126-473: " Invisible Sun " is a song by British rock band the Police , released as a single in Europe in September 1981. It was the first single to be released in the United Kingdom from the album Ghost in the Machine and it reached No. 2 on the official chart. The song also reached No. 5 in Ireland and No. 27 in the Netherlands. It was not released as a single in the United States. In most other territories, " Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic "
252-626: A "special relationship to time defined as 'swing ' ". Jazz involves "a spontaneity and vitality of musical production in which improvisation plays a role" and contains a "sonority and manner of phrasing which mirror the individuality of the performing jazz musician". A broader definition that encompasses different eras of jazz has been proposed by Travis Jackson: "it is music that includes qualities such as swing, improvising, group interaction, developing an 'individual voice', and being open to different musical possibilities". Krin Gibbard argued that "jazz
378-473: A drum made by stretching skin over a flour-barrel. Lavish festivals with African-based dances to drums were organized on Sundays at Place Congo, or Congo Square, in New Orleans until 1843. There are historical accounts of other music and dance gatherings elsewhere in the southern United States. Robert Palmer said of percussive slave music: Usually such music was associated with annual festivals, when
504-528: A festival in Gateshead , England, and two subsequent instances occurred at the last two shows of Amnesty International 's A Conspiracy of Hope Tour in 1986. The song is a departure from Police songs before it; "Invisible Sun" contains a dark, looping synthesizer beat, and powerful, haunting lyrics. Among other things, the lyrics refer to the ArmaLite rifle used by paramilitary organisations, but mainly by
630-551: A few months of their first gig, the line-up settled as Sting (lead vocals, bass guitar, primary songwriter), Andy Summers (guitar) and Stewart Copeland (drums, percussion), and this remained unchanged for the rest of the band's history. The Police became globally popular from the late 1970s to the mid-1980s. Emerging in the British new wave scene, they played a style of rock influenced by punk , reggae , and jazz . Their 1978 debut album, Outlandos d'Amour , reached No. 6 on
756-456: A form of folk music which arose in part from the work songs and field hollers of African-American slaves on plantations. These work songs were commonly structured around a repetitive call-and-response pattern, but early blues was also improvisational. Classical music performance is evaluated more by its fidelity to the musical score , with less attention given to interpretation, ornamentation, and accompaniment. The classical performer's goal
882-465: A horse and that meant we lost our last chance of recovering some rapport just by jamming together. Anyway, it was clear Sting had no real intention of writing any new songs for the Police. It was an empty exercise." Each band member continued with his solo career over the next 20 years. Sting continued recording and touring as a solo performer to great success. Summers recorded a number of albums, both as
1008-610: A last tour. The band opened the 49th Annual Grammy Awards on 11 February 2007 in Los Angeles, announcing, "Ladies and gentlemen, we are The Police, and we're back!" before launching into "Roxanne". A&M, the band's record company, promoted the 2007–08 reunion tour as the 30th anniversary of the band's formation and of the release of their first single for A&M, "Roxanne". The Police Reunion Tour began in late May 2007 with two shows in Vancouver . Stewart Copeland gave
1134-410: A limited melodic range, sounding like a field holler, and the guitar accompaniment was slapped rather than strummed, like a small drum which responded in syncopated accents, functioning as another "voice". Handy and his band members were formally trained African-American musicians who had not grown up with the blues, yet he was able to adapt the blues to a larger band instrument format and arrange them in
1260-558: A live version of "Truth Hits Everybody". It reached No. 17 in the UK Singles Chart (although chart regulations introduced later in the decade would have classed it as an album). Pressured by their record company for a new record and a prompt return to touring, the Police released their third album, Zenyatta Mondatta , on 3 October 1980. The album was recorded in a three-week period in the Netherlands for tax reasons and
1386-460: A multi- strain ragtime march with four parts that feature recurring themes and a bass line with copious seventh chords . Its structure was the basis for many other rags, and the syncopations in the right hand, especially in the transition between the first and second strain, were novel at the time. The last four measures of Scott Joplin's "Maple Leaf Rag" (1899) are shown below. African-based rhythmic patterns such as tresillo and its variants,
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#17327916780721512-471: A number of music awards, including six Grammy Awards , two Brit Awards —winning Best British Group once, and an MTV Video Music Award . In 2003, they were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame . Four of their five studio albums appeared on Rolling Stone ' s list of the " 500 Greatest Albums of All Time ". The band were included among both Rolling Stone ' s and VH1 's lists of
1638-518: A pitch which he called a 'jazz ball' "because it wobbles and you simply can't do anything with it". The use of the word in a musical context was documented as early as 1915 in the Chicago Daily Tribune . Its first documented use in a musical context in New Orleans was in a November 14, 1916, Times-Picayune article about "jas bands". In an interview with National Public Radio , musician Eubie Blake offered his recollections of
1764-660: A popular music form. Handy wrote about his adopting of the blues: The primitive southern Negro, as he sang, was sure to bear down on the third and seventh tone of the scale, slurring between major and minor. Whether in the cotton field of the Delta or on the Levee up St. Louis way, it was always the same. Till then, however, I had never heard this slur used by a more sophisticated Negro, or by any white man. I tried to convey this effect ... by introducing flat thirds and sevenths (now called blue notes) into my song, although its prevailing key
1890-757: A prominent horn section. The track was featured in The X-Files: The Album , a promotional soundtrack album released to accompany the film The X-Files: Fight The Future . "Invisible Sun" is composed in the key of E-flat major/C minor with the verses alternating between these keys. The verses give off an ominous and desperate feeling. The chorus is in G major and is heavier and more bombastic. 7-inch : A&M / AMS 8164 (UK) 7-inch : A&M / AMS 8164 (NL) Shipments figures based on certification alone. The Police The Police were an English rock band formed in London in 1977. Within
2016-433: A punk band (blond being associated with punk at the time). The commercial was shot with the band—Summers states, "There’s a shot of us carrying a 6-foot-long packet of Wrigley’s across the room"—but was shelved and never aired. Copeland's older brother Miles was initially sceptical of the inclusion of Summers in the band, fearing it would undermine their punk credibility, and reluctantly agreed to provide £1,500 to finance
