With one breath, with one flow...

(AP Photo; no, really, I didn't take it)
Outlandos d'Amour (1978)
I grew up smack dab in the middle of the 1980s, dude, and it seems as if always somewhere, playing in the background, were Andy, Stewart, and Gordon - The Police. At around the same time I was getting into playing guitar and being in bands, they were considered to be very cool. Hip even.

Reggatta de Blanc (1979)
Some of the first (and easiest) songs the bands I was in played were things like "Driven to Tears," "De Do Do Do, De Da Da Da," "Walking on the Moon," "Message in a Bottle," etc., etc. My love of guitar pedal effects (i.e., chorus and echo) was born partly due to Andy Summers. A close childhood friend, and drummer, saved up and got a Tama drum kit, along with Zildjian cymbals, because of Stewart Copeland (well, and Neal Peart). I learned about reggae from The Police (and The Clash).

Zenyatta Mondatta (1980)
A band I was in, at our high school talent show playing "Wrapped Around Your Finger," with the lead singer dressed to resemble Sting in the video of the same name. I'm playing the Les Paul.

Ghost in the Machine (1981)
The chords and chord changes became slightly more challenging with Ghost in the Machine (still my favorite Police album) and the pop/rock album of 1983, Synchronicity. In fact, The Police owned 1983 - MTV, radio, and concert circuit, all - belonged to them.

Synchronicity (1983)
The point of this post is that I was a big Police fan! It brought me great joy to see that they will most likely reunite, at least to tour. Thanks to Sting's catchy, well-written pop songs, they have really never been too far from public earshot (thank you Diddy). So younger people today have probably heard of them, or at least have heard one or two of their songs. And the article I link to also points out how behemoths such as U2 and The Rolling Stones have pretty much "exhausted" their fanbase. So the time is right for The Police to hit the road!
Here's one of their typically poorly executed (pre-Synchronicity) music videos, for "De Do Do Do, De Da Da Da" (from 1980's Zenyatta Mondatta).

Poets, priests and politicians...

The Synchronicity tour