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Disclaimer:This FAQ only appears on the Sting etc. web site. There are no mirrors of this page or of any other pages at this site. If you see mirrors of these pages at any other site, please notify me ASAP. Thank you.Please note that this FAQ and its maintainer, Marisa Meisters, have no affiliation whatsoever with The Police, Sting, Stewart Copeland, Andy Summers, their management, or A&M Records. Separate FAQs for Sting, Andy Summers, and Stewart Copeland are also available.
 Photo copyright © 2007 by Lawrence Impey. Questions answered by this FAQ:
The Police have reunited and are currently on tour through early August, 2008. The full list of tour dates can be found here. February 14, 2008: The Police have been nominated for a People's Choice Award. The show aired on January 8, 2008. They were nominated in the category "Favorite Reunion Tour." They did not win. Famous auction house Christie's held a Pop and Rock Memorabilia sale in New York which featured some Sting and Police items; part of the Ian Copeland estate. The sale was held on November 30, 2007 and included vintage concert posters, many record awards and a Rolling Stone cover plaque. On October 1, 2007, The Police were honored in Paris, France, with an award called "Order of the Arts and Letters" for their contribution to the arts. On September 29, at their Paris concert, The Police were joined on stage by original Police guitarist, Frenchman Henry Padovani, for the song Next to You. In September, 2007 in London, there was a new photo exhibit featuring pics from the early days of The Police, called On The Beat: The Police. The exhibition ran from Wednesday, September 5th - Sunday, September 23rd Here's a "snapshot" of a few photos from the exhibit; all photos Copyright © Lawrence Impey.
The Police are featured on the cover of Rolling Stone magazine for June 14, 2007. Get your copy from a magazine newsstand if you're interested in the article, interviews, and new photographs of the band. The Police were inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame on March 10, 2003 at a ceremony in New York City. Other bands that were also inducted on the same night include Elvis Costello and the Attractions, and The Clash. A CD single entitled When the World is Running Down has been released in Europe. This single was originally released as a bootleg but is now commercially available. It contains three remixes of the song by Different Gear. Track list:
On October 31, 2001, the new soundtrack for the film The Red Planet was released by Ark 21. The soundtrack includes one Police and one Sting contribution: A Thousand Years from Stings Brand New Day release appears on the album, as does a brand new remix of the Polices When The World is Running Down. Track list:
George Michael covers Roxanne on his latest album, Songs from the Last Century. He puts a big band/jazz spin on the song, making it completely different than the original. Another Police/Sting tribute album entitled Swingin to The Police and Sting has been released. This album contains instrumental covers of Police and Sting songs. If you want to hear your favorite group re-interpreted with a Big Band sound, this album might interest you. Track list:
Both Andy Summers and Stewart Copeland were in Havana, Cuba performing at a festival entitled Music Bridges Over Troubled Waters from March 21 - 29, 1999. The festival brought together Cuban and international musicians and concluded with an outdoor concert on March 29. Andy collaborated with American musician Brenda Russell and Cuban musicians Fernando Sorias (keyboardist) and Lucia Huergo (flautist). So far, no reports mention who Stewart was teamed with. The concert was videotaped and recorded for archival purposes. Due to copyright issues, it is unclear when the music will be released to record companies, though the promoters hope it will happen soon. Visit the Music Bridges Over Troubled Waters web site for further details and to see some photos of Andy, Stewart, and some of the other performers. A book entitled The Very Best of Sting and The Police has been published by Hal Leonard, the music publisher. The best guess is that it is either piano or guitar transcriptions of the Police and Sting songs released on last year's greatest hits album. Eberhard Schoener released a new album in October, 1998 entitled The Sound of Derrick which features three previously-released tracks performed by The Police: San Francisco Waitress, Speech Behind Speech, and Why Dont You Answer. Reggatta Mondatta part 2 was released in October, 1998. The track list is:
A new Sting & The Police CD Rom song book has been released by the company Eurpress in the UK for use with Windows 95 only. Price is £29.00.
Where can I order Police music/books/videos, etc. online? The Sting & Police Gift Guide lists CDs, books, videos, and more by The Police, Andy Summers, Stewart Copeland, and Sting which may be easily purchased on the internet. Show your support for The Police and for the Sting etc. web site with Sting etc. web site merchandise! All proceeds benefit the Sting etc. web site.
What careers did the band members have before joining The Police?
