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The Police
Like most rock bands formed in 1977 London, The Police were dubbed punks. This power
trio certainly had the energy and stage presence of their punk predecessors,
but the similarities ended when it came to talent.
Drummer Stewart Copeland had studied music in the US, and in the mid '70s played drums
for UK progressive rock band Curved Air.
Andy Summers was a classically trained guitarist, having also studied in the States,
who had spent a decade serving as a studio musician and tour guitarist for a variety
of acts that included Neil Sedaka and Soft Machine.
And front-man Sting (aka Gordon Sumner) had sang and played bass for rock and jazz
outfits, while keeping his day job teaching music and English.
While the trio of Sting, Summers and Copeland was not the first incarnation of The
Police, it was the one that worked.
Their first single, the reggae-influenced "Roxanne," was not a big hit when initially
released in 1978, but it was enough to convince A&M Records to sign the band.
1979 saw the emergence of the band as pop stars, with the release of "Reggatta De Blanc"
and the UK number 1 singles "Message In a Bottle" and "Walking On The Moon."
The band's international fame and fortune grew through the early '80s with the release
of over a dozen hit singles, the high point coming in 1983 with the release of
"Syncronicity" and the international number 1 "Every Breath You Take."
Having conquered the world, the band decided to take some time off, and with the
exception of a brief reunion in 1986 to rerecord old material for a greatest hits
compilation this 'time off' essentially meant the end of The Police.
Sting's acting career, which began in the '70s with an appearance in The Who's
mod-flashback film Quadrophenia, has brought him roles in the beautiful box office
disaster "Dune" and the mediocre Frankenstein film "The Bride." His solo music career
has been more successful.
The Police song lyrics...
Every Breath You Take
Don't Stand So Close To Me
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