Many of you may not be aware of this, but veteran comedian/actor/director David Wain has been quietly hard at work throughout quarantine. Not on any one particular new project (that we’re aware of), but with live Zoom performances of Wet Hot American Summer, revamped sketches from The State, and, um, sleight of hand street magic. Earlier this week, however, he might have stumbled on his most serious and important COVID-19 undertaking so far, one that few, if any, have dared to consider.
Yes, that’s right. Wain is bravely pondering the very difficult question: What if Rush and The Police sucked ass?
Turns out it doesn’t take a helluva lot of tweaking to make legends like Sting and Neil Peart sound like a couple of damn amateurs. Just pitch-alter some voices, shift tempos off-beat every so slightly, and voilà: Suddenly, we find our unfortunate selves listening to a seventh-grade battle of the bands’ version of “Tom Sawyer.”
We know this couldn’t have been easy for Wain, and he’s proven he’s braver than the most of us. But in this age of constant uncertainty and doubt, we get the heroes we need, not the ones we necessarily deserve.
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137 Comments
I’m sure some Millennial or GenZer will jump in to say that Rush and The Police already sucked without this modification. I’m just here as a GenXer to tell them that they are wrong.
I’m here to tell you that Rush does, indeed, suck
I’m here to tell you that you are wrong.
I’m here.
By what measure? I mean, I don’t know you so what is it specifically that you don’t like? What qualifies as quality for a deep thinking person such as you? Please enlighten us with specifics so that we can assess your taste. (Tl;dr- you expression of an opinion sucks).And there you are, a shooting star!
Ah, you’ve pre-empted me there, buddy! I’m no Gen Xer, but I reckon Rush, while certainly all being dab hands on their instruments, were rubbish. I could take or leave The Police, but Sting’s subsequent stuff was dire.
I enjoyed some of the earlier Rush(through 1983 or so) but could always could take or leave The Police. Sting solo was beyond dire, and goddammit, he was horribly miscast in Dune. I am at the old end of Gen X.
Sting was a sexy beast in Dune. He was 100% Geidi Prime beef!And many of his solo efforts are quite lovely when one must pass the time in an elevator or while waiting to see a dental professional or a podiatrist. Suddenly the wheels are in motion!
If you read the description of Feyd-Rautha in the book, Sting the pro wrestler would have been better casting. Feyd was a very large man, his brother Rabban was bigger still ( think Paul “Big Show” Wight). Sting the musician was just way too small for the part.
No one ever suggested Lynch’s Dune was faithful to the book. I would say Sting was closer to Feyd than Richard Jordan was to Duncan Idaho. And it really doesn’t change the face that Sting arising from the steam clad only ion codpiece is a beautifully twisted visual reference to Botacelli’s “The Birth of Venus” and that he was very very pretty.Suspend me in time with him for sure!
For people who don’t speak English english, let me translate this:“dab hands” means they are expert musicians and “rubbish” means they are fucking awesome.Just kidding. But I hear this line of reasoning a lot. They are amazing musicians but they still somehow suck. I’m curious if anyone can name any other amazingly talented musicians who totally suck ass. Beethoven? The Beatles? Adele?
Surely there are lots of very talented. technically accomplished musicians who don’t make especially good music (leaving Rush aside for the moment)? And similarly, a lot of ragged players who form part of great bands? Otherwise everyone would be listening to technically flawless prog compositions all the time. And Mike Patton would be bigger than Elvis (I love Mike Patton, my point is that he’s got such amazing range that this would translate to global fame and glory).As for The Beatles, people who know more about this than I do (I remember English music journalist Stuart Maconie saying this recently) are of the opinion that when The Beatles were recording, the best musician in the studio was actually George Martin.I don’t think it’s unreasonable to suggest that a band full of talented musicians can make music that isn’t all that great. Whether you think that applies to Rush or not is obviously a matter of opinion, but I think the assertion holds water either way.(also apologies re Dab Hand, I didn’t realise that was a localised expression. I wasn’t trying to be deliberately obscure!)
