195-689: Soft Machine are an English rock and jazz band from Canterbury formed in 1966 by Mike Ratledge , Robert Wyatt , Kevin Ayers , Daevid Allen and Larry Nowlin. As a central band of the Canterbury scene , the group became one of the first British psychedelic acts and later moved into progressive and jazz rock , becoming a purely instrumental band in 1971. The band has undergone many line-up changes, with musicians such as Andy Summers , Hugh Hopper , Elton Dean , John Marshall , Karl Jenkins , Roy Babbington and Allan Holdsworth being members during
390-742: A 58-minute album entitled Live Adventures recorded live in October 2009 in Austria and Germany during a European tour. Founding Soft Machine bassist Kevin Ayers died in February 2013, aged 68, while Daevid Allen died in March 2015 following a short battle with cancer, aged 77. On 18 March 2013, the Legacy band released a new studio album, titled Burden of Proof . Travis stated that "legally we could actually be called Soft Machine but for various reasons it
585-528: A Bottle " and " Walking on the Moon ", became their first UK number-one singles. Their next two albums, Zenyatta Mondatta (1980) and Ghost in 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
780-514: A certain degree doesn't care if it's popular. — Bill Wyman in Vulture (2016) The sound of rock is traditionally centered on the amplified electric guitar, which emerged in its modern form in the 1950s with the popularity of rock and roll. It was also greatly influenced by the sounds of electric blues guitarists. The sound of an electric guitar in rock music is typically supported by an electric bass guitar, which pioneered jazz music in
975-519: A fondness for a good beat, a meaningful lyric with some wit, and the theme of youth, which holds an "eternal attraction" so objective "that all youth music partakes of sociology and the field report ." Writing in Christgau's Record Guide: The '80s (1990), he said this sensibility is evident in the music of folk singer-songwriter Michelle Shocked , rapper LL Cool J , and synth-pop duo Pet Shop Boys —"all kids working out their identities"—as much as it
1170-481: A foundation of simple syncopated rhythms in a 4 meter , with a repetitive snare drum back beat on beats two and four. Melodies often originate from older musical modes such as the Dorian and Mixolydian , as well as major and minor modes. Harmonies range from the common triad to parallel perfect fourths and fifths and dissonant harmonic progressions. Since the late 1950s, and particularly from
1365-500: A founding member of the Wilde Flowers. The band recorded their second album Volume Two in early 1969, which started a transition toward jazz fusion . The album fulfilled the band's contract with Probe and they signed with CBS Records by the beginning of 1970. In May 1969, Soft Machine acted as the uncredited backing band on two tracks of The Madcap Laughs , the debut solo album by Syd Barrett of Pink Floyd. Shortly after
1560-628: A frequent addition to the established rock format of guitars, bass, and drums in subsequent progressive rock. Instrumentals were common, while songs with lyrics were sometimes conceptual, abstract, or based in fantasy and science fiction. The Pretty Things ' SF Sorrow (1968), the Kinks' Arthur (Or the Decline and Fall of the British Empire) (1969), and the Who 's Tommy (1969) introduced
1755-465: 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
1950-630: A key feature of psychedelia. Psychedelic rock reached its apogee in the last years of the decade. 1967 saw the Beatles release their definitive psychedelic statement in Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band , including the controversial track " Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds ", the Rolling Stones responded later that year with Their Satanic Majesties Request , and Pink Floyd debuted with The Piper at
2145-610: 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
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#17327796583302340-558: 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
2535-573: A loud amplified sound, often centered on the electric guitar, based on the Chicago blues , particularly after the tour of Britain by Muddy Waters in 1958, which prompted Cyril Davies and guitarist Alexis Korner to form the band Blues Incorporated . The band involved and inspired many of the figures of the subsequent British blues boom, including members of the Rolling Stones and Cream , combining blues standards and forms with rock instrumentation and emphasis. The other key focus for British blues
2730-587: A mainstream audience with hits including " Blowin' in the Wind " (1963) and " Masters of War " (1963), which brought " protest songs " to a wider public, but, although beginning to influence each other, rock and folk music had remained largely separate genres, often with mutually exclusive audiences. Early attempts to combine elements of folk and rock included the Animals' " House of the Rising Sun " (1964), which
2925-495: A major element of progressive rock. From about 1967 bands like Cream and the Jimi Hendrix Experience had moved away from purely blues-based music into psychedelia . By the 1970s, blues rock had become heavier and more riff-based, exemplified by the work of Led Zeppelin and Deep Purple , and the lines between blues rock and hard rock "were barely visible", as bands began recording rock-style albums. The genre
3120-429: A major influence on subsequent electronic rock . With the advent of punk rock and technological changes in the late 1970s, progressive rock was increasingly dismissed as pretentious and overblown. Many bands broke up, but some, including Genesis, ELP, Yes, and Pink Floyd, regularly scored top ten albums with successful accompanying worldwide tours. Some bands which emerged in the aftermath of punk, such as Siouxsie and
3315-410: A more basic form of rock and roll that incorporated its original influences, particularly blues, country and folk music, leading to the creation of country rock and Southern rock. In 1966 Bob Dylan went to Nashville to record the album Blonde on Blonde . This, and subsequent more clearly country-influenced albums, such as Nashville Skyline , have been seen as creating the genre of country folk ,
3510-486: A multibillion-dollar industry and doubling its market while, as Christgau noted, suffering a significant "loss of cultural prestige". "Maybe the Bee Gees became more popular than the Beatles, but they were never more popular than Jesus ", he said. "Insofar as the music retained any mythic power, the myth was self-referential – there were lots of songs about the rock and roll life but very few about how rock could change
3705-589: A national phenomenon. It is often argued that the surf music craze and the careers of almost all surf acts was effectively ended by the arrival of the British Invasion from 1964, because most surf music hits were recorded and released between 1960 and 1965. By the end of 1962, what would become the British rock scene had started with beat groups like the Beatles , Gerry & the Pacemakers and
3900-462: A part of the Canterbury scene of progressive rock. According to Hugh Hopper, "We weren't consciously playing jazz rock, it was more a case of not wanting to sound like other bands; we certainly didn't want a guitarist." Rock music Rock is a broad genre of popular music that originated as " rock and roll " in the United States in the late 1940s and early 1950s, developing into
4095-459: A preacher, prosecutions of Jerry Lee Lewis and Chuck Berry and the breaking of the payola scandal (which implicated major figures, including Alan Freed, in bribery and corruption in promoting individual acts or songs), gave a sense that the rock and roll era established at that point had come to an end. Rock quickly spread out from its origins in the US, associated with the rapid Americanization that
