The Police
This article is about the band. For law enforcement agencies, see police.The Police was a three-piece British
new wave band, which was strongly influenced by
ska and
reggae. Coming to prominence in the wake of the
punk rock phenomenon, they rose to become one of the most popular groups in the world in the early
1980s.
Formation
The Police was founded by
American-born drummer
Stewart Copeland in early
1977. After the demise of his
progressive rock band
Curved Air, Copeland was anxious to form a new three-piece group and join the burgeoning London punk scene. Singer-bassist
Sting and guitarist
Henry Padovani began rehearsing with Copeland in January,
1977, and they recorded their first Police single "Fallout/Nothing Achieving" the following month. In March and April, the threesome toured as a support act for
Cherry Vanilla as well as
Wayne County & the Electric Chairs.
In May, ex-
Gong musician
Mike Howlett invited Sting and guitarist
Andy Summers to form
Strontium 90 with him, as a project band for a Gong reunion. The drummer Howlett had in mind for this band,
Chris Cutler, was unavailable to play drums, so Sting brought along Stewart Copeland.
Strontium 90 recorded several demo tracks at Virtual Earth Studios, and then performed at a Gong reunion concert in Paris on
May 28,
1977. An album with some of these studio and live tracks (with a very early incarnation of "
Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic") was released in 1997 under the name "Police Academy". The foursome also performed at a London club as "The Elevators" in July, 1977.
In July,
1977, Copeland, Sting, Padovani, and Summers began performing as a four-piece version of The Police. Padovani's relatively limited ability as a guitarist meant that his tenure in the band was short, and soon after an aborted recording session with producer
John Cale on
August 10, Padovani left the band and Summers took over sole guitar duties. Summers was several years older than Copeland and Sting and his experience as a guitarist went back to the early 1960s and included a stint in
Eric Burdon's New Animals in the late '60s. This lineup of Copeland, Sting, and Summers would endure for the rest of Police history.
Sting proved to be a capable songwriter; he had previously spent time as a
secondary school English teacher, and his lyrics are noted for their literary awareness and verbal agility. Material in the later album
Ghost In The Machine was inspired by the writings of
Arthur Koestler, and material in
Synchronicity was prominently inspired by the writings of
Carl Jung. "Tea in the Sahara" on the latter album showed interest in
Paul Bowles as well.
The Police, along with
The Clash, are notable as one of the first mainstream white
groups to adopt
ska and
reggae as predominant musical forms and to score major international hits with ska and reggae-styled material. Although ska and reggae were already very popular in the
United Kingdom (due to the large number of
Caribbean immigrants) the style was little known in the United States or other countries, and prior to the emergence of the Police only a handful of reggae songs—e.g.
Eric Clapton's
1974 cover rendition of
Bob Marley's "I Shot The Sheriff"—had enjoyed any significant chart success.
Desmond Dekker, a ska artist, also flirted with international chart success for songs "Israelites" and "007."
The bleached blonde hair that would become a trademark was a happy accident occurring before they cut their first album. The band, desperate for money, was asked to do a commercial for
Wrigley's Spearmint chewing gum on the condition that they dye their hair blonde.
Signed
For the Police, their first album,
Outlandos d'Amour was a hardship, working on a small budget, with no manager or record deal. Stewart Copeland's older brother
Miles Copeland III heard "
Roxanne" for the first time and immediately got them a record deal with
A&M Records. The single was re-released in
1979, and it was then that the Police achieved widespread fame in the United Kingdom, as well as scoring a minor hit with the song in several other countries, notably Australia. Their success led to a gig at the infamous
New York club
CBGB and a grueling United States tour in which the band drove themselves and all their equipment around the country in a
Ford Econoline van.
As with several other international acts of this period (e.g.
Blondie), and like
Nirvana a decade later, The Police gained early popularity in Australia through their first Australian tour, and they scored some of their first international hits in Australia, well before most other countries. The key factor in their early Australian breakthrough was that they were enthusiastically supported by Australia's only non-commercial rock radio station,
Triple J in
Sydney, which in turn led to early exposure for their
music videos on the popular national pop show
Countdown.
In October 1979, the group released their second album
Reggatta de Blanc, which was a major seller in many countries and which spawned UK singles "Walking on the Moon" their first No 1 and "Message In a Bottle" also a chart topper.
In March
1980, the Police decided to embark on their first world tour, and they were one of the first major rock bands to play in places like
Bombay,
India and Egypt. The Police toured the world long before they were a world class act. The much generated hype of their new music and tour caused an outbreak of popularity among new wave devotees across the rest of the world.
Regatta De Blanc's title track would win the Grammy for Best Rock Instrumental Performance.
Pressured by their record company for a new record and a prompt return to touring by fall's end, the Police quickly released their third album,
Zenyatta Mondatta in the fall of 1980. The album gave the group their third UK number one hit, "
Don't Stand So Close to Me", and "De Do Do Do, De Da Da Da", which charted successfully in the United States.
Mondatta gave the Police worldwide fame. In subsequent interviews, Sting himself expressed some disappointment with the album, regretting the rushed nature of its recording. However, many critics would later cite it as one of their strongest efforts. It was however the last album in which the group collectively cooperated, or as Sting would later put it, the last album they worked on "as a band". The instrumental song, "Behind My Camel," written by Andy Summers, would win the Grammy for Best Rock Instrumental Performance. The song "Don't Stand So Close To Me" would win the Grammy for Best Rock Vocal Performance For Duo Or Group.
