Music - The Police: Sting, Andy Summers, Stewart Copeland - 1980 postcard

Postcard
• Picture / Image:  The Police (photo by Frank Griffin): Sting (vocals, bass) / Andy Summers (guitar) / Stewart Copeland (drums)
• Publisher:  The Big O File, 1980
• Postally used:  no
• Stamp:  n/a
• Postmark(s): n/a
• Sent to:  n/a
• Notes / condition:  slight ageing

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Text from the free encyclopedia WIKIPEDIA may appear below to give a little background information (internal links may not  work) :

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The Police were an English rock band formed in London in 1977. For the majority of their history, the band consisted of Sting (lead vocals, bass), Andy Summers (guitar) and Stewart Copeland (drums). The Police became globally popular in the late 1970s and are generally regarded as one of the first new wave groups to achieve mainstream success, playing a style of rock that was influenced by punk, reggae, and jazz. They are also considered one of the leaders of the Second British Invasion of the US.^[1][2] They disbanded in 1986, but reunited in early 2007 for a one-off world tour lasting until August 2008.

Their 1983 album, Synchronicity, was number one on both the UK Albums Chart and the US Billboard 200, and sold over 8 million copies in the US alone. They have sold more than 75 million records, making them one of the world's best-selling artists of all time.^[3][4] They were the world's highest-earning musicians in 2008, thanks to their reunion tour.^[5]

The band has won a number of music awards throughout their career, including six Grammy Awards, two Brit Awards—winning Best British Group once, an MTV Video Music Award, and in 2003 were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.^[6] Four of their five studio albums appeared on Rolling Stone's list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. The Police were included among both Rolling Stone's and VH1's lists of the ""100 Greatest Artists of All Time"".

In 1976, while on tour in Newcastle upon Tyne in north east England with the British progressive rock band Curved Air, the band's American drummer Stewart Copeland met and exchanged phone numbers with an ambitious singer-bassist (and former schoolteacher) called Sting (name due to his tendency of wearing a black and yellow striped jersey mirroring a bee),^[7] who at the time was playing in a jazz-rock fusion band called Last Exit. In early 1977, Sting relocated to London and sought out Copeland for a jam session. Curved Air had recently split up and Copeland, enthused by the then-current punk rock movement, was eager to form a new band and join the burgeoning London punk scene. While less keen, Sting acknowledged the commercial opportunities, so the duo formed The Police as a punk power trio with Corsican guitarist Henry Padovani recruited as the third member.^[8] For the first few months, the group played local London pubs. In March and April 1977, the threesome toured as a support act for Cherry Vanilla and for Wayne County & the Electric Chairs.^[9][10] Their first single ""Fall Out"" was recorded with a budget of £150, and released in May 1977.^[11]

Also in May 1977, ex-Gong musician Mike Howlett invited Sting to join him in the band project Strontium 90. The drummer Howlett had in mind, Chris Cutler, was unavailable to play, so Sting brought along Stewart Copeland. The fourth member of the band was guitarist Andy Summers - a decade older than Sting and Copeland, he was already a music industry veteran, having played with Eric Burdon and the Animals, Kevin Ayres, Kevin Coyne and Soft Machine among others. Strontium 90 performed at a Gong reunion concert in Paris on 28 May, also playing at a London club (under the name of ""The Elevators"") in July.^[12] The band also recorded several demo tracks: these were ultimately released (along with live recordings and an early version of ""Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic"") twenty years later in 1997 on the archive album Strontium 90: Police Academy.

Summers' musicality impressed Sting, who was becoming frustrated with Padovani's relatively rudimentary abilities and the limitations which they imposed on The Police's potential career. Shortly after the Strontium 90 gig, Summers was approached to join the band: he agreed, on the initial condition that the band would remain a trio with him replacing Padovani. Restrained by loyalty, both Copeland and Sting initially resisted the idea, and the Police began performing as a four-piece version in July 1977. Shortly after two gigs at the Music Machine in London and at the Mont de Marsan Punk Festival (and an aborted recording session with producer John Cale on 10 August) Summers delivered an ultimatum and Padovani was dismissed from the band. Padovani went on to play with Wayne County & the Electric Chairs, eventually forming his own band, Flying Padovanis, and later becoming Vice President of IRS Records.

The Police's power trio line-up of Copeland, Sting, and Summers (which would endure for the rest of the band's history) was unusual for the time. Few punk bands were three-pieces, while contemporary bands pursuing progressive rock, symphonic rock and other sound trends usually expanded their line-ups with support players.^[13] The developing Police sound, however, made explicit use of the trio dynamics by forcing the band to concentrate on space and texture: while the musical background of all three players may have made them suspect to punk purists, they were able to draw on (though sometimes concealing) influences from reggae to jazz to progressive and psychedelic rock to Lebanese drumming while fleshing out their nascent songwriting.

While still maintaining the main band and attempting to win over punk audiences, Police members continued to moonlight within art-rock. In late 1977 and early 1978, Sting and Summers recorded and performed as part of an ensemble led by German experimental composer Eberhard Schoener; Copeland also joined for a time. These performances resulted in three albums, each of them an eclectic mix of rock, electronica and jazz.^[14] Various appearances by the Schoener outfit on German television made the German public aware of Sting's unusual high-pitched voice, and helped pave the way for The Police's later popularity.