I was just having a bit of fun. I don’t care for those little emoticons or whatever to show sarcasm or facetiousness so I’m sure I sound like an *asshole all the time.This is great. I mean you clearly know something about music and have good taste (I agree, Mike Patton is IMO criminally underrated. I even love the weird stuff he did with Dillinger Escape Plan), and I have to absolutely agree on every point.Unfortunately, it’s probably all going to devolve into some philosophical debate about what constitutes “good” music, who is the arbiter of “good,” etc. In the end it is absolutely possible for great musicians to make music that doesn’t appeal to people—sometimes not even appealing to their own fans. And “bad” musicians can make super “good” (read: popular) music.I also have my own obvious biases. Red Hot Chili Peppers I will loudly and proudly say SUCK, even though I know people like them and Flea is a good bass player. I just can’t stand anything about them or their music. So it’s pretty weird for me to make a stink over Rush just because I love them.*I am in fact an asshole, but I appreciate the interesting and polite commentary on this. Surprising for the internet.
Haha no, I could tell it was meant in a good spirit! Don’t worry about that.I definitely agree about the Red Hot Chilli Peppers, though I will confess to liking some of their early songs. Of course they had their own beef with Mike Patton, or rather Anthony Kiedis did, which might help explain why both of us have some antipathy towards them! On the other hand, Flea somewhat inexplicably supports the same English football team as me, so I have a slight fondness towards him for that, however shallow that sounds.I was actually trying to work out the other day how many different Mike Patton acts I have on my Spotify. Seven or eight, I reckon.
Frusciante has produced an impressive solo catalogue, and Flea is by all accounts a fantastic bass player (me myself being an extremely lousy one), but I’ve had drunken friends attack me when I told them the Peppers are awful. Like Nick Cave once said: “I’m forever near a stereo saying, ‘What the fuck is this garbage?’ – and the answer is always: the Red Hot Chili Peppers.”
No, it is true- the Red Hot Chilli Peppers do, indeed, suck. How they managed to carve out a longer term career than most of the bands of their era despite all of their suckage mystifies me
Surely there are lots of very talented. technically accomplished musicians who don’t make especially good music?That’s an awful lot of words when you could have just written “King Crimson”…… I KID! I KID!….. but seriously King Crimson suuuuuuuuccckkkssss!
I’m sure Mariah Carey has a flawless voice from a technical standpoint, but I can’t stand how she uses it. All the porpoise noises she makes just irritate me.
LOL I get that. I feel that way about Xtina. I don’t really listen to that kind of music but her voice is incredible and she gets a lot of flack for stuff like that. IMO those vocal hiccups or whatever are annoying.
Yngvie Malmsteen.
This, exactly this.It’s not that rush sucks, it’s that they suuuuuuuuuck.And don’t get me started on Sting. The best thing about that band was Stewart Copeland. Who, now that I think about it, could play circles around Peart.
I think I actually like some of Copeland’s soundtrack work (specifically Spyro & The Amanda Show) better than a lot of Police music.
Totally. His work on The Rhythmatist and Rumblefish was fantastic.
Despite their stellar live rep, I found them boring as hell there as well, certainly by the 80s. You could just play the records super loud for practically the same effect. I’d have preferred them to add a couple sidemen and loosen up more, instead of slavishly recreating their material live.
Between Sting’s annoying ‘faux-Jamaican’ accent in the Police, and his awfully boring solo career afterwards, I think it’s safe to say he’s not to everyone’s taste without reverting to ageism. And yes, I’m 39, so I’m not even sure where that puts me in your generalization – Gen Y maybe?
You might say this comment
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is a Rush to judgement
Someone call the police, there’s been a murder!
I’m just on the cusp of GenX, but in my experience people our age are just as prone to that “Rush sucks” bullshit. Oh, it’s just three of the most creative and (objectively, you dicks) supremely talented musicians. All three are legends on their respective instruments. Can they be weird and self-indulgent at times? No, not a rock group! That never happens! Is Geddy’s voice shit? Well, some think so. Not me. But I get it. A lot of people think Robert Plant’s voice “sucks” too. But no one seriously contends that Led Zeppelin sucks. At least nowhere near the ire reserved for Rush.
