''The Dream of the Blue Turtles'' is the debut solo album by English musician

Sting Stimulator of interferon genes (STING), also known as transmembrane protein 173 (TMEM173) and MPYS/MITA/ERIS is a regulator protein that in humans is encoded by the STING1 gene. STING plays an important role in innate immunity. STING induces typ ...

, released on 17 June 1985. The album reached number three on the

UK Albums Chart The Official Albums Chart is the United Kingdom's industry-recognised national record chart for album, albums. Entries are ranked by sales and audio streaming. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the O ...

and number two on the US ''Billboard'' 200. Five singles were released from the album: "

If You Love Somebody Set Them Free "If You Love Somebody Set Them Free" is the first single by English musician Sting from his solo debut album, ''The Dream of the Blue Turtles'' (1985). It is also the opening track of the album, and is featured on '' Fields of Gold: The Best of ...

", "

Fortress Around Your Heart "Fortress Around Your Heart" is a hit single released from Sting's 1985 debut solo studio album ''The Dream of the Blue Turtles''. It was released as the album's third single in the UK, and the second single in the US. The song was later includ ...

", "

Russians Russians ( ) are an East Slavs, East Slavic ethnic group native to Eastern Europe. Their mother tongue is Russian language, Russian, the most spoken Slavic languages, Slavic language. The majority of Russians adhere to Eastern Orthodox Church ...

", " Moon Over Bourbon Street", and " Love Is the Seventh Wave". The album earned

Grammy The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious a ...

nominations for Album of the Year,

Best Male Pop Vocal Performance The Grammy Award for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance was a Grammy Award recognizing superior vocal performance by a male in the pop category, the first of which was presented in 1959. It was discontinued after the 2011 Grammy season. The award wen ...

and Best Engineered Recording; the instrumental title track was nominated for

Best Jazz Instrumental Performance Best or The Best may refer to: People * Best (surname), people with the surname Best * Best (footballer, born 1968), retired Portuguese footballer Companies and organizations * Best & Co., an 1879–1971 clothing chain * Best Lock Corporation, ...

Background and release

The album is named after a dream that Sting had. He initially worked on tracks for his debut solo album with producers

Torch Song A torch song is a sentimental love song, typically one in which the singer laments an unrequited or lost love, either where one party is oblivious to the existence of the other, where one party has moved on, or where a romantic affair has affect ...

William Orbit William Mark Wainwright (born 15 December 1956),"William Orbit." ''Contemporary Musicians''. Vol. 30. Farmington Hills, MI: Gale, 2000. Retrieved via ''Biography in Context'' database, 7 May 2017. Available onlinvia ''Encyclopedia.com'' known ...

, Laurie Mayer and Grant Gilbert. These sessions were more synth-driven and 'electrofunk' in nature than what eventually was recorded and released; Sting eventually decided against this direction, and instead decided to pursue more jazz-oriented music. Thus, in January 1985, he started assembled his backing band after holding auditions for jazz musicians in New York, including the likes of

Omar Hakim Omar Hakim (born February 12, 1959) is an American drummer, producer, arranger and composer. His session work covers jazz, jazz fusion, and pop music. He has worked with Weather Report, David Bowie, Foo Fighters, Chic, Sting, Madonna, Dire S ...

Branford Marsalis Branford Marsalis (born August 26, 1960) is an American saxophonist, composer, and bandleader. While primarily known for his work in jazz as the leader of the Branford Marsalis Quartet, he also performs frequently as a soloist with classical ens ...

Kenny Kirkland Kenneth David Kirkland (September 28, 1955 – November 12, 1998) was an American pianist and keyboardist. Biography Early life Born in Brooklyn, New York, United States, Kirkland was six when he first sat down at a piano keyboard. After years ...

and

Darryl Jones Darryl Jones (born December 11, 1961) is an American bassist. He has been recording and touring with the Rolling Stones since 1993. He has also played in bands with Miles Davis and Sting, among others. Career Darryl Jones was born on Decemb ...

