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Singer and songwriter Sting has been singing for 45 years now, a rare feat in the industry. Beginning his career in 1978 with the group The police, the group reached the peak with four studio albums, the most famous being Synchronicity in 1983.
The band was one of the few bands of that era that could mix elements of punk, classic rock, soul, jazz and reggae. The singer said he also has his own eclectic playlist and told BBC Radio Two what his favorite songs are, one of them being the soulful vocals of Otis Redding.
Sting also mentioned Bob Marley, Pet Shop Boys, Eurythmics and The Human League as well as Shaggy.
That said, here is the list of Sting’s top 10 favorite songs of all time:
1. Otis Redding – (Sitting on) The Dock of the Bay
2. Procol Harum – A white shade of pale
3. Bob Marley and the Wailers – No Woman, No Scream
4. Gerry Rafferty – Baker Street
5. Pet Shop Boys – West End Girls
- George Michael – Carefree Whisper
7. Eurythmics – Here Comes The Rain Again
8. The Human League – You Don’t Want Me
- Peter Gabriel – Sledgehammer
10. Shaggy – It Wasn’t Me
“I think I was only 16 and Otis’s Redding had just died in a terrible plane crash. I went to my record store and bought ‘Dock of the Bay’ on the Stax label, a nice label blue, there was a paper bag, and I took it out, put it on my turntable, the usual ritual, I put the needle in and I hear (imitates song intro) What a wonderful song. I mean, sad, sad song but without minor chords. It’s all major chords, which is kind of an achievement in many ways.
Speaking of Shaggy Sting, he said, “Sometimes you meet someone and they may be very different from you, from very different backgrounds, but you recognize a kindred spirit. Shaggy and I genuinely love each other. We laugh at the same jokes, I find him intensely interesting and artistic. When he raps, he declaims like a Shakespearean act, it’s a beautiful voice. And he writes these kinds of moral parables.
“It wasn’t me” kind of has a morality. We did it in a German church and I had to explain to the pastor what exactly the message was. I don’t know how well I did, but it was very funny.
The Sting post says these were his all-time favorite songs that appeared first on The Independent World News.
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