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The Police was born
in the far 1976 on push of Stewart Copeland, an american drummer
formerly in Curved Air. As he saw Sting playing in Newcastle with
Last Exit, he persuaded him to move to London and, recruited the
guitarist Henry Padovani, they start playing together, surely influenced
by the Punk movement, that was very high in the city and was about
to produce bands such as The Sex Pistols.
The start out is a single
(Fall Out), produced by Illegal
Records, a label managed by Stewart's brother (Miles, who later
will be the band's manager). The song, clearly punk oriented, shows
the first remarkable sign of Sting's vocal attitude. After this
things don't go particulary well until the contribute to Strontium
90, a Mike Howlett's project that consisted in a single concert
staged on the 29th of May 1977 in Paris. The guitarist is Andy Summers,
an experienced musician ten years older than the other band members.
He joins the band becoming the fourth Police member, since Henry
Padovani decides to leave the band. The new line-up plays for the
first time on 18th of August 1977 at "Rebecca", in Birmingham.
In the meantime, Miles
Copeland finds a new label (A&M) for the next new single, Roxanne,
a song that will be reminded as the one that opened to the band
the door to celebrity. We have arrived in 1978, and it's when the
band begins to work at Outlandos
d'Amour that Stewart was replaced by Sting in the leadership
of the band. It was the singer/bass player that will write most
of the debut-album songs and this is what will happens even in their
following works.
In the meanwhile, the
"Wrigley's", a famous chewing-gums trade, asked the band
for advertise its product. So ours accepted the offer, considering
their financial difficulties too, and performed the matter having
a blond-hair dyed, look they decided to keep up even during following
periods.
Outlandos
d'Amour is an lp in which we can find punk sounds but some different
influences too, as reggae, rock and so on. The criticism didn't
praise so much their work, but somehow it allowed them to cement
their friendship and to get themselves better about the artistic
point of view. To promote the album, was organized a world tour
that trod U.S. stages too. The audience response was not a striking
success, but when ours came back home were very pleased with themselves
and above all with a lot of sketchy-songs which will be the framework
of the next album.
In 1979 was given birth
the second lp, Reggatta de Blanc, an album that bring
them to perfection, and that is an improvement on their former work,
mostly about the sound. This album enjoyed excellent reviews about
the most of world-famous magazines and brought then to the consecration
on the "musical Olympus". The promoter tour was a fairly
good success and the audience was start to realize the triplet's
potentialities.
In the same priod Sting
began his actor's carrier acting "Ace Face" in a movie
entitled "Quadrophenia" (1979).
The following album,
Zenyattą Mondatta, represents
ours three in the middle of a standstill, due to the continuous
searching of new sounds and musical effects, similar to those played
on the previous lp, but with less feeling and originality than in
former times. Nevertheless sales rose dizzily and the band increased
its popularity. Furthermore box-offices and concerts were crowded
by fans. We have arrived in 1980 and will be passed just one year
before the new publication of the band.
Th fourth work of the
triplet, Ghost In The Machine,
as a matter of fact is dated 1981, and its title came from a literary
work of the philosopher Arthur Koestler, which represents a main
moment in searching of new sonorous horizons and in a consequent
on giving themselves up to that making music easier used on the
first three albums. In the new songs now we can find keyboards,
saxophones and many effects that help to brighten up the sound,
really already tried, of the band. Moreover the plitical matter
shines through many lyrics and indicates the Sting's role of committed
artist, that will be increased, in the following years, for so many
different causes.
1982 is an year in which
The Police, strangely, didn't publish any album, yet They composed
some songs (like How Stupid Mr Bates, A kind Of Loving e I Burn
For You), which will appear on the Brimstone
& Treacle soundtrack, published by the same label of the
band.
In 1983 was given birth
their fifth and last work, Synchronicity, which, one more time, makes
itself stand out for the changed directions of themes contained
in lyrics: these are adressed now to the analysis of particular
phenomenons as just the "Synchronicity" theorized by the
famous philosopher Carl Gustav Jung, or the tratment of some human
relationships, the main of those is, of couse, love. By the musical
point of view there are always innovating-sounds experiments (as
Walking in Your Footsteps).
In this period Police
touches the top of its celebrity, playing in front of a crowd of
70.000 at Shea stadium, that 13 years before had been stage for
a remarkable show of; The Beatles. Anyway, because of never ending
quarrels and argues, relationships beetween the band's member start
cracking , the consequence is that the three decide to split up
and go on with separated careers.
The Police has been
elected best English band during "Annual Brit Awards"
in 1982 and won the "Career Brit" (The Career's award)
in 1985 for the contribute given to English music.
The Police plays together
for the last time on the 11th of June 1986 in Atlanta at the Amnesty
International's all-star tour, then they enter in studio, a month
later, with the purpose of recording a new album, but the only result
will be just a new version of Don't
Stand So Close To Me.
The Police reunited two times between
1986 and 2006: first time in 1992 at Sting's wedding; the second
time in 2003 for the
induction in the Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame.
In 2007 The Police reunited
for the 30th years anniversary from the publication of their first
single and made a world tour.
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