The Police

[Worm of Despite]

For a brief period the Police were the hottest rock band in the world, using reggae rhythms in stark arrangements with an angry, political, almost-punk sensibility. They got started a year after punk and New Wave hit, but they brought tuneful songwriting and real musicianship to the table: Stewart Copeland is a fantastic drummer, always coming up with something interesting, and Sting and Andy Summers mostly stay in the background but with an unerring sense of timing. When Summers does take a solo, it's usually strikingly original. Sting's voice is expressive, and although his range is limited he stays within it: he doesn't bite off more than he can chew.

In terms of innovation, the Police were probably the first band outside of Jamaica to internalize reggae and do something new with it: everyone from Eric Clapton to Elton John to Paul Simon had done reggae numbers, but they were slavish imitations (Stevie Wonder's "Boogie On Reggae Woman" was so Wonderfied it wasn't really reggae anymore). And right from the start, the Police had worked out sudden tempo and time changes that left most rock bands (dinosaurs to New Wavers) in the dust: "De Do Do Do, De Da Da Da" is the best-known example.

While a lot of people will tell you Synchronicity is their best work, I'm going to have to go with their 1979 release, Reggatta De Blanc.

[matrixman]

Most excellent, Lord Foul! A Police thread at last! I'm a huge fan. Still have my Police poster rolled up somewhere in my closet. Ah, those glory days.

I agree, the trio's musicianship was remarkable. These were three very disparate individuals who somehow stayed together--at least long enough to make five of the best albums in rock, in my totally biased opinion.

Dave Marsh, co-editor of the Rolling Stone Record Guide, wrote a book called The Heart of Rock & Soul: The 1001 Greatest Singles Ever Made. It's a smart and entertaining piece of writing, even if you may not agree with his choices. Anyway, in the book he summed up the Police's "De Do Do Do, De Da Da Da" and the band itself beautifully:

Though they didn't prove to be the Beatles of the eighties (as some people seriously predicted at the time), at their best, the Police were a machine that ran like a Porsche, with a tight, hard thrum. Here, Andy Summers' guitar bursts at the end of each line perfectly complement the best deliberately nonsensical lyrics Sting's ever written, and Stewart Copeland's drumming sets up a roadway engineered for a ride as smooth and powerful as the autobahns themselves. Sting may have conceived the song as a tirade against the misuse of communication by the Establishment or as a paean to human innocence in the face of such malicious blather, but on the record, what matters is nothing but the pure, intense groove.

About Reggatta de Blanc: perhaps it has the best side one of any Police album, to use LP parlance. But side two sounds very uneven to my ears: the other two members' material just sounds painfully mediocre when put next to Sting's.

I'll bore you all with further thoughts on the Police later.

[danlo]

I like Ghost in the Machine better than Synchronicity. Don't Stand So Close To Me rules!

[Theo]

I've already gotten into a scrape over this on the punk/metal thread, but I'm genuinely confused as to what's "punk" or "almost-punk" about the Police. Granted, I've only heard some of their music, but musically it seems to come from a completely different direction. What have I been missing? Or has it got nothing to do with the music, just a social/historical thing?

(Though it was fun to see a young Sting in an aborted sequence from The Great Rock & Roll Swindle in the Sex Pistols documentary the other year, The Filth and the Fury. Obviously he knew Malcolm McLaren. Maybe that's the connection. )

[danlo]

Or as the "bell-boy" in Quadrophenia-but then he'd be a Mod-or is there some connection there with Punk?

[aTOMiC]

The Police. There have been a few bands that have really hooked me at the beginning and then booted me from their audience when they finally hit the big time. (I hold up U2 as an example). If the Police had survived to release one more album I probably would have turned away at last. In my opinion their first four albums were nothing short of terrific. Whatever the recipe, the Police sound seemed to appeal to me in a way no other band had before or since. Synchronicity and the worldwide attention it brought to the group seemed to turn me off. That the album drew me into the phenomenon is a credit to its quality.
Zenyatta Mondatta remains my favorite Police album.

