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)

due respect and affection for the earnest Canadians, but Rush is pretty much the answer to the previously posed question, “what would the Police have been without Sting’s pop writing talents?”

truthbomb

Eh, I don't think that's fair at all, not least because Rush was Rush and being Rushy well before the Police formed. But sure, Rush borrowed a bunch from the Police in the early '80s, and got some commercial traction thanks to that good timing. So did Yes. So did Men at Work.

Not too many Police songs in odd signatures, other than "Mother" and "Sync 1" though they are really good with beat displacement and polyrhythms. Like, I think "Tea in the Sahara" is in 4/4, but it kind of floats in this amorphous space between the beat.

yes, but without Sting …

Omegaman, Does Everyone Stare, Darkness - all top-notch non-Sting songs imo

Big fan of Behind My Camel too, but that might be a bit more of a niche interest

also add “Deathwish” to the tally of songs in 4 but you can’t be sure without counting it

From wiki

The music video for "Synchronicity II" was directed by Godley & Creme... The band members stood apart from each other on separate towers made of scaffolding, wearing dystopian outfits... During the filming, Copeland's tower caught fire and the crew started to leave the building. Creme told the director of photography to keep the cameras rolling despite the danger.

Now that's rock 'n' roll.

Lol!

Lol Creme, that is.

I’ll take Rush’s Police-isms over The Police any day.

Listened to the first two albums today thinking I might vote and outside the singles and Bring on the Night, shit was dire.

aw c'mon, "Walking On The Moon" is great

I thought they would be an act with a bunch of deep cuts I would find were just as good as the overplayed stuff we all know. No, imo.

"On Any Other Day" would be in my top 10 were it not for the homophobic lyric

"It's All Right for You" is still a banger imo

voted

and obviously they both did that Amnesty benefit tour later in the 80s...

Fela only appeared on the final date of that tour, at Giants Stadium, alongside Ruben Blades and Carlos Santana. He did not bring his band.

On the earlier dates of that tour, few knew if it would be Sting’s solo band or the Police closing the show. I saw the Chicago date, and the place freaked out when the lights came up and the Police appeared. I remember it being a solid set, but U2’s set was much more exciting and unpredictable (two adjectives few would associate with U2 post-1997).

I'm much cooler with Rush imitating The Police than The Police imitating The Police.

Oh shit I forgot about Murder By Numbers, that’s a fucked up little tune. Doesn’t register as “The Police” at all, doesn’t even seem like a Sting solo song

It's Sting + Summers (i.e. Andy had the chords worked out independently). It'd fit pretty seamlessly on Blue Turtles I think.

BTW do we like "Fortress Around Your Heart"? It and ""All This Time" are the solo songs as smart as he thinks he is.

I love Fortress. There are not very many pre-Pixies songs with such a good contrast between the subdued verse and the rocking chorus. The way the drums come in for real is thrilling, and always will be. Omar Hakim. The raise/raze ambiguity is fun too.

All this Time is a nope for me, though. Boringly middle-aged.

BTW do we like "Fortress Around Your Heart"? It and ""All This Time" are the solo songs as smart as he thinks he is.

Yea on both counts. They both could've been solid Police hits.

Oh wait, fuck, as soon as I hit submit I realized raze/raise isn't even in "Fortress Around Your Heart." It's in "World Leader Pretend."

Crud, sorry, I shouldn't be allowed to post while tired

But that could be an interesting "Taking Sides"! Add "Angry Young Man" and you have a trifecta of military metaphor

Fortress is v good. Great chorus.

All This Time is nothing but chorus and it’s not good.

I love the verses. For once his Simon-indebted talk-singing works putting forward these crisp images imo

Oops forgot to vote for "Murder By Numbers"

One of the best interviews ever: https://renew.sting.com/news/title/Interview:%20REVOLVER%20(2000)

Revolver: Okay, we're back to Freud from Jung. We've finally come to the only cover song you ever did - that Puff Daddy hit 'Every Breath You Take'.

