Reggatta de Blanc: 1979/80

Police's force is a mixed beat of reggae and rock...

For the first few bars of 'Roxanne', a sad song that begs a young prostitute to "put out the red light," the Police simply lay down the reggae-influenced rhythm. Most of the band's songs begin like that, the voice entering only after the bass guitar, rhythm guitar and drums have established a syncopated beat.

Last night at the Longhorn, a bar that showcases new wave rock bands, the full house knew exactly the beat on which lead singer Sting picks up the song's lyric, and sang along with his high, almost mournful voice.

The first hit single for the Police, 'Roxanne' beautifully plays Sting's wailing falsetto against a rhythm that misses every third beat. That stark, reggae sound has become the group's signature, and although it leads to a bit of repetitiveness, it is pleasingly uncluttered music.

The audience at the Longhorn also sang along on the chorus of the Police's newest hit, "Message in a Bottle," a song that proves the imploring vocal style of reggae can be translated from political to pop lyrics.

That song and others from the new album, 'Reggatta de Blanc', show that the group is moving away from the lonely themes of its first album.

"Lyrically, the new record is more accessible, more commercial," said Sting, whose earlier lyrics about suicide and the demi-monde prompted the BBC in England to ban the band's releases.

Sting believes the group's "fire" comes from "welding two disparate forms of music-straight rock and reggae - into the structure of a song." Reggae music, much more a part of the club scene in England than in America, has influenced not just the Police but many young British rock bands (like the Specials, Selecter and Madness, who are likely to follow through the door to America opened by the Police).

"The Nashville of reggae music is London," said Sting. "We have adapted reggae, used it as currency, to develop our own style."

"Our music is about rhythm, not harmonies," said guitarist Andy Summers, who occasionally shifts from playing rhythm to slashing solos, as he did Wednesday night during the jazzy "The Bed's Too Big Without You."

In concert, each member of the band performs expansively, making up for the limitations of the  three-piece arrangement. Summers  explained that the Police "look much further into that framework for creative resources. "We have to suggest with three pieces a lot of things - colours and textures - that would be played by other instruments in a larger band."

As always, the Police played no rock standards during their even- tempered, 14-song set. "Playing only original songs is a tradition among British bands, going back to the Beatles," said Sting.

In January, the band will begin a three-month world tour, an enormous idea for a small group that only last year made its debut. No wonder Sting wondered aloud if the group ought to expand.

"Perhaps what we will need now," he said in mock-gravity, "is a 100-voice girls' choir." Or perhaps they will find a way to suggest the choir's presence, as they've suggested a rich, percussive sound with only three instruments.

(c) Minneapolis Star by Deborah Miller