20 From '81 (8) The Police Brighton Centre 18th December 1981

 

Now this may divide opinion. Three white guys who had all been around the musical block it is fair to say jump on a bandwagon called punk and make a name for themselves. Soon to ditch the shackles of punk they carved a niche in  the British music industry with their 'Reggatta de Blanc'. The formula worked and whilst the music press were always suspicious of The Police, the public certainly took them to heart as they churned out hit after hit over their five album career. This set alone includes nine top 20 singles, four of which went to number 1!

Where did I stand on them? On record I think they are great, especially the first three albums but live from the earliest days Sting could not suppress his jazz roots and this lead to diabolical improvised versions of some of their songs on stage. Listen Sting, 'Roxanne' is a great track but no one needs a live version of it strung out for eight minutes!

This particular gig was very nearly my first. I was offered a ticket but opted to see Adam and the Ants instead, arguably the wrong choice. 

In 2007-2008, The Police embarked on a 158 date world tour (yes really that many!) and given how public the rifts were in the band, one can kind of question their motives for undertaking such a schedule.

But anyway, here they are promoting the 'Ghost In The Machine' album in December 1981.

FLAC: https://we.tl/t-oFXlRNGCL0

Artwork: https://we.tl/t-GEk1a5PIHa

01. Voices Inside My Head
02. Message In A Bottle
03. Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic
04. Spirits In The Material World
05. Hungry For You
06. When The World Is Running Down...
07. The Bed's Too Big Without You
08. Demolition Man
09. Walking On The Moon
10. Shadows In The Rain

01. Bring On The Night
02. One World (Not Three)
03. Invisible Sun
04. Roxanne
05. Don't Stand So Close To Me
06. Can't Stand Losing You
07. So Lonely

20 From '77(5) The Police Mont De Marsan Festival 5th August 1977

'Mr Sting, when you threw the bottle did you let out a little tommy queak'

(Sting at the Mont De Marsan Festival 5th August 1977)

To date I have only posted one recording by The Police, suggesting that they were not really a band for me. In fact they were almost my first gig (Brighton Centre December 1981 on the 'Ghost In The Machine' tour) .... I had the chance of a ticket but opted for Adam & The Ants instead. I do like The Police and do have all of their albums.

These days I think that opinions on Sting, the stadium rock icon, have distorted people's views on The Police. Their first three albums are great, 'Ghost in the Machine' isn't bad. It is perhaps only their final album 'Synchronicity' that was a bit up it's own arse, although I still stand by my opinion that 'Every Breath You Take' is a classic. I dare say most of the listening public never bother to listen too hard.... but really it is a sinister masterpiece of a song. 

After all with their 'Reggatta de Blanc' were they doing so much differently to what the two tone bands or UB40 and Dexy's were doing? They got mocked for their cod reggae... not that it did them any harm mind!

Here, the band that were to become a worldwide phenomena were taking the first steps to that success with a set that only comprised a few originals supplemented by material from Stewart Copeland's previous band Curved Air and Sting's Geordie jazz ensemble, Last Exit.... nice! 'It's My Life' by Sting's local heroes, The Animals, also feature.

MP3 (as received): https://we.tl/t-XHc0MJTg63

Artwork: https://we.tl/t-Q9Wks15T45

01. Landlord
02. Visions of the Night
03. Kids to Blame
04. Clouds in Venice
05. Three O'Clock Shit
06. Nothing Achieving
07. It's My Life
08. Fall Out

20 From '79 (9) The Police Paris Theatre London 13th June 1979

The Police are one of those bands that very much divide opinion and really that is something that they have been doing so since they first stepped on the stage as The Police. But.... but, in 1979 and certainly into 1980 they were one of the biggest bands in the UK and if you consider their popularity in a wider geographical context, they were arguably the biggest contemporary British band in the world at this time (remember homegrown big hitters like the Jam didn't break the States).

In 1977 the punks didn't like them, they were not after all a punk band (the lead singer had a jazz background and the guitarist was in Zoot Money's band back in the mid-60's). They did (like many bands use the opportunities this fad called punk presented in terms of regular gigs around which there was a definite buzz.

Sting backing Cherry Vanilla

The Roxy, London 1977

I think that their first album 'Outlandos D'Amour' is great, if you can accept that in 1978 there were white bands playing reggae influenced music much better than they were. But whilst the British music press, for right or wrong the arbiters of what was cool sneered down their pencils at Sting and his men, the wider public went in for them in a big way.

The Police also played a good hand. They embraced the US on their first tour Stateside, unlike their contemporaries, most notably The Damned and The Stranglers, went all out to terrorise America!

The Police was very nearly my first ever gig. The date would have been 18th December 1981 when they played at The Brighton Centre on their 'Ghost In The Machine' tour. In the event Adam and the Ants became gig number one at the same venue 10 days later.

All told, The Police released some good records, but became something of a Britannia Music Club band. Live too they could be a bit much, I have always disliked long extensions of tracks in a live setting and The Police were guilty of this..... who needs an 8 minute jam of 'Roxanne'! Or for that matter a 7 minute 12 second version of  'So Lonely' as appears on this short radio session. It may be that there is not much uptake on this one, but I have included it as they were massive at the time and very much in the New Wave bracket.

FLAC: http://rapidshare.com/files/2315983825/The%20Police%2013th%20June%201979%20FLAC.zip

MP3: http://rapidshare.com/files/3383900665/The%20Police%2013th%20June%201979%20MP3.zip

Artwork: http://rapidshare.com/files/1110949484/The%20Police%2013th%20June%201979%20AW.zip