The Police

The Police
The Police 2008
General information
Genre (s)	New wave , post-punk , reggae , rock
founding	1977
resolution	2008
Website	thepolice.com
Last occupation
Bass , vocals	Sting
guitar	Andy Summers
Drums	Stewart Copeland
former members
guitar	Henry Padovani (until August 1977)

The Police ( . English for the police ') was a British new wave - band , which in the late 1970s and early 1980s, the pop-rock decisively influenced -music. They are also considered to be one of the most successful rock formations of the post-punk or new wave movement. Initially inspired by reggae , punk and ska , the trio later experimented with elements of jazz .

Four out of five studio albums took first place in the British album charts , the single releases Message in a Bottle (1979), Walking on the Moon (1979), Don't Stand So Close to Me (1980), Every Little were just as successful Thing She Does Is Magic (1981) and Every Breath You Take (1983).

On the occasion of the Grammy Awards 2007 , The Police announced their comeback in the music industry on February 12, 2007, after which the musicians went on another world tour, but did not release any new material. On August 7th, 2008 the band gave their final concert according to their own statements.

history

Founding year (1977)

After two commercially unsuccessful years with Curved Air, American drummer Stewart Copeland was looking for a concept for a new band when the punk wave began in England . In 1976, in a jazz club in Newcastle, UK, Copeland met the bassist and singer Gordon Sumner - better known as Sting ("sting / stitch"), so called because of a wasp-like striped sweater, who worked as a teacher during the day.

After a few first appearances as an as yet nameless quartet (with Stewart's brother Ian Copeland ), Sting (bass, vocals) and Stewart Copeland (drums) together with punk guitarist Henry Padovani from Corsica founded The Police "officially" in January 1977 in London . Miles Copeland, Stewart's eldest brother, made a significant contribution as a manager to the trio's later success and helped the band to their first record deal with A&M Records .

Copeland, Padovani, and Sting made numerous live performances; they toured with Cherry Vanilla and Wayne County & The Electric Chairs in March / April . In May 1977 they landed their first small success with the single Fall Out / Nothing Achieving released by Miles Copeland's independent label Illegal Records . Like several other early songs and singles, Fall Out was first released as a studio version ( CD ) on Message in a Box: The Complete Recordings (September 28, 1993).

In May Mike Howlett , formerly the bassist with Gong , Sting and his friends Andy Summers , invited them to perform together as Strontium 90 . Stewart Copeland also joined after Chris Cutler was prevented from drumming. This short-lived band formation recorded some demo tracks , followed by an appearance at Gong's comeback concert on May 28, 1977 in Paris ( see discography ) and a concert as The Elevators in a London club.

In June 1977, Summers, who was ten years older than Copeland and Sting and already a seasoned jazz and studio musician, finally joined The Police - they toured as a quartet in July 1977 - and Summers replaced August Padovani, whose heavily influenced by punk influenced play did not fit the new style of the band, so the line-up of The Police as a power trio remained unchanged for the coming years of success. Padovani became guitarist for Wayne County & The Electric Chairs , but remained on friendly terms with the trio and its manager Miles Copeland III .

The collaboration with the German artist Eberhard Schoener was often underestimated when the Police was founded . In 1977 Andy Summers played as a guest musician on Schoener's LPs The Book and Trance Formation . In the fall of 1977, Sting and Stewart Copeland went to Munich to perform as a guest musician on Schoener's LP Flashback together with Andy Summers . Sting and Summers were also included in the 1978 LP Video Magic Schoener. As part of this collaboration, the trio went on tour with Schoener in 1977 and 1978.

Successful years (1978–1985)

In the spring of 1978, The Police signed a contract with A&M Records . The first single Roxanne - pre-financed by Miles Copeland - was initially a failure in the charts.

The Police then embarked on a tour financed by their manager in the USA in the summer of 1978, traveling across the continent - with a rented van (due to the bad sales of the single) and with borrowed instruments. They then toured in Australia , where the first commercial successes began to emerge. By this time the band had largely broken away from their punk roots.

The Police were one of the first mainstream bands to incorporate elements of reggae dominantly into their songs and thus achieved international success. Although ska and reggae were already very popular in England in the 1970s , this mix of styles remained largely unknown, especially in the USA: apart from a handful of reggae songs, such as Eric Clapton's cover version of Bob Marley's I Shot the Sheriff (1974), remained Chart successes of reggae-inspired pop-rock music were previously the exception.