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#17327796583304290-444: A prog rock influence and while ranking among the most commercially successful acts of the 1970s, heralding the era of pomp or arena rock , which would last until the costs of complex shows (often with theatrical staging and special effects), would be replaced by more economical rock festivals as major live venues in the 1990s. The instrumental strand of the genre resulted in albums like Mike Oldfield 's Tubular Bells (1973),
4485-433: 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
4680-810: A quartet when Nowlin departed in September 1966. During late 1966/early 1967, Soft Machine became involved in the early UK underground scene. Along with Pink Floyd , they became one of the major resident bands at the UFO Club and played other London clubs like the Speakeasy and Middle Earth . According to Wyatt, the negative reactions the Soft Machine received when playing at venues other than these underground clubs were what led to their penchant for long tracks and segued tunes, since playing continuously left their audiences no chance to boo. In February 1967,
4875-465: A range of different styles from the mid-1960s, particularly in the United States and the United Kingdom. It has its roots in rock and roll, a style that drew directly from the genres of blues , rhythm and blues , and country music . Rock also drew strongly from genres such as electric blues and folk , and incorporated influences from jazz and other musical styles. For instrumentation, rock
5070-446: A rigidly delineated musical definition." In the opinion of music journalist Robert Christgau , "the best rock jolts folk-art virtues—directness, utility, natural audience—into the present with shots of modern technology and modernist dissociation ". Rock and roll was conceived as an outlet for adolescent yearnings ... To make rock and roll is also an ideal way to explore intersections of sex, love, violence, and fun, to broadcast
5265-625: A rock-informed album era in the music industry for the next several decades. By the late 1960s " classic rock " period, a few distinct rock music subgenres had emerged, including hybrids like blues rock , folk rock , country rock , Southern rock , raga rock , and jazz rock , which contributed to the development of psychedelic rock , influenced by the countercultural psychedelic and hippie scene . New genres that emerged included progressive rock , which extended artistic elements, heavy metal , which emphasized an aggressive thick sound, and glam rock , which highlighted showmanship and visual style. In
5460-721: A route pursued by a number of largely acoustic folk musicians. Other acts that followed the back-to-basics trend were the Canadian group the Band and the California-based Creedence Clearwater Revival , both of which mixed basic rock and roll with folk, country and blues, to be among the most successful and influential bands of the late 1960s. The same movement saw the beginning of the recording careers of Californian solo artists like Ry Cooder , Bonnie Raitt and Lowell George , and influenced
5655-454: A septet, with Wyatt, Ratledge and Hugh Hopper adding a four-piece horn section comprising saxophonists Elton Dean and Lyn Dobson , cornet player Mark Charig and trombonist Nick Evans . After two months, Charig and Evans departed, reducing the band to a quintet. The quintet continued until March 1970, when Dobson departed. The remaining quartet recorded the double album Third (1970) and its single album follow-up Fourth (1971). Third
5850-454: A series of dates at London's Ronnie Scott's Jazz Club in the summer of 1984, featuring John Marshall, Karl Jenkins, Ray Warleigh, John Etheridge, bassist Paul Carmichael and pianist Dave MacRae . Soft Heap formed in January 1978, featuring Hugh Hopper and Elton Dean from Soft Machine, and Alan Gowen and Pip Pyle from the band National Health . Heap was the acronym formed by
6045-571: A series of seven UK shows in March–April 2016. In December 2015, it was confirmed that the band were officially dropping the "Legacy" tag from their name moving forward, thus reactivating Soft Machine for the first time since 1984. Another former Soft Machine member, Allan Holdsworth, died on 15 April 2017 at the age of 70 at his home in Vista, California , from heart failure. On 7 September 2018, Soft Machine released Hidden Details on Dyad Records in
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6240-462: A single gig ( Augustusburg Hunting Lodge , Germany, 4 Sept. 1999). Then in 2002, with Tippett unavailable, another former Soft Machine member, Allan Holdsworth (on guitar), was brought in with the remaining three members of Soft Ware, who renamed themselves Soft Works in June 2002 to avoid confusion with Peter Mergener's band Software . As Soft Works, they made their world live debut on 17 August 2002 at
6435-481: A slogan one only began to hear in 1972 or so, mobilized all those eager to believe that idealism had become passe, and once they were mobilized, it had. In popular music, embracing the '70s meant both an elitist withdrawal from the messy concert and counterculture scene and a profiteering pursuit of the lowest common denominator in FM radio and album rock . Rock saw greater commodification during this decade, turning into
6630-693: 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
6825-543: 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
7020-464: A variety of directions, including Dylan and the Byrds, who began to develop country rock . However, the hybridization of folk and rock has been seen as having a major influence on the development of rock music, bringing in elements of psychedelia, and helping to develop the ideas of the singer-songwriter, the protest song, and concepts of "authenticity". Psychedelic music's LSD -inspired vibe began in
7215-529: A variety of sources such as the Tin Pan Alley pop tradition, folk music , and rhythm and blues . Christgau characterizes rock lyrics as a "cool medium" with simple diction and repeated refrains, and asserts that rock's primary "function" "pertains to music, or, more generally, noise ." The predominance of white, male, and often middle class musicians in rock music has often been noted, and rock has been seen as an appropriation of Black musical forms for
7410-501: A young, white and largely male audience. As a result, it has also been seen to articulate the concerns of this group in both style and lyrics. Christgau, writing in 1972, said in spite of some exceptions, "rock and roll usually implies an identification of male sexuality and aggression". Since the term "rock" started being used in preference to "rock and roll" from the late-1960s, it has usually been contrasted with pop music, with which it has shared many characteristics, but from which it
7605-423: Is centered on the electric guitar , usually as part of a rock group with electric bass guitar , drums , and one or more singers. Usually, rock is song-based music with a 4 time signature using a verse–chorus form , but the genre has become extremely diverse. Like pop music , lyrics often stress romantic love but also address a wide variety of other themes that are frequently social or political. Rock
7800-540: Is credited with first using the phrase "rock and roll" to describe the music. Four years later, Bill Haley 's " Rock Around the Clock " (1954) became the first rock and roll song to top Billboard magazine's main sales and airplay charts, and opened the door worldwide for this new wave of popular culture. Other artists with early rock and roll hits included Chuck Berry , Bo Diddley , Fats Domino , Little Richard , Jerry Lee Lewis , and Gene Vincent . Soon rock and roll
7995-472: Is generally agreed that garage rock peaked both commercially and artistically around 1966. By 1968 the style largely disappeared from the national charts and at the local level as amateur musicians faced college, work or the draft . New styles had evolved to replace garage rock. Although the first impact of the British Invasion on American popular music was through beat and R&B based acts,
