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Hand-held history of The Police...
Ever wondered what it's like to be Stewart Copeland? Blonde? Tall? Habitually using any adjacent object as pseudo drum kit? Incredibly wealthy? Well, one thing you may not have considered is cameraman.
But if you recall some of those early Police videos, it wasn't that unusual to see Stewart with a Super 8 movie camera in his hand. He acquired it in 1978 and over the years it captured the story of the Police from behind the drum kit and beyond. More than 50 hours worth.
This DVD documents the band's rise from struggling unknowns to international superstars - a story edited 27 years later into a vivid first person account with Stewart's narration bringing it to life - from the band's first encounters with hysteria, meetings with A&M execs in New York, their first press conference, recording sessions, backstage and onstage.
The soundtrack is made up of live clips and over sixty different Police tracks, many of which have been remixed by Copeland - original masters lobotomised and de-arranged - stage jams joined with studio recordings, vocals from one track mixed over another.
It's zany, but that's Stewart and his sense of humour is one of the strengths here. That aside, the footage is grainy and hand held (naturally), but it is a fascinating account of the rise of the band. You can also see why the pressures are such that few survive.
Maybe not a DVD you would want to watch time after time, but a fascinating insight into the realities of ‘making it'.
***½
Review by Pete Whalley
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