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Man, every time I hear "Walking on the Moon" or "Demolition Man" I am reminded of how unique and wonderful Stewart Copeland's playing with the Police was. I love how he "bounces" on the hi-hat and ride, and also how his drumming has so much raw energy.

Unfortunately, great playing in a band doesn't translate into great playing outside of that band. Haven't been impressed with his playing in drum clinics. And he does have an attitude...

Great performance of "Roxanne"...1979 >>>



The next clip features the same performance but is uncut. The sound quality is not as good though.

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I'll take more guys with attitude and something original to say every time over chameleons that blend in musically but never say or play anything of their own.

Quote:
"Drums are really easy to play"..."they're a joke"..."anyone can do this".

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amoergosum wrote:Quote:
"Drums are really easy to play"..."they're a joke"..."anyone can do this".

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I know he was young, but a lot of what he's saying from 2:23 on is fairly misinformed and inaccurate. I get the point he's trying to make about his influences, and ten years ago I might not have known better... but a lot of what he's saying there is just... off.

Stewart Copeland made a ton of contributions to the evolution of a drummer's role in pop music. He opened doors. His wit and confidence are legendary and I think an overlooked part of his professional success. He's just no my favorite guy to listen to in an interview. But Driven to Tears is one of my favorite drum performances of all time.

The stuff he did with Curved Air is quite cool, very proggy. He already had that different-ness about his playing before he got to the Sting Band.

@Bensdrums- Why do you think what he says is off? Really noT much different than what Steve Smith says about drumming in the US. Just that Steve doesnt relly talk about reggae

Stewart has to be one of my biggest influences since I was a little kid. Even though I've come a long way since then and my style has gone some other way, you can still point it out at some points. And the more I keep coming back to those albums, the more I see his stuff coming out through my playing.
I don't really think he was aware of how ground breaking his playing was, he recorded some of the most memorable drum beats of all time (Roxanne alone is a masterpiece). I remember being mad at the fact that he didn't make it into MD's "most influential drummers" list. Absurd, to say the least, he has to be one of the most important drum figures of the 80's, if not the most important one. To do that within such a short time is remarkable, to say the least.
BTW, do I read the infamous "fuck you Sting" on the drumheads of the interview?