When vinyl was first pronounced dead, at the beginning of the 1990's, record companies stopped making 7" singles for shops. However, 7" singles were still being made for jukeboxes and promotion. In those days, it wasn't so easy to buy such 7" singles, but in this age of internet, nothing is impossible.
I was quite surprised to find out that there was a jukebox 7" single for Sting's 1994 hit 'When we dance'. The track was recorded for the compilation album 'Fields of gold: the best of Sting 1984-1994' and it was a smooth, slow ballad quite similar to 'Fields of gold' actually. This single features one of his earlier solo hits on the B-side.
My collection: 7" single no. 5837 Found: Discogs.com, received May 16, 2017 Cost: 3 euro Tracks: 'When we dance' / 'If I ever lose my faith in you'
When Police frontman Sting starred in the movie Brimstone and Treacle, an adaption of a play of the same name, he wrote and co-wrote the majority of the songs on the soundtrack. Most people tend to forget that 'Spread a little happiness', taken from this soundtrack, is actually Sting's debut solo single. It reached number 16 in the UK singles chart.
I did like the track but never got around to buying the single at the time because of budget constraints. Later on, the single would only turn up for ridiculous prices at record fairs and the like. So I was glad to get my hands on a copy for next to nothing this month.
My collection: 7" single no. 5333 Found: Kringloop, Den Haag, February 5, 2013 Cost: 0,25 euro Tracks: 'Spread a little happiness' / 'Only you'
'Englishman in New York' was taken from Sting's 1987 album 'Nothing like the sun'. The 'Englishman' in question is the famous eccentric Quentin Crisp. Sting wrote the song not long after Crisp moved from London to an apartment in New York's Bowery. Crisp had remarked jokingly to the musician 'that he looked forward to receiving his naturalization papers so that he could commit a crime and not be deported.'
The song was released as a single in 1988, but only reached number 51 on the UK singles chart. In the Dutch Top 40 it was considerably more successful, peaking at number 9.
My collection: 7" single no. 5280 Found: Velvet Vinyl Outlet, Leiden, January 27, 2012 Cost: 1 euro Tracks: 'An Englishman in New York' / 'Ghost in the strand'
'Love is the seventh wave' was the second single from Sting's 1985 solo debut album 'The dream of the blue turtles'. The song is supposedly about love being the seventh wave, or the strongest wave in a series of waves, thus wiping out any sort of problems. It concludes with a brief, self-mocking reference to Sting's biggest hit song with The Police, 'Every breath you take', which had been about the dark side of love that leads to sexual jealousy and obsession.
The single reached number 7 in the Dutch Top 40, but stalled at number 41 in the UK singles chart.
My collection: 7" single no. 4706 Found: Velvet Vinyl Outlet, Leiden, March 13, 2010 Cost: 1 euro Tracks: 'Love is the seventh wave (new mix)' / 'Consider me gone (live)'
'We'll be together' was originally written by Sting for a beer commercial for Kirin Brewery Company. The original recording included Eric Clapton on guitar, while other takes feature Brian Loren instead. The original version would surface on Sting's 1994 greatest hits album. Near the end of the song, Sting sings a snippet of his earlier hit, 'If you love somebody set them free'.
The single reached number 7 in the US Billboard Hot 100 chart, number 41 in the UK singles chart and number 31 in the Dutch Top 40.
My collection: 7" single no. 4708 Found: Velvet Vinyl Outlet, Leiden, March 13, 2010 Cost: 1 euro Tracks: 'We'll be together' / 'Conversation with a dog'
Sting commented about 'All this time': 'It's about the death of my father, so its pretty dark as a record but on this song the words are foiled by this fairly jolly tune. That's something I like to do quite a lot, combine dark subject matter with upbeat music. No, its not based on a dream. The lyrics seem surreal, but they are all images I remembered from my home town: ferries, priests, shire horses. I grew up by the shipyards. I just wanted to escape. I suppose it was quite a surreal place, though. It is the landscape of my dreams.'
The song was released as the first single from Sting's 1991 album 'The soul cages'. It was most successful in Canada, where it reached number 1. In the US Billboard Hot 100 chart, 'All this time' peaked at number 5, whereas it reached number 13 in the Dutch Top 40 and number 22 in the UK singles chart.
My collection: 7" single no. 4707 Found: Velvet Vinyl Outlet, Leiden, March 13, 2010 Cost: 1 euro Tracks: 'All this time' / 'I miss you Kate (instrumental)'
'The soul cages' was released in 1991 as Sting's third solo album. The album was written as a concept album, focused on the death of Sting's father. Most of the songs have motifs related to sailing or the seas (Sting's father, according to Sting's autobiography, 'Broken music', had always regretted not becoming a sailor). There are also references to Newcastle, the part of England where Sting grew up.
The title track was released as the fourth and last single from the album. It was only a minor hit, reaching number 57 in the UK singles chart during a one week chart run.