Look, I get it if you don’t like them. That doesn’t mean they suck, it means your OPINION of them sucks. Get it straight.I don’t have as much to say about the Police but they are fine.Also, WTF do you Rush haters listen to? I guarantee it’s like Kesha or Paramore or fucking Grouplove or something. So fuck off anyway. Just kidding we’re having fun here.
I mean I’m 44 and think Rush sucks but also have spent all year listening to the Grateful Dead so…
LOL I used to HATE the Grateful Dead. I grew up listening to punk and hardcore, so I hated any “hippy” band or “corporate rock” band (I know, I know). But then I started playing guitar and actually listening to the music and dissecting it so I could play it…And I still don’t really care much for the Dead but I definitely get it now. It’s just not my thing but I no longer say or think that they “suck.”
Oh hi are you me? Grew up on Dead Kennedys and the Dischord Records catalog, now I mostly to the Dead and 60s and 70s country music.And yeah, hating the Dead was just something I thought I “had” to do as someone who loved punk rock, but as it turns out the Dead had more punk ethos than most of the punk bands that have come out in the last 40 years.
Dude, same. Minor Threat/Fugazi, obviously, but Rites of Spring, Jawbox, Gray Matter…damn so many great bands.For me it was definitely a “you just have to hate them” thing. I mean Screeching Weasel is/was (fuck Ben Weasel) my favorite band and I used to love “I hate led zeppelin” and now Zep is one of my favorite bands.
The punk and hippy ethos isn’t that far apart so it’s a little weird that hatred–I mean it wasn’t violent hatred, to be clear. Being a “punk” skateboarder kid, a lot of that stuff just seemed like self-indulgent noodling. But now it’s like, okay but playing the same three chords fast and screaming isn’t? I’m now sorta on the punk is dead thing…lol.
It’s the Mike Watt approach, and if there’s anyone out there who tries to say Mike Watt isn’t just about the most punk rock person to have ever lived I’ll kick ‘em in the knees.
I used to hate upon them too until I realized that, yeah, they were kind of “punk rock” and/or “indie rock.” They do their own thing, don’t worry about making hits or even decent albums, and have no problem with letting their fans bootleg their concerts. They even do probably the snottiest, most punk thing ever and don’t even think about playing the hits every night. Just imagine every other band in existence refusing to play the one or two songs that everybody knows. Like what if Metallica played skipped any song from the Black Album one night because they weren’t feeling it and played just random tracks from some of their other albums.
I’ve been listening to a lot of Grateful Dead lately too. I went from not liking them, to liking them a lot to thinking they’re just kind of ok. For all the hoopla about their massive live recording catalogue, there’s a shit ton of repetition there. Somewhere on Spotify there’s a Dick’s Picks 1-50 playlist. Put it on shuffle and you’ll be hearing Sugaree and China Cat Sunflower/I Know You Rider a lot. And there aren’t a whole lot of covers they did very well so skip those (Not Fade Away being a huge exception to that point). And then generally a lot of their music is kind of shoddy which is intentional but lets a lot of the wind out of the sails. Still, they’re pretty fucking monumental in what they achieved even if it was shambling and spotty. There’s zero artifice there which you really can’t say for any other act. I don’t know if that’s a virtue or not but it certainly is remarkable. Rush, while being an entirely different animal, is fantastic. The Police are fine. I like Sting’s first solo album a lot.
One of my favorite drinking-with-friends-debating-dumb-stuff is this: Would RUSH have been more popular if, while all the songs and other band responsibilities remained unchanged, they had a good lead singer instead of Geddy Lee.And this from a guy who puts RUSH in his top 10 bands of all time.
But that to me is like asking would Primus be good if Les Claypool just like casually plucked a 4-string fretted bass and ditched all the slap-pop nonsense. Wouldn’t be the same band, man.No, that’s funny but the answer would clearly be “yes.” My friends, who I somehow still respect, who hate Rush specifically say it’s the voice.On the other hand, I like his voice. I just think of it as another instrument that gives them their unique sound, love it or hate it. It is *interesting though that I almost never hear this accusation about other bands. I myself have never hated a band solely because of a voice. That to me is mind-boggling.*by interesting I mean not interesting at all really even to me
For example, what would songs like Hemispheres and Cygnus X-1 be like with someone like Jon Anderson from YES singing them?
