Bring On the POLL - ILM Artist Poll #116 - THE POLICE - (Results Thread)

I love "No time" cuz its Stew at his hot doggin-est": I doubt that they played it live…

"No Time This Time" is '78 -- originally the b-side of "So Lonely."

The drum performance was pretty inspirational for me when I was 15. Its energy still holds up.

Thanks for that. I did not know that and didn't come across that info with my little bit of research I do before posting a new song.

https://i.imgur.com/l8fQ1zX.jpg

26. Voices in My Head
From: Zenyattà Mondatta
Released: October 3. 1980
271 Points, 8 Votes

oof too low!

another one i love that i came to via a cover version -

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h-VeNMdMTjw

this too -

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5j6bxexpjkM

I feel its one of their few songs that successfully crossed-over into dance music, like their 'theme for great cities'? Lol xxp :))

Throughout this poll, I had forgotten about Sting & Puff Daddy's "Roxanne 97" until just now. I think I bought the CD single from FYE for $1 and "Voices In My Head" was the randomly selected b-side.

sampled in this r&b monster, one of Missy Elliott’s first hits:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ojOERy-mf8

I never noticed that! That's a pretty inspired, subtle use of the sample.

superb

https://i.imgur.com/cKY4wTC.jpg

25. De Do Do Do, De Da Da Da
From: Zenyattà Mondatta
Single Released: November 20, 1980
276 Points, 9 Votes

I was trying to make an intellectual point about how the simple can be so powerful. Why are our favourite songs 'Da Doo Ron Ron' and 'Do Wah Diddy Diddy'? In the song, I tried to address that issue. But everyone said, 'This is bullshit, child's play.' No one listened to the lyrics. Listen to the lyrics. I'm going to remake it again and put more emphasis on what I was talking about.

— Sting, Rolling Stone, 2/1988

Sting also said that "I was trying to say something which was really quite difficult – that people like politicians, like myself even, use words to manipulate people, and that you should be very careful.”

The phrase "De Do Do Do, De Da Da Da" supposedly was made up by Sting's son. Sting said of this, "In fact, my son came up with it. I've never paid him – so that's another possible lawsuit. He writes songs himself these days. He's got a lot of self-confidence – I don't know where from."

from the sublime to the re-do-do-do-diculous

See, Zenyatta was doing fine until the singles presented themselves.

There were no notated votes for the 1986 version.

I hated that song when it was first released. It's grown on me since. Like a fungus.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h1Fk_mDem4o

I hated that song when it was first released. It's grown on me since. Like a fungus.

first one from their infamous singles collection to place. I am guessing the other 11 are coming.

https://i.imgur.com/MVm6OXF.jpg

24. Canary in a Coal Mine
From: Zenyattà Mondatta
Released: October 3. 1980
312 Points, 10 Votes

xps "De Doo Doo Doo..." was one of the few Police singles to make it into Dave Marsh's 1001 Greatest Singles book, and xgau called it their "only true masterpiece" when it was released. Were they in the minority or was this a critic's favorite back in the day?

(I'm sorry, DO not Doo)

love "Canary", so peppy

xp I think doo doo is quite correct

lmao

Growing up and listening to KROQ I always thought "Canary in a Coal Mine" was a single. Great little 2:26 long song.

Same. My AOR station played it well into the mid '90s.

In my mind there's this subgenre of police songs that are just short, snappy, funtime zip-a-long pop songs, too condensed to be singles, but catchy as hell: coalmine, suitcase, gradenko, no time... not my favourite aspect of the band tbf, but definitely one of their strong points

"Canary" was one that as soon as I submitted my ballot I felt bad about not including. Great song, one of their few actual ska tunes. (There must be ska band versions of it, right?)

I always thought "De Doo Doo Doo" was borderline insufferable — not because I didn't get it, Sting. I love that he was threatening to remake it so that we would GET HIS POINT, ugh. It is also a catchy tune and nice contrast between the spacey verses and catchy chorus. I didn't vote for it but I get why it was a hit.

Fall Out too? Always thought of this as their take on a standard punk song but the vocal melody is way too complicated

I'm surprised "De Doo Doo Doo" did so well on the AT40 considering what the rest of the chart looked like...or perhaps that's why it did so well.

I know there's already been talk itt about their relationship to reggae, but I think it is pretty remarkable — that there was a band of white British/American guys who incorporated reggae into their music at a level that I don't think anyone ever called appropriation. They weren't "trying to play reggae," they were playing rock with musical foundations drawn from reggae among other places. They just feel like they inhabit the space. I also agree that Remain in Light-era Heads is the other band I can think of with similar absorption of a range of influences. Something about that postpunk era, a lot of connections were possible.

https://i.imgur.com/5gLemVX.jpg

23. Darkness
From: Ghost in the Machine
Released: October 2, 1981
322 Points, 10 Votes, 1 Number One

Good point, I don't think they ever got called 'cod reggae' either and that was truly the golden era for that as a thing (I do love a nice bit of cod reggae though tbh) xp

tremendous song

Agreed, too low

kind of a niche POV perhaps but this is one of their songs that make me think of of what ar kane were trying to do on their first album

Their best closer.

love the lyrics to this one too. one of the few "it kinda sucks to be a star" songs that actually hits emotionally. love the line "Instead of worrying about my clothes/I could be someone that nobody knows"

"Life is easy when it was boring"

do we agree it's Stew's best song?

god just relistening now and i swear, last 3 tracks on GITM are absolutely the burning core of my abiding love for the police

xp yes for sure

Last three songs on GITM are andy's best song, sting's best song and stewart's best song fyi ;)

otm

yeah Darkness rules, top 3 from Ghost for me

I spent some time believing the lyric to the previous was “Canary in a Coma” which is pleasingly surreal. And I also love that Sting is so annoyed about DDDD,DDDD, it’s one of his most DO U SEE lyrics and deserves to be mocked a bit.

https://i.imgur.com/1DzMqud.jpg

22. Next to You
From: Outlandos d'Amour
Single Released: November 2, 1978
354 Points, 11 Votes

When Sting originally presented the song to his bandmates, they felt it was neither aggressive nor political enough for the early punk sensibility of The Police. Andy Summers and Stewart Copeland suggested replacing the lyrics, with Summers offering "I'm going to take a gun to you". Sting vetoed this and kept his original love song lyrics instead. The song also includes a slide guitar solo which Copeland dismissed as "old wave," yet Summers shared that as of 2000, he was still getting letters "about that brilliant slide guitar solo".

absolutely love "darkness" and "canary," pretty fun back-to-back juxtaposition