Author: Bill Knell
The Police reunited for an appearance on the 2007 Grammy Awards
Show last night. Anyone familiar with Sting, Andy Summers and
Stewart Copeland knows that a Grammy Awards Show would never be
reason enough for them to come together and perform. It was
obvious that this was some kind of reintroduction to the band.
That suspicion was confirmed a day later when a Police Fan Club
box suddenly appeared on Sting's Website. A click on the box
revealed another page that announced tickets would soon be
available for an upcoming tour.
The original band was formed by Stewart Copeland in 1977 as a
foursome, went through some personnel shifts and ended up as
Strontium 90 by the early summer of that year. The members were
Sting, Stewart Copeland, Andy Summers and Henry Padovani.
Strontium 90 recorded a few demo tracks, played gigs in London
and Paris and worked on perfecting their sound.
Some time in late June or early July of 1977, the foursome
started calling themselves The Police and began to play gigs as
under their new name. With the help of music producer John Cale,
a Welsh musician and one of the founding members of The Velvet
Underground, they tried recording some professional level studio
tracks beginning in late July. The recording sessions went
nowhere and revealed that Henry Padovani lacked the guitar
skills needed to keep up with the others. As a result, Padovani
left the band in early August of 1977. By the fall of 1977, The
Police became the threesome of Sting, Summers and Copeland that
we all know so well.
The trio began to catch on and stand out with fans in England.
In early 1978, The Police released Roxanne as a single. Can't
Stand Losing You, So Lonely and their first album, Outlandos
d'Amour, followed later that year. Through a deal brokered by
Stewart Copeland's brother, Miles, A&M records signed The Police
to a recording contract and released Outlandos d'Amour in the
USA.
In 1979, the band toured the USA to support their newly released
singles and the first album. The trio drove around from gig to
gig in a Ford Cargo Van filled with rented instruments and
equipment. Actually, according to statements made by the band
members during that tour, they rented the instruments in New
York City for a CBGB club date and forgot to return them.
The press loved to pump up their punkish image by describing the
band as three guys from England with bleached blond hair driving
around the USA in a rented van filled with stolen instruments.
The blond hair was actually the result of a commercial they did
to earn some quick money. Afterward, they decided to stay with
the look for awhile.
Like The Beatles, The Police paid their dues and perfected their
music the hard way. They played small venues and one night
stands, stayed in cheap motels, wrote and practiced during the
day; played sets late into the night and used whatever time
remained to get to their next destination. Unlike the Beatles
who took six long and hard years to get noticed, The Police were
suddenly thrust into worldwide stardom in less than a year and a
half.
I t almost seemed like the band members woke up one morning in
1979 to find they were famous. If Sting, Summers and Copeland
thought that fame would cut them a break, they were wrong. The
accommodations got better and the venues got bigger, but the
pace never slowed for a second. Their second album, Regatta De
Blanc, was released in the fall of 1979. Walking on the Moon and
Message in a Bottle received a huge amount of airplay and helped
fill most of their shows to overflowing.
Although few in America understood their sound of Ska mixed with
Reggae and Rock, a lot of people liked the songs and musical
style of The Police. While still relegated to the category of
New Music, the band burst out into the mainstream. Unlike other
performers that were wasting huge sums of money on elaborate
stage shows and gimmicks, Sting, Summers and Copeland depended
on their music and dynamic live performances to impress the
crowds. Well educated and penny wise, they watched where the
money was going and avoided being ripped off by managers,
accountants and handlers. The same could not be said of many
other bands and performers of that day whose financial bones
were being picked clean by shady characters.
In 1980, The Police began a unique world tour which included
stops in places like Mexico, India and the Middle East. Most
bands and performers would have skipped or avoided those places.
The decisions they made were good ones. The tour made them
famous throughout the world and created even more media buzz.
However, it also created a whole new level of pressure on the
band members.
Because their first two albums received so much attention and
airplay, Sting, Summers and Copeland were under the gun to
release another album and go back on tour. Zenyatta Mondatta,
their third album, was released in October of 1980. The record
hit number one in the UK and number five in the USA against
tough competition which included AC/DC, Pink Floyd, the Rolling
Stones, John Lennon, Queen and Bruce Springsteen to name a few.
The early 1980s were good and bad for The Police. Sting has said
they were earning 'buckets of money' at the time, but threesome
began to argue and fuss over anything and everything regarding
the direction in which the band and music was going. His
individual stardom as a musician and actor began to eclipse the
fame the band was enjoying. Even worse, the normal a rift
between himself and Stewart Copeland widened.
Sting's newly acquired Star Power must have given him a constant
edge over his most vocal musical nemesis, Steward Copeland. That
edge probably extended well past arguments about music into big
decisions about money, gigs and publicity. There was no doubt
that he would have been backed up by managers, concert
promoters, publicity agents and record companies. They knew
there would be no Police without Sting. Knowing that must have
driven Copeland nuts.
In 1981, just one year after their third album was released,
Ghost in the Machine hit the stores. Their fourth album flew to
a ranking of number one in the UK and number two in the USA.
