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15 Things

You Never Knew About The Police | The Police

Article from Making Music, October 1986

15 things you never knew about them.



"You can put it like this. Losing my virginity coincided with the first gig I ever played in a group." Stewart Copeland on the attractions of rock and roll.

The boy Sting had early childhood crazes for swimming and running, but grew so quickly he earned another nickname long before he was waspishly christened. At school they called him Lurch.

Andy Summers once walked out of a crash where the car rolled over three times. He broke his nose, but no fingers.

Stewart was a one-time roadie for Wishbone Ash and Renaissance, then became musical director of a band called Cat Iron. His on-stage contribution included dressing up as a policeman and having his (stand-in) willy sliced off.

The Police's busiest performance must have come when they played the Hammersmith Odeon and the Hammersmith Palais on the same night. They were escorted around the corner in an armoured personnel carrier.

Ex-teacher Sting believes his classroom training was a good education for the life of a superstar. He says it taught him not to be nervous in front of a lot of strange people.

While in America, Andy Summers temporarily shared a house with Paul Michael Glaser (Starsky from Starsky and Hutch, but they didn't jump on any cars).

Stewart Copeland claims that in the early punk days of the Police he once changed the name of one of Sting's songs from "Love Is In My Heart" to "Three O'Clock Shit". Just for the set list, you understand.

The first major band Andy Summers appeared in was Zoot Money's Big Roll Band. It later transformed into Dantalion's Chariot, after a brush with certain mind expanding substances.

The film "Quadrophenia" gave Sting one of his early movie appearances, but his part in "The Great Rock And Roll Swindle" was edited out.

The first instrument to come into contact with Stewart Copeland was the trumpet. It was not a successful collaboration.

For several years in California, Andy Summers entirely abandoned the electric guitar and concentrated on the classical instrument and its music, turning teacher for a time.

The Police's original line-up included Henry Padovani as the guitarist in the three-piece. Henry's three-chord-trick expertise and Sting's ex-jazz-band bass technicianship didn't exactly hit it off.

Before Andy Summers joined, eventually replacing Padovani, he'd already worked with Sting and Stewart in a project called Strontium 90, a one-off band put together for a Gong reunion gig.

Before the Police had their first success, Stewart Copeland made it as a solo star. He was a heavily disguised Klark Kent, and made it into the charts with one number.


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Publisher: Making Music - Track Record Publishing Ltd, Nexus Media Ltd.

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Making Music - Oct 1986

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Previous article in this issue:

> Cutting Comments

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> Rickenbacker Five String


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