| "Synchronicity I" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Single by The Police | ||||
| from the album Synchronicity | ||||
| B-side | "Someone to Talk To" | |||
| Released | 26 October 1983 (Japan) [1] | |||
| Recorded |
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| Studio |
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| Genre | New wave | |||
| Length | 3:23 | |||
| Label | A&M (AMP-784) | |||
| Songwriter(s) | Sting | |||
| Producer(s) |
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| The Police Japanesesingles chronology | ||||
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"Synchronicity I" is a song by the Police, and the opening track from their album Synchronicity . Written by Sting, the track was also released as a Japanese-only single.
"Synchronicity I", as well as its more famous counterpart "Synchronicity II", features lyrics that are inspired by Carl Jung's theory of synchronicity. Also included in the lyrics is a term from "The Second Coming," "Spiritus Mundi" (translating to "spirit of the world"), which William Butler Yeats used to refer to the collective unconscious, another of Jung's theories. Like other songs on Synchronicity, "Synchronicity I" is driven by a synthesizer riff.
Although it only served as an album track for Synchronicity in Britain and the US, "Synchronicity I" was released as the second and final single from the album in Japan, backed with "Someone to Talk To," a non-album B-side which appeared as the B-side to "Wrapped Around Your Finger" in Britain and "King of Pain" in America. The song was also used as the opening track of the band's set-list during the Synchronicity Tour.
When asked how "Synchronicity I" is connected to "Synchronicity II," Stewart Copeland said, "I've had Sting up against the wall on this issue before, and he point blank refuses to explain the connection. None of us in the band can even remember which one's which. The only way I can keep them straight is that 'Synch I' has Sting's cool sequencer part, that 'dunga dunga dung' thing that I, to this day, get all the credit for. People think it's me playing some percussive instrument, and I have to put them right. It was real 'rama-lama' way of starting our set on tour, though it almost killed me to start with that kind of onslaught every night." [3]
According to Summers, "Synchronicity I" and "Synchronicity II" were originally intended to be placed back-to-back on Synchronicity, with a brief instrumental piece serving as a segue.
"We had this section for 'Synchronicity' which we referred to as The Loch. I went in and detuned my guitar synth to C sharp and it produced a great wash of sound, lovely. And there was an acoustic on top, a few cymbals and an oboe, really serene. We were going to have it at the end of 'Synchronicity I' — it was supposed to be the Loch Ness Monster — and then it would go into 'Synchronicity II'. But we couldn't really get it to work. Miles (Copeland) didn't like it... it was too psychedelic for him." [4]
The 2024 Super Deluxe box set of Synchronicity includes this piece under the title "Loch".
Robert Santelli of Relix Magazine said, "'Synchronicity I' is as close as the Police have ever flirted with musical anarchy: nothing seems to fit as each musician drains himself with relentless pokes and punches that ultimately ends in a KO." [5] New Musical Express writer Richard Cook described the song as "a revision of 'Message in a Bottle' dynamics to sweep aside the cobwebs of inactivity." [5] Adam Sweeting of Melody Maker claimed, "Indeed listening to this opening track, 'Synchronicity I', it doesn't take much of a leap of imagination to foresee the Police as a fusion group." [5] It was noted as "a trifle explaining the title concept [of Synchronicity]" by Richard C. Walls of Creem. [5]
In a retrospective review, Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic commented positively on "Synchronicity I," saying that on Synchronicity, "the group relies heavily on jazzy textures for Sting's songs, which only work on the jumping, marimba-driven 'Synchronicity I.'" [6] BigHans of Sputnik Music, despite not naming the track an essential track from Synchronicity, listed the track as one of the "other recommendations" from the album. [7]
The Gil Evans Orchestra produced an instrumental cover of the song. It was performed together with Sting on July 11, 1987, on the occasion of the Umbria Jazz Festival in Perugia. [8]
The Police were an English rock band formed in London in 1977. Within a few months of their first gig, the line-up settled as Sting, Andy Summers (guitar) and Stewart Copeland, and remained unchanged for the rest of the band's history. The Police became globally popular in the late 1970s and early to mid 1980s. Emerging in the British new wave scene, they played a style of rock influenced by punk, reggae, and jazz.
Synchronicity is the fifth and final studio album by the British rock band the Police, released on 17 June 1983 by A&M Records. The band's most successful release, the album includes the hit singles "Every Breath You Take", "King of Pain", "Wrapped Around Your Finger", and "Synchronicity II". The album's title and much of the material for the songs were inspired by Arthur Koestler's book The Roots of Coincidence (1972). At the 1984 Grammy Awards the album was nominated for a total of five awards, including Album of the Year, and won three. At the time of its release and following the Synchronicity Tour, the Police's popularity was at such a high that they were arguably, according to BBC and The Guardian, the "biggest band in the world".
"Every Breath You Take" is a song by the English rock band the Police from their album Synchronicity (1983). Written by Sting, the single was the biggest US and Canadian hit of 1983, topping the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart for eight weeks, and the Canadian RPM chart for four weeks. Their fifth UK No. 1, it topped the UK Singles Chart for four weeks. The song also reached the top 10 in numerous other countries.