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8190-555: Is in the music of Chuck Berry , the Ramones , and the Replacements . The foundations of rock music are in rock and roll, which originated in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s, and quickly spread to much of the rest of the world. Its immediate origins lay in a melding of various black musical genres of the time, including rhythm and blues and gospel music , with country and western . Debate surrounds
8385-411: Is often distanced by an emphasis on musicianship, live performance, and a focus on serious and progressive themes as part of an ideology of authenticity that is frequently combined with an awareness of the genre's history and development. According to Simon Frith , rock was "something more than pop, something more than rock and roll" and "[r]ock musicians combined an emphasis on skill and technique with
8580-399: Is termed as a rock band or a rock group. Furthermore, it typically consists of between three (the power trio ) and five members. Classically, a rock band takes the form of a quartet whose members cover one or more roles, including vocalist, lead guitarist, rhythm guitarist, bass guitarist, drummer, and often keyboard player or another instrumentalist. Rock music is traditionally built on
8775-529: 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
8970-467: Is the Band." The Police The Police were an English rock band formed in London in 1977. Within 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
9165-520: 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
9360-535: The Billboard Hot 100 . The British Invasion greatly influenced garage bands, providing them with a national audience, leading many (often surf or hot rod groups) to adopt a British influence, and encouraging many more groups to form. Thousands of garage bands were extant in the United States and Canada during the era and hundreds produced regional hits. Despite scores of bands being signed to major or large regional labels, most were commercial failures. It
9555-524: 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
9750-524: The American folk music revival had grown to a major movement, using traditional music and new compositions in a traditional style, usually on acoustic instruments. In America the genre was pioneered by figures such as Woody Guthrie and Pete Seeger and often identified with progressive or labor politics . In the early sixties figures such as Joan Baez and Bob Dylan had come to the fore in this movement as singer-songwriters. Dylan had begun to reach
9945-565: 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
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#173277965833010140-533: 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,
10335-642: 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
10530-687: 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
10725-756: The Progman Cometh Festival (at the Moore Theater in Seattle, Washington), released (on 29 July 2003) their only (studio) album, Abracadabra , consisting of all new material recorded at the Eastcote Studios in London on 5–7 June 2002, and toured Japan in August 2003, Italy in January and February 2004, and Mexico in March 2004. During a Japanese Soft Works tour in August 2003, Elton Dean (on saxophone) and Hugh Hopper (on bass) formed
10920-610: 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
11115-524: 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),
11310-422: The garage rock / post-punk revival in the 2000s. Since the 2010s, rock has lost its position as the pre-eminent popular music genre in world culture, but remains commercially successful. The increased influence of hip-hop and electronic dance music can be seen in rock music, notably in the techno-pop scene of the early 2010s and the pop-punk-hip-hop revival of the 2020s. Rock has also embodied and served as
11505-417: The protest song , rock music has been associated with political activism , as well as changes in social attitudes to race, sex, and drug use, and is often seen as an expression of youth revolt against adult consumerism and conformity . At the same time, it has been commercially highly successful, leading to accusations of selling out . A good definition of rock, in fact, is that it's popular music that to
11700-515: The " 500 Greatest Albums of All Time ". The band were included among both Rolling Stone ' s and VH1 's lists of 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
11895-454: The 1950s saw the growth in popularity of the electric guitar, and the development of a specifically rock and roll style of playing through such exponents as Chuck Berry, Link Wray , and Scotty Moore . The use of distortion , pioneered by Western swing guitarists such as Junior Barnard and Eldon Shamblin was popularized by Chuck Berry in the mid-1950s. The use of power chords , pioneered by Francisco Tárrega and Heitor Villa-Lobos in
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#173277965833012090-523: 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,
12285-513: 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
12480-467: The 19th century and later on by Willie Johnson and Pat Hare in the early 1950s, was popularized by Link Wray in the late 1950s. Commentators have traditionally perceived a decline of rock and roll in the late 1950s and early 1960s. By 1959, the death of Buddy Holly, the Big Bopper and Ritchie Valens in a plane crash, the departure of Elvis for the army, the retirement of Little Richard to become
12675-477: The Banshees , Ultravox , and Simple Minds , showed the influence of progressive rock, as well as their more usually recognized punk influences. In the late 1960s, jazz-rock emerged as a distinct subgenre out of the blues-rock, psychedelic, and progressive rock scenes, mixing the power of rock with the musical complexity and improvisational elements of jazz. AllMusic states that the term jazz-rock "may refer to
12870-502: The Barrett recording, Hopper's brother Brian Hopper , another Wilde Flowers co-founder, joined the band on saxophone. Around this time, Soft Machine provided the pre-recorded soundtrack to a multi-media show called Spaced , which ran in London for five days during the summer of 1969. The soundtrack was eventually released commercially in 1996 by Cuneiform Records. In October 1969, following Brian Hopper's departure, Soft Machine expanded to
13065-628: The Beatles, demonstrating "to the rock generation in general that an album could be a major standalone statement without hit singles", such as on The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan (1963). Folk rock particularly took off in California, where it led acts like the Mamas & the Papas and Crosby, Stills, and Nash to move to electric instrumentation, and in New York, where it spawned performers including
13260-617: The Byrds ' shift from folk to folk rock from 1965. The psychedelic lifestyle, which revolved around hallucinogenic drugs, had already developed in San Francisco and particularly prominent products of the scene were Big Brother and the Holding Company , the Grateful Dead and Jefferson Airplane . The Jimi Hendrix Experience 's lead guitarist, Jimi Hendrix did extended distorted, feedback-filled jams which became
13455-431: The Byrds adopted rock instrumentation, including drums and 12-string Rickenbacker guitars, which became a major element in the sound of the genre. Later that year Dylan adopted electric instruments, much to the outrage of many folk purists, with his " Like a Rolling Stone " becoming a US hit single. According to Ritchie Unterberger , Dylan (even before his adoption of electric instruments) influenced rock musicians like
13650-475: The Daevid Allen Trio in 1963, occasionally accompanied by Ratledge. In 1964, Wyatt and Ayers were founding members of the Wilde Flowers , though by 1966, they had both left that band and reconnected with Allen to form Mister Head, which also included Nowlin. Mister Head proved short-lived, with the four members soon joining with Ratledge to form Soft Machine. Suggested by Ayers, the name came from William S. Burroughs ' 1961 novel The Soft Machine . The band became
