The Band Behind the Most Played Song in Radio History
Formed in 1977 by Stewart Copeland on drums, Sting on bass and lead vocals, and Andy Summers on guitar, The Police became one of the defining bands of the New Wave movement.
Their first single, Roxanne, appeared just a year after the band formed. It didn’t make much of an impact initially, but after being re-released it reached the Top 40 in both the U.S. and the U.K. From there, it grew into one of the band’s signature songs and a regular feature of their live shows.
Roxanne Started as a Bossa Nova
Roxanne was originally conceived as a Bossa Nova rather than the New Wave sound The Police would become known for.
The inspiration came during a trip to Paris. The band were staying in a hotel in the city’s red-light district when Sting noticed prostitutes walking the streets. The name Roxanne came from spotting a poster for Edmond Rostand’s play Cyrano de Bergerac (featuring the character Roxanne).
Sting initially wasn’t convinced the song fitted The Police, but once Stewart Copeland added his drumming, the arrangement began to make sense. The contrast between the song’s original Bossa Nova influence and the band’s more aggressive sound helped create something distinctive.
It was also a song that continued to evolve. After The Police split, Sting performed Roxanne in different arrangements, including versions that brought out more of its original Bossa Nova character.
When The Police reunited in 2007 for their 30th-anniversary celebrations, Roxanne was the natural choice for their performance at the 49th Annual Grammy Awards. The reunion tour that followed became one of the highest-grossing tours of all time.
But Roxanne was only the beginning.
The Police Peak Quickly
The Police became pioneers of New Wave by combining punk’s energy and DIY attitude with reggae, ska and jazz influences, while also using sophisticated chords and arrangements.
Over their relatively short career, they released a remarkable run of albums packed with memorable songs, including Every Breath You Take, So Lonely, Message in a Bottle, Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic, Don’t Stand So Close to Me, Walking on the Moon, King of Pain and, of course, Roxanne.
For guitar players, this is a great catalogue to dive into. The Police may have started with the energy of punk, but Andy Summers brought a very different level of harmonic sophistication to the band.
Message in a Bottle Was Released When The Police Peaked
Released in 1979 as the lead single from the band’s second album, Reggatta de Blanc, Message in a Bottle was another triumph.
By this point, The Police were on an incredible run. Roxanne, Can’t Stand Losing You and So Lonely had already established them, while Walking on the Moon and Don’t Stand So Close to Me would follow.
Looking back, these songs show just how quickly The Police developed their distinctive sound. There is plenty for a guitarist to learn from them: rhythm, chord choices, space, arrangement and the ability to make a guitar part sound instantly recognisable.
Every Breath You Take
As The Police’s biggest hit—and the most played songs in radio history—Every Breath You Take has become one of the defining tunes of not just The Police, but the 80s.
Interestingly, the band nearly abandoned it because they felt the song was too cheesy.
Then Andy Summers changed everything. His now-iconic add9 guitar part, gave the song a distinctive harmonic colour and transforming what could have been a fairly straightforward arrangement into something much more memorable.
This is a great example of why guitar parts don’t need to be complicated to be important. Sometimes one carefully chosen chord voicing moved around the fretboard is all you need.
The tune also became enormously valuable to Sting as a songwriter. An estimate from 2010 suggested that Every Breath You Take accounted for nearly one-third of his publishing income.
That’s remarkable when you consider the catalogue he had already written, including Roxanne, Englishman In New York, Fragile, Shape Of My Heart, So Lonely, Message In A Bottle, Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic, Don’t Stand So Close To Me and Walking On The Moon.
A Great Repertoire for Guitar Players
The Police may have only existed as a band for a short period, but their catalogue is packed with tunes that are very rewarding to learn for a guitarist.
There’s the rhythmic challenge of Message in a Bottle, the reggae influence of Walking on the Moon, the harmonic colours of Every Breath You Take, and the raw energy of Roxanne. Add in songs such as So Lonely, Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic and Don’t Stand So Close to Me, and you’ve got a repertoire that covers a surprising amount of musical ground.
That’s one of the things I like about learning The Police on guitar: you’re not just learning a collection of hits. You’re studying how three musicians created a huge sound from very different influences.
For a guitarist building a repertoire, The Police are much more than a New Wave greatest-hits collection. Their tunes are a lesson in rhythm, harmony, arrangement and restraint—and a great reminder that a distinctive guitar part can become just as important to a song as the melody itself.
The Police Tunes | Related Pages
Every Breath You Take | Chords + TAB
You can learn Every Breath You Take by The Police using chords, lyrics, chord analysis, a chord chart, TAB, and backing tracks.
| Aadd9 | Aadd9 | F#madd9 | F#madd9 |
Every breath you take, and every move you make…
Message In A Bottle | Chords + TAB
You can learn Message In A Bottle by The Police using chords, lyrics, chord analysis, a chord chart, TAB, and backing tracks.
| C#sus2 Asus2 | Bsus2 F#madd9 |
Just a castaway…
Roxanne | Chords + TAB
You can learn to play Roxanne by The Police using chords, lyrics, chord analysis, a chord chart, and Spytunes video guitar lessons.
| Gm | Dm/F | Ebmaj7 | Dm |
Roxanne, you don’t have to put on the red light…
Start learning with the full lesson series: Roxanne – Guitar Lessons with TAB.
The Police on the web