2142-636: A scathing review of the show on his own website, which the press interpreted as a feud occurring two gigs into the tour. Copeland later apologised for besmirching "my buddy Sting," and chalked up the comments to "hyper self-criticism". Jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans , Louisiana , in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues , ragtime , European harmony , African rhythmic rituals, spirituals , hymns , marches , vaudeville song, and dance music . Since
2268-693: A solo artist and in collaboration with other musicians. Copeland became a prolific producer of movie and television soundtracks, and he recorded and toured with two new bands, Animal Logic and Oysterhead . However, a few events did bring the Police back together, albeit briefly. Summers played guitar on Sting's album ...Nothing Like the Sun (1987), a favour the singer returned by playing bass on Summers' album Charming Snakes (1990) and later singing lead vocals on " 'Round Midnight " for Summers' tribute to Thelonious Monk Green Chimneys (1999). On 2 October 1991 (Sting's 40th birthday), Summers joined Sting on stage at
2394-543: A substantial hit, peaking at No. 2. The group's first single, "Fall Out", was reissued in late 1979, peaking at No. 47 in the UK. In October 1979, the group released their second album, Reggatta de Blanc , which topped the UK Albums Chart and became the first of four consecutive UK No. 1 studio albums. The album spawned the hit singles " Message in a Bottle " (No. 1 UK, No. 2 Canada, No. 5 Australia) and " Walking on
2520-454: Is a construct" which designates "a number of musics with enough in common to be understood as part of a coherent tradition". Duke Ellington , one of jazz's most famous figures, said, "It's all music." Although jazz is considered difficult to define, in part because it contains many subgenres, improvisation is one of its defining elements. The centrality of improvisation is attributed to the influence of earlier forms of music such as blues ,
2646-693: Is a fundamental rhythmic figure heard in many different slave musics of the Caribbean, as well as the Afro-Caribbean folk dances performed in New Orleans Congo Square and Gottschalk's compositions (for example "Souvenirs From Havana" (1859)). Tresillo (shown below) is the most basic and most prevalent duple-pulse rhythmic cell in sub-Saharan African music traditions and the music of the African Diaspora . Tresillo
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#17327916780722772-558: Is a reminder of "an oppressive and racist society and restrictions on their artistic visions". Amiri Baraka argues that there is a "white jazz" genre that expresses whiteness . White jazz musicians appeared in the Midwest and in other areas throughout the U.S. Papa Jack Laine , who ran the Reliance band in New Orleans in the 1910s, was called "the father of white jazz". The Original Dixieland Jazz Band , whose members were white, were
2898-493: Is heard prominently in New Orleans second line music and in other forms of popular music from that city from the turn of the 20th century to present. "By and large the simpler African rhythmic patterns survived in jazz ... because they could be adapted more readily to European rhythmic conceptions," jazz historian Gunther Schuller observed. "Some survived, others were discarded as the Europeanization progressed." In
3024-529: Is that the band merely utilized the trappings of 1970s British punk : the bleached blond short hair, Sting in his jumpsuits or army jackets, Copeland and his near maniacal drumming style. In fact, they were criticized by other punk bands for not being authentic and lacking 'street cred'. What The Police did perhaps take from punk was a brand of nervous, energetic disillusion with 1970s Britain. The band were also able to draw on influences from reggae to jazz to progressive and pub rock . While still maintaining
3150-520: Is the only Police recording featuring Padovani. Mick Jagger reviewed the single in Sounds magazine. Also in May 1977, former Gong musician Mike Howlett invited Sting to join him in the band project Strontium 90 . The drummer Howlett had in mind, Chris Cutler , was unavailable, so Sting took Copeland. The band's fourth member was guitarist Andy Summers . A decade older than Sting and Copeland, Summers
3276-437: Is to play the composition as it was written. In contrast, jazz is often characterized by the product of interaction and collaboration, placing less value on the contribution of the composer, if there is one, and more on the performer. The jazz performer interprets a tune in individual ways, never playing the same composition twice. Depending on the performer's mood, experience, and interaction with band members or audience members,
3402-572: The Every Breath You Take: The Classics album in 1995. The album has sold over five million copies in the US. Following the failed effort to record a new studio album, the Police effectively disbanded. In the liner notes to the Police's box set Message in a Box , Summers explains: "The attempt to record a new album was doomed from the outset. The night before we went into the studio Stewart broke his collarbone falling off
3528-625: The Atlantic slave trade had brought nearly 400,000 Africans to North America. The slaves came largely from West Africa and the greater Congo River basin and brought strong musical traditions with them. The African traditions primarily use a single-line melody and call-and-response pattern, and the rhythms have a counter-metric structure and reflect African speech patterns. An 1885 account says that they were making strange music (Creole) on an equally strange variety of 'instruments'—washboards, washtubs, jugs, boxes beaten with sticks or bones and
3654-620: The BBC 's playlist, which the band attributed to the song's depiction of prostitution. A&M consequently promoted the single with posters claiming "Banned by the BBC", though this was a misconception. It was never banned, just not play-listed. Copeland later admitted, "We got a lot of mileage out of it being supposedly banned by the BBC." The Police made their first television appearance in October 1978, on BBC2 's The Old Grey Whistle Test to promote
3780-617: The Dixieland jazz revival of the 1940s, Black musicians rejected it as being shallow nostalgia entertainment for white audiences. On the other hand, traditional jazz enthusiasts have dismissed bebop, free jazz, and jazz fusion as forms of debasement and betrayal. An alternative view is that jazz can absorb and transform diverse musical styles. By avoiding the creation of norms, jazz allows avant-garde styles to emerge. For some African Americans, jazz has drawn attention to African-American contributions to culture and history. For others, jazz
3906-584: The Hollywood Bowl during The Soul Cages Tour to perform "Walking on the Moon", "Every Breath You Take", and "Message in a Bottle". The performance was broadcast as a pay-per-view event. On 22 August 1992, Sting married Trudie Styler in an 11th-century chapel in Wiltshire , southwest England. Summers and Copeland were invited to the ceremony and reception. Aware that all band members were present,
