Hampshire

The third album by The Police, Zenyatta Mondatta, was released in October of 1980. The record hit number one in the UK and number five in the USA against tough competition which included AC/DC, Pink Floyd, the Rolling Stones, John Lennon, Queen and Bruce Springsteen to name a few. Songs like Driven To Tears and Don’t Stand So Close To Me could be heard playing constantly on the radio. Despite all that radio play, people didn’t tire of their sound and always seemed to want more.

Success had arrived for the guys in the biggest way possible, but there was a price to be paid. The new decade brought a new level of pressure on the band. Sting has said they were earning ‘buckets of money’ during the early 1980s, but the band was falling apart because of arguments and disagreements about the musical and business decisions being made.

Sting’s newly acquired Star Power as the band front man, an actor and solo musician in his own right gave him a constant edge over Steward Copeland. Copeland was his most vocal critic in the band and the two actually got into fistfights on several occasions. It probably didn’t help that managers, concert promoters, publicity agents and record companies all knew there would be no Police or paycheck without Sting and likely took his side on many issues. That must have driven Copeland nuts. Despite the infighting, the band members were still able to agree enough at that time to get down to business and move the band forward.