I never want to hear the Police again

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I was in a store today and some vaguely familiar song came on the radio, one with a half-assed reggae rhythm and some poncey vocals soaring over the top. "Oh yes, the Police", I thought and continued about my business. Then it hit me: I hear this band all the time, none of their music leaves an impression on me at all, and I'm sort of mystified that they ever achieved "great band" status. They don't offend me, they're perfectly pleasant, but I feel like it's time me and the Police parted ways forever and never crossed paths again. I don't even feel that way about bands I hate. It's sort of strange. It's like that one time I had some Woodchuck Apple Cider one night and woke up the next morning feeling a little sick; it put me off cider forever, even though I don't dislike it.

I can still handle Sting's solo career, somehow.

― Gear! (can Jung shill it, Mu?) (Gear!), Wednesday, 20 April 2005 03:01 (twenty years ago)

This is an amazing post.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Wednesday, 20 April 2005 03:03 (twenty years ago)

Newsflash: The Police have more songs than the 12 on their "greatest hits" album.

― billstevejim, Wednesday, 20 April 2005 03:09 (twenty years ago)

yeah well aware, I can thank a steady stream of Police-loving roommates for that.

― Gear! (can Jung shill it, Mu?) (Gear!), Wednesday, 20 April 2005 03:13 (twenty years ago)

Funny, I recently had almost the opposite reaction. After hearing the Police everywhere all my life and always just thinking it was sort of pleasant, I finally realized how great they were.

― Hurting (Hurting), Wednesday, 20 April 2005 03:14 (twenty years ago)

"No Time This Time" is a great song.

― the onion thing, Wednesday, 20 April 2005 03:15 (twenty years ago)

Indeed it is.

― billstevejim, Wednesday, 20 April 2005 03:19 (twenty years ago)

That is a funny post, earlier today I was commenting to my girlfriend about how I have four Police LPs and wasn't sure when in the hell I was ever going to get around to listening to them. I know Ill probably like them but I have never gotten the "itch" or waht have you to give them a go.

― jmeister (jmeister), Wednesday, 20 April 2005 03:39 (twenty years ago)

Someone once made quite a brilliant point by talking about the fact he couldn't think of a single band that was directly influenced by the Police. When was the last time you heard a song and thought, "Wow, this could've been on Ghost in the Machine"?

― Cunga (Cunga), Wednesday, 20 April 2005 04:30 (twenty years ago)

Men at Work?

― Tim Ellison (Tim Ellison), Wednesday, 20 April 2005 04:37 (twenty years ago)

I'm with you, Hurting. And Cunga, not being able to think of a band that was directly influenced by the Police might just mean that they were that unique of an artist.

― Mr Deeds (Mr Deeds), Wednesday, 20 April 2005 04:39 (twenty years ago)

Sting's post-Police megalomania, and his nauseating yet ubiquitous solo records-- not to mention his irrepressable urge to engage in sexual braggadocio-- ensured that I would never look favorably on that band ever again.

― Vestigial Appendages, Esq. (King Kobra), Wednesday, 20 April 2005 04:39 (twenty years ago)

yeah well aware, I can thank a steady stream of Police-loving roommates for that.

Then why didn't you just post this in the first place, which is far more telling than your rant above?

I mean, I was turned off by Rush for the same reason when I started college... then I was able to approach them again. It's a perfectly valid reason.. far more than the "I hear them everywhere I go" reason.

― donut debonair (donut), Wednesday, 20 April 2005 04:45 (twenty years ago)

Though one does tend to turn on the radio, all these years later, and hear the same Police songs again and again.

― Tim Ellison (Tim Ellison), Wednesday, 20 April 2005 04:49 (twenty years ago)

I have nothing against the Police. In fact it's perhaps because they affect me in no way at all that I never need to nor want to hear them again. For whatever reason, hearing the song today brought that idea out of my subconscious, it wasn't the reason for it exactly.

People be snippy tonight.

― Gear! (can Jung shill it, Mu?) (Gear!), Wednesday, 20 April 2005 04:54 (twenty years ago)

think i've had this reaction before. -- you hear something and it makes you feel a certain way, which happens to be neither good nor really bad (the way you're used to reacting) and is actually nothingness. you go for years w/o noticing it or being able to name it. then suddenly you FEEL the nothingness and it becomes CRYSTAL CLEAR that to process the nothingness everytime you hear the song requires some effort, though minimal - however b/c there is absolutely no return for you it feels really unpleasant and mentally laborious - like it takes a TOLL and sucks on your SOUL. i used to get this way over barbara streisand movies, the beatles, and gilligan's island

― Susan Douglas (Susan Douglas), Wednesday, 20 April 2005 05:23 (twenty years ago)

i get that way over nearly everything! isn't that how life is? a few things you love, a few things you hate, and the rest is filler.

― ()ops (()()ps), Wednesday, 20 April 2005 05:39 (twenty years ago)

the police are responsible for so much terror.

― kacka thompson (kacka), Wednesday, 20 April 2005 05:48 (twenty years ago)

fuck tantra.

