The Police. A thread

Just realized we never had a thread dedicated to The Police.

To start things off, a clip from Copeland discussing Message in a Bottle.

The following are links to videos of interviews, rehearsals and clips of music from the Shea Stadium show on the Synchronicity Tour on August 18, 1983.

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

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wq1I3N1ieZk

De Do Do Do, De Da Da Da, their gibberish classic

I finally explored beyond their radio tunes this summer, great band. Although their best songs generally were the hits. And it’s crazy how quickly my drumming style changed after listening to Stewart Copeland. The last drummer that was that influential to me was Bill Bruford.

De Do Do Do, De Da Da Da, their gibberish classic

Not as good as Sue Lawley.

Although their best songs generally were the hits.

Very much.  Not really a deep cuts sort of band.  Like the vast majority of ABBA's best songs are on ABBA Gold and More ABBA Gold.

Personal selection of 2 great deep cuts per album:

Outlandos
- Peanuts
- Masoko Tanga

Reggatta
- Bring on the Night
- Reggatta de Blanc

Zenyatta
- Driven to Tears
- When The World is Running Down

Ghost
- Omegaman
- One World (Not Three)

Synchronicity
- Murder by Numbers
- Tea in the Sahara

I prefer Rush

Quote from: Pride on November 04, 2024, 02:25:12 PM

Although their best songs generally were the hits.

Very much.  Not really a deep cuts sort of band.  Like the vast majority of ABBA's best songs are on ABBA Gold and More ABBA Gold.

Nearly every non-single album track the Police have is a classic. Fantastic B-Sides and non-album tracks as well.

With the first album Outlandos D'Amour, the singles Roxanne and Can't Stand Losing You are the weakest tracks on the album, and those are classic great songs. But the best tracks on the album are Truth Hits Every Body and So Lonely.

Quote from: Tumbling Dice on November 04, 2024, 02:42:41 PM

Quote from: Pride on November 04, 2024, 02:25:12 PM

Although their best songs generally were the hits.

Very much.  Not really a deep cuts sort of band.  Like the vast majority of ABBA's best songs are on ABBA Gold and More ABBA Gold.

Nearly every non-single album track the Police have is a classic. Fantastic B-Sides and non-album tracks as well.

With the first album Outlandos D'Amour, the singles Roxanne and Can't Stand Losing You are the weakest tracks on the album, and those are classic great songs. But the best tracks on the album are Truth Hits Every Body and So Lonely.

Agree that So Lonely and Truth Hits Everybody are the best, but are you really going to tell me that Roxanne is weaker than Be My Girl?

Also So Lonely was a single.

Also I would say Outlandos is their most consistently good album. I like Synchronicity more as a whole, but each of their albums besides Outlandos each have at least two tracks I could do without.

Quote from: wons on November 15, 2024, 09:57:06 AM

Quote from: Tumbling Dice on November 04, 2024, 02:42:41 PM

Quote from: Pride on November 04, 2024, 02:25:12 PM

Although their best songs generally were the hits.

Very much.  Not really a deep cuts sort of band.  Like the vast majority of ABBA's best songs are on ABBA Gold and More ABBA Gold.

Nearly every non-single album track the Police have is a classic. Fantastic B-Sides and non-album tracks as well.

With the first album Outlandos D'Amour, the singles Roxanne and Can't Stand Losing You are the weakest tracks on the album, and those are classic great songs. But the best tracks on the album are Truth Hits Every Body and So Lonely.

Agree that So Lonely and Truth Hits Everybody are the best, but are you really going to tell me that Roxanne is weaker than Be My Girl?

Also So Lonely was a single.

I love the guitar on Be My Girl, and Andy plays it even better live. I don't think Roxanne is a weak song, it's a classic. But so is Be My Girl.

It's true So Lonely was a single in many markets, but it was not included on the 1986 Every Breath You Take the Singles version for the United States.

Fair enough, the guitar is probably the best thing about that track.

Ah, Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic. I think I would include it in mine top 10 Police songs ever, although not top five.
This song has a long history that starts long before Sting ever met Stewart and Andy. Sting recorded the first version at producer Mike Howletts apartment in Newcastle in the summer of 1976. Sting had not yet resigned from his teaching job at the time and was still playing in the Newcastle band Last Exit.

