Tiefschwarz , on the underground hit song " Damage ", seems to have re-awoken her artistic spirit and she released a second solo album, Out of the Woods (Mar 2007). Everything But The Girl | Download Music, Tour Dates & Video | eMusic Everything But The Girl Rate It! Avg: 4.0 (141 ratings) Formed: Hull, England Group Members: Ben Watt , Tracey Thorn All Music Guide: Originating at the turn of the 1980s as a leader of the lite-jazz movement, Everything but the Girl became an unlikely success story more than a decade later, emerging at the vanguard of the fusion between pop and electronica.

Founded in 1982 by Hull University students Tracey Thorn and Ben Watt, the duo took their name from a sign placed in the window of a local furniture shop, which claimed "for your bedroom needs, we sell everything but the girl." At the time of their formation, both vocalist Thorn and songwriter/multi-instrumentalist Watt were already signed independently to the Cherry Red label; Thorn was a member of the sublime Marine Girls, while Watt had issued several solo singles and also collaborated with Robert Wyatt. Everything but the Girl debuted in 1982 with a samba interpretation of Cole Porter's "Night and Day"; the single was a success on the U.K. independent charts, but the duo nonetheless went on hiatus as Thorn recorded a solo EP, A Distant Shore, while Watt checked in with the full-length North Marine Drive in 1983. EBTG soon reunited to record a cover of the Jam's "English Rose" for an NME sampler; the track so impressed former Jam frontman Paul Weller that he invited the duo to contribute to the 1984 LP Cafe Bleu, the debut from his new project, the Style Council.

Everything but the Girl's own beguiling 1984 debut, Eden, followed on the heels of the single "Each and Every One," a U.K. Top 40 hit. The jazz-pop confections of the group's early work gave way to shimmering jangle rock by the time of 1985's Love Not Money, while a subtle country influence crept into the mix for 1986's lush, orchestral Baby, the Stars Shine Bright. The beautifully spare Idlewild followed in 1988, spawning the single "I Don't Want to Talk About It," a poignant cover of a song by the late Crazy Horse guitarist Danny Whitten which became EBTG's biggest hit to date, landing at the number three spot on the British charts. Watt and Thorn traveled to Los Angeles to record 1990's slick, commercial The Language of Life, produced by Tommy LiPuma and featuring a guest appearance by jazz great Stan Getz.

After a return to pop textures with 1991's Worldwide, Everything but the Girl mounted a series of club performances which resulted in 1992's Acoustic, a spartan set of covers (including Elvis Costello's "Alison," Bruce Springsteen's "Tougher Than the Rest," and Mickey & Sylvia's "Love Is Strange") which presaged the coming ascendancy of the "Unplugged" concept. In the wake of the record's release, Watt fell prey to Churg-Strauss Syndrome, a rare auto-immune system disease which brought him to the brink of death; after a year in recovery, he wrote several new songs which the duo recorded for inclusion on Home Movies, a 1993 hits collection. In 1994, EBTG collaborated with trip-hop innovators Massive Attack on their LP Protection; Thorn's vocal turn highlighted the hit title track, and the cinematic Massive Attack sound clearly informed Everything but the Girl's own 1994 effort, Amplified Heart, another strong and eclectic outing featuring an appearance by guitar great Richard Thompson.

In 1995 the soulful single "Missing" was innovatively remixed by Todd Terry, and after first becoming a club sensation the track blossomed as a major international hit, reaching the number two position on the U.S. pop charts. More importantly, Terry's remix, combined with the lessons of the Massive Attack sessions, launched the duo into an entirely new -- and equally satisfying -- musical direction: with 1996's brilliant Walking Wounded, Everything but the Girl dove headfirst into electronica, crafting sophisticated, assured excursions into trip-hop and drum'n'bass. In 1999, the duo reappeared with Temperamental. Back to Mine was issued by Ultra in spring 2001. Everything But The Girl - Music on Google Play Everything But The Girl About the artist Everything but the Girl were an English musical duo, formed in Hull in 1982, consisting of lead singer and occasional guitarist Tracey Thorn and guitarist, keyboardist, producer and singer Ben Watt. Everything But The Girl have received eight gold, and two platinum album BPI Certifications in the UK, and one gold album RIAA Certification in the US.

