The MARK’S VINTAGE VINYL page features something from Mark’s collection of recordings from over the years. Most of it is on vinyl – hence the name – though there will be a few entries from his CDs (remember those?).
Brand New Day, by Sting
- Sixth solo studio album released by Sting in 1999.
- In the late 90s, I was just starting to reconnect with music, after going 10 years of mostly listening to kids music thanks to my young family at that time. By 1999, Sting was long done with his days with The Police, and his solo career was in full force. I heard Desert Rose from this album, and immediately liked the sound. The album showed his progression from rock and pop songs, to music that was influenced by music from other cultures.
- Sting won 2 Grammy awards with the album – Best Pop Vocal Album and Best Male Pop Vocal Performance for the title track (Stevie Wonder plays harmonica on the title track).
- Desert Rose is a duet, sung with Algerian raï vocalist Cheb Mami – “raï” is a form of Algerian folk music that dates back to the 1920s. The song reached #17 on the Billboard Hot 100. Sting performed it on Saturday Night Live, Late Show With David Letterman, the Grammy awards show, and at the Super Bowl. It was released in September 1999, but it didn’t become popular until March of 2000, when Jaguar started using it in its television commercials. The video of the song features Sting riding in a Jaguar S-Type car through the Mojave Desert and in Las Vegas.
- Sting had planned a U.S. festival tour called Desert Roses and Arabian Rhythms, featuring musicians from the middle east, which was set to begin on September 14, 2001. It was cancelled after the terror attacks 3 days earlier.
- Here’s the video (which looks like a Jaguar car commercial) for Desert Rose.