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Can you guess what created this lead image from my prompt? Answer at the end...
We are going back to my Silver Chronicles post of a few weeks ago My Soundtrack for the 80s my favourite decade
Quite a self-explanatory title and it is my inspiration for the next few posts on ttt!
However they are pretty cool although I admit like many musicians I preferred their earlier stuff before they hit the bigtime!
It is Tuesday and that of course means that it's #ttt or #threetunetuesday and so it's time to share some tunes with you!
Do go support
They were of Mrs T's favourite bands and she did Like Sting although I think that waned over the years lol!
They were formed in London in 1977 and comprised three guys, Sting (bass and vocals), Andy Summers (guitar), and Stewart Copeland (drums).
They became international superstars by blending punk energy with reggae rhythms and jazz-influenced musicianship. By 1980 they were riding the crest of the New Wave movement with hits like "Message in a Bottle" and "Walking on the Moon".
But we are taking tunes from their third studio album Zenyatta Mondatta. It was released on 3 October 1980 and quickly became their second consecutive UK number-one album, and I believe it even broke into the top five in the US.
Here are three tracks from that legendary 1980 release for this week's #ttt
Released in September 1980, this became the band's third UK number-one single and the best-selling UK single of the year. It’s a controversial track about an older schoolteacher’s relationship with a student ... a topic Sting might have known well since he had been a teacher himself before his rock-star days. The song won the band a Grammy Award for Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal.
I saw that on in the comments in YouTube where I took this song from... How cool it must have been having Nigel Gray as his uncle!
Since we are in winter this seemed an appropriate version to play, not that we ever see any snow in our wee part of the Kingdom.
Don't let the title fool you 🤣
Sting intended the lyrics to be a commentary on how people use words to manipulate others.
It was released as a single in late 1980 and reached the top ten in both the UK and the US. It’s a perfect example of their white reggae.
All together now ....
De do do do, de da da da
Is all I want to say to you
I chose this version as it shows the album cover of Zenyetta Mondatta. What a bizarre name ... let me find out the meaning...
Well this is the full version from gemini ...
The title Zenyatta Mondatta is composed of invented words that the band chose because they "rolled off the tongue" and sounded good together, much like a melody without lyrics.
According to Stewart Copeland, the title was intended to be vague so that it could be interpreted in many different ways rather than having a specific, predictable meaning. Despite being made-up, the words "hint" at several global and musical influences:
Zen: Referencing the school of Mahayana Buddhism.
Jomo Kenyatta: The first president of Kenya.
Le Monde: The French word for "the world".
Reggatta: A nod to the band's previous album title, Reggatta de Blanc.
While Copeland maintained that it essentially "means everything," guitarist Andy Summers’ producer, Nigel Gray, suspected the title might have been a subtle "in-joke" referring to what one might find behind a camel—"a monumental pile of shit".
And there we see Nigel Gray mentioned again, remember I saw his nephew comment on youtube for our first song.
I like the thought that this title might mean the monumental pile of shit 🤣 gotta love some schoolboy humour!!
So this is last track today and it is where Sting does his political and social lyric writing. Written while touring the US, it was inspired by the disparity between the wealth Sting was seeing and the poverty shown on television news.
It was never a big hit, in face I am not even sure if it was released as a single, it was and still is I am sure a fans favourite.
Which was your favourite tune? Or have you never heard of them?
Note: The 3 YouTube videos that I have shared are not owned by me, I am simply spreading great music on Hive.
I wish that you all have a brilliant happy fun and terrific Tuesday until we meet again enjoy your tunes 🎶🎵🎶
The images were taken by the author and ramblings are also from me with some assistance from gemini, the mad Scotsman TengoLoTodo unless otherwise stated.
