The very first photograph of the classic line-up of The Police, taken by drummer Stewart Copeland‘s friend and photographer Lawrence Impey, has been revealed as Impey’s new book, The Police Lineup, which is being published by Rocket 88 Books in October.
The photo was taken at Sting’s Leicester Square flat an hour after the band had parted ways with original guitarist Hendy Padovani in August 1977, slimming the line-up down to the trio that would go on. to become the world’s biggest band in the 1980s.
“Eight months into our Police mission, we stumbled lamely into dropping the bomb on Henry,” Copeland recalls. “He could smell the atmosphere in the studio and that evening called Sting, who thought I had already dropped the guillotine as planned. I hadn’t. So as Sting is sympathising and comforting, Henry is going “What?!” He was straight on the phone to me, forcing me to finish the kill.”
At the same time Copeland has hooked up with British naturalist Martyn Stewart for a unique album entitled Wild Concerto. The album sees the pair bring together the worlds of nature and music through Stewart’s archive of over 100,000 recordings has earned him the moniker ‘The David Attenborough of Sound’.
“This project is a culmination of everything I’ve learned as a film and opera composer,” says Copeland. “But instead of sopranos and tenors, I’m working with hyenas, wolves, and a chorus of birds. Their voices bring an unparalleled authenticity to the music.”
The twelve-movment Wild Concerto, tells the story of the remarkable migration of the Arctic tern. The tern travels over 44,000 miles a year journeying from pole to pole, beginning in the Arctic breeding grounds, over the Galapagos, to Antarctica for summer, then back via the African coast. On its journey, it engages in a musical dance with Martyn Stewart’s animals in their natural habitats.
Wild Concerto fuses Martyn Stewart’s remarkable field recordings with vibrant orchestral texture and Copeland’s signature syncopated drum sound.
A single, White Throated Sparrow, has been released today. Wild Concerto is released through Platoon Records on April 18.
White Throated Sparrow (Is Happy On the Glacier) – YouTube 