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Ghost In The Machine Tour
The Ghost in the Machine Tour was a concert tour by The Police to promote their album ''Ghost in the Machine''. To reflect the horns-based sound that permeated the album, the band decided to work with back-up musicians, hiring a horn section called The Chops (Darryl Dixon, David Watson and Marvin Daniels), who previously worked on the Sugarhill label. The opening act for the North America II portion was Bow Wow Wow or Oingo Boingo or the Go-Go's and Joan Jett and the Blackhearts for the North America III portion (Portland, Maine) opening act was Black Uhuru. The English Beat was the opening act for the North America IV portion of the tour. A Flock of Seagulls opened for The Police in Norfolk, Virginia. Jools Holland and his Millionaires opened for the Police during the UK dates of the tour. The Toronto appearance on 13 August 1982 was the second annual "Police Picnic" festival, with the band headlining. Opening acts included Oingo Boingo, The Spoons, A Flock of Seagulls, the En ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Police
The Police were an English rock band formed in London in 1977. For most of their history the line-up consisted of primary songwriter Sting (lead vocals, bass guitar), Andy Summers (guitar) and Stewart Copeland (drums, percussion). The Police became globally popular in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Emerging in the British new wave scene, they played a style of rock influenced by punk, reggae, and jazz. Their 1978 debut album, '' Outlandos d'Amour'', reached No. 6 on the UK Albums Chart on the strength of the singles " Roxanne" and " Can't Stand Losing You". Their second album, '' Reggatta de Blanc'' (1979), became the first of four consecutive No. 1 studio albums in the UK and Australia; its first two singles, " Message in a Bottle" and " Walking on the Moon", became their first UK number ones. Their next two albums, '' Zenyatta Mondatta'' (1980) and '' Ghost in the Machine'' (1981), led to further critical and commercial success with two songs, " Don't Stand So Close to ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Message In A Bottle (The Police Song)
"Message in a Bottle" is a song by English rock band The Police. It was released as the lead single from their second studio album, '' Reggatta de Blanc'' (1979). Written by the band's lead singer and bassist Sting, the song is ostensibly about a story of a castaway on an island, who sends out a message in a bottle to seek love. A year later, he has not received any sort of response, and despairs, thinking he is destined to be alone. The next day, he sees "a hundred billion bottles" on the shore, finding out that there are more people like him out there. Over the course of the song, Sting mentions ''sending an S.O.S.'' 31 times. The song was the first of their five UK number one singles. ''Rolling Stone'' ranked it number 65 on its list of the "100 Greatest Guitar Songs of All Time". Composition The song exemplifies the reggae rock/new wave style of early Police. It is composed in the key of C minor with a chord progression of C#m9- Amaj9- B7- F#m. According to the band's g ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
So Lonely
"So Lonely" is a song by English rock band The Police, released as the third and final single in November 1978 from their debut studio album '' Outlandos d'Amour'' (1978), and again in February 1980 as a re-release. The song uses a reggae style, and featured Sting on lead vocals. "So Lonely" has since been covered by a variety of artists, such as Limbeck and The Militia Group. Background Sting admitted that he used Bob Marley's " No Woman, No Cry" as the basis for this song: Sting recycled the lyrics in the song's verses from his earlier Last Exit song "Fool in Love". The lyrics themselves, about someone who is lonely after getting his heart broken, were thought to be "ironic" to large audiences. Sting denied this claim, however, saying, "No, there's no irony whatsoever. From the outside it might look a bit strange, being surrounded by all this attention and yet experiencing the worst lonely feeling...but I do. And then suddenly the attention is withdrawn a half an hour ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Can't Stand Losing You
"Can't Stand Losing You" is a song by English rock band The Police, released from their debut album '' Outlandos d'Amour'', both in 1978. The song also was released as the follow-up single to " Roxanne", reaching number 2 in the UK Singles Chart on a re-release in 1979. It was written by the band's lead singer and bassist Sting as a song about suicide. Composition "Can't Stand Losing You" features lyrics which, according to Sting, is "about a teenage suicide, which is always a bit of a joke." Sting also claimed that the lyrics took him only five minutes to write. The song is musically similar to "Roxanne", with both songs bearing a reggae influence and a rock chorus. The song also makes use of the Echoplex delay unit. Sting sings lead vocals on the song, which he described as "up and down, strange, high-pitched singing." "Dead End Job", the B-side of "Can't Stand Losing You", is based on a riff Copeland wrote in high school. Sting's lyrics mention being a teacher as a dead- ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Don't Stand So Close To Me
"Don't Stand So Close to Me" is a hit song by the rock band The Police, released in September 1980 as the lead single from their third album ''Zenyatta Mondatta''. It concerns a teacher who has a sexual relationship with a student, which in turn is discovered. The band's third on the UK Singles Chart, it was also the best selling single of 1980 in the UK selling 808,000 copies in 1980 alone. The song also charted in the top ten in Australia, Canada and the US. The Police won the 1982 Grammy Award for Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal for this song. Background The music and lyrics of the song were written by the lead singer of The Police, Sting. The song deals with the mixed feelings of lust, fear and guilt that a school teacher has for a student and the fallout when the inappropriate relationship is discovered by other adults. The line "Just like the old man in that book by Nabokov" alludes to Vladimir Nabokov's novel ''Lolita'', which covers somewhat simil ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Roxanne (The Police Song)
