The Police’s Stewart Copeland & Andy Summers on ‘Synchronicity’, chance of band reunion

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The Police are set to reissue their multi-Platinum album Synchronicity on Friday for its 40th anniversary, and it turns out The Beatles‘ docuseries Get Back played a role in them deciding to revisit the album.

In an interview with MOJO, drummer Stewart Copeland said the doc “changed everything for many groups across the land.” 

Copeland explained, “[U]p until that point, we had this policy, which was the only version that shall ever see the light of day is the finished product. Then we saw The Beatles in their underpants. And the realization dawned that it actually increases the interest in the song to see it in its underpants under development.”

To show that, the deluxe edition of the release contains 55 previously unreleased tracks, made up of alternate takes, instrumentals, demos and live recordings.

But the making of Synchronicity was far from easy, with tension running high between the band members. 

“We were all three pieces of s*** in that room. We are not kindly individuals,” Copeland shared. “Andy and Sting are both wonderful human beings until they’re in The Police room. Then they turn into f****** a*******. The only worse a****** was probably me.”

Summers added, “I think any band worth anything has to have creative tension. Music can’t be made from a mellow state. It’s gotta be made with tension.”

The Police broke up after Synchronicity. The last time the three members of The Police played together was for a 2007-08 tour, and fans shouldn’t expect it to happen again.  

When asked if there was any chance of a Police reunion, Copeland was pretty certain of the answer. “No,” he said. “There’s at least a 0000000000000000000000.1 per cent chance of it ever happening.”

Synchronicity (40th Anniversary Edition) is available for preorder now.

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