Well, as it happens, The Police ARE one of my favorite groups. A number of their songs are in my personal wetware jukebox, playing on their own when the mood is appropriate. So once I had the above banner in place and linked, I went to check out this "awesome banner" I was asked to yak on about.
Well, I have to say that I'm impressed - to the point of sheer envy.
It has a jukebox with a nice sample of my favorite songs, such as Roxanne, it's got several classic videos, ringtones - and it's got a "forward to friends" capability. I won't be using that, but I WILL hit my "stumble" button. For free.
I might even Digg it. Because, well, I do!
It also talks about their current tour and you can enter their contest to go and see them live in New York City. Don't worry, I have not diluted your chances by entering! Rock concerts and venues are not Aspie Friendly.
All of this hooplah is to publicize the June Fifth release of a 2 disc Police Cd compilation of their greatest hits and their ongoing, highly celebrated reunion tour.
DALLAS, TX
"The influential band, performing its first Dallas gig in 23 years and the first half of a two-night stand, launched into 'Message in a Bottle', drawing enthusiastic cheers and the assistance of 20,000 backup singers."
- The Star Telegram
"The Police aren't content to crank out their classics note for note. They want to reinvent them... 'Walking in Your Footsteps' sped into a brilliant ska-tempo rocker While 'The Bed's Too Big Without You' slowed to a stunning psychedelic dub. 'Roxanne' (still the best song ever written about a prostitute) slowly twisted and turned into an act of high drama."
- Dallas Morning News
LOS ANGELES, CA - DODGER STADIUM
"The Police have always been a band that thrived on energy, whether from within its fractious framework or from the sing-along call of hordes of fans. Here, they seemed to feed on both... It was a near-perfect way to end this once-unthinkable series of Police shows - soaring on high notes and human electricity."
- The Orange County Register
"This was no ordinary greatest-hits show. The trio kept themselves off the nostalgia bandwagon and exercised their might as musicians by tweaking some of the more familiar numbers, making them soar to newer and greater heights."
- LA Weekly
ANAHEIM, CA
"At the Honda Center, from the first notes of opener 'Message in a Bottle', through the rattling timbre of 'Synchronicity II' and into the bubbling bounce of 'Walking on the Moon', frontman/bassist Sting, guitarist Andy Summers and drummer/percussionist Stewart Copeland were firing on all cylinders. The songs sounded fresh and the delivery was honest, two of the hardest things to attain on a reunion of this stature."
- Live Daily
But the thing about The Police that made them an instant favorite of mine, lo, these many moons ago, was their effortless musicianship and their willingness to say things with their songs at the risk of pissing off radio executives. At a time when most music was best described as "marketable," The Police were too good, too danceable and so damn unfairly man-pretty that The Powers that Were And Still Be simply had to choke down the message and pretend that they liked the taste.
The critics are saying they have only gotten better, so as much as I want this album for my collection - what I really want to hear is the concert CD that comes out of this tour.
If I'm truly blessed, they will do a cover of Leonard Cohen's "First We Take Manhattan" in New York City. There aren't many groups that can do that song justice, but it could have been written for the Police - a growling, soaring, defiant anthem with a timeless, yet urgent message.
Or even better yet - something new in that line from The Police themselves. There's a hell of a lot that needs to be said these days...
To tie this entry back into my blog's usual topics of libertarian constitutional outrage and cultural warfare against the banal mediocrity of the leadership of this wounded, bleeding and rotting nation, we need all the freakin' anthems we can get.
tag: Sting, The Police, Reggae, New Wave, Post-Punk, Allan Copeland, Andy Summers, Stewart Copeland, reunion
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