Stardom
By this time Sting was becoming a major star in his own right, and he was clearly intent on establishing a career beyond the confines of the Police. He branched out into acting with fair success, making an impressive debut as the mysterious visitor in the
Richard Loncraine film version of
Dennis Potter's play
Brimstone & Treacle, as well as scoring a minor solo hit in the United Kingdom with the movie's theme song, "Spread A Little Happiness". This was followed by a well-received performance as 'The Ace Face' in the film version of
The Who's
rock opera Quadrophenia and an appearance as the heir of house Harkonnen,
Feyd-Rautha, in the
David Lynch screen adaptation of
Frank Herbert's
Dune. Although he was admirably suited to the role and performed well, the film itself received very mixed reviews, mainly due to the fact that Lynch's control was usurped by his producers, who drastically re-edited the feature film.
As Sting's fame rose, he began to exert more and more control over the group, aided by the fact that he wrote the bulk of their material. His relationship with band founder Stewart Copeland began to deteriorate, with the two reputedly coming to blows on some occasions. One notable fight occurred during an interview backstage, just after Stewart proclaimed, "How about footage of me whipping Sting? That'd be interesting." The increasingly strained partnership was further stretched by the attendant pressures of worldwide fame, conflicting
egos,
money, and
publicity.
The Police's fourth album,
Ghost In The Machine, produced by
Hugh Padgham, was released in
1981. It featured thicker sounds, layered
saxophones, and vocal textures, spawning the hit singles, "
Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic", "Invisible Sun", and "Spirits In The Material World".
The Police released their last album,
Synchronicity, in
1983; it is widely regarded as a classic. Notable songs from that album include "
Every Breath You Take", "Wrapped Around Your Finger", "King of Pain" and the foreboding "Synchronicity II". Except for "King of Pain", the singles were accompanied by memorable music videos directed by
Godley & Creme. This album hit #1 in both the U.K. (where it debuted at #1) and the U.S. It stayed at #1 in the U.K. for only two weeks and in the U.S. for 17 weeks. The album that ended its run at U.S. #1 was
Quiet Riot's
Metal Health. It was nominated for the Album of the Year Grammy, but lost to the inevitable winner,
Michael Jackson's
Thriller. The Police, though, beat out Jackson in one category: "Every Breath You Take" won the Grammy for Song Of The Year, beating
Michael Jackson's "
Billie Jean" in that category. "Every Breath You Take" also won the Grammy for Best Pop Performance By A Duo Or Group With Vocal.
Synchronicity II would also win the Grammy for Best Rock Performance By A Duo Or Group With Vocal.
Dissolution
Although there was never an official break-up, each band member pursued his own solo career after the Synchronicity tour ended in March 1984. In June 1986 they reconvened to play three concerts for the
Amnesty International A Conspiracy of Hope Tour. Later that year, a short-lived reunion in the studio produced only subdued re-recordings of "Don't Stand So Close to Me" and "De Do Do Do, De Da Da Da." By this time, it was clear that Sting had no intention of continuing with the band, having already released a successful solo debut LP in
1985, the
jazz-influenced
The Dream of the Blue Turtles.
In
1992, Sting wed
Trudie Styler. Summers and Copeland were invited to the ceremony and reception. Aware that all band members were present, the wedding guests pressured the trio into playing, ultimately performing "Roxanne" and "Message In A Bottle". Copeland said later that "after about three minutes, it became 'the thing' again."
On
March 10,
2003, the Police were inducted into the
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and performed "Roxanne", "Message In a Bottle", and "Every Breath You Take" live, as a group. The latter song was performed alongside
Steven Tyler,
Gwen Stefani, and
John Mayer. Towards the end of the song, Copeland was playing the drums so hard that the head of his snare drum broke. [
1]
In
2004,
Henry Padovani (the band's guitarist before Andy Summers joined) released an album with the participation of Stewart Copeland and Sting in one track, reuniting the "original" Police members in a performance for the first time since 1977.
In
2006 Stewart Copeland made a
rockumentary about the band called
Everyone Stares: The Police Inside Out, based on
Super-8 filming he did when the band was touring and recording in the late 70's and the early 80's.
*
Sting (Gordon Matthew Sumner) - vocals,
bass (1977-1984)
*
Stewart Copeland -
drums (1977-1984)
*
Andy Summers -
guitar (1977-1984)
*
Henry Padovani - guitar (1977)
Music albums
Outlandos d'Amour (
1978) (US sales: Platinum)
Reggatta de Blanc (
1979) (US sales: 2x platinum)
Zenyatta Mondatta (
1980) (US sales: 3x platinum)
Ghost in the Machine (
1981) (US sales: 3x platinum)
Synchronicity (
1983) (US sales: 8x platinum)
Every Breath You Take: The Singles (
1986) (US sales: Platinum)
Message in a Box: The Complete Recordings (
1993)(US Sales: Gold)
Every Breath You Take: The Classics (
1995) (US sales: 3x Platinum)
Live! (
1995)
The Very Best Of... Sting & The Police (
1997,
2002)'''
Videos
VHS
Around The World (
1982)
Synchronicity Concert (
1984)
Every Breath You Take - The Videos (
1986)
Greatest Hits (
1992)
Outlandos to Synchronicities - A history of The Police Live! (
1995)
The Very Best Of Sting & The Police (
1997)
DVD
Live Ghost In The Machine (
2001) - only released in Japan
Live '79 at Hatfield Polytechnic (
2002) - only released in Japan
Every Breath You Take: The DVD (
2003) - compilation of
video clips as well as some live material and a
rockumentary of the making of
Ghost in the MachineSynchronicity Concert (
2005) - live registration of the concert in
Atlanta in 1983
Everyone Stares: The Police Inside Out (
2006) -
rockumentary film made by
Stewart CopelandSingles
*
Best selling music artists*
Sting - official website
*
Andy Summers - official website
*
Stewart Copeland - official website
*
Henry Padovani - official website
*
Rogier's Police Page - fan website
*
The Police Synchronology - fan website
