Tag Archives: The Police

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Song of the Day #5,907: ‘Every Breath You Take (Live)’ – The Police

Top Ten Songs of the Summer
#1 – The Police – ‘Every Breath You Take’ (1983)

If The Police’s ‘Every Breath You Take’ is an option for a list like this, you can bet it’s going to end up at #1. The only way another song could have claimed this spot is if A-Ha’s ‘Take On Me’ had made the Song of the Summer cut by peaking in July instead of October of 1984.

This is simply a perfect song, with Andy Summers’ hypnotic guitar lick and Sting’s impassioned vocals combining to form an addictive, creepily romantic vibe.

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Song of the Day #4,287: ‘Wrapped Around Your Finger’ – The Police

My #5 album of 1983 is The Police’s fifth, final, and top-selling album, Synchronicity.

This album went 8X Platinum in the U.S., and even unseated Michael Jackson’s Thriller at Billboard’s #1 spot for a spell. It featured the hits ‘Every Breath You Take,’ ‘Wrapped Around Your Finger’ and ‘King of Pain,’ all of which appear on the album’s stacked Side Two.

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Song of the Day #3,963: ‘Murder by Numbers’ – The Police

‘Murder by Numbers,’ the final track on The Police’s classic 1983 album Synchronicity, wasn’t originally intended for the album’s lineup. Indeed, it was left off of some LP releases of the album, though it appeared on cassette and CD.

The song started as the B-side of Synchronicity‘s most popular track, ‘Every Breath You Take.’

‘Murder by Numbers’ was co-written by guitarist Andy Summers, whose only other songwriting contribution on the album was ‘Mother,’ by far the record’s worst track. He did just fine here, though, coming up with a seductive jazz-pop arrangement.

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Song of the Day 3,798: ‘Every Little Thing She Does is Magic’ – The Police

From the late 70s to the early 80s, The Police released five albums, every one of which went platinum in multiple countries. When all was said and done, they sold more than 100 million records worldwide.

I’ve always known 1983’s Synchronicity was a monster hit — it went eight times platinum in the U.S. alone and spent 17 weeks at #1 on the Billboard chart. But I underestimated how success of the band’s earlier efforts.

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Song of the Day #2,955: ‘Don’t Stand So Close To Me’ – The Police

police_zenyata_mondattaI have a “greatest hits” appreciation of The Police. I own only Synchronicity but I’m very familiar with their most popular songs from the four albums that preceded it — ‘Roxanne,’ ‘Can’t Stand Losing You,’ ‘Message in a Bottle,’ ‘Every Little Thing She Does is Magic’ and so on.

1980’s Zenyatta Mondatta was The Police’s third album and, though the band itself dismisses it as half-good, it received some of the best reviews of their career.

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