Stewart Copeland said he prefers life beyond the Police as he recalled disappointment over songs he’d brought to the band that didn’t make it into their catalog.
But he admitted his writing style didn’t really match the trio’s musical approach, and said it had worked out for him in the long run.
In a new interview with The Guardian, Copeland was asked about his song “I’m Blind,” which will be included in the box-set edition of Synchronicity but didn’t make the original cut.
READ MORE: Stewart Copeland’s Reaction to Sting’s Singing: ‘Holy Gopher F—!’
He refuted the suggestion that songs were rejected solely by frontman Sting, saying: “It wasn’t so much Sting that turned his nose up, as that we all did. We’d all turn up with songs, but every time Sting pulled one out they were such fucking good songs.”
He continued: “Occasionally I’d land one, like ‘Darkness’ [on Ghost in the Machine] but my material wasn’t really the Police – particularly the lyrics.
“At the time I might have been disappointed, but the songs of mine that didn’t make Synchronicity turned into the score for the Francis Ford Coppola film Rumble Fish, which got me a Golden Globe and Grammy award nomination.”
Copeland reflected: “I’m very proud of the Police, but life outside was better. Now I write film scores, symphonies, I’m on my eighth opera and I still practice drums four hours a day. I’ve achieved a certain amount of small success in almost every form of music, except pop.”
Stewart Copeland Recalls His Early Solo Hit Single
On the same subject, he was asked about early solo project Klark Kent, which gave him a hit single, “Don’t Care,” in 1978. “Ah, my one very small success with a pop song!” he said.
“I had some songs which weren’t Police songs for the reasons mentioned, so I recorded them myself using a guitar and an early drum box, which just had settings such as ‘rumba’ or ‘samba.’ Driving home listening to those tracks was one of the happiest days of my life.”
He added: “The first time the three [Police] blond heads were on national TV were as Klark Kent’s backing band, doing ‘Don’t Care’ on Top of the Pops.” As can be seen in the clip below, everyone but Copeland was wearing a mask on stage.
Watch Klark Kent’s ‘Don’t Care’ on ‘Top of the Pops’
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