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4032-642: The Music Machine in London and on 5 August at the Mont de Marsan Punk Festival. Shortly after these two gigs (and an aborted recording session with ex- Velvet Underground member John Cale as producer on 10 August), Summers delivered an ultimatum to the band and Padovani was dismissed. The effect of Summers's arrival was instant: Copeland said: "One by one, Sting's songs had started coming in, and when Andy joined, it opened up new numbers of Sting's we could do, so
4158-637: The Omni in Atlanta, Georgia, during the Synchronicity Tour (the latter was also documented in the VHS tape Synchronicity Concert in 1984). On 10 March 2003, the Police were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and performed "Roxanne", "Message in a Bottle", and "Every Breath You Take" live, as a group (the last song was performed alongside Steven Tyler , Gwen Stefani , and John Mayer ). In
4284-573: The Provisional Irish Republican Army . The music video for "Invisible Sun" features a collection of video clips taken from the conflict in Northern Ireland. Owing to its subject matter, it was banned by the BBC . In 1998, Sting recorded a new version of "Invisible Sun" with the British reggae group Aswad . The song was revised as a duet between Sting and vocalist Tony "Gad" Robinson with an upbeat tempo and
4410-674: The Richard Loncraine film Brimstone and Treacle . He also had a minor solo hit in the United Kingdom with the movie's theme song, a cover of the 1929 hit " Spread a Little Happiness " (which appeared on the Brimstone & Treacle soundtrack , along with three new Police tracks, "How Stupid Mr Bates", "A Kind of Loving", and "I Burn for You"). Over 1981 and 1982, Summers recorded his first album with Robert Fripp , I Advance Masked . In 1983, Stewart Copeland composed
4536-407: The UK Albums Chart and contains the singles " Roxanne " and " Can't Stand Losing You ". Their second album, Reggatta de Blanc (1979), became the first of four consecutive No. 1 studio albums in the UK and Australia; its first two singles, " Message in a Bottle " and " Walking on the Moon ", became their first UK number-one singles. Their next two albums, Zenyatta Mondatta (1980) and Ghost in
4662-524: The contemporary punk rock movement , was eager to form a new band to join the burgeoning London punk scene. While less keen, Sting acknowledged the commercial opportunities, so they formed the Police as a trio, with Corsican guitarist Henry Padovani recruited as the third member. After their debut concert on 1 March 1977 at the Alexandria Club in Newport , Wales (which lasted only ten minutes),
4788-521: The "100 Greatest Artists of All Time". On 25 September 1976, while on tour with the British progressive rock band Curved Air in Newcastle upon Tyne , in the northeast of England, the band's American drummer, Stewart Copeland , met and exchanged phone numbers with ambitious singer-bassist Gordon Sumner, a.k.a. Sting , who at the time was playing in a jazz-rock fusion band called Last Exit . On 12 January 1977, Sting relocated to London, and on
4914-411: The 1920s Jazz Age , it has been recognized as a major form of musical expression in traditional and popular music . Jazz is characterized by swing and blue notes , complex chords , call and response vocals , polyrhythms and improvisation . As jazz spread around the world, it drew on national, regional, and local musical cultures, which gave rise to different styles. New Orleans jazz began in
5040-451: The 1950s, many women jazz instrumentalists were prominent, some sustaining long careers. Some of the most distinctive improvisers, composers, and bandleaders in jazz have been women. Trombonist Melba Liston is acknowledged as the first female horn player to work in major bands and to make a real impact on jazz, not only as a musician but also as a respected composer and arranger, particularly through her collaborations with Randy Weston from
5166-523: The 1981 concert film, Urgh! A Music War . The film, which captured the music scene in the wake of punk , was masterminded by Stewart Copeland's brothers Ian and Miles. The film had a limited release but developed a mythic reputation over the years. At the 1982 Brit Awards in London, the Police received the award for Best British Group . After the Ghost in the Machine Tour concluded in 1982,
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5292-513: The 1985 Brit Awards held at London's Grosvenor Hotel on 11 February, the band received the award for Outstanding Contribution to Music. In July the same year, Sting and Copeland participated in Live Aid at Wembley Stadium , London. "It was very emotional for them. I think it was clear in Sting's eyes that he was not going to be in a band anymore. They had come together for this tour and that
5418-476: The 21st century, such as Latin and Afro-Cuban jazz . The origin of the word jazz has resulted in considerable research, and its history is well documented. It is believed to be related to jasm , a slang term dating back to 1860 meaning ' pep, energy ' . The earliest written record of the word is in a 1912 article in the Los Angeles Times in which a minor league baseball pitcher described
5544-572: The Black middle-class. Blues is the name given to both a musical form and a music genre, which originated in African-American communities of primarily the Deep South of the United States at the end of the 19th century from their spirituals , work songs , field hollers , shouts and chants and rhymed simple narrative ballads . The African use of pentatonic scales contributed to
5670-464: The Caribbean. African-based rhythmic patterns were retained in the United States in large part through "body rhythms" such as stomping, clapping, and patting juba dancing . In the opinion of jazz historian Ernest Borneman , what preceded New Orleans jazz before 1890 was "Afro-Latin music", similar to what was played in the Caribbean at the time. A three-stroke pattern known in Cuban music as tresillo
5796-551: The Machine (1981), led to further critical and commercial success, with two songs, " Don't Stand So Close to Me " and " Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic ", becoming UK number-one singles and Top 5 hits in other countries. The former album was their breakthrough into the US, reaching number five on the US Billboard 200 . Their final studio album, Synchronicity (1983), was No. 1 in the UK, Canada, Australia, Italy and
5922-526: The Machine , co-produced by Hugh Padgham , was recorded at AIR Studios on the Caribbean island of Montserrat , with the exception of "Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic" which was recorded at Le Studio at Morin Heights, Quebec, Canada, and released in 1981. It featured thicker sounds, layered saxophones, and vocal textures. It spawned the hit singles " Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic " (featuring pianist Jean Roussel ), their fourth UK No. 1 (No. 3 in
6048-579: The Moon " (No. 1 UK). The album's singles failed to enter the US top 40, but Reggatta de Blanc still reached No. 25 on the US album charts. The band's first live performance of "Message in a Bottle" was on the BBC's television show Rock Goes to College filmed at Hatfield Polytechnic College in Hertfordshire. The instrumental title track " Reggatta de Blanc " won the Grammy Award for Best Rock Instrumental Performance. In February 1980,
