Roxanne '97, 7''

Liner Notes

Written when Sting was bewitched by the sight of some Parisienne prostitutes when The Police played an early show in the city, 'Roxanne' is one of the best known Police songs. Intriguing enough to convince Miles Copeland to get the band a recording deal, the song has had many releases over the years. The original release was the red telephone sleeve and of course, the track featured on the debut album 'Outlandos d'Amour'. The song has, by demand, been an ever present in probably every show The Police and Sting have played. Sting continues to breath new life into the song though, by, for example, either playing it acoustically, using trombones and sax as on the 'Mercury Falling' tour, or using trumpet and a funked up bass line as on the 'Brand New Day' tour. An absolute classic - always has been, always will be.

'Peanuts', claimed by Sting to be a song about Rod Stewart, appeared on the B-side of 1978's 'Roxanne' single and was also included on the 'Outlandos d'Amour' album. The track was a regular inclusion in the set list during the earlier years. It's a typical fast and furious Police track - great stuff.

Review from Melody Maker

"Talk about a change of style! Amazing, really. It's wiry, mainstream rock with plenty of open spaces and one of those high-piched deliveries. Could even be a minor hit if A&M do the groundwork."

Review from New Musical Express

"'Roxanne' is dumb macho-with-heart-of-gold romanticism, the kind of offensive 'white reggae' played by people who've obviously only ever heard a couple of reggae records, is more than a year old and has been inexplicably re-released on 122, probably to tie in with some 'American success' - itself probably down more to misplaced Yankee images of Jack Warner than anything else."

Review from Record Mirror

"This must be the big breaker for the Police. I've played it five times already and still want more. A beautiful entry with a touch of the tangos. The lead singer has the perfect equilibrium of squeaks and rasps in his voice to carry it, wish someone would write a song about me... what the hell, go out and but it immediately."

Review from Trouser Press

"Some ominous reggae-oid syncopation in the verses resolves into hard, bright rock and roll in the chorus, topped with an oddly appealing high whine of a vocal about convincing a girl not to be a streetwalker. The flip is a sardonically rollicking rocker about the "price of fame", full sounding but with spaces in the right places. The band includes ex-Curved Air drummer Stuart Coplenad and ex-"child prodigy" Andy Summers (nee Somers), whose agile axe has graced records and roadshows of acts like the Animals and Kevin Ayers (and whose name was bruited about as under consideration for the job Mick Taylor left in the Stones). But forget all that (now that I've opened my big mouth) and remember only that this pair, along with the mysterious bassist Sting (he of the cloudy past), who writes and sings the songs, prove that 1) trios can still be a viable rockform and 2) thanks to new wave, musicians who've been through the session mill can return to energetic rock they always wanted to play but couldn't sell, enriching it with their experience."