13845-421: The Dominos , followed by an extensive solo career that helped bring blues rock into the mainstream. Green, along with the Bluesbreaker's rhythm section Mick Fleetwood and John McVie , formed Peter Green's Fleetwood Mac , who enjoyed some of the greatest commercial success in the genre. In the late 1960s Jeff Beck , also an alumnus of the Yardbirds, moved blues rock in the direction of heavy rock with his band,
14040-507: The Gates of Dawn . Key recordings included Jefferson Airplane's Surrealistic Pillow and the Doors ' self-titled debut album . These trends peaked in the 1969 Woodstock festival , which saw performances by most of the major psychedelic acts. Sgt. Pepper was later regarded as the greatest album of all time and a starting point for the album era , during which rock music transitioned from
14235-471: The Jeff Beck Group . The last Yardbirds guitarist was Jimmy Page , who went on to form The New Yardbirds which rapidly became Led Zeppelin . Many of the songs on their first three albums, and occasionally later in their careers, were expansions on traditional blues songs. In America, blues rock had been pioneered in the early 1960s by guitarist Lonnie Mack , but the genre began to take off in
14430-506: The Joint " (1949), also covered by Bill Haley & His Comets in 1952; and " Rocket 88 " by Jackie Brenston and his Delta Cats (in fact, Ike Turner and his band the Kings of Rhythm ), recorded by Sam Phillips for Chess Records in 1951. In 1951, Cleveland, Ohio disc jockey Alan Freed began playing rhythm and blues music (then termed " race music ") for a multi-racial audience, and
14625-503: The Lovin' Spoonful and Simon and Garfunkel , with the latter's acoustic " The Sounds of Silence " (1965) being remixed with rock instruments to be the first of many hits. These acts directly influenced British performers like Donovan and Fairport Convention . In 1969 Fairport Convention abandoned their mixture of American covers and Dylan-influenced songs to play traditional English folk music on electric instruments. This British folk-rock
14820-583: 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
15015-579: 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,
15210-537: 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
15405-659: 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
15600-539: 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
15795-533: The Rolling Stones and the Yardbirds , were much more directly influenced by rhythm and blues and later blues music. Soon these groups were composing their own material, combining US forms of music and infusing it with a high energy beat. Beat bands tended towards "bouncy, irresistible melodies", while early British blues acts tended towards less sexually innocent, more aggressive songs, often adopting an anti-establishment stance. There was, however, particularly in
15990-561: 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
16185-588: The Searchers from Liverpool and Freddie and the Dreamers , Herman's Hermits and the Hollies from Manchester. They drew on a wide range of American influences including 1950s rock and roll, soul, rhythm and blues, and surf music, initially reinterpreting standard American tunes and playing for dancers. Bands like the Animals from Newcastle and Them from Belfast , and particularly those from London like
16380-672: The Seeds ) to near-studio musician quality (including the Knickerbockers , the Remains , and the Fifth Estate ). There were also regional variations in many parts of the country with flourishing scenes particularly in California and Texas. The Pacific Northwest states of Washington and Oregon had perhaps the most defined regional sound. The style had been evolving from regional scenes as early as 1958. "Tall Cool One" (1959) by
16575-692: 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
16770-406: The UK and Tonefloat Records in the US, their first new studio album since 1981's Land of Cockayne . In Fall and Winter 2018, they toured the world as part of their 50th anniversary celebration and in support of the new album, and the US in January and February 2019. On 20 March 2020, Soft Machine released Live at The Baked Potato , their first original live album since 1978's Alive & Well . It
16965-744: 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
17160-527: 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
17355-676: The US was becoming dominated by lightweight pop and ballads, British rock groups at clubs and local dances were developing a style more strongly influenced by blues-rock pioneers, and were starting to play with an intensity and drive seldom found in white American acts; this influence would go on to shape the future of rock music through the British Invasion . The first four years of the 1960s has traditionally been seen as an era of hiatus for rock and roll. More recently some authors have emphasised important innovations and trends in this period without which future developments would not have been possible. While early rock and roll, particularly through
17550-546: 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 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
17745-521: 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 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
17940-619: The USSR and South Africa from 1955 to 1957, influencing the globalisation of rock. Johnny O'Keefe 's 1958 record " Wild One " was one of the earliest Australian rock and roll hits. By the late 1950s, as well as in the American-influenced Western world, rock was popular in communist states such as Yugoslavia, and the USSR, as well as in regions such as South America. In the late 1950s and early 1960s, American blues music and blues rock artists, who had been surpassed by
18135-751: The Wailers and " Louie Louie " by the Kingsmen (1963) are mainstream examples of the genre in its formative stages. By 1963, garage band singles were creeping into the national charts in greater numbers, including Paul Revere and the Raiders (Boise), the Trashmen (Minneapolis) and the Rivieras (South Bend, Indiana). Other influential garage bands, such as the Sonics (Tacoma, Washington), never reached
18330-606: 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
18525-527: The advent of rockabilly, saw the greatest commercial success for male and white performers, in this era, the genre was dominated by black and female artists. Rock and roll had not disappeared entirely from music at the end of the 1950s and some of its energy can be seen in the various dance crazes of the early 1960s, started by Chubby Checker 's record " The Twist " (1960). Some music historians have also pointed to important and innovative technical developments that built on rock and roll in this period, including
18720-401: 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
18915-566: 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
19110-449: 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
19305-522: The band Soft Bounds along with Sophia Domancich (keyboards) and Simon Goubert (drums), playing at the Festival "Les Tritonales" at Le Triton in Les Lilas , France (a suburb in the northeast of Paris). This concert was partially released as the (unique Soft Bounds) album Live at Le Triton in 2005. In October 2004, a new variant of Soft Works, with John Etheridge permanently replacing Holdsworth, took
19500-478: The band Soft Mountain along with Japanese musicians Hoppy Kamiyama (on keyboards), whom Hopper had met a couple of years earlier, and Yoshida Tatsuya (from the band Ruins ) on drums. Indeed, looking for a break from relatively fixed set lists and song forms, Hugh Hopper had contacted Kamiyama with the idea of hitting a studio for a day to see what might happen. Kamiyama brought in Tatsuya, and, with no discussion,
19695-509: The band and was replaced by Karl Jenkins , who also played keyboards in addition to saxophone. Both Marshall and Jenkins were former members of Ian Carr 's Nucleus . The band's next album was a half-live half-studio double album Six , released in early 1973. After the release of Six , Hopper left the band and was replaced by Roy Babbington , another former Nucleus member. During this period, Jenkins began to take over as bandleader and main composer. After they released Seven in late 1973,
