Sting did have a really cool, albeit brief period between fronting The Police and being kind of an Adult Contemporary, EZ listening wanker.
2025 marks, incredibly, the 40th anniversary of his first solo album, Dream Of The Blue Turtles.
After finding an original CD copy for fifty cents at a thrift store yesterday – and while playing it in the car full-blast – I realized for the first time that there are some similarities between Sting’s initial foray and that of Paul Weller’s early exploits after The Jam, the latter begun almost two years earlier. However, Weller dissolved his post-punk trio to explore and Mod-ify classic soul music – while Sting’s first record was decidedly jazz-inspired.
Both artists put together bands consisting of hot players who knew what they were doing; an especially laudable move for Sting. He recruited Branford Marsalis, Marsalis’ young keyboardist Kenny Kirkland, and ex-Weather Report drummer Omar Hakim (fresh off of Dire Straits’ Brothers In Arms and Bowie’s Let’s Dance). The least experienced was 23-year-old bass wunderkind Daryl Jones – who would go on to replace Bill Wyman in the Stones.
Both The Police and The Jam broke up at the height of their commercial successes; The Jam was the UK’s most popular band, and The Police was possibly the biggest group in the world. I was, then, a bit skeptical at the prospect of a Sting solo album; he was my least favorite of the trio. But damn, Dream Of The Blue Turtles was an eye-opener. Amazingly well recorded and mixed. A couple of idealistic stabs that haven’t aged well (“Russians” and “Children’s Crusade”) – but other than those, what a brilliant record. What a band.
This project could’ve gone south right quick – “Ex-Police singer and four jazz cats.” But no, Sting held his own with these guys via some great songwriting. He is a very talented musician, and one of his talents is knowing a good thing when it’s on his plate. Sting – no slouch with four strings – even switched to guitar, allowing for a player more suited to the sound he wanted to create. Sting borrowed and integrated (for lack of a more correct term), rather than co-opted or stole. Dream Of The Blue Turtles is, ultimately, a Sting record.
For me, the deal-sealer then and now was to turn Omar Hakim loose. An extraordinarily precise and aggressive drummer, he elevates the throwaway pop of “If You Love Somebody Set Them Free” and dominates the album’s best number, “Fortress Around Your Heart.” Man, that sounds so good in the car.
“Consider Me Gone.” “We Work The Black Seam.” “Moon Over Bourbon Street.” “Shadows In The Rain.” These jewels, along a number of non-LP tracks, were thankfully filmed and recorded live in France for the fabulous concert film and double album, “Bring On The Night.” Then, Gordon Sumner segued into a career that seemed to increasingly target middle-aged women.
But this year, I celebrate a time when Gordon Sumner still had some street cred… and it only cost me two quarters.
- Steve Stav, along with cohost Mitch Hurst, is the proprietor of an enlightening Facebook page called The Big Music, which focuses on the music, movies and culture of Generation X. A podcast with the same name and hosts is in the planning stage.
