Continuing our week of songs with ladies names in the title, today’s classic song of the day is “Roxanne” by the Police. It was released as the band’s first single in April of 1978, in advance of their debut album, Outlandos d’Amour and went absolutely nowhere. Re-released in 1979, it rose to #32 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #12 on the UK Singles chart.
“Roxanne” had a bigger impact than the charts would indicate, however. It became a signature tune for the group, was named as one of Rolling Stone magazine’s 500 Greatest Songs of All Time, and was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame. It’s a terrific tune.
Sting, the group’s bassist and lead singer, wrote “Roxanne” about a guy dating a prostitute. (“You don’t have to put on the red light.”) He was inspired by the ladies of the evening that roamed the streets near the band’s seedy hotel when they were playing in Paris the previous year. Sting originally conceived “Roxanne” as kind of a bossa nova, but drummer Stewart Copeland whipped it into the shape with which we’re all more familiar. It’s kind of a ska-meets-reggae-meets-straight ahead rock groove and it’s infectious. Guitarist Andy Summers recalls the song’s gestation:
“Sting played it for me in my living room early on. He was very shy at first bringing in his songs. But it was brilliant, and later on we all worked it out in a damp basement in North London. I remember Stewart telling Sting where to place the bass notes, which was a bit tricky. Miles Copeland [the band’s manager] came down to hear us and we were kind of embarrassed to play it for him, because Miles had blinders on and was into fast and furious punk. But much to his credit, he said, ‘This is great, a knockout!’ I was really surprised. And he took it to A&M and got a contract for one single. I don’t think it ever broke the Top 40 in America, but eventually it became the Police signature tune.”
And here’s your daily bonus video of the day, a clip from the TV show Community. In the third-season episode “Remedial Chaos Theory,” where a roll of the die creates multiple timelines, the members of the study group groove out to “Roxanne” in suitably joyous fashion. (Apparently the rights to use the song ate up the show’s entire music budget for the balance of that season.) Everybody sing along now… “ROXANNE!”
