Friday Night Videos

From the instant I heard that the Police were getting back together, I knew I'd have to have a Friday Night Videos feature dedicated to the band. Now when the Police were at their peak with "Synchronicity" I was an underclassman in high school. They came through Houston on tour and I didn't go, and I've been regretting it ever since. So this is a show I'd very much like to see. But rather than just pick a Police video and be done with it, I'm going with an unprecedented triple shot today--highlighting a couple of semi-obscure solo projects along the way.

First up is Andy Summers' 2010. I love the movie immensely, and think it a very good adaptation of Arthur C. Clarke's novel (even if that patronizing voice over in the film undermines all the awe and sense of wonder). I bought the soundtrack solely for this techno-infused interpretation of Strauss' "Also sprach Zarathustra." I mean, check out that ungodly base line! I saw part of this video exactly once, and never again, but it was enough for me. The rest of the album turned out to be fascinating as well, as it is a great example of a synthesized electronica soundtrack, predating Christopher Franke's work on Babylon 5 by a decade. Interestingly enough, Summers' "2010" isn't actually featured in the movie.



Sting's made quite a name for himself as an artiste, but I remember there was a tremendous amount of curiosity about his initial solo album. Would it be more Police-style pop/rock? When it turned out to be a jazz-pop infusion instead, Sting got very rich indeed and earned a whole lot of new fans. While I enjoy the album overall, one track really jumped out at me, simply because it was so different. And when it was actually released as a single, with its brilliant, brooding Orwellian style, I was blown away. Still am. You have to remember that this was in the latter days of the Cold War, when Glastnost hadn't yet taken hold and shake apart the old Soviet Union. To this day, Russians remains my favorite Sting song and video.



And now, the main event. You know, for a superstar band (or one that attained such status in retrospect) their videos weren't all that great until "Synchronicity." I remember when "Every Breath You Take: The Singles" came out and folks were baffled by the rerecording of "Don't Stand So Close to Me '86." I like the original better myself, but thought the revamp an interesting experiment. There was a Police feature in Rolling Stone at the time, and Sting explained that he'd wanted to reinterpret all of the singles, showing that there were many different creative ways to approach the music. Now get this: Sting said that they'd recorded "Don't Stand So Close to Me" and "De Do Do Do De Da Da Da" before Andy Summers and Stewart Copeland walked away, saying, essentially, "this is pointless." Apart from that interview, I've never heard mention of this version of the song (the reference is cited in the Wikipedia entry). It's not included in the "Message in a Box" set which claims to have every piece of music the Police ever produced. So I dunno. I still want it, though.

But enough about tangents. Here is, what I consider, the Police's best video. Deceptively simple, but man, the timing and coordination required to make it work. And the huge size of the soundstage isn't obvious until the very end. Wrapped Around Your Finger may not be the Police's most popular song, but it is, simply, and elegant video.



Previously on Friday Night Videos... Peter Schilling.

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