sting Archives - Vinyl From The Vault

The Police “Synchronicity”

sfilzen — Sat, 17 Jun 2023 11:28:54 +0000

The Police “Synchronicity” released 40 years ago today, June 17th, 1983. This record was the first Police LP that I was aware of in real-time, though it was their fifth and final release. It was also their most successful, hitting #1 in both the US and UK (and elsewhere). Its accolades include an induction into the Grammy Hall of Fame plus inclusion in the National Recording Registry (Library of Congress). My most vivid memories are the videos for the hit singles “Every Breath You Take” (#1 in the US and UK) and “Wrapped Around Your Finger” (#8 US, #7 UK) especially (I still have the bouncing slo-mo Sting whacking at rings of candlesticks burned in my brain) which I think MTV played pretty much nonstop in ’83. The single “King of Pain” (#3 US, #17 UK) has tinged memories of junior high art class: either the art teacher had the tape or the radio just played that song a lot because that’s the only song I remember hearing in class and it was junior high so life really sucked (but art class was pretty OK – the teacher was an “old hippie” hahaha she was probably in her 30’s and she had us do a lot of cool projects). “Synchroncity II” (#16 US, #17 UK) was the final single from Synchronicity (the title track was released as a single in Japan only) and it’s probably my favorite. It feels very wind-swept, gigantic and dark (the line “Many miles away something crawls from the slime at the bottom of a dark Scottish lake particularly).

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Sting “The Dream of the Blue Turtles”

sfilzen — Mon, 01 Jun 2020 20:37:15 +0000

Sting “The Dream of the Blue Turtles” released 35 years ago today, June 1st, 1985. I have mixed feeling about Sting’s first solo album post-Police breakup: on the one hand I obviously liked it (I bought this copy back in ‘85) but on the other hand I find Sting to be rather pretentious, if earnestly and mostly harmlessly so: on “Russians” (#16 US, #12 UK) Sting gives us a historical and current events lesson during the height of the Cold War to the rhythm of a funeral dirge (actually the theme is from Sergei Prokofiev). “Children’s Crusade” is an unabashed heart-tugger, complete with mournful sax solos, as he sings of the destruction of the WWI generation by war and modern youth by heroin. Sting also explores the plight of mine workers and the perils of modernity on “We Work the Black Seam.” So much consciousness-raising! Pivoting a bit, Sting goes on a jazz bender with “Shadows in the Rain” and pulls inspiration on “Moon Over Bourbon Street” (#44 UK) from Anne Rice’s Interview with a Vampire (which my friends and I voraciously devoured around this time in the mid-80s). He nods back to The Police during the fadeout on the light and summery “Love is the Seventh Wave” (“Every breath you take, every move you make, every cake you bake…”); that song went to #19 in the US (I’m not sure it charted in the UK) . The best track on the album, “Fortress Around Your Heart” (#8 US, #49 UK) is most reminiscent of The Police. Sting also released “If You Love Somebody Set Them Free” (#3 US, #26 UK) as a single.

The Dream of the Blue Turtles is, for good or bad, an accurate snapshot of mid-80′s pop music: the trend of blending world music flavors and musicians into Top 40 pop; So. Many. Saxophones; Cold War references, etc. But it resonated deeply with fans and the music industry: The Dream of the Blue Turtles went to #2 on the US Billboard charts, #3 in the UK and was nominated for four Grammy awards, including Album of the Year and Best Male Pop Vocal Performance.

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The Police “Outlandos d’Amour”

sfilzen — Fri, 02 Nov 2018 17:54:24 +0000

The Police “Outlandos d’Amour” released 40 years ago today, November 2nd, 1978. Outlandos d’Amour, The Police’s debut album, went to #6 on the UK album chart and to #23 in the US and is considered one of the best debut albums of all-time. It’s an interesting mix of post-punk power pop (“Next to You”, “Peanuts,” “Truth Hits Everybody”) and new-wave tinged reggae (“So Lonely” which Sting has stated was influenced by Bob Marley’s “No Woman, No Cry,” “Roxanne” and “Hole in My Life”). The more mellow reggae-inspired tracks became the singles – and the hits – from the LP, though in each case not upon initial release. “Roxanne,” when first released in April ‘78, didn’t do well but when re-released in ‘79 it went to #12 on the UK charts and became one of the band’s best known songs, eventually inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2008. The second single from Outlandos d’Amour “Can’t Stand Losing You” suffered the same fate as “Roxanne” upon its initial release in August ‘78 (though it did hit a respectable #42 spot). But after its re-release, also in ‘79, it shot to #2 in the UK. The final single, “So Lonely,” was first released on November 3rd ‘78 and did not chart at all but after the success of both “Roxanne” and “Can’t Stand Losing You,” The Police reissued “So Lonely” in February 1980 when it went to #6 in the UK.

