97.1 Free FM<\/a>.)<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\nBut as soon as I get home I’m gonna fire up the video equipment, to see what exactly HAPPENED, whether Sting and the boys DELIVERED!<\/p>\n
If Neil Portnow had balls, he’d put the Police up front.<\/p>\n
Hell, if you’re reading this NARAS, take heed, blow people’s minds, give them what they want at the very beginning.\u00c2\u00a0 The Stones make you wait forever, but that’s positively sixties.\u00c2\u00a0 The Police were seventies, LATE SEVENTIES, an outgrowth of the punk movement, without artifice, only about the music.\u00c2\u00a0 Hell, if you don’t have the Police open could you at least get Elvis Costello?\u00c2\u00a0 To play "Welcome To The Working Week"?\u00c2\u00a0 The opening cut off his debut album?\u00c2\u00a0 Yes, reunite the Attractions, have them come out for the entire 1:22 of the song then RUN OFF!\u00c2\u00a0 Get the show started with some REAL energy, pay Elvis back for ignoring him thirty years ago, ignoring his FANS thirty years ago.<\/p>\n
That’s the only reason oldsters are going to tune in, to see the Police.<\/p>\n
Oh, they might want to ogle Beyonce.\u00c2\u00a0 Check out a few TV stars.\u00c2\u00a0 But there’s no soul in the Grammys, no essence.\u00c2\u00a0 The show in cavernous Staples Center flattens all the performers, lumping them together in a bizarre second-rate talent show that no one remembers except for the faux pas.<\/p>\n
How did music lose its way?<\/p>\n
As we’re sitting here, beats are dying, they’re becoming marginalized.\u00c2\u00a0 It’s overexposure, it’s histrionics, hip-hop is a sideshow and dancing speaks to the genitalia but not the mind, the feet but not the heart.\u00c2\u00a0 People now have a choice, and they want something different from the narrow, mainstream pap being fed to them by the machine.\u00c2\u00a0 The MACHINE is dead.\u00c2\u00a0 Hell, sales are off in double digits, Capitol Records folded, music radio is a joke.\u00c2\u00a0 The landscape is ripe for the picking, for a new entrepreneur.\u00c2\u00a0 And for new acts who know about melody and hooks.\u00c2\u00a0 Like the Police.<\/p>\n
I missed the Police’s first American tour.\u00c2\u00a0 Oh, I caught Elvis and Joe Jackson at the Whisky, but that weekend I was burned out, I didn’t think a band with dyed hair and a ridiculous name would ultimately amount to anything.<\/p>\n
But the second album convinced me.<\/p>\n
Oh, believe me, I loved "Roxanne".\u00c2\u00a0 Who didn’t??\u00c2\u00a0 And I bought "Outlandos d’Amour".\u00c2\u00a0 But really, I didn’t need to hear the stuff on the first album until I became enraptured by the second.\u00c2\u00a0 THEN "Next To You", "So Lonely", "Can’t Stand Losing You" and "Born In The 50’s" came alive, they suddenly had CONTEXT!\u00c2\u00a0 Especially "Hole In My Life".\u00c2\u00a0 You see in an era where Bob Marley still hadn’t broken fully through in America, most people got the reggae bug via WHITE reggae, played by the Police.\u00c2\u00a0 I loved "Trenchtown Rock" from the Wailers’ ’76 live album, but no more than the Police’s "Walking On The Moon".\u00c2\u00a0 That’s what made me go back and play the band’s debut.<\/p>\n
Giant steps are what you take
Walking on the moon<\/em><\/p>\nIf you were born in the fifties, you remember the space race, the barrage of info about the moon.\u00c2\u00a0 On the moon, there was less GRAVITY!\u00c2\u00a0 Each step was a BOUNCE!\u00c2\u00a0 You LEAPT from location to location.\u00c2\u00a0 And, eventually, we watched Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin do so.<\/p>\n
"Walking On The Moon" has got the feel of the space shots.\u00c2\u00a0 Andy Summers’ guitar explodes and SPARKLES, like a giant step!\u00c2\u00a0 And the groove, it’s got the swagger of someone whose every stride contains a bounce.\u00c2\u00a0 And then there’s the vocal…<\/p>\n
Some may say
I’m wishing my days away, no way<\/em><\/p>\nBack before Reagan got elected, back when the baby boomers were still finding their way, it wasn’t so much about achievement as it was about EXPERIENCE!\u00c2\u00a0 You weren’t trying to GET somewhere so much as FEEL ALIVE, TAKE IT ALL IN!\u00c2\u00a0 You put a record on the stereo, and you let your mind drift.\u00c2\u00a0 You got in your car, fired up the radio, and were ready for ADVENTURE!\u00c2\u00a0 "Walking On The Moon" contains that spirit, of life being in front of you, a giant canvas upon which you can throw paint like Jackson Pollock.\u00c2\u00a0 "Walking On The Moon" made me a Police fan.<\/p>\n