My collection: 7" single no. 4578 Found: Velvet Vinyl Outlet, Leiden, February 26, 2010 Cost: 1 euro Tracks: 'The soul cages' / 'Walking in your footsteps (live)'
'Englishman in New York' was originally a track on Sting's second album 'Nothing like the sun'. When it was released as a single from that album in 1988, it was moderately successful.
In 1990, just prior to the release of his third studio album The Soul Cages, Sting's record label licensed Dutch DJ and producer Ben Liebrand to remix the track and subsequently release it as a single. The remix played around with the introduction and some of the instrumentation, but the essence of the song remained the same. The new version was more successful, reaching number 15 in the UK singles chart in mid-1990.
My collection: 7" single no. 4600 Found: Velvet Vinyl Outlet, Leiden, February 26, 2010 Cost: 1 euro Tracks: 'Englishman in New York (Ben Liebrand mix)' / 'If you love somebody set them free'
'If I ever lose my faith in you' was released as the second single from Sting's 1993 album 'Ten summoner's tales' in January 1993.
The single reached number 17 in the US Billboard Hot 100 chart, also winning a Grammy award in 1994 for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance. In the Dutch top 40, the single reached number 15 and in the UK singles chart it reached number 14.
My collection: 7" single no. 2345 Found: Record Exchange, London, June 26, 1995 Cost: 50p Tracks: 'If I ever lose my faith in you' / 'Every breath you take (live)'
Although 'Fields of gold' was covered by Eva Cassidy and reportedly brought many people to tears, it still is a bit of an overlooked Sting classic. He wrote and recorded the track on his 1993 album 'Ten summoner's tales'. It was released as the third single from the album that year.
The single reached number 23 in the US Billboard Hot 100 chart, number 16 in the UK singles chart and number 52 in Germany.
My collection: 7" single no. 2392 Found: Marlyn Music, Eastbourne, July 5, 1995 Cost: 2 pounds Tracks: 'Fields of gold' / 'We work the black seam'
Bizarrely, Mark Knopfler from the Dire Straits wrote 'Money for nothing' during a visit at a New York appliance store. At the back of the store, there was a wall of TV's which were all tuned to MTV. A man working there, dressed in a baseball cap, work boots, and a checkered shirt was watching them. As he was standing there, Knopfler remembers the man coming up with classic lines such as 'what are those, Hawaiian noises? That ain't workin'' etc. Knopfler asked for a pen to write some of these lines down and then eventually put those words to music. According to Knopfler: 'He's singing the song. I wanted to use a lot of the language that the real guy actually used when I heard him, because it was more real...'
Sting contributed backing vocals to the track, and the classic line 'I want my MTV'. Knopfler modelled his guitar sound for the recorded track after ZZ Top guitarist Billy Gibbons' trademark guitar tone, as ZZ Top's music videos were already on heavy rotattion on MTV. Gibbons later told an interviewer in 1986 that Knopfler had solicited Gibbons on how to replicate the tone, adding, 'He didn't do a half-bad job, considering that I didn't tell him a thing!'.
'Money for nothing' was not a hit in the Netherlands (which is quite remarkable in fact!) but reached number 4 in the UK singles chart and was a number 1 hit in Canada and the USA.
My collection: 7" single no. 320 Found: LP Top 100, Den Haag, 1985 Cost: 6 guilders Tracks: 'Money for nothing' / 'Love over gold (live)'
Sting released his third solo album 'The soul cages' in 1991. The album was dedicated to his recently deceased father and had a suitably melancholic sound, which was notable in most of the singles released from the album as well.
'Mad about you' was the second single from 'The soul cages'. While it reached number 56 in the UK singles chart, number 59 in Germany and number 13 in Italy, it failed to chart everywhere else.
My collection: 7" single no. 1433 Found: Free Record Shop, Den Haag, April 26, 1991 Cost: 3 guilders Tracks: 'Mad about you' / 'Tempted (live)'
Although the Police never formally broke up, 1985 was the year in which all three members started concentrating on solo projects. The most successful of the three was Sting, who launched his solo career in the summer of 1985 with this single, 'If you love somebody set them free'. It was the first single from his first solo album, 'The dream of the blue turtles', which he recorded with a band of accomplished jazz musicians.
The single reached number 26 in the UK singles chart, number 35 in the Dutch Top 40 and number 3 in the US Billboard Hot 100 chart. I never liked this song much at the time of its release, but now, a quarter of a century later, I have grown to like it. I found a pristine UK pressing of the single, which is always a pleasure too.
My collection: 7" single no. 4476 Found: Record fair, Amsterdam, January 30, 2010 Cost: 0,5 euro Tracks: 'If you love somebody set them free' / 'Another day'
In 1987, Sting was going through his messiah phase, thinking that his status as a rock star could give him the power to save the world. He toured around the world with an indian with a plate in his lower lip, while also trying to stop the Chilean regime of Augusto Pinochet.
