The Police - Every Breath You Take. Top Of The Pops 1983

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• published: 04 Apr 2011
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Good Quality Video recorded in the studio of Top Of The Pops 1983. The Police were founded by Stewart Copeland in early 1977. After the demise of his progressive rock band Curved Air, Copeland was eager to form a new three-piece group and join the burgeoning London punk scene. Singer-bassist Sting and guitarist Henry Padovani began rehearsing with Copeland in January 1977, and they recorded their first Police single, "Fall Out"/"Nothing Achieving," the following month. Both tracks were written and produced by Copeland (the b-side being co-written with his brother Ian Copeland.) Although the early style of the group has been classified as punk rock, Allmusic Guide argues that this was only true "... in the loosest sense of the term"; the Guide states that the band's "... nervous, reggae-injected pop/rock was punky" and had a "punk spirit", but it "wasn't necessarily punk". In March and April, the threesome toured as a support act for Cherry Vanilla as well as Wayne County & the Electric Chairs. In May, ex-Gong musician Mike Howlett invited Sting and former Eric Burdon and the Animals guitarist Andy Summers to form Strontium 90 with him, as a project band for a Gong reunion. The drummer Howlett had in mind for this band, Chris Cutler, was unavailable to play, so Sting brought along Stewart Copeland. Strontium 90 recorded several demo tracks at Virtual Earth Studios, and then performed at a Gong reunion concert in Paris on 28 May 1977. An album with some of these studio and live tracks (with the first recorded version of "Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic") was released 20 years later in 1997 under the name Strontium 90: Police Academy. The foursome also performed at a London club as "The Elevators" in July 1977. In July 1977, Copeland, Sting, Padovani, and Summers began performing as a four-piece version of The Police. Padovani's relatively limited ability as a guitarist curtailed his tenure with the band. Soon after an aborted recording session with producer John Cale on 10 August, Padovani left the band and Summers took over sole guitar duties. This lineup of Copeland, Sting, and Summers would endure for the rest of Police history. Paralleling these developments, in 1977/78, Sting and Summers were recording and performing (alongside other invited musicians) with German experimental composer Eberhard Schoener, being joined by Copeland for some time as well. These performances resulted in three albums, all of them an eclectic mix of rock, electronic and jazz music. In addition, various appearances by the Schoener outfit on German television made the German public aware of Sting's unusual high-pitched voice and paved the way for The Police's later popularity. Sting proved a capable songwriter. He had spent time as a secondary school English teacher, and his lyrics are noted for their literary awareness and verbal agility. Material in the later album Ghost in the Machine was inspired by the writings of Arthur Koestler, and songs on Synchronicity by the writings of Carl Jung. "Tea in the Sahara" on the latter album showed interest in the work of author Paul Bowles. The Police, along with The Clash, were among the first mainstream white bands to adopt reggae as a predominant musical form, and one of the first white bands to score major international hits with reggae-styled material. Although ska and reggae were already popular in the United Kingdom, the style was little known in the United States or other countries. Prior to the emergence of the Police, only a handful of reggae songs—such as Eric Clapton's 1974 cover rendition of Bob Marley's "I Shot the Sheriff" or Paul Simon's "Mother and Child Reunion"—had enjoyed much chart success in the USA. The bleached-blonde hair that would become a trademark of the band was a lucky accident, originating in February 1978. The band, desperate for money, was asked to do a commercial for Wrigley's Spearmint chewing gum on the condition that they dye their hair blonde. Allmusic Guide notes that while the "...commercial provided exposure, it drew the scorn of genuine punkers". In early 2007, reports surfaced that the trio would reunite for a tour to mark their 30th anniversary, over 20 years since their 'final' split in 1986. The concerts would coincide with Universal Music (current owners of the A&M; label) re-releasing some material from the band's back catalogue. The following statement was released on behalf of the band by a spokesman at Interscope-Geffen-A&M; and posted on Sting's official website: "As the 30th anniversary of the first Police single approaches, discussions have been underway as to how this will be commemorated. While we can confirm that there will indeed be something special done to mark the occasion, the depth of the band's involvement still remains undetermined."..Please visit my other Channel. Keep Rockin!. http://www.youtube.com/user/squizzy104?feature=mhum#p/a/u/2/6MHSf1SP2nM