...Nothing Like The Sun is a 1987 album by Sting. The title comes from Shakespeare's Sonnet #130 ("My mistress' eyes are nothing like the sun"), which Sting used in the song "Sister Moon". He added that his inspiration for this was a close encounter with a drunk, in which Sting quoted the sonnet in response to the drunk's importunate query, "How beautiful is the moon?"
The album won Best British Album at the 1988 Brit Awards.
Background
The album was influenced by two events in Sting's life: first, the death in late 1986 of his mother, which contributed to the sombre tone of several songs; and second, his participation in A Conspiracy of Hope Tour on behalf of Amnesty International, which brought Sting to parts of Latin America that had been ravaged by civil wars, and introduced him to victims of government oppression. "They Dance Alone (Cueca Solo)" was inspired by his witnessing of public demonstrations of grief by the wives and daughters of men missing in Chile, tortured and murdered by the military dictatorship of the time, who danced the cueca (the traditional dance of Chile) by themselves, with photos of their loved ones pinned to their clothes. "Be Still My Beating Heart" and "The Lazarus Heart" approach the subjects of life, love and death and also featured Police guitarist Andy Summers. Elsewhere on the album, "Englishman in New York", in honour of Quentin Crisp, continues the jazz-influenced music more commonly found on Sting's previous album, as does "Sister Moon".
The album's first single and biggest hit, "We'll Be Together" (reportedly not one of Sting's favorites), sported a prominent dance beat and funk overtones; it reached #7 on the Billboard Hot 100 charts in late 1987 and even crossed over to the R&B charts. Overall, the album's sales now stand at over 2 million, making it one of Sting's best-sellers.
The album also inspired a Spanish/Portuguese counterpart, the 1988 mini-album Nada Como el Sol. It featured four of the songs from the album sung in either Spanish or Portuguese and in the case of "Fragile", both languages.
Three years after its initial release on both the album and in single form, "Englishman In New York" was remixed in mid-1990 by Dutch producer Ben Liebrand, apparently to increase Sting's commercial viability after a two-year absence in the charts. Providing a stronger dance beat, as well as an extended introduction, the song was a hit in clubs and reached number 15 on the UK pop charts. The maxi-single also included a dance remix of "We'll Be Together" as a B-side.
...Nothing Like the Sun was one of the first fully digital audio recordings (DDD) to achieve multi-platinum status. It is also Sting's biggest selling album yet with worldwide sales of 11 million copies as of 1997.
Tracklisting
The Lazarus Heart
Be Still My Beating Heart
Englishman In New York
History Will Teach Us Nothing
They Dance Alone (Gueca Solo)
Fragile
We'll Be Together
Straight To My Heart
Rock Steady
Sister Moon
Little Wing
The Secret Marriage
Singles
1987 - "We'll Be Together" #7 US
1988 - "Englishman In New York" #84 US #51 UK
1988 - "Be Still My Beating Heart" #15 US
1988 - "Fragile" #70 UK
1988 - "They Dance Alone" #94 UK
1990 - "Englishman In New York" (Remix) #15 UK
Credits
Sting – Lead Vocals, Bass, Guitar on "History Will Teach Us Nothing" and "Fragile"
Renée Geyer – Background Vocals
Dollette McDonald – Background Vocals
Janice Pendarvis – Background Vocals
Vesta Williams – Background Vocals
Kenwood Dennard – Drums on "Little Wing"
Manu Katché – Drums
Andy Newmark – Drums
Gil Evans & His Orchestra (on "Little Wing")
Mino Cinelu – Percussion, Vocoder
Rubén Blades – Vocals (on "They Dance Alone (Cueca Solo)")
Mark Egan – Bass on "Little Wing"
Hiram Bullock – Guitar on "Little Wing"
Eric Clapton – Guitar on "They Dance Alone (Cueca Solo)"
Fareed Haque – Guitar on "They Dance Alone (Cueca Solo)"
Mark Knopfler – Guitar (on "They Dance Alone (Cueca Solo)")
Andy Summers – Guitar on "The Lazurus Heart" and "Be Still My Beating Heart"
Kenny Kirkland – Keyboards
Ken Helman – Piano on "The Secret Marriage"
Branford Marsalis – Saxophone
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