The bleached-blond hair that would become a trademark of the band was a lucky accident. In February 1978, the band, desperate for money, was asked to do a commercial for Wrigley's Spearmint chewing gum (directed by Tony Scott) on the condition that they dye their hair blond.^[15] Although the commercial was shot with the band, it was shelved and never aired.^[16]

Stewart Copeland's older brother Miles Copeland III was initially sceptical of the inclusion of Summers in the band, fearing that it would undermine their punk credibility, and reluctantly agreed to come through with £1,500 to finance the Police's first album. Recording Outlandos d'Amour was a difficult process, as the band was working on a small budget, with no manager or record deal. It was recorded during off-peak hours at the Surrey Sound Studios in London, a basic recording facility run by brothers Chris and Nigel Gray.

During one of his periodic studio visits, Miles Copeland heard ""Roxanne"" for the first time at the end of a session. Where he had been less than enthusiastic about the band's other songs, the elder Copeland was immediately struck by ""Roxanne"", and very quickly got The Police a record deal with A&M Records on the strength of the track.^[17] ""Roxanne"" was issued as a single in the spring of 1978, while other album tracks were still in the midst of being recorded, but it failed to chart. It also failed to make the BBC's playlist, which the band attributed to the song's depiction of prostitution. The single was subsequently promoted by A&M with posters claiming ""Banned by the BBC"", although it was never formally banned—merely not playlisted. “We got a lot of mileage out of it being supposedly banned by the BBC"", Stewart Copeland admitted twenty-three years after the fact. ""In fact, all that really happened was that we didn't make their playlist, so we turned that into 'Banned by the BBC.' ”^[18]

Shortly after ""Roxanne"" was issued, and while Outlandos d'Amour was still being recorded, Stewart Copeland (using the alias 'Klark Kent') released a solo single called ""Don't Care"". It peaked at #48 UK in August 1978, and led to a TV appearance on BBC1's Top Of The Pops. 'Kent' sang and played every instrument on the single, but for his Top Of The Pops appearance he was backed by various friends wearing masks (including Sting and Summers) who mimed the instrumental accompaniment.

The Police made their first proper TV appearance a few months later, in October 1978, on BBC2's The Old Grey Whistle Test to promote the release of Outlandos d'Amour.^[19] Though ""Roxanne"" was never banned (despite A&M's claims to the contrary) the BBC did ban the second single from Outlandos, ""Can't Stand Losing You"". This was due to the single's cover, which featured Copeland hanging himself over an ice cube being melted by a portable radiator.^[20] The single nevertheless became a minor chart hit, The Police's first, peaking at #42 UK. However, the follow-up single ""So Lonely"" flopped; issued in November 1978, it failed to chart.

In February 1979 ""Roxanne"" was issued as a single in North America where it was warmly received on radio despite the subject matter. The song peaked at #31 Canada and #32 US, spurring a UK re-release of it in April. The re-issue of ""Roxanne"" finally gained the band widespread recognition in the United Kingdom when it peaked at #12 on the UK Singles Chart.^[21]

The group's US success led to a gig at the famous New York club CBGB and a gruelling 1979 North American tour in which the band drove themselves and all their equipment around the country in a Ford Econoline van. That summer, ""Can't Stand Losing You"" was also re-released in the UK, becoming a substantial hit, peaking at #2. The group's first single, ""Fall Out"", was re-issued in late 1979, and became a minor chart hit, peaking at #47 UK.

In October 1979, the group released their second album, Reggatta de Blanc, which topped the UK Albums Chart, and became the first of five consecutive UK #1 albums.^[22] The album spawned the international hit singles ""Message in a Bottle"" (#1 UK, #2 Canada, #5 Australia and a top 10 hit throughout much of Europe) and ""Walking on the Moon"" (#1 UK, and a top 10 hit in many European countries).^[23] Elsewhere, the album's singles failed to dent the US top 40, but Reggatta de Blanc still hit #25 on the US album charts.

The band's first live performance of ""Message in a Bottle"" was on the BBC's television show Rock Goes to College filmed at Hatfield Polytechnic College in Hertfordshire.^[24] The instrumental title track ""Reggatta de Blanc"" won the Grammy Award for Best Rock Instrumental Performance.^[25] In February 1980, the single ""So Lonely"" was re-issued in the UK. Originally a non-charting flop when first issued in late 1978, upon re-release the track became a top 10 hit, peaking at #6 UK.^[22]

In March 1980, the Police began their first world tour, which included places which had seldom hosted foreign performers, including Mexico, India, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Greece and Egypt.^[23] The tour would be subsequently documented in the film The Police Around the World (1982), directed by Kate and Derek Burbidge, which encompasses footage shot by Anne Nightingale originally intended for a BBC production The Police in the East.

In May 1980, A&M in Great Britain released Six Pack, an expensive package containing the five previous A&M singles (not including ""Fall Out"") in their original sleeves plus a mono alternate take of the album track ""The Bed's Too Big Without You"" backed with a live version of ""Truth Hits Everybody"". It reached No. 17 in the UK singles chart (although chart regulations introduced later in the decade would have classed it as an album).

Pressured by their record company for a new record and a prompt return to touring, the Police released their third album, Zenyatta Mondatta, in October 1980. The album was recoded in a three week period recoded in Holland for tax reasons.^[26] The album gave the group their third UK No. 1 hit, ""Don't Stand So Close to Me"" (the UK's best selling single of 1980) and another hit single, ""De Do Do Do, De Da Da Da"", both of which reached No. 10 in the United States. While the three band members and co-producer Nigel Gray all expressed immediate regret over the rushed recording for the album, which was finished at 4 a.m. on the day the band began their world tour,^[27] the album would receive high praise from critics.^[28][29] The instrumental ""Behind My Camel"", written by Andy Summers, won the band a Grammy for ""Best Rock Instrumental Performance"", while ""Don't Stand So Close to Me"" won the Grammy for ""Best Rock Vocal Performance for Duo or Group"".^[25]

type=printed

period=post-war (1945 - present)

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