Outlandos d'amour

In autumn 1978 the debut album Outlandos d'Amour was released . Due to the successful US tour, the band's attention was now also drawn to the UK. Immediately after the album was released, the trio embarked on a tour in Great Britain as the opening act for Alberto y los Trios Paranoias and released the single So Lonely . In spring 1979 Roxanne reached number 12 in the British charts , the album number 6. Can't Stand Losing You was also successful .

At the same time, Sting took on his first film roles, for example in Quadrophenia , a British musical film based on the album of the same name by The Who , and later that year on Radio On , which was followed by numerous others.

Reggatta de Blanc

Based on the success of the single Message in a Bottle , the second album Reggatta de Blanc (four weeks at number 1 on the UK charts) established The Police's European success in the fall of 1979, and Walking on the Moon became their first number 1 single . The award for “ Best Rock Instrumental Performance ” for Reggatta de Blanc was the first of a total of six Grammys .

Miles Copeland organized a tour of Thailand , India , Mexico , Greece and Egypt .

Zenyattà Mondatta

Studio album number 3 - Zenyattà Mondatta - was released in the fall of 1980. In the USA, De Do Do Do, De Da Da Da was first released and reached number 10 in the US charts . The first single in Europe, however, was Don't Stand So Close to Me , which reached first place on the BBC charts. In the spring of 1981 the band achieved a top ten hit in the USA with this title. Zenyatta Mondatta was recognized at the 1981 Grammy Awards in the category of Best Performance of a Rock Instrumental .

Within two years, The Police had produced three commercially successful studio albums. Since 1981 the three musicians have developed artistically in different directions. Andy Summers, for example, played the bass passages instead of Sting on the instrumental piece Behind my Camel , which he composed ; In 1982 the title received the Grammy for the best performance of a rock instrumental (Rock Instrumental Performance). The band also won a Grammy for best performance by a duo or group with vocals - rock for their mutual success with Don't Stand So Close to Me . As the band's main songwriter, Sting remained responsible for all of the group's hits.

In 1981 The Police - with XTC , UB40 , Wall of Voodoo , The Go-Go’s , The Fleshtones, Joan Jett and the Blackhearts, Devo , Oingo Boingo , Gary Numan , Klaus Nomi - entered Urgh! A Music War , a music documentary about punk, new wave, reggae and ska produced by Miles Copeland III with bands from Europe and the USA.

Ghost in the Machine

In October 1981 the album Ghost in the Machine was released , produced by Hugh Padgham . The title and some of the contents of the album were inspired by Arthur Koestler's non-fiction book The Ghost in the Machine (1967). Since the trio could not agree on a record cover , their portraits were shown in the form of simplified digital numbers in red on a black background. From their previous instrumentation , the band gave way for the first time, and used in many passages, unlike her, saxophone and synthesizer , and again increased Reggae - rhythms . Andy Summers' peculiar way of playing stepped into the background like the use of " exaggerated effects ", which finally brought the (apparently forced by Sting) turn to even more catchy melodies and arrangements, even if the overall mood of the album is rather depressed. Ghost in the Machine was a hit (UK # 1 - USA # 2), and Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic was the trio's top hit to date.

Beginning of first solo activities

After four studio albums, numerous concerts and extensive tours within just four years, the band took a break in 1982. Sting acted in another film. He contributed the song Spread a Little Happiness to the soundtrack of Brimstone and Treacle . Stewart Copeland wrote the soundtrack for Francis Ford Coppola's Rumble Fish , which was to be followed by many more, and played as a guest musician for Peter Gabriel (ex-front man of Genesis ). Andy Summers brought out the instrumental music album I Advance Masked with Robert Fripp , also the start of a later solo career.

Synchronicity

In June 1983 the band released their last and most successful album Synchronicity , which stayed at the top of the American album charts for 17 weeks and was number 1 in England for four weeks.

The single- outcoupling Every Breath You Take standing in the US charts eight weeks in the UK charts for four weeks # 1 on the charts. The three singles Every Breath You Take , Wrapped Around Your Finger and Synchronicity II accompanied music videos produced by Godley & Creme . Together with the fourth single, King of Pain , The Police held the top positions in the charts throughout the year.

Synchronicity was nominated for a Grammy for “Album of the Year” (but Michael Jackson's Thriller won it ), the single Every Breath You Take received the award in the categories “Song of the year” and “Best Pop Performance By A Duo Or Group With Vocal ". The song was also honored with two Ivor Novello Awards ("Best Song Musically & Lyrically", "Most Performed Work"), the accompanying music video with an American Video Award ("Best Group video"). Synchronicity II also received a Grammy ("Best Rock Performance By A Duo Or Group With Vocal").

