In early June of 1985, a group was formed
that challenged the way people would perceive pop music forever. It was a mixture of Jazz and Pop and was led
by one of the most innovative artists in popular music to date. This artist was Gordon Sumner, better known
as Sting. The compositions, of this
endeavor, dealt with such issues as race, nuclear war, desecration of the
environment, ancient folklore, and love.
According to Janice Pendarvis, “It’s both cerebral and visceral. It gives you something you can think about,
but it also gives you something you can feel; which to me is the ideal
combination.”[1] Sting had already proven himself as being a
member of arguably the best rock group of all time, The Police. There was a lot riding on the success of
this project, it being his first solo effort.
Branford Marsalis says in the video, “The problem with pop music today
is that there are no social critics.
There is nobody who will stand up and see the world for what it is and
discuss it. He deserves a lot of credit
for even trying a project like this.”[2]
One of the more interesting aspects of this
project is that it is documented on film.
It was a project taken on by Oscar-winning, Hollywood director Michael
Apted and was entitled Bring on the Night. In a press conference at the
beginning of the film, Sting describes the uniqueness of the film as the
following, “What the film is actually about is the formation of this
group. It’s about musicians from
different areas forming a common language.”[3]
The band
would include Branford Marsalis on saxophone, who had worked extensively with
Art Blakey and brother Wynton Marsalis, Kenny Kirkland on keyboards, who was a
veteran of both Elvin Jones’ and Dizzy Gillespie’s bands, Omar Hakim on drums,
an ex-Weather Report member, Darryl Jones, who was working with Miles Davis,
Sting on guitar, Janice Pendarvis on backing vocals, who worked with Phillip
Glass, Laurie Anderson, Roberta Flack, Peter Tosh, and Dolette McDonald on
backing vocals, who had worked with the Police, Talking Heads, and Laurie
Anderson.
All
but the background singers were reputable jazz artists and they were also all
African American. “Sting became
extremely politically correct by adding, ‘Black musicians are not given the
opportunity. This is a racially mixed
band which is an open challenge to the system.’”[4]
The press conference was held to promote a
ten-month tour of Europe helping sales with the release of The Dream of the
Blue Turtles, which had been recorded earlier that year in Barbados. The band’s first show would be at the
Mogador Theatre in Paris and the group would spend its time up until then
rehearsing in a 17th century chateau outside of Paris. The chateau’s previous owners were cousins
of Napoleon and it provided stunning scenery during the filming of the
rehearsals. When asked why he chose
France, he says, “Paris has a certain ambience, a certain neutrality.”[5]
Sting formed this group by sending an open
notice, via word of mouth, to the jazz community, that he was looking for a new
backing group. The response was
overwhelming. “The people who came
through the door were staggering-people whose records I own.”[6] Initially, the band was not told that they
were going to make a record. They were
informed that they would be preparing for a live show, playing Sting’s new
songs at The New York Ritz. “It was a
way of making us into a group. I am
more interested in spontaneity and excitement than I am in sound. The sound can look after itself if you’re
playing with energy.”[7] This quote echoes the creativity,
improvisation, and humbleness that everyone displays while working through
Sting’s compositions during the video.
That is exactly what he was looking for in choosing the members of this
group. “Bring on the Night gave
fans Sting through a magnifying glass.”[8]
The lyrics on the album were quite
different than what he had been writing for The Police. “Many of the issues that Sting felt strongly
about came burning through. ‘I feel I can’t
beat about the bush any more. I’m more
outspoken than I’ve ever been because the issues have never been quite as
serious.’”[9] “I really respect his skill as a composer
and I watch how he pieces things together.
I have never heard a song that was a nothing song,”[10]
says Darryl Jones. The first example of dealing with these issues was shown in We
Work the Black Seam. “The melody for black seam has lain among my mental
notes for perhaps ten years, could never finish it, or find a suitable lyric
until the miners’ strike, and a long talk with a friend who has a job trying to
mend nuclear power stations with gaffer tape.”[11] The second verse and bridge best describe
the frustration he feels toward our society and the way it deals with our
natural resources.
WE WORK THE BLACK SEAM
The seam lies underground
Three million years
of pressure packed it down
We walk through
ancient forestlands
And light a thousand
cities with our hands
Your dark satanic
mills
Have made redundant
all our mining skills
You can’t exchange a
six-inch band for all the poisoned streams in Cumberland
One day in a nuclear
age
They may understand
our rage
They build machines
that they can’t control
And bury the waste
in a great big hole
Power was to become
cheap and clean
Grimy Faces were
never seen
But deadly for
Twelve thousand years is
Carbon Fourteen[12]
The next example describes his plea for
everyone to realize the threat of nuclear war.
The melody also quotes Lieutenant Kizhe bass solo from
Prokofiev. In the film, this
composition makes a dramatic statement, as it is the background music while
they are filming the birth of his child.
RUSSIANS
How can I save my
little boy from
Oppenheimer’s deadly
toy
There is no monopoly
of common sense
On either side of
the political fence
We
share the same biology
Regardless of our ideology
Believe
me when I say to you
I hope the Russians
love their children too
There is no
historical precedent
To put the words of
the mouth of the President
There’s no such
thing as a winnable war
It’s the lie we
don’t believe anymore
Mr. Reagan says we
will protect you
I don’t subscribe to
this point of view
Believe me when I
say to you
I hope the Russians
love their children too[13]
“Blue Turtles achieved a balance between
schmaltz and taut, turbulent musicianship.”[14] This project proves that Pop stereotypes can
be pushed and artistic validity will not be compromised. The documentary was unique in that it was a
beginning, not a tribute to a body of work.
[1] Apted, Michael. Bring on the Night, 1985:90min.
[2] Apted, Michael. Bring on the Night, 1985:90min.
[3] Apted, Michael. Bring on the Night, 1985:90 min.
[4] Clarkson, Wensley. The Secret Life of Gordon Sumner, 1999:p. 175.
[5] Apted, Michael. Bring on the Night, 1985:90min.
[6] Clarkson, Wensley. The Secret Life of Gordon Sumner, 1999:p. 164.
[7] Clarkson, Wensley. The Secret Life of Gordon Sumner, 1999:pp. 164-165.
[8] Sanford, Christopher. Demolition Man, 1998:p.169.
[9] Clarkson, Wensley. The Secret Life of Gordon Sumner, 1999:p. 165.
[10] Apted, Michael. Bring on the Night, 1985:90min.
[11] Sting. Bring on the Night 1, 1986:p. 3.
[12] Sting. The Dream of the Blue Turtles, 1985:p. 6.
[13] Sting. The Dream of the Blue Turtles, 1985:p. 3.
[14] Sanford, Christopher. Demolition Man, 1998:p.165.