A few things about DIVE...
The album DIVE marks the first collaboration between Miss Sarah and German record producer Frank Peterson...
As Miss Sarah said in a few interviews at the time of DIVE's release, she became acquainted with the work of Frank Peterson through the albums of ENIGMA and GREGORIAN CHANT. She said this was the sort of material she was looking for, something different from what the American producers her record label at the time was trying to force on her.
And together, they created something unique . From the first note to the last one, this album is amazing. It is still one of our favorite Miss Sarah cds, and when it's headphone time at 3am, it is still the one I reach for (the babies are asleep by then...) after all those years.
The nucleus of the Sarah Brightman "musical family" was also created with this album, with frequent GREGORIAN CHANT/Frank Peterson collaborators like Matthew Meissner, Peter Weihe, Thomas Schwarz, Gunther Laudahn and Michael Soltau lending their talents and their music.
Something they have kept on doing ever since... And, we hope, will keep on doing for many many many albums to come...
In private life, Miss Sarah and Frank Peterson have now become partners too, and we can only wish them the best !!! I know the penguins hope that if Miss Sarah and Mr. Peterson decide to get married, that they can go to the wedding and throw rice... And get some wedding cake...
Ok, back to the DIVE information...
The words spoken on the DIVE track are taken from a book called "WHALE NATION" by poet Heathcote Williams. It was published in 1988 by Harmony Books.
CAPTAIN NEMO was originally performed by the swedish band "Dive", where Chris Lancelot is the singer. The song was written by him and fellow band member E. Holmberg. The song was redone in 1995 by the Swedish singer Cecilia Vennersten, for her first album, appropriately titled CECILIA VENNERSTEN. She also did another song from DIVE for that album, a version of THE SECOND ELEMENT.
ONCE IN A LIFETIME was originally recorded in 1991 for the album SADISFACTION by what was then called GREGORIAN, before it became GREGORIAN CHANT. In the album booklet, Frank Peterson is even referred to as "Frank Gregorian". Another song from that album was later done by Miss Sarah, YOU TAKE MY BREATH AWAY, which appeared on the album FLY and was then released worlwide on HAREM.
ONCE IN A LIFETIME was also recorded in Spanish as SOTO UN INSTANTE by the GEMINI TWINS in 1996. A single was released in 1996 with the Twins (who are not twins or geminis) doing the song in both English and Spanish. And guess who produced this single ? Yup... Frank himself.
And, last but not least, it was also done by Princessa for her 1999 album entitled I WON'T FORGET YOU, also produced by Frank Peterson.
The background vocals for both Gregorian and Miss Sarah's version of ONCE IN A LIFETIME are provided by the SISTERS OF OZ, a group made up of Birgit Freud and Susana Espelleta, Frank Peterson's ex-wife. It is her who speaks the spanish lyrics heard at the beginning of the song.
And no, despite the name SISTERS OF OZ, they are not related. Miss Espelleta is also a composer and she has written material for Mr. Peterson's Gregorian Chant albums and the Spanish singer Princessa (her real name is Mónica Capel), another Peterson discovery. Miss Sarah has also written several songs for Princessa as well as doing background vocals on her albums. The Sisters of Oz's only other credit beside SADISFACTION is the album DIVE.
The dialogue heard on the track CAPE HORN is taken from the 1935 motion picture "MUTINY ON THE BOUNTY", by MGM. The second filmed version of the famed novel, it starred Charles Laughton as Captain William Bligh and Clark Gable as Lt. Fletcher Christian. The movie was directed by Frank Lloyd.
A SALTY DOG was written by Gary Brooker and Keith Reid of the band PROCOL HARUM. It is the first track of their third album, considered by many of their fans to be their best, the 1969 A SALTY DOG. Miss Sarah also did another song of theirs for the LA LUNA album. Which one ? The slightly better known A WHITER SHADE OF PALE.
Oh, in case you are wondering, a "salty dog" is an expression that was often used in the days of the tall-rigging sailing ships of the 1800s to describe an older, experienced sailor. The term is probably derived from the expression "sea dog", which is what the sailors called the seals they often encountered on their voyages.
The term "salt" was also used to described those types of sailors, alluding to the salt water and the salt spray that covered every inch of those types of vessels.
JOHNNY WANNA LIVE was originally recorded by the German singer Sandra for her album PAINTINGS IN YELLOW in 1992. It was a top 30 hit in Germany. The song was written by Frank Peterson and Michael Crétu, who went on to greater fame as the man behind ENIGMA. He is now married to Sandra and together, they now have 2 children. Frank Peterson has worked on both the album PAINTINGS IN YELLOW with Michael Crétu and the previous Sandra album, entitled INTO A SECRET LAND in 1988. They have also worked on the first ENIGMA album, MCMXC A.D. before parting ways over "creative difference".
LA MER was one of the showstopping moments of the A NIGHT IN EDEN concert tour. Following the song CAPTAIN NEMO, a short musical interlude fades in and out to reveal Miss Sarah, singing LA MER, suspended in mid-air, floating and singing LA MER.
Again, this causes the penguins a great deal of grief, for they still fear for Miss Sarah. However, they always applaud wildly once she is done and their breathing becomes regular again. In the interview with her that follows the concert on the dvd, Miss Sarah mentions that she wanted to create a part on the show where it appeeared as if she was under water.
Despite cries of "it's going to be difficult/impossible/expensive, she persevered and they came up wih the idea of the flying harness, for her and the 2 dancers on stage. The curtain that separates the audience from her is also used to great effect, as light and shadows appear, creating the illusion of the sun reflecting on the water.
The album THE VERY BEST 1990-2000 includes the live audio recording of this number from the EDEN tour. It is always a shame not to have Miss Sarah sing more numbers from DIVE on her tours, for the songs are so beautiful...
As always, just click on the red arrow beside a song title for its lyrics and a short musical clip in RealAudio format.
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 album creditsX
return to the album X
Dive track listing
DiveX
Captain Nemo X
The Second Element X
Ship Of Fools X
Once In A Lifetime X
Cape Horn X
A Salty Dog X
Siren X
Seven Seas X
Johnny Wanna Live X
By Now X
Island X
When It Rains In America X
La Mer X
The Second Element II X
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