The Police
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The Police Biography
Nominally, the Police were punk rock, but that's only in the
loosest sense of the term. The trio's nervous, reggae-injected pop/rock
was punky, but it wasn't necessarily punk. All three members were
considerably more technically proficient than the average punk or new
wave band. Andy Summers had a precise guitar attack that created dense,
interlocking waves of sounds and effects. Stewart Copeland could play
polyrhythms effortlessly. And Sting, with his high, keening voice, was
capable of constructing infectiously catchy pop songs. While they
weren't punk, the Police certainly demonstrated that the punk spirit
could have a future in pop music. As their career progressed, the
Police grew considerably more adventurous, experimenting with jazz and
various world musics. All the while, the band's tight delivery and
mastery of the pop single kept their audience increasing, and by 1983,
they were the most popular rock & roll band in the world. Though
they were at the height of their fame, internal tensions caused the
band to splinter apart in 1984, with Sting picking up the majority of
the band's audience to become an international superstar.
Stewart Copeland and Sting (born Gordon Sumner) formed the Police in
1977. Prior to the band's formation, Copeland, the son of a CIA agent,
had attended college in California, before he moved to England and
joined the progressive rock band Curved Air. Sting was a teacher and a
ditch digger who played in jazz-rock bands, including Last Exit, on the
side. The two musicians met at a local jazz club and decided to form a
progressive pop band with guitarist Henri Padovani. For the first few
months, the group played local London pubs. Soon, they were hired to
appear as a bleached-blonde punk band in a chewing gum commercial.
While the commercial provided exposure, it drew the scorn of genuine
punkers. Late in 1977, the band released its first single, Fall Out,
on IRS, an independent label Stewart Copeland founded with his brother
Miles, who was also the manager of the Police. The single was a sizable
hit for an independent release, selling about 70,000 copies.
Padovani was replaced by Andy Summers, a veteran of the British
Invasion, following the release of Fall Out. Summers had previous
played with Eric Burdon's second lineup of the Animals, the Zoot
Money's Big Roll Band, the Kevin Ayers Band, and Neil Sedaka. The
Police signed with A&M by the spring of 1978, committing to a
contract that gave the group a higher royalty rate in lieu of a large
advance. A&M released Roxanne in the spring of 1978, but it
failed to chart. The Police set out on a tour of America in the summer
of 1978 without any record to support, traveling across the country in
a rented van and playing with rented equipment. Released in the fall of
1978, Outlandos d'Amour began a slow climb into the British Top Ten and
American Top 30. Immediately after its release, the group began a U.K.
tour supporting Alberto y los Trios Paranoias and released the So
Lonely single. By the spring of 1979, the re-released Roxanne had
climbed to number 12 on the U.K. charts, taking Outlandos d'Amour to
number six. In the summer of 1979, Sting appeared in Quadrophenia, a
British film based on the Who album of the same name; later that year,
he acted in Radio On.
Preceded by the number one British single Message in a Bottle,
Reggatta de Blanc (fall 1979) established the group as stars in England
and Europe, topping the U.K. charts for four weeks. Following its
release, Miles Copeland had the band tour several countries that rarely
received concerts from foreign performers, including Thailand, India,
Mexico, Greece, and Egypt. Zenyatta Mondatta, released in the fall of
1980, became the Police's North American breakthrough, reaching the Top
Ten in the U.S. and Canada; in England, the album spent four weeks at
number one. Don't Stand So Close to Me, the album's first single,
became the group's second number one single in the U.K.; in America,
the single became their second Top Ten hit in the spring of 1981,
following the number ten placing of De Do Do Do, De Da Da Da in the
winter. By the beginning of 1981, the Police were able to sell out
Madison Square Garden. Capitalizing on their success, the band returned
to the studio in the summer of 1981 to record their fourth album with
producer Hugh Padgham. The sessions, which were filmed for a BBC
documentary hosted by Jools Holland, were completed within a couple
months, and the album, Ghost in the Machine, appeared in the fall of
1981. Ghost in the Machine became an instant hit, reaching number one
in the U.K. and number two in the U.S. as Every Little Thing She Does
Is Magic became their biggest hit to date.
