Sting Sunday’s EP.17
“Russians”
If you came for another sexy, up-tempo banger with slick instrumental and vocal production, this is not your week. And yet, there is something magical about this tune at least for me. The story of the song goes that in the time of the Cold War, Sting had a friend with access to a satellite television setup. They would meet up, have a beer and tune into Russian TV even though the programs on at the time of day at which they watched were just children’s content. Sting was taken by the care and attention with which those programs were written and produced and so this song came to be. I mentioned that this album (Dream Of The Blue Turtles) was very important in my musical upbringing. What I left out to this point was that it was this song specifically that made me feel something, for the first time that I can recall in life, listening to music. I knew very little of the Cold War itself until much later on but something about this song in particular stuck with me so much so that this was the first song that I became obsessive about in listening to it on constant repeat for days on end. I even became a little emotional as I started to practice it because it still moves me to this day. Again, I know it’s maybe not as cool as “Synchronicity II” or “De Do Do Do, De Da Da Da” but I do hope you enjoy it.
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One of my earliest musical memories is falling in love with a cassette tape of an album called “Dream Of The Blue Turtles”. I recall hearing those songs and for the first time in my life to that point, making an emotional connection to what I was hearing. I also remember seeing the music videos that accompanied that album and wondering who this cool, slick looking, guitar playing singer was. My parents even tell me that I wanted to style my hair like him! Over the next three decades from that point, I rarely fell out of stead with his music the way that I moved on from other influences.
As the world changes, the nature of my work is changing quite drastically and I’ve come across the dreaded “Tracks” gigs again. This time however, as a singing bass player, things are quite a bit more interesting because of the tracks that I’ve come across, which you’ll hear in these videos. I’m releasing them not only as a way to maintain my sanity and chops but also, of course, as a little hero worship as one does. I hope you enjoy listening and maybe even connecting a little with the music of Sting as I have.
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