Police - Synchronicity POLL

http://i307.photobucket.com/albums/nn306/Floridian_20/PoliceSynchron.jpg

OF A DARK...SCOTTISH LAKE...

2. Walking In Your Footsteps
3. O My God
4. Mother

These are all pretty shitty aren't they?

Yep.

Typical rebellion. I'm not bothered.

God, there are people on this board who would LOVE to fuck with me. They'd love to figure out some way to provoke me to some point where I'd tell them off or cause a scene or whatever. And they lie in wait, in the bushes, waiting for the big Bimble war. But they're not going to get one. I'm bored with the agenda of these commoners.

Go get one Peter Gabriel thread, first. THEN talk to me.

"Synchronicity 1". Song doesn't get nearly enough love.

CHA!

2. Walking In Your Footsteps
3. O My God
4. Mother

"Miss Gradenko" is fairly patchy as well, but "Tea in the Sahara" boasts lyrics even Spinal Tap would have winced at.

By the way, don't forget "Murder By Numbers" (initially appended to the cassette version).

I like "Ms Gradenko"'s goofy lyrics; it matches the goofy music beat for beat.

King Of Pain by a mile.

I can't stand to listen to most of this record any more -- specifically "King of Pain," "Wrapped Around Your Finger" and "Every Breath You Take." "Syncronicity II" isn't far behind.

That said, "Syncronicity I" is outstanding.

I know what you mean. I didn't burn out on King Of Pain. I think it's because it was the one big single from the record that didn't have a music-video made for it, so I was exposed to the song less.

"synchronicity ii." "many miles away, there's a shadow on the door, on a cottage on the shore, of a dark, scottish lake. many miles away. . . ."

Yes, that is a lyric in the song.

That's the song wherein The Police say fuck it and imitate Rush.

Murder by Numbers

no doubt, alfred. that one, "omegaman," and "no time this time." nti, it's the lyric in the song

i was so excited for this album. i was in 8th grade, and it's one of the first albums i remember anticipating the release date and making sure i got my dad to drive me to the record store the day it came out. the police were my first "favorite band," or at least the first one that was mine and not borrowed from my dad's records (beatles, stones, etc). so of course i was convinced it was genius and loved it to pieces for several years. in retrospect it's possibly my least favorite police album. i'm sure being burned out on it is part of that, but it also has a pretty high embarrassment-to-riches ratio, sting's insufferability was really hitting its stride. still, both "synchronicity" tracks are good jams if you subtract the lyrics, "every breath you take" is unassailable even if no one ever needs to hear it again, "king of pain" has a great chorus. i think i'll vote for "wrapped around your finger" because i like the slinky melody, and the underlying venom is if anything even more pronounced than on "every breath." (among other things, sting sounds like a very bitter dude on this album.)

I know what you mean. I didn't burn out on King Of Pain. I think it's because it was the one big single from the record that didn't have a music-video made for it, so I was exposed to the song less.

^^^^Yeah, this. What was the deal with that? Was it even a single in real form? I didn't know that. It was just played more on the radio than other songs on the album, far as I knew.

Also that was a fantastic post, Tipsy.

I just happen to have the book Synchronicity by Carl Jung beside me right now. I tried to read it before and got nowhere, but I definitely respect that dude. No joke.

wrapped around your finger

synch II & King of Pain are good jamz tho. but yeah, probably my least favorite Police

I just happen to have the book Synchronicity by Carl Jung beside me right now. I tried to read it before and got nowhere, but I definitely respect that dude. No joke.

Wow. wonder if there's a word for that.

It's between 'King Of Pain' and 'Synchronicity II' - might go for the former, just for the middle-eight (which I'm sure The Dismemberment Plan borrowed somewhere along the line). Does anyone have a good word to say about 'Mother'?

I went with Synchronicity II though Synchronicity I, Wrapped Around Your Finger, and King of Pain were all close for me.

I love how pissed off and aggravated Sting sounds on this one and it has some of Summers' coolest guitar work.

Basically I could listen to the singles and "Synchronicity I" on endless repeat; I chose "SII" but really it could have been any of them.

"Wrapped Around Your Finger" playing inside Subway at lunch today.

i'll be one of the 15+ to vote for "every breath you take", but the only one to admit it

Hahah oh my god, yeah. You are a hero, to vote for that and admit it. I salute you, man.

if any part of "every breath" is underappreciated i'd say it's the bridge, which has always sounded like a classic country tune to me.

havent listened in decades; between Breath and Wrapped for me. Sting really lays the other lyrics on with a trowel, esp Sync II (great Andy there tho).

can't tell if you're being sarcastic, bimble, but i genuinely like the song. probably because it's the song i've known since i was little - fuck da haters

I've half a mind to vote for "Mother". Or rather I'd vote for "Mother" if I had half a mind, or something.

But no, I'll go for title track #1, which I wish was longer.

Synchronicity II for me. But I do have a great love of Mother and hell, the whole rest of this album.

It's still my favorite Police actually, but that's because I haven't consciously gone through their catalog as an adult. I just continue to enjoy it the way I have since my Mom first bought the cassette and played it in her truck on long drives.

Was it even a single in real form?