Talk of disagreements between Sting and Copeland fueled all
kinds of rumors. Some music critics and fans sensed that the
threesome had reached their zenith with that record and that it
might be their last. However, everyone was in for a big surprise.
In 1983, the band released Synchronicity, their fifth and final
album to date. It reached number one in the UK and number one in
the USA. The album won the group several Grammy Awards and lots
of critical acclaim. Songs like Every Breath You Take, King of
Pain and Wrapped Around Your Finger became instant favorites
that crossed over musical formats and received a huge amount of
airplay. Synchronicity II became a favorite of rock and new
music disc jockeys. Today, that album is considered a classic
and much beloved by most fans and music critics.
During the 1983-1984 Synchronicity Tour, members of The Police
were obviously feeling the toll that that touring, arguing over
everything and constantly being together took on them
individually and collectively. This might have been evidenced by
the occasional presence of back up and guest musicians on stage.
On top of that, Sting, Summers and Copeland all seemed to be
making future plans at that time that didn't include the others.
Without an official announcement and with little fanfare, The
Police went their separate ways when the tour finally ended in
the spring of 1984. Because of all the concerts they performed,
airplay they received and their non-stop presence in the media
right up to that point, most fans probably felt the band members
would continue on together for years to come. That didn't mean
they couldn't take a well deserved break. I remember hoping that
their sudden disappearance off the media radar screen was just
the result of a long vacation.
In 1984 the Rolling Stones were still going strong as a band
after over twenty years. Despite drugs, controversies, divorces,
rehabs, rumors and who knows what else, that band had managed to
stick it out. They seemed almost indestructible. However,
members of The Police had never been all about partying,
controversy or drugs. Whether it was true or not, they made a
big thing about not doing drugs in almost every article that I
read or interview I watched on television. For them it seemed to
be all about the music. A performer that is very serious about
their music is unlikely to be in any mood for comprise.
It seems to me that most Police fans didn't realize that the
band had no future plans to record or tour together until Sting
released The Dream of the Brave Turtles as a solo project. He
formed a touring band without including Summer or Copeland and
began working on his own career in a serious way. Brave Turtles
was a definite move away from the music of The Police. It was
the kind of album that you either loved or hated. I'm sure that
Sting sensed this and that's why he probably sprinkled some
Police songs into his touring repertoire to keep fans that
stayed with him happy.
The members of The Police had a habit of surprising each other
and their fans. Just when everyone thought the band would never
play together again, they threw us a curve. In 1986, The Police
reunited for three concerts that benefited Amnesty
International. Unlike the Beatles, there must have been enough
esprit de corps there to occasionally get back together for the
right reasons. In 1992 the band members performed two songs at
Sting's wedding reception. In March of 2003, the trio played
several songs together during a ceremony for their induction
into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame which was later broadcast on
television. Although none of these brief reunions lead to any
long term plans, new collaborations, concerts or tours, the 2003
event gave fans reason to hope for more.
Given the good-natured atmosphere evident among the band members
during the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony and
concert, Police fans wondered if this was a chance for the band
to pick up where they had left off. Even Sting seemed surprised
at how easy it was for the threesome to perform a set during the
event. It almost seemed as though the band members had never
gone their separate ways. But anyone that had ever watched the
Police perform in the early days and understood how deeply the
band members felt about their music knew better. In the end, it
would be up to Sting. He was the wildcard and everyone knew it.
Sting gave everyone the impression that he would have to be
absolutely insane to agree to a Police Reunion Tour. One would
assume that he felt it would just be too much of a hassle. All
the old feelings would be stirred up and the musical
disagreements would resume. The lightening pace and pressures to
add more dates, record a new album, meet publicity requirements
and keep fans happy would return. Despite all these negatives,
the day after The Police opened the 2007 Grammy Awards Show,
they announced a new tour.
A press conference held at the famous Whiskey A-Go-Go in Los
Angeles the morning after the Grammy Awards featured Sting, Andy
Summers and Stewart Copeland playing a set for reporters,
invited guests and some lucky fans. The event was recorded and
is available to premium members of The Police Fan Club online.
Reporters seemed as surprised and shocked as fans. Most members
of the press had a million questions, but couldn't seem to
remember them when the press conference started. What
information did come out was fascinating to say the least. Sting
said that he woke up one morning and thought that it was time
for The Police to reunite. As a result, he promptly called
Copeland and Summers. He obviously did so with glee surprising
the daylights out of the other two band members.
A Reporter from Fox News managed to get it together enough to
ask the one question all the others had avoided and that every
fan wondered about. Would there be a new album? The band members
seemed to laugh it off, but if you asked me about the
possibility of a Police reunion tour a month ago, I probably
would have laughed that off as well. Just as it's always been
with this band, we'll just have to wait and see what they'll do
next.
Now that we know The Police will be touring, one question
remains. If arguments over the music and artistic differences
broke them apart so many years ago, what brought them back
together? What made Sting suddenly decide the time was right.
What made him willing to face the same old arguments and
pressures all over again? I'm guessing it was Synchronicity.
Welcome back guys!
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