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‘Zenyatta Mondatta’: The Near-Perfect Pop Of The Police
Udiscovermusic ^ | October 3, 2025 | Paul Sexton

Posted on 10/03/2025 2:17:55 PM PDT by nickcarraway

The album topped the charts in the UK, France, and Australia and became their first platinum disc in the US.

On October 3, 1980, The Police delivered an album that Rolling Stone described as “near-perfect pop by a band that bends all the rules and sometimes makes musical mountains out of molehill-size ideas.” It was their third LP, Zenyatta Mondatta.

Frank Sinatra - In The Wee Small Hours A No.1 album in the UK, France and Australia, it featured two more signature hits for Messrs Sting, Summers, and Copeland, “Don’t Stand So Close To Me” and “De Do Do Do, De Da Da Da.” But alongside the nonsense lyrics of the latter, Sting was also contributing songs of social conscience such as “When the World Is Running Down, You Make the Best of What’s Still Around,” “Driven To Tears,” and “Bombs Away.”

“It doesn’t have any of the heavy metal that I suppose was on the first two albums,” Copeland told Musicians Weekly around the release of Zenyatta Mondatta. “But there are plenty of groups providing that already. There’s not fuzzy guitar anywhere this time. ‘[When] The World Is Running Down,’ for example, started out as a heavy jazz number and then we Policeified it. We always do lots of overdubbing and employ the studio techniques to the fullest and there’s a lot of cosmetic surgery on the tapes.”

Zenyatta Mondatta had a red-letter day in America on February 27, 1981. As they continued their rise to the top as perhaps Britain’s biggest international rock attraction of the day, the RIAA awarded the trio their first platinum album disc. The long player was outdoing its predecessors Outlandos D’Amour and Reggatta de Blanc in the US and reaching its peak of popularity as the platinum certification arrived.

The February 28 Billboard chart showed Zenyatta climbing a place to what became its No.5 peak. It was in the 19th week of an epic 153-week run on the countdown. “Don’t Stand So Close To Me” won a Grammy for Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal, and “Behind My Camel” won for Best Rock Instrumental Performance.

Platinum Police force

As American fans continued to catch up with the band’s catalog to that point, the Police’s first two albums would go on to their own, eventual, sales recognition. Outlandos D’Amour won platinum certification in the summer of 1984, more than five years after its chart debut. Outlandos D’Amour had to wait much longer, charting for the first time also in 1979 and turning platinum early in 2002.

Much greater success was around the corner. The follow-up to Zenyatta Mondatta, 1981’s Ghost In The Machine, went triple platinum in 2001. Their final studio set, 1983’s Synchronicity, broke all their previous records with a 17-week run at No.1 in America. It reached quadruple platinum status in 1984 and went eight-times platinum in 2001.


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1 posted on 10/03/2025 2:17:55 PM PDT by nickcarraway
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To: nickcarraway

The last real Police album. I’m partial to Regatta de Blanc, though.


2 posted on 10/03/2025 2:19:15 PM PDT by dfwgator ("I am Charlie Kirk!")
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To: nickcarraway

Regatta de Blanc live 1979. They were on fire then. Stewart Copeland changed drumming.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OQGmaWYC4OE&list=RDOQGmaWYC4OE&start_radio=1


3 posted on 10/03/2025 2:20:54 PM PDT by dfwgator ("I am Charlie Kirk!")
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To: dfwgator
The last real Police album.

Both Sting and Copeland admitted that side two of Zenyatta Mondatta was incomplete and could have been better, but the band had to start a scheduled tour and ended production of the album early.

4 posted on 10/03/2025 2:26:22 PM PDT by Right_Wing_Madman
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To: nickcarraway

I played bass in a bar band back then on Long Island New York, 1981 a looooooong time ago when I was 17. I had to lie how old I was, and one of the songs we played was “Driven to tears” which was a great song to jam on. I can’t believe it’s been 44 years. Back then it was ridiculously easy to get gigs, nowadays I heard it’s almost impossible. I haven’t played in a band in years, at least 20 years.


5 posted on 10/03/2025 2:29:41 PM PDT by GrandJediMasterYoda (As long as Hillary Clinton remains free, the USA will never have equal justice under the law)
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To: Right_Wing_Madman

Every song on Regatta de Blanc is great, Copeland’s songs always had humor to them like, “On Any Other Day”.