Oh yeah. It reached No. 3 on the U.S. Billboard charts. And, as Wiki notes, "(i)nterestingly, King of Pain was the only single from Synchronicity that did not have an accompanying music video."

I was a young 'un, but I remember "King of Pain" hearing a lot on the radio (around Big Country's "In a Big Country" and H&O's "Family Man"), so its chart position makes sense.

*but I remember HEARING "KOP," rather

I thought Family Man was mostly an MTV music-video phenomenon. I can't even remember hearing it on the radio. Great song, tho.

I for one am pleased to not see the CD bonus track "Murder By Numbers" included although it's better than at least half the songs on this album, but it's just refreshing to see an accurate representation of the original release for once.

The lyrics of The Police, although consistently terrible, have always been overshadowed by how great the music is (in this one person's opinion). This is why songs like "Tea In The Sahara" are so good. Unfortunately, some people just can't get over bad lyrics.. which seems to be the case with most people posting here.

"O My God" is not shitty because the bass line is sick, and the outro is sublime.

And "Synchronicity 1" is way underrated.. I think I'm voting for that.. okay I just did.

I was a young 'un, but I remember "King of Pain" hearing a lot on the radio (around Big Country's "In a Big Country" and H&O's "Family Man"), so its chart position makes sense.

I suddenly want to make a huge 1983 mix.

H2O is the 1982 hit album from the duo Daryl Hall and John Oates. It featured three Top 10 U.S. singles, including "Maneater" which was the biggest hit of their career, spending four weeks at the #1 spot on the Billboard Hot 100 charts. The album title is a play on the chemical formula for water, where "H" is for Hall, and "O" is for Oates.

late 82 album = singles charted in 83 stfu

no! I was responding to Daniel about "Family Man."

yeah i'm down w/ tea in the sahara, even if it prefigures the solo sting tripe that was to come. i don't put much stock in lyrics though - unless it's so blatantly over-the-top or forgrounded in such a way that i can't get around it.

i think Becker/Fagen lyrics are the only ones where i actively pay attention and am not consistently dissapointed or embarrassed.

fore-

im all on defense today. sorry

Am I the only one who really, really loves Miss Gradenko?

yeah, sorry

What a mildly stupid fate I have.

King Of Pain by a mile

This.

THERE'S A LITTLE BLACK SPOT ON THE SUN TO-DAY

THERE'S A SALE ON OUR GABARDINE SUITS TO-DAY

"every breath you take" is unassailable even if no one ever needs to hear it again

OTM. It's a perfect song, a gorgeous recording, and a deserved juggernaut of a single. And, while it's weird to call it this, a monster riff.

Am I the only one who really, really loves Miss Gradenko

Maybe, but I do really, really like it.

The results of this poll may surprise you, Abbot.

Weird, I had never noticed that Murder By Numbers was a cd bonus track before.

I'm pretty sure this was the first album I ever bought new from a store with my own money (as opposed to from a garage sale; that was the White Album). I still pretty much like this record and think it was the best thing the Police ever did, and I like Mother too, because it has a pretty strong Crimson vibe to it. This album also introduced me to Paul Bowles and other stuff that was cool to be into when I was in junior high, even if it now seems kind of pretentiously passe. Anyway favorite song is probably Synch 2.

"Wrapped Around Your Finger". Best Police song ever.

I like all of the singles here. Among the non-singles, "Tea In The Sahara", "Synchronicity I" and "Walking In Your Footsteps" are great, while "Mother" is of course horrible.

And, hey! Yes "Murder By Numbers" was great!

I don't understand why people hate Mother so much. I guess I would expect Geir not to like it, but I love its utter madness. I've heard Murder By Numbers, it's okay I guess.

Mother is a delight. I played that damn song so many times in 2001. Real Mother kick.

It reminds me off a sillier/creepier (longer) '5% for Nothing.'

I really, really hate "Mother". I'm all about crazy songs where someone just screams, but really.

It is pretty out of place, I will admit.

It was "Mother" that prepared me for the likes of Captain Beefheart and Wild Man Fischer

"Synchronicity II" is awesome and really not overplayed for me - not sure what it was like at the time but it's now the Police single you never here. Sting may lay it on thick in places ("another suburban family morning" etc) but there's some really great moments of stridency and man, yeah, Summers is kicking ass on this one. Love the "BA DA DA DANG DANG BRANG A DANG A DANG DANG" after the part about how the guy's eyeballs ache. And the spooky evil rising from the dark Scottish lake works for me - the two parallel plots make a nice pair of really detailed daily breakdown versus really vague/menacing.

It's probably supposed to be some psychoanalytic BS where the dark Scottish lake is the guy's subconscious but I like it better as just this totally separate thing happening, "Meanwhile, far away, unbeknownst to our hero..."

That said, this is the one Police album I haven't yet been able to make myself spring for a dollar copy of and so I'm not voting.

There's two versions of the cover art on the original LP. One has a bare breast. One does not.

Also, a lot of copies are not actually black, but semi transparent purple. Hold yours up to the light and check.

They play 'Synchronicity II' as bumper music on Coast to Coast AM episodes about synchronicity.

DO YOU SEE

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

After this poll started I listened to this album about 400 times. Soooooo goooooooooood.