Following the release of the Synchronicity album , the group embarked on a six-month world tour and cemented their reputation as a brilliant live band - at the same time, tensions within the trio continued to grow during this time.

The band won a total of six Grammys. In 1980 and 1981, The Police was honored as best national group at the Brit Awards . In 1983 and 1984 it was considered the most successful pop-rock band worldwide and, alongside the Talking Heads, the most successful band of the post-punk and new wave movement. She has been awarded numerous gold and platinum records for her phonograms ; In the USA alone, the Police albums received 20 platinum awards.

Creative break and solo projects (1986–2006)

At the end of the extensive Synchronicity tour, The Police announced a break. Increasing tensions, the pressure to succeed and the permanent absence from their families made it a temporary end. The band members dedicated themselves to their already mentioned active projects - Sting had already released his successful solo album The Dream of the Blue Turtles in 1985 .

In 1986 The Police played three concerts on the Amnesty International - A Conspiracy of Hope Tour and the trio planned to record some new songs. For an already planned studio album or for an upcoming best of album, Don't Stand So Close to Me was re-recorded during the recording sessions, as was De Do Do Do, De Da Da Da , but the latter was initially unreleased.

The result of the last 21 years of joint studio recordings - the compilation Every Breath You Take: The Singles - was released at the end of 1986. It became her fifth number one hit in the UK and her fourth top 10 hit in the United States. Other compilations followed, including Message in a Box - The Complete Recordings .

From this point on, the three band members concentrated completely on their successful solo projects. In 1992, Sting, Summers and Copeland played a few pieces on stage at Sting's private wedding celebration. Common appearances by Andy Summers and Sting are extensively documented (DVD, CD), around 1990 at the Jazz Festival in Montreaux ( Message In A Bottle ) or at Sting's birthday concert in the Hollywood Bowl Arena in 1991 ( Walking on the Moon , Message in a Bottle and Every Breath You Take ).

In 2003, The Police was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on the occasion of its 25th anniversary . a. awarded for their album Synchronicity . As part of the associated show, there was one last joint appearance for the time being, where Message in a Bottle , Roxanne and Every Breath You Take (together with Gwen Stefani and Steven Tyler) were played.

In its 50th anniversary issue, the music magazine Rolling Stone named The Police number 70 of its “ 100 Greatest Artists of All Time ”.

In 2004, Sting and Steward Copeland worked on the recordings of Henry Padovani's solo album and the single Welcome Home: Featuring Stewart Copeland and Sting . Many saw this as a possible reunion for the band. Everyone Stares: The Police Inside Out is a musical documentary produced by Stewart Copeland that premiered at the 2006 Sundance Film Festival and was released on DVD in September 2006. Stewart used Super 8 material for this film that he had shot between 1978 and 1982, as did Andy Summers ( One Train Later ) and previously Sting with Broken Music processed the time together in their autobiographies.

Reunification and 30th band anniversary (2007)

At the 2007 Grammy Awards , The Police opened the evening with Sting's announcement, “We are The Police! And we are back! ”And an updated version of their hit Roxanne . At the press conference, Sting said: "The disputes at that time were not personal, they were only about music".

In May 2007, The Police started a world tour. A concert from Buenos Aires was released as CD (Japan), DVD + CD-Set and 3-CD Certifiable LP . Summers was given significantly more space for guitar solos compared to previous live recordings.

The tour ended in August 2008 with a concert at Madison Square Garden in New York. On the part of the musicians, the band The Police was officially dissolved for the first time by mutual agreement.

