STEWART COPELAND

WOW WEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE I just touched down from the ride Thank you so much Stewart Thank you. Well all I can say about this footage is back in 80' I was wondering when this would happen 26 yrs later here we are. I'd like to say that from the moment I heard the crowd screaming on the title menu I had GOOSE BUMPS. But what I really enjoyed about the footage is how Stewart captured the quintessential moment of why I believe he is one of the best drummers of our times. During So Lonely (live) while the camera is set up right behind his drums you see/hear Stewart doing a one drop riddim (DUB) then he goes into a basic 2/4 back beat riddim and closes it with the open flare as I call it wailing on his ride cymbal full on rock n roll. Reggae into rock. GOLD Stewart GOLD. You kept mentioning that you didn’t smile much let me tell you, that your body language & style of drumming was all "SMILES" baby
p.s. I was a kid from Jamaican/African background trying to play drums but no one would play Reggae with me to hard etc etc etc they wanted to play Van Halen Black Sabbath etc but once I introduced The Police to them this allowed my culture to blend with theirs & finally we could play sweet music together I am forever grateful to you Stewart. Oh yeah I was infected by The Police in 79 The beds to Big (masterpiece) Thank u MAXIMUM RESPECT RUDE BWAAY!!

Your p.s. is really thought-provoking, Ska Man. The Police style may contribute to the dialogue among cultures ... It's fantastic!
Thanks for sharing and welcome on board!

Hey, welcome, Ska Man!! Let's hear about all those Specials records you have! Or I'm hoping so, anyway....

Thank you for your kind words Looks like he continues to bridge cultures so nice very nice i love it . As for The Specials records thats soft what i do have is some priceless Gems Authentic Jamaican Ska 45's from 1960 to 69 all of my fathers old Blue Beat and Trojan Label Records and lets not forget The Police's contribution to the SKA train Canary in a coalmine, Bring on the Night (rocksteady), Demolition Man, One World (not three) but most notably Spirits in The Material World. WOW

Thanks for the information Ska.



I never knew about The Police music influences to Ska music, just were some suspects...

The Police did not influence Ska they were influnced by Ska. Ska music came before reggae it came out of Jamaica in the early 60's the music itself was influenced by mento, african rhythms, jazz but mostly American soul RnB the motown sound In fact Bob Marley began his career singing ska tunes .

You'd best be offering to make us some mix discs! Ha!

I'm just kidding, mostly, but I'd love to hear some of that stuff.

@ work i listen to www.live365.com under ska you'll find a station called [b]Ska Jerk [/b]playing old ska, two tone ska and the newer punk/ska but they mostly play oldies which have not gone moldy and from there you can see the names of songs and compilation albums you can buy i hope this is useful I LOVE IT

Yeah You´re absolutely right about Ska,"Skaman".In fact many Ska bands of the 80´s sounds "soulish" and "rthm´n blues" as many "mod" bands like the Jam sounds a bit like Madness...
In fact,the Police were widely influenced by ska,you can see in the "Don´t Stand So close to Me"video Sting wearing a "THE BEAT" t-Shirt! he used to wear it often in live concerts.I think the momment when they really got influenced by ska was during the "Ghost in the machine" period,where they introduced brass instruments in their sound..

Absolutely you can also hear the ska influence in songs like Masoka tanga, Bring on the Night, Canary in a Coalmine, Man in a Suitcase, Demolition Man,One World but most notably straight out SKA Spirits in the Material world. I remember seeing the Beat and The Police live in Toronto HEAVY HEAVY HEAVY BABY but as u mentioned the police came out of that whole movement The Specials The Clash, Ub40 Steele pulse The Jam etc etc.... cool they also played with The Specials here in Toronto back in 81 !!!

Oh, you suck! The Beat and the Police!!! I am so jealous!!!

I never got to see the Police. My parents made me go out of town on vacation the week of the one concert they played in the middle-of-nowhere town where I grew up. Sigh. All my friends went. I think I still have a ticket stub from that show around here somewhere, saved for me by a classmate who got to go. I'm still bitter if I really think about it, twenty-odd years later. Although the folks did later write an excuse note to the principal so I could cut class and go to Kansas City for a U2 show a couple years later.

(I have seen hundreds and hundreds of live shows since those days, too...a few standouts include the first Foo Fighters show, pretty much ever; a few Fugazi gigs in D.C.; me with like 50 people at a 1988 Pixies gig in Kansas City; front row at a couple REM shows where I later met Stipe, etc.)

I'll check out that Live365 channel. I wish XM would play more ska, although they do occasionally on the Fungus.

Tee Hee I was a young lad at the time but somehow i knew i had to get to those shows I'm so glad i did The Police played at the Grove in Oakville Ontario Canada it was in the middle of know where I dont know if this is something the Police did on every stop but they would hold The Police Picnics here in Toronto and because of that I was able to see certain acts that i probably would not have had the privelage to see James Brown, Peter Tosh (they threatened to arrest him for smoking weed on stage) Talking Heads and many more it was a magical time courtesy of your Local Police. I also use to go see Van Halen I loved their shenanigans but i would always buy police buttons and other Police memorabilia my friends thought i was crazy "why dont you buy Van Halen stuff" LOL..... its great that we can share our memories with each other here. ONE LOVE !!