About Me
my name is j_brannan . i'm a musician/poet, and i created this page. if there is a problem with it, contact me. please visit my MySpace page and check out my music & poetry! or just ADD ME !
Growing out of the strong punk atmosphere in late seventies London, The Police demonstrated that the punk spirit could have a future in pop music. Although the trio's reggae-injected pop/rock was punkesque, it wasn't necessarily punk. All three members were considerably more technically proficient as musicians than the average punk or new wave band. As their career progressed, the Police grew considerably more adventurous, experimenting with jazz and various world musics. All the while, the band's tight delivery and mastery of the pop single kept their audience increasing. By 1983, The Police were without a doubt the most popular rock & roll band in the world. Though they were at the height of their fame, internal tensions caused the band to splinter apart in 1984.
1977 - The conception of the post-punk.
Stewart Copeland and Sting (born Gordon Sumner) formed The Police in 1977 when the two musicians met at a local jazz club and decided to form a progressive pop band with guitarist Henry Padovani . For the first few months, the group played small shows at local London pubs. Late in 1977, the band released its first single - "Fall Out" - which sold about 70,000 copies, a sizable hit for an independent release. Padovani was later replaced by Andy Summers. The Police signed with A&M by the spring of 1978 and set out on a tour of America that summer without any record to support. Released in the fall of 1978, Outlandos d'Amour began a slow climb into the British Top Ten and American Top 30. By the following spring, the single "Roxanne" had climbed up the U.K. charts, taking the album to number six.
Preceded by the number one British single "Message in a Bottle," Reggatta de Blanc (fall 1979) established the group as stars in England and Europe, topping the U.K. charts for four weeks. Zenyatta Mondatta, released in the fall of 1980, became The Police's North American breakthrough, reaching the Top Ten in the U.S. and Canada. In England, the album spent four weeks at number one. "Don't Stand So Close to Me," the album's first single, became the group's second number one single in the U.K and second Top Ten hit in America. By the beginning of 1981, the Police were able to sell out Madison Square Garden. The band returned to the studio in the summer of 1981 to record their fourth album. Ghost in the Machine appeared the following fall and became an instant hit, reaching number one in the U.K. and number two in the U.S. as "Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic" became their biggest single to date. Following their whirlwind success of 1980 and 1981, in which they were named the Best British Group at the first Brit Awards and won three Grammys, the band took a break.
The Police returned in the summer of 1983 with Synchronicity, which entered the U.K. charts at number one and quickly climbed to the same position in the U.S. The album became a blockbuster success on the strength of the ballad "Every Breath You Take." Spending eight weeks at the top of the U.S. charts, the single became one of the biggest American hits of all time. "King of Pain" and "Wrapped Around Your Finger" became hits over the course of 1983, sending Synchronicity to multi-platinum status in America and Britain. The Police supported the album with a blockbuster, record-breaking world tour that set precedents for tours for the remainder of the '80s. Once the tour was completed, the band announced they were going on "sabbatical" in order to pursue outside interests.
The Police never returned from sabbatical. During the Synchronicity tour, personal and creative tensions between the band members had escalated greatly, and they had no desire to work together for a while. During 1986 The Police made a few attempts to reunite, including attempting to record a handful of new tracks for a greatest-hits album. However, following its release, the group quietly disbanded again.
(by Stephen Thomas Erlwine)
Stewart Copeland on myspace!
please join The Police Music Group on myspace:
http://groups.myspace.com/thepolicemusic
