Ghost In The Machine: 1981/82

The Police patrols new rock beat...

Rock acts don't get much better than the Police.

Performing Tuesday before a crowd of about 13,800 in Riverfront Coliseum, the two-thirds British, one-third American rock trio delivered a blistering, 90-minute, 15-song set that revealed a remarkable synthesis of musical styles ranging from reggae to art rock.

With 'Chops', a three-piece, New Jersey horn section in the background, the Police came out of the gate at top speed opening the set with its triple Grammy nominated hit, 'Message In a Bottle'. Before the audience had a chance to calm down, it countered with 'Every Little Thing She Does is Magic', the hit single from its most recent million-selling album, 'Ghost in the Machine'.

Covering four albums and five years of music, the pace rarely slackened until the Police stopped the show with its low-budget, 1978 single, 'Roxanne'.

'Roxanne' shows the Police at its most basic. A solid rocker with heavy reggae beat and lyrics about a girl wanting to sell her body, 'Roxanne' is about as subtle assault and battery. That, however, is only one side of the Police. Throughout its five-year tenure on the rock charts, the Police has enormously broadened its range, developing a style that exploits  than the musical similarities of the musical differences, rather its three members.   

As The Police's musical possibilities have expanded beyond tunes like "Roxanne" into almost Genesis-like songs including 'Secret Journey', so has its audience appeal. Propelled from the club to the arena circuit, the Police still appeals to a certain so-called "new wave" fringe, which was resplendent in tights and scarfs at the concert Tuesday. But this isolated element is hardly enough to fill Bogart's, let alone nearly pack Riverfront Coliseum, sell out many of the dates on its 1982 tour, and drive the Police to the top of the rock charts.

The Police has accomplished the rare, though much attempted, feat of expanding into a more complex and ultimately satisfying style without losing the basic appeal on which the band's early success was based.

As important as the Police's collective development, is the emergence of Sting (Gordon Sumner) as one of rock's out- standing vocalists and front men. Sting is a performer in the category of the Who's Roger Daltrey.

Sting is not merely a singer, but a presence on stage that instantly commands attention. Like Daltrey, he is also an actor and he played a leading role in the Who's movie, 'Quadrophrenia'. Like Daltrey, his manner on stage has touches of theatricality even if his major task is playing himself. He also is an excellent vocalist, a fine bass player and provides most of the writing of the Police's recent material.

Andy Summers is a quieter, more introverted personality, but a fine guitarist who reacts to - rather than plays with - Sting's bass lines. American Stewart Copeland is a very capable drummer.

The colliding of these three divergent personalities provides the group's strength, a strength seemingly being threatened by the emergence of Sting as a very strong personality.

Police will certainly be a major musical force in the 1980s. Indeed, with the success of "Ghost In the Machine," it al- ready is.

(c) The Cincinnati Post by James Chute