I love Yes. This blew my mind. It also made me wonder about the (IMO) strange phenomenon of prog rock being the most contentious of the subgenres. I mean Rush, Tool, the Mars Volta, etc. are all bands I hear strong opinions from on both sides. I mean the Atlantic had an article about how prog rock is the whitest music ever and, ya…
I mean, prog is surrealism mixed with classical; there’s some inherent pretention to that,….but that doesn’t stop a lot of it from being really freaking good.
I was just thinking about what I’m exactly missing in music classified as prog rock/jazz/metal, and it might indeed be ‘balls’. Just, that it comes from somewhere deep down, instead of from ‘look at how many notes and tempo changes I can pull off’. That can also be amazing, but it has to originate from somewhere deeper – you can also call it a ‘soul’. Not sure if that’s a ‘white’ thing, though, but you get me.
Fair enough. That’s why, as much as I love RUSH and YES, a band like Dream Theater leaves me empty.
His voice is fine 90% of the time. It’s when he tries things like “…is WHAT YOU SAY about society” that people decide they hate Rush.
I figured it would be “ooooOOOOOFFF SALESMEN!” or “LIKE A SPIRAL SEA UNENDING!” that would drive them away.
Absolutely the first. I’m not familiar with the second.
Led Zeppelin and Rush suck for the exact same reason.Now you have heard it about another band.
LOL. I mean I hard disagree. But this reasoning makes sense to me. It’s just one I don’t often hear. Lots of people love Zep and hate Rush. Now I’m the weirdo who spent all morning poorly defending Rush on Kinja. Clearly not an essential worker over here.
Led Zeppelin and Rush suck for the exact same reason.NOT TRUE! Rush stopped stealing old blues tunes after their first album.
the fact that people think rush is unpopular always makes me giggle. by what metric are they unpopular?
to your question, it wouldn’t have mattered if geddy lee was a “good” lead singer. i find robert plant to be unbearable to listen to, and i find it even more annoying than geddy..
what would have mattered is if geddy – or maybe alex – were conventionally cute.
I’m about 8 years late from Gen X, and I don’t get the Rush hate, either.And put me down as saying that Zeppelin kinda does suck compared to Rush, because for all the valid criticisms of Rush, at least they aren’t boring.Also, RUSH ARE COMING TO THE METRO CENTRE!
I love Rush but I still find their early work self-indulgent and Geddy’s voice like a hamster in a blender. That is part of their charm! Its interesting that Wain picked the 2 most popular Gen X power trio bands.
David Wain is my age, and thus a Gen-Xer through and through. Like me, he probably heard both Rush and the Police when he was growing up and probably has a lot more stronger feelings towards them than say Paramore or Imagine Dragons (who definitely do suck)
Its not the Gen X part that I found most interesting about the link with the bands. Its the power trio part. Its a fairly unusual type of lineup that both Rush and the Police share. Most bands are 4 or more by nature.
Now you are someone worth speaking with about the world. I appreciate opinions expressed with merit and passion. I agree that Mr. Lee has an incredible voice and that there are few bands with a body of work as consistently excellent as Rush. Plus, live they were next level amazing.You have to believe we are magic!
After the crap that Kesha’s been through, I don’t feel comfortable attacking her, even though I don’t like most of her music.Have at Paramore, though. I never got the Hayley Williams hype.
That’s fair. I don’t have anything against Kesha if I’m honest. Or really Paramore for that matter. It was just low-hanging fruit and she was just on Whitney’s podcast so it was in my mind.
Besides, I have a few Paramore songs on my phone, so I’m one to talk shit.
At least Geddy Lee speaks like an ordinary guy, or so I’ve heard – Sting’s a self-absorbed black hole of ego.
They toured with Kiss once and Kiss made fun of them because instead of partying, they stayed up all night playing Dungeons and Dragons, something I find completely endearing
The Police have a couple of good tunes but are generally weaksauce. Sting solo sucks cow tits. The real question to ask about the Police is, “Why aren’t you listening to the Clash instead, fucknut?”