Here is that track in the below link: It got its first release on the album STRONTIUM 90: Police Academy in July 1997. This is an album mainly filled of live tracks that Mike Howlett played with Sting, Stewart and Andy at a concert in France the following year in 1977. But Stings first recording of Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic, performing all the instruments, from the summer of 1976 was also included.
The recording is guitar based, light, slow, and, mellow, but already sounds like a pure classic. It is mistakenly referred to a as a 77 demo, but was recorded the summer before in 1976:   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eFZ7-fgmQqk

Later in early 1981, after the end of the Zenyatta Mondatta Tour in February 1981, Sting recorded another version of Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic without Andy and Stewart working with piano player Jean Roussel. This became the original track that made the album on Ghost And The Machine with Andy and Stewart recorded their parts over it. They had tried the song multiple different ways, but could not improve on Sting's early 1981 version here:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ylo6qCqcQ3U

Just recently, I found a clip on youtube that deconstructs, isolates(although not perfectly), 1. The Bass, 2. The Drums, 3. The Guitar, 4. Piano, Synth, Strings, other small sounds, 5. Full instrumental, 6. Lead Vocals, 7. Backing Vocals.

I wish there was a way to further isolate the piano part from the Synth, Strings, and other small sounds, but this is the most isolated I have been able to find so far. This deconstructed version is here, and is 27 minutes in total length: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GRtDf3T6iyM

Here is a cover version on the internet played live on the piano by RALPHEUS SEVER: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7h31KnngIGw
It really is fantastic and you should take a listen.

Here is the link to the video of Every Little Thing She Does is Magic. The Video was filmed inside and outside of AIR STUDIOS on MONTSERRAT Island in the Caribbean. The Album Ghost In The Machine was recorded here from June 15, 1981 to July 30, 1981 as well as all the videos for the album. The album Synchronicity was also recorded at AIR STUDIOS MONTSERRAT in December 1982/January 1983. Here is the link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aENX1Sf3fgQ

Finally, here is a great remix of the song that brings out some of the more hidden vocals and instrumentation difficult to here in the original. It was done by sgoolsby and is referred to as Every Little Thing She Does is Magic (sleight of hand mix) Here is the link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vuCSCfwKr_Y&list=RDvuCSCfwKr_Y&start_radio=1

Enjoy!

Ah, Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic. I think I would include it in mine top 10 Police songs ever, although not top five.
This song has a long history that starts long before Sting ever met Stewart and Andy. Sting recorded the first version at producer Mike Howletts apartment in Newcastle in the summer of 1976. Sting had not yet resigned from his teaching job at the time and was still playing in the Newcastle band Last Exit.

Here is that track in the below link: It got its first release on the album STRONTIUM 90: Police Academy in July 1997. This is an album mainly filled of live tracks that Mike Howlett played with Sting, Stewart and Andy at a concert in France the following year in 1977. But Stings first recording of Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic, performing all the instruments, from the summer of 1976 was also included.
The recording is guitar based, light, slow, and, mellow, but already sounds like a pure classic. It is mistakenly referred to a as a 77 demo, but was recorded the summer before in 1976:   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eFZ7-fgmQqk

Later in early 1981, after the end of the Zenyatta Mondatta Tour in February 1981, Sting recorded another version of Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic without Andy and Stewart working with piano player Jean Roussel. This became the original track that made the album on Ghost And The Machine with Andy and Stewart recorded their parts over it. They had tried the song multiple different ways, but could not improve on Sting's early 1981 version here:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ylo6qCqcQ3U

Just recently, I found a clip on youtube that deconstructs, isolates(although not perfectly), 1. The Bass, 2. The Drums, 3. The Guitar, 4. Piano, Synth, Strings, other small sounds, 5. Full instrumental, 6. Lead Vocals, 7. Backing Vocals.

I wish there was a way to further isolate the piano part from the Synth, Strings, and other small sounds, but this is the most isolated I have been able to find so far. This deconstructed version is here, and is 27 minutes in total length: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GRtDf3T6iyM

Here is a cover version on the internet played live on the piano by RALPHEUS SEVER: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7h31KnngIGw
It really is fantastic and you should take a listen.

Here is the link to the video of Every Little Thing She Does is Magic. The Video was filmed inside and outside of AIR STUDIOS on MONTSERRAT Island in the Caribbean. The Album Ghost In The Machine was recorded here from June 15, 1981 to July 30, 1981 as well as all the videos for the album. The album Synchronicity was also recorded at AIR STUDIOS MONTSERRAT in December 1982/January 1983. Here is the link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aENX1Sf3fgQ

Finally, here is a great remix of the song that brings out some of the more hidden vocals and instrumentation difficult to here in the original. It was done by sgoolsby and is referred to as Every Little Thing She Does is Magic (sleight of hand mix) Here is the link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vuCSCfwKr_Y&list=RDvuCSCfwKr_Y&start_radio=1

Enjoy!

There’s a good part of Every Little Thing that was recorded at Le Studio, in QC.