19890-471: The band received unprecedented acclaim across Europe, and they made history by becoming the first rock band invited to play at London's Proms in August 1970, with the show being broadcast live on national TV. After differences over the group's musical direction, Wyatt was fired in August 1971 and formed Matching Mole (a pun on "machine molle", French for "soft machine"; also said at the time to have been taken from stage lighting equipment "Matching Mole"). He
20085-536: The band recorded a live album Alive & Well , released early the following year. 1978 saw only one live performance of Soft Machine, at the Sound & Musik Festival in Dortmund, Germany on 8 December, with a line-up of Marshall, Jenkins, Cook and Holdsworth. After this show, Soft Machine disbanded. The Soft Machine name was resurrected for the 1981 album Land of Cockayne . Soft Machine also briefly reformed for
20280-851: The band released a new studio album, Other Doors . The album was recorded with John Marshall before he retired from music. Marshall died on 16 September 2023. The current line-up of Soft Machine comprises Etheridge, Travis, Baker and drummer Asaf Sirkis . They embarked on a seven-date UK "Spring 2023 Tour" beginning on 3 February 2023 at the New Cross Inn in London and ending on 26 May 2023 at City Varieties in Leeds . The band began touring again in November 2023 with dates booked through November 2024. Soft Machine's music encompasses progressive rock , experimental rock , jazz rock , jazz , proto-prog , psychedelic rock and art rock , as well as being
20475-571: The band released their first single, " Love Makes Sweet Music " on Polydor Records . In April 1967 they recorded nine demo songs with producer Giorgio Gomelsky in De Lane Lea Studios that remained unreleased for several years in a dispute over studio costs. Polydor later released these demos in 1972 as Jet Propelled Photographs . During 1967, the band began touring in other European countries, becoming especially popular in France. It
20670-419: The band switched record labels again, this time moving from CBS to Harvest Records , a sub-label of EMI Records . At the end of 1973, another former Nucleus member, Allan Holdsworth , was added to the band, their first guitarist since Andy Summers' brief tenure in 1968. Holdsworth stayed with the band long enough to play on the next album, Bundles (1975), before leaving in the spring of 1975. His replacement
20865-482: 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
21060-718: The band's history. The current line-up consists of John Etheridge , Theo Travis , Fred Thelonious Baker and Asaf Sirkis . Though they achieved little commercial success, Soft Machine are considered by critics to have been influential in rock music. Dave Lynch at AllMusic called them "one of the most influential underground bands of their era". The group were named after the novel The Soft Machine by William S. Burroughs . Soft Machine (billed as The Soft Machine up to 1969 or 1970) were formed in mid-1966 by Mike Ratledge (keyboards), Robert Wyatt (drums, vocals), Kevin Ayers (bass, vocals), Daevid Allen (guitar) and Larry Nowlin (guitar). Allen and Wyatt first played together in
21255-476: 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
21450-585: The biggest selling rock band of all time and they were followed into the US charts by numerous British bands. During the next two years British acts dominated their own and the US charts with Peter and Gordon , the Animals, Manfred Mann , Petula Clark , Freddie and the Dreamers, Wayne Fontana and the Mindbenders , Herman's Hermits, the Rolling Stones, the Troggs , and Donovan all having one or more number one singles. Other major acts that were part of
21645-461: The chart. Their first appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show on 9 February 1964, drawing an estimated 73 million viewers (at the time a record for an American television program) is considered a milestone in American pop culture. During the week of 4 April 1964, the Beatles held 12 positions on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart, including the entire top five. The Beatles went on to become
21840-424: The delights and limitations of the regional , and to deal with the depredations and benefits of mass culture itself. — Robert Christgau in Christgau's Record Guide (1981) Unlike many earlier styles of popular music, rock lyrics have dealt with a wide range of themes, including romantic love, sex, rebellion against " The Establishment ", social concerns, and life styles. These themes were inherited from
22035-455: The early 1970s among existing blues-rock and psychedelic bands, as well as newly formed acts. The vibrant Canterbury scene saw acts following Soft Machine from psychedelia, through jazz influences, toward more expansive hard rock, including Caravan , Hatfield and the North , Gong , and National Health . The French group Magma around drummer Christian Vander almost single-handedly created
22230-460: The early 1970s, Robert Christgau wrote in Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies (1981): The decade is, of course, an arbitrary schema itself—time doesn't just execute a neat turn toward the future every ten years. But like a lot of artificial concepts—money, say—the category does take on a reality of its own once people figure out how to put it to work. "The '60s are over,"
22425-462: The early stages, considerable musical crossover between the two tendencies. By 1963, led by the Beatles, beat groups had begun to achieve national success in Britain, soon to be followed into the charts by the more rhythm and blues focused acts. " I Want to Hold Your Hand " was the Beatles' first number one hit on the Billboard Hot 100 , spending seven weeks at the top and a total of 15 weeks on
22620-519: The electronic treatment of sound by such innovators as Joe Meek , and the elaborate production methods of the Wall of Sound pursued by Phil Spector . The instrumental rock and roll of performers such as Duane Eddy , Link Wray and the Ventures was further developed by Dick Dale , who added distinctive "wet" reverb , rapid alternate picking, and Middle Eastern and Mexican influences. He produced
22815-466: The end of the first tour, though it would not be released until December. Back in London, guitarist Andy Summers , later of the Police , joined the group. The new line-up began a tour of the U.S. with some headlining shows, before supporting Hendrix during August and September 1968. By the time the Hendrix tour began, Summers had been fired at the insistence of Ayers. Ayers himself departed amicably after
23010-581: The example set by the Beatles ' 1965 LP Rubber Soul in particular, other British rock acts released rock albums intended as artistic statements in 1966, including the Rolling Stones ' Aftermath , the Beatles' own Revolver , and the Who 's A Quick One , as well as American acts in the Beach Boys ( Pet Sounds ) and Bob Dylan ( Blonde on Blonde ). Garage rock was a raw form of rock music, particularly prevalent in North America in
23205-561: 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
23400-466: The final tour date at the Hollywood Bowl in September, and Soft Machine disbanded. Wyatt stayed in the U.S. to record solo demos, while Ratledge returned to London and began composing in earnest. In December 1968, to fulfil contractual obligations, Wyatt and Ratledge re-formed Soft Machine, with their former road manager Hugh Hopper replacing Ayers on bass. Like Ayers and Wyatt, Hopper had been
23595-498: The first record, and worldwide hit, for the Virgin Records label, which became a mainstay of the genre. Instrumental rock was particularly significant in continental Europe, allowing bands like Kraftwerk , Tangerine Dream , Can , Focus (band) and Faust to circumvent the language barrier. Their synthesiser-heavy " krautrock ", along with the work of Brian Eno (for a time the keyboard player with Roxy Music ), would be