Why did they decide to call themselves The Police? Stewart Copeland joked that they called themselves The Police because it gave them free publicity in every country in the world. Has the group ever done any "sessions" work for other musicians? The Police recorded 17 songs for German studio musician Eberhard Schoener between 1978 - 1981. These recordings were released under the following titles: Video Flashback, Video Magic, Music from Video Magic and Flashback. What inspired the song Don't Stand so Close to Me? The song is based on a book called Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov. The book is about the unhealthy relationship between an older man and a young girl. What is Every Breath You Take about? Sting has explained that this is not a love song, as many people believe. It is about a man stalking his ex-girlfriend (listen especially to the lines "You belong to me" and "I'll be watching you" for example). Who played guitar for The Police before Andy Summers joined the band? Henri Padovani, born in Bastia (Corsica) October 13, 1952 was the original guitarist for The Police. He left the Police in disgust in 1977 and was replaced by Andy Summers. During part of the 1980's he was the manager for the European division of I.R.S - the record company founded by Miles Copeland. Stewart Currently he's a manager in Europe for Firstars Management, also run by Miles Copeland. Copeland said of Henri that all the guitar chords Henri knew (which were two) were taught to him by Stewart. Henri contributed (along with Andy Summers) to the song Dead End Job. Did The Police ever break up officially? No, they did not. After the Synchronicity tour ended in early 1984, there was rumor of a live album and then perhaps an album of covers (specifically 50's tunes). Neither of these surfaced as Sting insisted on pursuing his acting and solo careers. The Police reformed in the summer of 1986 for several shows on Amnesty International's Conspiracy of Hope Tour. Following that they immediately went into the studio to work on a new album. Apparently, no one had any new "Police" material written, so the album turned into a greatest hits. Sting wanted to re-record all the hits. His idea was that the three of them were better musicians now and that the songs should reflect that. Andy and Stewart however, felt that the originals were best left alone. In the end, they only re-recorded two: Don't Stand So Close To Me and De Do Do Do, De Da Da Da. The former was released on the greatest hits in place of the original. The latter was never released. The Police reformed again in 1992 for Sting's wedding to Trudie Styler. They played Roxanne and Message in a Bottle at the private reception at Sting's UK estate. In late 1992, Message in a Box: The Complete (sic) Recordings was released and all three members individually contributed to the liner notes and even did promotional radio interviews for it. In the Spring of 1995, the Andy Summers' produced The Police Live was released. It is rumored that Stewart Copeland also had a hand in its production. In the fall of 1995 a newly repackaged greatest hits album, Every Breath You Take - The Classics, was released to coincide with the digitally remastered re-release of all five of the Police's albums.
What do the album titles mean and who thought of them? Police manager Miles Copeland named the first three albums.
What does that strange writing on the cover of Ghost in the Machine say? It does not say anything, because it is not writing. It is a digital picture of the band. Apparently the members of The Police could not agree on a photo so they decided to put a graphic on the cover that would represent them instead. Sting is in the middle (he had spiked hair at the time), Stewart is on Sting's left (his hair goes across his forehead), Andy is on Sting's right (his is the smallest head). Are there any English translations for the song Hungry for You? Translations are available from http://stingetc.com/hungtr.shtml
Why was Murder by Numbers omitted from the vinyl copy of Synchronicity? Murder By Numbers was probably omitted from the vinyl copy because when Synchronicity was released, vinyl copies went on sale before cassettes or CD's. Diehard fans would purchase the vinyl album right away. So in order to get them to purchase the CD or tape when it came out, Murder By Numbers was added to those copies.
My copy of Message in a Box is subtitled "The Complete Recordings," yet I remember a single that was sung in Japanese. Message in a Box is billed as every note the Police recorded and released commercially, but there are at least a dozen songs that do not appear on the box set. They are as follows:
De Do Do Do, De Da Da Da was also re-recorded in 1986 for the "greatest hits" album. It was never released commercially though. Because of this, it is legitimately *not* included in the category of every note the Police recorded and released commercially. A similar situation exists with Voices Inside My Head. This song was re-recorded (perhaps at a sound check?) by the band in the early part of the 1980's for use as their on-stage introduction music in concert. It was never released commercially on an album or single, though you can hear it on the video The Synchronicity Concert. Has anyone noticed that the verse melody of Don't Stand so Close to Me turns up as the chorus melody in Dire Straits' Money for Nothing? Yes. Sting happened to be in Montserrat on vacation while the band Dire Straits was recording Brothers in Arms at A.I.R. Montserrat. Mark Knopfler invited Sting to lend his voice to the chorus of Money For Nothing, which he did. Reportedly, Sting was very upset that his music publishers insisted Sting be given song writing credit for Money For Nothing because of its similarity to Don't Stand So Close To Me. Are the Synchronicity Concert Video and disc 2- The Synchronicity Concert of The Police Live taken from the same concert? Yes and No. Apparently there were two Synchronicity shows in Atlanta in November 1983. Both of the aforementioned releases take recorded moments from each. Several songs on disc 2 of The Police Live (So Lonely for example) suggest that The Synchronicity Concert video was edited down to fit a required time limit. Questions about the management Who is Miles Copeland, SR? Miles Copeland II is Stewart's father. Miles was a "founder-member" of the United States C.I.A. (Central Intelligence Agency). Because his job took him to different countries, the Copelands grew up (mostly) outside of the USA. As Stewart has said, "I've been an American all my life, but I've never lived here." Who is Miles Copeland, JR? Miles Axe Copeland III is Stewart's oldest brother. He was the manager of the Police and currently (along with Kim Turner) manages Sting. He started I.R.S. (International Record Syndicate). He is credited with (among other things):
Ian Copeland is Stewart's other older brother. He runs FBI (Frontier Booking International) in the USA - a company that books acts across the country. Who is Kim Turner? Kim Turner was the sound man and later tour manager for the Police.
