by Robert Wilkinson
Besides the legendary duo of Groucho Marx and Mahatma Gandhi, today is also the birthday of Sting, singer-songwriter, human rights activist, and philanthropist!
Gordon Sumner, a.k.a. Sting, was born October 2, 1951, and began his claim to fame as the bass player for one of the greatest bands ever, the Police. I had the privilege of seeing them in 1981 during the "Spirits in the Material World" tour in the Meadowlands, and it was a major event with lots of kinetic and magnetic energy! It truly was one of my top 10 of all time.
Since his days with the Police, Sting has gone on to become one of the top performers and a global musical conscience for human rights in our world, and still writes hauntingly beautiful songs. Today are some performances of various tunes from early on to the present day.
Since the Police were among the first bands to hit MTV, there are a ton of music videos of their songs, as well as live clips!
From September 1979 on Veronica's Countdown in Voorburg, the Police doing a live performance of their first huge hit, "Roxanne." Also from 1979 live at Pinkpop, the Police doing "Roxanne." Here's the music video of "Roxanne."
Here are the Police in 2007 at the Grammy reunion, sounding awesome doing an updated version of "Roxanne."
From the same 1979 Voorburg concert, here are the Police performing "So Lonely." Here's the music video of "So Lonely."
Another great on from the same live 1979 concert! The Police performing "I Can't Stand Losing You." Here's the original music video of "I Can't Stand Losing You"."
A final piece from the Veronica's Countdown concert, "Walking On The Moon." Here's another live concert in Atlanta on the 1983 Synchronicity tour of "Walking On The Moon." Here's the original studio version set to a still picture of Walking On The Moon."
In this clip, the Police announce their 2007 reunion tour at Hollywood's Whisky a Go Go with a "rehearsal" performance of "Message In A Bottle." Here's the music video of "Message In A Bottle."
Here's the music video of "Don't Stand So Close To Me."
Here's a live performance by the Police of the amazing "Invisible Sun." Here's an extremely trippy psychedelic video set to the original studio version of “Invisible Sun."
Live on the "The Kenny Everett Television Show" Christmas 1981, here are the Police live doing "Spirits In The Material World." Here’s a great live performance from “Top of the Pops” in 1981 of “Spirits In The Material World"
From 1986, a live performance by the Police of "King of Pain"
Here’s a great live performance by Sting with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra live in Berlin in 2010 of “King of Pain.” If you want to see the entire concert, a link to all 15 songs is just below the screen of this video.
Here are the reunited Police in February 2008 at the Tokyo Dome doing “King of Pain.”
The music video of the Police doing "Wrapped Around Your Finger."
The original music video of the Police doing "Every Breath You Take"
A great acoustic performance by Sting with Dominic Miller of "Every Breath you Take"
The following are all the music videos by Sting of his various post-Police hits.
“If You Love Somebody Set Them Free"
In an interesting find, here is Sting live in Italy on September 11, 2001, doing “If You Love Somebody Set Them Free.”
The haunting "Russians." Here's a live performance in 1984 of "Russians," and here he is in Moscow doing a live performance on New Year's Eve 2010 complete with symphonic accompaniment of "Russians." Pretty awesome!
“If I Ever Lose My Faith In You."
Here's the beautiful "Fields of Gold."
"I'm So Happy I Can't Stop Crying."
For a real treat, here’s an entire 2 hour concert by Sting, live in Berlin in 2010! For your extended listening enjoyment, here’s Sting Live in Berlin in 2010. There are 21 songs in the set list, including many not linked to in this article. It really is a beautiful concert, complete with backing orchestra!
We'll close this birthday celebration with one of my all time favorites! Though he didn't write this, he did sing on this collective effort that blew the doors down all over the world, and opened humanity's heart to millions of starving Africans! Here's Band Aid doing the incredible “Do They Know It's Christmas?" Simply awesome!
I also found the original live performance at London Wembley in 1985 of the Live Aid band, with Sting, David Bowie, Pete Townshend, Sir Paul, Bono, Bob Geldolf, George Michael, and the rest, doing the finale “Do They Know It’s Christmas”
So Happy Big 61st, Mr. Gordon Matthew Thomas Sumner, CBE. May you have many, many more years of playing, singing, and working for the betterment of humanity!
© Copyright 2012 Robert Wilkinson
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