6174-537: The Police No. 70 on their list of the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time. In 2006, Stewart Copeland released a rockumentary about the band called Everyone Stares: The Police Inside Out , based on Super-8 filming he did when the band was touring and recording in the late 1970s and early 1980s. In October 2006, Andy Summers released One Train Later , an autobiographical memoir detailing his early career and time with
6300-659: The Police released their last studio album, Synchronicity , which spawned the hit singles " Every Breath You Take ", " Wrapped Around Your Finger ", " King of Pain ", and " Synchronicity II ". By that time, several critics deemed them "the biggest rock band in the world". Recording the album, however, was a tense affair with increasing disputes among the band. The three members recorded their contributions individually in separate rooms and over-dubbed at different times. The Synchronicity Tour began in Chicago, Illinois in July 1983 at
6426-539: The Police's first album. Recording Outlandos d'Amour was difficult, as the band was working on a small budget, with no manager or record deal. It was recorded during off-peak hours at the Surrey Sound Studios in Leatherhead , Surrey, a converted recording facility above a dairy which was run by brothers Chris and Nigel Gray . During one of his periodic studio visits, Miles heard " Roxanne " for
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#17327916780726552-561: The Schoener outfit on German television made the German public aware of Sting's unusual high-pitched voice, and helped pave the way for the Police's later popularity. The bleached-blond hair that became a band trademark happened by accident. In February 1978, the band, desperate for money, were asked to do a commercial for Wrigley's Spearmint chewing gum (directed by Tony Scott ) on the condition they dye their hair blond in order to play
6678-665: The Starlight Roof at the famed Waldorf-Astoria Hotel . He entertained audiences with a light elegant musical style which remained popular with audiences for nearly three decades from the 1930s until the late 1950s. Jazz originated in the late-19th to early-20th century. It developed out of many forms of music, including blues , ragtime , European harmony , African rhythmic rituals, spirituals , hymns , marches , vaudeville song, and dance music . It also incorporated interpretations of American and European classical music, entwined with African and slave folk songs and
6804-589: The U.S. Female jazz performers and composers have contributed to jazz throughout its history. Although Betty Carter , Ella Fitzgerald , Adelaide Hall , Billie Holiday , Peggy Lee , Abbey Lincoln , Anita O'Day , Dinah Washington , and Ethel Waters were recognized for their vocal talent, less familiar were bandleaders, composers, and instrumentalists such as pianist Lil Hardin Armstrong , trumpeter Valaida Snow , and songwriters Irene Higginbotham and Dorothy Fields . Women began playing instruments in jazz in
6930-692: The U.S.), " Invisible Sun ", and " Spirits in the Material World ". As the band was unable to agree on a cover picture, the album cover had three red pictographs, digital likenesses of the three band members in the style of segmented LED displays, set against a black background. In the 1980s, Sting and Summers became tax exiles and moved to Ireland (Sting to Roundstone, County Galway , and Summers to Kinsale in County Cork) while Copeland, an American, remained in England. The group opened and closed
7056-744: The UK in December 1983, including four sold out nights at London's Wembley Arena , and the tour ended in Melbourne , Australia on 4 March 1984 at the Melbourne Showgrounds (the final concert featured Sunnyboys , Kids in the Kitchen , Bryan Adams and Australian Crawl , with the Police topping the bill). Sting's look, dominated by his orange-coloured hair (a result of his role in Dune ) and tattered clothing, both of which were emphasised in
7182-527: The US at the famous New York City club CBGB , The Rathskeller (The RAT) in Boston and at The Chance in Poughkeepsie, New York, from which "Roxanne" finally debuted on US radio on WPDH , and a gruelling 1979 North American tour in which the band drove themselves and their equipment around the country in a Ford Econoline van. That summer, "Can't Stand Losing You" was also re-released in the UK, becoming
7308-585: The US, selling over 8 million copies in the US. Its lead single, " Every Breath You Take ", became their fifth UK number one, and only US number one. During this time, the band were considered one of the leaders of the Second British Invasion of the US: in 1983 Rolling Stone labelled them "the first British New Wave act to break through in America on a grand scale, and possibly the biggest band in
7434-606: The Year , but lost to Michael Jackson 's Thriller . "Every Breath You Take" won the Grammy for Song of the Year , beating Jackson's " Billie Jean ". "Every Breath You Take" also won the Grammy for Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal , while the album won the Grammy for Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal . "Every Breath You Take" also won the American Video Award for Best Group video, and
7560-401: The all-star finale of "I Shall Be Released". As the lead singer of U2 – who themselves would soon be regarded as the biggest band in the world – Bono stated, "It was a very big moment, like passing a torch." In July of that year, the trio reunited in the studio to record a new album. However, Copeland broke his collarbone in a fall from a horse and was unable to play the drums. As a result of
7686-566: The archive album Strontium 90: Police Academy . "I thought there was fantastic potential in Sting and Stewart. I'd always wanted to play in a three-piece band. I felt that the three of us together would be very strong. They just needed another guitarist and I thought I was the one." —Summers on Sting and Copeland after first hearing them at the Marquee Club in Oxford Street, London. Summers' musicality impressed Sting, who
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#17327916780727812-449: The autumn of 2003, Sting released his autobiography, Broken Music . In 2004, Copeland and Summers joined Incubus onstage at KROQ 's Almost Acoustic Christmas concert in Los Angeles performing "Roxanne" and "Message in a Bottle". In 2004, Henry Padovani released an album with the participation of Copeland and Sting on one track, reuniting the original Police line-up for the first time since 1977. Also in 2004, Rolling Stone ranked
7938-533: The band went on hiatus while Sting recorded and toured in support of his successful solo debut LP, the jazz -influenced The Dream of the Blue Turtles , released in June 1985; Copeland recorded and filmed The Rhythmatist (1985); and Summers recorded another album with Robert Fripp ( Bewitched , 1984) and the theme song for the film 2010 —which was not used in the film, but included on the soundtrack album. At
8064-476: The band. In early 2007, reports surfaced the trio would reunite for a tour to mark the Police's 30th anniversary, more than 20 years since their split in 1986. On 22 January 2007, the punk wave magazine Side-Line broke the story the Police would reunite for the Grammys , and would perform "Roxanne". Side-Line also stated the Police were to embark on a massive world tour. Billboard magazine later confirmed
8190-552: The blues are undocumented, though they can be seen as the secular counterpart of the spirituals. However, as Gerhard Kubik points out, whereas the spirituals are homophonic , rural blues and early jazz "was largely based on concepts of heterophony ". During the early 19th century an increasing number of black musicians learned to play European instruments, particularly the violin, which they used to parody European dance music in their own cakewalk dances. In turn, European American minstrel show performers in blackface popularized
8316-402: The day of his arrival, sought out Copeland for a jam session . "I was inspired by the amazing energy of the whole thing, and I thought, 'Well, I'm new to London and I'm totally unknown, so I'll give it a go.' We did a 15-minute lightning set and I squealed and screamed." —Sting on his first jam session since arriving in London. Curved Air had recently split up and Copeland, inspired by
8442-555: The development of blue notes in blues and jazz. As Kubik explains: Many of the rural blues of the Deep South are stylistically an extension and merger of basically two broad accompanied song-style traditions in the west central Sudanic belt: W. C. Handy became interested in folk blues of the Deep South while traveling through the Mississippi Delta. In this folk blues form, the singer would improvise freely within
8568-434: The early 1910s, combining earlier brass band marches, French quadrilles , biguine , ragtime and blues with collective polyphonic improvisation . However, jazz did not begin as a single musical tradition in New Orleans or elsewhere. In the 1930s, arranged dance-oriented swing big bands , Kansas City jazz (a hard-swinging, bluesy, improvisational style), and gypsy jazz (a style that emphasized musette waltzes) were
8694-461: The early 1920s, drawing particular recognition on piano. When male jazz musicians were drafted during World War II, many all-female bands replaced them. The International Sweethearts of Rhythm , which was founded in 1937, was a popular band that became the first all-female integrated band in the U.S. and the first to travel with the USO , touring Europe in 1945. Women were members of the big bands of Woody Herman and Gerald Wilson . Beginning in
8820-480: The education of freed African Americans. Although strict segregation limited employment opportunities for most blacks, many were able to find work in entertainment. Black musicians were able to provide entertainment in dances, minstrel shows , and in vaudeville , during which time many marching bands were formed. Black pianists played in bars, clubs, and brothels, as ragtime developed. Ragtime appeared as sheet music, popularized by African-American musicians such as
8946-556: The entertainer Ernest Hogan , whose hit songs appeared in 1895. Two years later, Vess Ossman recorded a medley of these songs as a banjo solo known as "Rag Time Medley". Also in 1897, the white composer William Krell published his " Mississippi Rag " as the first written piano instrumental ragtime piece, and Tom Turpin published his "Harlem Rag", the first rag published by an African-American. Classically trained pianist Scott Joplin produced his " Original Rags " in 1898 and, in 1899, had an international hit with " Maple Leaf Rag ",
9072-561: The film The Police Around the World (1982), directed by Kate and Derek Burbidge, which contains footage shot by Annie Nightingale originally intended for a BBC production The Police in the East . In May 1980, A&M in the UK released Six Pack , a package containing the five previous A&M singles (not including "Fall Out") in their original sleeves plus a mono alternate take of the album track " The Bed's Too Big Without You " backed with
9198-459: The first jazz group to record, and Bix Beiderbecke was one of the most prominent jazz soloists of the 1920s. The Chicago Style was developed by white musicians such as Eddie Condon , Bud Freeman , Jimmy McPartland , and Dave Tough . Others from Chicago such as Benny Goodman and Gene Krupa became leading members of swing during the 1930s. Many bands included both Black and white musicians. These musicians helped change attitudes toward race in
9324-404: The first time at the end of a session. Where he had been less enthusiastic about the band's other songs, the elder Copeland was immediately struck by the track, and quickly got the Police a record deal with A&M Records on the strength of it. "Roxanne" was issued as a single in the spring of 1978, while other album tracks were still being recorded, but it failed to chart. It also failed to make
9450-415: The first written music which was rhythmically based on an African motif (1803). From the perspective of African-American music, the "habanera rhythm" (also known as "congo"), "tango-congo", or tango . can be thought of as a combination of tresillo and the backbeat . The habanera was the first of many Cuban music genres which enjoyed periods of popularity in the United States and reinforced and inspired
9576-538: The group played London pubs and punk clubs touring as backing band and support act for Cherry Vanilla and for Wayne County & the Electric Chairs . On 1 May 1977, the Police released on Illegal Records their debut single " Fall Out ", recorded at Pathway Studios in Islington , North London on 12 February 1977 (a couple of weeks before the band's debut live performance), with a budget of £ 150. This
9702-575: The group took a sabbatical and each member pursued outside projects. By this time, Sting was becoming a major star, and he established a career beyond the Police by branching out into acting. Back in 1979, he had made a well-received debut as the "Ace Face" in the British drama film Quadrophenia , a film loosely based on The Who 's rock opera , followed by a role as a mechanic in love with Eddie Cochran 's music in Chris Petit 's Radio On . In 1982, Sting furthered his acting career by co-starring in
9828-532: The habanera rhythm and cinquillo , are heard in the ragtime compositions of Joplin and Turpin. Joplin's " Solace " (1909) is generally considered to be in the habanera genre: both of the pianist's hands play in a syncopated fashion, completely abandoning any sense of a march rhythm. Ned Sublette postulates that the tresillo/habanera rhythm "found its way into ragtime and the cakewalk," whilst Roberts suggests that "the habanera influence may have been part of what freed black music from ragtime's European bass". In
9954-424: The influences of West African culture. Its composition and style have changed many times throughout the years with each performer's personal interpretation and improvisation, which is also one of the greatest appeals of the genre. By the 18th century, slaves in the New Orleans area gathered socially at a special market, in an area which later became known as Congo Square , famous for its African dances. By 1866,
10080-460: The instruments of jazz: brass, drums, and reeds tuned in the European 12-tone scale. Small bands contained a combination of self-taught and formally educated musicians, many from the funeral procession tradition. These bands traveled in black communities in the deep south. Beginning in 1914, Louisiana Creole and African-American musicians played in vaudeville shows which carried jazz to cities in
