Music Flashback: The Police

The Police were an English Rock band first formed in London in 1977.

The group played a form of New Wave Rock heavily influenced by Reggae, Jazz, and Punk Music.

The Police were:

Sting – Vocals, Bass
Andy Summers – Guitar
Steward Copeland – Drums

The group was first started by American drummer Steward Copeland. The first incarnation of The Police included Copeland, Sting, and guitarist Henry Padovani.

By July of 1977, Andy Summers had joined the group, creating a short-lived four man ensemble. Padovani’s limited guitar skills soon had him departing the band, leaving it with the classic three-man lineup that would go on to great success.

Their first album was released in 1978 and produced the hit single “Roxanne“.

To me, I’ll always think of Eddie Murphy sitting in his prison cell singing “Roxanne” in the classic comedy “48 hrs” whenever I hear the song.

The period from 1980-1984 was when the group hit its peak of stardom, making it one of the most popular groups in music at the time.

The group has won 6 Grammy Awards during their career.

The Police were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2003.

The band released just 5 Studio Albums in the course of their career.

Their hits included:

Roxanne
Message in a Bottle
Don’t stand so close to me
De doo doo doo, De da da da
Walking on the moon
Every little thing she does in Magic
Spirits in the Material world
Every Breath you take
Wrapped around your finger
Synchronicity II
King of Pain

and many others….

The group charted 8 singles onto the Billboard Top-40 Charts in the US.

Their last studio album “Synchronicity” was released in 1983.

Their lone #1 hit in the USA was 1983′s “Every breath you take“.

In 1984, the band went on hiatus as Sting went on to pursue a solo career in music and as an actor.

In 1986, they reunited to record a new studio album, but Copeland was injured after falling off a horse and was unable to play the drums. The album was later abandoned.

Sting, real name: Gordon Sumner, was a Middle School Teacher before going to music full-time.

Sting wed English Actress Trudie Styler in 1992.

The group officially disbanded from 1987 – 2006 with each member pursuing solo careers and other projects.

Sting became a successful solo performer.
Andy Summers released a number of solo albums and worked with other musicians.’
Steward Copeland became a prolific Movie and Television Music Composer and worked with a number of other bands.

Stewart Copeland composed the soundtracks for such films as Rumble Fish, Wall Street, She’s having a Baby, Talk Radio, and others.

The group reunited in 2007 for an appearance on the Grammy Awards in which they performed “Roxanne”.

The group then launched The Police Reunion Tour which would tour the globe through much of 2007 and 2008.

They were the World’s Highest earning Musicians in 2008 thanks to the success of the reunion tour.

After that tour completed, the guys again went their separate ways.

They have not performed together since.

When I was in High School, during the peak of the band’s popularity, you either loved or hated The Police. The thing I liked about them was that their lyrics could easily be remembered by idiots like myself. I could barely remember half the words to the National Anthem, yet I could trot down the halls at school and could happily babble “Da Doo Doo Doo, De Da Da Da….Da Doo Doo Doo, De Da Da Da…..” and “Don’t stand!…Don’t Stand!…Don’t stand so close to me!…Don’t stand! Don’t stand!…Don’t stand so close to me!…” over and over and over, just like an idiot.