Police - Park West, Chicago - 1979

Tonight's second show is 9 years older than my last post, and the oldest concert this week.  It's a spectacular ball of energy catching the boys at their best and most creative.  This is a show I would've loved to have seen.  This one would've been fantastic.  Of course, I was only 8 years old at the time, so I didn't know any better, but it would have been the best.

It's got a nice selection of their best, but also some lesser known favorites that are awesome to hear live.  Bouncing, full of energy and hard rocking.  Hard to believe this happened about 20 miles from where I lived, and I had no idea.......

I built this cover from scratch, only using the two pics.  I love how it turned out.  It looks like something straight from their catalog.  A nice little addition to a remarkable history...  ( I have more awesome soundboard Police shows, but I'll wait to post them later.)

Short and sweet, tonight.  I'm fucking tired....

Police - Park West, Chicago - 1979

Police - Reggatta de Blanc - 1979

 When this album came out, I was 7, almost 8.  I wasn't even into music yet.  I was too busy playing with my Star Wars figures, watching Battlestar Galactica, and riding my bike.  Yes, my parents listened to FM Pop Radio in the car, so I'm sure I heard some of these songs back when they were popular, but I don't remember.  When I got their Greatest Hits in 1985, I already knew most of the songs, but I didn't own an actual Police album other than that.

I finally got this one sometime in 1989-1990 (would be my guess).  I know that when I bought it, I was still in High School, but also living in the midwest, after leaving Chicago in 1988.  I graduated in 1990.  ANYWAY...   I got it at a used record store called Recycled Sounds for about 3.00 on scratched vinyl and scruffed-up cover.  I learned most of these songs with the hiss and pop of an old record.  I almost prefer it that way.

This would be my second favorite Police album behind Synchronicity.  There is a little Power Pop, a little Punk, a little Reggae, a little New Wave and a little Rock.  It showed the true diversity in their style, and the melodies are some of their best, despite what Wikipedia says.  Lyrically, meh.  Sting has done better.  But the music is quality.....

I added the b-sides, and since there weren't any actual Police remixes, I added two fan mixes that sound as if they could be actual period mixes.  They are great!

I still don't understand why they would name their album THAT, though. It seems a tad racist...

Police - Reggatta de Blanc - 1979

Police - Synchronicity Live - 1983

If I was given the option by a genie from a magic bottle to go back in time and see any concert I wanted, The Police in 1983 would be in my top 5.  Bowie during Ziggy Stardust, Elton John during Yellow Brick Road, Doors during... when Jim was alive, and the Who any time during the 70s would fill out my top 5.  But this one, the Synchronicity Tour would definitely be there, seeing the guys at their prime as a group.

I can't tell if this an excellent audience recording or a mediocre soundboard recording, I can't tell.  But it really gives you the feeling of being there in the crowd and experiencing a great show.  I own the DVD of one of the shows from this tour, and although it sounds great, their stage show was a little lacking, but maybe that's due to being a recording rather than being there.  I think I would want Sting to be wearing his Mad Max coat, too.

I know not everyone likes live recordings, but I think any good fan of any group should have at least one high quality live recording of every tour for their favorite groups.  Not every fucking show, just one for each tour.  It gives you the ability to capture their humanity and talent, as you can fake anything in the studio.  It's nice to hear them actually working, too.  Every show I go to I am impressed by the effort that each and every performer puts into their show, just to make it real for their fans. (Except for Morrissey.  I love his music and he sounds pretty good live, but I don't think there's much effort there and I don't think he respects his fans much.)

This show has a lot of great songs, but at 13 tracks it seems a little short.  They also cut out all of the banter, false starts and the little extras that make live performances so special.  This leads me to believe it must be an edited radio show recording...  Don't know.

Doesn't matter, it kicks ass.  So does Sting...  He the fucking bomb.

Police - Synchronicity Live - 1983

Police - Ghost In the Machine - 1981

An album I wouldn't normally have considered for a while, here, Ghost In the Machine was requested and I am happy to oblige.

I have no interesting back story to Ghost In the Machine, as it was one of those albums I purchased later in life to finish filling my Police back catalog.

As for the music -

They only released 3 b-sides that were not on the album, surprisingly enough.  They had no official remixes, and I have yet to find a fan remix that is worth a shit.

The interesting thing about Ghost, though, is the demos.  Ghost actually has a full album plus extra of demo material.  Rumor has it, Sting had recorded the entire album, plus five or six extra songs, as a demo.  He played all the instruments and sang all the vocals and taped it.  He then handed the tape to the other two guys and said "Here's our album, do you think you guys can play this?"  The result was the Ghost album, and 5or 6 of the demos never saw the light of day.

Now, I have the demos.  The extra songs aren't bad, but the recording quality is worthlessly bad.  You might listen to them to simply have heard them, studying them as an anomaly.  Maybe, as a collector, you are into that piss-poor muffled crap demo recording quality.  Not me.  Sorry.

When it comes to demo material, in situations like this, and in all future instances, I will only include demos in my album track listing if the production quality is equal to the commercially released album tracks, or if it's not noticeable.

As for the album cover, I've never liked the original, as it was boring, and I always loved the "Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic" picture sleeve.  That picture sleeve is in my top 100 picture sleeves of all time.  So, I mix it up a bit, and maybe it works, maybe it doesn't, but it's a cool cover and unique on my CD shelf...

Police - Ghost In the Machine - 1981

Police - Synchronicity - 1983

One of my top ten bands of all time, their best album, and also one of my top five bands I would have liked to see live during their prime time, this case, summer of 1983.

I was only twelve when this album came out, and I remember songs from this specifically as I was moving to Chicago.  Moving from a small midwest town to a large booming metropolis was staggering to my senses, and a bunch of materiel from 1983 and 1984 stuck heavy with me in good and bad ways.  This was one of the best.

I was introduced to the album as a cassette, so it was easy to break the album into two different "Acts", One and Two.  Between the two sides, I placed all of the b-sides, in an attempt to create Act Three, or a Side C to an already great album.  I didn't want to put all of the b-sides at the end of the two, as Side Two, or Act Two was already an excellent ending.

I plugged a few remixes of the hits and a couple fanmade mixes as well, after the end of the album, to fill the rest of the CD.

To me, still, the best song is Synchronicity II.  Always has been, always will be.  A definite power pop hit if I ever knew one....

Police - Synchronicity - 1983