23790-404: 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
23985-455: The folk scene. The first group to advertise themselves as psychedelic rock were the 13th Floor Elevators from Texas. The Beatles introduced many of the major elements of the psychedelic sound to audiences in this period, such as guitar feedback , the Indian sitar and backmasking sound effects . Psychedelic rock particularly took off in California's emerging music scene as groups followed
24180-513: The format of rock operas and opened the door to concept albums , often telling an epic story or tackling a grand overarching theme. King Crimson 's 1969 début album, In the Court of the Crimson King , which mixed powerful guitar riffs and mellotron , with jazz and symphonic music , is often taken as the key recording in progressive rock, helping the widespread adoption of the genre in
24375-538: 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
24570-575: 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
24765-458: The impetus was soon taken up by a second wave of bands that drew their inspiration more directly from American blues , including the Rolling Stones and the Yardbirds . British blues musicians of the late 1950s and early 1960s had been inspired by the acoustic playing of figures such as Lead Belly , who was a major influence on the Skiffle craze, and Robert Johnson . Increasingly they adopted
24960-407: The initials of their first names. The newly formed band toured in the spring and summer of 1978 as Soft Head as Dave Sheen replaced Pip Pyle, due to the latter's commitments with the band National Health. The live album Rogue Element was recorded on that tour and was released in 1978. The original Soft Heap line-up reconvened in October 1978 to record their eponymous studio album Soft Heap which
25155-467: The invasion included the Kinks and the Dave Clark Five . The British Invasion helped internationalize the production of rock and roll, opening the door for subsequent British (and Irish) performers to achieve international success. In America it arguably spelled the end of instrumental surf music, vocal girl groups and (for a time) the teen idols , that had dominated the American charts in
25350-517: The label were R&B oriented white rock bands that made use of jazzy horn sections, like Electric Flag , Blood, Sweat & Tears and Chicago , to become some of the most commercially successful acts of the later 1960s and the early 1970s. British acts to emerge in the same period from the blues scene, to make use of the tonal and improvisational aspects of jazz, included Nucleus and the Graham Bond and John Mayall spin-off Colosseum . From
25545-446: The late 1950s and 1960s. It dented the careers of established R&B acts like Fats Domino and Chubby Checker and even temporarily derailed the chart success of surviving rock and roll acts, including Elvis. The British Invasion also played a major part in the rise of a distinct genre of rock music, and cemented the primacy of the rock group, based on guitars and drums and producing their own material as singer-songwriters. Following
25740-410: The loudest, wildest, most electrified fusion bands from the jazz camp, but most often it describes performers coming from the rock side of the equation." Jazz-rock "...generally grew out of the most artistically ambitious rock subgenres of the late '60s and early '70s", including the singer-songwriter movement. Many early US rock and roll musicians had begun in jazz and carried some of these elements into
25935-437: 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
26130-476: The many recordings which have been suggested as "the first rock and roll record ". Contenders include " Strange Things Happening Every Day " by Sister Rosetta Tharpe (1944); " That's All Right " by Arthur Crudup (1946), which was later covered by Elvis Presley in 1954; " The House of Blue Lights " by Ella Mae Morse and Freddie Slack (1946); Wynonie Harris ' " Good Rocking Tonight " (1948); Goree Carter 's "Rock Awhile" (1949); Jimmy Preston 's " Rock
26325-826: 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
26520-674: The mid-1950s by white singers such as Carl Perkins , Jerry Lee Lewis, Buddy Holly and with the greatest commercial success, Elvis Presley . Hispanic and Latino American movements in rock and roll, which would eventually lead to the success of Latin rock and Chicano rock within the US, began to rise in the Southwest ; with rock and roll standard musician Ritchie Valens and even those within other heritage genres, such as Al Hurricane along with his brothers Tiny Morrie and Baby Gaby as they began combining rock and roll with country- western within traditional New Mexico music . In addition,
26715-609: The mid-1960s the Left Banke , the Beatles, the Rolling Stones and the Beach Boys, had pioneered the inclusion of harpsichords , wind , and string sections on their recordings to produce a form of Baroque rock and can be heard in singles like Procol Harum 's " A Whiter Shade of Pale " (1967), with its Bach -inspired introduction. The Moody Blues used a full orchestra on their album Days of Future Passed (1967) and subsequently created orchestral sounds with synthesizers. Classical orchestration, keyboards, and synthesizers were
26910-479: The mid-1960s and so called because of the perception that it was rehearsed in the suburban family garage. Garage rock songs often revolved around the traumas of high school life, with songs about "lying girls" and unfair social circumstances being particularly common. The lyrics and delivery tended to be more aggressive than was common at the time, often with growled or shouted vocals that dissolved into incoherent screaming. They ranged from crude one-chord music (like
27105-435: The mid-1960s as acts developed a sound similar to British blues musicians. Key acts included Paul Butterfield (whose band acted like Mayall's Bluesbreakers in Britain as a starting point for many successful musicians), Canned Heat , the early Jefferson Airplane , Janis Joplin , Johnny Winter , the J. Geils Band and Jimi Hendrix with his power trios , the Jimi Hendrix Experience (which included two British members, and
27300-401: The mid-1960s onwards, rock music often used the verse–chorus structure derived from blues and folk music, but there has been considerable variation from this model. Critics have stressed the eclecticism and stylistic diversity of rock. Because of its complex history and its tendency to borrow from other musical and cultural forms, it has been argued that "it is impossible to bind rock music to
27495-453: 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 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
27690-406: 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
27885-572: 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
28080-595: The name of "Soft Machine Legacy" and performed their first two gigs (two Festival shows on 9 October in Turkey and 15 October in Czech Republic), Liam Genockey temporarily replacing John Marshall who had ligament problems (the first Soft Machine Legacy line-up being consequently: Elton Dean, John Etheridge, Hugh Hopper and Liam Genockey). Later on, Soft Machine Legacy released three albums: Live in Zaandam (2005),
28275-414: The new music genre zeuhl with their first albums in the early 1970s. Greater commercial success was enjoyed by Pink Floyd, who also moved away from psychedelia after the departure of Syd Barrett in 1968, with The Dark Side of the Moon (1973), seen as a masterpiece of the genre, becoming one of the best-selling albums of all time. There was an emphasis on instrumental virtuosity, with Yes showcasing
28470-608: The new music. In Britain the subgenre of blues rock, and many of its leading figures, like Ginger Baker and Jack Bruce of the Eric Clapton -fronted band Cream , had emerged from the British jazz scene. Often highlighted as the first true jazz-rock recording is the only album by the relatively obscure New York–based the Free Spirits with Out of Sight and Sound (1966). The first group of bands to self-consciously use