― kacka thompson (kacka), Wednesday, 20 April 2005 05:48 (twenty years ago)

fuck that blondie boy.

― kacka thompson (kacka), Wednesday, 20 April 2005 05:49 (twenty years ago)

the girl and lockstocksmokes sucked. sorry, the music....it's about the music! somebody pout on the red light

― kacka thompson (kacka), Wednesday, 20 April 2005 05:49 (twenty years ago)

blonde

― kacka thompson (kacka), Wednesday, 20 April 2005 05:51 (twenty years ago)

the police. that was years ago. my.

― kacka thompson (kacka), Wednesday, 20 April 2005 05:51 (twenty years ago)

Someone once made quite a brilliant point by talking about the fact he couldn't think of a single band that was directly influenced by the Police.

Whoever said that obviously didn't live in Canada in the '80s. Platinum Blonde, Payola$, Corey Hart and more all showed a definite Police influence, even if only for a song or two. And of course, even post-prog Rush caught that wave!

― Myonga Von Bontee (Myonga Von Bontee), Wednesday, 20 April 2005 06:10 (twenty years ago)

Were any bands ever actually inflluenced at all by The Police?

― shine headlights on me (electricsound), Wednesday, 20 April 2005 06:12 (twenty years ago)

Someone once made quite a brilliant point by talking about the fact he couldn't think of a single band that was directly influenced by the Police.

Haha, I hope that someone visits Mexico or South America sometime.

― donut debonair (donut), Wednesday, 20 April 2005 06:20 (twenty years ago)

And Kacka makes her debut with a vengeance, seemingly intent upon overtaking Alex in NYC as ILMer with the most posts. (Or is Ned ahead of Alex? I forget.)

― Myonga Von Bonhomie (Myonga Von Bontee), Wednesday, 20 April 2005 06:31 (twenty years ago)

And of course, even post-prog Rush caught that wave!

Yeah, I heard "New World Man" on the radio the other day. I own the album it's from but until the vocals came in, I was trying to figure out which Police song it was.

My experience with this band is closer to Hurting's (though I haven't rushed to get an album or anything). The band towards whom I am usually so indifferent that it puzzles me is 'classic' U2.

― Sundar (sundar), Wednesday, 20 April 2005 12:47 (twenty years ago)

i still giggle to myself every time i see the title of an instrumental track on an early 'atom and his package' CD called 'Sting Cannot Possibly Be the Same Guy Who Was in the Police'.

― chr1sb0y (chr1sb0y), Wednesday, 20 April 2005 14:02 (twenty years ago)

Gear, I support your decision.

― M@tt He1geson (Matt Helgeson), Wednesday, 20 April 2005 14:11 (twenty years ago)

Sundar OTM. Moving Pictures-Signals era Rush is so indebted to the Police.

― Alfred Soto (Alfred Soto), Wednesday, 20 April 2005 14:48 (twenty years ago)

I noticed in the BMG music club online catalog they now have The Police cd's listed under "Sting and The Police".

Oh how the mighty have been forgotten.

I still love Ghost in the Machine. I love how the live band sound was mixed with the 80s synth/sequencer sounds.

― Earl Nash (earlnash), Wednesday, 20 April 2005 14:59 (twenty years ago)

gear!, that first post reminds me of chuck klosterman! which is not an insult: i like klosterman.

― jaymc (jaymc), Wednesday, 20 April 2005 15:03 (twenty years ago)

It's your life, but I gotta say that Regatta de Blanc still rocketh my socketh.

One hearing of "It's All Right For You" and I can almost forgive them for "Don't Stand So Close to Me '86."

Almost.

― The Mad Puffin, Wednesday, 20 April 2005 15:12 (twenty years ago)

I don't think I ever really need to hear the police again. i hate when sting's voice gets all high and screechy. bugs the hell out of me.

― scott seward (scott seward), Wednesday, 20 April 2005 15:17 (twenty years ago)

They always annoyed the crap out of me until I perused some of their lyrics recently, and now I can stand them a bit more. Like most people, I never realised what their songs were really about. I still think The Police is a horrible name for a reggae-inspired band (not that they could get the reggae beats right...always going ONE two instead of one TWO).

― Ian Riese-Moraine. To Hell with you and your gradual evolution! (Eastern Mantra), Wednesday, 20 April 2005 15:50 (twenty years ago)

i hate when sting's voice gets all high and screechy

I always notice that one time in Roxanne where he said "Roxanne!!!" and sounds all disgusting and strained and gutteral... makes me sick every time I hear it.

― Vestigial Appendages, Esq. (King Kobra), Wednesday, 20 April 2005 16:06 (twenty years ago)

I enjoy the Police as comedy for the most part these days.

― miccio (miccio), Wednesday, 20 April 2005 16:11 (twenty years ago)

i do like the guitar sound on the synchronicity album. and some of their songs were really good. every little thing she does is magic is a really good song. there. i thought of nice stuff to say. but i don't need to hear them.

― scott seward (scott seward), Wednesday, 20 April 2005 16:15 (twenty years ago)

That's my soul up there...

