I remember asking for a copy of The Shadows’ Greatest Hits for my 6th birthday. My Dad refused to buy it for me so I asked for and got “Regatta De Blanc” by The Police. I remember me, an 8-year-old Ox and our slightly older cousin, known to us as Cool D’Rall, pogo-ing around my dad’s Amstrad “Hi-Fi”.
The Police – On Any Other Day
Luckily the spoken bit at the start of the track went over my head. I don’t think that early exposure to foul language has had any f**king effect on me, but it’s scary to note how many times my brother and I have (subconsciously?) tried to re-write that chorus – angular, syncopated power-chords and all. Your thoughts please, Ox!
I also wonder if the guitar solo on “Peanuts” (from their first album, “Outlandos D’Amour”) in some way led me to Sonic Youth, Trumans Water, assorted guitar manglers and free jazz – I dunno, but that solo is still pretty mental.
The Police – Peanuts
The A&R man for A&M Records said that he was initially drawn to the group because of the “incredible tension between Sting and Stewart (Copeland) – they clearly loathed each other”. This was a band where the drummer wrote a message to the singer across three tom-toms to vent his frustration (“f**k”, “you”, “c**t”, if I remember rightly). Whatever, in 1978 Copeland released a couple of singles under the name Klark Kent, playing all of the instruments himself on this great track which, y’know, sounds a bit like The Police.
Klark Kent – Don’t Care
(taken from "1234 - Punk and New Wave 1976-1979")
As the picture above demonstrates – from the Sundance Film Festival in January, where Copeland’s documentary about The Police was screened – relations are slightly better between band members these days. At least they’ve got Sting to laugh at.
Visit - Stewart Copeland for more about The Police documentary
Visit - The Police on Wikipedia
Buy - Regatta De Blanc
Buy - Outlandos D'Amour
Buy - 1234 - Punk and New Wave 1976-1979 [Box set]
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