28665-505: 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
28860-490: 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
29055-412: The psychedelic rock and the Canterbury scenes came Soft Machine, who, it has been suggested, produced one of the artistically successfully fusions of the two genres. Perhaps the most critically acclaimed fusion came from the jazz side of the equation, with Miles Davis , particularly influenced by the work of Hendrix, incorporating rock instrumentation into his sound for the album Bitches Brew (1970). It
29250-512: The quartet dove right in, playing two 45-minute improvisations. In 2007, a year after Elton Dean unexpectedly died aged 60, the one-time meeting band released their eponymous album Soft Mountain that they had recorded on that 10 August 2003 day in Tokyo, Japan. The two-part "Soft Mountain Suite" extracts the best thirty minutes from each improvisation. Soft Mountain named themselves after Hoppy Kamiyama, whose name translates to "God Mountain" in English. In June 2004, Elton Dean and Hugh Hopper formed
29445-413: The regional hit " Let's Go Trippin ' " in 1961 and launched the surf music craze, following up with songs like " Misirlou " (1962). Like Dale and his Del-Tones , most early surf bands were formed in Southern California, including the Bel-Airs , the Challengers , and Eddie & the Showmen . The Chantays scored a top ten national hit with " Pipeline " in 1963 and probably the best-known surf tune
29640-485: 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"
29835-400: The rise of rock and roll in the US, found new popularity in the UK, visiting with successful tours. Lonnie Donegan 's 1955 hit " Rock Island Line " was a major influence and helped to develop the trend of skiffle music groups throughout the country, many of which, including John Lennon 's Quarrymen (later the Beatles ), moved on to play rock and roll. While former rock and roll market in
30030-475: The romantic concept of art as artistic expression, original and sincere". In the new millennium, the term rock has occasionally been used as a blanket term including forms like pop music, reggae music , soul music , and even hip hop , which it has been influenced with but often contrasted through much of its history. Christgau has used the term broadly to refer to popular and semipopular music that caters to his sensibility as "a rock-and-roller", including
30225-424: 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
30420-468: The same era, and by percussion produced from a drum kit that combines drums and cymbals. This trio of instruments has often been complemented by the inclusion of other instruments, particularly keyboards such as the piano, the Hammond organ , and the synthesizer. The basic rock instrumentation was derived from the basic blues band instrumentation (prominent lead guitar, second chordal instrument, bass, and drums). A group of musicians performing rock music
30615-555: The second half of the 1970s, punk rock reacted by producing stripped-down, energetic social and political critiques. Punk was an influence in the 1980s on new wave , post-punk and eventually alternative rock . From the 1990s, alternative rock began to dominate rock music and break into the mainstream in the form of grunge , Britpop , and indie rock . Further fusion subgenres have since emerged, including pop-punk , electronic rock , rap rock , and rap metal . Some movements were conscious attempts to revisit rock's history, including
30810-403: 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
31005-498: The singles format to albums and achieved cultural legitimacy in the mainstream. Led by the Beatles in the mid-1960s, rock musicians advanced the LP as the dominant form of recorded music expression and consumption, initiating a rock-informed album era in the music industry for the next several decades. Progressive rock, a term sometimes used interchangeably with art rock , moved beyond established musical formulas by experimenting with different instruments, song types, and forms. From
31200-413: The skills of both guitarist Steve Howe and keyboard player Rick Wakeman , while Emerson, Lake & Palmer were a supergroup who produced some of the genre's most technically demanding work. Jethro Tull and Genesis both pursued very different, but distinctly English, brands of music. Renaissance , formed in 1969 by ex-Yardbirds Jim McCarty and Keith Relf, evolved into a high-concept band featuring
31395-425: 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,
31590-401: The studio album Soft Machine Legacy (2006) recorded in September 2005 and featuring fresh material and the album Live at the New Morning (2006). After Elton Dean died in February 2006, the band continued with British saxophonist and flautist Theo Travis , formerly of Gong and the Tangent . In December 2006, the new Legacy line-up recorded the album Steam in Jon Hiseman 's studio. Steam
31785-401: 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
31980-558: The three-octave voice of Annie Haslam . Most British bands depended on a relatively small cult following, but a handful, including Pink Floyd, Genesis, and Jethro Tull, managed to produce top ten singles at home and break the American market. The American brand of progressive rock varied from the eclectic and innovative Frank Zappa , Captain Beefheart and Blood, Sweat & Tears , to more pop rock orientated bands like Boston , Foreigner , Kansas , Journey , and Styx . These, beside British bands Supertramp and ELO , all demonstrated
32175-528: The time was playing in a jazz-rock fusion band called Last Exit . On 12 January 1977, Sting relocated to London, and on 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
32370-409: The vehicle for cultural and social movements, leading to major subcultures including mods and rockers in the U.K., the hippie movement and the wider Western counterculture movement that spread out from San Francisco in the U.S. in the 1960s, the latter of which continues to this day. Similarly, 1970s punk culture spawned the goth , punk, and emo subcultures. Inheriting the folk tradition of
32565-442: 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
32760-418: The work of the Beach Boys , formed in 1961 in Southern California. Their early albums included both instrumental surf rock (among them covers of music by Dick Dale) and vocal songs, drawing on rock and roll and doo wop and the close harmonies of vocal pop acts like the Four Freshmen . The Beach Boys first chart hit, " Surfin ' " in 1961 reached the Billboard top 100 and helped make the surf music craze
32955-533: The work of established performers such as the Rolling Stones' Beggar's Banquet (1968) and the Beatles' Let It Be (1970). Reflecting on this change of trends in rock music over the past few years, Christgau wrote in his June 1970 "Consumer Guide" column that this "new orthodoxy" and "cultural lag" abandoned improvisatory, studio-ornamented productions in favor of an emphasis on "tight, spare instrumentation" and song composition: "Its referents are '50s rock, country music, and rhythm-and-blues, and its key inspiration
33150-404: The world, except as a new brand of painkiller ... In the '70s the powerful took over, as rock industrialists capitalized on the national mood to reduce potent music to an often reactionary species of entertainment—and to transmute rock's popular base from the audience to market." Roots rock is the term now used to describe a move away from what some saw as the excesses of the psychedelic scene, to
33345-479: Was John Etheridge , with saxophonist Alan Wakeman (cousin of Yes keyboardist Rick Wakeman ) also being added at the beginning of 1976. The next album, Softs (1976), was the first without Ratledge, the last remaining original member of the band, who left in March 1976. Other musicians who were members of Soft Machine during the late 1970s were saxophonist Ray Warleigh , violinist Ric Sanders , and bassists Percy Jones (of Brand X ) and Steve Cook. During 1977,
