Zenyatta Mondatta: 1980/81

Police raid Capitol with their rock-reggae...

The Police, Britain's rock-reggae trio, first came to the attention of Americans when their single, 'Roxanne', popped up on 'No Wave', the A&M Records sampler that also introduced Joe Jackson and Squeeze. The song was so irresistible and infectious that it became an instant hit and stirred the music industry.

Seldom has the blending of rock and reggae been so distinctive and successful. The Police used Sting's reedy soprano and bass guitar as lead instruments with guitarist Andy Summers and drummer Stewart Copeland providing the rhythms.

'Outlandos d'Amour', the band's debut album, offered one great, danceable track after another.

Happily, the Police have lived up to their initial promise. Their consistency has brought them considerable success. Their third album, 'Zenyatta Mondatta' is comfortably ensconced in the upper reaches of the sales charts.

The Police's show at the Capitol Theater Saturday, which sold out long ago, found the band in fine form. The set-change music by reggae star Bob Marley set the tone, and the Police took the stage to a screaming, standing ovation (they've reached the hard-to-control-crowd status). From the opening two numbers, the popular singles 'Don't Stand So Close To Me' and 'Walking On The Moon', the band controlled the audience.

Sting was ebullient, grinning broadly and displaying the confidence that in earlier concerts had predicted his success and contributed to his selection for a major part in the film 'Quadrophenia'.

He seemed comfortable in his role as the sex symbol in the Police, stretching his hands over his head to show off his muscular build and shaking his head of blond locks.

The evening's 17 selections were culled from the band's three albums, with a concentration on 'Zenyatta Mondatta', the new LP, that explores Third World rhythms related to reggae. The Police had no trouble duplicating the full sound of the records, no mean feat considering there are only three instruments. Although Sting and Summer, who is capable of eliciting a great variety of sounds from his guitar, are partly responsible, most of the credit must go to Copeland, quite probably the greatest white drummer in reggae, if not of all rock. Using cymbals, different areas of the drum heads, rim shots and anything else at hand, Copeland teased and punctuated the beat while solidly keeping it. He doesn't need to play a solo - he does one all night long.

Sting and the Police use repetition as a device which, on record, tends to get boring. But in concert the visual and dynamic effects make up the difference, even though the repetitions are stretched out even further.

At 90 minutes, the concert ended just before it turned from pleasure into pain. Sting's voice has a tendency to grate, and the band as a whole doesn't offer the seductive, sinewy reggae of a Marley, but a more powerful, muscular version.

In addition, the show was prohibitively loud, hastening fatigue and at times rendering the lyrics and musical nuances unintelligible. When are the folks at the Capitol going to learn to turn it down?

(c) The Courier-News by Steve Libowitz (with thanks to Dietmar)

Police, Scaggs bring pleasure to their constituents...

Back-to-back concerts sounded at the Capitol Theater in Passaic last weekend and, judging from the reactions, both sent the audiences happily on their separate ways.

Saturday night and the place was packed. To overcome vociferous boos, the opening band, the Fleshtones, mercilessly segued all their strident, deafening songs together. During the break that followed, firemen walked the aisles. A bomb scare had been called in, and promoter John Scher told the crowd, 3,500 strong, "We're not going to play this joker's game." The Police were brought in, amid strobes flashing in the dark, and BOOM! the crowd exploded into roaring applause.

Three guys, the Police guitarist Andy Summers, drummer Stewart Copeland, and bassist/singer/rock-and-roll idol Sting but they filled the theater with a sound bigger and fuller than any greater number of rock-and-roll musicians could muster. How they do it is anyone's guess, but who cares? We were on our feet from the starting rimshot to the finish line of two encore medleys, cheering these blond heroes on.

The race was fast and furious. Sporting an all-white outfit sleeveless T-shirt, baggy trousers, and sneakers - Sting drove the rhythmic bobsled (the crowd collectively acted as the ever-vital brakeman) through sweeping turns. He paired his nimble soprano with well-timed go-go boy steps and kicks, but he never lagged on the bass lines. Following hot on his tail were Stewart and Copeland, as well as many of the women in attendance, including my plus-one ("He looks like a California lifeguard," she giggled).