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The Police “Zenyatta Mondatta”

sfilzen — Wed, 03 Oct 2018 14:39:28 +0000

The Police “Zenyatta Mondatta” released on this date, October 3rd, 1980. The Police really liked releasing their early stuff around Sting’s birthday, which was yesterday: their second album Regatta De Blanc was released on October 5th, 1979 and their fourth LP Ghost in the Machine came out on Sting’s birthday, October 2nd, in 1981. Zenyatta Mondatta, their third studio album, hit #1 in the UK and Australia and went to #5 in the US. So many strong and reggae-rhythmic tracks! Of course the two singles are great: “Don’t Stand So Close to Me” which went to #1 in the UK and #10 in the US (and won a Grammy for Best Rock Performance) and “De Do Do Do, De Da Da Da” which hit #5 in the UK and also #10 in the US. I still hear both of these songs played on (retro) radio today but many non-singles are still popular like “Driven to Tears,” “Canary in a Coalmine” and the instrumental – another Grammy winner – “Behind My Camel.” According to Wiki, Sting hated “Behind My Camel,” Andy Summers first solo-written song, and not only refused to play on it but said that “one day when I was in the studio, I found the tape lying on the table. So I took it around the back of the studio and actually buried it in the garden.” Also the title may refer to the fact that what’s behind a camel is a pile of shit. (Clearly the Grammy committee disagreed.)

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The Police “Ghost in the Machine”

sfilzen — Mon, 02 Oct 2017 15:58:35 +0000

The Police “Ghost in the Machine” released on this date, October 2nd, 1981. Today is also Sting’s birthday (b. Gordon Sumner 1951). I’m admittedly ambivalent about The Police, and even more so about Sting, but Ghost in the Machine has some really excellent and intelligent pop songs that instantly transport me back to elementary school (oddly, to the art room – I think the art teacher played the radio during class and the ominous “Invisible Sun” distinctly conjures up the smells of clay and ink; “Invisible Sun” was the first single released from the LP, though only in the UK so maybe the teacher had a tape player). I’m also fond of two other singles released: “Spirits in the Material World” has an weirdly syncopated reggae beat, little ghosts hopping upon string synths (a similar flavor appears on “Rehumanize Yourself” and “One World”) and “Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic,” its romantically sweet verses bursting into an infectiously gleeful chorus, is a superbly crafted pop song. “Secret Journey” was the fourth and final single released only in North America and is a bit more ethereal and lofty. Other tracks veer even more toward the self-conscious making of “art” (insert my subtle eye-roll here) and portend the more irritating aspects of Sting as artiste: “Demolition Man” goes off on a noodly jazz run and the employment of layered vocals combined with synth on “Darkness” makes the song claustrophobic (OK, so Stewart Copeland wrote “Darkness”).

Ghost in the Machine was The Police’s fourth studio release, reaching #1 in the UK and #2 in the US. Its title is from Arthur Koestler’s The Ghost in the Machine, a book about mind-body dualism published in 1967, and the album drew inspiration from the dichotomy and the resulting tendency toward self-destruction. It is listed on many best-of and greatest-ever lists and certainly deserves many of its accolades for its cohesive sound and use of newish synthesizer technology in its creation.

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Sting “The Dream of the Blue Turtles”

sfilzen — Wed, 01 Jun 2016 19:08:28 +0000

Sting “The Dream of the Blue Turtles” released on this date, June 1st, 1985. I have mixed feeling about today’s pull: on the one hand I obviously used to like it (I bought it in ‘85) but on the other hand I find Sting to be rather earnestly pretentious (if that’s possible): on “Russians” Sting gives us a historical and current events lesson to the rhythm of a funeral dirge (actually the theme is from Sergei Prokofiev). “Children’s Crusade” is an unabashed heart-tugger, complete with mournful sax solos, as he sings of the destruction of the WWI generation by war and modern youth by heroin. Sting also explores the plight of mine workers and the perils of modernity on “We Work the Black Seam.” So much consciousness-raising! Pivoting a bit, Sting goes on a N’Orleans jazz bender with “Shadows in the Rain” and pulls inspiration on “Moon Over Bourbon Street” from Anne Rice’s Interview with a Vampire (which my friends and I voraciously devoured around this time in the mid-80s. Vampires=always cool). He sorta name-checks himself during the fadeout on “Love is the Seventh Wave” (“Every breath you take, every move you make, every cake you bake…”), a subtle insistence that The Police didn’t really break up? Because the best track on the album, “Fortress Around Your Heart,” is most reminiscent of The Police.

The album really is a snapshot of mid-80′s pop music: the trend of blending world music flavors and musicians into the Top 40, So. Many. Saxophones., Cold War references, etc. It resonated though with fans and the music industry. The Dream of the Blue Turtles went to #2 on the US Billboard charts, #3 in the UK and was nominated for 4 Grammy awards, including Album of the Year and Best Male Pop Vocal Performance.

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