10206-578: The late 1950s into the 1990s. Jewish Americans played a significant role in jazz. As jazz spread, it developed to encompass many different cultures, and the work of Jewish composers in Tin Pan Alley helped shape the many different sounds that jazz came to incorporate. Jewish Americans were able to thrive in Jazz because of the probationary whiteness that they were allotted at the time. George Bornstein wrote that African Americans were sympathetic to
10332-539: The late 1950s, using the mode , or musical scale, as the basis of musical structure and improvisation, as did free jazz , which explored playing without regular meter, beat and formal structures. Jazz-rock fusion appeared in the late 1960s and early 1970s, combining jazz improvisation with rock music 's rhythms, electric instruments, and highly amplified stage sound. In the early 1980s, a commercial form of jazz fusion called smooth jazz became successful, garnering significant radio airplay. Other styles and genres abound in
10458-437: The main band and attempting to win over punk audiences, Police members continued to moonlight within the art rock scene. In late 1977 and early 1978, Sting and Summers recorded and performed as part of an ensemble led by German experimental composer Eberhard Schoener ; Copeland also joined for a time. These performances resulted in three albums, each of them an eclectic mix of rock, electronica and jazz. Various appearances by
10584-900: The many top players he employed, such as George Brunies , Sharkey Bonano , and future members of the Original Dixieland Jass Band . During the early 1900s, jazz was mostly performed in African-American and mulatto communities due to segregation laws. Storyville brought jazz to a wider audience through tourists who visited the port city of New Orleans. Many jazz musicians from African-American communities were hired to perform in bars and brothels. These included Buddy Bolden and Jelly Roll Morton in addition to those from other communities, such as Lorenzo Tio and Alcide Nunez . Louis Armstrong started his career in Storyville and found success in Chicago. Storyville
10710-826: The material started to get a lot more interesting and Sting started to take a lot more interest in the group." The Police's power trio line-up of Copeland, Sting, and Summers performed for the first time on 18 August 1977 at Rebecca's club in Birmingham in the West Midlands. A trio was unusual for the time, and this line-up endured for the rest of the band's history. Few punk bands were three-pieces, while contemporary bands pursuing progressive rock, symphonic rock and other sound trends usually expanded their line-ups with support players. The musical background of all three players may have made them suspect to punk purists, with music critic Christopher Gable stating, The truth
10836-413: The melody was stated briefly at the beginning and most of the piece was improvised. Modal jazz abandoned chord progressions to allow musicians to improvise even more. In many forms of jazz, a soloist is supported by a rhythm section of one or more chordal instruments (piano, guitar), double bass, and drums. The rhythm section plays chords and rhythms that outline the composition structure and complement
10962-697: The music internationally, combining syncopation with European harmonic accompaniment. In the mid-1800s the white New Orleans composer Louis Moreau Gottschalk adapted slave rhythms and melodies from Cuba and other Caribbean islands into piano salon music. New Orleans was the main nexus between the Afro-Caribbean and African American cultures. The Black Codes outlawed drumming by slaves, which meant that African drumming traditions were not preserved in North America, unlike in Cuba, Haiti, and elsewhere in
11088-583: The music of New Orleans with the music of Cuba, Wynton Marsalis observes that tresillo is the New Orleans "clavé", a Spanish word meaning "code" or "key", as in the key to a puzzle, or mystery. Although the pattern is only half a clave , Marsalis makes the point that the single-celled figure is the guide-pattern of New Orleans music. Jelly Roll Morton called the rhythmic figure the Spanish tinge and considered it an essential ingredient of jazz. The abolition of slavery in 1865 led to new opportunities for
11214-406: The music videos from the album, carried over into the set for the concert. Except for "King of Pain", the singles were accompanied by music videos directed by Godley & Creme . Synchronicity became a No. 1 album in both the UK (where it debuted at No. 1) and the US. It stayed at No. 1 in the UK for two weeks and in the US for seventeen weeks. It was nominated for Grammy Awards for Album of
11340-572: The musical score for Francis Ford Coppola 's film Rumble Fish . The single " Don't Box Me In (theme From Rumble Fish )", a collaboration between Copeland and singer-songwriter Stan Ridgway (of the band Wall of Voodoo ) received significant airplay upon release of the film that year. Sting filmed his first big-budget movie role in 1983, playing Feyd-Rautha in David Lynch 's Dune . As Sting's fame rose, his relationship with Stewart Copeland deteriorated. Their increasingly strained partnership
11466-505: The news, quoting Summers' 2006 statement as to how the band could have continued post- Synchronicity : The more rational approach would have been, 'OK, Sting, go make a solo record, and let's get back together in two or three years.' I'm certain we could have done that. Of course we could have. We were definitely not in a creative dry space. We could have easily carried on, and we could probably still be there. That wasn't to be our fate. It went in another way. I regret we never paid it off with
11592-467: The northeastern United States, a "hot" style of playing ragtime had developed, notably James Reese Europe 's symphonic Clef Club orchestra in New York City, which played a benefit concert at Carnegie Hall in 1912. The Baltimore rag style of Eubie Blake influenced James P. Johnson 's development of stride piano playing, in which the right hand plays the melody, while the left hand provides
11718-618: The northern and western parts of the U.S. Jazz became international in 1914, when the Creole Band with cornettist Freddie Keppard performed the first ever jazz concert outside the United States, at the Pantages Playhouse Theatre in Winnipeg , Canada. In New Orleans, a white bandleader named Papa Jack Laine integrated blacks and whites in his marching band. He was known as "the father of white jazz" because of
11844-605: The original Comiskey Park , and on 18 August the band played in front of 70,000 in Shea Stadium , New York. Near the end of the concert, Sting announced: "We'd like to thank the Beatles for lending us their stadium." Looking back, Copeland states, "Playing Shea Stadium was big because, even though I'm a septic tank ( rhyming slang for 'Yank') , The Police is an English band and I'm a Londoner – an American Londoner – so it felt like conquering America." They played throughout