I love how he says 'HUMILIATING kick in the CROTCH."

I think Mother is great! It's so fucked up. I'm tempted to vote for it. Or Sync I. Can't decide.

I thought ILM hated this album. Pleasant surprise that I was wrong. Best thing Sting was ever involved in of course.

Yes because ILM is all one brain.

"Best thing Sting was ever involved in of course"

Yes, except for DUNE.

the one that goes "I WILL LISTEN HARD TO YOUR TUITION"

I stop caring about the Police after their third album. And by this one, I basically can't stand them. My wife, on the other hand, is a huge fan -- first concert she ever saw, etc. When I asked her what her favorite track was, she said she didn't have one because it's meant to be listened to as an entire album. But when pressed, she named "Synchronicity I," for being the "most rock." So I'll vote for that.

Also, we just checked her copy, and the vinyl is in fact translucent purple -- looks pretty cool! We can't find any bare breasts, however (except for those belonging to actual Police members.)

Holy shit! Mine is purple too! Wow, you would never see that unless you held it up to the light. I had to go get another record by someone else and hold it up to the light just to prove my sanity. I wonder why they didn't make it more obvious, because it's really beautiful. I don't see any bare (female) breasts on mine, either, though. The Asian lady standing near Summers is the only female I see on this.

Also subtly translucent: Neil Young's Tonight's The Night

Yeah I heard about the purple thing a long time ago. Pretty subtle and unexpected for the era and label. The bare breast one isn't terribly rare (I don't think), just obviously wasn't as widely distributed.

I bought this album at 12:01am on the day of release. "Every Breath You Take" was (and still is I believe) a terrific single and big-upped everywhere on MTV and KROQ so the anticipation for the whole album was tremendous. But when I opened the shrink wrap and gave it a listen I was vaguely pleased and vaguely underwhelmed. OK sure... I put Ghosts In The Machine back on and waited for tickets to go on sale for the tour. The following year I'd have the same reaction to The Unforgettable Fire

The eventual show at Hollywood Park was nuts. 75,000 in a venue that had no business hosting a rock concert of that size and smack in the middle of a summer heat wave. This was one of the few times where I've felt unsafe at a show... people were passing out from the heat, kids were getting crushed near the stage, and after the ninth or tenth kid being carried out over the security fence with a bloody face or body part I headed for the exit. Meanwhile, Sting was singing "So Lonely." Never really cared about The Police after than and since then I listen to the Summers/Fripp albums a lot more.

Anyway, the opening song on that night was "Voices In My Head" - weird moody choice, but right after that was "Synchronicity I" and WAY more fired up than what was recorded. In fact the live versions of everything on the album were significantly better live. "Synchronicity II" was next and just as powerful, but I hadn't ever seen tens of thousands of people go from meh to YEAH instantly so "Synchronicity I" gets my vote.

FWIW, The Fixx and Berlin were the openers and FAR better than The Police (the Thompson Twins opened too, but live they were irrelevant). Hell, Berlin was one of the better bands I'd seen anywhere.

That's the song wherein The Police say fuck it and imitate Rush.

I like that later Rush decided to say fuck it and imitate The Police (to greater effect too)

Rush > Police

Anyone who thinks otherwise is crazy.

And by crazy I mean is probably a woman.

Thank you Bob Dylan.

I am a crazy woman.

My wife, who is a woman and not crazy and also a really big Rush fan, says the bands are not comparable. (She did agree, though, that "Synchronicity" sounds like the Police trying to be Rush.)

"Synchronicity I" barely over "King of Pain".

God, I'd love to hear Rush do a cover of Synchronicity.

If bimble pulled this out on vinyl to start the poll as stated above - I don't believe it would have had 'tea in the sahara,' right? I remember being fairly peeved at 13 and finding my buddy's cassette had a song my vinyl copy didn't have ... that said - I vote 'Synchronicity I' ...

PS - Excellent call on the wish for Rush to cover Synchronicity - (heck either one!)

"Murder By Numbers" was the extra song not on the original vinyl release, "Tea in the Sahara" was on both.

What he said.

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

Votes are pretty right on except for Mother scoring so low. Pretend it's Scratch Acid and re-listen!

I voted for "O My God" by accident and now I'm totally happy that I did because I would have cried if it was beat by "Mother."

Was searching for an image of the bare breast cover art and found this info on Wikipedia:

The album's original cover artwork was available in 36 variations, with different arrangements of the colour stripes and showing different photographs of the band members, which they took themselves. In one version Sting is reading a copy of Jung's Synchronicity on the front cover along with a negative/superimposed image of the actual text of the synchronicity hypothesis. A photo on the back cover also shows a close-up, but mirrored and upside-down, image of the Jung's book.

Yeah, that's actually the one I've got, with all the pics of Jung's Synchronicity.

I have to constantly sing along with one part, "packed-like-lemmings into shiny metal boxes"

Anyone heard the B-Side "I Burn For You"?? Such a great tune, surprised it didn't make it on here

"Synchronicity 1". Song doesn't get nearly enough love.

― Alex in NYC, Monday, April 6, 2009 7:56 AM (2 years ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

alex so OTM (as usual)

I love the vocal harmonies in 'Synchronicity I'. I would have voted for 'Synchronicity II' in this, though.

