Japanese CD of the Day: Sting At The Movies / compilation from 1997

Released only in Japan in 1997, Sting At The Movies (POCM-1553) is a collection of Sting songs that had featured in films over the years.

Actually, it’s not just Sting, because a few Police tracks do make an appearance, including the opener De Do Do Do, De Da Da Da (used in The Last American Virgin) and the fantastic I Burn For You, from the soundtrack to the 1982 Dennis Potter film Brimstone and Treacle.

This is a superbly listenable compilation. Someone To Watch Over Me (also from Brimstone and Treacle) is exquisite, and the strength of Mr Sumner’s 1987 album Nothing Like The Sun is apparent by the inclusion of three tracks; Englishman In New York and The Secret Marriage are both the standard album versions but Fragile (from the film The Living Sea) has an unfamiliar cinematic intro.

The Lethal Weapon 3 soundtrack version of It’s Probably Me (actually the single edit) get’s a rare outing, as does This Cowboy Song (mercifully Pato Banton-free).

The only tracks which feel slightly out of place are Sting’s version of Demolition Man, which is, frankly, awful and the bombast of All For Love, which just sounds like a Bryan Adams song circa 1993.

If nothing else, this selection reminds fans what great and diverse music Sting is capable of. Fans are crying out for a intelligently compiled collection of B-sides and Rarities – if that ever happens, no doubt quite a few tracks from here would make the grade.

Track listing

• De Do Do Do, De Da Da Da (The Police) 4:07
• I Burn For You (The Police) 4:49
• Need Your Love So Bad 5:12
• Englishman In New York 4:30
• Someone To Watch Over Me 4:35
• Demolition Man 5:27
• Shape Of My Heart 4:36
• All For Love (Sting, Bryan Adams And Rod Stewart) 4:41
• The Secret Marriage 2:04
• This Cowboy Song 4:56
• It’s Probably Me 5:04
• Angel Eyes 4:02
• Moonlight 5:22
• My One And Only Love 3:37
• Fragile 2:53
• Murder By Numbers (The Police) 4:40
• Valparaiso 5:24