The Police

從70年代到80年代，在日益喧囂的歐美流行樂(lè)壇上，“警察”樂(lè)隊(duì)以其講究旋律的慢搖滾風(fēng)格， 異軍突起,受到依然緬懷“甲殼蟲(chóng)”光景樂(lè)迷們的擁戴。
“警察”樂(lè)隊(duì)被看作是一支英國(guó)樂(lè)隊(duì),主要是因?yàn)闃?lè)隊(duì)的臺(tái)柱斯汀(Sting)是一個(gè)英國(guó)人。斯汀原名叫戈登.塞納，1952年出生于英格蘭一個(gè)工人家庭，上大學(xué)和朋友組織了一個(gè)爵士樂(lè)組合，常在公共酒館演出。事有湊巧，另兩個(gè)年輕的流行樂(lè)手科浦蘭（Copeland)和帕多瓦尼（Padovani)不滿于自己的樂(lè)隊(duì)組合，正在到處尋找著合作者，他們一眼就看出，酒巴中聽(tīng)眾的熱情是沖著斯汀來(lái)的。盡管斯汀一開(kāi)始對(duì)他們的建議不甚熱心，因?yàn)樗�一心要在爵士�?lè)方面出人頭地，但是最終還是被說(shuō)動(dòng)，一個(gè)藝人樂(lè)隊(duì)誕生了。 為了給科浦蘭在美國(guó)任高官的父親開(kāi)個(gè)玩笑，取了“警察”這個(gè)名字。1976年他們靠借貸出了第一張唱片，居然累計(jì)賣了一萬(wàn)多張。帕多瓦尼改換門庭后，樂(lè)隊(duì)請(qǐng)來(lái)了老資格的吉它手安迪.薩默斯。 這其間，樂(lè)隊(duì)內(nèi)部關(guān)系融洽，氣氛和諧，斯汀的創(chuàng)作決定了樂(lè)隊(duì)的基調(diào)。在西德的演出中，斯汀推出了他的敘事民謠“Roxanne”，這明顯與朋克搖滾不同，更軟，更柔和，旋律更動(dòng)聽(tīng),廣受歡迎�？破痔m當(dāng)時(shí)正熱衷于牙買加音樂(lè),于是便將兩者加以揉合出版了新唱片,其收益使他們有能力進(jìn)行一次美國(guó)巡回演出。這次演出不太成功，評(píng)論界反應(yīng)不強(qiáng)烈。1978年，他們又將“Roxanne”收入唱片出版,這一次評(píng)論界開(kāi)始注意這支樂(lè)隊(duì)的與眾不同之處了。盡管BBC還禁播他們的歌曲,但這首歌還是在英美同時(shí)上榜。接下來(lái)的幾年幾乎是警察”樂(lè)隊(duì)的巔峰期,1981年獲得葛萊美獎(jiǎng)。
1982年樂(lè)隊(duì)消失了一年,成 員們忙于處理個(gè)人事務(wù),但是1983年復(fù)出時(shí),依然一舉上榜,尤其是《你的一顰一笑》（Every Breathe You Take)暢銷不衰，是多年少見(jiàn)的盛況，再度獲得葛萊美獎(jiǎng)，證明了他們的雄厚實(shí)力和忠實(shí),廣泛的聽(tīng)眾群。1986年，“警察”為大赦國(guó)際義演三場(chǎng)，按照斯汀的說(shuō)法，他們用這種有意義的形式，向大家告別了。
Nominally, the Police were punk rock, but that's only in the loosest sense of the term. The trio's nervous, reggae-injected pop/rock was punky, but it wasn't necessarily punk. All three members were considerably more technically proficient than the average punk or new wave band. Andy Summers had a precise guitar attack that created dense, interlocking waves of sounds and effects. Stewart Copeland could play polyrhythms effortlessly. And Sting, with his high, keening voice, was capable of constructing infectiously catchy pop songs. While they weren't punk, the Police certainly demonstrated that the punk spirit could have a future in pop music. As their career progressed, the Police grew considerably more adventurous, experimenting with jazz and various world musics. All the while, the band's tight delivery and mastery of the pop single kept their audience increasing, and by 1983, they were the most popular rock & roll band in the world. Though they were at the height of their fame, internal tensions caused the band to splinter apart in 1984, with Sting picking up the majority of the band's audience to become an international superstar.
