I use to collect records in the 1980s, and recently bought a new turntable, so it's been fun listening to the albums I've been storing for years and years, including this one.
In the late 1970s through the mid 80s, Sting was the lead singer and bassist for the mega-popular band, The Police.
His first solo album was called Dream of the Blue Turtles and was released in 1985, about a year after The Police's final tour.
The tracks for this live disc were recorded over a few nights worth of gigs in France while on tour for the Dream of the Blue Turtles album.
Sting assembled a kickass band for that first solo album and took that same band on tour.
The players are a collection of jazz/studio musicians including:
- Darryl Jones on bass (played with Miles Davis)
- Kenny Kirkland on keyboards (played with Dizzy Gillespie, Branford Marsalis, Wynton Marsalis)
- Omar Hakim on drums (played with Miles Davis, Dire Straits, Weather Report, George Benson, David Bowie) side note: Hakim played drums on Bowie's Let's Dance album!
- Branford Marsalis on Saxophone (played with Art Blakey, Lionel Hampton, Miles Davis, Dizzy Gillespie)
- Janice Pendarvis & Dolette McDonald singing backing vocals (played with Talking Heads, Laurie Anderson)
Live albums can be hit or miss for me, Some live albums are just epic, with everyone in synch including the crowd and it's amazing. Others can be kind of sloppy with a shitty mix, blah blah blah... The point is, the musicianship and the recording quality on this collection are both real good.
The track list consists of Sting songs from his first solo album and a decent chunk of Police songs. However, the Police tracks he sings are the more obscure ones and I really like it. It's the first place I heard the song Low Life, which was a B-side of The Police's, Spirits in the Material World single.
There is also a Police song called Demolition Man, which was given to, and first recorded by, Grace Jones. Soon after her release The Police recoded it and put in on their Ghost in the Machine Album. It was never a favorite of mine as it was kind of slow and weak. However, the live version on the Bring on the Night LP is SMOKIN'!! It's the second part of a medley, so if you listen give it a minute, you'll know when it changes :).
I remember buying this album at Tower Records in Brea, California when it came out. I actually didn't know it was coming out as It was not released in the USA. It was in the Imports section and when I came across it I bought it.
Back then getting your hands on an imported disc was a big score, so I was psyched to pick this up.
Ah, "MADE IN ENGLAND", just like these...
Disclaimer: Laverbread is Welsh 😃
Enough of that, time to get back to listening...
If you're looking for an afternoon of listening to something solid, I'd recommend this. Good music, some songs you'd probably recognize, and Branford Marsalis rapping.
