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An Arresting New Development - Page 8

© Greg Camden

"From that point on, Sting had something to say and it was just as much his group as mine—the pressure was off me, which was just as well because after The Police first went on the road, I didn't write another note for a year as I was busy booking trucks and roadies, hustling agents, selling records, designing sleeves, just about everything. Having already written a set we could play, I had no time to think about writing more music. Meanwhile, Sting was sitting at home indulging in creative thoughts of a musical kind and writing songs, so gradually songs of his replaced our first lot of material."

This turn of events would have unforeseen consequences, but at the time The Police were too busy to notice. In fact, it was only after two years of almost non-stop activity that The Police finally took a break.

In the midst of all of this, in June of 1980 Sting found time to move to Galway, Ireland (largely for tax purposes), where he now retired to write some material for The Police's next album. But with the British public hungry for the band, The Police PR machine never rested: a "six pack" of The Police's five singles plus an alternate version of Reggatta de Blanc's "The Bed's Too Big Without You"—all pressed on blue vinyl and packaged with lyric sheets—was released, and even this got to #17. For the first time, The Police were expected to really sell records. This was a kind of pressure the band had not previously known, but they experienced the full brunt of it as they prepared to record the album which, unbeknownst to them, would mark the midpoint of their life as a band.

Next month's installment: Too Much Too Soon

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