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Cover of Revenge by Eurythmics
Cover: Revenge

Song · Eurythmics

“Missionary Man” by Eurythmics

From the album Revenge (1986)

“Missionary Man” by Eurythmics appears on 24 radio countdowns from 8 stations between 1986 and 2021. It was first released in 1986 on the album Revenge. Its best result is #22 on the 91X Top 91 Songs of 1986. In the combined RockLists rankings it is the #32 alternative song of 1986, #894 alternative song of all time and #293 of the '80s.

24countdowns
8stations
#22best position
0#1 finishes
0top 10 finishes
1986–2021years charted

Watch

Eurythmics, Annie Lennox, Dave Stewart - Missionary Man (Official Video)

Video from YouTube (EurythmicsVEVO). Pressing play loads YouTube's player. Watch on YouTube

"Missionary Man" came off Revenge, Eurythmics' fifth album, in the summer of 1986, and it finds Annie Lennox and Dave Stewart getting down and dirty. Stewart produced it and plays guitar, Clem Burke pounds the drums, Jannick Top holds down the bass and Pat Seymour fills in keyboards, but the scene-stealers are Jimmy Zavala's wailing harmonica and Joniece Jamison's backing vocals, egging Lennox on as she preaches up a storm.

America took to it harder than Britain did. It was the first US single from the album, reached 14 on the Hot 100 and went all the way to number one on the Album Rock Tracks chart, the only time Eurythmics got there. It also won them a Grammy for Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal, and the video, all over MTV, picked up five nominations at the 1987 MTV Video Music Awards.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.

RockLists rankings

Alternative & Modern Rock

Indie & Adult Alternative

All Rock Formats

Year-end countdowns

Year#StationCountdownof
1986 63 KROQ Los Angeles, CA KROQ Top 106.7 Songs of 1986 107
1986 22 91X San Diego, CA / Tijuana 91X Top 91 Songs of 1986 90

All-time and decade countdowns

Year#StationCountdownof
1989 127 91X 91X Top 191 Songs of the 1980s (1989) 191
1992 388 KROQ KROQ Flashback 500 (Memorial Day 1992) 500
1994 378 Live 105 Live 105 Revolutionary 500 (July 1994) 500
1996 202 Q101 Q101 Top 500 Songs of All-Time (1996) 500
1999 935 107.7 The End The End Top 1077 Songs of All-Time (December 1999) 1077
1999 884 CD101 CD101 Top 2000 Songs of All-Time (December 1999) 2000
2000 935 CD101 CD101 Top 2001 Songs of All-Time (December 2000) 2001
2001 941 CD101 CD101 Top 2002 Songs of All-Time (December 2001) 2002
2002 941 CD101 CD101 Top 2003 Songs of All-Time (December 2002) 2003
2002 512 Fred (XM 44) Fred XM Top 2002 Songs of All-Time (July 2002) 2002
2003 926 CD101 CD101 Top 2004 Songs of All-Time (December 2003) 2004
2003 414 Fred (XM 44) Fred XM Top 2044 Songs of All-Time (July 2003) 2044
2004 926 CD101 CD101 Top 2005 Songs of All-Time (December 2004) 2005
2005 925 CD101 CD101 Top 2006 Songs of All-Time (December 2005) 1994
2007 904 CD101 CD101 Top 2008 Songs of All-Time (December 2007) 2008
2008 858 CD101 CD101 Top 2009 Songs of All-Time (December 2008) 2009
2009 872 CD101 CD101 Top 2010 Songs of All-Time (December 2009) 2010
2010 904 CD101 CD101 Top 2011 Songs of All-Time (December 2010) 2011
2011 930 CD101 CD101 Top 2012 Songs of All-Time (December 2011) 2011
2013 961 CD101 CD101 Top 2013 Songs of All-Time (December 2013) 2012
2014 967 CD101 CD101 Top 2014 Songs of All-Time (2014) 2013
2021 671 90.9 The Bridge 90.9 The Bridge Top 909 Songs of the '80s 909

Charting alongside it in 1986

Best songs of 1986 →
  1. 1PanicThe Smiths
  2. 2AskThe Smiths
  3. 3Bigmouth Strikes AgainThe Smiths
  4. 4SledgehammerPeter Gabriel
  5. 5Wild Wild LifeTalking Heads
  6. 6Don't Get Me WrongThe Pretenders

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