Out Thursday, October 26th, is “Police Diaries,” a new book by Police drummer Stewart Copeland. The coffee-table style book is drawn from Copeland's personal pocket diary entries between 1976-1979, during the earliest days of the Police and a time he was serving as the band's manager as well as its drummer.
The book is filled out with some additional background comedy and photos of the diary pages and of himself and bandmates Sting and Andy Summers at the time. Copeland tells us that he's happy to give fans some insight into what he calls “the starving years” of the Police, before the band began scoring its first hit singles:
“The hungry part was the interesting part, when we were stumbling around London trying to get a break. And the miracle that is revealed in those diaries is that Sting stuck it out and Andy joined in.” :14 OC: And Andy joined in.
The Police, of course, went on to sell more than 75 million albums worldwide and have a rash of hits such as “Roxanne,” “Message In a Bottle,” “Every Little Things She Does is Magic,” “Every Breath You Take,” “King of Pain” and more.
The group also won five Grammy Awards between 1981-84 and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2003.
The Police stopped during 1984 without formally breaking up. The trio reunited for the Amnesty International: A Conspiracy of Hope tour in 1986 and a full-scale reunion tour during 2007-2008. It has not worked together since.
Copeland recently created orchestral arrangements of the band's songs that he released on album, “The Police Deranged for Orchestra,” last year. This year he collaborated with Indian musician Rickey Kej on another reinvention of the band's material, “Police Beyond Borders.”