Hey, mighty brontosaurus,
Don't you have a lesson for us

I feel disappointed to learn the lyrics are not "Are you SICK, Miss Gradenko?"

Miss Gradenko are you SICK

TPL does the album; not quite as good as I remember it being - http://nobilliards.blogspot.co.uk/2014/01/the-police-synchronicity.html

I definitely agree that Ghost is a better record. In fact, I feel like that and Reggatta are the great records that you claim the Police never made. Synchronicity is definitely not it, though that Side 2 continues to be astounding, even "Tea in the Sahara" which I loathed for so many years. Just incredible that the band who recorded "Next to You" only six years prior would wind up doing such tightly knit sophistipop songs like this.

Have you heard the B-side "I Burn For You"? I believe it wound up on a soundtrack somewhere, which is unfortunate - it's one of Sting's best songs, and had they slotted it in the middle of Side 2, kicked out "O My God", and made "Synchronicity II" close the first side, the album could be a masterpiece. Alas...

I agree - I think "I Burn For You" was the best thing they ever did, and it got thrown away on the Brimstone And Treacle soundtrack (the cassette of which I've kept pretty much for that track only).

I Burn for You is indeed awesome. It would have fit well on Zenyatta or maybe even Synchronicity. I would have closed side one pretty well. Even more than a lot of later Police stuff, there's barely anything for Andy to do on the track, though.

Though Sting (and certainly Omar Hakim) makes a pretty good case for it c. "Blue Turtles."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kgxy9lMbqJc

Yeah, someone here introduced me to "I Burn for You" last month and it is spectacular; exactly the sort of thing I wish Sting would have done in his solo career.

As it stands, the b-side of Synchronicity is pretty good and I love, love, love "Tea in the Sahara", but it's still the weakest blockbuster LP of the early 80s.

Marcello is otm about "the disaster of three-way democracies". I can't think of any group whose albums would have benefited more from crediting the entire band with all compositions; an arrangement that would have been much fairer to Andy on a certain massive #1 hit...

Yeah, seriously. Even-split is a good way to survive. Even Coldplay does that, and I'm not even sure the other guys have names. Of course, I don't doubt that Sting believes he's done his best work after the Police ...

Man, do I love the snare sound on this record.

i burn for you is fantastic. sting's smugness and awful lyrics keep me from embracing this band, but they had some amazingly vital, alive songs.

Most contemporary reviews were sympathetic, and then some; interviewing the band in Atlanta later that year for the NME, the late Richard Cook remarked, “...if that record (Ghost In The Machine) was difficult, Synchronicity is like Chinese algebra"

Cook's observation is like... 50% crypto-racist and 50% math-class-is-tough-Barbie. It brings back 1983 as a foreign country, where psychiatric advice was a running gag in Peanuts and the Columbia House's secret gold box and the Book of the Month Club intersect.

This album is fucking great! I love every song, even Mother. 7/4 time!

Fascinating interview with the producer on what a nightmare it was recording "Every Breath You Take": http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/mar04/articles/classictracks.htm

I listened to this album a lot as a kid, and you couldn’t skip tracks on an LP, so I find it weird that while half the songs are burned on my brain, I have absolutely no memory of the others—O My God, Mother, Miss Gredenko, Tea in the Sahara? what are these(?)

This band is kinda goofy, but “Synch II” is clearly in the Top 1 gtr riffs of all time.

damn someone voted for “mother”?

I listened to this album a lot as a kid, and you couldn’t skip tracks on an LP, so I find it weird that while half the songs are burned on my brain, I have absolutely no memory of the others—O My God, Mother, Miss Gredenko, Tea in the Sahara? what are these(?)

Mother is such an irritating joke, maybe you did yourself a favor and blocked it out. Miss Gradenko and O My God sound like tossed-off filler so no surprise that they wouldn't be memorable.

I actually like Tea in the Sahara, and I guess it was a hit somewhere since it was on the international Greatest Hits CD. It's a nice low-key, atmospheric piece, but I can kind of see where Sting would go wrong whenever I hear it - it stops just short of that, but it points towards that unfortunate direction.

"Miss Gredenko" the best album track imo

it’s a banger I agree, maybe a little influence on Radiohead’s “Weird Fishes” to my ears.

Haha, I like "Mother" and "Tea in the Sahara" (although "Sync II" would def get my vote and probably did). "Every Breath You Take" is my least favourite song.

Buddy of mine on his private Twitter recently said something like, "Listening to Synchronicity on vinyl right now - where you can't skip past "Mother" and there's no "Murder by Numbers" for compensation at the end of Side Two."

OK, “Miss Gredenko” is kind of a jam. Cool solo. It’s almost like a (lesser) French Frith Kaiser Thompson track.

Buddy of mine on his private Twitter recently said something like, "Listening to Synchronicity on vinyl right now - where you can't skip past "Mother" and there's no "Murder by Numbers" for compensation at the end of Side Two."

