Everyone Stares:
The Police Inside Out
The Police
I came to several conclusions after watching Stewart Copeland’s Everyone
Stares: The Police Inside Out. Back in the heady days of the Police,
Andy Summers was a funny guy, Sting was extremely high strung, Copeland himself
was a unique and relentless cameraman, the group as a whole was a kooky cog
in the punk rock wheel rolling to nowhere, and the legions of fans pretty much
went gaga over these guys. Copeland’s first-person account was spontaneously
shot with a Super 8 mm movie camera over the course of cheap motels, chain hotels,
press conferences, in-stores, radio shows, photo and video shoots, recording
sessions, concerts, and a spot of paradise. Drawing from over 50 hours of footage,
the frenetic pace of the film accurately parallels the band’s ascension
to superstardom.
It’s no secret the Police were a beacon of hope in the mucky spew of
punk rock. They climbed aboard the new wave bandwagon, but possessed a higher
sense of musicality that separated them from the pack. Copeland chronicles each
and every phase — from the Police's humble beginnings, their shifty origins,
numerous club gigs, the hustle and bustle and march to the hit parade. It didn’t
take long for the blonde trio to catch on, especially with the girls. That was
only a small part of it. When they played, The interaction between Sting, Summers
and Copeland, often vitriol on the surface, created a distinctive, rip-roaring
mixture of jazz, reggae, prog and punk. It was fast, aggressive, ethereal and
majestic in all the right places.
The handheld camera work is well placed within the montages as Copeland steadfastly
narrates the story. Most of the actual live performances are incomplete, but
Copeland has creative license as a member of the band. In one instance he places
the camera on a tripod behind him during a concert as he pounds out a simple
rhythm and alternately turns to yap at the camera. In the very next clip, he
takes off in a flurry of paradiddles, splishes, splashes, and heavy thudding.
An l omniscient bit of film occasionally captures the entire band (the camera
is pointed at Sting and Summers for most of the film), such as the high-energy
moments from “Next To You,” gauging their range as live perfromers.
Another classic moment has Copeland filming himself, Summers, and Sting rolling
around in the snow during the making of the video for “De Do Do Do, De
Da Da Da.”
The fun and games don't last forever as Copeland expresses his disillusionment
with the road and the other band members. The Police scale the precipice of
supremacy with 1981’s Ghost In The Machine, Sting and
Summers scowl at the camera, and the film abruptly ends. There is no mention
of Synchronicity, arguably the biggest and best Police album,
or the subsequent break-up. And this may well sum it up through Copeland’s
eyes. Perhaps when the Polce finally came into their own, the pressure and expectations
sapped and drained the band of its creative ambtions. Of the three, Copeland
remains singular in his quest to take chances and explore the outer limits of
his art — be it with the film music he’s written and recorded, side
forays with the Doors, Trey Anastasio and Les Claypool, or the Everyone
Stares film, which crashed the party at Sundance and turned the spotlight
back on the Police. On the other hand, Sting and Summers have taken a more conventional
route, their Police affiliation intact yet slowly degrading in the face of mediocrity.
It may be time to put out an APB and reunite the band before it's too late.
~ Shawn Perry
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