They 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 US Billboard Hot 100 in 1995. They are currently inactive, although vocalist Tracey Thorn hinted that they may perform again someday. They have not performed publicly since 2000. Watt and Thorn are also a couple; they are very private about their relationship and personal life. For some time, it was not a publicised fact that they were a couple, or that they had married subsequently. 1 $9.49 Temperamental is the tenth and final album to date by British music duo Everything but the Girl. "Five Fathoms", "Temperamental", "Lullaby of Clubland", "Blame", and "The Future of the Future" were... 1 1 $9.49 Walking Wounded is a 1996 album by Everything but the Girl, their ninth studio release. It is their highest charting album to date, reaching number 4 in the UK and number 37 in the US. This was the... Amplified Heart is the eighth studio album by Everything but the Girl.

It was recorded and mixed in London during winter 1993/94. Photography was by Corinne Day. Primarily an acoustic-driven set, A... 1 1 $9.49 Acoustic is the seventh album by Everything but the Girl, released on 2 June 1992. The Worldwide & The Acoustic EP's were reissued together by Edsel Records as a 2-disc Deluxe Set in 2012. 1 1 $9.49 Worldwide is the sixth album by Everything but the Girl, released on 1 October 1991. The Worldwide & The Acoustic EP's were reissued together by Edsel Records as a 2-disc Deluxe Set in 2012. 1 1 $9.49 The Language of Life is the fifth album by Everything but the Girl, released on 5 February 1990. The cover shot was by Nick Knight. Tommy LiPuma had previously worked with artists like Miles Davis,... 1 1 $9.49 Idlewild is the fourth album by British music duo Everything but the Girl. It was released in 1988.

Idlewild was reissued in 2012 as a remastered 2-disc Deluxe Set by Edsel Records. 1 1 $9.49 Baby, the Stars Shine Bright is the third album by Everything but the Girl, released in 1986. Baby the Stars Shine Bright was reissued in 2012 as a remastered 2-disc Deluxe Set by Edsel Records. 1 1 $9.49 Love Not Money is the second album by Everything but the Girl, released in 1985. Love Not Money was reissued in 2012 as a remastered 2-disc Deluxe Set by Edsel Records. 1 1 $9.49 Eden is the debut album by Everything but the Girl, released in 1984. It contains their first UK Top 30 entry, the number 28 hit "Each and Every One". The cover design was by Tracey Thorn's former ... 1 Tracey Thorn 0 Backtracking, it is hard to find a decade recently where Tracey Thorn’s voice and songwriting has not been influential. Fresh out of school in the UK in the early 1980s, she formed the cult girl ba...

0 Ben Watt 0 Best known for his twenty years as songwriter-performer-producer with Tracey Thorn in alt-pop duo Everything But The Girl, Ben Watt is also an award-winning solo artist, a prize-nominated non-ficti... 0 The Style Council 0 The Style Council were an English band formed in 1983 by Paul Weller, the former singer, songwriter, and guitarist with the punk rock/new wave/mod revival band The Jam, and keyboardist Mick Talbot,... 0 Prefab Sprout 0 Prefab Sprout are an English pop band from Witton Gilbert, County Durham, England who rose to fame during the 1980s. Nine of their albums have reached the Top 40 in the UK Albums Chart, and one of ... 0 The Blow Monkeys 0 The Blow Monkeys are a British new wave/sophisti-pop band that formed in 1981. The first single, "Live Today Love Tomorrow" was released in 1982. They subsequently enjoyed a successful career with ...

0 The Beloved 0 The Beloved are an English electronic dance music group, best known for the singles "Sweet Harmony", "The Sun Rising", "Hello", "Your Love Takes Me Higher", and "Satellite". 0 Swing Out Sister 0 Swing Out Sister are an English pop group best known worldwide for the 1986 song "Breakout". Other hits include "Surrender", "Twilight World", "Waiting Game" and a remake of the Eugene Record soul ... 0 Lloyd Cole 0 Lloyd Cole is an English singer and songwriter, known for his role as lead singer of Lloyd Cole and the Commotions from 1984 to 1989, and for his subsequent solo work. 0 Aztec Camera 0 Aztec Camera were a Scottish new wave band formed by Roddy Frame, the group's singer, songwriter, and only consistent member. Formed in 1980, Aztec Camera released a total of six albums: High Land,... 0 China Crisis 0 China Crisis are an English pop/rock band. They were formed in 1979 in Kirkby, near Liverpool, Merseyside with a core of vocalist/keyboardist Gary Daly and guitarist Eddie Lundon.