Yeah I've always had this album on my iPod/iTunes with "Mother" chopped out and "Murder by Numbers" as a nice little epilogue.

that moment when two buddies find out they’re both ilxors

#synchronicity

do we stan
neu! and can
suggest ban
synchronicity

geir hates sex
pretend lex
POX
synchronicity

eephus w/o a cuz
sub-borad oriolez
synchronicity

Melodically, harmonically, lyrically, texturally, "Walking in Your Footsteps" is about as NOTHING as a song can be.
"Mother" is still worse though, I wonder if Summers was imitating both Peter Hammill and Fripp on "Disengage" from Exposure.
This release would have been fine as a 45 with the two Synchronicities on it, the other singles are adequate.

Melodically, harmonically, lyrically, texturally, "Walking in Your Footsteps" is about as NOTHING as a song can be.

otm -- dullest second song ever

With #onethread
one #oneboard
you will know
synchronicity

Mother and Miss Gredenko unmemorable? the former is infamously one of the most irritating album-destroying tracks ever, the latter is ridiculously catchy

O My God is like a by the books filler track - sort of a dry run for Sting's solo career - but I do find it interesting that they reused lyrics from the Strontium 90 days

fwiw the live disc from this tour has better versions of "Tea in the Sahara" and "Walking in Your Footsteps". it kinda makes me feel like the album wasn't really complete yet.

imo the weirdest thing is why "I Burn For You" wasn't included. its one of Sting's best songs ever, just unfathomably good for an outtake for an album that included uh...all the songs mentioned above

When I was a kid I was into the fact that I could recognize that "Mother" had a weird time signature without really being into the song per se

Melodically, harmonically, lyrically, texturally, "Walking in Your Footsteps" is about as NOTHING as a song can be.

Hits different when you're living in fear of Soviet missles on a random afternoon!

("Walking in Your Footsteps") hits different when you're living in fear of Soviet missles on a random afternoon!

Yeah, I can see this. I actually like this track because it really sticks out as a crystal clear time capsule of Reagan's '80s. And I've also come across so many vintage '80s-era docs and even kids' PBS shows that remind me of "Walking in Your Footsteps" musically speaking, especially instrumentally. It may not be much more than a time capsule, but a time capsule has its appeal, and I do like how it shores up the context surrounding that album (the culture and the time it was released).

it kinda makes me feel like ('Synchronicity') wasn't really complete yet.

All of their albums feel kind of unrealized, like they sped up towards the end just to complete the LP with filler and leave certain tracks undeveloped. They were never that happy with Zenyatta Mondatta for that reason, but ironically (at least to me), it's the closest thing they have to a fully-realized album.

it's my favorite, and ZM also sounds rounded to me.

in fact, the last three songs on ZM consist of my favorite Police sequence

"Walking In Your Footsteps" might have been my favorite track on this when I was a kid and if you don't dig the couplet "You were God's favorite creature / but you didn't have a future" I don't even know what's up with you -- my introduction to slant rhyme and it's just gorgeously dark as hell -- compare the "it doesn't matter if God's on your side, we're fucked, just another kind of creature fated to be supplanted" (this tracks with the return of the prehistoric to reclaim the earth in Synchronicity II btw) with the much softer, goopier "Russians" ("let's all looooooooove one another it'll be fine") which represents what Sting would be doing without the band

"Russians" is fucking awwwwful. I already love the Police, but I feel much more forgiving about their missteps when I put on something like "Russians." "Mother" sucks but I'd much rather hear that again - at least it's intentionally a joke.

listening to this for the first time and immediately loved "walking in your footsteps" lol

Can you live-post your reactions to Synchronicity first listen??

Ghost in the Machine is pretty solid front to back

Mother >>>>>>>>> most solo Sting

i've always had a soft spot for regatta de blanc. not everything on it is amazing, but the oddities are quite odd, and usually pretty enjoyable ("does everyone stare," in particular)

My most-played album too. I think "It's Alright For You" and "No Time At All" are two of the best unheralded rockers in their catalogue.

*"No Time This Time"

The 8-track listing, btw:

Program 1
1-1 --- Synchronicity I
1-2 --- Walking In Your Footsteps
1-3 --- Mother

Program 2
2-1 --- O My God
2-2 --- Miss Gradenko
2-3 --- Tea In The Sahara

Program 3
3-1 --- Synchronicity II
3-2 --- King Of Pain

Program 4
4-1 --- Every Breath You Take
4-2 --- Wrapped Around Your Finger

For all of those long-haul truckers pumping Synchronicity between Merle Haggard 8-tracks.

the title track and "Deathwish" are also very good on Reggatta - idk if I wanna say "best" but it's my favorite of theirs, maybe because it has the most Stewart Copeland input. when you listen to his stuff as Klark Kent and compare it to what Sting was doing it actually seems kinda clear that the signature Police sound was really Copeland's doing, it's just that Sting was writing all the good songs

There's something really Billy Joel-ish about Sting's delivery on the pre-chorus sections of "Synchronicity II" --- "DADDy grips the WHEEL and STARES aLONE into the DIStance," "Red-light STAH-REET" etc. Maybe that's why I like it so much.