And then there was the joy of "Zenyatta Mondatta", the record that made the band superstars.\u00c2\u00a0 Maligned for being lightweight, there’s a joy in the album that cannot be denied.\u00c2\u00a0 It still resonates today, it still can lift your day.<\/p>\n
That was the final album peak for me.\u00c2\u00a0 Oh, I purchased them all, but I didn’t quite cotton to "Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic" and "Ghost In The Machine".\u00c2\u00a0 And I liked "Synchronicity" better, but it was too mature, not cutting edge like the early albums, in retrospect Sting was right to go solo.<\/p>\n
And I love Sting solo.\u00c2\u00a0 "…Nothing Like The Sun" is classic.\u00c2\u00a0 "They Dance Alone" cuts to the bone, and his rendition of "Little Wing" is every bit as good as Stevie Ray’s for me.<\/p>\n
And how about "Ten Summoner’s Tales".\u00c2\u00a0 He’s got a way with a change, a modern day Beatle, come on, you love "If I Ever Lose My Faith In You", right?\u00c2\u00a0 And "Fields Of Gold"?\u00c2\u00a0 And how about "This Cowboy Song" from the greatest hits album?\u00c2\u00a0 Such swagger, such attitude, such ELATION!<\/p>\n
But the Police were something different, more raw, more primal.\u00c2\u00a0 Not about sophistication so much as feel.<\/p>\n
And we can second-guess the reunion, I believe it’s Sting’s need to be in the spotlight, but now it’s finally here…and what’s it gonna be LIKE!<\/p>\n
Let’s only hope there aren’t any additional players.\u00c2\u00a0 Backup chicks at most.\u00c2\u00a0 It was the three piece sound that resonated.\u00c2\u00a0 We filled the holes with our minds.\u00c2\u00a0 The music BREATHED!<\/p>\n
So, the question arises, WHAT TO PLAY!<\/p>\n
If you lived through the sixties, you know that the medley was the province of has-been oldsters, who didn’t respect the music, who didn’t give the public what it wanted.\u00c2\u00a0 Whereas when most rock acts DID get airtime, they played a complete song, they didn’t run their hits together, that would DISRESPECT THEM!<\/p>\n
I’m truly fearful the Police will give the public what it thinks it wants.\u00c2\u00a0 Not able to come up with ONE song, they’ll play them all, as an advertisement for the tour.\u00c2\u00a0 I say fuck that, center on ONE!<\/p>\n
Yes, it’s perfectly clear, the Grammy show has to start with a complete Police song.\u00c2\u00a0 It’s time for these besuited assholes to take a risk, like the NFL, and let the MUSIC shine, let it eclipse the ceremony.<\/p>\n
We’ve got to have Sting front and center, picking the notes on his bass.\u00c2\u00a0 Stewart accenting from behind, Andy hitting the trebly notes to the side.\u00c2\u00a0 The song must be INSTANTLY recognizable, we must know IMMEDIATELY!<\/p>\n
Yes, it’s time to reclaim the number from Puffy\/Diddy.\u00c2\u00a0 It’s time to bring it all back home.\u00c2\u00a0 Yes, the Police must open the Grammys with EVERY BREATH YOU TAKE!!<\/p>\n
Every breath you take
Every move you make
Every bond you break
Every step you take
I’ll be watching you<\/em><\/p>\nOh, the words don’t do the song justice.\u00c2\u00a0 It’s the airy feel, the mystery that enraptures us.\u00c2\u00a0 It’s the window into the writer’s psyche, his soul.\u00c2\u00a0 Oh, haven’t you BEEN THERE!\u00c2\u00a0 It’s over, but your obsession remains.<\/p>\n
Every single day
Every word you say
Every game you play
Every night you stay
I’ll be watching you<\/em><\/p>\nWhere’s she staying, the new boyfriend’s house?\u00c2\u00a0 And is she LYING ABOUT IT?<\/p>\n
Oh, can’t you see
You belong to me
How my poor heart aches
With every step you take<\/em><\/p>\nWe were together for SO LONG!\u00c2\u00a0 How can you leave me, how can you be with somebody new, don’t you know it’s about US??\u00c2\u00a0 You can’t DO this to me!<\/p>\n
Oh, the change at this point would be enough for most songs, good enough to make them hits.\u00c2\u00a0 But really, the above chorus plays second fiddle to the BRIDGE!!<\/p>\n
Since you’ve gone I been lost without a trace
I dream at night I can only see your face
I look around but it’s you I can’t replace
I feel so cold and I long for your embrace
I keep crying baby, baby, please…<\/em><\/p>\nIt’s gone from being sinister to a PLEA!\u00c2\u00a0 Sting has thrown off the artifice, now he’s BEGGING!\u00c2\u00a0 I’m naked, can’t you see, don’t you need ME??<\/p>\n
