Posted on 03/18/2023 9:03:53 PM PDT by nickcarraway
Stevie Nicks was very clear on what she wanted to achieve when she turned her attention to recording “Edge of Seventeen.”
She later admitted that she’d never heard a dove’s call, even though the Fleetwood Mac icon represented it in her vocals. There was also a song by the Police that she wanted to imitate: “Bring on the Night,” from 1979’s Regatta de Blanc.
Guitarist Waddy Wachtel was lost. “I had never heard ‘Bring On the Night,’” the Bella Donna sideman told Musician in 1999, “and at that session they told me they were going to do this song based on this feel. I had heard something about the Police, but I didn’t know what they were talking about.”
In fact, he didn't completely appreciate the similarities between “Edge of Seventeen” and “Bring on the Night” for years. “I had the radio on, and on comes what sounds like ‘Edge of Seventeen’ – and all of a sudden, there’s Sting’s voice!” Wachtel said. “I thought, ‘We ripped them off completely!’ I called Stevie that night and said, ‘Listen to me: Don’t ever do that again!’”
She was more careful next time. “Stand Back,” from her very next solo album The Wild Heart, was directly inspired by Prince’s “Little Red Corvette.” This time, she spoke to Prince and actually got him involved in the recording.
Decades later, Wachtel admitted there was an upside to having borrowed the Police riff. “Onstage, the beginning of that song is like a break for Stevie,” he said. “I’d be standing there, playing that riff for around three minutes, before she’d even start singing! By the end of the tour, I was able to break walnuts with my right hand!”
i agree with you
I always thought she was pretty hot myself... Liked the music too.
Our opinion differ on The Police, which were one of the top bands in the world for a short time between the late 1970s and early 1980s. The musicianship between the three of them was incredible. But they could not get along and so broke up after just five albums.
Sting was the primary songwriter in the band and the other two members seemed to resent it. But as much as Andy Summers is a great guitarist and Stewart Copeland is a great drummer, they could not begin to match Sting on writing lyrics and music.
Nonetheless, Sting typically let the other two write at least one song for each album and they were for the most part pretty awful.
Consider the non-Sting songs on their final album "Synchronicity":
Andy Summers (Police) - Mother
Stewart Copeland (Police) - Miss Gradenko
They should have just stuck to their instruments and let Sting write all the songs.
Me either. I always preferred Christine’s voice.
Speaking of riffs - just watched “The Wrecking Crew” on Prime - lots of good music and things I never knew...
That is true, but Sting was the one the girls went crazy over, and that was what the other two resented most.
Even a short break is a good break from hearing Stevie Nichs singing.
So THAT’s what “defund the police” means.
They all rip each other off. Those who are really in the know about music might say something about some sort of "evolution" or something.
And here these rock 'n rollers are, complaining about "He stole my riff, man!"
Pffft. First world problem.
Oh yeah. The Doors ripped off the old Ajax commercial... anyone remember that?
Stronger then dirt.
:)
Yes, the drum intro (hi-hat 16th notes and bass drum on the “and” of 1 and 3) are the same, and the guitar 16th-note intro is very similar. This was intentional and has been known since the song came out, of course. (the great Russ Kunkel on that drum track)
Jim Morrison thanks you for that reference...
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