Reggatta de Blanc

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Reggatta de Blanc
Studio album by The Police
Released	October 5, 1979
Recorded	February–August 1979 at Surrey Sound Studios
Genre	Rock, New Wave, Post-punk, Reggae
Length	41:52
Label	A&M
Producer	Stewart Copeland, Sting, Andy Summers, Nigel Gray
Professional reviews
Allmusic link Robert Christgau (B-) link Rolling Stone link
The Police chronology
Outlandos d'Amour (1978) Reggatta de Blanc (1979) Zenyattà Mondatta (1980)
Singles from Reggatta de Blanc
"Message in a Bottle" Released: 1979 "Walking on the Moon" Released: 1979 "Bring On the Night" Released: 1980 "The Bed's Too Big Without You (Mono Edit)" Released: 1980

Reggatta de Blanc is the second album by The Police, released in 1979 (see 1979 in music).

Overview

"Message in a Bottle", a Sting-penned song about alienation, opens the album. It is followed by the mostly instrumental "Reggatta de Blanc" (the title being a pseudo-French translation referring to the album's style of "white reggae"), one of the few songs written by all members of the Police. The instrumental piece came from the long instrumental break in the live performance of "Can't Stand Losing You" and earned the band the 1981 Grammy Award for Best Rock Instrumental Performance. "It's Alright For You" is a driving punk-ish song featuring strong guitar and drum parts. The next three tracks, "Bring on the Night" (about the execution of Gary Gilmore), "Deathwish", and "Walking on the Moon" all have a strong reggae feel to them. "On Any Other Day" features a rare lead vocal from Stewart Copeland, and is a humorous take on a middle-aged man having a horrible birthday. "The Bed's Too Big Without You" (later covered by reggae singer Sheila Hylton in 1981, which became a UK chart hit), "Contact" and "Does Everyone Stare" are three songs dealing with the connection, or lack thereof, between two individuals. The hectic "No Time This Time", originally featured as the B side of the previous year's "So Lonely" single, closes the album.

The album took only a few weeks (spaced over several months) to record, but unlike its successor Zenyatta Mondatta, there was no pressure on the band. As Stewart Copeland describes it, "We just went into the studio and said, 'Right, who's got the first song?' We hadn't even rehearsed them before we went in."^{[citation needed]}

The album continued to build on the success of the band's previous record, Outlandos D'Amour, hitting #1 on the UK and Australian album charts upon its release in October 1979. "Message in a Bottle" and "Walking on the Moon" were released as singles and both reached #1 in Great Britain. In 2003, the album was ranked number 369 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time.

Track listing

All songs written by Sting unless otherwise indicated.

1. "Message in a Bottle" – 4:51
2. "Reggatta de Blanc" (Summers, Sting, Copeland) – 3:06
3. "It's Alright for You" (Sting, Copeland) – 3:13
4. "Bring on the Night" – 4:15
5. "Deathwish" (Summers, Sting, Copeland) – 4:13
6. "Walking on the Moon" – 5:02
7. "On Any Other Day" (Copeland) – 2:57
8. "The Bed's Too Big Without You" – 4:26
9. "Contact" (Copeland) – 2:38
10. "Does Everyone Stare" (Copeland) – 3:52
11. "No Time This Time" – 3:17

Two other songs were recorded as the B-sides to "Message in a Bottle" and "Walking on the Moon", respectively.

1. "Landlord" (Sting, Copeland) – 3:09
2. "Visions of the Night" (Sting) – 3:05

Personnel

• Sting – bass guitar, lead vocals, guitar, double bass and backing vocals.
• Andy Summers – guitar, backing vocals
• Stewart Copeland – drums, backing vocals, lead vocals on "On Any Other Day", lead vocals on first verse of "Does Everyone Stare" and piano.

Charts

Album

Singles

Awards

References