Stewart Copeland and Sting (born Gordon Sumner) formed the Police in 1977. Prior to the band's formation, Copeland, the son of a CIA agent, had attended college in California, before he moved to England and joined the progressive rock band Curved Air. Sting was a teacher and a ditch digger who played in jazz-rock bands, including Last Exit, on the side. The two musicians met at a local jazz club and decided to form a progressive pop band with guitarist Henri Padovani. For the first few months, the group played local London pubs. Soon, they were hired to appear as a bleached-blonde punk band in a chewing gum commercial. While the commercial provided exposure, it drew the scorn of genuine punkers. Late in 1977, the band released its first single, "Fall Out," on IRS, an independent label Stewart Copeland founded with his brother Miles, who was also the manager of the Police. The single was a sizable hit for an independent release, selling about 70,000 copies.
Padovani was replaced by Andy Summers, a veteran of the British Invasion, following the release of "Fall Out." Summers had previous played with Eric Burdon's second lineup of the Animals, the Zoot Money's Big Roll Band, the Kevin Ayers Band, and Neil Sedaka. The Police signed with A&M by the spring of 1978, committing to a contract that gave the group a higher royalty rate in lieu of a large advance. A&M released "Roxanne" in the spring of 1978, but it failed to chart. The Police set out on a tour of America in the summer of 1978 without any record to support, traveling across the country in a rented van and playing with rented equipment. Released in the fall of 1978, Outlandos d'Amour began a slow climb into the British Top Ten and American Top 30. Immediately after its release, the group began a U.K. tour supporting Alberto y los Trios Paranoias and released the "So Lonely" single. By the spring of 1979, the re-released "Roxanne" had climbed to number 12 on the U.K. charts, taking Outlandos d'Amour to number six. In the summer of 1979, Sting appeared in Quadrophenia, a British film based on the Who album of the same name; later that year, he acted in Radio On.
Preceded by the number one British single "Message in a Bottle," Reggatta de Blanc (fall 1979) established the group as stars in England and Europe, topping the U.K. charts for four weeks. Following its release, Miles Copeland had the band tour several countries that rarely received concerts from foreign performers, including Thailand, India, Mexico, Greece, and Egypt. Zenyatta Mondatta, released in the fall of 1980, became the Police's North American breakthrough, reaching the Top Ten in the U.S. and Canada; in England, the album spent four weeks at number one. "Don't Stand So Close to Me," the album's first single, became the group's second number one single in the U.K.; in America, the single became their second Top Ten hit in the spring of 1981, following the number ten placing of "De Do Do Do, De Da Da Da" in the winter. By the beginning of 1981, the Police were able to sell out Madison Square Garden. Capitalizing on their success, the band returned to the studio in the summer of 1981 to record their fourth album with producer Hugh Padgham. The sessions, which were filmed for a BBC documentary hosted by Jools Holland, were completed within a couple months, and the album, Ghost in the Machine, appeared in the fall of 1981. Ghost in the Machine became an instant hit, reaching number one in the U.K. and number two in the U.S. as "Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic" became their biggest hit to date.
Following their whirlwind success of 1980 and 1981, in which they were named the Best British Group at the first Brit Awards and won three Grammys, the band took a break in 1982. Though they played their first arena concerts and headlined the U.S. Festival, each member pursued side projects during the course of the year. Sting acted in Brimstone and Treacle, releasing a solo single, "Spread a Little Happiness," from the soundtrack; the song became a British hit. Copeland scored Francis Ford Coppola's Rumble Fish, as well as the San Francisco Ballet's King Lear, and released an album under the name Klark Kent; he also played on several sessions for Peter Gabriel. Summers recorded an instrumental album, I Advance Masked, with Robert Fripp. The Police returned in the summer of 1983 with Synchronicity, which entered the U.K. charts at number one and quickly climbed to the same position in the U.S., where it would stay for 17 weeks. Synchronicity became a blockbuster success on the strength of the ballad "Every Breath You Take." Spending eight weeks at the top of the U.S. charts, "Every Breath You Take" became one of the biggest American hits of all time; it spent four weeks at the top of the U.K. charts. "King of Pain" and "Wrapped Around Your Finger" became hits over the course of 1983, sending Synchronicity to multi-platinum status in America and Britain. The Police supported the album with a blockbuster, record-breaking world tour that set precedents for tours for the remainder of the '80s. Once the tour was completed, the band announced they were going on "sabbatical" in order to pursue outside interests.