. Subsequently, he rehearsed the material with his band for a week before three surprise concerts at The Ritz in New York in late February; Sting's idea was for a "baptism of fire" to help consolidate the band's identity before recording began in early March. Seven weeks were spent recording the songs at

Eddy Grant Edmond Montague Grant (born 5 March 1948) is a Guyanese in the United Kingdom, Guyanese-British singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, known for his genre-blending sound and socially conscious lyrics; his music has blended elements of p ...

's Blue Wave Studio in

Barbados Barbados, officially the Republic of Barbados, is an island country in the Atlantic Ocean. It is part of the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies and the easternmost island of the Caribbean region. It lies on the boundary of the South American ...

, followed by mixing at

Le Studio Le Studio (later renamed Studio Morin Heights) was a residential recording studio in the Laurentian Mountains near the town of Morin-Heights, Quebec, Canada. Built in 1972 by recording engineer and producer André Perry, along with his wife Ya� ...

Quebec Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...

. Although the single "

" reached No. 3 in the US, it only reached 26 in the UK, where the album's track "

" (about

Cold War The Cold War was a period of global Geopolitics, geopolitical rivalry between the United States (US) and the Soviet Union (USSR) and their respective allies, the capitalist Western Bloc and communist Eastern Bloc, which lasted from 1947 unt ...

nuclear anxieties, which had peaked in the 1980s) proved more popular. In the UK the album was kept off No. 1 in the week of its release by

Marillion Marillion are a British neo-prog band, formed in Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, in 1979. They emerged from the post-punk music scene in Britain and existed as a bridge between the styles of punk rock and classic progressive rock, becoming the mo ...

's ''

Misplaced Childhood ''Misplaced Childhood'' is the third studio album by the British neo-prog band Marillion, released in 1985. It is a concept album loosely based on the childhood of Marillion's lead singer, Fish, who was inspired by a brief incident that occurre ...

'' and ''

Born in the U.S.A. ''Born in the U.S.A.'' is the seventh studio album by the American singer-songwriter Bruce Springsteen, released on June 4, 1984, by Columbia Records. Produced by Springsteen, Jon Landau, Steven Van Zandt, and Chuck Plotkin, the album was reco ...

'' by

Bruce Springsteen Bruce Frederick Joseph Springsteen (born September 23, 1949) is an American Rock music, rock singer, songwriter, and guitarist. Nicknamed "the Boss", Springsteen has released 21 studio albums spanning six decades; most of his albums feature th ...

occupying the top two places. In the US, the album reached No. 2 on the ''Billboard'' 200. The film '' 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", which was demoed at

AIR Studios Associated Independent Recording (AIR) is an independent recording company founded in London in 1965 by record producers George Martin, John Burgess (record producer), John Burgess, Ron Richards (producer), Ron Richards, and Peter Sullivan (rec ...

on a 48-track machine. The song relates to the destruction of the younger generation in

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. "Shadows in the Rain" had originally appeared on ''

Zenyatta Mondatta ''Zenyatta Mondatta'' (stylised as ''Zenyattà Mondatta'' on the album cover artwork) is the third studio album by British rock band the Police, released on 3 October 1980 by A&M Records. It was co-produced by the band and Nigel Gray. ''Zeny ...

'' by the Police and was re-recorded for ''The Dream of the Blue Turtles''. "

We Work the Black Seam "We Work the Black Seam" is a protest song recorded by British musician Sting (musician), Sting for his 1985 debut solo album ''The Dream of the Blue Turtles'', on which it is the longest track. Its lyrics express the position of 1984–1985 Unit ...

" was about the UK miners' strike of 1984–85 and musically based on "Savage Beast", a song dating back to Sting's days in Last Exit). Sting played double bass on " Moon Over Bourbon Street, which was inspired by

Anne Rice Anne Rice (born Howard Allen Frances O'Brien; October 4, 1941 – December 11, 2021) was an American author of Gothic fiction, erotic literature, and Bible fiction. She is best known for writing ''The Vampire Chronicles''. She later adapted t ...

