The Dream of the Blue Turtles
| The Dream of the Blue Turtles | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Studio album by Sting | ||||
|
Publication |
June 1, 1985 |
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| Label (s) | A&M Records | |||
|
Format (s) |
LP, CD |
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|
pop |
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Title (number) |
10 |
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|
running time |
41:40 |
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|
Sting, Peter Smith |
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|
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The Dream of the Blue Turtles is the first music album by the British singer Sting .
history
The recordings for The Dream of the Blue Turtles took place from November 1984 to April 1985. Sting's band The Police had ended the collaboration a year earlier, but without announcing an official separation. With his first album, Sting broke new musical paths. In Eddy Grant's studio he met the jazz musicians from Wynton Marsalis' band and with them jazz made its way into Sting's pop music. The most important musicians for Sting were the drummer Omar Hakim , the jazz pianist Kenny Kirkland and Wynton's brother Branford Marsalis on saxophone. These three musicians shaped the sound of Sting for the next few years and albums. Within a year, the album achieved a sales success that was awarded 3 platinum records. In Germany the album reached the 4th place in the album charts, in the USA 2nd place. Film director Michael Apted watched and filmed some of the recording sessions and the tour that followed. The film and a live album were released under the title Bring on the Night .
Track list
All the pieces were written by Sting.
- If You Love Somebody Set Them Free - 4:14
- Love Is the Seventh Wave - 3:30
- Russians - 3:57
- Children's Crusade - 5:00
- Shadows in the Rain - 4:56
- We Work the Black Seam - 5:40
- Consider Me Gone - 4:21
- The Dream of the Blue Turtles - 1:15
- Moon over Bourbon Street - 3:59
- Fortress Around Your Heart - 4:48
occupation
- Sting - vocals , guitar , bass
- Omar Hakim - drums
- Darryl Jones - bass
- Kenny Kirkland - keyboard
- Branford Marsalis - saxophone
- Dollette McDonald - backing vocals
- Janice Pendarvis - background vocals
Pieces
If You Love Somebody Set Them Free
The opening song of the album If You Love Somebody Set Them Free was also the first single in May 1985 that was released from the album. The single had average success in Europe, but climbed to 3rd place on the Billboard charts in the US .
Russians
Russians is a song that addresses the fears in the final phase of the Cold War . The focus is on the arms race between the USA and the Soviet Union. He expresses the hope of averting a nuclear war between the two great powers with the lines I hope the Russians love their children too . Sting's composition includes excerpts from Sergei Prokofiev's orchestral suite Lieutenant Kishe from 1934.
The song was released as a single in November 1985. It became the most successful single from this album in Germany and reached fourth place in the charts.
Moon over Bourbon Street
Moon over Bourbon Street was inspired by Anne Rice 's novel Interview with the Vampire , according to Sting . The melody follows the Autumn Leaves jazz standard .
Sales figures and awards
| Country / Region | Award | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Awards for music sales (country / region, Award, Sales) |
||
 Germany (BVMI)
|
 platinum
|
500,000 |
 France (SNEP)
|
platinum
|
300,000 |
 Hong Kong (IFPI / HKRIA)
|
 gold
|
10,000 |
 Canada (MC)
|
platinum
|
100,000 |
 New Zealand (RMNZ)
|
platinum
|
15,000 |
 Spain (Promusicae)
|
gold
|
50,000 |
 United States (RIAA)
|
3 × platinum
|
3,000,000 |
 United Kingdom (BPI)
|
2 × platinum
|
600,000 |
| All in all |
2 × gold 9 × platinum |
4,585,000 |
Main article: Sting / Awards for Music Sales
Web links and sources
- The Dream of the Blue Turtles on Allmusic (English)
- Analysis of the piece by: Michael Custodis , chapter: Sting as a songwriter between Prokofiev, Eisler, Bach and Dowland , in: Classical Music Today. A search for clues in rock music. transcript-Verlag Bielefeld 2009, ISBN 978-3-8376-1249-3 (excerpts from googlebooks ).
- Yvonne Wasserloos: Russians . In: Songlexikon , accessed on December 17, 2019