The Police put out all five of their studio albums between 1978 and 1983, and there's not a stinker among them. They got in, delivered something near perfect for a half-decade, and then let the project be. I think that's beautiful. They're batting 1000, which is rare.
For Album of the Week, I'm playing their debut record, Outlandos d'Amour, which is tied for my favorite with the two records that follow it. Their fourth and fifth records are a tiny step down for me, but only becasue I grew up less inclined toward 80s synths and whatnot, although that's changed some in recent years. All five records are great, and their very natural evolution is part of that greatness.
Here's a bit about Outlandos d'Amour. I'll share some of my own thoughts between tracks during the show.
The LP initially performed poorly due to low exposure and an unfavourable reaction from the BBC to its first two singles, "Can't Stand Losing You" and "Roxanne" (about suicide and prostitution, respectively). As Sting describes:
“…We had [a] publicity campaign with posters about how the BBC banned 'Roxanne'. The reason they had a problem with 'Can't Stand Losing You' was because the photo on the cover of the single had Stewart standing on a block of ice with a noose around his neck, waiting for the ice to melt.”
The band's low-budget tour of America in support of the album made people across the country aware of the band, and especially "Roxanne". The song received more and more airplay from radio DJs in both the United States and the United Kingdom in April 1979. When A&M re-released "Roxanne", it went to No. 12 on the UK charts, and "Can't Stand Losing You" followed, eventually hitting No. 2
-- Justin Cox
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