33540-462: Was John Mayall ; his band, the Bluesbreakers , included Eric Clapton (after Clapton's departure from the Yardbirds) and later Peter Green . Particularly significant was the release of Blues Breakers with Eric Clapton (Beano) album (1966), considered one of the seminal British blues recordings and the sound of which was much emulated in both Britain and the United States. Eric Clapton went on to form supergroups Cream, Blind Faith , and Derek and
33735-460: Was 1963's " Wipe Out ", by the Surfaris , which hit number 2 and number 10 on the Billboard charts in 1965. Surf rock was also popular in Europe during this time, with the British group the Shadows scoring hits in the early 1960s with instrumentals such as " Apache " and " Kon-Tiki ", while Swedish surf group the Spotnicks saw success in both Sweden and Britain. Surf music achieved its greatest commercial success as vocal pop music, particularly
33930-473: Was a major influence on subsequent rock-influenced jazz artists, including Herbie Hancock , Chick Corea and Weather Report . The genre began to fade in the late 1970s, as a mellower form of fusion began to take its audience, but acts like Steely Dan , Frank Zappa and Joni Mitchell recorded significant jazz-influenced albums in this period, and it has continued to be a major influence on rock music. Reflecting on developments that occurred in rock music in
34125-434: 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
34320-453: 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
34515-492: Was briefly replaced by Australian drummer Phil Howard . This line-up toured extensively in Europe during late 1971 and began the recording of their next album Fifth , but further musical disagreements led to Howard's dismissal at the beginning of 1972, with the album being completed with his replacement, John Marshall . Fifth was released in 1972, with side one comprising tracks recorded with Howard and side two comprising tracks recorded with Marshall. Later that year, Dean left
34710-477: 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
34905-424: Was continued in the 1970s by figures such as George Thorogood and Pat Travers , but, particularly on the British scene (except perhaps for the advent of groups such as Status Quo and Foghat who moved towards a form of high energy and repetitive boogie rock ), bands became focused on heavy metal innovation, and blues rock began to slip out of the mainstream. By the 1960s, the scene that had developed out of
35100-400: Was decided to be one step removed." In September and October 2015, it was announced that the band Soft Machine Legacy, comprising drummer John Marshall, guitarist John Etheridge, bassist Roy Babbington and sax, flute and keyboard player Theo Travis, would be performing under the name "Soft Machine" in late 2015 and early 2016: two shows in the Netherlands and Belgium in early December 2015 and
35295-449: Was founded in Britain), and Band of Gypsys , whose guitar virtuosity and showmanship would be among the most emulated of the decade. Blues rock bands from the southern states, like the Allman Brothers Band , Lynyrd Skynyrd , and ZZ Top , incorporated country elements into their style to produce the distinctive genre Southern rock . Early blues rock bands often emulated jazz, playing long, involved improvisations, which would later be
35490-528: 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,
35685-446: 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
35880-457: 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
36075-416: Was mostly instrumental save for Wyatt's "Moon in June", the last Soft Machine song with lyrics. From Fourth onwards, the band became completely instrumental on record, and then on stage following Wyatt's departure soon after the album's release. Third was unusual for its time in having each of the four sides feature one suite. Over time, it has become Soft Machine's biggest selling album. During this period,
36270-427: Was on return from a tour of France in August that Allen (an Australian) was denied re-entry to the United Kingdom, so the group continued as a trio, while he returned to Paris to form Gong . Sharing the same management as the Jimi Hendrix Experience , Soft Machine supported them on two North American tours during 1968. Now signed to Probe Records , Soft Machine's first album was recorded in New York City in April at
36465-445: Was recorded live on 1 February 2019 at The Baked Potato , Los Angeles, and was initially only available as a twelve-track only-200-numbered-copy limited edition double vinyl LP but it has since been released on CD. The album documents their extensive 2018–2019 world tour. On 7 December 2021, Soft Machine issued a press release announcing that Babbington was retiring from the band, to be replaced by Fred Thelonious Baker. In June 2023,
36660-542: Was released in 1979. After two line-up changes that occurred in 1979–81, the new line-up toured intermittently throughout the 1980s, embarking on four tours during the decade with a total of 25 European concerts, culminating with a gig on 11 May 1988 at the Festival "Jazz sous les pommiers" in Coutances , France. Soft Ware (sometimes SoftWhere) formed in September 1999, featuring Elton Dean, Hugh Hopper, John Marshall (on drums) and longtime friend Keith Tippett . This line-up would remain together only briefly, and played just
36855-423: Was released in August 2007 by Moonjune before a European tour. Hopper left in 2008 because he was suffering from leukaemia , so the band continued live performances with Fred Thelonious Baker deputising for Hopper. Following Hopper's death in 2009, the band announced that they would continue with Roy Babbington again replacing Hugh Hopper on bass. Soft Machine Legacy released their fifth album in October 2010:
37050-411: Was taken up by bands including Pentangle , Steeleye Span and the Albion Band , which in turn prompted Irish groups like Horslips and Scottish acts like the JSD Band , Spencer's Feat and later Five Hand Reel , to use their traditional music to create a brand of Celtic rock in the early 1970s. Folk-rock reached its peak of commercial popularity in the period 1967–68, before many acts moved off in
37245-548: Was taking place globally in the aftermath of the Second World War . Cliff Richard is credited with one of the first rock and roll hits outside of North America with " Move It " (1959), effectively ushering in the sound of British rock . Several artists, most prominently Tommy Steele from the UK, found success with covers of major American rock and roll hits before the recordings could spread internationally, often translating them into local languages where appropriate. Steele in particular toured Britain, Scandinavia, Australia,
37440-465: 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 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
37635-439: Was the first commercially successful folk song to be recorded with rock and roll instrumentation and the Beatles " I'm a Loser " (1964), arguably the first Beatles song to be influenced directly by Dylan. The folk rock movement is usually thought to have taken off with the Byrds ' recording of Dylan's " Mr. Tambourine Man " which topped the charts in 1965. With members who had been part of the café-based folk scene in Los Angeles,
37830-430: Was the major force in American record sales and crooners , such as Eddie Fisher , Perry Como , and Patti Page , who had dominated the previous decade of popular music, found their access to the pop charts significantly curtailed. Rock and roll has been seen as leading to a number of distinct subgenres, including rockabilly, combining rock and roll with "hillbilly" country music, which was usually played and recorded in
38025-400: Was the most popular genre of music in the U.S. and much of the Western world from the 1950s to the 2010s. Rock musicians in the mid-1960s began to advance the album ahead of the single as the dominant form of recorded music expression and consumption, with the Beatles at the forefront of this development. Their contributions lent the genre a cultural legitimacy in the mainstream and initiated
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