My Dream Police

You are not going to find a bigger fan of the Police then yours truly. I got into them in the mid 80’s thanks to a guy I worked with at White Hen, Brian. Before then my musical tastes were kind of lame. My record and tape collection consisted of Michael Schenker, Shout at the Devil and some other assorted bad metal. Then one day I was working in the store and starting talking music with my co-worker.

I had heard of the Police, I mean who hadn’t. This was right after they had released Synchronicity and it was a huge hit for them. At that point my musical palette wasn’t really refined beyond what the Loop played so, all I really knew of them was Every Breath You Take, which my newly pubed ass, wrote off as boring.

So, when Brian and I started talking music one day while, we were filling the cooler at the Hen, he mentioned that the Police was his favorite musical group. I mentioned I wasn’t a fan. He then passionately argued their case as a group that I had seriously mis-understood. He was so passionate that he offered to make me a copy of each of their albums for me.

I went into the store the next Saturday and sure enough Brian, had duped a copy of each record. I brought them home and listened to each tape with an open mind and found myself drawn to the music. It is safe to say that my musical tastes were forever changed from that point on. I was instantly converted into a Police fan and it has been a love affair that has grown each day as I got older.

I listed and re-listened to each tape over and over. I became hypnotized by what I heard. I had never heard a guitar make the sounds that Andy Summers made that instrument make. His opening riff on Synchronicity II is still one of my all time favorites. Stuart Copeland is still my favorite rock and roll drummer. Just listening to him pound the skins on Message in a Bottle, makes me want to weep they are so good. Sting, with his exceptional lyrics and unique voice, just tied it all together. A trio, whose talent in my mind has never been matched. (Please spare me all you Rush fans. Yes, I like Rush as the next guy, but I am much more of a Police fan.)

Sadly, I was finding the band about a year to late. As with many bands that are that good, when you have three egos, and three unique talents like that, friction is bound to come up. So, they disbanded and with the exception of Sting’s wedding and their induction into the rock and roll hall of fame they would not play again. That was until last night’s Grammy’s.

Over the years Sting, has really gotten on my nerves. I like the first two Sting solo albums. Dream of the Blue Turtles, while not a perfect record has enough quality to overcome its shortcomings. His second album, Nothing Like the Sun, I was really a fan of. Englishmen in New York, is just an exceptional song. Even though it sounds nothing like a Police record, it showed that the man was an exceptional talent who could do many different things. After that record, sadly he made a left turn to Easy Listening Land and would never come back.

When he put out the Soul Cages in 1991, I was excited. He had not released a solo record in five years. So, I was really anticipating it. When I heard it, I was pissed. Every song was worse then the next. I wanted to write it off as a bump in the road and then he put out, Ten Summoner’s Tales, which was even worse. With each following record he has been on a downward slope towards the Abyss.

Stuart Copeland and Andy Summers have filled the years with solo projects of their own and composing a number of soundtracks. All the while I, like many number of Police fans, have waited and waited for any word of a reunion tour. Well, after what seems like a millennium, finally the Police are touring.

Last night they played Roxanne at the Grammy’s. I taped the broadcast and saw the band perform, a somewhat lackluster rendition of the song. Still, that hasn’t tempered my enthusiasm for the upcoming tour, which is rumored to have them playing Wrigley Field in July. Needless, to say I am going. I must obtain a pair of tickets for this show. Just to be able to see these three guys play together is worth the price of a ticket. I just hope that Sting somehow reverts back to that great artist that is inside him somewhere. I want to see a Police show not an Adult Contemporary Sting show.