6 posted on 10/03/2025 2:31:22 PM PDT by dfwgator ("I am Charlie Kirk!")
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To: GrandJediMasterYoda

Not a huge fan of The Police but... Driven to tears?

Yeah, you could jam an entire 30-40 minutes in your set.
2 or three other covers and collect your gate..

“THANK YOU, CHICAGO!!!”


7 posted on 10/03/2025 2:34:21 PM PDT by Cletus.D.Yokel (Catastrophic Anthropogenic Climate Alteration (CACA); The acronym defines the science.)
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To: AFB-XYZ; RitaOK; LonePalm; OldWarBaby

That said, this was 1980.
2 years earlier PF released “The Wall” and everything...EVERY THING... else was set aside.

It eclipsed Dark Side of the Moon and was a standard that was never met again.
EVER.

I have 7 copies... three in vacc-sealed visquin.


8 posted on 10/03/2025 2:38:45 PM PDT by Cletus.D.Yokel (Catastrophic Anthropogenic Climate Alteration (CACA); The acronym defines the science.)
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To: nickcarraway
The first (cassette) album I ever listened to on a Walkman :-)

Those were the days.

9 posted on 10/03/2025 2:40:36 PM PDT by Joe 6-pack
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To: Cletus.D.Yokel

Ha ha I don’t know why we played that as well, probably because it had 3 or 4 chords and an easy riff. We pretty much sucked especially the drummer, but damn we constantly got gigs, it was great.


10 posted on 10/03/2025 2:41:42 PM PDT by GrandJediMasterYoda (As long as Hillary Clinton remains free, the USA will never have equal justice under the law)
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To: dfwgator; nickcarraway

I am also partial to Regatta de Blanc. They took giant steps on side two!


11 posted on 10/03/2025 2:46:33 PM PDT by philled (I’m free to say whatever I - Whatever I like— if it’s wrong or right it’s alright.)
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To: nickcarraway

Wasn’t she in Spiderman?


12 posted on 10/03/2025 2:50:02 PM PDT by Crusher138 ("Then conquer we must, for our cause it is just")
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To: nickcarraway

In, I think, 1979 a friend snuck me into Summers on the Beach in Fort Lauderdale to hear this awesome band - three guys, one on guitar, one on bass, one on drums.

They were okay, but there playlist was thin. A song they played early in their set was repeated towards the end...I Can’t Stand Losing You. I got the impression that most of their songs were minor variations on each other. I was less than impressed.

Within 5 years I had bought all of their albums and actually wore out Outlandos d’Amour.


13 posted on 10/03/2025 2:57:17 PM PDT by Crusher138 ("Then conquer we must, for our cause it is just")
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To: Cletus.D.Yokel

We don’t need no education. We don’t need no thought control.


14 posted on 10/03/2025 2:58:52 PM PDT by Ge0ffrey
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To: Ge0ffrey; RitaOK; AFB-XYZ

Other than boomers?

All we are is... just another brick in the wall.
(Leave those kids alone!)


15 posted on 10/03/2025 3:04:03 PM PDT by Cletus.D.Yokel (Catastrophic Anthropogenic Climate Alteration (CACA); The acronym defines the science.)
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To: philled

They also toured with XTC at that time, and Stewart Copeland became good friends with the band.


16 posted on 10/03/2025 3:25:53 PM PDT by dfwgator ("I am Charlie Kirk!")
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To: Cletus.D.Yokel

going to have to disagree with you there, IMHO DSOTM and WYWH are both better than the wall.


17 posted on 10/03/2025 3:26:53 PM PDT by Jeff Vader
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To: Jeff Vader

I tend to agree, The Wall is more of a Roger Waters solo album, than a PF album.


18 posted on 10/03/2025 3:28:07 PM PDT by dfwgator ("I am Charlie Kirk!")
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To: philled

I am also partial to Regatta de Blanc. They took giant steps on side two!


“Does Everyone Stare” is one of my all-time favorite Police songs, Stewart wrote that one as well.


19 posted on 10/03/2025 3:30:52 PM PDT by dfwgator ("I am Charlie Kirk!")
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To: nickcarraway

Inspired by....

Bob Newhart. Wait, what?

https://youtu.be/dLqfwLC3b_8?si=P4tyJZ_cap3nN_cN


20 posted on 10/03/2025 3:35:03 PM PDT by Disambiguator
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