He describes the reunion as “a mistake psychologically”

[policefan]

He = Sting




http://www.ft.com/cms/s/2/950c151a-69e4-11df-a978-00144feab49a.html


While Sting paid his dues as a young musician in the 1970s, first in Tyneside, performing around his job as a teacher, and then in London, where he formed the Police with drummer Stewart Copeland and guitarist Andy Summers, his children have a point: Sting’s fortune was put at £180m by this year’s Sunday Times Rich List. His wealth, he says, comes primarily from touring. “We were very frugal. We never went for the giantism that most rock bands went in for.” (Again, he refuses to name names.) “We always brought money home.”

The Police reunion tour of 2007-2008 helped to boost his fortune to the tune of $28m, according to Forbes magazine. While financially a success, he describes the reunion as “a mistake psychologically”. He says: “It was much more difficult than I imagined. I was supposed to feel nostalgia – I didn’t. The audiences loved it – it was like mum and dad got back together again. But I don’t think I could do it again.”

[Divemistress of the Dark]

Yeah, it was a mistake because everyone loved it and now he can't top that level of adoration as a solo artist...

What a lame thing to say. Truly. Even if it's true, does he really have to announce this to the press?

[sockii]

Fuck him if that's how he feels. And I don't care who I may piss off saying that. After all we contributed to his newest millions you'd think he could at least show a little gracious ess about it.

Oh and can the symphonicity bs if he's so opposed to nostalgia.

[ltwoman]

Very sad. He must be a troubled individual indeed. Get a good counselor, Sting, and get with the program.

[conroy]

Oh well. My bank account appreciates the fact that there will never be another Police tour and will not be financially contributing to any of Sting's future endeavors including the Symphonishitty CD and upcoming tour.

[Tamadude]

Petulant pansie!

Seriously? What a pompous geek.

Time to hang 'em up, malgordo.

Go play lawn bowling with the rest of the washed up stars.

Oh, and take that SymPHONYcity regurgitated crap with you.

[Philippe Again]

If it was so painful, why the Reunion Tour lasted that long?

[English-lion]

Well That last bit reads to me like the reporter took snip its from past interviews and put it together ... That Mom and Dad quote is OLD!!!!!!
This is just Bad reporting

[luddite lady]

E-L, you know I love ya and all, but I gotta disagree with the way you put this all down to bad reporting. Sting is kind of notorious for repeating his catch phrases in interviews, whether they be on TV, radio or in print. I've heard the Mom and Dad getting back together line a bunch of times. And if I had a dollar for every time Sting has talked about surprising himself and others, I'd have accumulated enough money to pay for at least a couple of my Tourzilla tickets. Geez, even his between song patter on tour is so predictable that he might be using a click track to get it exactly right every night.
The only new stuff is the psychological mistake bit. And that is a revelation. Sting has not been able to write any new material in ages, (and don't tell me he has written stock piles of new stuff that he just hasn't got around to sharing with the world because he's been satisfying our pent up demand for English Renaissance and Folk music.) This sort of personal failure must be very difficult for him, especially when contrasted with the enormous success of the Reunion tour. It seems to me that he didn't think of the tour as a mistake at the time, but now it's causing him psychological distress as he looks back at it. I don't suppose it helps that his old bandmates, especially one musically prolific drummer, have since gone on to create new music that is vastly different from The Police canon.
I'm not sure why this matters that much to me. I guess it just saddens me to think that somebody responsible for producing some pretty great music might not have much of a creative spark left in him.
I do agree that the reporting wasn't great in general. I read the entire article, and a few bits had me shaking my head. For instance, when Sting goes on about the evils of cocaine, the writer presents this in a way that makes it seem like he's never touched the stuff.
ETA: Just so that I don't look like a total Sting basher, I must admit that Stewart often repeats certain things from one interview to the next. But with my biases being the way they are, it doesn't bug me as much coming from Stewart.

[Police Boy]

This Sting stuff bothers me because it seems so hypocritical. If it was a mistake psychologically then why go on and on about the "healing" that took place or naming the bonus dvd "Better Than Therapy"? What happend to "these guys are my brothers and I love them"? I could go on and on. He is tarnishing the memories of one of the greatest reunions of all-time, certainly the one that has meant the most to me since I never saw The Police live the first time around. I can't watch or read Sting interviews any longer. They almost always now seem to bother me in some way. When I listen to the music, I rationalize it by looking at it as an "old Sting vs. current Sting" arguement. I love the old Sting.

[plutonic]

Sting's biggest mistake psychologically is not being able to get the fuck over himself already.

[Divemistress of the Dark]

HAAAAAAAAA! +1

[policefan]

I still don't get it!

[Susan]

How is that different from calling it "soup of utter misery"?

http://www.stewartcopeland.net/forum/vi ... =2&t=10823

Same negativity, different comments though. Hmm.

BOTH are ungracious and ungrateful things to say. Shame on both of them. Grown men in their fifties. What is this, a pissing match in the media? Is it Stewart's turn now? I wish someone would give these guys some media training. Think it, but don't SAY IT. Or how about not even thinking it? Have a little more respect for the people who spent good money to see you, and thank God it wasn't a little later when the recession got bad.

THREE guys signed the contract to continue that tour. At least Andy is polite enough to shut the fuck up with the negative comments.

ETA: These remarks, and those of Stewart in past interviews, remind me of a wedding indeed. The kind where the couple got married because their families and friends expected it, and six months later they are complaining to their friends about how unhappy they are, but they continue to have, umm, marital relations. AND they've kept your wedding gift! ::)

And yes, also posted similar comments on sting.com.

[plutonic]

Point taken, Susan, but really, Sting 'will always be....'

My honest estimation of the situation is that you have too many people driving the bus in the Police.
And since nobody in that band is a wallflower, that's going to create conflict.
I've seen this a lot in bands, and been part of it.
It's 100% dude-pidity. Alpha bullshit.

In order to actually make it work there would have to be compromise on all sides. Tough for Alphas.
IMHO, purely based on the musical results on Tourzilla and elsewhere, the compromise isn't really balanced. Sting plays it his way: Pun intended, it sounds like Broken Music.

From the evidence, either he gets what he wants, or he takes his ball and goes home.

So Stew and Andy compromise their musical independence for the money. 'Cause it's a lot of money. And the devil you know is better than...

Post tourzilla, there's a bittersweet irony that must've made the wild success of The Police tour hard for Sting to take, as his Alpha dude-pid self.

The problem for him is, he's literally screwed on this one: his most lucrative ball he can play with, actually belongs to Stewart. The Police brand is worth more than the Sting brand. That is manifest by tourzilla. That's why tourzilla happened.

So now, it eats his Alpha Dog soul: he can musically alpha dog, but he can't financially.
Without help.
And that ain't Alpha.

Problem is this band has too many balls, not too few.
Sting's problem is that the real balls aren't his.