Songoftheday 4/12/14 - If you want to keep something precious you got to lock it up and throw away the key, if you want to hold onto your possession don't even think about me...

Sting - "If You Love Somebody Set Them Free"
from the album The Dream Of The Blue Turtles (1985)
Billboard Hot 100 peak: #3 (two weeks)
Weeks in the Top-40: 14

Today's Song of the Day comes from the former singer and bassist of the pioneering alternative rock trio the Police Gordon Sumner, aka Sting. The band's 1983 album Synchronicity proved to be their biggest yet, with four top-40 hits including what would become their biggest hit ever, the #1 "Every Breath You Take". However, tensions among the three during the recording and touring for the album split them apart, and Sting embarked on a solo career in no due time. Although he had enjoyed a top-20 solo hit in his native England back in 1982 with "Spread A Little Happiness" from the soundtrack of the movie Brimstone & Treacle, it wasn't until after the Police folded that he would go ahead and record a true debut album, which was released in 1985. With a backup of highly-regarded jazz session musicians, Sting's The Dream Of The Blue Turtles was experimental yet very accessible to mainstream ears, and the first single, "If You Love Somebody Set Them Free", even went through the trouble of plucking an inspirational poster slogan to make the medicine go down easier. The video, directed by former 10cc'ers Godley & Creme, used the green screen paste on to full effect...

"If You Love Somebody..." became Stings first top-40 pop hit in America in August of 1985, while topping the Mainstream Rock radio chart in Billboard for three weeks. The record even crossed over to R&B radio, topping out at #17 on that genre list as well. Internationally, the single was only a moderate success, reaching the lower half of the top-40 in France, Holland, and Sting's native England.

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The single also went to #10 on the Dance Club Play chart with remixes done by Jellybean Benitez and William Orbit..