He now co-manages Sting with Miles Copeland.
How did Sting get his nickname? He received the nickname Sting while a member of The Phoenix Jazzmen. Everyone in the band had a nickname. One day Sting came to a rehearsal in a striped soccer sweater and the trombone player, Gordon Solomon, remarked that Sting looked like a bee. This led to him being called "Stinger" - which eventually became "Sting." What instruments do each of the band members play? Stewart Copeland plays drums, guitar, xylophone, Farlight, and bass. Andy Summers plays guitar and piano. Sting plays guitar, bass guitar, mandolin, piano, harmonica, saxophone, pan flute, oboe, Synclavier, and Moog footpedals. Regarding Sting's preferences in bass guitars, one of his favorites is a 1954 Fender Precision Bass, and he is also fond of his 1962 Fender Jazz which he has had since the age of 17. He also owns a 150 year-old upright bass (seldom used on tour) as well as a custom-made Hamer eight string. During his early Police days he used an Ibanez (long-scale fretless), a Z-bass that he purchased during the Zenyatta Mondatta tour which is a long, narrow upright bass that can be heard on the original Don't Stand So Close to Me and Every Little Thing She Does is Magic. He used a Steinberger during the Ghost in the Machine tour, a Spector, a Fender Telecaster, and a Fender Stratocaster for the Synchronicity tour (and the Fender Precision fretless from 1954 during the recording of the album). In the studio he uses any combination of bass guitars. Why did The Police dye their hair blond? They dyed their hair blond for a Wrigley's chewing gum commercial in which they appeared in 1978. Who created the first Police logo? The first Police logo (with a dark eagle) was created by Henri Padovani's brother, Patrick. Have the members of The Police ever used illegal drugs? Yes. All three have stated in interviews that they have at one time or another "experimented" with drugs. Both Stewart and Andy have admitted to using acid. Sting has admitted to using cocaine. Klark Kent is the mythical alter-ego of Stewart Copeland. As Sting started to introduce more and more of his songs into the band, he started to refuse to sing Stewart's songs (and he would change the lyrics to the Stewart songs that he would sing). Because of this, Stewart recorded his songs by himself and released them under the name Klark Kent. More on this character can be found in the liner notes to the original album Music Madness from the Kinetic Kid (later rereleased on CD with bonus tracks as Kollected Works). Have the members of The Police appeared on each other's solo albums, or performed together since the split? Yes. Andy made a guest appearance on Sting's album, Nothing Like the Sun (1987) and Sting in turn appeared on Andy's album, Charming Snakes (1990). Andy also toured briefly with an early incarnation of Animal Logic (featuring Stewart Copeland). Andy and Stewart have occasionally joined Sting on stage, individually, when he tours. Sting joined Andy for one of Andy's concerts in New York in 1997. Sting makes a guest appearance on Andy's 1999 album Green Chimneys. As for the whole band? The Police reformed again in 1992 for Sting's wedding to Trudie Styler. They played Roxanne and Message in a Bottle at the private reception at Sting's UK estate. Are there any other Police web sites? There are plenty, and these are some of the best:
Is there a Police mailing list on the internet?
Are there any web sites with Police lyrics? Yes.
Where can I find guitar tabs/chords of Police songs?
Is there an online mailing list for people who collect Sting/Police items? There is an internet mailing list called Freaks which is distributed on a monthly basis. To subscribe to Freaks or for more details, e-mail list maintainer Erwin Kempen at freaks@worldonline.nl and ask to be added to the Freaks mailing list.
Have any of the band members been featured on online chat sessions? Yes.
Fan club/merchandise information See the official Police web site for full details.
Are there any Police cover bands? Yes, there are quite a few bands which specialize in performing Police songs.
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