SYNCHRONICITY (ALBUM)

'''Synchronicity''' is the fifth album by The Police, released in 1983. Their most popular release together, ''Synchronicity'' includes their well-known single, "Every Breath You Take".

Contents

History

Songs

Track listing

Personnel

Production

Charts

Album

Singles

Awards

External links

History

The album's title was inspired by Arthur Koestler's ''The Roots of Coincidence'', which mentions Carl Jung's theory of Synchronicity. Sting was an avid reader of Koestler, and also named ''Ghost in the Machine'' after one of his works.
''Synchronicity'' topped both the Billboard Pop Albums and Billboard 200 charts (ending the reign of Michael Jackson's ''Thriller'' for a while in the US). It won a Grammy Award for Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal.
In 2001, the TV network VH1 named ''Synchronicity'' the 50th greatest album of all time.
The album marked a significant reduction in the reggae influences that were a part of the band's first four records, instead featuring production-heavy textures and liberal use of synthesizers that, at times, drove entire songs ("Synchronicity I", "Wrapped Around Your Finger"). Sting's material dominates the album, with the two short tracks by Andy Summers ("Mother") and Stewart Copeland ("Miss Gradenko") being seen by the band themselves as concessions. It has been said that the relationship between the members of the band was so strained that they each recorded their parts in separate rooms, and talked to one another via a primitive (in 1983) video link (as seen in the interview with Jools Holland, he interviews each induvidual member and Copeland is seen in his private recording room).

Songs

"Synchronicity I" starts the album off with a catchy sequencer line that repeats throughout the song. "Walking in Your Footsteps" features lyrics concerning the relation between extinct dinosaurs and nuclear weapon-wielding humans, and is followed by the jazziest song on the album, "O My God". (The song is actually a reworked version of the early Police song "Three O'Clock Shot" which was never recorded on an album but was widely bootlegged from live performances.) "Mother" features strange, Indian-like sounds and screamed vocals, and "Miss Gradenko" is a two-minute song about a woman in the middle of the Soviet bureaucracy. "Synchronicity II" features extensive use of audio feedback, and is one of the heaviest songs on the record, and indeed in the entire Police repertoire.
"Every Breath You Take", which begins side two of the record is almost without question The Police's best-known song, with Sting's eerie vocals on top of a steady rhythm featuring picked guitar, strong bass, and controlled drumming. Originally, the song was what Andy Summers called a "Hammond organ thing that sounded like Billy Preston." The guitarist came up with a more interesting guitar riff, which, next to the vocals, is perhaps the most distinctive part of the piece. The song, released before the album, immediately went to #1 on both the U.S. and UK charts, aided by a black and white video directed by Godley & Creme.
"King of Pain" features a large amount of lyrical imagery, and uses numerous effects and instruments, while "Wrapped Around Your Finger" uses subdued keyboards to create a mystical air. The record's closer, "Tea in the Sahara", is a quiet, eerie song about three women who are deceived by a prince and left in the desert, where they meet their death. The title of this song comes from a section of Paul Bowles' novel The Sheltering Sky, which mentions the story. "Murder By Numbers", originally the B-side of "Every Breath You Take", was added to the CD and cassette versions of the album, and has lyrics detailing the development of a serial killer. "Synchronicity I" and "Synchronicity II" allude to The Second Coming, a poem by William Butler Yeats.
"King of Pain" and "Wrapped Around Your Finger" also made it into the Top Ten, and "Synchronicity II" reached the Top Twenty. ''Synchronicity'' managed to make it to number one for several weeks in 1983.
The album's original cover artwork was available in 36 variations, with different arrangements of the color stripes and showing different photographs of the band members, which they took themselves.

Track listing

All songs written by Sting except when noted.
#"Synchronicity I" – 3:23
#"Walking in Your Footsteps" – 3:36
#"O My God" – 4:02
#"Mother" (Summers) – 3:05
#"Miss Gradenko" (Copeland) – 2:00
#"Synchronicity II" – 5:02
#"Every Breath You Take" – 4:13
#"King of Pain" – 4:59
#"Wrapped Around Your Finger" – 5:13
#"Tea in the Sahara" – 4:19
#"Murder by Numbers" (Sting, Summers) – 4:36'
★ '
'
★ 'Not included on original LP release.

Personnel

★ Sting – bass, lead vocals

★ Andy Summers – guitar, background vocals, lead vocals on "Mother"

★ Stewart Copeland – drums, background vocals

Production

★ Hugh Padgham – production, engineering

★ Dave Collins, Bob Ludwig – mastering

★ Jeffrey Kent Ayeroff, Norman Moore, Vartan – art direction

★ Jeffrey Kent Ayeroff, Norman Moore – design

★ Duane Michals – photography

Charts

Album

Year	Chart	Position
1983	The Billboard 200	1

Singles

Year	Single	Chart	Position
1983	"Every Breath You Take"	Adult Contemporary	5
1983	"Every Breath You Take"	Club Play Singles	26
1983	"Every Breath You Take"	Mainstream Rock	1
1983	"Every Breath You Take"	The Billboard Hot 100	1
1983	"King of Pain"	Adult Contemporary	33
1983	"King of Pain"	Mainstream Rock	1
1983	"King of Pain"	The Billboard Hot 100	3
1983	"Synchronicity II"	Mainstream Rock	9
1983	"Synchronicity II"	The Billboard Hot 100	16
1983	"Wrapped Around Your Finger"	Mainstream Rock	9
1984	"Wrapped Around Your Finger"	Adult Contemporary	13
1984	"Wrapped Around Your Finger"	The Billboard Hot 100	8

Awards

Year	Winner	Award	Category
1983	"Every Breath You Take"	Grammy Awards	Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal
1983	"Every Breath You Take"	Grammy Awards	Song of the Year
1983	"Synchronicity II"	Grammy Awards	Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal

External links

★ The Police, Robert Aziz and the marketing of the A&M album, ''Synchronicity''

★ "Every Breath You Take" music video with lyrics