Comments on: THE POLICE – “Walking On The Moon”

By: Mark G

Mark G — Mon, 06 Jun 2011 09:51:58 +0000

I think for me it was that “Zenyatta” was so bloody dull. Except for “Canary in a coalmine” which sounded a lot like “Get out of Denver” by Bob Seger (or Eddie and the Hotrods)

By: seekenee

seekenee — Sun, 05 Jun 2011 19:45:37 +0000

From reading this thread and running parallel to my general reassessment of The Police in the last ten years, I am wondering what exactly it was that made me disown them after their next Popular entry. It can’t have been the songs – in hindsight the first lp is quite good, the next two patchy but still contain enough brilliant songs to raise them well above average and subsequent singles weren’t too shabby at all. So why did I deny to myself for thirty years that this was the first single I bought with my own money by myself blah blah.. Was it Sting’s solo work (not too shabby either) or just Sting himself? (more likely)
But mostly just the bog standard tribal resentments I suppose, Strummer/Weller/the NME told me to.
Anyway the 9 year old me knew all the words to this one and the fact that relatively avant dub pop would not generally be a chart topper had yet to be revealed to me. (that was a sad day).

By: Mark M

Mark M — Sun, 29 Nov 2009 08:38:15 +0000

Re Sting’s accent, variously: on The Cultural Show the other night, Sting, wearing a beard, plugging his new folk album, interviewed in a pub in Byker by Lauren Laverne, did seem to be dipping into light Geordie a couple of times a sentence. Then again, I can think of other pop stars with no connection to the place who in those surroundings would unconsciously start to mimic north-eastern vowels.

By: Billy Smart

Billy Smart — Wed, 10 Dec 2008 21:37:36 +0000

NMEWatch: 1st December 1979. Single of the week from Ian Penman; “So dignified; what a leisurely affair! ‘Walking On The Moon’ is an undeniable serenade, hinged around popularity or sexuality or some post-euphoric sleight of hand-in-hand. ‘Walking On The Moon’ isn’t soft soil, understated though it is. It’s risky dubble seduction: edible reggae and hungry pop interest.”

Also reviewed;

Holger Czukay – Cool In The Pool
Suicide – Dream Baby Dream
Joe Jackson – It’s Different For Girls
The Beat – Tears Of A Clown
Mike Oldfield – Blue Peter

By: Malice Cooper

Malice Cooper — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 10:57:42 +0000

This is dross at its worst. Banal lyrics, repetitive, weak cod-reggae and Sting with his usual squeaking insincerity. If ever there was a case of a band being able to release any old crap and get to Number 1 it was this. Lena Martell was a masterpiece compared to this tripe.

By: Waldo

Waldo — Sat, 11 Oct 2008 06:03:40 +0000

Rosie # 59 – Yes, Duvel, of course. Oddly, they’re selling it in my local Sainsbury’s just now. The Grand Place is wonderful. We actually came across a fellow there playing “Purple Haze” on a violin. And this was BEFORE I started drinking.

By: Kat but logged out innit

Kat but logged out innit — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 22:12:39 +0000

I like this record well enough – reading the comments on this post about ‘giant steps’ etc it struck me that I don’t know any of the words apart from, well, “Walking On The Moon”. It never really occurred to me that the other noises Sting was making on the (great) melody contained words! I know that sounds very ignorant, but my point is here that no matter how great a song Sting writes, his lack of charisma is such that I will never be interested in anything he has to say. I am perfectly happy to continue believing that the song is merely about the gravitational properties of the lunar surface.

Musically, I think WOTM does the sparse-arrangement thing much better than ‘Another Brick In The Wall’. The video is a bit of a disappointment – I guess I must have imagined Sting in a space suit bouncing along in slow motion? And they all look like they should probably invest in a bottle of Pantene conditioning serum.

By: rosie

rosie — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 16:19:44 +0000

Waldo @ 51: That would be Duvel, I take it? Not Duval (neither Robert nor Shelley.) I have very fond memories of being taken out to dinner at the Falstaff near the Grand Place and enjoying an excellent lapin au kriek. Accompanied, of course, by a bottle or three of kriek bier. Made me feel like I was walking on the moon…

By: Conrad

Conrad — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 16:12:56 +0000

A Number 2 followed by two consecutive Number 1s, all in the space of 4 months. That’s mighty impressive.