Discography

→ Main article : The Police / Discography

Studio albums

year	title	Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes)					Remarks
		DE	AT	CH	UK	US
1978	Outlandos d'Amour	DE- gold DE	-	-	UK6th platinum (96 weeks)UK	US23 platinum (63 weeks)US	First published: November 2nd, 1978 Producer: The Police
1979	Reggatta de Blanc	DE16 gold (80 weeks)DE	-	-	UK1 platinum (74 weeks)UK	US25th platinum (100 weeks)US	First released: October 5, 1979 Grammy (Best Rock Instrumental Performance) Producers: Nigel Gray, The Police
1980	Zenyattà Mondatta	DE5 gold (57 weeks)DE	AT14 (14 weeks) AT	-	UK1 platinum (31 weeks)UK	US5 × 2 Double platinum (153 weeks)US	First released: October 3, 1980 Grammy for Behind My Camel (Best Rock Instrumental) Producers: Nigel Gray, The Police
1981	Ghost in the Machine	DE4th gold (28 weeks)DE	AT11 (4 weeks) AT	-	UK1 platinum (27 weeks)UK	US2 × 3 Triple platinum (109 weeks)US	First published: October 2, 1981 Producers: Hugh Padgham , The Police
1983	Synchronicity	DE4th gold (31 weeks)DE	AT11 (10 weeks) AT	CH15 (4 weeks) CH	UK1 platinum (48 weeks)UK	US1 × 8 Eight times platinum (75 weeks)US	First released: June 1, 1983 Grammys (Best Rock Group) Producers: Hugh Padgham, The Police

gray hatching : no chart data available for this year

Notes on discography

• In the early stages of The Police, the band members can be heard on several LPs by Eberhard Schoener. Especially on Schoener's LP Flashback , where all three "Police Men" play. More on this in the section on the founding year (1977) .
• Fall Out / Nothings Achieving was not released on the five studio albums (as were other early pieces and B-sides ) and only appeared on Message in a Box: The Complete Recordings (1993).
• The soundtrack of a 1982 film adaptation of Brimstone and Treacle (Sting has a role in the film) includes The Police's How stupid Mr. Bates , I Burn for You , and A Kind of Loving . These titles are not included on any of her studio albums. In addition, the soundtrack also includes some songs by Sting.
• The album Synchronicity was also released on the remaster label Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab (MFSL) as a 24-carat gold CD.
• On July 29, 1997, Pangea Recordings (Sting is a co-owner) released a CD entitled Strontium 90: Police Academy . It contains the first live recordings of The Police with the cast Sting / Copeland / Summers (and Mike Howlett). The concert took place on May 28, 1977 in a big top in Paris. This CD also contains studio recordings from February 1977 - the first with the line-up of Sting / Copeland / Summers (together with Howlett). The CD also contains the "original version" of Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic , recorded in autumn 1976. Sting played all the instruments himself.
• In the fall of 1990, the album Their Greatest Hits was released - a new edition of the 1986 best-of album Every Breath You Take: The Singles - which also made it to the album charts very well. More best-of albums followed over the next 15 years.
• During 2003, Outlandos d'Amour , Reggatta de Blanc , Zenyatta Mondatta , Ghost in the Machine , Synchronicity and The Police Live were released remixed by A&M as Super Audio Compact Disc (SACD) .
• The following tracks are not included in the Box Message in a Box: The Complete Recordings : So Lonely (Single Edit), Message in a Bottle (Edit), De Do Do Do, De Da Da Da (Spanish & Japanese Version), Don ' t Stand So Close to Me '86 (Single Version), Truth Hits Everybody (Remix).

Awards

Brit Awards

• 1982 - "Best British Group"
• 1985 - "Outstanding Contribution to Music"

Grammy Awards

• 1981 - "Best Rock Instrumental Performance" for Reggatta de Blanc (Stewart Copeland)
• 1982 - "Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal" for Don't Stand So Close to Me
• 1982 - "Best Rock Instrumental Performance" for Behind My Camel (Andy Summers)
• 1984 - "Song of the Year" for Every Breath You Take
• 1984 - "Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal" for Every Breath You Take
• 1984 - "Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal" for Synchronicity II

various

• 1984 - American Video Award: "Best Group Video" for Every Breath You Take
• 1984 - Ivor Novello Awards: "Best Song Musically & Lyrically" and "Most Performed Work" for Every Breath You Take

Filmography

• 1981 - “Urgh! A Music War "
• 1981 - BBC documentary about the recordings of "Ghost in the Machine"
• 1982 - "Police: Around the World"
• 1983 - "Cheggers Plays Pop" (TV series, episode # 6.7)
• 1984 - "The Police: Synchronicity Concert"
• 1987 - "The Police: Every Breath You Take - The Videos"
• 2006 - " Everyone Stares: The Police Inside Out "