[duchess of malfi]

Like Danlo, my favorite Police album would be Ghost in the Machine...though I don't think a bad Police album exists.

From the album Ghost in the Machine (A&M)
Words and music by Sting

Though I've tried before to tell her
Of the feelings I have for her in my heart
Every time that I come near her
I just lose my nerve
As I've done from the start

Every little thing she does is magic
Everything she do just turns me on
Even though my life before was tragic
Now I know my love for her goes on

Do I have to tell the story
Of a thousand rainy days since we first met
It's a big enough umbrella
But it's always me that ends up getting wet

Every little thing she does is magic
Everything she do just turns me on
Even though my life before was tragic
Now I know my love for her goes on

I resolve to call her up a thousand times a day
And ask her if she'll marry me in some old fashioned way
But my silent fears have gripped me
Long before I reach the phone
Long before my tongue has tripped me
Must I always be alone?

Every little thing she does is magic
Everything she do just turns me on
Even though my life before was tragic
Now I know my love for her goes on

Every little thing she does is magic
Everything she do just turns me on
Even though my life before was tragic
Now I know my love for her goes on

Every little thing
Every little thing



Stingetc.com is © 1995 - 2004 by Marisa Meis

[Rivenrock]

..

[matrixman]

I envy you, Rivenrock. One of my regrets in life is that I never got to see the Police live in concert. I have to content myself with video footage.

Stupid analogy: Synchronicity is to me what the Beatles' Sgt. Pepper was to the hippie generation. For an impressionable 13-year old, Synchronicity was a mind-blowing watershed moment in music. The songs of Synchronicity meant the world to me. Sting was the cool philosopher king, Andy Summers and Stewart Copeland his deputy princes. I remember hearing "Synchronicity II" for the first time on the radio, and being mesmerized by the song's great guitar riff...

The Police also made their mark with their Synchronicity music videos, which were pioneering at the time, though they may look amateurish by today's slick production standards.

I also think the Synchronicity album cover was a work of beautiful design that deserved an award. The photo collage of the trio, split into 3 strips and "painted" over by the 3 primary colors, is a brilliant conceit, very fittingly "synchronistic."

I strongly believe that with this album, the Police achieved a higher and deeper level of artistry than their contemporaries. Amid the posturing of superficially entertaining acts like Michael Jackson and the glam metal headbanging of Quiet Riot (remember them?), the Police stood out as musicians with something meaningful to say--and they said it well.

[dANdeLION]

Though there are no bad Police LP's, Synchronicity was my favourite.

[A Gunslinger]

The Police. There have been a few bands that have really hooked me at the beginning and then booted me from their audience when they finally hit the big time. (I hold up U2 as an example). If the Police had survived to release one more album I probably would have turned away at last. In my opinion their first four albums were nothing short of terrific. Whatever the recipe, the Police sound seemed to appeal to me in a way no other band had before or since. Synchronicity and the worldwide attention it brought to the group seemed to turn me off. That the album drew me into the phenomenon is a credit to its quality.
Zenyatta Mondatta remains my favorite Police album.

Tom makes the point I was going to....damn you TOM.....U2 and the police are very similar both in terms of career development and reasons for sickening me.

Both bands had great absolutely unique sounds that eventually caused them to thrive worldwide. In fact I recall having the same thought when I heard "With or Without you" in 1987 as i did when I heard "Every Breath You Take" in 1984 ('85?); that being that "this song is completely different from anything on the radio right now. Both songs catapulted both bands to super stardom.

Then I got sick of them both. Not only was that unique sound no longer so unique, but both leaders of the bands got so full of themselves and santamonious, the only anitdote was Dylan & Springsteen.

I now love U2's newer stuff and Sting's adult-contempo stuff ain't bad either, so long as you are not trying to party or somethin'.

[Cord Hurn]

My favorite Police album, even after all these years, remains Ghost In The Machine. Pretty much the whole album I love, but especially "Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic". Copeland is a wonderful and distinctive drummer, and that's part of the magic of this band, imo.

[Cord Hurn]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XkMyFMZXHmk

[The Police: Secret Journey]