11970-470: The performer may change melodies, harmonies, and time signatures. In early Dixieland , a.k.a. New Orleans jazz, performers took turns playing melodies and improvising countermelodies . In the swing era of the 1920s–40s, big bands relied more on arrangements which were written or learned by ear and memorized. Soloists improvised within these arrangements. In the bebop era of the 1940s, big bands gave way to small groups and minimal arrangements in which
12096-500: The period 1820–1850. Some of the earliest [Mississippi] Delta settlers came from the vicinity of New Orleans, where drumming was never actively discouraged for very long and homemade drums were used to accompany public dancing until the outbreak of the Civil War. Another influence came from the harmonic style of hymns of the church, which black slaves had learned and incorporated into their own music as spirituals . The origins of
12222-458: The perspective of other musical traditions, such as European music history or African music. But critic Joachim-Ernst Berendt argues that its terms of reference and its definition should be broader, defining jazz as a "form of art music which originated in the United States through the confrontation of the Negro with European music" and arguing that it differs from European music in that jazz has
12348-494: The plight of the Jewish American and vice versa. As disenfranchised minorities themselves, Jewish composers of popular music saw themselves as natural allies with African Americans. The Jazz Singer with Al Jolson is one example of how Jewish Americans were able to bring jazz, music that African Americans developed, into popular culture. Benny Goodman was a vital Jewish American to the progression of Jazz. Goodman
12474-459: The post-Civil War period (after 1865), African Americans were able to obtain surplus military bass drums, snare drums and fifes, and an original African-American drum and fife music emerged, featuring tresillo and related syncopated rhythmic figures. This was a drumming tradition that was distinct from its Caribbean counterparts, expressing a uniquely African-American sensibility. "The snare and bass drummers played syncopated cross-rhythms ," observed
12600-676: The pre-jazz era and contributed to the codification of jazz through the publication of some of the first jazz sheet music. The music of New Orleans , Louisiana had a profound effect on the creation of early jazz. In New Orleans, slaves could practice elements of their culture such as voodoo and playing drums. Many early jazz musicians played in the bars and brothels of the red-light district around Basin Street called Storyville . In addition to dance bands, there were marching bands which played at lavish funerals (later called jazz funerals ). The instruments used by marching bands and dance bands became
12726-537: The prominent styles. Bebop emerged in the 1940s, shifting jazz from danceable popular music toward a more challenging "musician's music" which was played at faster tempos and used more chord-based improvisation. Cool jazz developed near the end of the 1940s, introducing calmer, smoother sounds and long, linear melodic lines. The mid-1950s saw the emergence of hard bop , which introduced influences from rhythm and blues , gospel , and blues to small groups and particularly to saxophone and piano. Modal jazz developed in
12852-541: The release of Outlandos d'Amour . Though "Roxanne" was never banned, the BBC did ban the second single from Outlandos d'Amour , " Can't Stand Losing You ". This was due to the single's cover, which featured Copeland hanging himself over an ice block being melted by a portable radiator. The single became a minor chart hit, the Police's first, peaking at No. 42 in the UK. The follow-up single, " So Lonely ", issued in November 1978, failed to chart. In February 1979, "Roxanne"
12978-410: The rhythm and bassline. In Ohio and elsewhere in the mid-west the major influence was ragtime, until about 1919. Around 1912, when the four-string banjo and saxophone came in, musicians began to improvise the melody line, but the harmony and rhythm remained unchanged. A contemporary account states that blues could only be heard in jazz in the gut-bucket cabarets, which were generally looked down upon by
13104-424: The rushed recording for the album, which was finished at 4 a.m. on the day the band began their world tour, the album received high praise from critics. The instrumental " Behind My Camel ", written by Andy Summers, won the band a Grammy for Best Rock Instrumental Performance, while "Don't Stand So Close to Me" won the Grammy for Best Rock Vocal Performance for Duo or Group. The Police's fourth album, Ghost in
13230-403: The single "So Lonely" was reissued in the UK. Originally a non-charting flop when first issued in late 1978, upon re-release the track became a UK top 10 hit, peaking at No. 6. In March 1980, the Police began their first world tour, which included places that had seldom hosted foreign performers—including Mexico, India, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Greece and Egypt. The tour was subsequently documented in
13356-556: The slang connotations of the term, saying: "When Broadway picked it up, they called it 'J-A-Z-Z'. It wasn't called that. It was spelled 'J-A-S-S'. That was dirty, and if you knew what it was, you wouldn't say it in front of ladies." The American Dialect Society named it the Word of the 20th Century . Jazz is difficult to define because it encompasses a wide range of music spanning a period of over 100 years, from ragtime to rock -infused fusion . Attempts have been made to define jazz from
13482-444: The soloist. In avant-garde and free jazz , the separation of soloist and band is reduced, and there is license, or even a requirement, for the abandoning of chords, scales, and meters. Since the emergence of bebop, forms of jazz that are commercially oriented or influenced by popular music have been criticized. According to Bruce Johnson, there has always been a "tension between jazz as a commercial music and an art form". Regarding
13608-604: The song won two Ivor Novello Awards in the categories Best Song Musically and Lyrically and Most Performed Work from the British Academy of Songwriters, Composers, and Authors . During the group's 1983 Shea Stadium concert, Sting felt performing at the venue was " Everest " and decided to pursue a solo career, according to the documentary The Last Play at Shea . After the Synchronicity tour ended in March 1984,
13734-571: The tense and short-lived reunion in the studio, " Don't Stand So Close to Me '86 " was released in October 1986 as their final single and made it into the UK Top 25. It also appeared on the 1986 compilation Every Breath You Take: The Singles , which reached No. 1 on the UK Albums Chart. A rerecorded version of "De Do Do Do, De Da Da Da" was subsequently also included on the DTS-CD release of
13860-500: The twice-daily ferry between both cities to perform, and the habanera quickly took root in the musically fertile Crescent City. John Storm Roberts states that the musical genre habanera "reached the U.S. twenty years before the first rag was published." For the more than quarter-century in which the cakewalk , ragtime , and proto-jazz were forming and developing, the habanera was a consistent part of African-American popular music. Habaneras were widely available as sheet music and were
