Did They "Dream Up Schemes" awhile back?

[cpriddims]

This is just for fun...

I know the reunion is not a scheme, I just thought the above topic title would be funny (from Darkness of course).

Anyway. It's fun to wonder if Sting Stew and Andy were testing the waters to see if a Police reunion would be a mistake or further confirm that having another go at it would make sense (of course we knew it would!)

Think about this...
1. Sting releases "Broken Music" book
2. Andy Releases "One Train Later" book
3. Stew releases "Does Everyone Stare" dvd
All within a few years of each other and all since 2003.

"It's rather elementary my dear Watson."

What do you think?

[georgygirl]

Maybe our lovely trio were planning individualy this reunion from many years away...

And now we have The Police back!



Isn´t it magic, magic, magic, magic, magic...

[Divemistress of the Dark]

I think it's existentialism. Look at it this way: Their parents are mostly all dead; between them they have a enough kids for a baseball team, most of whom are reportedly creative types of the age that they're interested in popular music...If The Police are going to leave a legacy it's now or never.

You have to figure this has never been a subject far from their minds...they do still have to meet over publishing and royalties and whatnot, considering all their records are still in print and actively being played on the radio.

I have to admit I'm not all that surprised. Not to disparage Sting's solo work, which he obviously thought he had reason to create, but I would imagine it's very difficult to simply walk away from a band the legacy of which still looms this large. Remember only a few short months ago when we were empathisizing with Stewart because all the interviewers on the ES:TPIO tour seemed to ask endless questions about a hypothetical Police reunion.

As far as whether I think it's subterfuge, and this whole thing was cooked up long ago? Who knows. Stewart may tell us eventually, but more likely he'll tell us whatever version of the story seems the most entertaining. Which is just great by me, and not only for the reason that I think he has every right to keep some aspects of his life & personal relationships out of the public view.

[GinaSuperCat]

The fact that the whole temporal element--30 years since their formation, first single pressing, Roxanne, or what-have-you event for the particular date--can account for at least some of the convergence of the auto-biographical releases..kinda like school reunions, they occur purely on the strength that is has been some-odd years since a certain date, and so forth...nothing makes you think about the past and puts the passage of time into perspective than realizing its been 20 or 30 years since...perhaps those releases were at least to provide some way of accounting for the anniversary, to mark it, to think about the past, without letting it pass like a whisper...it may have been that they were all produced to mark the event precisely because a reunion was not considered bloody likely...

Dying to hear Stewart's rendition of the subterfuge, though--it casts intrigue and you know it will be a great story

Instead of posting again, I'll edit/add in this: I have been wondering if Sting has finally seen the movie, and I can't help but think it may have had a part in this nostalgia...I mean the movie hit me so hard in that regard I can't imagine how it would register with one of the main players...I think Stewart said somewhere that Sting hadn't seen it since he has some aversion to seeing himself on film, but his kids told him he looked great...wasn't sure if that was just ribbing or not

[blueboy]

I think it has more to do with Sting running out of gas in his solo career...especially that last album Sacred Love.

After writing his book, he probably started to get a little nostalgic for the good old days. Suddenly he decides to do the stripped down Broken Music tour, which of course starts to get people excited again...but it just isn't the same when everyone else is a hired gun...and the magic isn't there.

Seeing the interest that Stewart was getting from his film probably got Sting thinking that the timing was finally right. So he puts out a Lute album to kind of "separate" his solo work, and avoid any comparison before reuniting the Police.

I think that this whole thing is really just another challenge for Sting to keep himself interested and to gratify his ego. I think he is committed to making this work no matter what, and that he wants to see if he can do something with the Police that nobody has been able to do before, by bringing them back 24 years later and being just as viable and successful as before.

They would really have to put out a new album to do that though...so I hope I'm right!

[sockii]

>I think that this whole thing is really just another challenge for Sting to
>keep himself interested and to gratify his ego. I think he is committed
>to making this work no matter what, and that he wants to see if he can
>do something with the Police that nobody has been able to do before,
>by bringing them back 24 years later and being just as viable and
>successful as before.
>
>They would really have to put out a new album to do that though...so I
>hope I'm right!

Agreeing w/the above--especially that a new album would be the ultimate test. Lots of bands have gotten back together for a reunion tour or tours before, but few of them have been able to also record a new album and have it stand up favorably with their past catalog as well.

I'm keeping my fingers crossed!

[georgygirl]

The Police will do it, you'll see.

[Donna]

there will be a new album coming out - color me nutty, but I can feel it in my bones. I think the reunion is a combination of things.

1) nostalgia - it is 30 years, after all. They were together during some pretty formative years in their youth. They had each other to fall back on and to "keep it real", so to speak, while everything around them was surreal. I believe each of them has touched on the warped reality of being in the rock star bubble. They have also lost some key people who were instrumental in the success of the Police and I believe this may be partly a tribute to them as well.

2) business savvy - A&M is re-releasing Message in a Box; how do you open this up to a new generation of fans? You create buzz. You do this by constantly staying in the news. Broken Music, Everyone Stares, One Train, Grammies, Tour announcement - you get the picture

3) challenge - Didn't Sting say that the reason he left the Police, to give it a go as a solo artist, was because the Police had done everything humanly possible and the only way to go was down? How great would it be to come back, after all these years, and see if you still have it. You can't just say it's us die-hard fans that are fueling this reunion - they have obviously touched a brand new generation of fans who have recognized what a creative influence the Police has been on the evolution of music. None of their stuff sounds dated - put on Message in a Bottle and tell me that still doesn't rock after all of these years - AND it doesn't sound dated - it could easily have been recorded today.

4) A large, dark, black-hole void in the current music industry - music fans are just BEGGING for a band like the Police. I mean, seriously, I wouldn't know a Justin Timberlake or Beyonce song if you hit me with it. I find I have to search old songs to find music worthy of being uploaded onto my IPOD. AND if I am lucky enough to find some good music, it is usually just singles. I can't remember the last truly GREAT CD I purchased - this is sad, because I am a HUGE music fan. Nobody is thrilling me nowadays - I don't know, maybe I need to get out more, but I think the world is begging for the Police. And, as I said above, I feel new music is coming and I for one cannot wait. This is a long time coming and I have to tell you it has been so worth it. Half the fun is the anticipation, right ; )

[Divemistress of the Dark]

Well, Stewart has talked at length in interviews about the music business not encouraging innovation any more.

It's partly why I'm in the other threads talking about bands I like nobody has heard of. You can still find great music, but you have to work at it now that Clear Channel owns most of the radio stations and controls who plays at most big-city concert venues.

(Personally, I'm laughing my ass off that outlets like MySpace sent Big Music scrambling to find a way to keep up. When will they realize that you can't fully commoditize something as mercurial as the creative spirit? I think that's also why the mainstream-media spin on The Police reunion is focusing so much on the financial aspect. It's like it just doesn't occur to them that anybody does anything for reasons other than financial gain.

Don't get me wrong, I'm sure the paycheck doesn't hurt, but as the old cliche goes, the best things in life are free...)