Oh, it takes YEARS to get them out of your system.\u00c2\u00a0 They appear in your dreams.\u00c2\u00a0 Even after you’ve found someone new.\u00c2\u00a0 But that initial period, when the bed’s too big without them, that’s too much, you think you’re gonna die.<\/p>\n
Then Sting regains his composure.\u00c2\u00a0 And is dark and controlled again.<\/p>\n
And eventually the song fades out…<\/p>\n
Every move you make
Every vow you break
Every smile you fake
Every claim you stake
Ill be watching you<\/em><\/p>\nEndlessly, with his blank army behind him, his faceless friends who are angry too, for his being dumped, they go on and on.\u00c2\u00a0 Just like your memory.\u00c2\u00a0 It takes so long to FADE!<\/p>\n
"Every Breath You Take" is the Police’s "Yesterday".\u00c2\u00a0 A song you only have to hear once to get, and one that never gets tired, one you never push the button on.<\/p>\n
So simple, not an endless studio concoction.\u00c2\u00a0 Just the essence.\u00c2\u00a0 With this incredible FEELING!\u00c2\u00a0 That’s music, that’s why everybody remembers, wants to see the band, to get that HIT!<\/p>\n
Maybe Sting was right, they couldn’t follow up "Every Breath You Take", maybe they HAD to end on this note.<\/p>\n
But they left us high and dry.\u00c2\u00a0 Until Sunday night.<\/p>\n
"Every Breath You Take" fits both Grammy categories.\u00c2\u00a0 It’s an unbelievable SONG, and an incredible RECORD!\u00c2\u00a0 It’s indelible, you hear it once and it’s imprinted on your brain forever.<\/p>\n
And that’s why it needs to open the show.\u00c2\u00a0 To reinforce to the anesthetized public how great music can be, how the industry has not forgotten.\u00c2\u00a0 Instead of overpriced CDs with only one good song you’re gonna get EXACTLY what you want.<\/p>\n
And when the number is over, and all throughout the show, it’s going to be reinforced AGAIN AND AGAIN, the Police are going to come BACK!<\/p>\n
Everyone will call his buddy, or text, IM or e-mail him.\u00c2\u00a0 Did you see the POLICE?\u00c2\u00a0 God, you’ve got to tune in, there’s going to be MORE!<\/p>\n
And the band members can’t be presenters.\u00c2\u00a0 But to end the show, not that NARAS is going to say it’s going to transpire then, instead of the usual fade-out clusterfuck, the Police are going to take the stage again and rip into DON’T STAND SO CLOSE TO ME!<\/p>\n
Fuck the speeches, fuck the awards, fuck the self-congratulations.\u00c2\u00a0 It’s about the MUSIC!<\/p>\n
If it’s music’s greatest night, let the music SHINE!\u00c2\u00a0 Not the evanescent crap, but the timeless CLASSICS!<\/p>\n
And then, just when you think it’s all over, Andy’s gonna play that reggae riff, Sting’s gonna step up to the mic and wail:<\/p>\n
ROXANNE!<\/p>\n
Hell, have you been to the Grammy show?\u00c2\u00a0 It’s still being telecast, but the audience is STREAMING out of the building!<\/p>\n
But not if the Police close the show.\u00c2\u00a0 The lights will be up, everybody will be on their feet.\u00c2\u00a0 Stomping their feet, SINGING!!!<\/p>\n
Put on the red light
PUT ON THE RED LIGHT!!<\/em><\/p>\nI implore NARAS and the Police to turn on the red light\u00c2\u00a0 Sunday night.\u00c2\u00a0 To give us what we want, and MORE!\u00c2\u00a0 To blow our MINDS!\u00c2\u00a0 To show it can be about both the band AND the song.\u00c2\u00a0 To impress on the younger generation that there’s greatness in the grooves, and to let the oldsters know they can STILL believe!<\/p>\n
<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
They’d better not play a fucking medley. Last year, I don’t think I even fast-forwarded through the Grammy telecast.\u00c2\u00a0 Why?\u00c2\u00a0 Just a bunch of self-congratulatory poseurs involved in a circle jerk, trying to make themselves feel good, trying to raise the revenues of a dying industry. But this year I’m gonna watch the show.\u00c2\u00a0 To […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[3,6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-684","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-live-shows","category-the-music"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p96vPs-b2","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/684","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=684"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/684\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=684"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=684"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=684"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}