The Police go to eleven
September 20, 2008 3:13 PM Subscribe
This interview with Andy Summers has some real these-go-to-eleven moments, as well as some lick-my-love-pump [lego!] moments, as does this interview with Sting where he shows off his writing process on state-of-the-art 1981 gear. (QLYT)
Speaking of "state of the art gear", here's a fun fact: when The Police reunited for the re-recorded "Don't Stand So Close To Me" in 1986, they got into a huge argument over whether to program the drums on Sting's Synclavier or Copeland's Fairlight. Tensions came to a head over this, and after that The Police were really done (although they still haven't broken up officially and just completed the reunion tour). So there you go, an even dumber argument becoming the breaking point for a great band than The Beatles' Allen Klein vs. Lee Eastman tiff.
posted by DecemberBoy at 4:00 PM on September 20, 2008
posted by DecemberBoy at 4:00 PM on September 20, 2008
I giggled around 1:57 when he says, "You can switch everything off and on with your...foot." Nigel would be impressed.
posted by punkfloyd at 4:22 PM on September 20, 2008
posted by punkfloyd at 4:22 PM on September 20, 2008
After "Don't Stand So Close To Me '86" I wanted them to break up.
posted by eperker at 4:25 PM on September 20, 2008 [3 favorites]
posted by eperker at 4:25 PM on September 20, 2008 [3 favorites]
"You ever press the wrong button?"
"Usually."
posted by echo target at 4:52 PM on September 20, 2008 [1 favorite]
"Usually."
posted by echo target at 4:52 PM on September 20, 2008 [1 favorite]
So there you go, an even dumber argument becoming the breaking point for a great band than The Beatles' Allen Klein vs. Lee Eastman tiff.
You're wrong about at least one of those points.
posted by sleepy pete at 5:22 PM on September 20, 2008
You're wrong about at least one of those points.
posted by sleepy pete at 5:22 PM on September 20, 2008
Mind-blowing bit of trivia: Andy Summers is 65 years old (and will be 66 in December). He looks great for his age!
posted by Ike_Arumba at 5:37 PM on September 20, 2008
posted by Ike_Arumba at 5:37 PM on September 20, 2008
To be fair, Gordon Sting and Stewart used to fight all the fucking time, mainly over tempo.
posted by chuckdarwin at 5:44 PM on September 20, 2008
posted by chuckdarwin at 5:44 PM on September 20, 2008
In 1987, twin sons Maurice X and Anton Y Summers, were born. The kids were given a letter (i.e., X, Y) for a middle name in conjunction with his first solo album, XYZ.
Do you suppose they get along with Sting's children: Blue, Turtle and Suck?
posted by hal9k at 6:40 PM on September 20, 2008 [1 favorite]
Do you suppose they get along with Sting's children: Blue, Turtle and Suck?
posted by hal9k at 6:40 PM on September 20, 2008 [1 favorite]
The interview with Sting was nice, but was ruined for me by my anxiety that his nuts were going to creep out of his tiny white shorts.
posted by Turtles all the way down at 7:11 PM on September 20, 2008 [3 favorites]
posted by Turtles all the way down at 7:11 PM on September 20, 2008 [3 favorites]
I'm hoping the backwards straw hat look will come back!
Wait, it never was, was it?
posted by Fuzzy Skinner at 7:37 PM on September 20, 2008
Wait, it never was, was it?
posted by Fuzzy Skinner at 7:37 PM on September 20, 2008
I'll admit I picked up Sting's memoir off a bookshelf at a vacation house we rented this summer.
Yes, the pages strain to keep the ego from exploding outward and killing everyone within 3 square miles, but to his credit he's fairly upfront about that, the writing (with a few clunky exceptions) isn't half bad, and the passage describing the utterly surreal first encounter with Stewart Copeland and his brothers is worth the price of admission.
Mind-blowing bit of trivia: Andy Summers is 65 years old...
Mildly-fun tidbit from the book: Sting and Stewart are discussing formally inviting Andy to join the group (Sting wants him, Stewart agrees he's talented, but is worried about image) -
Stewart: "Jesus he's a decade older than we are!"
Sting: "But he's the youngest looking!"
posted by jalexei at 8:22 PM on September 20, 2008 [1 favorite]
Yes, the pages strain to keep the ego from exploding outward and killing everyone within 3 square miles, but to his credit he's fairly upfront about that, the writing (with a few clunky exceptions) isn't half bad, and the passage describing the utterly surreal first encounter with Stewart Copeland and his brothers is worth the price of admission.
Mind-blowing bit of trivia: Andy Summers is 65 years old...
Mildly-fun tidbit from the book: Sting and Stewart are discussing formally inviting Andy to join the group (Sting wants him, Stewart agrees he's talented, but is worried about image) -
Stewart: "Jesus he's a decade older than we are!"
Sting: "But he's the youngest looking!"
posted by jalexei at 8:22 PM on September 20, 2008 [1 favorite]
I don't even care if the cool kids don't like The Police, I'll risk mockery by stating they were the best then, and still may be. Hell, even Dream of the Blue Turtles is great. The lute record not so much. Invisible Sun is a great song.
posted by Keith Talent at 8:26 PM on September 20, 2008
posted by Keith Talent at 8:26 PM on September 20, 2008
Oh, and if we're going to mock, how about starting with Jools.