China Crisis were... 0 Beth Orton 0 Elizabeth Caroline "Beth" Orton is an English singer-songwriter, known for her 'folktronica' sound, which mixes elements of folk and electronica. She was initially recognised for her collaborations... 0 Julia Fordham 0 Julia Fordham is a British singer-songwriter. Her professional career started in the early 1980s, under the name "Jules Fordham", as a backing singer for Mari Wilson and Kim Wilde, before signing a... 0 Soul II Soul 0 Soul II Soul are a British musical group formed in London in 1988. They are best known for their 1989 UK chart-topper and US Top 5 hit "Back to Life". They won two Grammy Awards, and have been nomi... 0 The Blue Nile 0 The Blue Nile is a musical group from Glasgow, Scotland. The group's early music was built heavily on synthesizers and electronic instrumentation and percussion, although later works featured guita...

0 Everything but the Girl | New Music And Songs | Everything but the Girl About Everything but the Girl Originating at the turn of the 1980s as a leader of the lite-jazz movement, Everything but the Girl became an unlikely success story more than a decade later, emerging at the vanguard of the fusion between pop and electronica. Founded in 1982 by Hull University students Tracey Thorn and Ben Watt, the duo took their name from a sign placed in the window of a local furniture shop, which claimed "for your bedroom needs, we sell everything but the girl." At the time of their formation, both vocalist Thorn and songwriter/multi-instrumentalist Watt were already signed independently to the Cherry Red label; Thorn was a member of the sublime Marine Girls, while Watt had issued several solo singles and also collaborated with Robert Wyatt. Everything but the Girl debuted in 1982 with a samba interpretation of Cole Porter's "Night and Day"; the single was a success on the U.K. independent charts, but the duo nonetheless went on hiatus as Thorn recorded a solo EP, A Distant Shore, while Watt checked in with the full-length North Marine Drive in 1983.

EBTG soon reunited to record a cover of the Jam's "English Rose" for an NME sampler; the track so impressed former Jam frontman Paul Weller that he invited the duo to contribute to the 1984 LP Cafe Bleu, the debut from his new project, the Style Council. Everything but the Girl's own beguiling 1984 debut, Eden, followed on the heels of the single "Each and Every One," a U.K. Top 40 hit. The jazz-pop confections of the group's early work gave way to shimmering jangle rock by the time of 1985's Love Not Money, while a subtle country influence crept into the mix for 1986's lush, orchestral Baby, the Stars Shine Bright. The beautifully spare Idlewild followed in 1988, spawning the single "I Don't Want to Talk About It," a poignant cover of a song by the late Crazy Horse guitarist Danny Whitten which became EBTG's biggest hit to date, landing at the number three spot on the British charts.

Watt and Thorn traveled to Los Angeles to record 1990's slick, commercial The Language of Life, produced by Tommy LiPuma and featuring a guest appearance by jazz great Stan Getz. After a return to pop textures with 1991's Worldwide, Everything but the Girl mounted a series of club performances which resulted in 1992's Acoustic, a spartan set of covers (including Elvis Costello's "Alison," Bruce Springsteen's "Tougher Than the Rest," and Mickey & Sylvia's "Love Is Strange") which presaged the coming ascendancy of the "Unplugged" concept. In the wake of the record's release, Watt fell prey to Churg-Strauss Syndrome, a rare auto-immune system disease which brought him to the brink of death; after a year in recovery, he wrote several new songs which the duo recorded for inclusion on Home Movies, a 1993 hits collection.

In 1994, EBTG collaborated with trip-hop innovators Massive Attack on their LP Protection; Thorn's vocal turn highlighted the hit title track, and the cinematic Massive Attack sound clearly informed Everything but the Girl's own 1994 effort, Amplified Heart, another strong and eclectic outing featuring an appearance by guitar great Richard Thompson. In 1995 the soulful single "Missing" was innovatively remixed by Todd Terry, and after first becoming a club sensation the track blossomed as a major international hit, reaching the number two position on the U.S. pop charts. More importantly, Terry's remix, combined with the lessons of the Massive Attack sessions, launched the duo into an entirely new -- and equally satisfying -- musical direction: with 1996's brilliant Walking Wounded, Everything but the Girl dove headfirst into electronica, crafting sophisticated, assured excursions into trip-hop and drum'n'bass. In 1999, the duo reappeared with Temperamental. Back to Mine was issued by Ultra in spring 2001.

~ Jason Ankeny, Rovi Everything But The Girl — Listen for free on Spotify Everything But The Girl Play on Spotify Originating at the turn of the 1980s as a leader of the lite-jazz movement, Everything but the Girl became an unlikely success story more than a decade later, emerging at the vanguard of the fusion between pop and electronica. Founded in 1982 by Hull University students Tracey Thorn and Ben Watt , the duo took their name from a sign placed in the window of a local furniture shop, which claimed "for your bedroom needs, we sell everything but the girl." At the time of their formation, both vocalist Thorn and songwriter/multi-instrumentalist Watt were already signed independently to the Cherry Red label; Thorn was a member of the sublime Marine Girls , while Watt had issued several solo singles and also collaborated with Robert Wyatt . Everything but the Girl debuted in 1982 with a samba interpretation of Cole Porter 's "Night and Day"; the single was a success on the U.K.

independent charts, but the duo nonetheless went on hiatus as Thorn recorded a solo EP, A Distant Shore, while Watt checked in with the full-length North Marine Drive in 1983. EBTG soon reunited to record a cover of the Jam 's "English Rose" for an NME sampler; the track so impressed former Jam frontman Paul Weller that he invited the duo to contribute to the 1984 LP Cafe Bleu, the debut from his new project, the Style Council . Everything but the Girl's own beguiling 1984 debut, Eden, followed on the heels of the single "Each and Every One," a U.K. Top 40 hit. The jazz-pop confections of the group's early work gave way to shimmering jangle rock by the time of 1985's Love Not Money, while a subtle country influence crept into the mix for 1986's lush, orchestral Baby, the Stars Shine Bright.

The beautifully spare Idlewild followed in 1988, spawning the single "I Don't Want to Talk About It," a poignant cover of a song by the late Crazy Horse guitarist Danny Whitten which became EBTG's biggest hit to date, landing at the number three spot on the British charts. Watt and Thorn traveled to Los Angeles to record 1990's slick, commercial The Language of Life, produced by Tommy LiPuma and featuring a guest appearance by jazz great Stan Getz . After a return to pop textures with 1991's Worldwide, Everything but the Girl mounted a series of club performances which resulted in 1992's Acoustic, a spartan set of covers (including Elvis Costello 's "Alison," Bruce Springsteen 's "Tougher Than the Rest," and Mickey & Sylvia 's "Love Is Strange") which presaged the coming ascendancy of the "Unplugged" concept.

In the wake of the record's release, Watt fell prey to Churg-Strauss Syndrome, a rare auto-immune system disease which brought him to the brink of death; after a year in recovery, he wrote several new songs which the duo recorded for inclusion on Home Movies, a 1993 hits collection. In 1994, EBTG collaborated with trip-hop innovators Massive Attack on their LP Protection; Thorn 's vocal turn highlighted the hit title track, and the cinematic Massive Attack sound clearly informed Everything but the Girl's own 1994 effort, Amplified Heart, another strong and eclectic outing featuring an appearance by guitar great Richard Thompson . In 1995 the soulful single "Missing" was innovatively remixed by Todd Terry , and after first becoming a club sensation the track blossomed as a major international hit, reaching the number two position on the U.S. pop charts.

More importantly, Terry 's remix, combined with the lessons of the Massive Attack sessions, launched the duo into an entirely new -- and equally satisfying -- musical direction: with 1996's brilliant Walking Wounded, Everything but the Girl dove headfirst into electronica, crafting sophisticated, assured excursions into trip-hop and drum'n'bass. In 1999, the duo reappeared with Temperamental. Back to Mine was issued by Ultra in spring 2001. ~ Jason Ankeny, Rovi Read More Show less

Question: Tracey Thorn and Ben Watt were which pop duo
Answer: Everything But The Girl