They also wanted to walk on the moon...

The Police is an English group formed in London in 1977 by Sting (real name Gordon Sumner) and Stewart Copeland. Who will be joined initially by Henry Padovani, French guitarist of Corsican origin. Then by Andy Summers, more talented on the guitar side and who will ultimately become the group's third historic member.

The group is considered to this day as one of the very first groups of the New-Wave wave and can boast of having sold no less than 75 million records, thus making them one of the groups having sold the most records in the world.

It all began in 1976 when Copeland, then a member of the group Curved Air, met a certain Sting (nicknamed for his habit of wearing a black and yellow striped jersey bee version) who then played in a jazz-rock group called Last Exit. A meeting which quickly led to the creation of the group The Police, whose musical style was rather punk-oriented at the start.

The band's first Single "Fall out" was released in 1977 and was only very successful. It’s the arrival of Summers and the ousting of Padovani that will change everything. The emulation Summers creates within the group boosts Sting.

A first passage in early 78 to Germany, in the company of the experimental composer Eberhard Schoener, allowed them to produce several remarkable titles. All in a rocko-electronico-jazz style of the most amazing.

Also in 1978, it was Stewart Copeland's brother, Miles, who helped them finance the recording of their debut album "Outlandos d'Amour". But who will especially spot the incredible title "Roxanne" first. It thus allows the group to sign with the label A&M Records, which label releases the title in stride. A first release unfortunately went unnoticed… due in part to the BBC's censorship of this title.

The same year released the Single "Can’t stand losing you" which will be their first officially ranked track. He also partly censored. "So lonely" which comes out in stride will also go unnoticed.

"Roxanne" resorted a year later, in 1979. And this time it was a hit, especially in the USA, but also in many other countries. "Can’t stand losing you" resort in stride and it too becomes a real success.

Then comes the album "Reggatta de blanc", still in 79. An album with extraordinary inspiration and which will very quickly become one of the biggest global phenomena of the moment. In particular thanks to titles like “Message in a bottle” and “Walking on the moon”. The notoriety of the group literally explodes.

The policemania did not run out of steam in the transition to the next decade. Quite the contrary. The album "Zenyatta Mondatta" which was released in 1980, and yet recorded in haste, will do even stronger than its predecessor. Each Police album is now an event in itself. Starting with the title "Don’t stand so close to me" which allows itself the luxury of being the best-selling Single of the year across the Channel. Little followed by "De do do do, de da da da" which also became one of the most successful planetary hits of the year. Criticism literally praises the group.

Each year its jewel, for the year 1981, will be the album "Ghost in the machine". The first Single extracted, "Invisible sun", however, was relatively successful. On the other hand, the next track, "Every little thing she does is magic" will shatter everything in its path and become one of the biggest hits of the entire band's discography. "Spirits in the material world" meanwhile will obtain honorable scores in the Charts but not in common with the previous Single.

1982 was a year of transition that saw the group scatter, each member busying themselves with solo projects. In particular Sting who spends more and more time in the cinema.

This sabbatical year has for consequence to harden the relations between the various members of the group. The year 1983 is therefore a year marked by ego conflicts and jealous feelings about financial successes outside each other's group. Ditto, on the privacy side, Stings and Summers' marriages are notorious failures, which doesn't help.

And yet that didn't stop the band from releasing their latest studio album "Synchronicity" that same year. Flagship album of their discography, this album will accumulate all records. Both in terms of sales, and in terms of the quality of the titles that will be produced as well as in terms of the rewards obtained.

The first Single extracted "Every breath you take" will literally destroy the house and remains to this day their best-selling title of their entire career. Followed by little "Wrapped around your finger" which will also record remarkable sales scores. And to a lesser extent, “Synchronicity II”.

In 1984, still from the same album, the Single "King of pain" was released which ended the incredible success of this now legendary album. Critics then consider Police at this time as the greatest rock group in the world, just that !

An attempt at a new album in 1986 was unsuccessful, in part due to the unavailability of each linked to the management of their solo careers. The group will not recover and will eventually go their separate ways.

Final clap of an incredible adventure that will have made this group one of the most important and influential of the end of the 20th century.

To discover or rediscover...

Discography (among others ...) :

70s Decade :

Fall out 1977
Can’t stand losing you 1978
Roxanne 1979
Message in a bottle 1979
Walking on the moon 1979

80s Decade :

So lonely 1980
Don’t stand so close to me 1980
De Do Do Do, De Da Da Da 1980
Invisible sun 1981
Every little thing she does is magic 1981
Spirits in the material world 1981
Every breath you take 1983
Wrapped around your finger 1983
Synchronicity II 1983
King of pain 1984

Related link Sting Adventure :

https://www.bestmusic80.com/post/englishman-in-new-york

Tracks :

1977 ... a first piece that went completely unnoticed, debuts oblige. But the style is already there. We feel like a thrill ...

1978 ... new casting and first classified title, as if by chance. Well, for now, the success is limited to England but things will change very quickly ...

1979 ... the same title had already been released the previous year in general indifference. There, the result will be significantly different...1st global hit !

1979 ... then comes THIS title. An incredible sound, a totally inspired melody, the perfect chemistry that propels the trio to the height of glory at the speed of light ! MO-NU-MEN-TAL !

1979 ... a hallucinating year with a flood of hits the most incredible than the others. The group becomes the phenomenon of the moment. And what a phenomenon !

1980 ... the year 1979 will have seen them explode, the year 1980 will consecrate them. And in the most beautiful way !

1980 ... their 2nd global mega hit. Each title that comes out is now an event in itself. An absolutely mind-blowing inspiration that produces wonder upon wonder

1980 ... and it continues. Out of 3 titles released that year, 2 will end up as a global mega hit. The group is at the top of its possibilities and it can be heard !

1981 ... the changes of year are seldom opportunities to shine for the group. Always quality songs but each time it lacks the stroke of genius that makes all the difference ...

1981 ... and the stroke of genius there it is. A title that will remain as one of their most emblematic. An enormous Single that will shatter everything on the planet and definitively consecrate them as one of the 20 major groups of the decade !

1981 ... another year with 3 exceptional titles. It becomes a habit with them. Year after year, they demonstrate a rare talent and almost without equivalence

1983 ... unbelievable as it may seem, the exceptional dynamic was broken in 1982, with only one title on the clock and without much scope. On the other hand, they make a literally shattering comeback in 1983 with this title which will stay in history as their Masterpiece. They sign here quite simply the biggest success of all their discography. Yes, yes, it was still feasible, they had not yet reached their maximum !

1983 ... another global mega hit, one more. A permanent renewal of inspiration that allows them to accomplish real feats that 95 % of other groups are unable to match !

1983 ... unlike other years, for 1983, it will be the last title, and not the first, which will remain as the least prestigious ...

1984 ... the end of an absolutely incredible adventure which will have propelled this group to the height of glory and fame. Luck, a combination of circumstances ? Surely not ! A crazy and unique talent, quite simply ...