The Dream of the Blue Turtles

The album is named after a dream that Sting had.^[22] He initially worked on tracks for his debut solo album with producers Torch Song: William Orbit, Laurie Mayer and Grant Gilbert.^[23] 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 began assembling his backing band after holding auditions for jazz musicians in New York, including the likes of Omar Hakim, Branford Marsalis, Kenny Kirkland, and Darryl Jones. 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.^[24][25] Seven weeks were spent recording the songs at Eddy Grant's Blue Wave Studio in Barbados, followed by mixing at Le Studio in Quebec.^[26]

Although the single "If You Love Somebody Set Them Free" reached No. 3 in the US, it only reached 26 in the UK, where the album's track "Russians" (about Cold War nuclear anxieties, which had peaked in the 1980s) proved more popular.^{[citation needed]}

In the UK the album was kept off No. 1 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. In the US, the album reached No. 2 on the Billboard 200.^{[citation needed]}

The film Bring On the Night documents some of the recording work that produced this album, as well as the subsequent tour.^{[citation needed]}

The songs include "Children's Crusade", which was demoed at AIR Studios on a 48-track machine. The song relates to the destruction of the younger generation in World War I.^[26] "Shadows in the Rain" had originally appeared on Zenyatta Mondatta by the Police and was re-recorded for The Dream of the Blue Turtles.^[27] "We Work the Black Seam" 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's novel Interview with the Vampire.^[28] "Consider Me Gone" references the first quatrain of Shakespeare's Sonnet 35.

Grammy Awards

All tracks are written by Sting, except "Russians", which is written by Sting and Sergei Prokofiev.

• "If You Love Somebody Set Them Free" (1985) No. 3 US Hot 100, No. 26 UK Singles Chart^[31][19]
• "Russians" (1985) No. 16 US Hot 100, No. 12 UK Singles Chart^[31][19]
• "Fortress Around Your Heart" (1985) No. 8 US Hot 100, No. 49 UK Singles Chart^[31][19]
• "Love Is the Seventh Wave" (1985) No. 17 US Hot 100, No. 41 UK Singles Chart^[31][19]
• "Moon Over Bourbon Street" (1986) No. 44 UK Singles Chart^[19] – with a B-side of "The Ballad of Mack the Knife"

• Sting – vocals, guitars, bass guitar (tracks 2 and 10),^[32] double bass (track 9), arrangements
• Darryl Jones – bass guitar
• Kenny Kirkland – keyboards
• Branford Marsalis – soprano saxophone, tenor saxophone, clarinet, percussion
• Dominic Muldowney – additional arrangements (track 10)
• Dolette McDonald – backing vocals
• Janice Pendarvis – backing vocals
• Omar Hakim – drums