SC- I like Coleman and Coltrane
JH - Do you like jazz?
posted by Keith Talent at 8:29 PM on September 20, 2008
SC- I like Coleman and Coltrane
JH - Do you like jazz?
posted by Keith Talent at 8:29 PM on September 20, 2008
"I dreamed I had this interview with Jools Holland and I wasn't wearing any pants. It was a nightmare, honestly."
posted by tizzie at 8:58 PM on September 20, 2008
posted by tizzie at 8:58 PM on September 20, 2008
DecemberBoy writes: So there you go, an even dumber argument becoming the breaking point for a great band than The Beatles' Allen Klein vs. Lee Eastman tiff.
sleepypete responds: You're wrong about at least one of those points.
You are a very tactful man, sleepypete.
posted by flapjax at midnite at 10:05 PM on September 20, 2008
sleepypete responds: You're wrong about at least one of those points.
You are a very tactful man, sleepypete.
posted by flapjax at midnite at 10:05 PM on September 20, 2008
This interview with Andy Summers has some real these-go-to-eleven moments
What the fuck are you talking about?
posted by oncogenesis at 1:14 AM on September 21, 2008
What the fuck are you talking about?
posted by oncogenesis at 1:14 AM on September 21, 2008
This interview with Andy Summers has some real these-go-to-eleven moments
What the fuck are you talking about?
The maxim guitar players live by is "Anything worth doing is worth over-doing." They obsess about tone to the point of switching germainium transistors in a fuzzbox to get it exactly the right rasp. They are constantly playing a game called HOW DID HE GET THAT SOUND? to the point that there is a website that documents the stage setup of famous players for the afflicted. The "go-to-eleven" segment in Spinal Tap is so memorable because it skewers this obsession (and the interviewer's bewilderment with it) so perfectly. How can you watch a similar interview and NOT think of Spinal Tap?
I always likes Summers as a player because he didn't sound like everybody else, and he wrote some interesting stuff.
posted by Enron Hubbard at 7:24 AM on September 21, 2008
What the fuck are you talking about?
The maxim guitar players live by is "Anything worth doing is worth over-doing." They obsess about tone to the point of switching germainium transistors in a fuzzbox to get it exactly the right rasp. They are constantly playing a game called HOW DID HE GET THAT SOUND? to the point that there is a website that documents the stage setup of famous players for the afflicted. The "go-to-eleven" segment in Spinal Tap is so memorable because it skewers this obsession (and the interviewer's bewilderment with it) so perfectly. How can you watch a similar interview and NOT think of Spinal Tap?
I always likes Summers as a player because he didn't sound like everybody else, and he wrote some interesting stuff.
posted by Enron Hubbard at 7:24 AM on September 21, 2008
I always likes Summers as a player because he didn't sound like everybody else, and he wrote some interesting stuff.
Or he colaborates with people who write and perform some intersting stuff ...Crappy YT video, but says a lot about two masters messing about ... and of course, The Inevitable (more YT video ...).
posted by aldus_manutius at 8:33 AM on September 21, 2008
Or he colaborates with people who write and perform some intersting stuff ...Crappy YT video, but says a lot about two masters messing about ... and of course, The Inevitable (more YT video ...).
posted by aldus_manutius at 8:33 AM on September 21, 2008
Great post, I thought the interviews were fascinating.
posted by Kwine at 8:42 AM on September 21, 2008
posted by Kwine at 8:42 AM on September 21, 2008
The stuff with Copeland is great. Sting and Summers, not so much.
Anyway, they all exhibit classic symptoms of Gear Acquisition Syndrome. For relief, scroll to the bottom of Nels Cline's Tech Talk page and discover the secret of Good Tone.
Who am I kidding, I could listen to musicians talking about gear for hours and hours...
posted by awfurby at 8:57 PM on September 21, 2008
Anyway, they all exhibit classic symptoms of Gear Acquisition Syndrome. For relief, scroll to the bottom of Nels Cline's Tech Talk page and discover the secret of Good Tone.
Who am I kidding, I could listen to musicians talking about gear for hours and hours...
posted by awfurby at 8:57 PM on September 21, 2008
You said "Andy Summers", but I heard Ann Summers. What does that say about me?
(And then you went on with a link to "lick my love-pump"!! )
posted by mr. strange at 1:41 AM on September 22, 2008
(And then you went on with a link to "lick my love-pump"!! )
posted by mr. strange at 1:41 AM on September 22, 2008
How can you watch a similar interview and NOT think of Spinal Tap?
What I saw was a superb technical guitarist intelligently discussing his gear. Only if all such discussions are reduced to "these go to eleven" then do you have a point.
Jools Holland (whom I know only from his stint with Squeeze) on the other hand comes off like a complete tool.
posted by oncogenesis at 5:17 PM on September 22, 2008
What I saw was a superb technical guitarist intelligently discussing his gear. Only if all such discussions are reduced to "these go to eleven" then do you have a point.
Jools Holland (whom I know only from his stint with Squeeze) on the other hand comes off like a complete tool.
posted by oncogenesis at 5:17 PM on September 22, 2008
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