Were The Police the most popular band in the country as 1979 drew to a close? It must have been a close run thing with Blondie, Numan and possibly The Jam coming up on the rails.

By: DJ Punctum

DJ Punctum — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 15:05:43 +0000

You do what you like. That Pink Floyd thread was the last straw for me.

By: Mark G

Mark G — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 14:58:17 +0000

I’m getting that EDIT thing again…

By: Tom

Tom — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 14:35:34 +0000

Calm down everyone, there’s something else to talk about now.

By: DJ Punctum

DJ Punctum — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 14:23:50 +0000

OK, we can either talk about the quality, the nature and the potential influence of “Walking On The Moon” by the Police or I can post 500 consecutive pictures of Sarah Palin on every thread on Popular. The choice is yours.

By: Waldo

Waldo — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 14:13:50 +0000

Bang goes your job in our Icelandic Embassy, son!

By: DJ Punctum

DJ Punctum — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 14:06:11 +0000

God I fucking HATE people :-((((

By: Waldo

Waldo — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 14:03:16 +0000

Funny you should say that, Rosie. Liz and I had rabbit when in Brussels recently. Since I have stoked at least half a dozen on the A27 in the last year or so, I felt obliged, not holding with killing for sport, but being an uncurable meat eater. Nice tucker, as it happens, especially with a few bottles of Duval, a local beer which really takes your head off.

By: DJ Punctum

DJ Punctum — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 13:54:02 +0000

Is there anyone else here interested in talking about “Walking On The Moon” by the Police?

By: rosie

rosie — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 13:50:47 +0000

LondonLee @ 43: The bunny has been in my big casserole pot for the last three days and improves with every reheating.

By: Waldo

Waldo — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 13:45:06 +0000

# 38 – Marcello, there should have been a question mark after “JA and reggae” and a comma between “afford” and “right” at the end of that rant. Looks like I fuck up on spelling and you on grammar. Perhaps we both ought to undertake a session of Speedlearn. Proceed to pass. Pass!

# 39 – Rosie. I’ve heard about primrose oil too but as Marcello would know, milk’s the thing for creating good temper.

Hey teachers! Leave Jane Asher alone!

By: DJ Punctum

DJ Punctum — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 13:37:57 +0000

Going way back to man like Sinker’s comments (#14): was talking about this record with Lena the other day and we note a possible pathway here towards “The ‘Sweetest Girl’” and especially “The Word ‘Girl’” (the dub, the floating in space, the ineffable patience of the song) so obviously someone in the London Musicians’ Collective concubine was taking note (Green was kind of an LMC DJ Punctum, come to think of it) although clearly (as L said) Green’s message was rather more multilayered than that of Wrigley’s Tantric Spearmint Man…

By: Lena

Lena — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 13:27:39 +0000

I have been trying & failing to remember when I first heard this song, or when I first heard anything by The Police (though it starts with “Roxanne” easily enough, I draw a blank after that – yes, 1979, but when I don’t recall). Like most here this is by far my favorite single by them, which at first I didn’t have much of a purchase on, ie I had no idea where The Police were ‘from’ (besides England) and I didn’t have a clue about dub, let alone reggae, soca, dancehall, etc. (In 1980 my father began to listen to a local radio show that was hosted by a DJ from Jamaica & I started to hear all these different beats & accents, but before that, nothing.) So to me it sounded like a jazz-pop song, a song that took its time to unfold and swung like crazy – the echoing bass seemingly underwater, the guitar notes carefully sitting next to you and then booming across a canyon, the drumming solid and yet light-as-air at the same time. Since the song didn’t get into the charts in the US at the time who knows how I first heard it (FM rather than AM radio most likely) but I’m very glad I did. I would give it a 9, easily.

The next song, on the other hand, was utterly different, and was MASSIVE on AM radio, which baffled me & pleased me in turn…

By: DJ Punctum

DJ Punctum — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 13:12:28 +0000

I don’t think people want to listen to Jane Asher “conducting” an orchestra in times of recession either.

By: Mark G

Mark G — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 13:05:56 +0000

Go from Joe Lean and the Jing Jang Jong to Jane Asher and her sodding cakes in four steps…

By: LondonLee

LondonLee — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 13:03:44 +0000

Careful Rosie, the Bunny will get you.

By: DJ Punctum

DJ Punctum — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 13:01:57 +0000

Really is there going to be any change when we get to that one? I predict 100 posts on Jane Asher and her sodding cakes… :-(