Drummer says he and his bandmates starved themselves as they battled for success, which took a while to arrive
Nowadays, where time seems to run faster, a year flies by. In the 1970s, it was like an eternity. Since its formation in early 1977, the The Police it took a little over two years to explode — but those who were there treat the situation as if it took a century.
In an interview with Ultimate Classic Rock, the drummer Stewart Copeland recalled some of the difficulties faced by him, Sting (voice and bass) and Andy Summers (guitar) in the pursuit of success. More in-depth reports will also be in the book focused on the pre-fame period of the band, PoliceDiaries 1976-9released by copeland and about to be made available abroad.
“I remember the atmosphere, which was something like: Sting and I were very happy that we were able to convince the powerful Andy Summers – asked studio guitarist who did four shifts at work – to join our fake punk band. We stayed together. Sting and I suffered for two years – starved – and then andy joined us in our hunger. That was before ‘Roxanne’, before Sting I had no idea that I could create those great songs.”
Coming from his experience as a member of the progressive rock group Curved Air, Stewart highlighted that even with Sting receiving successive invitations to form other bands with different musicians, the trio stayed together. Why? Not even he knows.
“The miracle is that we were musically connected before we even figured out what music we wanted to make. I asked Andy recently, ‘What were you thinking at the time?’ He said, ‘I don’t know, I should have stayed playing for Neil Sedaka’.”
Do not worry
Asked by the site what advice he would give his younger selfStewart Copeland he did not resort to the “worry less” cliché.
“It’s exactly what I would say to my younger self, but if my younger self had taken my advice none of this would have happened. It’s anxiety that drives me. I practice drums before a show and it’s not out of discipline – it’s out of fear. That anxiety propelled me forward.”
The Police Stardom
Although he released his debut album Outlandos d’Amour in 1978 (after borrowing £1,500 from the band’s manager and brother of Stewart, Miles Copeland)O The Police it only started to be successful the following year.
The two songs released as a single in the UK, “Roxanne” and “Can’t Stand Losing You”, did not do well in the country and were even boycotted by the BBCthe main local communication vehicle, due to the themes of prostitution and suicide explored in the lyrics.
It was up to the trio to adopt different dissemination strategies. One involved a low-budget US tour. There, they published “Roxanne” as a single – and that’s when things started to work out. With the success in American territory, other countries (including the United Kingdom) returned to pay attention to the group.
Outlandos d’Amour reached number six in the UK chart in October 1979 – almost a year after its release. Today, it accumulates platinum records in the United States, United Kingdom, Australia, Canada and the Netherlands, in addition to having started a champion trajectory (with more than 75 million copies sold) and relatively brief (the project ended in 1986, with only five unpublished works available, and had only two meetings, in 2003 and from 2007 to 2008).
Source: Rollingstone
Earl Johnson is a music writer at Gossipify, known for his in-depth analysis and unique perspective on the industry. A graduate of USC with a degree in Music, he brings years of experience and passion to his writing. He covers the latest releases and trends, always on the lookout for the next big thing in music.
