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

getting a little worried “Omegaman” won’t place higher than these two.

Have trouble believing even we would rank "Mother" above "Omegaman".

i think there's about 15 dead certs still to come but there's definitely a few spots left for other things

Awesome I love "Secret Journey" but didn't know if it was beloved or not. Lyric is kinda New Age corny but the production and melody are great and the chorus is a big hook.

https://i.imgur.com/BFNu9Sn.jpg

18. Wrapped Around Your Finger
From: Synchronicity
Single Released: July 8, 1983
473 Points, 17 Votes

This song is vaguely alchemical and probably about a friend of mine, a professional psychic and my tutor in tarot, with bits of Doctor Faustus and The Sorcerer's Apprentice thrown into the pot for good measure.

— Sting, Lyrics by Sting

Sting praised the video, saying:

It's incredibly atmospheric, and I think the set design is brilliant – there's nothing but all those candles, yet it conjures up so many different feelings and possibilities about the song. When Kevin (Godley) and Lol (Creme) came to me with the idea, I got very excited because I realised that they really understood the imagistic approach I wanted. The whole concept is fairly esoteric – it's really a "Sorcerer's Apprentice" type of idea. The song is cunningly being shot at high speed in order to achieve a special effect when it's eventually played back at normal speed. At least, that's the theory...

— Sting, Playgirl, 10/1983

Andy Summers, however, was critical of Sting's overacting in the video.

I never much liked the idea for "Wrapped Around Your Finger." No, I was kind of pissed off about that one. I've never been much of a fan of that song, actually. Sting got to shoot his part last in that video and made a meal of knocking all the candles out. Fuck him.

— Andy Summers, I Want My MTV

haha, andy <3

That is classic.

Omegaman was on my (ten-song) ballot too. I'd be amazed if it didn't make it - more likely to be an odd sleeper top ten placing than miss out entirely.

It was supposed to be the lead single for Ghost until Sting objected.

didn't know that!

I'm picking up food at this Argentine restaurant and of course EBYT is on.

lol, of course

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gT60P9SKYV8

^^Tiny Tunes parody of EBYT. I wish the actual scene from the show was uploaded, as it was a fine, loving sendup of the original video.

https://i.imgur.com/CRq4oSo.jpg

17. Ωmegaman
From: Ghost in the Machine
Released: October 2, 1981
486 Points, 14 Votes, 2 Number Ones

Phew!

I wanted to say something but obviously couldn't.

never in doubt! appreciate the accurate spelling, bee ok!

that guitar break after the first chorus, fucking glorious

Now to fix my mistake and get this whole countdown back on track...

https://i.imgur.com/ibTyIX0.jpg

30. The Bed’s Too Big Without You
From: Reggatta de Blanc
Single Released: 1979
491 Points, 16 Votes

The themes of the song are loneliness and the pain of the end of a relationship. The lyrics were inspired by an incident in which Sting's first girlfriend, after being heartbroken upon their break-up, committed suicide.

"The Bed's Too Big Without You" was first released on Reggatta de Blanc in 1979. However, the following year, the song saw a single release as a bonus single in the Six Pack box set, which featured the band's five previous British singles (excluding "Fall Out"). Said box set peaked at No. 17 in Britain. The song was also released as the B-side to "So Lonely" in Germany.

A promo video for "The Bed's Too Big Without You" was performed by the band on The Kenny Everett Video Show. It featured the band members miming to the song in a suburban house.

lol

16. The Bed’s Too Big Without You

So Far:

16	492	16		The Bed’s Too Big Without You
17	486	14	2	Ωmegaman
18	473	17		Wrapped Around Your Finger
19	436	13	1	Secret Journey
20	374	11		Every Breath You Take
21	366	11	1	It’s Alright for You
22	354	11		Next to You
23	322	10	1	Darkness
24	312	10		Canary in a Coal Mine
25	276	9		De Do Do Do, De Da Da Da
26	271	8		Voices in My Head
27	266	8		Truth Hits Everybody
28	245	8	1	No Time This Time
29	209	6		Demolition Man
30	200	7		Man in a Suitcase
31	183	5	1	I Burn for You
32	176	6		Tea in the Sahara
33	174	6		Bombs Away
34	170	6		Does Everyone Stare
35	165	6		Contact
36	149	5		Murder by Numbers
37	148	5		Shadows in the Rain
38	143	5		Too Much Information
39	119	4		Rehumanize Yourself
40	110	4		Mother

"EBYT" is correctly placed.

