Letters from Berlin

Letters from Berlin is the third solo studio album by Scottish singer-songwriter Clark Murray. It was released on 9 November 1988 in the United States by Dreidel Records (his final release for the label) and on 22 November 1988 in the United Kingdom by CBS Records. After Murray finished touring commitments with the rock band Taking Back Friday in 1987, the group entered a four-year hiatus (save for recording Gods of Electronics from the Astro Boy soundtrack), during which Murray went on holiday to West Germany, there he saw the Berlin Wall for the first time. Following this, he returned to England and by early 1988, he had written material for a new solo album, which addresssed more serious lyrical themes, like political issues involving the then ongoing Cold War as well as isolation between East and Western Worlds and how one imagines what's it like on the other side.

Letter from Berlin was critically acclaimed, many praising Murray for his humanistic and complex approach to East vs. West differences. It became Murray's best selling album in both the UK and US, eventually selling 2.75 million copies. The lead single, "Dear Love...", was nominated for a Grammy Award for Record of the Year in 1989 but lost to Bobby McFerrin's "Don't Worry, Be Happy". Murray supported the album with the Letters from Berlin Live! World Tour in 1989. While touring, he came back to Berlin to witness the fall of the Berlin Wall, there he staged a surprise concert during the event.

Art and packaging
All of the packaging art and text was hand-drawn by Murray himself, according to him "After having my first two albums art be design by other people, I thought it would be interesting to do art for this one myself, so I drew everything you see on the album, all the text, images, the legal stuff, even the label art was all drawn by me". Murray said this was intentionally made to look like letters he'd write to friends and relatives, which he typically wrote while on vacation or touring.

Side One

 * Tears of Conflict
 * What do they Know?
 * Dear Love...
 * Is there any hope?

Side Two

 * Cult of Personality
 * Work or Die!
 * An Individual in a Police State
 * There's Always a Way Out (with Carl Andy)

Concert film
A film recording of the 1989 concert at the Berlin Wall site was released in 1990 and Directed by Nicolas Argyll.