At first sight in ’77, you already knew The Police were too good to last. Virtuoso swans among punk’s puddleducks, the power trio darted from the reggae chop of Roxanne to the cinematic sweep of Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic, and made conquering America look relatively easy. But if the band’s frontman and principal writer, Sting, was a prolific talent and stone-cold star, then didn’t he just know it. As the bassist’s creative grip tightened, the tensions that drove the early chemistry with guitarist Andy Summers and drummer Stewart Copeland grew sour, and following 1983’s Synchronicity, they pulled the plug at their peak.
Summers has worn many hats since those days on the force. A jazz cat, soundtrack king and occasional white-noise-maker, he’s been a loquacious friend to Guitarist over the years, though only rarely drawn on the subject of his old band. Now, though, with a new Police Greatest Hits half-speed vinyl boxset to promote, Summers is happy to revisit those stadium-filling days.
All these years later, which of your guitar parts from The Police do you find most interesting?
“Well, my favourite has always been . It’s the best guitar riff and there’s a harmony part as well, which most people can’t get. You’ve got to have the fingers. . . I like all of them.”