13986-575: The use of tresillo-based rhythms in African-American music. New Orleans native Louis Moreau Gottschalk 's piano piece "Ojos Criollos (Danse Cubaine)" (1860) was influenced by the composer's studies in Cuba: the habanera rhythm is clearly heard in the left hand. In Gottschalk's symphonic work "A Night in the Tropics" (1859), the tresillo variant cinquillo appears extensively. The figure was later used by Scott Joplin and other ragtime composers. Comparing
14112-561: The wedding guests pressured the trio into playing, and they performed "Roxanne" and "Message in a Bottle". Copeland said later that "after about three minutes, it became 'the thing' again". In 1995 A&M released Live! , a double live album produced by Summers featuring two complete concerts—one recorded on 27 November 1979 at the Orpheum Theatre in Boston during the Reggatta de Blanc tour, and one recorded on 2 November 1983 at
14238-406: The will to go on living, and despite the dark music and often morbid lyrical statements, the song carries an uplifting and optimistic message. The song was deeply personal for drummer Stewart Copeland , whose hometown of Beirut was being heavily bombed at the time of the song's recording: For me, the song was about Beirut, where I'd grown up, which at that point was going up in flames. My hometown
14364-476: The world". The Police disbanded in 1986, periodically reuniting for one-off performances before fully reuniting in early 2007 for a world tour ending in August 2008. They were the world's highest-earning musicians in 2008 due to their reunion tour, which was the highest-grossing tour of 2007. The Police have sold over 75 million records, making them one of the best-selling bands of all time . The band won
14490-498: The writer Robert Palmer, speculating that "this tradition must have dated back to the latter half of the nineteenth century, and it could have not have developed in the first place if there hadn't been a reservoir of polyrhythmic sophistication in the culture it nurtured." African-American music began incorporating Afro-Cuban rhythmic motifs in the 19th century when the habanera (Cuban contradanza ) gained international popularity. Musicians from Havana and New Orleans would take
14616-500: The year's crop was harvested and several days were set aside for celebration. As late as 1861, a traveler in North Carolina saw dancers dressed in costumes that included horned headdresses and cow tails and heard music provided by a sheepskin-covered "gumbo box", apparently a frame drum; triangles and jawbones furnished the auxiliary percussion. There are quite a few [accounts] from the southeastern states and Louisiana dating from
14742-650: Was a music industry veteran who had played with Eric Burdon and the Animals and Kevin Ayers among others. Strontium 90 performed at a Gong reunion concert in Paris on 28 May 1977, and played at a London club (under the name of "the Elevators") in July. The band also recorded several demo tracks: these were released (along with live recordings and an early version of " Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic ") 20 years later on
14868-510: Was becoming frustrated with Padovani's rudimentary abilities and the limitations they imposed on the Police's potential. Shortly after the Strontium 90 gig, Sting approached Summers to join the band. He agreed, on the condition the band remain a trio, with him replacing Padovani. Restrained by loyalty, Copeland and Sting resisted the idea, and the Police carried on as a four-piece version. However, they only performed live twice: on 25 July 1977 at
14994-464: Was being vilified by the media as a terrorist stronghold, and it was being blasted by bombs and napalm. Twenty thousand Lebanese were killed that year. And the Lebanese must have been feeling some heat from the invisible sun, because they were keeping their peckers up. Bono performed duets of it with Sting when U2 and the Police appeared at the same concerts: the first such instance was in 1982 at
15120-661: Was chosen as the lead single from the album. Sting said of writing "Invisible Sun": I actually wrote the song in Ireland, where I was living at the time. It was during the hunger strikes in Belfast . I wanted to write about that but I wanted to show some light at the end of the tunnel. I do think there has to be an "invisible sun". You can't always see it, but there has to be something radiating light into our lives. The song's lyrics stem from songwriter Sting's pondering how people living in war-torn and/or impoverished countries find
15246-477: Was completed the night before the band embarked on a new world tour. The album topped the UK Albums Chart and reached number five on the US Billboard 200 . It also gave the group their third UK No. 1 hit single, " Don't Stand So Close to Me " (the UK's best-selling single of 1980 ) and another hit single, " De Do Do Do, De Da Da Da ", both of which reached No. 10 in the US. While the three band members and co-producer Nigel Gray all expressed immediate regret over
15372-528: Was further stretched by the pressures of worldwide publicity and fame, conflicting egos, and their financial success. Meanwhile, both Sting's and Summers's marriages failed. "MTV has paved the way for a host of invaders from abroad. In return, grateful Brits, even superstars like Pete Townshend and The Police, have mugged for MTV promo spots and made the phrase ”I want my MTV” a household commonplace." —Anglomania: The Second British Invasion , by Parke Puterbaugh for Rolling Stone , November 1983. In 1983,
15498-668: Was issued as a single in North America, where it was warmly received on radio despite the subject matter. The song peaked at No. 31 in Canada and No. 32 in the US, spurring a UK re-release of it in April. The band performed "Roxanne" on BBC1 's Top of the Pops , and the re-issue of the song finally gained the band widespread recognition in the UK when it peaked at No. 12 on the UK Singles Chart . The group's UK success led to gigs in
15624-588: Was it." — Bono , on the Police's final concert at Giants Stadium , June 1986. In June 1986, the Police reconvened to play three concerts for the Amnesty International A Conspiracy of Hope tour. Their last performance on stage before their split was on 15 June at Giants Stadium in New Jersey. They ended their set with "Invisible Sun", bringing out Bono to sing the final verse. When they finished, they handed U2 their instruments for
15750-433: Was major ... , and I carried this device into my melody as well. The publication of his " Memphis Blues " sheet music in 1912 introduced the 12-bar blues to the world (although Gunther Schuller argues that it is not really a blues, but "more like a cakewalk"). This composition, as well as his later " St. Louis Blues " and others, included the habanera rhythm, and would become jazz standards . Handy's music career began in
15876-536: Was the leader of a racially integrated band named King of Swing. His jazz concert in the Carnegie Hall in 1938 was the first ever to be played there. The concert was described by Bruce Eder as "the single most important jazz or popular music concert in history". Shep Fields also helped to popularize "Sweet" Jazz music through his appearances and Big band remote broadcasts from such landmark venues as Chicago's Palmer House , Broadway's Paramount Theater and
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