hah yeah now that you mention it, totally

Synchonicity II seemed like it could've paved the way for a bunch of prog groups to try their hand at New Wave. though I suppose Rush already covered that territory. either way I suspect if they'd stuck around they would have been making albums like Big Generator by Yes

omg i somehow never truly internalized that he was singing "We have to SHOUT aBOVE the DIN of ourrrRICEKrisPIES!" ---- that's really, wow, something. i really hate it as it's happening, but it doesn't seem to impact me finding the song awesome.

also... as beautifully cheesy as the video is (in keeping with the era when every fourth b-movie was now a Road Warrior knock-off), imagine how bad it would be if it was like Everlong and Sting's arm got all muscley at the end of every verse as the guy in the verse gets angry

this album really has a ton of stuff I love on it, and a number of hits that always surprises me. it's just hard to really grapple with just HOW acidic and grim its outlook really is.

acidic and grim can obviously be the outlook expressed through a work of art... just when it starts up with the seemingly upbeat whirl of "Synchronicity I," i don't expect to spend so much time with these nightmare characters --- every one the focal point of a disconcerting arthouse drama with slight 80s/90s erotic-thriller vibes.

but --- am i right to assume for many of its biggest fans, that's what makes it great?

There's that moment in the middle of "Synchronicity II" when it turns into a Rush song -- that drum break!

for many of its biggest fans, that's what makes it great?

Casual listeners probably think "Wrapped Around Your Finger" and "Every Breath You Take" are love songs, hate "Mother" and zone out through the rest. Fans invested in Sting's point-of-view might be glad that he became more "humanistic" and positive in his solo work?

"Synchronicity II" is a great piece of music, and the lyrics work OK as a sketch of a Doctor Who episode.

It really is a weird album to have been their world-beating commercial zenith. "Every Breath" obviously shouldered a lot of that, to a not insignificant degree on Sting's sex appeal. I remember the mom of one of my middle school friends totally fell in love with him via the video. If the lyrics were creepy, whatever, there was a point where the idea of Sting creeping on you was apparently an attraction.

But also at this point it doesn't feel contrarian for their biggest record to be a personal least-favorite.

I learned how to play "Sync II" on guitar at some point. Wasn't too hard, but was fascinatingly creative in the way it just keeps modulating forward in its through-composed arrangement.

I'm curious as to what exactly Sting brought in as the composition or demo of "Synchronicity II". Are the guitar parts devised by him or Summers? If the latter, did Sting write the song around a bass line and a melody?

It really is a weird album to have been their world-beating commercial zenith. "Every Breath" obviously shouldered a lot of that, to a not insignificant degree on Sting's sex appeal.

they had a lot of commercial momentum too, iirc every album did better than the last and their management was super active in keeping them in the headlines. not to say they didn't deserve the success but there were some forces at work for them which other bands didn't get. if you played this album and XTC's English Settlement for a teenager today I wonder which of the two they'd guess sold 15 million copies. would anyone be able to guess that "King of Pain" was a much better hit than "Senses Working Overtime"?

also fun side note, Stewart Copeland's new group has "Miss Gradenko" in the setlist, which I don't think The Police ever played. they do it really well - Adrian Belew does a pretty good Sting impression

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4iAVIKwF6rA

the Gizmodrome live album has a few other obscure Police cuts - "Bombs Away" & "Darkness". if you dig his stuff it's a worthy listen

Should gizmodrome (such a bad name) ever tour the US (I don't think they will, as I think the record landed with a thud in 2017, and Adrian has his own schedule to attend to), I would be there like a mickey fickey. Stewart's police material & all the KC shit that was too belew for Fripp and Jakko on those last five or so tours? let me at it! the same show in London where they did the above, they also did "Darkness," "elephant Talk" and "Thela Hun Ginjeet." Let 'em do "something about you" and all the other Level 42 stuff I ain't heard…

xposting, I'm pretty sure Sting wrote stuff like Message in a Bottle on guitar and Andy adapted it, but Synch II is odd enough that I do wonder what the demo was like. Maybe it was kind of developed out of a jam? That Rick Beato convo with Sting was pretty interesting. Every Little Thing, for example, is such a great song, but it's really novel that Sting wrote it around a whole tone scale (iirc) which is something you rarely encounter.

xp yeah same here, I mean I actually liked the album but clearly the main appeal was in seeing them live. the live album that just came out is really good, though I wish they dug out more 80s stuff from the other members (instead, they play every song off the studio album except for the Curved Air instrumental at the end). oh well.

I'd be curious to hear more of Sting's demos from the early days. it's interesting how Sting's solo stuff sounds nothing like The Police (despite Sting writing 75% of the material) but Copeland's Klark Kent material very much sounds like a pile of goofy lost Police tunes from 79-80. I wonder what their songwriting/recording process was like. A lot of the interviews imply that their songwriting process was way more collaborative than it appeared. like "Bring on the Night" is credited solely to Sting but no way he came up with that guitar line and rhythm...so how much exactly is left?

i really wish those Klark Kent songs were all on Police albums, recorded exactly as they are

like "Bring on the Night" is credited solely to Sting but no way he came up with that guitar line and rhythm

yeah, watch the first two minutes of this interview and it's pretty obvious who wrote the guitar part:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3IeeZZj_HNs

and it's not just the notes that are important there, it's the actual sound of the guitar itself, the effects it's put through etc. but i guess lyrics and melody and the basic chord progression are what counts when you're talking about writing credits?

