When the World is Running Down, You Make the POLL of What's Still Around – ILM Artist Poll #116 – THE POLICE - (Voting extended to Friday, Dec 2, 2022)

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have posted this before but andy plays on it and it absolutely smokes:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y_aAsg2UTZo
Eric Burdon & The Animals - Coloured Rain

o shit the sheriff (NickB), Tuesday, 15 November 2022 20:31 (one year ago) link

^ middle three minutes is just one epic guitar blaze up, not sure if it's andy or the other guy?

o shit the sheriff (NickB), Tuesday, 15 November 2022 20:32 (one year ago) link

I like "Radon Balloon" and "Birthday Boy" on the Oysterhead CD more than anything Phish ever did honestly

frogbs, Tuesday, 15 November 2022 20:36 (one year ago) link

Funny how a thread on the merits of the Police is mostly the Police as sidemen.

birdistheword, Tuesday, 15 November 2022 21:13 (one year ago) link

this is a track off stewart's first appearance on a record:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k8w8ArmII-Y
Frolk Haven - Quest

weird fact: contains the lyrics "have you ever failed your part of the dream / as an organ of the soft machine?" - andy was previously a member of the soft machine but it didn't work out. synchronicity eh? would be a cooler story if he played the organ not the guitar though obv, but i guess mike ratledge had that job nailed down

o shit the sheriff (NickB), Tuesday, 15 November 2022 21:14 (one year ago) link

Ballots are trickling in, will send out conformation emails but not yet.

Bee OK, Wednesday, 16 November 2022 18:32 (one year ago) link

Underrated Sting appearance:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cRLBIr5CBLI

Josh in Chicago, Wednesday, 16 November 2022 19:09 (one year ago) link

those Fripp/Summers records are fantastic, both of them

sleeve, Wednesday, 16 November 2022 19:10 (one year ago) link

this is proving pretty hard!

comedy khadafi (voodoo chili), Wednesday, 16 November 2022 21:17 (one year ago) link

where is the love for 'all for love'?

o shit the sheriff (NickB), Wednesday, 16 November 2022 21:19 (one year ago) link

I have listened to each Police album twice now and getting that part of my ballot completed in my mind. Thanks everyone for the clips in this thread as the solo stuff is my next step.

Bee OK, Friday, 18 November 2022 19:01 (one year ago) link

I voted for two things off the Brimstone & Treacle soundtrack, and could have voted for more.

I will defend "Mother."

That is all.

Malevolent Arugula (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Friday, 18 November 2022 19:13 (one year ago) link

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KkB67-TIDsg

Josh in Chicago, Friday, 18 November 2022 20:02 (one year ago) link

I'm definitely voting for Mother. I mean come on.

billstevejim, Friday, 18 November 2022 20:19 (one year ago) link

definitely gonna try and bang out a ballot for this!!

the Kent 10" is full of great jams, with "Away From Home" being the best, next to "Don't Care":

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=99c8HMxtg-Q

as far as barely-eligible covers, samples, etc. go, i just want to share out The Blow's bedroom-pop interpretation of "Everything She Does is Magic," "Come on Petunia," which first grabbed me on a mixtape left behind in a well-intentioned but under-used DIY "recess center" in 2004:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MO1HSfzK1Ns

Doctor Casino, Friday, 18 November 2022 22:01 (one year ago) link

a lot of the best Klark Kent stuff isn't on the 10", you gotta get the Kollected Works CD for everything. if you like that stuff I highly recommend the Gizmodrome album, or even better the live album. I know a lot of people were disappointed in it but I think that was mostly because it was marketed as some crazy prog supergroup when it's really just Klark Kent with a better backing band.

frogbs, Friday, 18 November 2022 22:17 (one year ago) link

surprised myself by including three copeland songs on my longlist. one of them will def make my final ballot

comedy khadafi (voodoo chili), Friday, 18 November 2022 23:21 (one year ago) link

The Mother debate should be interesting and do wonder where it will end up.

Bee OK, Saturday, 19 November 2022 00:04 (one year ago) link

Controp: the stingster's contribution to long long way to go > his contribution to money for nothing

Although money for nothing is a better song

Sidenote: I first typed monet for nothing, and I giggled imagining a very good art transaction

ooh I wanna take ya to Topeka (Ye Mad Puffin), Saturday, 19 November 2022 00:14 (one year ago) link

Also, I sing Come on Petunia to the tune of Billy Joel's "Only the Good Die Young."

Come on Petunia, don't make me wait

ooh I wanna take ya to Topeka (Ye Mad Puffin), Saturday, 19 November 2022 00:16 (one year ago) link

Controp: the stingster's contribution to long long way to go > his contribution to money for nothing

otm

"Long Long Way to Go" is a better song and record.

Malevolent Arugula (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Saturday, 19 November 2022 16:03 (one year ago) link

Voted.

Ⓓⓡ. (Johnny Fever), Saturday, 19 November 2022 16:26 (one year ago) link

Voted - I think this was the easiest ballot I've ever had to compile, 20 tracks is the perfect number for these guys.