's novel ''

Interview with the Vampire ''Interview with the Vampire'' is a gothic horror and vampire novel by American author Anne Rice, published in 1976. It was her debut novel. Based on a short story Rice wrote around 1968, the novel centers on vampire Louis de Pointe du Lac ...

''. "Consider Me Gone" references the first quatrain of

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Sonnet 35 William Shakespeare's Sonnet 35 is part of the Fair Youth sequence, commonly agreed to be addressed to a young man; more narrowly, it is part of a sequence running from 33 to 42, in which the speaker considers a sin committed against him by th ...

Accolades

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, , rowspan="2", ''The Dream of the Blue Turtles'' , , Album of the Year , , , - ,

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, , , -

Track listing

Singles

*"If You Love Somebody Set Them Free" (1985) No. 3 US Hot 100, No. 26 UK Singles Chart *"Russians" (1985) No. 16 US Hot 100, No. 12 UK Singles Chart *"Fortress Around Your Heart" (1985) No. 8 US Hot 100, No. 49 UK Singles Chart *"Love Is the Seventh Wave" (1985) No. 17 US Hot 100, No. 41 UK Singles Chart *"Moon Over Bourbon Street" (1986) No. 44 UK Singles ChartSting in the UK Charts
, The Official Charts. – with a B-side of " The Ballad of Mack the Knife"

Personnel

– vocals, guitars, bass (2, 10),

double bass The double bass (), also known as the upright bass, the acoustic bass, the bull fiddle, or simply the bass, is the largest and lowest-pitched string instrument, chordophone in the modern orchestra, symphony orchestra (excluding rare additions ...

on (9), arrangements *

– bass guitar *

– keyboards *

– soprano saxophone, tenor saxophone, clarinet, percussion *

Dominic Muldowney Dominic Muldowney (born 19 July 1952 in Southampton) is a British composer. Biography Dominic Muldowney studied at the University of Southampton with Jonathan Harvey, at the University of York (with Bernard Rands and David Blake), and privat ...

– additional arrangements (10) * Dolette McDonald – backing vocals *

Janice Pendarvis Janice Gadsden Pendarvis is an American singer, songwriter, and voiceover artist. She has worked with artists such as Sting, David Bowie, Steely Dan, Peter Tosh, the O'Jays, Philip Glass, Jimmy Cliff, Laurie Anderson, the Naked Brothers Band, and ...

– backing vocals *

– drums

Additional personnel

* Danny Quatrochi –

Synclavier The Synclavier is an early digital synthesizer, polyphonic digital sampling system, and music workstation manufactured by New England Digital Corporation of Norwich, Vermont. It was produced in various forms from the late 1970s into the ea ...

, backing vocals *

– congas (7) * Frank Opolko – trombone (2) * Pete Smith – backing vocals * Elliot Jones – backing vocals * Jane Alexander – backing vocals * Vic Garbarini – backing vocals * Pamela Quinlan – backing vocals * The Nannies Chorus – backing vocals * Rosemary Purt – backing vocals * Stephanie Crewdson – backing vocals *

Joe Sumner Joseph Sumner (born 23 November 1976) is an English singer-songwriter and bassist for the rock band Fiction Plane, and co-founder of the company Vyclone, which made an app for recording video from multiple angles. Career Music Sumner learned ...

– backing vocals * Kate Sumner – backing vocals * Michael Sumner – backing vocals

Production

* Pete Smith – producer, engineer * Sting – producer * Jim Scott – engineer *

Bob Ludwig Robert Carl Ludwig (born December 11, 1944), is a retired American mastering engineer. He mastered recordings on all the major recording formats for all the major record labels, and on projects by more than 1,300 artists, including Led Zeppeli ...

– mastering at Masterdisk (New York, NY). * Max Vadukul – photography * Danny Quatrochi – photography * Michael Ross – art direction, design * Richard Frankel – art direction, design

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Decade-end charts

Certifications and sales

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dream of the Blue Turtles, The 1985 debut albums Sting (musician) albums A&M Records albums Albums recorded at Le Studio