Some bands just aren’t cut out to enjoy the longevity that others do. There have been countless instances where influential outfits have burned so brightly but then lost their beguiling effervescence after only a handful of years, with the likes of Cream, The Jam and even Nirvana springing to mind. Another prime example is The Police, and although their original run lasted seven years, it’s remarkable that they managed to push on for that long.
Although some members of the trio have retrospectively admitted dabbling with narcotics, in a reflection of their somewhat straight-laced nature, it wasn’t hard-living that tore the reggae-rock outfit apart. Rather, it was the fact that all three members were deeply proud individuals, and had a clear image of the band they wanted to be in, and they simply could not agree on the direction of travel they wanted to follow.
Frontman Sting has also stated that he felt that the practical reality of being in a threesome was stifling, yet, it’s safe to say that he was a deciding factor in the group going their separate ways. He openly conceded that he felt he was a better songwriter than guitarist Andy Summers and drummer Stewart Copeland. He believed this so strongly that he went to the great length of burying the master tape of Summers’ track ‘Behind My Camel’ because he hated it so much. This was after refusing to be on the song, which is rude enough.
While Sting has bemoaned the pitfalls of his old bandmates on numerous occasions in the past, both Summers and Copeland have also given their side of the story, and, every so often, outlined their misgivings about Sting’s work. For Copeland – the man who was always the thorn in Sting’s side – the golden-haired frontman’s worst work is ‘Wrapped Around Your Finger’, the second single from the band’s 1983 final album, Synchronicity.
Speaking to YouTuber Rick Beato, Copeland explained his reasons for hating the song, and from the outside you have to say fair enough. For him, the hit represents the drummer being left in the dark by the frontman as to what he was supposed to with his composition. It is the most egregious example of Sting drawing a clear artistic delineation between him and his bandmates.
“In that song particularly, I didn’t know a thing,” Copeland explained. “Like, where’s the verse, where’s the chorus? I don’t know, they’re just grooving away there, and then something’s changed. I think I’d do that flam one bar late, and then we’d cut the tape to put it in the right place.”
Criticising his performance and the general composition from Sting, the drummer added: “I think that’s the worst casualty of me not knowing what we’re doing here. I’m just playing something, and then there’s this synthesiser, and what I could make out of the lyric, I didn’t get it at the time. That’s my least favourite of all the songs he wrote.”
Editors’ Picks
- 1980s Music
- Andy Summers
- Band Feuds
- Classic Rock
- Rock History
- Stewart Copeland
- Sting
- Synchronicity
- The Police
- Wrapped Around Your Finger
