Deep Reads: Did their Synchronicity album kill the Police?
In December 1982, the Police flew to the Caribbean island of Montserrat to record their fifth album. The executives at A&M Records were excited. A year earlier, the trio had generated hit singles like \u201cEvery Little Thing She Does Is Magic\u201d and \u201cSpirits in the Material World.\u201d Suddenly, they were filling arenas.
But the atmosphere in the recording studio quickly turned sour. Guitarist Andy Summers sniffed at lead singer Sting\u2019s demo of \u201cEvery Breath You Take\u201d as cheesy pop. Drummer Stewart Copeland bristled when the singer tried to give him orders. And Sting, who had been contemplating going solo, was tired of pretending this was still a democracy: Why were they arguing about whose songs were best? Wasn\u2019t it obvious?
This oral history, including interviews with Sting and the other members of the band, takes listeners inside the making of \u201cSynchronicity,\u201d one of the most popular records of the 20th century \u2013 and what eventually tore the band apart.