"Roxanne" is a song by English rock band The Police. The song was written by lead singer and bassist Sting and was released as a single on 7 April 1978, in advance of their debut album '' Outlandos d'Amour'', released 2 November. It was written from the point of view of a man who falls in love with a prostitute. When re-released on 12 April 1979, the song peaked at on the UK Singles Chart. The song ranked No. 388 on the ''Rolling Stone''s "500 Greatest Songs of All Time" and was voted No. 85 by VH1 on its list of the "100 Greatest Rock Songs". In 2008, "Roxanne" was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame. Background The Police lead singer Sting wrote the song inspired by the prostitutes he saw near the band's seedy hotel in Paris, France, where the Police were lodged in October 1977 to perform at the Nashville Club. The song's title comes from the name of the character in the play ''Cyrano de Bergerac'', an old poster of which was hanging in the hotel foyer. Sting had orig ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bring On The Night (song)
"Bring on the Night" is a song by British rock band the Police. Written by the band's bassist and vocalist Sting, the song appeared as the fourth track on the band's second studio album, '' Reggatta de Blanc'' (1979). Background Some of the lyrics of "Bring on the Night" were recycled from the song "Carrion Prince (O Ye of Little Hope)", which was written by Sting for the band Last Exit.Sutcliffe, Phil & Fielder, Hugh (1981). ''L'Historia Bandido''. London and New York: Proteus Books. . Page 36. The title "Carrion Prince (O Ye of Little Hope)" was taken from Ted Hughes's poem "King of Carrion," which is about Pontius Pilate. However, after reading '' The Executioner's Song'', Sting felt that the words fitted Gary Gilmore's death wish, and says that since then, "I sing it with him in mind." Another line from "Bring on the Night", "when the evening spreads itself against the sky," is taken from T. S. Eliot's poem " The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock," written in 1910-15. In '' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Invisible Sun
"Invisible Sun" is a song by British rock band the Police, released as a single in Europe in September 1981.Sutcliffe, Phil (1993). "A Police Discography". In ''Message in a Box: The Complete Recordings'' (pp.60–61) oxed set booklet A&M Records Ltd. It was the first single to be released in the United Kingdom from the album '' Ghost in the Machine'' and it reached on the official chart. The song also reached in Ireland and in the Netherlands. It was not released as a single in the U.S. In most other territories, " Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic" was chosen as the lead single from the LP. Background Sting said of writing "Invisible Sun": The song's lyrics stem from songwriter Sting's pondering how people living in war-torn and/or impoverished countries find the will to go on living, and despite the dark music and often morbid lyrical statements, the song carries an uplifting and optimistic message. The song was deeply personal for drummer Stewart Copeland, whose ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Walking On The Moon
"Walking on the Moon" is a song by British rock band the Police, released as the second single from their second studio album, '' Reggatta de Blanc'' (1979). The song was written by the band's lead vocalist and bassist Sting. It went on to become the band's second hit in the UK. Background Sting has said that he wrote the song when he was drunk one night after a concert in Munich. The following morning, he remembered the song and wrote it down. In his autobiography, Sting implies that the song was partially inspired by an early girlfriend: According to Sting, the song was originally recorded "as a rocker" in early versions, but it was reworked. The riff, which is played on the bass, was described as "weird" and "jazzy" by Sting. Guitarist Andy Summers came up with the chord "which hits after the bass notes" throughout the song. "Walking on the Moon" was released as the follow-up single to the British single " Message in a Bottle" in late 1979. The song was the Police ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Demolition Man (song)
"Demolition Man" is a song written by Sting and performed by Grace Jones as the A-side of a 1981 single. Sting's band, the Police, later released their rendition of the song on their album '' Ghost in the Machine''. Background The song was originally written by Sting in the Summer of 1980 while living in Peter O’Toole’s home in Connemara, Ireland for potential use on The Police’s ''Zenyatta Mondatta'', but they never managed to get around to recording it. A demo was sent to Grace Jones when she requested Sting for a song. The lyric "I'm a three-line whip", often assumed to be a reference to sadomasochism, is in fact an allusion to the voting instructions issued to British members of parliament to cast their votes according to the party line. Sting explained this in an interview: "Whatever party's in power in Parliament, if it's a really important vote, you get a one-line whip. If it's incredibly important, you have a two-line whip, and something monumentally impor ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
De Do Do Do, De Da Da Da
"De Do Do Do, De Da Da Da" is a song by The Police, released as a single on 20 November 1980. Released as the British second single from the album ''Zenyatta Mondatta'', the song was written by Sting as a comment on how people love simple-sounding songs. The song was re-recorded in 1986 as "De Do Do Do, De Da Da Da '86" but not released until 1995. Background According to lead singer Sting, the song is about the attraction that people have to simple songs. Sting later criticised those who labelled the lyrics of the song as "baby talk," claiming that the song was grossly misunderstood. He evaluated, "The lyrics are about banality, about the abuse of words," saying that "the lyrics have an internal logic." Sting also said that "I was trying to say something which was really quite difficult – that people like politicians, like myself even, use words to manipulate people, and that you should be very careful.” The phrase "De Do Do Do, De Da Da Da" supposedly was made up by St ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Bed's Too Big Without You
"The Bed's Too Big Without You" is a song by English rock band The Police, released as the final single from their second studio album '' Reggatta de Blanc'' (1979). It was written by lead vocalist and bassist Sting. An alternate version was released as a single in the UK in 1980 in the set '' Six Pack'' in conjunction with the re-release of the Police's earlier singles " Roxanne", " Can't Stand Losing You", " So Lonely", " Message in a Bottle" and "Walking on the Moon". It has been covered by a number of other artists, including Sting as a solo artist, Ranking Roger and Sheila Hylton. Background The themes of the song are loneliness and the pain of the end of a relationship. The lyrics were inspired by an incident in which Sting's first girlfriend, after being heartbroken upon their break-up, committed suicide. "The Bed's Too Big Without You" was first released on ''Reggatta de Blanc'' in 1979. However, the following year, the song saw a single release as a bonus single in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
