The reunion tour for the band The Police makes a stop in Milwaukee this week and I am sadly not going to be in attendance. It is one of the final stops on the tour that began last year and will end on August 7^th (2008) with a special charity show at New York's Madison Square Garden.

The Police was a super group formed in the late 70's, but which really soared in popularity in the early 80's. After their hugely successful Synchronicity album, they abruptly broke up in 1984. The band was made up of Sting, Andy Summers and Stewart Copeland. Sting was really the face and front man of the band, so he went on to enjoy a fantastic solo career after the break up.

Fans had their long-awaited wish come true when the band announced the reunion tour. The fans said thank you with their wallets, with over 4 million tickets sold for over $200 million. This placed The Police firmly in the top 10 of the Forbes Celebrity 100 List. The band had not been on the list the previous year but ranked #7 on the 2008 list only trailing Oprah Winfrey, Tiger Woods, Angelina Jolie, Beyoncé, David Beckham, Johnny Depp and Jay-Z. "The Celebrity 100" is Forbes' list of the world's most powerful - and best-paid - celebrities. To generate the list, Forbes estimates celebrity earnings, then factors in media metrics like Google hits, press mentions as compiled by Factiva, TV/radio mentions from Lexis/Nexis and the number of times an A-lister appears on the cover of more than 50 consumer magazines. Very impressive consideration indeed which begs the question as to why this once-amazing band did not reunite sooner.

Sting has had some good songs since he went solo, but there is just something special about the music that The Police used to create together. I felt this would be the appropriate time to share my list of favorite songs by the once-great band. I will also include a link to a video for each of the songs which allows you to not only listen to the songs but see some classic late 70's/early 80's music videos. Without further ado, here is OLD SCHOOL'S TOP 10 SONGS BY THE POLICE:
Honorable Mention. "Roxanne" (1978) from Outlandos d'Amour [link to video] - This is not really one of my favorites, but it was the first big hit by the band. It always reminds me of the scene at the beginning of the movie 48 Hrs where Eddie Murphy is singing it at the top of his voice while wallowing in his jail cell. I figured it was at least worth listing as an honorable mention.

10. "Spirits In The Material World" (1981) from Ghost in the Machine [link to video]

9. "De Do Do Do, De Da Da Da" (1980) from Zenyatta Mondatta [link to video]

8. "King of Pain" (1983) from Synchronicity [link to video of live performance]

7. "Message In A Bottle" (1979) from Reggatta de Blanc [link to video]

6. "Wrapped Around Your Finger" (1983) from Synchronicity [link to video]

5. "Can't Stand Losing You" (1978) from Outlandos d'Amour [link to video]

4. "Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic" (1981) from Ghost in the Machine [link to video]

3. "Synchronicity II" (1983) from Synchronicity [link to video]

2. "Don't Stand So Close To Me" (1980) from Zenyatta Mondatta - But I prefer the re-release version in 1986 included on the compilation Every Breath You Take: The Singles [link to video]

1. "Every Breath You Take" (1983) from Synchronicity [link to video]

There's my list (hope you enjoyed the video links). What do you think? The two songs which just missed making the list were "Invisible Sun" and "Walking On The Moon" which both could have easily grabbed that #10 spot. Just imagine going to a concert with a set list including those 13 songs which I just mentioned. I should have gotten tickets, but now I will have to imagine.  I love the music of The Police and I hope they decide to get together and make some more.

In a recent issue of Kickin' it Old School, I was contradicting a published list of "The Top 20 Most Beautiful Songs of the ‘80s" because this list was missing two obvious songs. One of those missing songs was "With or Without You" by U2 and the other was "Every Breath You Take" by The Police. I still cannot believe someone could leave out either of those two amazing songs which, in my opinion, are two of the most beautiful songs ever recorded.

That will wrap up this issue of Kickin' it. Thanks, as always, for reading. Please consider subscribing or at least bookmarking it in your Favorites. If you want to see more of my Top 10 lists, please click here. If you want to see a summary of my other 80s related issues, please click here.  Peace and much love.

Check this out: Here is a link to an 80s trivia quiz. It gives you 10 questions. Some of them are really easy, but some are a little tougher. You can take the quiz multiple times and most of the questions will change each time. After you test your 80s knowledge, there are other trivia topics to choose from in the left column of the screen. Lots of interesting choices courtesy of TVLand.

Quote of the day: "I think I should have no other mortal wants if I could always have plenty of music. It seems to infuse strength into my limbs and ideas into my brain. Life seems to go on without effort, when I am filled with music." -George Eliot

Download this: "Don't Stand So Close to Me ‘86" by The Police - Like I said, this was a re-released version of this song originally from 1980