Every Mix You Make (Scranton-icity?)

So, in case you had your head under a rock, The Police reunited for a tame version of 'Roxanne' at the Grammys on Sunday night, telling all the good denizens of musicland that they don't have to walk the streets for money. In case you weren't within shouting distance of a TV (yeah, me neither) we can all reminisce:



I echo the first sentence of Bob Lefsetz's column about the blessed confluence: "They'd better not play a f*cking medley." For that, we are grateful. But I must admit, I was not blown away (except, um perhaps, by Sting's fitted vest). Roxanne may be my least favorite Police song (they have way better ones, as we sometimes forget, but will soon remember as we scroll down). I was a little sobered by the aging Sting taking the lower-octave route for the chorus, but drummer Stewart Copeland definitely seemed to be having a great time, and that is always refreshing and heartening to see.

There was some discussion about the Police performance among friends of mine, one of whom was at the awards show. He mentioned in passing that he was sitting next to, and talking to, the chap who helped write Fergie's "London Bridge." My vision immediately became clouded and I was unable to continue further in the musical discussion because I had to fire off this missive:

"If I was freaking in the same room, much less NEXT TO, the lyrical criminal responsible for writing London Bridge (what is it?!?! what is her london london london bridge?!?! WHAT DOES IT MEAN?!?!) I would have straddled him with my hands around his neck and not let up on the pressure until he explained himself....

Whew."

But I don't have strong feelings on that song. You know. I could go either way.


In any case, the Police reunion gives reason to post some killer cuts from a Police mixtape that my friend Brian H. compiled. I left off most of the radio hits that you all know, and instead focused on the ones you might not know. Dang, there's some good ones here that I'd forgotten.

EVERY MIX YOU MAKE: THE POLICE
Next To You (live)
Walking In Your Footsteps (Derangement remix - by Stewart Copeland)
Born In The '50s (live)
Driven To Tears
Demolition Man
Synchronicity I (live)
Don't Put On The Red Light/Roxanne (Derangement remix)
So Lonely (live)
De Do Do Do, De Da Da Da
The Bed's Too Big Without You (live)
Peanuts (live)
King of Pain
Can't Stand Losing You (Derangement remix)
When The World is Running Down
Truth Hits Everybody (live)
I Burn For You
Bring On The Night
Roxanne '97 (Puff Daddy remix)
Synchronicity II (live)
Canary In A Coalmine

[ZIP-A-DEE . . . DO-DO-DO, De DA-DA-DA]

Here's what I know on those Derangement mixes:

"The Derangements by Stewart Copeland. Stewart has made a some very heavy remixes of the old Police tracks.There are 7 tracks, they have Sting's original studio voice, the music has been mixed with live stuff and also different tracks mixed together. Track listing: Can't Stand Losing You 4:25 - Don't Stand So Close To Me 3:47 - Tea In The Sahara 3:34 - Walking In Your Footsteps 3:54 - One World (Not Tree) 4:01 - Demolition Man 3:44 - Roxanne 3:09."

That's from this Danish site: http://www.stingme.dk/remix/remix.htm. The author of that site also wrote me with a little more background info: "Stew made the Derangements 2-3 years ago - I think, he made them for fun. However he was so happy with the results that he sent them to Sting and Andy, asking them to be released as Police tracks. Andy was positive but Sting would not accept them. So they ended up on the new Stewart-directed Police DVD Everybody Stares." Thanks Kenneth! I dig 'em.