As annoying as the chorus is, there's a case for "De Do Do" because at least the guitar work is cool.

woah, sting's girlfriend killed herself because they broke up?? had never heard that before. and straightaway I'm thinking about 'can't stand losing' and the record cover for that is literally a drawing of someone hanging themselves. wtaf?!

I mean I always thought the 'can't stand losing you' sleeve was in poor taste but if sting had actually known someone that took her life after splitting up with him then it seems like a hugely cunty thing to do

:O

"EBYT" is correctly placed.

agreed, and i don't even think it's a case of 'ilm contrariness'. it's a good song, but they really do have ~20 that are better

xxp I thought the person on the sleeve was Sting, but it was in fact Stew.

Going to try and get a bit earlier start tomorrow morning.

Bummed this is a busy week at work and I haven't had a minute to check in on the rollout while it's happening! Lots of my high placements showing up today, including my #1, "No Time This Time" -- had no idea this was a '78 track but makes sense. Can't deny I favor the punkier side of this band, but this poll/rollout is really making me realize there's a whole side of this band (e.g., the part where they are in fact exceptionally good at playing their instruments) that I'm mostly listening right past.

"First to fall over when the atmosphere is less than perfect
Your sensibilities are shaken by the slightest defect
You live your life like a canary in a coalmine
You get so dizzy even walking in a straight line"

Sting often likes to indulge himself in is lyrics and get sloppy but this is one of the tightest quatrains I've ever seen, those syllables are just like rat-a-tat-a-tat-a-tat, it's like something tightened by a wrench, love everything about "Canary" but these lyrics most of all -- agree it's not really a ska song but rather a song which could only exist in a world where ska exists

those syllables are just like rat-a-tat-a-tat-a-tat, it's like something tightened by a wrench

Yes. See also:

Wake up, make up, bring it up, shake up
Stand by, don't cry, watching while the world dies
Big car, movie star, hot tip, go far
Blind date, too late, take a bus, don't wait

Yup

I really should have voted for more Zenyatta

I thought I had seen every Police video but have never seen this one before:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BxI2rUJOp_Y

But are you safe[ly in the top 15], Miss Gradenko?

xp that wasn't an official promo video for it, that's just the way that particular programme presented music as far as I remember, it was a teeny bit saucy I think you could safely say

I wonder what the highest-placing non-single will be? Bring on the night? Synchronicity 1?

I voted Gradenko pretty high. And the highest non single, well the voting thread answers that question …

Oh I don't remember that. Was it 'Oh My God'? :/

Going back a bit to "Does Everyone Stare," voodoo speaks wisdom:

yes! love the odd timing on the piano, so far behind the beat that it winds up being on beat again

Yeah in Stewart's autobiography he says that he wrote it for a composition class in I guess college.

The professor criticized it for including parallel fifths (a no-no for some theory heads), but encouragingly said that it had "a voice." That was all the encouragement Stewart needed, and he regarded it as basically the go-ahead he needed to start considering himself a songwriter and not just a drummer.

I don't pretend to know or love these guys *as people*, but I found that anecdote oddly charming.

omegaman was definitely my number one non-voting regret

Omegaman has such a gnarly riff. even Fripp doesn't bend his notes that much.

omegaman and darkness are the ones that’ve popped into my head most often since i voted

would’ve placed them both high if we voted today (i did put darkness near the bottom)

Talking of fripp, I wonder how conscious they were that crimson had a song called 'the sheltering sky' when they made 'tea in the sahara'

I wonder how conscious Paul Bowles was about having a written a novel called The Sheltering Sky.

he probably had some inkling? I know that's what they're both inspired by, but I could imagine them trying to avoid sounding like the other song while still striving for basically the same sort of atmosphere. Prefer the KC personally, though I do like wide open space that the police conjure on their's (even though I find it kind of a boring song)

anyway, just blabbering for the sake of blabbering here, don't mind me

Never forget

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xGoC66IcW9A

Master class in stiff upper lip, Gordie!

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

15. Roxanne
From: Outlandos d'Amour
Single Released: April 7, 1978
508 Points, 15 Votes, 1 Number One