A half dozen songs some rocking, some skiffling, some reggae-seasoned - from each of the Police's three LPs (Those from 'Zenyatta Mondatta', their latest, are clearly the strongest, lyrically and rhythmically, while 'Roxanne', 'Message in a Bottle', and 'Can't Stand Losing You' showed a tad of wear), and we were swept into the night chill before the clock struck 11, stunned by the suddenness of it all, but primed for the nearest rock-and-roll dance club.

Sunday night was a different story. After what looked like couples night at a supper club, a quiet nightcap seemed more in order. Boz Scaggs crooned moon-June-spoon lyrics for lovers (throwing in a funk tune for good measure), abetted by a four-piece band and a pair of female backing vocalists. And, like a blue-eyed version of Lou Rawls or Teddy Pendergrass, he did it quite well.

With so many heads propped on partners' shoulders, sightlines were spacious. Replacing last night's wild bunch were a sweater-and-designer jeans crowd, and the woman who flipped for Sting last night observed that Scaggs's disco drag (dark blue shirt/jacket with padded shoulders, baggy aqua trousers, white shoes) fit his music colourful, but not ostentatious.

The popular Scaggs had everything in neat order. Spare instrumentation supported his choked, intimate vocals, clear lilting harmonies filled in behind, a scratchy guitar lick here, a clean piano break there. It was slick, 4/4, El Lay mellow-rock all the way, music to coax warm memories, and each brief, pointed number, from 'Harbor Lights' (smooth and sweet as Grand Marnier) to 'Lowdown' (too predictable an encore), was met with gracious applause.

The warm-up act, Seawind, would have been a perfect complement had the crowd taken to their more fiery brand of soulful R&B. The musical edges seemed a bit too sharp for most, but pleasingly fresh to this listener.

(c) The Record by Jerry DeMarco

Overused electronics arrest Police's sound...

Some two years ago, rock guitarist Andy Summers said American audiences were far more tame than the punk crowds who went to see his three-member band in his native England.

Summers made the remark following the Police's debut appearance at the Bottom Line in New York City. And perhaps what Summers termed tame- ness was actually a reflection of American audiences' inability to latch on to the Police's pared-down rock and electronic fillers.

Since that first show in New York, the Police have grown, adding two al- bums to their credit, experimenting with a variety of new sounds and completing a world tour that brought them recognition across Europe and in India and Japan.

The group, however, still clamours for American recognition, despite the sold-out U.S. performances, heavy radio play (especially of their first hit single, 'Roxanne'), and the general popularity of new wave music, apparent in the pseudo-punk, second-hand-store dress of a wide segment of the rock audience.

The band's perfected recordings are no indication of their lack of popularity, but during a live show at the Capitol Theater Friday night, it was plain that not a great many people could bear the excessive volume and ear-piercing electronics the band delivered in the filled, 3,000-capacity auditorium.

Drummer Stewart Copeland, formerly with the forgotten and underrated band, Curved Air, held the group's fluctuating rhythms together with surprising ease. From adapted reggae beats to hard-core rock, Copeland pounded cohesion into a sound which frequently suffered from hair-raising wails from a synthesizer.

Summers' guitar work was uninspired but constant. His few bold riffs, however, were often overshadowed by an electronic device used to reverberate and enrich sound.

Bassist and vocalist, Sting, the 28-year-old star of the band (and not only for his appearance in the Who film, "Quadrophenia"), has changed his act significantly from the early days.

The aloof, "tough boy" stage stance has been rejected for a more star-like role. He greeted the crowd when he walked on stage, and encouraged attention and applause.

Vocally, he has also changed. With a versatile range, Sting has the ability to hit the wailing quarter notes in 'Roxanne' and also turn the odd lyrics of 'Walking on the Moon' into an eerie echo which could be imagined as a sound from outer space.

There's no doubt that Sting's bass playing has also improved. He's added an elongated custom-made stand-up bass to his repertoire, and sometimes uses the instrument to tap out textural sounds on its wooden body.

If it weren't for the overused electronics, it wouldn't be difficult to classify the Police as one of the better bands to bridge the worlds of new wave, reggae and popular rock.

(c) The Central New Jersey Home News by Patti Domm