He did so by composing 'They dance alone', a track on his second solo album '...Nothing like the sun' and subsequently released as a single. The song is a metaphor referring to mourning Chilean women who were dancing the Cueca, the national dance of Chile, alone with photographs of their disappeared loved ones in their hands. Sting explained his song as a symbolic gesture of protest against Pinochet, whose regime killed thousands of people between 1973 and 1990. Of course, this didn't move Pinochet to immediately stop his actions. Sting did reach number 29 in the Dutch Top 40, but the single flopped in the UK.
My collection: 7" single no. 1009 Found: London, October 17, 1989 Cost: 2 pounds Tracks: 'They dance alone' / 'Ellas danzan solas'
'Moon over Bourbon Street' is a track from Sting's debut solo album 'The dream of the blue turtles'. The lyric of the song was inspired by the book 'Interview with the vampire' by Anne Rice.
It was released in early 1986 as the fifth and last single from the album. Although released all over Europe, it only managed a number 44 placing in the UK singles chart. My copy of the single comes with a German press information insert.
My collection: 7" single no. 1877 Found: Record fair, March 27, 1995 Cost: 1 guilder Tracks: 'Moon over Bourbon Street' / 'Mack the Knife'
Earlier this year, Sting released 'If on a winter's night', a collection of not necessarily Christmas songs, but Winter songs. But as on many more winter albums, a vague Christmas theme is always there. The first track on the album is 'Gabriel's message', an earlier version of which appeared as early as 1985 as a B-side of Sting's hit single 'Russians'.
'Russians' was released in November 1985 as the fourth single from Sting's first solo album 'The dream of the blue turtles'. 'Russians' was very much a cold war song: the only thing that might save the world from a nuclear holocaust is if 'the Russians love their children too'. The single peaked at number 7 in the Dutch Top 40 and number 12 in the UK singles chart. In the US Billboard Hot 100 chart, the single reached number 16.
My collection: 7" single no. 357 Found: LP Top 100, Den Haag, November 1985 Cost: 6 guilders Tracks: 'Russians' / 'Gabriel's message'
Sting wrote 'Fortress around your heart' in the studio in Barbados in 1985. He commented about the song: '[it] is about appeasement, about trying to bridge the gaps between individuals. The central image is a minefield that you've laid around this other person to try and protect them. Then you realise that you have to walk back through it. I think it's one of the best choruses I've ever written.'
The track features a sax solo performed by Branford Marsalis. It was released as the fourth single from Sting's 1985 album 'The dream of the blue turtles'. It reached number 8 in the US Billboard Hot 100 chart and number 49 in the UK singles chart.
My collection: 7" single no. 386 Found: Free Record Shop, Den Haag, 1986 Cost: 3 guilders Tracks: 'Fortress around your heart' / 'Shadows in the rain'
'Why should I cry for you?' was the fourth and last single released from Sting's third solo album 'The Soul Cages'. It was also the least successful, as it didn't chart in the UK, where all his previous solo singles had charted.
That's not to say it's a bad song: personally I think it's the best track from the album, with the extended version adding much to the song's appeal. This single has a bizarrely dark photo sleeve; I think something went wrong at the printer's. 'Why should I cry for you?' only charted in France, peaking at number 38.
My collection: 7" single no. 2309 Found: May 27, 1995 Cost: 3 guilders Tracks: 'Why should I cry for you?' / 'Ne me quitte pas (live)'
'Fragile' was released as a single from Sting's 1987 album 'Nothing like the sun'. It was released as a limited edition with a poster sleeve and a standard edition with a beautiful glossy cardboard sleeve, both of which I have. It is a perfect song to play on a lazy Saturday or Sunday morning.
According to Wikipedia, the song is a tribute to Ben Linder, an American civil engineer who was killed by the Contras in 1987 while working on a hydroelectric project in Nicaragua. Meanwhile, Sting was touring the world with some indian with a frisbee in his lip to promote the problems of the South African rainforests. It's this kind of blathering that made Sting such a bore during the second half of the Eighties. The single, meanwhile, was a number 10 hit in the Netherlands, while in the UK it only made number 70.
My collection: 7" single no. 614 (1 & 2) Found: Free Record Shop, 1987 Cost: 6 guilders + 6 guilders Tracks: 'Fragile' / 'Frágil (Portuguese)'
The song that embodied the Christmas spirit in the Eighties was Band Aid's 'Do they know it's Christmas?'. The project initiated by Midge Ure and Bob Geldof started when the two met up and worked out this song Bob had written in a rather rudimentary way. They phoned up the musician friends they knew and before you knew it you had a media spectacle of unprecedented size.
I bought the single as soon as it came out, although, strangely, I didn't like the song that much. There were just so many of my eighties idols participated that I felt I couldn't pass up on this historic single. Two decades later, it's somehow reassuring (or troubling) that everything has stayed the same in Africa: it's still a continent of war, hunger and drought.
My collection: 7" single no. 249
Found: Wouters, Den Haag, 1984
Cost: 6 guilders
Tracks: 'Do they know it's Christmas?' / 'Feed the world'