Video albums

• 1981 - “Urgh! A Music War "
• 1981 - BBC documentary about the recordings of "Ghost in the Machine"
• 1982 - "Around the World"
• 1984 - "Synchronicity Concert"
• 1986 - "Every Breath You Take: The Videos"
• 1986 - "Greatest Hits"
• 1995 - "Outlandos to Synchronicities - A History of the Police Live!"
• 1997 - "The Very Best of Sting & the Police"
• 2001 - "Live Ghost in the Machine" (1982) - only in Japan
• 2002 - "Live '79 at Hatfield Polytechnic" ( University of Hertfordshire , Hatfield, England) - only in Japan
• 2003 - "Every Breath You Take: The DVD" - Compilation : Music videos, live material and a "Rockumentary" for the production of the album "Ghost in the Machine"
• 2005 - "Synchronicity Concert" - Live recording of the concert in Atlanta (1983)
• 2006 - "Everyone Stares: The Police Inside Out" - " Rockumentary " by Stewart Copeland
• 2008 - "The Police - Certifiable" - Live recording of the concert in the Riverplate Stadium in Buenos Aires from 1./2. December 2007

Laser disc

• 1986 - "Every Breath You Take: The Videos"

literature

• Christopher Gable: The Words and Music of Sting. [Song and artist analyzes], Praeger Publishers, Westport 2009, ISBN 978-0-275-99360-3 .
• Martin Scholz: The Police - We liked to fight - Sting, Stewart Copeland and Andy Summers in conversation with Martin Scholz 1987 to 2007. Eichborn publishing house, Frankfurt 2007, ISBN 978-3-8218-5689-6 .
• Henry Padovani: Secret Police Man. Paris, Editions Flammarion, 2006, ISBN 2-08-068943-6 .
• Christopher Sandford: Sting. The definitive biography. Hannibal, KOCH publishing group, 2000, ISBN 3-85445-180-6 .
• Sting: Broken Music. The autobiography. Fischer, 2005, ISBN 978-3-596-16249-9 .
• Andy Summers: THROB. Sidgwick & Jackson, London 1983, ISBN 0-283-99021-X .
• Andy Summers (text) and Ralph Gibson (photos): Light Strings: Impressions of the Guitar. Chronicle, San Francisco 2004, ISBN 0-8118-4324-6 .
• Andy Summers: One Train Later: a memoir , Thomas Dunne Books, New York 2006, ISBN 0-312-35914-4 .
• Andy Summers: I'll be watching you. Inside the Police 1980 - 83. Taschen Verlag, London 2007 (April 2007), ISBN 3-8228-2764-9 .
• Didi Zill: The Police - Photos from 1979 to 1981. Schwarzkopf & Schwarzkopf, 2004, ISBN 3-89602-492-2 .

swell

1. ↑ The Police on the website of A & M Records (English)
2. ↑ Sting in the Internet Movie Database (IMDb) (English)
3. ↑ 'Effect pedals' (extended definition of terms) (English-language Wikipedia)
4. ↑ Stewart Copeland in the Internet Movie Database (IMDB) (English)
5. ↑ Rock and Roll Hall of Fame The Police in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
6. ↑ "The Immortals: The First Fifty" . Rolling Stone issue 946
7. ↑ "Inside views of a legend: Steward Copeland's documentary about 'The Police'" , online on 3sat . Interview by Ralf Rättig (Kulturzeit) with Stewart Copeland on October 25, 2006.
8. ↑ Stewart Copeland's music documentary "Everyone Stares: The Police Inside Out" on "laut.de"
9. ↑ "The Police To Reunite On GRAMMYs" ( Memento from May 18, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) (English). January 2007 press release on the Grammy Awards website.
10. ↑ Chart sources: Singles Albums DE UK US
11. ↑ Grammy Awards : Detailed explanations of all Grammy Awards
12. ↑ “One Train Later” on Andy Summers website ( memento of January 13, 2007 in the Internet Archive ), with a foreword by U2 guitarist The Edge “ In this intimate, revealing work, Andy Summers writes fluidly about his first guitar, his experiences with earlier bands, his relationships and encounters with Eric Clapton , Jimi Hendrix , John Belushi , and 'The Police', and more. »
13. ↑ "I'll be watching you. Inside the Police 1980–83 “(incl. DVD): Andy's photographic diary - hand-signed and limited to 1,500 copies - with The Police is announced for April 2007. Detailed presentation of the book "The insider: The Police on tour photographed by guitarist Andy Summers" (English) on the website of Taschen-Verlag.

Web links

Commons : The Police  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

• thepolice.com (English)
• thepolicetour.com (English)
• The Police in the Internet Movie Database (English)
• The Police at Musik-Sammler.de
• Police farewell concert: "Cooler than the police allow" , Spiegel Online , August 8, 2008
• Photos from the early The Police years on Henry Padovani's website
• The Police at laut.de
• The Police at Discogs (English)
• The Police at Allmusic (English)