Andy Summers revealed that the Police have started on a decade-long plan to revamp and expand the band’s catalogue. The legendary guitarist has just published his first book of short stories, titled, Fretted And Moaning.
Summers revealed a deluxe, expanded version of the band’s second album, Regatta de Blanc, is in the pipeline, as well as fully restored and remastered version of their legendary 1982 long-form video, The Police Around The World.
Summers told SuperDeluxeEdition.com, “The new ‘super deluxe’ version of The Police Around The World should have been coming out in October, but I think it’s now next March. It’s taken forever got get it sorted, because of issues like restoring 16mm film and getting the extras up to 4K level. There are a lot of bonus tracks and footage, including film from Japan that’s never been seen. The performances in that film are really nice and I’ve very pleased it’s coming out. So, that’s on the way and there’s a four-disc version of Regatta de Blanc coming too, with a lot of extra tracks.”
He went on to explain, “The Police are supposed to have something coming every year, but we might not this year now for various reasons, mostly Covid-related. But yes, Regatta de Blanc is coming and there will be a lot more Police stuff on the way after that too. There’s now a gigantic 10-year plan to release Police material. There’s a gap this year, but it’s all coming, don’t worry.”
Regarding previously unheard material, Summers admitted, “There’s not a lot, which was always the problem for us. Basically, if we recorded something, it went out. I know that the collectors are thinking: ‘Oh, you must have all this unreleased material!,’ but that wasn’t the case in the Police. There aren’t loads of demos where we’re trying to work up to something, because we weren’t a band who took 19 attempts to get a song right in lots of different styles. We just weren’t like that. If we wrote a song, we’d play it, record it and release it. You can have a lot of stuff left in the can because it’s not very good. We had a lot of mega-hits instead. That’s a better way to go (laughs).”
FAST FACTS
- The Police‘s second album, Regatta de Blanc, was released on October 2nd, 1979.
- The album, which topped the UK charts, hit Number 25 in the States and featured such instant classics as “Message In A Bottle,” “Walking On The Moon,” “It’s Alright For You,” “The Bed’s Too Big Without You,” and “Bring On The Night.”
- The album’s title track earned the Police their first Grammy Award for Best Rock Instrumental Performance.
SIDE NOTES
- Recently released is the DVD and Blu-ray release of Can’t Stand Losing You: Surviving The Police by editor/director Andy Grieveis, which is based on Andy Summers‘ 2006 memoir, One Train Later.
- The doc features the guitarist reading passages from the book throughout the film as well as featuring over 25,000 photo stills he shot of the Police, both on and off the road.
CHECK IT OUT: The Police on November 29th, 1980 performing “Bring On The Night” live in Passaic, New Jersey: