Eurythmics Sweet Dreams (Are Made Of This) recording equipment

(last updated: )

Instruments

Drum Machines/electronic drums:

• Movement MCS Drum Computer Mk. 1
• Oberheim DMX (‘Wrap It Up’ and probably ‘Somebody Told Me’)
• Simmons SDS-V (“Somebody Told Me” intro – not mentioned in interviews)

Sequencers:

• Roland CSQ-100
• EDP Wasp?
• EDP Spider?

Synthesizers:

• Roland SH-09
• Roland Juno-6
• Oberheim OB-X

Guitars:

• Gretsch Country Gentleman (e.g. ‘This City Never Sleeps’)

Studio equipment

Outboard effects & eq:

• B.E.L Electronics BC-3-8T 8-track noise reduction (below TEAC 80-8)
• Furman LC-2 limiter/compressor
• Roland Space Echo RE201 – Facebook photo shows the Roland Chorus Echo RE301
• Klark Teknik DN50 Spring reverb
• Lexicon Prime Time Model 93 delay

Miscellaneous equipment:

• 2 x Beyer M20 black microphones
• TEAC 144 4-track portastudio
• TEAC 80-8 8-track
• Revox B77 2-track
• Soundcraft Series 2 desk

Notes:

• The entire album was recorded on 8-track, with the exception of three tracks:   
• “The Walk” – cut on a friend’s 16-track recorder
• “Wrap It Up” and ‘Somebody Told Me” – both cut on 24-track at Wessex Studios while The Church studio was being built, though half of the 24 tracks were not used. “Wrap It Up” had some 8-track sequences which were transferred onto 24-track
• Note there is an inconsistency in the ‘Sweet Dreams’ Sound On Sound article published in 2018. In the article, Dave Stewart mentions using a Roland SH-101 on the album (particularly as the bass line for “The Walk”), whereas he acknowledged the Roland SH-09 in 1983/84 interviews. The SH-101 wasn’t released until later in 1982, which wasn’t long before the album’s release. And “The Walk” had already released in June 1982 as a standalone single, so the bass line couldn’t have been played on an SH-101. But it’s plausible that Stewart had a mix-up between both the SH-101 and SH-09 since the events had happened more than 30 years ago.

References:

https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=10156444822132851&id=31540677850

Various photos

gearslutz forum discussion on ‘Sweet Dreams’

Modern Recording & Music December 1983 issue

International Musician and Recording World July 1983 issue

Keyboard magazine December 1984 issue

One Two Testing February 1984 issues

CLASSIC TRACKS: Eurythmics ‘Sweet Dreams (Are Made Of This)’