Following their whirlwind success of 1980 and 1981, in which they were
named the Best British Group at the first Brit Awards and won three
Grammys, the band took a break in 1982. Though they played their first
arena concerts and headlined the U.S. Festival, each member pursued
side projects during the course of the year. Sting acted in Brimstone
and Treacle, releasing a solo single, Spread a Little Happiness, from
the soundtrack; the song became a British hit. Copeland scored Francis
Ford Coppola's Rumble Fish, as well as the San Francisco Ballet's King
Lear, and released an album under the name Klark Kent; he also played
on several sessions for Peter Gabriel. Summers recorded an instrumental
album, I Advance Masked, with Robert Fripp. The Police returned in the
summer of 1983 with Synchronicity, which entered the U.K. charts at
number one and quickly climbed to the same position in the U.S., where
it would stay for 17 weeks. Synchronicity became a blockbuster success
on the strength of the ballad Every Breath You Take. Spending eight
weeks at the top of the U.S. charts, Every Breath You Take became one
of the biggest American hits of all time; it spent four weeks at the
top of the U.K. charts. King of Pain and Wrapped Around Your Finger
became hits over the course of 1983, sending Synchronicity to
multi-platinum status in America and Britain. The Police supported the
album with a blockbuster, record-breaking world tour that set
precedents for tours for the remainder of the '80s. Once the tour was
completed, the band announced they were going on sabbatical in order
to pursue outside interests.
The Police never returned from sabbatical. During the Synchronicity
tour, personal and creative tensions between the bandmembers had
escalated greatly, and they had no desire to work together for a while.
Sting began working on a jazz-tinged solo project immediately,
releasing The Dream of the Blue Turtles in 1985. The album became an
international hit, establishing him as a commercial force outside of
the band. Copeland and Summers demonstrated no inclination to follow
their bandmate's path. Copeland recorded the worldbeat exploration The
Rhythmatist in 1985, and continued to compose scores for film and
television; he later formed the prog rock band Animal Logic. With his
solo career -- which didn't officially begin until the release of
1987's XYZ -- Summers continued his art rock and jazz fusion
experiments; he also occasionally collaborated Fripp and John Etheridge.
During 1986, the Police made a few attempts to reunite, playing an
Amnesty International concert and attempting to record a handful of new
tracks for a greatest-hits album in the summer. As the studio session
unraveled, it became apparent that Sting had no intention of giving the
band his new songs to record, so the group re-recorded a couple of old
songs, but even those were thrown off track after Copeland suffered a
polo injury. Featuring a new version of Don't Stand So Close to Me,
the compilation Every Breath You Take: The Singles was released for the
1986 Christmas season, becoming the group's fifth straight British
number one and their fourth American Top Ten.
A few more quiet years passed, but 1992 found Summers taking the helm
as musical director for Dennis Miller's late-night show and Sting
taking his vows with Trudie Styler. At the wedding, the three Policemen
hopped on-stage for a very
impromptu set, then, just as quickly, dismissed any rumors of an
official Police reunion in the future. That same year a Greatest Hits
album was released in the U.K., and in 1994 the box set Message in a
Box: The Complete Recordings was released, followed in 1995 by the
double album Live. Things again went quite on the Police front as the
millennium rolled around. Then, in 2003, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
inducted the group into its pantheon. The band did reorganize enough to
perform three tunes at the induction ceremony, but again, it looked as
if that single show was going to be the extent of their collaboration.
There was a brief reunion of sorts with original Police guitarist Henri
Padovani, on his 2004 album A Croire Que C'Etait Pour la Vie, where
Copeland and Sting appeared on one track together -- but still no signs
of a full-blown reunion. Sting released his autobiography, Broken
Music, in 2003, and by 2006 Copeland's documentary, Everyone Stares:
The Police Inside Out, and Summers' autobiography, One Train Later, had
joined the ranks. Odd side projects and collaborations with other
musicians continued, but the real Police news came in conjunction with
another seemingly one-off reunion gig -- this time for the 49th Annual
Grammy Awards. Amid the hoopla, it was announced that the Police would
indeed be embarking on a world tour, beginning on May 28, 2007, in
Vancouver. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide
Written by Stephen Thomas Erlewine