STEWART COPELAND

http://www.therockradio.com/2007/03/rol ... k-but.html

"Pete Townshend is excited about the upcoming Police reunion but They're now calling the Police 'classic rock.' I don't think so. The Police are punk. They're a punk band. They're not classic rock. ..."

For me the police aren't a rock band, aren't a punk band because their music level is too higher. They born as a punk-rock band and quickly (surely from Ghost in the machine) they moved in a new territory: the FUSION music (please Stewart, excuse me, but this it is the truth.....Fusion music like Pat Metheny or Steps Ahead).

My local "classic rock" station plays The Who, The Police, Simon & Garfunkel, and Green Day. I've given up on categories.

Well, is just one interpretation about The Police rock reality.

Anyway, who is Pete Townshend?

Classic meaning sure is different from him than me...

[quote]please Stewart, excuse me, but this it is the truth.....[/quote]

The truth of whom?

[quote="georgygirl"]Anyway, who is Pete Townshend?
[/quote]

You have the answer in you question, Georgygirl: The Who.

Thank you very much PhilippeC

Anyway who is The Who?

Peter Frampton?

Just kiding...

[quote="georgygirl"]


The truth of whom?

[/quote]

Logically my truth but surely not the truth of 'who'....

The term "classic rock" = music liked by 40ish white men, for advertising purposes. Or so I'm told.

I don't quite like the term myself. Is The Clash "classic rock"? How about Iggy or David Bowie? Why not?

Classic Rock & Pop stations where, who really promoted THE POLICE back in the day stations that would also play Led Zeppelin, The Who. Jimi etc etc. & Pop stations who played Culture Club, Duran Duran U2 etc Perhaps that’s all that means, but that’s what made most people love our boys. The fact is THE POLICE have been very difficult to categorize. Given the variety of influences THE POLICE have incorporated into their music. Reggae, Punk, Funk, Rock, Ska, Pop, Calypso,..... Do I need to go on. THE POLICE surely started out as a PUNK band but as mentioned they eclipsed that due to their versatility and playing ability. The easiest way for me to understand THE POLICE is like Bob Marley said "Punky Reggae Party" in fact Bob references these bands in the song The Jam the Damned & the Clash. THE POLICE could of easily of been mentioned. THE POLICE are so great it’s like each genre wants to call them their own

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I remember at school arguing what The Police were... Just like you mentionned: ska, reggae, punk, new wave, etc. We had an expression here in France to qualify Police music: reggae de blancs !!!

Of course, The Police were and are still more than this. I don't care in which category they'll put them, as long as I'll be able to find their 2 new songs in the store, that'll be OK for me!

Cant really tell from that whether Pete likes or doesn't like the Police. Actually I cant really even tell what the hell point he's trying to make either...

[quote="Divemistress of the Dark"]The term "classic rock" = music liked by 40ish white men, for advertising purposes. Or so I'm told.

I don't quite like the term myself. Is The Clash "classic rock"? How about Iggy or David Bowie? Why not?[/quote]


The Clash, Iggy and Bowie all fall under classic rock, sadly.

Tell you what, if some of these bands are now filed under 'classic rock', and that means they stay on the playlist of those types of radio stations, then im all for it. all the term means to me is music that was good enough to appeal to a wide audience. hell, if it meant more exposure for underappreciated bands/artists like (just throwing stuff out here) Fugazi, The Specials, Cracker, and our very own Klark Kent, you can file them under any category you want.

While most of the rock bands got to be included in a rock category, I think The Police have their own category called THE POLICE...ehehe!

Just kidding....but not too far from truth; every great band with such a great personality like The Police, Who, Stones, Cream, etc... can't be put in a basket with a ROCK flag, or whatever....they became well known for their personality and HAVE and ARE a category of their own, do you know what I mean?

I can only say that maybe names like THE BEATLES and HENDRIX, due to what they created in popular music, should be considered on a higher step of classification, a cultural area I would say, but that's my personal opinion...

[quote="Marshmallow Jones 1"]hell, if it meant more exposure for underappreciated bands/artists like (just throwing stuff out here) Fugazi, The Specials, Cracker, and our very own Klark Kent, you can file them under any category you want. [/quote]

Can you imagine Klark Kent getting airplay?
Did he ever get play outside of London 1978?

My two cents:

I think Pete is referring to era more than genre. The Police are from the punk/post-punk/new wave era which to me started with the Ramones et al. Groups like the MC5 and the Stooges would be straddling the line then. I think radio and the like define classic rock simply by how long it's been around. Same with 'oldies' stations. When I was growing up my folks listened to 'oldies' and those stations wouldn't play much beyond the Beatles and Motown. Now 'oldies' stations go into the 70's. 'Classic rock' stations go into the 80's (therefore the Police, Clash, etc. would be 'classic' rock according to their definition). So I don't think Pete is dissing the Police at all - just saying they're not of the era of the Who or Stones or Kinks - which is true.

I kinda dislike all the labeling anyway. Rock is rock to me. My favorite 'genre' of rock is punk but punk music truely only lasted about 6 months because as C. Hynde said, "they all learned how to play their instruments so it was over." So for me punk is more of an attitude and an era. After Give 'em Enough Rope were the Clash playing punk music? Were the Damned after Machine Gun Ettiquette? Purists would say not but when you think about it the Clash putting Saninista! out is about the most punk thing they could do. It's about doing what you want. That's why I always loved the story Stewart told about Sting writing ELTSDIM while on a bus with a bunch of punk bands who were pissing him off - so he wrote the most popish song he could think of. That to me is punk attitude.

Holy crap I'm rambling. What was my point? I forget. Sorry. Carry on...