An Island Lost At Sea-o

The Police : Message in a Bottle

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On September 16, 1979 , just weeks after the band topped the bill at the Reading Festival... and days after Sting made his film debut as "Ace Face" in Quadrophenia, The Police's new single, "Message in a Bottle" b/w "Landlord", debuted at #8 on the U.K. charts. The single from the forthcoming Regatta de Blanc would be the first of their five #1 hits, topping the charts just a week later.

Guitarist Andy Summers has said it's the best song Sting ever wrote and the best track the Police ever recorded. Sting would agree that it's a good song, adding

 " I like the idea that while it's about loneliness and alienation it's also about finding solace and other people going through the same thing. The guy's on a desert island and throws a bottle out to sea saying he's alone and all these millions of bottles come back saying, So what So am I! I like the fact that the whole deal is clinched by the third verse. It makes a journey. "

The B side, "Landlord"  is a rocking tune from the early clubbing days with lyrics by Sting and music by drummer Stewart Copeland, which may be why it sounds so much like a Klark Kent tune.

Six Degrees of Separation : Dr Feelgood to Joan Armatrading

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1. The Dr Feelgood track "Keep It Out of Sight", like the best tunes on their 1975 debut Down By The Jetty, is engineered by Dave Charles.

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2. Dave Charles was also a drummer with pub rockers Help Yourself. He played on Ernie Graham's  classic 1971 self-titled album with members of Brinsley Schwarz.

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  3. The Brinsleys' last album, 1974's New Favourites, was produced by Dave Edmunds.

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4. In 1975, Dave Edmunds released Subtle as a Flying Mallet which featured drummer Picque "Pick"  Withers.

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5. Pick Withers was the original drummer of Dire Straits. He played on the first four albums, including the 1978 debut which was recorded at Chris Blackwell's Basing Street Studios in Notting Hill, London.

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6. In 1974 Joan Armatrading recorded her second album, Back to the Night,  at Basing Street Studios, with future Police drummer Andy Summers among other musicians.

40 Year Itch: Disappointment Haunted all my Dreams

   Pink Floyd's Nick Mason produced Robert Wyatt's artsy take on the Monkees classic which hit number 29 in the UK charts in late 1974. Future Police Andy Summers plays guitar and Fred Frith plays violin. Producers at Top of the Pops didn't want Wyatt to perform in a wheelchair. It didn't seem family friendly or in keeping with the glib goings on but Wyatt eventually won out.