Born on December 6: Ben Watt, the male half of Everything But The Girl

The son of Scottish jazzman Tommy Watt, Ben Watt never considered any other profession than music. Not much is known about his career before he met Tracey Thorn in 1982. After a discreet first single "Night and Day" for the Cherry Red label, their sophisticated pop tinged with jazz and Brazilian bossa found refuge between 1984 and 1994, on the Blanco Y Negro label for nine albums. During this period, our preference goes - in all subjectivity - towards "Eden" (1984), "Love No Money" (1985) and especially "Language of Life" (1990).

Although "Amplified Heart" in 1994 was very much in line with the band’s style, their career underwent a 180° turn with the worldwide success of "Missing". The track and its countless remixes are more suited to discotheques than jazz cabarets. The most famous version remains that of Todd Terry, the American house producer who also transformed songs by Annie Lennox ("Little Bird"), Björk ("Hyperballad"), Garbage ("Stupid Girl") and even Michael Jackson ("Stranger In Moscow").

Aficionados of the first hourhad a little trouble finding their bearings in the next two albums "Walking Wounded" (1996) and "Temperamental" (2000) with rhythms that could be described as atmospheric drum'n bass. The renewal of the contract with Todd Terry for a remix of "Wrong" certainly brought a new English Top 10 but without rediscovering the bewitching magic of "Missing". In the end, it's the more trip hop tracks such as "Single" that hold the attention. Recorded just after the birth of their twins, "Temperamental" (1999) continued to explore electro and syncopated rhythms. This was the last recording of Everything But The Girl before a break of nearly a quarter of a century and an unexpected return in 2023 with "Fuse", an alternation of acoustic ballads ("Run a Red Light") and electrons ("Forever").

During the duo's time off, Ben Watt did not sit idle. He gave us four albums including "Storm Damage" in 2020. He also participated in the series of mixes entitled "Buzzin' Fly" for the label of the same name that he runs. This was not a reference to Tim Buckley's song but rather sophisticated dance (or dynamic lounge) a bit in the line of the "Buddha Bar" compilations.

(Stéphane Soupart - Transl.: MH - Photo: © Etienne Tordoir)
Photo: Ben Watt in the bar of the Amigo Hotel in Brussels (Belgium) on September 1, 1984.