IF ONLY THE LEAD SINGER WASN'T SUCH A PRAT....

I've never hidden my admiration for The Police. They were the first band I ever saw play live -May 1979 at the Glasgow Apollo, with two support acts in Bobby Henry and The Cramps and the tickets cost £2.

The problem is that it is nearly impossible to admit your love for a band when the frontman has been such an insufferable and pretentious prick over much of the past 30 years and has been involved in projects that just make you cringe with embarrassment.

But hey.....there's loads out there who are happy enough to continue to declare that The Beatles were the greatest of all time and not give a toss about some of the solo stuff Sir Paul of Macca has foisted upon us (The Frog Chorus?????) or indeed the emotional claptrap of Double Fantasy that was the last LP recorded by John Lennon before his body was riddled with bullets.

And that being the case, I will happily argue that some of the best post-punk pop singles ever to be released were the work of Sting, Stewart Copeland and Andy Summers.

I've written before about the merits of Cant Stand Losing You when I placed it at #20 in my all time list of favourite singles. As I mentioned in that piece, not too many other bands were singing about prostitutes in 1979. These were the days when even the use of the word ‘damn’ was liable to get your song banned from the airwaves. The Police were actually regarded as a group that was a bit daring, cutting edge and subversive.

I happened to listen accidentally to Roxanne again the other day when it came up via shuffle on the old i-pod and it really hit home what a tremendous 45 it truly was. From the white-reggae instrumental opening complete with madman's cackling laughter that suddenly stops. Then that memorable opening line :-

Roxanne. You don't have to put on the red light.

Quarter of a century later, the line would be mimicked by Arctic Monkeys in When The Sun Goes Down, their classic tale of a down-on-her-luck prostitute and he nasty pimp:-

And I've seen him with with girls of the night
And he told Roxanne to put on her red light

Roxanne is a genuinely classic pop song. One that has more than stood the test of time. Listen without prejudice:-

mp3 : The Police -Roxanne

Cant say all that much positive mind you about the b-side. A track that can also be found on the band's debut LP Outlandos d'Amour. Play it once and then discard it.

mp3 : The Police - Peanuts

Incidentally, if you ever want proof of the cleverness and astuteness of Brett and Jermaine from Flight Of The Conchords, then have a look at this clip from one of the episodes in series 2 which is a wonderful parody of and indeed tribute to Roxanne/The Police:-



Happy Listening and viewing.