― miccio (miccio), Wednesday, 20 April 2005 16:18 (twenty years ago)

eee yo!
eee yo!
eee yo!

― The Sensational Sulk (sexyDancer), Wednesday, 20 April 2005 17:16 (twenty years ago)

I just heard 'So Lonely' on the radio for the first time in a couple of years and it pretty much ruled. Sting's lyrics really haven't changed from day one, but at least then the context made them fun to listen to.
If they did nothing else besides Regatta De Blanc I would still love them, as I have since age 10.

― Rand D. Butterstein, Wednesday, 20 April 2005 17:54 (twenty years ago)

i don't like his cod-jazz phrasing. but they're not a bad band. no, i'll probably never buy one of their records.

― Amateur(ist) (Amateur(ist)), Wednesday, 20 April 2005 17:59 (twenty years ago)

fuck tha police

― Vestigial Appendages, Esq. (King Kobra), Wednesday, 20 April 2005 19:09 (twenty years ago)

stewart copeland tried out for the rolling stones after brian jones died GEEKFACT

― charleston charge (chaki), Wednesday, 20 April 2005 21:50 (twenty years ago)

ANDY SUMMERS tried out for the rolling stones after brian jones died GEEKFACT

― charleston charge (chaki), Wednesday, 20 April 2005 21:50 (twenty years ago)

meanwhile, Sting tried his hand at Battleship.
ihttp://www.sting.hu/pics/klipp/0egyeb/aolsyl/001.jpg

― Gear! (can Jung shill it, Mu?) (Gear!), Wednesday, 20 April 2005 21:52 (twenty years ago)

he's starting to look like the old witch in disney's snow white

― charleston charge (chaki), Wednesday, 20 April 2005 21:54 (twenty years ago)

I like "Voices Inside My Head" (but I like Common Sense's cover of it even more).

― gygax! (gygax!), Thursday, 21 April 2005 00:00 (twenty years ago)

two months pass...

i heart "the bed's too big w/t you"!

― Eisbär (llamasfur), Tuesday, 5 July 2005 20:53 (twenty years ago)

I sing my daughter to sleep with "Walking on the Moon". It's true.

― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Tuesday, 5 July 2005 21:12 (twenty years ago)

That's cute. I hope her leg don't break.
- - -
It seems history has been unkind to the Police. Zenyatta & Regatta are still my shitz, though. Both Stew & Sting came off as real jerkies at the Hall'o'Fame gig. Only Andy appeared light-hearted/genuine. But, c'mon: classic.

― Bobby Peru (Bobby Peru), Tuesday, 5 July 2005 21:19 (twenty years ago)

Hearing Sting sing "Every Breath You Take" this past weekend with new "conscious" lyrics at Live 8 made me want to rip out my own tongue and wear it as a necktie.

― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Tuesday, 5 July 2005 21:27 (twenty years ago)

it's a shame that -- consciously or not -- sting shits on his police legacy through his silly antics (such as the live8 stunt alex mentioned above). b/c when a random police song comes on the radio, i tend to enjoy it -- and, at their best, i think about how fresh they still sound.

― Eisbär (llamasfur), Tuesday, 5 July 2005 21:29 (twenty years ago)

The openings of "Message in a Bottle" and "Driven to Tears" (largely Andy and Stew's doing, respectively) stil sound fresh and exciting to me. Sting is just such an insufferably pompous ass that he's taken a giant, tepid, pungent dump all over the whole thing,....and I resent him for it, because it didn't have to be that way. Let's remember, he retired the Police saying he was tired of the limitations inherent in a three-piece rock format. Meanwhile, the last few bajillion albums he's put out have been bog-standard adult contemporary "jazz"-lite (not even) piffle that makes Air Supply sound like High on Fire. He's hardly pushing any envelopes.

― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Tuesday, 5 July 2005 21:35 (twenty years ago)

fourteen years pass...

I’ll be honest with you I usually don’t check what thread I’m posting in

there is only one thread, i'm on the same page. literally

― sarahell, Tuesday, 9 June 2020 05:18 (five years ago)

You know what?

I can't remember the last time I heard the Police. Like, anything!

At least ten years.

― Mark G, Tuesday, 9 June 2020 05:50 (five years ago)

I still like the Police. They never made a solid album (Zenyatta Mondatta is as close as they got, which is amusing because they rushed the recording process to meet a tour deadline), but they were a great singles band with a handful of album tracks that were nearly as good.

Not a fan of Sting's solo career, but he made like an EP's worth of decent singles, basically the ones that could've been done by the Police. ("If You Love Somebody Set Them Free," "Love Is the Seventh Wave," "Fortress Around Your Heart," "All This Time") And to be fair, Johnny Cash made a good recording out of "Hung My Head."

― birdistheword, Tuesday, 9 June 2020 06:12 (five years ago)

great revive

― an, uh, razor of love (sic), Tuesday, 9 June 2020 06:15 (five years ago)

I had no idea they reunited and toured, like, eight to ten years ago.

Good for them. Good for the Police.

― pplains, Tuesday, 9 June 2020 08:20 (five years ago)

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