Dave Stewart - Founder of Eurythmics and Platinum Weird

By: Alex Lang

Stewart made a name for himself when he teamed up with Annie Lennox to form The Eurythzmics. After breaking up with Lennox both romantically and musically, Stewart has helped in the fight against AIDS in Africa while producing and writing music.


It seems life has gone full-circle for Dave Stewart.

Stewart made a name for himself when he teamed up with Annie Lennox to form The Eurythzmics. After breaking up with Lennox both romantically and musically, Stewart has helped in the fight against AIDS in Africa while producing and writing music.

But, life is cyclical and it is no different for Stewart who has teamed up with Kara DioGuardi to form a new male-female duo, Platinum Weird.

DioGuardi has become famous in her own right with numerous songs topping the pop charts. Everybody has heard her songs, but nobody realizes they are hers. DioGuardi is the writer behind some of pop’s biggest hits. Some of her songs most recently on the charts are, “Walk Away” performed by Kelly Clarkson, “Rich Girl” sung by Gwen Stefani and “L.O.V.E” preformed by Ashley Simpson.

Stewart said the two met while writing songs for another artist and after a half-dozen songs they knew they had something special.

“We couldn’t stop writing what we wanted, and after about six songs it became apparent and said, ‘Oh my God, we’re a band.’ ”

“We agreed on pretty much everything,” the daughter of U.S. congressman Joseph DioGuardi said. “I never didn’t like something he suggested and he was always open to what I was suggesting. So it was a really good collaborative effort.”

The duo then decided to take the name Platinum Weird and a unique marketing approach.

Stewart and DioGuardi called on their iconic friends to create a mockumentary for Platinum Weird. The mockumentary has been airing on VH1 Classic and is available through iTunes.

The duo created the back-story that the band has been around and making music since the 1970s. In the movie Mick Jagger said “Platinum Weird is the most famous band no one has ever heard of,” and Lindsay Lohan comments on her vintage Platinum Weird t-shirt.

When he called his music friends, Stewart said most were eager to appear in the mockumentary because they all have a similar sense of humor. He added he wanted to do the mockumentary to introduce the band because he was tired of the “conveyer belt” way music is made and marketed.

“I didn’t like going along the same path as everybody else,” the 54-year-old singer said. “It was an unusual way to introduce the band, but it seems to have worked in some ways.”

“I think ultimately what will make people connect with the band is not the back-story, but the music,” DioGuardi said. “It’s about the records.”

Now the group is preparing for the reaction to the records as they plan on releasing their first album Sept. 19, Stewart said. He described the duo’s music as melancholy and the songs are about the journey of life and “the light and dark we all have.”

Even though many of the song are about the dark time, Stewart said he hopes listeners can take a positive message from the songs.

“There is an element of hope, they are kind of uplifting,” he said.

Stewart said the duo is also finalizing plans for a tour. He didn’t have any details on the tour because it is still being worked on by the their agent.

“If you are someone who loves big melodies and melancholy, then you will probably buy it,” the Englishman said. “If you buy it then you will want to see us live … Playing live, I think, is my favorite thing.”

After listening to the duo’s single “Will You Be Around,” which is available through their Web site, it became easy to draw comparisons between Platinum Weird and the Eurythmics. DioGuardi’s vocals are eerily similar to Lennox’s, a little raspy, but very powerful.

However, Stewart defends the differences between the two female singers.

Stewart said working with DioGuardi is comparable to working with Annie Lennox because both are “intense” and “gifted in writing and singing,” but said, “It’s completely different personalities.”

“They are completely different,” Stewart said. “I was living with Annie before we began to write music. Where as Kara and I have always had this really great friendship, from the very beginning.”

And with the male-female duo preparing for the album’s release, the cycle is now complete for Dave Stewart.

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