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The Dream of the Blue Turtles

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Untitled
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic[2]
Chicago Tribune[3]
Los Angeles Times(Positive)[4]
Rolling Stone[5]
Robert Christgau(C+)[6]

The Dream of the Blue Turtles is the first solo album by British pop singer-songwriter Sting, released in the United States on 1 June 1985, a year after The Police had unofficially disbanded. The album managed to reach number 3 on the UK Albums Chart.[7] It was kept off number one in the week of its release by Marillion's Misplaced Childhood and Bruce Springsteen's Born in the USA occupying the top two places. However, in the United States, the album reached number two on the Billboard 200.

It includes Sting's first hit after The Police (his first solo hit, "Spread a Little Happiness", was recorded while still a member of the Police), "If You Love Somebody Set Them Free". Though the song reached number 3 in the US, it was a relative flop in the UK, where the album's track "Russians" (about Cold War nuclear anxieties, which had peaked in the 1980s) proved more popular.

In the US the album spawned four successful singles "If You Love Somebody Set Them Free", "Fortress Around Your Heart", "Russians", and "Love Is the Seventh Wave".

The movie Bring on the Night documents some of the recording work that produced this album, as well as the subsequent tour.

The album earned Grammy nominations for Album of the Year, Best Male Pop Vocal Performance, Best Jazz Instrumental Performance, and Best Engineered Recording.

The album is named after a dream of Sting's.[8]

Songs

The songs include "Children's Crusade" (paralleling the destruction of the younger generation in World War I to the devastation brought about by heroin addiction in modern-day London); the original uptempo arrangement of The Police song "Shadows in the Rain"; "We Work the Black Seam" (about the UK miners' strike of 1984–85); and "Moon over Bourbon Street", a song inspired by Anne Rice's novel Interview with the Vampire.[9]

Track listing

All tracks are written by Sting, except where noted

Side one
No.TitleLength
1."If You Love Somebody Set Them Free"4:14
2."Love Is the Seventh Wave"3:30
3."Russians" (Prokofiev, Sting)3:57
4."Children's Crusade"5:00
5."Shadows in the Rain"4:56
Side two
No.TitleLength
6."We Work the Black Seam"5:40
7."Consider Me Gone"4:21
8."The Dream of the Blue Turtles"1:15
9."Moon over Bourbon Street"3:59
10."Fortress Around Your Heart"4:39

B-sides

  • "Another Day" - 3:54
  • "Gabriel's Message" - 2:15

Singles

  • "If You Love Somebody Set Them Free" (1985) #3 US Hot 100, #26 UK Singles Chart
  • "Russians" (1985) #16 US Hot 100, #12 UK Singles Chart
  • "Fortress Around Your Heart" (1985) #8 US Hot 100, #49 UK Singles Chart
  • "Love Is the Seventh Wave" (1985) #17 US Hot 100, #41 UK Singles Chart
  • "Moon over Bourbon Street" (1986) #44 UK Singles Chart[7] - B-side of "The Ballad of Mack the Knife"

Personnel

Additional personnel

  • Pete Smith – additional background vocals
  • Danny Quatrochi – additional background vocals, synclavier
  • Elliot Jones – additional background vocals
  • Jane Alexander – additional background vocals
  • Vic Garbarini – additional background vocals
  • The Nannies Chorus – additional background vocals
  • Rosemary Purt – additional background vocals
  • Stephanie Crewdson – additional background vocals
  • Joe Sumner – additional background vocals
  • Kate Sumner – additional background vocals
  • Michael Sumner – additional background vocals
  • Pamela Quinlan – additional background vocals
  • Eddy Grant – congas (track 7)
  • Frank Opolko – trombone (track 2)
  • Robert Ashworth – additional guitar

Production details

  • Engineers - Pete Smith and Jim Scott
  • Producers - Pete Smith and Sting
  • Photography - Max Vadukul and Danny Quatrochi
  • Art direction and design - Michael Ross and Richard Frankel
  • Recorded at Blue Wave Studios, St. Philip, Barbados and Le Studio, Morin Heights, Quebec

Accolades

Grammy Awards

Year Nominee / work Award Result
1986 The Dream of the Blue Turtles Album of the Year[10] Nominated
Best Pop Vocal Performance, Male[11] Nominated

Certifications

Region Certification Certified units/sales
Canada (Music Canada)[12] Platinum 100,000^
France (SNEP)[14] Platinum 551,100[13]
Germany (BVMI)[15] Platinum 500,000^
Spain (PROMUSICAE)[16] Gold 50,000^
United Kingdom (BPI)[17] 2× Platinum 600,000^
United States (RIAA)[18] 3× Platinum 3,000,000^