That’s like saying to someone who is eating pizza, “Why aren’t you eating Pad Thai?”. They are different things, much as The Police and The Clash are, and it is meaningless to say one is better than the other.
Okay, maybe you’re right, but humor me here.
At 17 (‘83) I probably would have said the Police was my favorite band, but I can’t remember the last time I deliberately played one of their songs. It was certainly decades ago. They’re pretty much Muzak now, not offensive but not exciting either.I like Rush’s radio hits but nothing else. They’re at least loud and sometimes that’s enough.
Thank you. Also, some prog-obsessed friends have tried to get me into Rush; sorry, too many notes, not enough balls.
We should hang out and go to shows and shit.
The real question to ask about the Police is, “Why aren’t you listening to the Clash instead, fucknut?”Why not both? (shrug)….Signed, The Police My Favorite Band of All Time Got Me Into The Clash My Second Favorite Band of All Time…. Uhhh… Guy
Oregon Trailer here. Rush definitely does not suck. There’s just so much interesting stuff going on in their music, along with good songwriting, that I’m going to have to pull the “If you think they suck, you just aren’t familiar with their music” card. The Police are pretty shitty though. A few pop hits and some half assed world music bullshit that’s left little to no legacy.
How many listens does it take before they stop sucking? It’s way more than one, I can assure you of that.
Rush seemed to go from the butt of everyone’s jokes to being seen as kind of cool. There was even a period when all these musicians who are cool admitted to being closet Rush fans. What happened? Did we switch back?
I’m here as a celebrated millenial to tell you, absolutely, undeniably, The Police do suck.There’s just no way around it, that bastardized take on pop-2-tone blows. It just fuckin blows. It blows so hard. Fuck The Police.
I’m here as a celebrated millenial Fuck The Police.GODAMN KIDS! That’s N.W.A! Now get off my mix tape!
“I’m here as a celebrated millenial to tell you, absolutely, undeniably, The Police do suck.”Your Mom coming down to the basement to tell you that you’re her favorite, doesn’t equal “celebrated”.
As a Millenial, is it a GenX thing to invent something to be mad at, post on the internet about it, and just get like, really fucking mad at it? Or is it just assholes?
I respect Rush (especially Neil Peart) immensely as musicians, but the actual music they make mostly leaves me cold, like a lot of prog.The Police are just dull.
Gen Xer here and I’m here to say both bands indeed do suck. Although the Police probably has one good song…ONE.
I’m here to tell you as an older GenXer that your contention that it’s a generational issue is wrong. I’ve gone back & forth on both for years. Rush to me used to be a cheesy band kids in the suburbs listened to (on top of the whole “you can’t like prog & new wave/post punk at the same time” bullshit that took years to go away, and which yes I felt subject to) who kind of won me over by being such decent guys and having senses of humor about themselves (having Count Floyd announce songs pretaped on a projector on one of their tours, the famous Trailer Park Boys appearance) that I reappraised their music in my adulthood, and I’m glad I did.The Police had great albums (the first two) “meh” albums (Zenyatta) and great albums that became meh the more they were overexposed (Synchronicity), and sometimes would actively ruin their own shit (the godawful remix of Don’t Stand they issued with their Greatest Hits comp), and yeah early solo Sting is dire, mellow repellently-produced shit. But I recently found myself re-listening to some Police for the first time in many, many years, and was finally able to enjoy it again
When I saw RUsh in the early 80’s, they came out to the music from the Three Stooges. I do think that as they got older, they came off more and more like three normal, well-adjusted dudes with a sense humor about things (well, Alex and Gedde definitately) and it became hard to hate on them, As for the Police, they were, at one point, the biggest band in the world and everybody seemed to agree that they were and they deserved it and I don’t know how they have been forgotten about so easily (something something Rolling Stone/Boomer rock n’ roll narrative that they don’t fit in?)
I am here as a fellow GenXer (and failed musician) to support your assertion.
I’m a millennial. Rush is awesome, & the Police are overrated but still pretty good.
Fully Gen X here and dear God does Rush suck as a band. Talented musicians, but who cares when the music they produced is so terrible?
