| BORN:
Gordon Sumner, October 2, 1951 Wallsend, Newcastle
On Tyne, England |
|
Before
becoming lead singer for the band 'The Police', Sting's
career included being a ditch digger and a school teacher
(at St. Paul's Roman Catholic First School in Cramlington,
England, where he taught English and was also a soccer coach).
Before being invited to join The Police by Stewart Copeland,
Sting was in many jazz bands, including The Ronnie Pierson
Trio, Earthrise, the Phoenix Jazz Band, the River City Jazz
Band, the Newcastle Big Band, and Last Exit.
Gordon
received his nickname, 'Sting', while a member of The
Phoenix Jazzmen. Everyone in the band had a nickname.
One day he came to a rehearsal in a striped soccer sweater
and the trombone player, Gordon Solomon, remarked that
Sting looked like a bee. This led to him being called
"Stinger" - which eventually became "Sting."
Before
the Police were officially disbanded, Sting began work
on his first solo album late in 1984, rounding up a group
of jazz musicians as a supporting band. Moving from bass
to guitar, he recorded his solo debut, 1985's
The Dream of the Blue Turtles, with Branford Marsalis,
Kenny Kirkland and Omar Hakim. The album included several
historical references: The track, 'Russians' is
about the Cold War era where Sting refers to a speech
made by Russian premier Nikita Khrushchev in which he
proclaimed to the capitalist world, "We will bury you,"
while tapping a shoe on the podium. "Oppenheimer's deadly
toy" is the atomic bomb;. 'Children's Crusade'
refers to all the young soldiers who died fighting in
WWI; 'We Work the Black Seam' refers to the miners'
strike in Britain in 1983. (Newcastle, Sting's birthplace,
used to be famous for it's coal mines). The refrain refers
to the Cold War era problems. The move from Police, wasn't
entirely unexpected since, Sting had played with jazz
and progressive rock bands in his youth, but the result
was considerably more mature and diverse than any Police
record. The album became a hit, with "If You Love Somebody
Set Them Free," "Love Is the Seventh Wave"
and "Fortress Around Your Heart" reaching the American
Top Ten.
Sting
brought the band out on an extensive tour, which was captured
on a documentary called Bring on
the Night, which appeared in 1986, along with a
live double album of the same name. That year, Sting participated
in a halfhearted Police reunion which resulted in only
one new song, a re-recorded version of "Don't Stand
So Close To Me." Following the aborted Police reunion,
Sting began working on the ambitious Nothing
Like the Sun, which was dedicated to his recently
deceased mother. Working from a jazz foundation, and again
collaborating with Marsalis, Sting worked with a number
of different musicians on the album, including Gil Evans
and former Police guitarist Andy Summers. The album received
generally positive reviews upon its release in late 1987,
and it generated hit singles with "We'll Be Together"
(originally written for a beer commercial) and "They
Dance Alone.", which is about the corrupt Pinochet
government in Chile. Citizens would disappear for no reason,
tortured to death by government workers.
Following
the release of Nothing Like the Sun, Sting began actively
campaigning for Amnesty International and environmentalism,
establishing the Rainforest Foundation, which was designed
to raise awareness about preserving the Brazilian rainforest.
An abridged Spanish version of Nothing like the Sun, Nada
Como el Sol, was released in 1988.
Sting
took several years to deliver the follow-up to Nothing
Like The Sun, during which time he appeared in a failed
Broadway revival of The Threepenny Opera in 1989. His
father also died, which inspired 1991's The
Soul Cages, a dense, dark and complex album. Although
the album peaked at number two and spawned the Top Ten
hit "All This Time," the record was less successful
than its predecessor. In All This Time, 'burial at sea'
refers to the medieval Nordic burial tradition. When great
men died, their bodies were put into wooden ships which
were set on fire and set adrift in the sea. In this way
they were buried at sea. Sting also refers to the Roman
conquest and occupation of Britain 43AD - 420AD.
Two
years later, Sting delivered Ten
Summoner's Tales, a light, pop-oriented record
that became a hit on the strength of two Top 20 singles,
"If I Ever Lose My Faith In You" and "Fields
of Gold." Again, the album included
some history, Heavy Cloud No Rain makes reference
to French king Louis XVI who was popular with the French
people but became a casualty of the French Revolution.
At
the end of 1993, "All for Love," a song he recorded
with Rod Stewart and Bryan Adams for The Three Musketeers,
became a number one hit. The single confirmed that Sting's
audience had shifted from new wave/college rock fans to
adult contemporary.
The
1994 compilation Fields of Gold
and The
Best of Sting
played to the new adult contemporary audience. In June
1995, Sting designed a limited edition tee shirt for the
Hard Rock Cafe chain of restaurants. Part of the proceeds
from tee shirt sales went to the Elton John Aids Foundation.
Three
years after Ten Summoner's Tales, Sting released Mercury
Falling in the spring of 1996. Although the album
started high, it quickly fell down the charts, stalling
at platinum sales and failing to generate a hit single.
While the album failed, Sting remained a popular concert
attraction, confirming his immense popularity. Brand
New Day followed in 1999.
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in a shop. We are delighted to bring you this treasured
opportunity to own some of our favourite songs. Jay has
followed the career of Gordon Sumner, alias 'Sting', from
when he first heard him as part of Police. It just goes
to show that good things come from Newcastle, (They share
a common birthplace).