Gavin, Leeds, Saturday, 19 November 2022 17:58 (one year ago) link

^^^ same, this went really quickly. In theory I could have done some dedicated listening to Zenyatta and Ghost, the albums I know the least well, but I think I've got a pretty great set of tracks here in an order I could more or less defend. Feel like there'll be a lot of little things to discuss and praise with the rollout!

Doctor Casino, Saturday, 19 November 2022 18:33 (one year ago) link

Voted! Didn't think about it too hard, mostly went on vibes. Really looking forward to this rollout.

Guayaquil (eephus!), Saturday, 19 November 2022 19:53 (one year ago) link

Every time I see this thread title, the song comes into my head and I get lost in its groove, so maybe that tells me what my favourite Police song is.

assert (matttkkkk), Saturday, 19 November 2022 21:07 (one year ago) link

growing up the Sting Bring on the Night live CD was playing constantly so it was pretty strange to hear the original versions of When the World is Running Down, One World, Demolition Man, & Bring on the Night. I think they work in both contexts but the arrangements are so much different it really does show what the other two brought to the band

frogbs, Saturday, 19 November 2022 21:09 (one year ago) link

I really like that live album, as far as solo Sting goes. But yeah, the jazz-funk vibe is very different from the Police.

Maybe I should have re-listened before voting but I've listened to these records so much in my life (OK except "Ghost") that I voted based on what I felt like hearing when I saw the title.

Guayaquil (eephus!), Saturday, 19 November 2022 21:24 (one year ago) link

voted!

assert (matttkkkk), Saturday, 19 November 2022 23:56 (one year ago) link

Voted

Naive Teen Idol, Sunday, 20 November 2022 17:30 (one year ago) link

Ghost In The Machine became my #1 over the last 5-6 years. I get it now.

billstevejim, Sunday, 20 November 2022 18:00 (one year ago) link

Aside from "One World" it's probably their least corniest album. And "One World" isn't even that corny.

billstevejim, Sunday, 20 November 2022 18:01 (one year ago) link

one world is fun. didn’t sniff my list but heard it in a department store recently and it was great department store music

comedy khadafi (voodoo chili), Sunday, 20 November 2022 18:37 (one year ago) link

It's so hard to hear Synchronicity side 2 with fresh ears. Do I squeeze them in or drop them in favor of challopsy picks?

Hideous Lump, Monday, 21 November 2022 06:07 (one year ago) link

GITM has Copeland and Summers' best songs.

Malevolent Arugula (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Monday, 21 November 2022 10:28 (one year ago) link

Saturday night I went to my local bar and a jam band was doing a cover of Driven to Tears with a saxophone rave-up in the middle that kind of sounded like Can't You Hear Me Knocking. Pretty sweet.

The Bankruptcy of the Planet of the Apes (PBKR), Monday, 21 November 2022 13:14 (one year ago) link

Alfred - Do you mean because there are so few of them?

Personally I prefer RDB because it more of a group effort. GITM is Sting with special guests.

ooh I wanna take ya to Topeka (Ye Mad Puffin), Monday, 21 November 2022 13:25 (one year ago) link

yeah

Malevolent Arugula (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Monday, 21 November 2022 13:47 (one year ago) link

Speaking of non-corny, relistening to “Rehumanize Yourself” (which was on my ballot) made me think it’s Sting’s best didactic song. The verses have a punky directness that holds up.

Rehumanize Yourself was the first time I heard the c-word in a song as a kid, closely followed by Two Swords by The Beat, in both instances it's used for far-right racists. That was my early-years anti-fash education

o shit the sheriff (NickB), Monday, 21 November 2022 14:44 (one year ago) link

Same, it was shocking especially to American ears because we don't have the same colloquial use of it.

Can’t recommend this enough

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w71K0ff1VBs

piscesx, Tuesday, 22 November 2022 02:15 (one year ago) link

I recently rewatched that actually - having loved it when it was released - and although the musical segments are fantastic I was floored by how mindblowingly precious and pretentious Sting is throughout. He sounds like someone who believes his own PR. The rest of the band are relaxed and stunningly capable, and the performances are loose and vibey ("Consider Me Gone" etc.) but the "portrait of a genius" element is grating.

assert (matttkkkk), Tuesday, 22 November 2022 03:13 (one year ago) link

We got into double digits over the weekend, there is still plenty of time to vote.

Bee OK, Tuesday, 22 November 2022 17:21 (one year ago) link

Didn't Sting switch to guitar for Blue Turtles?

Malevolent Arugula (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Tuesday, 22 November 2022 17:24 (one year ago) link

He plays guitar on much of the live solo stuff, yes. That said, iirc he played the guitar first, so the characterization may be somewhere between switching and switching back.

ooh I wanna take ya to Topeka (Ye Mad Puffin), Tuesday, 22 November 2022 18:22 (one year ago) link

(obligatory apology for boring semantic distinction)

ooh I wanna take ya to Topeka (Ye Mad Puffin), Tuesday, 22 November 2022 18:23 (one year ago) link

three months pass...

i just came searching for something about that guitar figure in TMI. glad to find comments. damn i love that songs like, construction.

liberal with a capital LIE (Hunt3r), Monday, 27 March 2023 14:55 (one year ago) link


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