The Police - Message In A Bottle (Diffusion Remix)

Remixed by Diffusion / Mastermix

The Police was a three-piece British pop-rock band which was strongly influenced by reggae . Coming to prominence in the wake of the punk rock phenomenon, they rose to become one of the most popular groups in the world from the late 1970s to the mid- 1980s .

For the Police, their first album, Outlandos d'Amour was a hardship, working on a small budget, with no manager, record deal, or any kind of contacts. Stewart Copeland's older brother Miles heard " Roxanne " for the first time and immediately got them a record deal with A&M Records . The single was re-released in 1979 , and it was then that the Police achieved widespread fame in the United Kingdom, as well as scoring a minor hit with the song in several other countries, notably Australia. Their success led to a gig at the infamous New York club CBGB and a grueling United States tour in which the band drove themselves and all their equipment around the country in a Ford Econoline van.

As with several other international acts of this period (e.g. Blondie ), the Police enjoyed some of their first international hits in Australia, well before most other countries. Their popularity there was greatly assisted by the fact that the group was enthusiastically supported by Australia's only non-commercial rock radio station, Double Jay in Sydney , which in turn led to early exposure for their music videos on the popular national pop show Countdown .

In October 1979, the group released their second album Reggatta de Blanc , which was a major seller in many countries and which spawned the singles "Message In a Bottle", "Walking on the Moon", and "The Bed's Too Big Without You".

In March 1980 , the Police decided to embark on their first world tour, and they were one of the first major rock bands to play in places like Bombay , India and Egypt. The Police toured the world long before they were a world class act. The much generated hype of their new music and tour caused an outbreak of popularity among new wave devotees across the rest of the world.

Pressured by their record company for a new record and a prompt return to touring by fall's end, the Police quickly released their third album, Zenyatta Mondatta in the fall of 1980. The album gave the group a UK number one hit, " Don't Stand So Close to Me ", and "De Do Do Do, De Da Da Da", which charted successfully in the United States. Mondatta gave the Police worldwide fame. In subsequent interviews, Sting himself expressed some disappointment with the album, regretting the rushed nature of its recording. However, many critics would later cite it as one of their strongest efforts. It was however the last album in which the group collectively cooperated, or as Sting would later put it, the last album they worked on "as a band".

This text is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "The Police"