Outlandos d'Amour is the debut studio album by British rock band the Police, released on 17 November 1978 by A&M Records. Elevated by the success of its lead single, "Roxanne", Outlandos d'Amour peaked at No. 6 on the UK Albums Chart and at No. 23 on the Billboard 200. The album spawned two additional hit singles: "Can't Stand Losing You" and "So Lonely".
Zenyatta Mondatta is the third studio album by British rock band the Police, released on 3 October 1980 by A&M Records. It was co-produced by the band and Nigel Gray.
Ghost in the Machine is the fourth studio album by British rock band the Police. The album was released on 2 October 1981 by A&M Records. The songs were recorded between January and September 1981 during sessions that took place at AIR Studios in Montserrat and Le Studio in Quebec, assisted by record producer Hugh Padgham.
Every Breath You Take: The Singles is the first compilation album by the Police, released in 1986. In 1990, the album was repackaged in New Zealand, Australia and Spain as Their Greatest Hits with a different cover.
"Roxanne" is a song by British rock band the Police. The song was written by lead singer and bassist Sting and was released as a single on 7 April 1978, in advance of their debut album Outlandos d'Amour, released on 3 November. It was written from the point of view of a man who falls in love with a prostitute. When re-released on 12 April 1979, the song peaked at No. 12 on the UK Singles Chart.
Klark Kent is the debut solo album of Stewart Copeland, and the first solo album recorded by any band member of The Police. The album was released in 1980 as a 10 inch EP on green vinyl. It was later re-released on black vinyl as a 12 inch with a grey and black sleeve. It includes the song "Don't Care", which had entered the UK Top 50 two years earlier.
Last Exit were an English jazz fusion band formed in Newcastle upon Tyne, England, in 1974. It is best remembered as the group Sting was in before finding stardom with The Police.
"Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic" is a song by the British rock band the Police from their fourth studio album, Ghost in the Machine (1981). It was a hit single that reached the top of the charts in the United Kingdom in November 1981 and hit No. 3 on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart that same year. The song, unusual for including Jean Alain Roussel, a guest keyboardist, dates back to a demo recorded by bassist and lead singer Sting in the house of Mike Howlett in the autumn of 1976. The song has been described as new wave blended with reggae elements—the signature Police style. The popularity of "Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic" helped to make Ghost in the Machine one of the Police's most successful albums.
"Spirits in the Material World" is a song by the British rock trio The Police, written by Sting. The opening track for their 1981 album Ghost in the Machine, it was released as a single in 1981 and reached No. 12 in the United Kingdom and No. 11 in the US in early 1982.
"Can't Stand Losing You" is a song by British rock band the Police, released from their debut album Outlandos d'Amour, both in 1978. The song also was released as the follow-up single to "Roxanne", reaching number 2 in the UK Singles Chart on a re-release in 1979. It was written by the band's lead singer and bassist Sting as a song about suicide.
"Synchronicity II" is a song by the Police, and the third single from their album Synchronicity. Written by lead singer and bassist Sting, it was released as a single in the UK and the US by A&M Records, reached No. 17 in the UK Singles Chart and No. 16 on the Billboard Hot 100 in December 1983. It features the non-album track "Once Upon a Daydream" on the B-side. The song was described by People Weekly as "aggressive" and "steely."
Brimstone & Treacle is the soundtrack for the 1982 film adaptation of the play Brimstone and Treacle directed by Richard Loncraine and starring Denholm Elliott, Joan Plowright and Sting. Sting and The Police wrote most of the original material on the album. The rest of the soundtrack was made of songs by other acts signed to A&M like The Go-Go's and Squeeze and a couple of traditional songs performed by the Finchley Children's Music Group and the ad-hoc formed Brimstone Chorale.
"King of Pain" is a song by British rock band the Police, released as the second single from their fifth and final studio album Synchronicity (1983). Written by the band's lead singer and bassist Sting as a post-separation song from his wife, "King of Pain" conjures up symbols of pain and relates them to a man's soul. A&M Records released "King of Pain" as the album's fourth single in the UK, while in many other countries it was released as the second single.
"Wrapped Around Your Finger" is the second single in the UK from the Police's 1983 album Synchronicity. Written by Sting, it was released worldwide by A&M Records and featured the non-album track "Someone to Talk To" as the B-side in the UK, while a live version of "Tea in the Sahara" was the B-side in the US.
"Fall Out" is a song by British rock band the Police. It was released as their first single in May 1977 with "Nothing Achieving" on its B-side. It was re-released in 1979. A non-album track, it has appeared on a number of compilation and live albums including Message in a Box: The Complete Recordings, The Police and Live!
"Behind My Camel" is the eighth track from the 1980 album Zenyatta Mondatta by the British rock band The Police. The song was written by guitarist Andy Summers and was the first one to be composed solely by him during his career in The Police. It won the Grammy Award of 1982 for the Best Rock Instrumental Performance.
"Tea in the Sahara" is a song by the British new wave band the Police. Written by Sting, the song appeared on the band's final album, Synchronicity. It was written about the Paul Bowles novel The Sheltering Sky.
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