Ghost In The Machine: 1981/82

The Police can go on breaking barriers...

The Police will be four years old next month, and in that time they have conquered the music world. They began humbly on January 12, 1977, when Stewart Copeland, Sting and Henri Padovani rehearsed in a two-storey Mayfair flat.

And they celebrated Christmas 1981 with a new book, and album which went double platinum on advance orders, and a long-awaited British tour which attracted 750 Hull people to Leeds Queens Hall - more than many Hull promoters can count on for a "home" gig.

'Outlandos D'Amour', the band's first album came out in October, 1977, and proved straight away that The Police had enormous talent and potential.

But it takes more than that, and the reason they have reached the top in such a short time and don't look like being nudged off for a long time is their intelligent, almost business-like approach. Copeland decided to form a band when his old outfit, Curved Air finally bit the dust. He had spotted Sting - named after his bumble bee style sweater-playing in Newcastle with a jazz-rock group "Last Exit," was impressed, and tempted him to London.

Henri Padovani was and still is a name unknown to millions and his limited guitar skills restricted the band's repertoire.

But it was enough to make a start. The name was Stewart's idea and was chosen primarily for free advertising.

After a few gigs supporting Cherry Vanilla the band released their first single 'Fall Out' on Stewart's own label, Illegal Records. Poorly produced and much better live, 'Fall Out' nevertheless sold out of its first run of 2,000 copies and eventually sold 100,000.

But changes had to be made. "One by one Sting's songs had started coming in and because he's a writer and they're really good stuff you really can't just turn them down, says Stewart in the new book "The Police - A Visual Documentary By Miles" (Omnibus Press).

So Andy Summers joined. He had met the others at the Gong Reunion in Paris on May 28, 1977, after a career which had seen him play with Zoot Money, Jon Lord of Deep Purple and on Mike Oldfield's Tubular Bells.

Padovani left in August and the three piece got down to work. But it was March, 1978, before Stewart's brother Miles, heard 'Roxanne', agreed to manage the band, and clinched a deal with A & M Records.

But The Police didn't stay around to promote it and it flopped, as did. 'Can't Stand Losing You' - both losing out to German commitments with Eberhard Schoener and extensive touring particularly in the States.

It wasn't until April, 1979, that a re-released 'Roxanne' hit the British top 20 and the band followed up with their first British headline tour. Touring may have cost them their initial success with 'Roxanne', but there's no doubt it contributed enormously to their overall success. 'Message In A Bottle', released on September 7, 1979, was followed by more tours.

From there they went from strength to strength, and far from creating distractions Sting's acting career brought in more fans. He played a short but impressive role in 'Quadrophenia' and only this week made his TV acting debut in 'Artemis 81'. 

It's his stage presence which makes the band's live shows so successful, and at the Queens Hall last week, he was met by Beatles-style screams. With so many classics already under their belts they couldn't put a foot wrong, and they didn't. Few bands could maintain an electric atmosphere after playing a quality number like 'Message In A Bottle' second in the set.

But The Police just followed it with more quality. Only 'De Doo Doo De Dah Dah' was missing from their hit story and the highlight was 'Invisible Sun', played against the Belfast video backdrop banned by Top of the Pops.

The style has changed over the years, from middle of the road punk to just middle of the road and is now reaching a wider audience than ever. "I think there are very few groups worth more than three albums," said Sting in June, 1979. Since then The Police have released three albums - taking the total to four - each not quite as good as the last but still excellent.

"Listen to their first three fresh and new. Then listen to numbers four to 10, and you can tell that they're just going through the motions of being rock stars," he adds.

That could be true unless you can keep the secret of originality. The Police have already managed to break their own "three albums" mental barrier and there's no reason why they should stop.

(c) The Hull Daily Mail