STING BACK TO THE POLICE?

STING BACK TO THE POLICE?

It seems that Gordon Sumner’s face and voice has been everywhere during the last year. “Gordon who?” you may ask. Most people know him best as Sting, the songwriter, lead singer and bass player who took his band, the Police, to international superstardom and making them one of the most successful trios in the entire history of rock ’n’ roll music.

Sting’s face and voice have been everywhere—but it’s left many fans wondering what ever happened to the Police. Will they reunite for another LP? Will they ever tour again? Or will the various members continue to pursue their solo endeavors, leaving their biggest fans with only the old records, videos and memories?

As far as solo performances are concerned, Sting has been much more successful than any of his former cohorts have been up to this point. Of course, everyone knows by now that the blond singer reached the top of the charts with his first solo LP, The Dream Of The Blue Turtles last year. Sting surprised many of his longtime fans with the LP, which was a definite change of direction from what he was doing with the Police. The Police were always best known for their uncanny blend of Jamaican reggae music with pop rock ’n’ roll. Ironically, Sting was often said to sound like Bob Marley, the king of reggae, during the early part of his career.

But The Dream Of The Blue Turtles delved into a different form of black-inspired music for its inspiration—namely, American jazz. Sting recruited some of the biggest names in jazz for his Blue Turtles band, including Branford Marsalis (saxophone), Kenny Kirkland (piano), Omar Hakim (drums) and Darryl Jones (bass). Many people wondered whether he’d be lie to pull it off—but not only did [take the album to the top of the arts, he also scored hit singles |h songs from the LP like “If You ve Somebody, Set Them Free” ‘Russians.”

\nd not only did the album proce a few smashes, Sting used recording of the LP and the that followed to make a ms documentary film entitled ng On The Night. Directed by bhael Apted, who was response for the Academy AwardLing Coal Miner’s Daughter, j On The Night won kudos many music and film critics ane of the best rock documents to hit the screen since Viael Scorsese's The Last Unfortunately, the film Vt do as well at the box office vas expected (perhaps when it hes to his music, fans prefer I Sting live in the flesh), but novie is now available on comvideocassette to be enbd by all those who missed it Ing its brief time on the big

who knows what will be next he illustrious Mr. Sumner? Will be another album? Or will pursue his acting career? Irall, Sting’s documentary isn’t ■first time he’s been seen in your local movie theater. Ever since he made his film debut as the “Ace Face” in the movie adaptation of the Who’s Quadrophenia back in 1979, Sting’s acting career has been on a roll. He’s played roles as diverse as Feyd Rautha in the excellent adaptation of Frank Herbert’s Dune and Dr. Frankenstein in last year’s The Bride. And he was also seen as Mick, one of Meryl Streep’s lovers in the critically-acclaimed Plenty.

It seems that Sting can do almost anything he wants to do at this point. As for the Police, none of the guys seem to be talking at this time. Stewart Copeland is off doing his thing, writing soundtracks for various films and he even produced a video on African rhythms last year called The Rhythmatist. Andy Summers is pursuing his photography (he published a book of photos last year) and also composing music for films (much of the music in Down & Out In Beverly Hills is his). Perhaps if we wait patiently enough, the guys will eventually send us a message in the bottle, letting us know what—if anything —is in store for the legendary Police!