The Police

Sting, Andy Summers and Stewart Copeland: a London trio that went from pubs and punk clubs in 1977 to Shea Stadium in 1983, with five studio albums and four consecutive UK number ones.

Origin: London, England
Years active: 1977-1984, 1986, 2007-2008
Genres: new wave, reggae rock, post-punk, punk rock
Labels: A&M Records, Illegal Records

Formation

The Police were formed in London in 1977. Stewart Copeland, an American drummer then touring with Curved Air, met the singer and bassist Sting in Newcastle on 25 September 1976. Sting moved to London that December and looked Copeland up the day he arrived. They started the band with the Corsican guitarist Henry Padovani, played a ten-minute debut show in Newport, Wales on 1 March 1977, and put out the single Fall Out on Illegal Records on 1 May. Padovani is on no other Police recording.

Andy Summers, a decade older and a veteran of Eric Burdon and the Animals and Kevin Ayers, played alongside Sting and Copeland in Mike Howlett's Strontium 90 that May. Sting then asked him to join the Police. After a short spell as a four-piece, Padovani was dismissed, and Copeland, Sting and Summers played together for the first time on 18 August 1977 at Rebecca's club in Birmingham. The bleached hair that became a trademark came from a Wrigley's chewing gum commercial shot in 1978, which never aired.

Outlandos to Ghost

The first album, Outlandos d'Amour, was made with no manager and no record deal, in off-peak hours at Surrey Sound in Leatherhead, a converted facility above a dairy run by the brothers Chris and Nigel Gray. Copeland's older brother Miles put up 1,500 pounds and, on hearing Roxanne, got the band a contract with A&M. Reggatta de Blanc followed on 5 October 1979, again with Nigel Gray at Surrey Sound. It was the first of four consecutive UK number one studio albums, and Message in a Bottle and Walking on the Moon were their first UK number one singles.

Zenyatta Mondatta came out on 3 October 1980, recorded at Wisseloord in the Netherlands because the band could not record at any British studio for tax reasons. It reached number five in the US, and Don't Stand So Close to Me was the UK's best-selling single of 1980. For Ghost in the Machine in 1981 they moved to AIR Studios on Montserrat with the co-producer Hugh Padgham. It made heavy use of keyboards and saxophone, and Sting played all the saxophone parts.

Synchronicity

The band returned to AIR in December 1982 for Synchronicity and recorded the basic tracks live in separate rooms: Copeland's drums in the dining room, Sting in the control room and Summers in the studio. Final overdubs and mixing took two weeks at Le Studio in Morin-Heights, Canada. The title came from Carl Jung's book on synchronicity, and Sting used a sequencer for the first time.

Released on 17 June 1983, the album went to number one in the UK and the US, spent 17 nonconsecutive weeks on top in America and sold over eight million copies there. It won three of its five Grammy nominations in 1984, and Every Breath You Take took Song of the Year. On 18 August 1983 the band played to 70,000 people at Shea Stadium in New York, and the Synchronicity Tour ended in Melbourne on 4 March 1984. Synchronicity II was the album's third single.

After

After the tour the band went on hiatus. In February 1985 they received the Brit Award for Outstanding Contribution to Music, and Sting released his solo debut, The Dream of the Blue Turtles, that June. The Police reconvened for three concerts on Amnesty International's A Conspiracy of Hope tour in June 1986. Their last show of that run was at Giants Stadium in New Jersey on 15 June, ending with Invisible Sun with Bono singing the final verse. Their last single, Don't Stand So Close to Me '86, came out that October.

They were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on 10 March 2003. A reunion tour opened with Roxanne at the Grammy Awards on 11 February 2007 and ended at Madison Square Garden on 7 August 2008, after selling 3.7 million tickets and grossing 358 million dollars. Rolling Stone's 2003 list of the 500 greatest albums included four of their five studio albums: Ghost in the Machine at 322, Reggatta de Blanc at 369, Outlandos d'Amour at 434 and Synchronicity at 455. A six-disc Synchronicity box set appeared in 2024.

Members

Sting lead vocals, bass guitar, keyboards (1977-1984, 1986, 2007-2008)
Andy Summers guitar, vocals, keyboards (1977-1984, 1986, 2007-2008)
Stewart Copeland drums, percussion, vocals (1977-1984, 1986, 2007-2008)
Henry Padovani guitar (1977)

Records

Outlandos d'Amour 1978 · A&M Records
The debut, made cheaply in off-peak hours in a studio above a dairy, with Roxanne on side one.
Reggatta de Blanc 1979 · A&M Records
The second album and the first UK number one, with Message in a Bottle and Walking on the Moon.
Zenyatta Mondatta 1980 · A&M Records
The third album, recorded in the Netherlands against the clock, with two Grammy winners and two top ten US singles.
Ghost in the Machine 1981 · A&M Records
Six weeks on Montserrat with a new co-producer, and the first Police record built around keyboards and saxophones.
Synchronicity 1983 · A&M Records
The last studio album: number one in the UK and the US, seventeen weeks on top in America, and Every Breath You Take.

Songs

Roxanne Outlandos d'Amour · 1978
The song that got the band a record deal, written about a Paris red-light district and built on a tango rhythm.
Message in a Bottle Reggatta de Blanc · 1979
A castaway's note to the world and the first of the band's UK number ones.
Walking on the Moon Reggatta de Blanc · 1979
A sparse reggae song built on a three-note bass riff, and the second UK number one in a row.
Don't Stand So Close to Me Zenyatta Mondatta · 1980
The lead single from Zenyatta Mondatta: a UK number one and the best-selling single of 1980 in Britain.
Every Breath You Take Synchronicity · 1983
The band's only US number one, and the song that BMI named the most performed in its catalogue.
Synchronicity II Synchronicity · 1983
A suburban breakdown, a monster rising from a Scottish loch, and six minutes of feedback.

Sting, Andy Summers, Stewart Copeland, Curved Air, Dire Straits

Where to go next

Official

The Police Official Website The band's own site, with news, discography and videos.

Reference

The Police at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Inductee page for the class of 2003.
The Police Band article with history, tours and awards.
Outlandos d'Amour Album article with recording, release and reception.
Reggatta de Blanc Album article with background, track list and charts.
Zenyatta Mondatta Album article covering the Netherlands sessions and the title.
Ghost in the Machine Album article on the Montserrat sessions and singles.
Synchronicity Album article with recording details, cover variations and accolades.

Writing and criticism

Pitchfork: The Police Pitchfork's artist page for the band.
Pitchfork: The Police Announce Massive Vinyl Box Set News item on the 2018 six-LP studio albums box set.
Mojo: The Police, Synchronicity review Review of the 2024 six-disc reissue with the story of the sessions.
Ultimate Classic Rock: Synchronicity, 40 Facts Forty facts about the making of the final studio album.

Interviews

Sound On Sound: Classic Tracks, Every Breath You Take Hugh Padgham on the gear, drum sounds and mixing of the Synchronicity single.

Sources

The Police, Wikipedia
Synchronicity (The Police album), Wikipedia
The Police Synchronicity Review, Mojo (2024-07-22)
Classic Tracks: The Police 'Every Breath You Take', Sound On Sound
The Police's 'Synchronicity': 40 Facts You May Not Know, Ultimate Classic Rock (2023-06-17)
The Police Announce Massive Vinyl Box Set, Pitchfork (2018-10-04)
The Police, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame