Origin Sunderland Name Peet Coombes | Role Guitarist | |
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Associated acts the TouristsThe CatchLongdancer Similar People | ||
Riding the Storm...Peet Coombes (cover by Brett)
Peter George "Peet" Coombes (1952–1997) was a British musician, guitarist and vocalist. He was the primary songwriter of the group The Tourists, the first charting band to feature guitarist Dave Stewart and singer Annie Lennox, later to gain greater fame as the duo Eurythmics.
Contents
- Riding the StormPeet Coombes cover by Brett
- So Good To Be Back Home Again Tourists COVER
- Musical history The Catch and The Tourists
- Post Tourists
- References
So Good To Be Back Home Again - Tourists COVER
Musical history, The Catch and The Tourists
Coombes was born in Bradford, England, but spent most of his early life in Sunderland, where he befriended Dave Stewart and a young singer named Annie Lennox. The three formed a post-disco band called The Catch, but only released one single, "Borderline/Black Blood" (1977) before morphing into another band titled The Tourists, who had several UK hits in the late 1970s as the new wave sound was just beginning in Europe. Virtually all of The Tourists' original songs were written by Coombes, with very occasional contributions from Lennox and Stewart. Lennox and Stewart also began dating during this period.
By the release of their third album in 1980, artistic differences were emerging between Stewart and Coombes, particularly as Stewart wanted to go more in the direction of the new synthpop sound. Even though Lennox and Stewart had broken up by this point, they still presented a united front. The band essentially dissolved, and Lennox and Stewart almost immediately formed the duo Eurythmics, who would catapult to stardom beginning in 1983.
Post-Tourists
Coombes and Singapore-born bassist Eddie Chin decided to form a group called Acid Drops but it was not successful, and never recorded. Coombes then moved to London and during most of the 1980s did not perform anywhere, effectively retiring from the music scene. However, from the years 1992 to 1995 with a renewed spirit he ended up in Cornwall with amateur producer and bassist Andy Brown and his wife Cathy with Dave Farghally as drummer, naming the band Diminished Responsibility. Though tapes exist of their work, it was never commercially released, as by late 1996 Coombes became ill and could no longer perform.
He died almost indigent in 1997 following years of alcohol and drug problems. Though he was an initial driving force in the careers of Stewart and Lennox, they were long estranged from Coombes and were not present at his funeral. Coombes was only 45 at the time of his death.
Coombes left two sons Joey and Robin Coombes who formed the hip hop group Task Force.