I used to HAAAAAAATE Rush. Their music is technically perfect but just rubbed me the wrong way. I’ve grown to accept them a little more (the riffs on “Working Man” are absolutely undefeated), but I still have a little bit of a hangup that makes me not totally love them.
I’m 63 and yes they both sucked.
His Burning Down The House remix on Are You talking Talking Heads to my Talking Head was funnier. Had me rolling. https://youtu.be/UmcyRHpa4a8 and more: https://davidwain.com/remixes
OMG yess. let’s also not forget when he was on REM RE Me and played AC/DC’s You Shook Me, that’s the one that did it for me
https://davidwain.com/blog/2013/7/11/you-shook-me
Now there’s much better audio of all these at http://www.davidwain.com/remixes
These are called “shreds” videos and they are an old concept, even before Bad Lip Reading became the popular delivery method.
LMAO thank you for reminding me of these. God it’s been years.
Came for this. These videos are just ripping of Shreds
Legion of Rock Stars was my favorite. Check out their version of When a Man Loves a Woman.
My absolute favorite part of these videos is when people post outraged YouTube comments that someone is mocking Led Zeppelin or whoever.
I’m a massive fan of shreds, especially by SJS – these are slightly different in that the audio comes entirely from the original song.
“Bravely wondering” is not the same as “going onto the internet in order to meaninglessly stir up stupidity”.
Just NOTING THE DIFFERENCE there, MR. ANDREW SIR!!!
I DON’T GET IT.
I just listened to this show this morning, it fucking rocks.
slight of hand street magicThis is why I’ll never make it as a professional writer. I lack the confidence to ignore the instant research resources at my fingertips and just not give a shit whether I’m using the right word.
that’s weirdNeil Peart is STILL kickass
but what if David Wain sucked?
Impossible.I’m going to go out and get some bagels, I guess.
Pointless…But, I guess everybody’s got to have a hobby.
Hi, I’m 69 years old. Call me “Sting.” Yeah…
Go get me a beer, Gordo.
The Tom Sawyer one made me laugh. Everything She Does is Magic just seemed like a distorted recording, which is not funny.
I had to distort it to get it onto YouTube – hear the original audio! http://www.davidwain.com/remixes
Thank you Mr. Wain (/Just Falcon voice).Every Breath You Take, as sung by a stroke-afflicted Sting, is pretty great.
All we ever really need for this to land…
My bestie is basically Nick reincarnated (desperately enthusiastic, giant ass drum kit, tall and dorky but low key hot, completely enamored of 70s bands), and I am here for it. Even he knows better than to play me anything from teh 70s though. Rush is a no-fly zone.
Wait, when did the Police suddenly become “uncool”? I mean Sting is a pretentious twat but their music is really good. I wish people would let me know about these things
Well, you’re reading this on a site that regards stuff like Ariana Grande as the pinnacle of music, so…
YMMV.
1979
That’s generous.
We’re going through a period of “Gen X Stuff Sucks”. I think it’s a reaction to the massive self-indulgence of Gen X stuff the last few years (a la Stranger Things type material). These things go back and forth.
What did we do to deserve a back lash? We’re just usually excited whenever anybody remembers us. Not our fault a bunch that everybody loves our teen flicks and cheesy pop music
Oh honey, if you’ve never heard someone make fun of the Police it might be time to leave the compound.
As someone who liked them growing up , and still does …sometime around 1987 to about 2002 , then they entered that old but cool phase ,but as of a few years back when they started touring again , it became ok to slag them off .Fuck em all though , I’m off to listen to ‘Ghost in the Machine’Also : since some of you have never heard anything but their singles , I present this..
This is one of my favorite things: Sting: You Kn
So, so, so true. I think the moment you ditch your wildly-popular rock band to form a band with a bunch of jazz musicians is a very sure-fire way of going from rock star cool to lame
And a few years ago he made an album of “ye olde” music with lutes and similar similar instruments.
THANK GOD, FINALLY A RELEVANT COMMENT FOR THIS.I have had “Porcupine Racetrack” stuck in my head for literally three weeks now. As soon as I get into the shower, it pops in there. I’ve ripped the video from Davin Wain’s Vimeo, extracted the audio, and I play it on repeat while I work.There are worse problems, and this is just soft insanity, but did you know that according to the odds board, Thomas Lennon’s slow porcupine is named “Tim?”
