It’s time to get back to my favorite decade. For the month of March, I’ll be looking back at some of my favorite jams from the 80s. These songs often came to me via MTV or the radio. NYC-area stations WDRE, WPLJ, WNEW, K-ROCK and Z100 introduced me to everything from irresistible pop confections to under-the-radar post-punk anthems. I would not be who I am today if it weren’t for the 80s. It was the decade when I discovered music can be a truly powerful thing. #31DaysOf80sSongs
Synchroncity is an anomaly in music history. It contains some of The Police’s biggest hits, including “Every Breath You Take” and “Wrapped Around Your Finger”. These songs were accessible for a wider audience. But this same album also birthed some of the band’s most experimental tracks, including “Mother” and “Miss Gradenko”. Synchronicity spanned several genres, from hard rock (“Synchronicity II”) to jazz (“Murder By Numbers”). But, more than anything, it was a study in space. The Police knew how to use space to their advantage as good as any other band out there. “Tea in the Sahara” is a solid case in point.
The song theme is inspired by a book that Sting read by Paul Bowles called “The Sheltering Sky”. There’s a story within the greater story about three sisters who wait to have tea in the Sahara with a prince. It’s a story of gratification and dreams pursued, achieved, and lost again. The story required an atmospheric approach to the instrumentation, which Andy Summers created through space and layers. His guitar thrives in open space with a series of feedback expressions and echoes that immediately transport us into the scorching desert. Copeland’s percussion approach is light and airy like the Sahara sand. “Tea in the Sahara” is a soundscape that appears like a mirage and then seems to vanish into thin air in an instant.
“We have this strange obsession. You have the means in your possession.”