West - Sting and The Police : walking in their footsteps

Walking in Their Footsteps

Aaron J. West

ROWMAN & LITTLEFIELD

Lanham Boulder New York London

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

West, Aaron J.

Sting and The Police : walking in their footsteps / Aaron J. West.

pages cm. (Tempo : a Rowman & Littlefield music series on rock, pop, and culture)

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN 978-0-8108-8490-8 (hardback : alk. paper) ISBN 978-0-8108-8491-5 (ebook) 1. Police (Musical group) 2. Sting (Musician) 3. Rock music1981-1990History and criticism. I. Title.

ML421.P67W47 2015

782.42166092'2dc23

2015015451

TM The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of American National Standard for Information Sciences Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI/NISO Z39.48-1992.

Printed in the United States of America

Scott Calhoun, Series Editor

The following exploration of Sting and The Police as artistsas jazz-, funk-, reggae-, and folk-pop artists, specificallygets it right about how a three-piece combo can turn alchemic. Stewart Copeland, Andy Summers, and Gordon Matthew Sumner, or Sting, brought their musical curiosities and complex personalities together to form a new wave of astute, infectious English song craft, while giving audiences years of thrilling performances. Aaron J. West gets it right too, about the chemistry of a complicated musical artist who trends toward the restless, virtuosic type, as is true of Sting. Seeming to enjoy the chase of craft as much as the adulation of the crowd, The Polices potency came from skillful compounding of musical styles already marked by strong grooves, inventive tempos, and playfulness. The music The Police made, and that Sting continues to make, has satisfied the literate and literary, as well the mainstream appetite for something eminently fun to sing and dance to. But Stings thirst for a greater, more singular pursuit of craft and crowd sent him on many more cultural quests after The Police, looking for the pop hooks, world beats, activist heroics, and even stage roles offered by film and theater, to satiate the artist.

Sometimes accused of appropriation by critics who lean toward purists, The Polices music has nevertheless endured. It has inspired many post-1980s artists who had the good fortune of composing their songs in times when borrowing, referencing, and sampling was de rigueur. At times accused of affectation, Sting, never the shy nor demure performer, has turned any such complaints to his advantage, commanding our attention when on a new project by promising to tip the balance from showmanship toward sophistication. This study presents Sting and The Police by choosing a different path of presentation. Pop legends they are, with storied lives and plenty of laurels to show for it. But Wests perspective is drawn to seeing their rise to acclaim and influence in popular music history as the acts of artists choosing their colors, their brush strokes, and their canvases, intentionally assembling the pieces to make something brilliantly new.