You passed the curse on to me so you should be free now. And thank you for pointing to a decent quality version!
As someone who was around at the time I have to say that no one but frat boys and (after “I’ll Be Watching You”) sorority girls ever considered The Police anything but a lame joke.On a similar note, only stoner brown shirts ever listened to Rush. I mean, they were into Ayn Rand…
Absolutely untrue. The biggest Police fans I know were on the opposite end of the social spectrum. They would still qualify as hippies today and also loved The Cure, Siouxie, and Morrisey. The Rush fans I know are all independent musicians and art students.
I’d guess a lot of people who still like The Police have affection for them because back in the 80s they were the mainstream gateway to discovering much better alternative bands like The Cure and The Smiths.
More like the gateway to New Wave and Indie Rock. I saw them in ‘83 along with REM, Madness, and Joan Jett and that seems pretty apt as to where they sat. They wrote really catchy songs and looked normal enough for AOR radio while still having enough post-punk cred to appeal to the hipper musical crowd. They also filled the stadium rock gap between the classic rock bands and U2.
The Police is admittedly my favorite band, but I got exposed to an entire world through the concert movie “Urgh! A Music War”. I only rented it because The Police were in it. But man! XTC, The Dead Kennedy’s, Gang of Four, Oingo Boingo, Echo and The Bunnymen, The Cramps, OMD…. all on that record/movie. It just opened up my music experiences in ways I never would have experienced in rural mid-America.
They were “into” Rand in the 70s based more on notions of artistic freedom and keeping the government off the individual’s back as opposed to the “fuck you got mine” stuff that Randites often devolve to. In any event, they moved far past her. They did many songs that are obviously not coming from a typically Randian POV and Peart talked about how superior the Canadian health care system was to ours. Rand would have had him shot for that alone.
Ice hockey blows.
I swear I don’t know you but you are now my mortal enemy. And I say this as someone who hates both Rush and The Police.
Obligatory…https://entertainment.theonion.com/you-know-i-used-to-be-kind-of-cool-once-1819583601
Now if they were talking about Primus……
I’m lukewarm on The Police, but Synchronicity is one of my all-time favorite albums. I like Sting’s first two solo albums a lot as well.
Come on Mr. Simpson: NO ONE likes Sting’s solo works…
I’ve said it before and I’ve said it again: Sting writes fantastic hooks, but he doesn’t know how to end a song. He doesn’t know how to end a song. He doesn’t know how to end a song. He doesn’t know how to end a song. He doesn’t know how to end a song. He doesn’t know how to end a song. He doesn’t know how to end a song. He doesn’t know how to end a song. He doesn’t know how to end a song. He doesn’t know how to end a song. He doesn’t know how to end a song. He doesn’t know how to end a song. He doesn’t know how to end a song. He doesn’t know how to end a song. He doesn’t know how to end a song. He doesn’t know how to end a song. He doesn’t know how to end a song. He doesn’t know how to end a song. He doesn’t know how to end a song. He doesn’t know how to end a song. He doesn’t know how to end a song. He doesn’t know how to end a song.
fades back in…doesn’t know how to end a song. He doesn’t know how to end a song. fades out
It’s been thousand rainy days since this song first ended. It’s a big enough record groove…
Wain appeared on R U Talkin R.E.M. re: ME? a few years back and he played one of his “remixes”, of AC/DC’s “You Shook Me (All Night Long)” and I have bookmarked his website where he hosts the collection of those remixes ever since. I cannot stop laughing at the little changes he makes to make these songs sound horrible.
https://davidwain.com/remixes
I’d never really listened to The Police much — then I saw Sting with Paul Simon a few years ago at Madison Square Garden, and I decided this had to be corrected. Now, every time I rewatch season 3 of Community, I’m reminded that I never bothered.
There’s no what if when it comes to The Police. They make Huey Lewis look exciting and Yanni look deep and sophisticated. The dullest white bread that has ever existed on the face of music.