“It’s so un-Police”: Stewart Copeland once revealed The Police’s signature formula
Stewart Copeland always knew that he and Sting could make it. Once his musical partner moved to London, they dove head and heart-first into their first jam session, giving it all seemed like the only natural course of action. Of course, those crucial early moments involved working to share the same vision, even though Sting didn’t immediately warm to the idea of commercialism.
When Copeland first met Sting, he was performing in a jazz-rock band called Last Exit, but he experienced a newfound sense of energy and enthusiasm when he moved from Newcastle to London and reached out to Copeland about performing together. Though a casual affair at first, Copeland exuded more passion than his musical counterpart, suddenly feeling the excitement following the split of his previous band, Curved Air.
The drummer had longed to become a part of something greater, and with the punk rock movement in full swing, his calling became clear. Filled with the desire to join in with the hype rather than observe it from the sidelines, he knew that joining forces with Sting held the key to his musical dreams, but they would have to pander to commercialist traits, at least initially, to spring into action. Sting wasn’t as convinced.
However, it didn’t take long before he decided he wanted in, and with a subtle lineup shift after their paths crossed with Andy Summers, The Police were well on their way to tasting the big time. It seemed that Summers’ involvement was also a huge enabler at this time, as his inclusion seemed to make Sting feel more liberated to explore certain sonic territories he hadn’t before, even if they didn’t yet feel entirely Police-esque.
This was the case with their debut single, ‘Roxanne’. Sting had come up with the song one night after wandering off into the red-light district near their hotel in Paris. When he returned, he presented a new song to Summers, who immediately felt endeared to it. At this point, it wasn’t the same version of ‘Roxanne’ they would eventually release; it was a bossa nova, which meant the challenge came with trying to make it sound more like something not only in keeping with the style they wanted to put out but one that would drive sales, too.
According to Sting, it was Copeland who was responsible for transforming the song into something with a more Police-inspired tango sound, but the drummers’ recollections make it sound like it was more of a collective effort: “Andy immediately leapt on it,” he said, adding, “That persuaded Sting because it’s so un-Police. But Sting was persuaded to bring it out in rehearsal. We pulled it out and thought, ‘Well, how can we turn it into a Police song?’ Let’s start by playing the rhythm backwards with heavier chords and a heavier rhythm.”
It seemed ‘Roxanne’ set a precedent on several fronts, as Copeland also said that it became a sort of blueprint for their subsequent releases and a standard they reached for in terms of popularity and commercialism. The song might have started as more of an abstract idea, but each member saw potential in it. Enough to witness it formulate the approach and premise of their next records. As Copeland put it: “And so was born ‘Roxanne’, and in fact, our signature formula for the next five albums.”