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.

Copeland: And don't we know it! You're in Tuscany in your palace with wine being poured down your throat and grapes being peeled for you. Sting can you buy me a castle in Italy too? With the proceeds from the longest running hit single in the history of radio? Just a little chateau somewhere?

Sting: We don't have f***ing chateaus in Italy, They're called palazzos. I'll lend you a room. [laughs]

Copeland: Stingo, you always considered yourself to be the 'King of Pain'. You had this concept at the time that you were Satan, that you were the evil one. I felt that it was my duty to point out to you that, no you were not Satan, you were not Beelzebub, You were just a common garden-variety asshole.

Sting: Shut up, Stewart. Have a drink, take a valium.

Wow at that exchange

Glad I decided to run this poll, it's going to be a lot of fun.

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...

LMAO

If anybody needs to modify a ballot you may, just point it out.

whatever one thinks of sting, stewart seems like an extremely difficult bandmate

no idea where you'd get that impression
https://i.imgur.com/TAFCSZH.jpg

Three guesses as to what is written on the tom on the bottom.

Andy's memoir is pretty entertaining on all the Sting-Stewart stuff, positioning himself as the quiet guy in the middle who just wants to make some cool guitar noises. Hard to know what the Police would have been like without that dynamic — like if Stewart was the same player he is but was a laid-back "Sure, dude" kind of guy. Probably not as weird or interesting, I'm guessing.

Also makes clear that Stewart never stopped thinking of the Police as his band.

Yeah, second the Andy book recommendation. It's a reminder of how much older he is than the other guys, peers with folks like Clapton and his ilk/generation. Summers is 79 right now, same age as Jagger.

Stewart is super obnoxious, but without a doubt is what makes the band most exciting (see: almost everything Sting has done a solo artist). I've seen similar trajectories in a few bands, where the singer/songwriter gets tired of the drummer's energy and ousts him for a stable beat keeper. It happened eventually with Tom Petty, it happened with Dire Straits, it happened with Roxy Music, it even happened with Wilco (at least to an extent; Glenn Kotche is a super creative drummer, but Ken Coomer was notorious for never doing the same thing twice). I have a hunch that once a lot of these dudes started writing or demoing to a drum machine, where nothing got in the way and everything stayed robotically steady, they had trouble going back to work with a non session dude human. I noted on this or another thread how Sting has worked with some serious chops monsters, but that is not why he went with Omar Hakim, or Keith Carlock, or Vinnie Colaiuta. Related, perhaps, is how Stew, despite being one of the most beloved drummers of all time and despite dipping his toes in, never really got many session gigs; almost everything he's done post Police has been a pet band project.

that is not why he went with Omar Hakim, or Keith Carlock, or Vinnie Colaiuta.

and Manu Katché!

I actually think part of the reason Stew didn’t get a lot of session gigs is that he isn’t the most stable timekeeper. There was a hilarious story in RS I believe around the time that Sting finally married Trudy (‘92-ish) and the Police reunited for the wedding and like two seconds after they started the first tune, Stew rushed the beat and Sting immediately shot him a death (wish) stare.

They also weren't sober.

Manu is of course awesome, but especially on Soul Cages he's pretty reigned.

I'm suspect Stew is either sampled looped or programmed for much of Breath, with overdubs. Very in keeping with the times, so to speak. Would also explain why he thinks it lacks groove.

That Revolver piece is one of the greatest things EVAH.

Still, imagine coming to the studio with something as lite as “Walking on the Moon” in lyrics and chords, and emerging with a spooked-out, dubby masterpiece crammed with hooks. I guess all trios have to be well matched but it’s thrilling how much each of them brings.

giant steps are what you take

Any guesses as to which album tracks will receive zero votes? (I'm assuming most of the b-sides will not get any.) There's a handful of their songs that I really hate, but I imagine somebody could say "it's funny" or "it's dynamic" or "it's moody".

Behind My Camel

But that's a Grammy-winning instrumental!

Plus "it's moody"