Andy and Stewart are really pretty unique sounding players and I think that accounts for Police sounding different to solo Sting. Compositionally O My God sounds like it would sit comfortably on Ten Summoners Tales.

Also think it’s kinda funny that Alex Lifeson spent the rest of the 80s trying to sound like Andy but Andy spent it trying to sound like Fripp.

Well, this will open a can of whatever, but we can discuss to what degree we credit musicians for coming up with unforgettable parts. Paul McCartney, to his credit, has repeatedly praised George Harrison for coming up with the unforgettable flamenco part in "And I Love Her" ("If you think about it, that's the song -- I didn't write that!"), but not so's he'd award him songwriting credit alongside him and Lennon.

More and more I think U2 and R.E.M.'s decisions to share credit works best in the long run -- if a long run is what you want.

and it's true: every Police album outsold and outcharted its predecessor, a phenomenal achievement in America. They had the perfect combination of ruthless manager, talented as fuck musicians, good songwriter, and the peculiar FM/post-disco and MTV politics to make them in 1983 the biggest act in the world after Michael Jackson, a fact that's mind-boggling to consider.

but i guess lyrics and melody and the basic chord progression are what counts when you're talking about writing credits?

Mike Doughty of Soul Coughing talks a lot about that in his book and yes I think from a strictly legal point of view those are the things that matter. whatever a guy can do with an acoustic guitar, I guess. SC's songs are all credited to the group, much to his chagrin, but I think he's very much wrong on this, because the band would've gone nowhere without the other guys. similarly I thought The Police should have gotten group credit; who knows how far Sting could've gone without the other two. wasn't there a story about how "Roxanne" didn't really work until Stew fucked around with the beat and turned it into a tango?

from that infamous drunken Revolver interview published in 2000:

Copeland: In my humble opinion, this is Sting's best song with the worst arrangement. I think Sting could have had any other group do this song and it would have been better than our version - except for Andy's brilliant guitar part. Basically, there's an utter lack of groove. It's a totally wasted opportunity for our band. Even though we made gazillions off of it, and it's the biggest hit we ever had, when I listen to this recording, I think 'God, what a bunch of assholes we were!'

Revolver: Stewart, who was responsible for the groove?

Copeland: I say all this knowing exactly who's responsible for the groove. And yet, with an absolutely straight face, I will blame my two scumbag colleagues for all of it.

Summers: Wait a minute! It's stunning in its simplicity. It does have a great guitar part. I'll take credit for that.

Copeland: Andy, since we're here, I'm going to back you up on this. You should stand up right now and say, 'I Andy want all the Puff Daddy money. Because that's not Sting's song he's using, that's my guitar riff.' Okay over to you Andy, Go for it...

Summers: [meekly] Ok, I want all of the Puff Daddy Money.

Copeland: There you go, you feel better now don't you?

Sting: Okay Andy here's all the money. [pours some change on the table] Unfortunately, I've spent the rest of it.

Summers: I'll tell you what, Stewart, I'll take your share, I know Stings' not going to let me have his.

Copeland: So Sting's making out like a bankrobber here, while Andy and I have gone unrewarded and unloved for our efforts and contributions.

Sting: Life... is... f***ing... tough. Here I am in Tuscany.

That interview is amazing, it’s so good I almost suspected it was fake

Is it true that Summers didn’t know about the Puff Daddy song until he heard it on the radio?

Andy's account of writing/recording that guitar line in his autobiography is great. It only sounds simple, but to play those single notes and nail the tone all the way through the song is a bit of mastery.

just remembered that andy summers will be 80 years old this year, which is just unfathomable to me

Andy is an absolute genius, and his sound/effects and knowing how to use them is a huge part of that. But give credit where credit is (literally) due: as much as it (king of) pains me to say it, I have no doubt Sting wrote the bulk of those songs. But Andy and Stewart were absolutely essential in coming up with those key creative parts and arrangements, and the fact that Andy does't get credit for making "Every Breath" better than Leo Sayer's "I Love You More Than I Can Say" is a travesty.

Still:

who knows how far Sting could've gone without the other two

Again, pains me to say it, but the fact that he has had a long solo career with lots of hits, whatever we think of them, says a lot. When was the last time any of you listened to Animal Logic?

Biggest mystery to me remains "Magic." There's famously next to no Andy on it, and the story goes Sting demoed and arranged it with a keyboard player named Jean Roussel, but no one talks about him.

In January 1981 Jean Roussel recorded the demo version of Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic with Sting at Le Studio in Morin Heights near Montreal.

They played all of the instruments, basses, guitars, synths, marimbas pianos , clavinets etc... and Sting sang.

The song was destined for Sting's first solo album.

Several months later Jean Roussel got a call in Montreal (where he was still living at the time) from Sting and Miles Copeland to fly ASAP to Monserrat, to re-record the title with Sting and the other two members of the band.

They worked on the song for about a week, and none of the versions recorded were anywhere as good as the demo...

Finally Sting decided to use the original demo - and the version that is on the group's album is the exact original demo which Sting & Jean Roussel recorded, with Stewart's drums replacing the drum machine used on the demo and Andy's additional guitar parts.

