The Dream of the Blue Turtles

The Dream of the Blue Turtles
Studio album by Sting
Released	1 June 1985
Recorded	1984 – 1985
Genre	New Wave, Jazz, Soft rock, Jazz pop
Length	41:40
Label	A&M 75021-3750-2
Producer	Sting, Peter Smith
Sting chronology
— The Dream of the Blue Turtles (1985) Bring on the Night (1986)

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[1]
Chicago Tribune	[2]
Los Angeles Times	(Positive)[3]
Rolling Stone	[4]
Robert Christgau	(C+) [5]

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. Though less successful than any of The Police's albums, it managed to reach number 3 in the UK Album Charts.^[6]

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 USA, 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.

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

The album is named after a dream of Sting's.^{[citation needed]}

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 (1984-1985)); and "Moon over Bourbon Street", a song inspired by Anne Rice's novel Interview with the Vampire.

Track listing

All songs written by Sting except as noted.

Side one

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

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" – 4:48

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^[6]

Personnel

• Sting – lead vocals, guitar, double bass on "Moon Over Bourbon Street"
• Omar Hakim – drums
• Darryl Jones – bass guitar
• Kenny Kirkland – keyboards
• Branford Marsalis – saxophones, miscellaneous percussion
• Dollette McDonald - backing vocals
• Janice Pendarvis - backing vocals

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
• Eddy Grant - congas (track 7)
• Frank Opolko - trombone (track 2)

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	Nominated work	Award	Result
1986	The Dream of the Blue Turtles	Album of the Year[7]	Nominated
		Best Pop Vocal Performance - Male[8]	Nominated

Charts

Chart positions Chart (1985/86) Peak position Australian Kent Music Report[9] 1 Austrian Albums Chart[10] 13 Canadian Albums Chart[11] 4 Dutch Albums Chart[12] 1 French Albums Chart[13] 4 Italian Albums Chart[14] 1 Japanese Oricon LP Chart[15] 9 New Zealand Albums Chart[16] 4 Norwegian VG-lista Albums Chart[17] 4 Swedish Albums Chart[18] 5 Swiss Albums Chart[19] 6 UK Albums Chart[20] 3 U.S. Billboard 200 [21] 2 West German Albums Chart[22] 4 Certifications Region Certification Sales/shipments Canada (Music Canada)[23] Platinum 100,000^ France (SNEP)[24] Platinum 551,100[25] Germany (BVMI)[26] Platinum 500,000^ United Kingdom (BPI)[27] 2× Platinum 600,000^ United States (RIAA)[28] 3× Platinum 3,000,000^ ^shipments figures based on certification alone xunspecified figures based on certification alone

Year-end charts Chart (1985) Position Australian Albums Chart[9] 18 Canadian Albums Chart [29] 12 Italian Albums Chart[14] 2 Swiss Albums Chart[30] 27 UK Albums Chart[31] 37 U.S. Billboard 200[32] 50 Chart (1986) Position Australian Albums Chart[9] 7 Canadian Albums Chart [33] 71 UK Albums Chart[31] 41 U.S. Billboard 200[34] 33 Decade-end charts Chart (1980-89) Position Australian Albums Chart[9] 32

