This month sees the release of an expanded version of The Police’s fifth and final album, Synchronicity. Running across six CDs, eight sides of vinyl or a more succinct two CD option, it charts the fractured recoding of the group’s long playing swan song. You can read MOJO’s review of the set and the full track listing of the different editions HERE.
To mark the release, The Police’s drummer and guitarist Stewart Copeland and Andy Summers sat down with MOJO’s Tom Doyle to discuss “the mighty ruckus” of the sessions for trio’s final album on the Caribbean island of Montserrat, the end of the band and the likelihood of another Police reunion...
Why did it feel like the right time to delve back into the archives?
Stewart Copeland: “Well, what happened was that The Beatles did a documentary called Get Back. Which changed everything for many groups across the lands, but certainly The Police, because up until that point, we had this policy, which was the only version that shall ever see the light of day is the finished product. Then we saw The Beatles in their underpants. And the realisation dawned that it actually increases the interest in the song to see it in its underpants under development.”
Montserrat must have been an idyllic place to make an album. At least in theory?
Andy Summers: “Personally, I didn’t like being out in Montserrat. The island was a bit of a diversion. It was actually quite a funky place. It wasn’t all deluxe tourist. It had a funky little town that we liked to go to, with a crazy little nightclub. Of course, in the studio, there was a lot of tension, and you could feel that in this case the lead singer was about to pull away… that somehow this was it.”
The story goes that Stewart and Sting had an almighty ruckus during the recording of Every Breath You Take…
AS: “That was pretty standard fare.”
SC: “I mean, the entire exercise was a mighty ruckus. We were all three pieces of shit in that room. We are not kindly individuals. Andy and Sting are both wonderful human beings until they’re in The Police room. Then they turn into fucking assholes. The only worse asshole was probably me.”
AS: “I think any band worth anything has to have creative tension. Music can’t be made from a mellow state. It’s gotta be made with tension.”
Was it clear to everyone that this would be the last album?
AS: “Everything was much more subversive, buried within complicated personalities. I could feel it. I knew it. I’m surprised we lasted as long as we did considering the personalities involved.”
SC: “I am grateful that we got that many records. I’m glad I did not throttle the life out of Stingo after all.”
Synchronicity was also your most successful album…
AS: “I think we went out on a high. We sold 75 million records [in total]. Can’t complain about that. It gave us all a marvellous platform and legacies to live with, or if not, beat…”
SC: “We’re very pleased, I think, all three of us, that we left at the top of the parabola. We never saw the other side of the parabola. We take great pride in that.”
After the 2007-8 reunion tour, is it definitely all over for The Police? Or is there any shared feeling within the band that you’d like to get back together one last time?
SC: “No. There’s at least a 0000000000000000000000.1 per cent chance of it ever happening.”
Explaining to someone why their song isn’t working is a bit like saying their girlfriend’s ugly.
Sting
Speaking to MOJO in 2022, Sting spoke to Dorian Lynskey about how the creative tensions within the group ultimately led to The Police’s demise, but that despite their ongoing differences, he didn’t regret their 2017 reunion.
In your book you call the decision not to split songwriting credits the reason for the Police’s ultimate demise, but you also say you were bound to want your freedom eventually. Are both reasons true?
Sting: “My frustration was I would have written an album’s worth of material but also had to entertain these other songs that were not as good. Explaining to someone why their song isn’t working is a bit like saying their girlfriend’s ugly. It’s a very personal thing. That pain was something I didn’t want to go through anymore.”
Your recording career lasted just six years. Could anything have kept The Police together?
"I don’t think any grown man can be in a band, actually. A band is a teenage gang. Who wants to be in a teenage gang when you’re knocking 70? It doesn’t allow you to evolve. You have to obey the rules and the gestalt of the band. As much as I love the Stones and AC/DC, it’s hard to see growth in their music. For me, the band was merely a vehicle for the songs and not the other way around."
What did you expect from the Police reunion and did you get it?
"I’d said no, no, no, no, no on numerous occasions but I thought my timing was impeccable. Any later I think would have been wrong. Any sooner would have been wrong. It was cashing that asset in, saying, Let’s do it one more time and see what happens. It was hugely successful but I wouldn’t do it again. That would be a bridge too far."
So you don’t regret it?
"No, absolutely not. I mean, it was hard because the power struggles were still very apparent, but we got through it and people loved it, they really did."
The latest issue of MOJO is on sale now! Featuring Nick Cave, Van Morrison, James Brown, Fontaines D.C., Joe Boyd, Françoise Hardy, The Jesus & Mary Chain, Doug Sahm, Cassandra Jenkins, Average White Band, The Jesus Lizard, The Police, Man, Syd Barrett’s floorboards and more! Plus, a bespoke CD of rare, live and classic Nick Cave tracks. More info and to order a copy HERE!
Photo: Alamy