Eurythmics Perform "There Must Be an Angel (Playing with My Heart)" Live With Stevie Wonder

Stevie Wonder joins Eurythmics onstage for a beautiful rendition of the British duo's hit "There Must Be An Angel (Playing with My Heart)." The performance is from the 1999 Brit Awards. Stevie delivers a brilliant harmonica solo, and Annie Lennox's voice sounds amazing as usual. Stevie also contributes a few vocals himself and lets loose with a couple of nice runs. I really dig the song's arrangement here. It's more organic and less synth-driven than the original recording, with Dave Stewart playing the acoustic guitar instead of keyboards. The studio version is great too, but this live performance really brings out the soul of song in my opinion. 

"There Must an Angel (Playing with My Heart)" is from Eurythmics' fifth album Be Yourself Tonight (1985). The Motown-inspired love song was penned by Lennox and Stewart, who also produced it. The track has a great gospel-tinged bridge and an angelic chorus. And Stevie Wonder's soul-stirring harmonica solo adds to the track immensely. The song was big hit across the globe, charting in the top ten in a number of countries. It reached #1 in the UK, Ireland, Norway, Brazil and Poland. The song was also a modest hit in the U.S., climbing to #22 on the Billboard Hot 100.

The track has been covered by several musical artists, including Kylie Minogue, Brittany Murphy, Fantastic Plastic Machine and Jessica Pilnäs. Eurythmics also performed the song live with the late opera legend Luciano Pavarotti during the concert Pavarotti and Friends in 2000.



Related blog entry: Eurythmics' Sweet Dreams (Are Made Of This): New Wave Soul