The Dream of the Blue Turtles

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The Dream of the Blue Turtles
File:Sting The Dream of the Blue Turtles CD cover.JPG
Studio album by Sting
Released 1 June 1985
Recorded 1984 – 1985
Studio Blue Wave Studio, Saint Philip, Barbados and Le Studio, Morin-Heights, Quebec, Canada
Genre
Length 41:40
Label A&M
75021-3750-2
Producer Sting & Pete Smith
Sting chronology
The Dream of the Blue Turtles
(1985)		 Bring on the Night
(1986)Bring on the Night1986
Singles from The Dream of the Blue Turtles
  1. "If You Love Somebody Set Them Free"
    Released: 9 July 1985
  2. "Love Is the Seventh Wave"
    Released: 1 August 1985
  3. "Fortress Around Your Heart"
    Released: 1 October 1985
  4. "Russians"
    Released: 1 November 1985
  5. "Moon over Bourbon Street"
    Released: 1 February 1986
  6. "We Work the Black Seam"
    Released: 1986
Professional ratings
Review scores
Source Rating
Allmusic 4/5 stars[2]
Chicago Tribune 2.5/4 stars[3]
Los Angeles Times (Positive)[4]
Rolling Stone 4/5 stars[5]
Robert Christgau (C+)[6]

The Dream of the Blue Turtles is the first solo album by English musician Sting, released in the United States on 1 June 1985. The album reached number three on the UK Albums Chart.[7] It reached number two on the Billboard 200. In the US the album spawned four singles, "If You Love Somebody Set Them Free", "Fortress Around Your Heart", "Russians" and "Love Is the Seventh Wave". The album earned Grammy nominations for Album of the Year, Best Male Pop Vocal Performance, Best Jazz Instrumental Performance and Best Engineered Recording.

Background and release

The album is named after a dream of Sting's.[8] Although the single "If You Love Somebody Set Them Free" reached number three 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 UK the album was kept off number one in the week of its release by Marillion's Misplaced Childhood and Born in the U.S.A. by Bruce Springsteen occupying the top two places. However, in the United States, the album reached number two on the Billboard 200.

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

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)[citation needed]; 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 songs written and composed by Sting, except where noted. 

Side one
No. Title Length
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. Title Length
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 Recipient/Nominated 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 Sales/shipments
Canada (Music Canada)[12] Platinum 100,000
France (SNEP)[13] Platinum 551,100[14]
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
xunspecified figures based on certification alone

Charts

Decade-end charts

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

References

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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
  1. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  2. ↑ http://www.allmusic.com/album/r19159
  3. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  4. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  5. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  6. ↑ Sting profile by Robert Christgau
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 Sting in the UK Charts, The Official Charts.
  8. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  9. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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  14. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  15. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  16. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  17. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. Enter The Dream of the Blue Turtles in the field Keywords. Select Title in the field Search by. Select album in the field By Format. Select Platinum in the field By Award. Click Search
  18. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. If necessary, click Advanced, then click Format, then select Album, then click SEARCH
  19. ↑ 19.0 19.1 19.2 19.3 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  20. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  21. ↑ Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved 2011-10-20
  22. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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  38. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  39. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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