There's a new book out about Stewart Copeland's drumming. Got it for Christmas and I just read about that Magic story! Book's really fun so far.

anything about this in it? would love to know what banshees track it was:

"Bombs Away" was recorded on a tape that Nigel Gray had just used with Siouxsie and the Banshees. Copeland said that "when he first set up his home studio he got hold of a load of second hand tape which included some stuff by Siouxsie and the Banshees. 'Bombs Away' was written on a Siouxsie and the Banshees backing track. I changed the speed and did things to the EQ to change the drum pattern. So with the desk I can get my song playing, then press a switch and there's Siouxsie singing away."

Does the book reveal the inspiration for all the hi-hat rolls/fills/flourishes or bringing back splash cymbals?

Don’t tell the director I said soooooooo
But are you safe miss gradenkoooooooo

re: "everything little thing she does is magic", that's also covered in the revolver interview. they make it pretty clear that the usual band dynamic was sting recording demos that had the core of the song, but the other two never liked his arrangements & they'd totally rearrange the songs as a band. since sting wrote the core melody & lyrics, he got the credit even though the others wrote original parts of the arrangement too. for "magic", summers & copeland couldn't figure out any sort of satisfying rearrangement at all so they eventually resentfully resorted to just replicating sting's demo for once.

Revolver: More Schadenfreude. What can you tell me about 'Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic'?

Summers: Well, I'm going to get very insulting here. When Sting was off doing the demos in Canada, he used this pianist who was incredibly pushy.

Copeland: He wasn't pushy.

Summers: f*** he was! He even managed to come down to Montserrat when we were recording.

Copeland: He was just like us actually.

Summers: Well, yeah, but there wasn't room for him. He must have played 12 piano parts on that song alone. And as the guitar player I was saying, 'What the f*** is this? This is not the Police sound'.

Copeland: So we tried to make the song a Police song - which meant undoing all of Sting's arrangement. That was our basic policy anyway. Always has been. Throw out Sting's arrangement, keep his lyrics and the song. So we tried playing it slower than the demos, we tried my "rama-lama" punk version. Andy tried turning the chords upside down. We spent more time on this song than on all the other songs put together. One morning, in a state of extreme grumpiness, I remember saying, 'Okay put up Sting's original demo and I'll show you how crummy it is.' So Sting stood over me and waved me through all the changes. I did just one take, and that became the record. Then Andy did the same thing on the guitar. We just faced the music, but the bullet, and used Sting's arrangements and demo. Damn.

is that the demo that was on the Strontium 90 CD?

TS: The Police (band) vs The Police (interview subjects)

gotta be honest this is tough for me. they were a world-historical pop act but they may be the greatest band interview of all time.

it's interview all the way for me

that interview excerpt is great. also, now i wanna hear Copeland's "'rama-lama' punk version" (also what exactly does he mean by that phrasing?).

The estimable 80sography podcast recently published a track-by-track commentary by Hugh Padgham!

The Revolver interview:

https://www.sting.com/news/title/revolver

Man, that Pittsburgh joke reminds me of an awkward evening with a loud relative.

Lmao

Revolver: Bands like the Offspring cite 'Can't Stand Losing You' as an important early punk song. Wasn't it banned by the BBC?

Copeland: Actually, we got a lot of mileage out of it being supposedly banned by the BBC. In fact, all that really happened was that we didn't make their playlist, so we turned that into 'Banned by the BBC'.

Sting: Wait a minute - it was 'Roxanne' they wouldn't play. Then we had that publicity campaign with posters about how the BBC banned 'Roxanne'. The reason they had a problem with 'Can't Stand Losing You' was because the photo on the cover of the single had Stewart standing on a block of ice with a noose around his neck, waiting for the ice to melt.

Copeland: Oh, so it was all my fault?

Sting: No, no, I applauded you for doing that Stewart. The only problem is... you didn't actually go through with it. (laughs)

seriously they could reunite without instruments for a comedy banter tour and I'd be first in line for tickets

We’re watching Only Murders in the Building; turns out Sting is in the show, in kind of an amusing way (speaking of comedy).

Sting otm about Copelands rhythms being completely in danceable though

for bookmarkers who might not have seen: When the World is Running Down, You Make the POLL of What's Still Around – ILM Artist Poll #116 – THE POLICE - (Voting is open until Sunday, Nov 27)

box set coming:

https://wmgk.com/2023/08/22/sting-confirms-police-synchronicity-box-set-is-coming/

Does the world need a Sychronicity boxed set?

tbh, except for Pet Sounds, I can't think of a single rock album box set that needed to be box set. They all should have been carved up into separate releases - e.g. a remastered (or remixed) edition of the album, a live album, and an outtakes/demos/studio rarities compilation. But economically speaking, when it comes to reissues, album box sets are the most viable products a label can come up with.

Looking forward to that 21-minute version of "Mother"

A whole disk of "Mother" ala the Fun House sessions.

the motherlode

Looking forward to that 21-minute version of "Mother"

― pplains, Wednesday, 23 August 2023

Extended remix by Arthur Baker.

this is an album that easily could have landed in my top 50 if I'd thought about it. certainly interested in hearing outtakes, but like most box sets, I'd go for a digital version.