References

1. ^ http://www.allmusic.com/album/r19159
2. ^ Kot, Greg (1993-03-07). "Feeling A Sting". chicagotribune.com. Chicago Tribune. http://articles.chicagotribune.com/1993-03-07/entertainment/9303188007_1_star-blue-turtles-moon-over-bourbon-street. Retrieved 2011-10-01. 
3. ^ Damsker, Matt (1985-06-16). "A Generous Sting Sets Himself Free". articles.latimes.com. Los Angeles Times. http://articles.latimes.com/1985-06-16/entertainment/ca-2662_1_solo-album. Retrieved 2011-10-18. 
4. ^ Review at Rolling Stone
5. ^ Sting profile by Robert Christgau
6. ^ ^{a b} Sting in the UK Charts, The Official Charts.
7. ^ "GRAMMYs' Best Albums 1980–1989". grammy.org. http://www.grammy.org/recording-academy/news/grammys-best-albums-1. Retrieved 2011-11-01. 
8. ^ "Picking The Grammy Nominees Of 1986". Los Angeles Times. 1986-01-05. http://articles.latimes.com/1986-01-05/entertainment/ca-24485_1_grammy-nominees/2. Retrieved 2011-11-01. 
9. ^ ^{a b c d} Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992. St Ives, NSW: Australian Chart Book. ISBN 0646119176. 
10. ^ "austriancharts.at Sting - The Dream of the Blue Turtles" (in German) (ASP). Hung Medien. http://austriancharts.at/showitem.asp?interpret=Sting&titel=The+Dream+Of+The+Blue+Turtles&cat=a. Retrieved 2011-10-21. 
11. ^ Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved 2011-10-20
12. ^ "dutchcharts.nl Sting - The Dream of the Blue Turtles" (ASP). Hung Medien. MegaCharts. http://dutchcharts.nl/showitem.asp?interpret=Sting&titel=The+Dream+Of+The+Blue+Turtles&cat=a. Retrieved 2011-09-12. 
13. ^ "InfoDisc : Tous les Albums classés par Artiste > Choisir Un Artiste Dans la Liste" (in French). infodisc.fr. http://infodisc.fr/Album_S.php. Retrieved 2011-09-12. 
14. ^ ^{a b} "Hit Parade Italia - Gli album più venduti del 1985" (in Italian). hitparadeitalia.it. http://www.hitparadeitalia.it/hp_yenda/lpe1985.htm. Retrieved 2011-10-12. 
15. ^ Oricon Album Chart Book: Complete Edition 1970-2005. Roppongi, Tokyo: Oricon Entertainment. 2006. ISBN 4871310779. 
16. ^ "charts.org.nz Sting - The Dream of the Blue Turtles" (ASP). Hung Medien. Recording Industry Association of New Zealand. http://charts.org.nz/showitem.asp?interpret=Sting&titel=The+Dream+Of+The+Blue+Turtles&cat=a. Retrieved 2011-10-21. 
17. ^ "norwegiancharts.com Sting - The Dream of the Blue Turtles" (ASP). Hung Medien. VG-lista. http://norwegiancharts.com/showitem.asp?interpret=Sting&titel=The+Dream+Of+The+Blue+Turtles&cat=a. Retrieved 2011-10-21. 
18. ^ "swedishcharts.com Sting - The Dream of the Blue Turtles" (in Swedish) (ASP). http://swedishcharts.com/showitem.asp?interpret=Sting&titel=The+Dream+Of+The+Blue+Turtles&cat=a. Retrieved 2011-10-21. 
19. ^ "Sting - The Dream of the Blue Turtles - hitparade.ch" (in German) (ASP). Hung Medien. Swiss Music Charts. http://hitparade.ch/showitem.asp?interpret=Sting&titel=The+Dream+Of+The+Blue+Turtles&cat=a. Retrieved 2011-10-21. 
20. ^ "Chart Stats - Sting - The Dream of the Blue Turtles" (PHP). UK Albums Chart. http://www.chartstats.com/release.php?release=44052. Retrieved 2011-10-21. 
21. ^ "allmusic ((( The Dream of the Blue Turtles > Charts & Awards > Billboard Albums )))". allmusic.com. http://www.allmusic.com/album/r19159/charts-awards. Retrieved 2011-09-14. 
22. ^ "Album Search: Sting" (in German). Media Control. http://www.charts.de/album.asp?artist=Sting&title=The+Dream+Of+The+Blue+Turtles&cat=a&country=de. Retrieved 2011-09-12. 
23. ^ "Canadian album certifications – Sting – The Dream of the Blue Turtles". Music Canada. http://www.musiccanada.com/GPSearchResult.aspx?st=The+Dream+of+the+Blue+Turtles&sa=Sting&smt=0. 
24. ^ "French album certifications – Sting – The Dream of the Blue Turtles" (in French). Syndicat National de l'Édition Phonographique. http://www.disqueenfrance.com/fr/pag-259165-CERTIFICATIONS.html&type=12. 
25. ^ "Les Albums Platine" (in French). infodisc.fr. SNEP. http://www.infodisc.fr/CDCertif_P.php?debut=800. Retrieved 2011-08-31. 
26. ^ "German album certifications – Sting – The Dream of the Blue Turtles" (in German). Bundesverband Musikindustrie. http://www.musikindustrie.de/gold_platin_datenbank/?action=suche&strTitel=The+Dream+of+the+Blue+Turtles&strInterpret=Sting&strTtArt=alben&strAwards=checked. 
27. ^ "British album certifications – Sting – The Dream of the Blue Turtles". British Phonographic Industry. http://www.bpi.co.uk/certifiedawards/search.aspx.  Enter The Dream of the Blue Turtles in the field Search. Select Title in the field Search by. Select album in the field By Format. Click Go
28. ^ "American album certifications – Sting – The Dream of the Blue Turtles". Recording Industry Association of America. http://www.riaa.com/goldandplatinumdata.php?artist=%22The+Dream+of+the+Blue+Turtles%22.  If necessary, click Advanced, then click Format, then select Album, then click SEARCH
29. ^ "RPM Top 100 Albums of 1985". RPM. http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/rpm/028020-119.01-e.php?&file_num=nlc008388.0618&type=1&interval=20&PHPSESSID=c6btf3r8hs459qqt5ln3o3dcv5. Retrieved 2011-10-03. 
30. ^ "Hitparade.ch - Schweizer Jahreshitparade 1988". Hung Medien. http://hitparade.ch/year.asp?key=1985. Retrieved 2011-10-17. 
31. ^ ^{a b} "Complete UK Year-End Album Charts". http://chartheaven.9.forumer.com/a/complete-uk-yearend-album-charts_post21.html. Retrieved 2011-09-12. 
32. ^ "Billboard.BIZ - Year-end Charts - Billboard 200 - 1985". billboard.biz. http://www.billboard.biz/bbbiz/charts/yearendcharts/1985/the-billboard-200. Retrieved 2011-10-24. 
33. ^ "RPM Top 100 Albums of 1986". RPM. http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/rpm/028020-119.01-e.php?&file_num=nlc008388.8824&type=1&interval=20&PHPSESSID=c6btf3r8hs459qqt5ln3o3dcv5. Retrieved 2011-10-03. 
34. ^ "Billboard.BIZ - Year-end Charts - Billboard 200 - 1986". billboard.biz. http://www.billboard.biz/bbbiz/charts/yearendcharts/1986/the-billboard-200. Retrieved 2011-10-24. 

Preceded by Like a Virgin by Madonna	Dutch Mega Chart number-one album 21 September 1985	Succeeded by Ik zal je nooit vergeten by Koos Alberts
Preceded by For the Working Class Man by Jimmy Barnes	Australian Kent Music Report number-one album 21 April - 11 May 1986	Succeeded by 1986 Way to Go by Various artists