^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

Charts

Decade-end charts

Chart (1980–89) Position
Australian Albums Chart[19] 32

References

  1. ^ Pareles, John (17 June 1997). "The Dream of the Blue Turtles". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 24 June 2014.
  2. ^ https://www.allmusic.com/album/r19159
  3. ^ Kot, Greg (7 March 1993). "Feeling A Sting". chicagotribune.com. Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 1 October 2011. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  4. ^ Damsker, Matt (16 June 1985). "A Generous Sting Sets Himself Free". articles.latimes.com. Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 18 October 2011. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  5. ^ Pareles, Jon (17 June 1997). "The Dream Of The Blue Turtles". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on 7 November 2007. Retrieved 29 May 2012. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help); Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  6. ^ Sting profile by Robert Christgau
  7. ^ a b Sting in the UK Charts, The Official Charts.
  8. ^ "Sting: The Dream of the Blue Turtles". Retrieved 2 January 2012. The title of the album came from a dream that woke me up on my first night in Barbados. I dreamed I was sitting in the walled garden behind my house in Hampstead, under a lilac tree on a well manicured lawn, surrounded by beautiful rosebushes. Suddenly the bricks from the wall exploded into the garden and I turned to see the head of an enormous turtle emerging from the darkness, followed by four or five others. They were not only the size of a man, they were also blue and had an air of being immensely cool, like hepcats, insouciant and fearless. They didn't harm me but with an almost casual violence commenced to destroy my genteel English garden, digging up the lawn with their claws, chomping at the rosebushes, bulldozing the lilac tree. Total mayhem. I woke up to the sound of Branford in the room upstairs, riffing wildly on his tenor sax, followed by his unmistakeable laughter.
  9. ^ "STING: Moon over Bourbon Street, 12". Retrieved 17 September 2012. That was inspired by a book by Ann Rice, called 'Interview With The Vampire', a beautiful book about this vampire which is a vampire by accident. He's immortal and he has to kill people to live, but he's been left with his conscience intact. He's this wonderful, poignant soul who has to do evil, yet wants to stop. Once again, it's the duality which interested me.
  10. ^ "GRAMMYs' Best Albums 1980–1989". grammy.org. Retrieved 1 November 2011.
  11. ^ "Picking The Grammy Nominees Of 1986". Los Angeles Times. 5 January 1986. Retrieved 1 November 2011.
  12. ^ "Canadian album certifications – Sting – The Dream of the Blue Turtles". Music Canada.
  13. ^ "Les Albums Platine". infodisc.fr (in French). SNEP. Retrieved 31 August 2011.
  14. ^ "French album certifications – Sting – The Dream of the Blue Turtles" (in French). Syndicat National de l'Édition Phonographique.
  15. ^ "Gold-/Platin-Datenbank (Sting; 'The Dream of the Blue Turtles')" (in German). Bundesverband Musikindustrie.
  16. ^ "Solo Exitos 1959-2002 Ano A Ano: Certificados 1979-1990". Solo Exitos 1959-2002 Ano A Ano.
  17. ^ "British album certifications – Sting – The Dream of the Blue Turtles". British Phonographic Industry. Select albums in the Format field. Select Platinum in the Certification field. Type The Dream of the Blue Turtles in the "Search BPI Awards" field and then press Enter.
  18. ^ "American album certifications – Sting – The Dream of the Blue Turtles". Recording Industry Association of America.
  19. ^ a b c d Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992. St Ives, NSW: Australian Chart Book. ISBN 0-646-11917-6. {{cite book}}: |access-date= requires |url= (help)
  20. ^ "austriancharts.at Sting - The Dream of the Blue Turtles" (ASP). Hung Medien (in German). Retrieved 21 October 2011.
  21. ^ Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved 2011-10-20
  22. ^ "dutchcharts.nl Sting - The Dream of the Blue Turtles" (ASP). Hung Medien. MegaCharts. Retrieved 12 September 2011.
  23. ^ "InfoDisc : Tous les Albums classés par Artiste > Choisir Un Artiste Dans la Liste" (in French). infodisc.fr. Retrieved 12 September 2011.
  24. ^ a b "Hit Parade Italia - Gli album più venduti del 1985" (in Italian). hitparadeitalia.it. Retrieved 12 October 2011.
  25. ^ a b Oricon Album Chart Book: Complete Edition 1970-2005. Roppongi, Tokyo: Oricon Entertainment. 2006. ISBN 4-87131-077-9. {{cite book}}: |access-date= requires |url= (help)
  26. ^ "charts.org.nz Sting - The Dream of the Blue Turtles" (ASP). Hung Medien. Recording Industry Association of New Zealand. Retrieved 21 October 2011.
  27. ^ "norwegiancharts.com Sting - The Dream of the Blue Turtles" (ASP). Hung Medien. VG-lista. Retrieved 21 October 2011.
  28. ^ "swedishcharts.com Sting - The Dream of the Blue Turtles" (ASP) (in Swedish). Retrieved 21 October 2011.
  29. ^ "Sting - The Dream of the Blue Turtles - hitparade.ch" (ASP). Hung Medien (in German). Swiss Music Charts. Retrieved 21 October 2011.
  30. ^ "Chart Stats - Sting - The Dream of the Blue Turtles". UK Albums Chart. Archived from the original (PHP) on 21 July 2012. Retrieved 21 October 2011. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  31. ^ "allmusic ((( The Dream of the Blue Turtles > Charts & Awards > Billboard Albums )))". allmusic.com. Retrieved 14 September 2011.
  32. ^ "Album Search: Sting" (in German). Media Control. Retrieved 12 September 2011.
  33. ^ "RPM Top 100 Albums of 1985". RPM. Retrieved 3 October 2011. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  34. ^ "Les Albums (CD) de 1985 par InfoDisc" (PHP) (in French). infodisc.fr. Retrieved 29 January 2012.
  35. ^ "Hitparade.ch - Schweizer Jahreshitparade 1988". Hung Medien. Retrieved 17 October 2011.
  36. ^ a b "Complete UK Year-End Album Charts". Retrieved 12 September 2011.
  37. ^ "Billboard.BIZ - Year-end Charts - Billboard 200 - 1985". billboard.biz. Retrieved 24 October 2011.
  38. ^ "RPM Top 100 Albums of 1986". RPM. Retrieved 3 October 2011. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  39. ^ "Billboard.BIZ - Year-end Charts - Billboard 200 - 1986". billboard.biz. Retrieved 24 October 2011.
Preceded by Dutch Mega Chart number-one album
21 September 1985 		Succeeded by
Ik zal je nooit vergeten by Koos Alberts
Preceded by Australian Kent Music Report number-one album
21 April - 11 May 1986 		Succeeded by
1986 Way to Go by Various artists
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