Outlandos d'Amour--Album Quiz #1

Answer: True

The word "outlaw" contributes to the first half of the spliced "Outlandos" while the Dutch "commandos" or Afrikaans "kommandos" fills out the second half. Of course, "D'Amour" is French for "of love." Miles Copeland, the band's manager and Stewart Copeland's brother, originally planned for the album to be named "Police Brutality"; however, after hearing a few of Sting's songs about broken hearts, he decided to come up with a title that was more fitting for a band that was borrowing from the more sensitive pop scene as well as the rebellious punk sound.

Answer: Black

Depending on the version of the album one owns, "The Police" may appear in red, blue, green, orange, or yellow in the upper left corner. However, the band's name and the heads of Stewart, Andy, and Sting always rest on a background of black. An interesting note about the three musicians' images--they all appear with blond hair on the album's cover, but only Sting is naturally blond. Sting landed a job for the band as the cast for a Wrigley's chewing gum commercial, but the director wanted all three of them to have blond hair. Agreeing to the arrangement, they applied peroxide.

Answer: 1978

The single "Fall Out" was released in May 1977 with "Nothing Achieving." "Roxanne" and "Peanuts" were released in April of 1978. "Can't Stand Losing You"/"Dead End Job" were released in September of 1978. However, "Oulandos d'Amour", the band's first full-length studio album, was released in November of 1978.

Answer: Next to You

According to the booklet published with The Police collection "Message in a Box", Sting claims that "Stewart and Andy wanted to make it ["Next to You"] more aggressive so they wrote lyrics like 'I'm going to take a gun to you.'" Sting refused to do that to his song and argued that their punk band could do love songs.

He says, "I was beginning to flex my muscles." Stewart responds: "Actually, we didn't mind the love lyrics, as long as he shouted them aggressively!" Thus, we have the fast-paced, frantic "Next to You" with shouted lyrics.

Interestingly, if The Police never re-re-unite, "Next to You" will be the last song they ever played live.

Answer: So Lonely

Released as a single with "No Time This Time" in November of 1978, "So Lonely" did not fare too well in the charts or on the radio. It performed better when it was re-released in February of 1980 and climbed to number six in the UK. The song was composed by Sting, who based the song on Bob Marley's "No Woman No Cry."

Answer: Roxanne

"Roxanne" is one of The Police's greatest hits and is one of the songs most frequently associated with the band. The April 1978 release of the single did not do well, primarily because British radio stations refused to play a song about a man in love with a prostitute. Sting originally wrote the song in 1977 during the early days of the band while they were staying in Paris for a performance; the idea came to him after seeing prostitutes around the hotel and a poster hanging there of the play "Cyrano de Bergerac", which has a character named Roxanne. Eventually, the single was re-released in April of 1979, and the song climbed to number 32 in the US and number 12 in the UK. "Rolling Stone" rated the song as number 388 in its "500 Greatest Songs of All Time."

Answer: Can't Stand Losing You

Like "Roxanne," the "Can't Stand Losing You" single did not fare well at all on its initial release, which was in September 1978. However, it was banned for a different reason: the cover depicted Stewart Copeland with a noose around his neck while standing on a block of ice and waiting for it to melt.

When the single was re-issued in June of 1979, it climbed to number two on the UK charts.

Answer: Peanuts

"Peanuts," the fifth song recorded on "Outlandos d'Amour", was written by both Sting and Stewart and has more of a punk sound than most of the other tunes on the album. Sting wrote the lyrics while Stewart composed the music. The song is presented from the point of view of a character who expresses disdain for the circus that celebrities find themselves trapped in or perhaps even find themselves embracing.

In other words, the source of entertainment ceases to be the art being produced but rather the artist's life itself.

The song's chorus includes the words "Don't wanna hear about the drugs you're taking / Don't wanna read about the love you're making / Don't wanna hear about the life you're faking / Don't wanna read about the muck they're raking," and eventually it all ends with someone maniacally shouting "Peanuts!" while a clown horn is playing.

Answer: Be My Girl--Sally

An unfinished song written by Sting ("Be My Girl") is used to frame Andy's poem ("Sally"). The spoken part is full of innuendo: "She's cuddly and she's bouncy, she's like a rubber ball,/ I bounce her in the kitchen and I bounce her in the hall." "Pictures of Lilly" is a song by The Who while "Paulina" is an early song by No Doubt; both of them involve a boy's fascination with a photograph of a woman.

Answer: Masoko Tanga

"Masoko" is a Swahili word for the plural of "market." "Tanga" is the most northerly port of Tanzania, a former currency of Tajikistan, a five-lined poem superimposed on a picture, and a word for "stupid" in an ancient language of the Philippines. The "Masoko Tanga" is a bookstore/cafe in Eugene, Oregon. You figure it out.

Answer: Roxanne

During the recording of "Roxanne" for the album, Sting accidentally sat down on a piano keyboard. The resulting discordant noise and Sting's laughter remained preserved on the recording.

Answer: Hole in My Life

"Hole in My Life" is one of several songs ("So Lonely," "Can't Stand Losing You," "Roxanne") from the album that borrowed something from the reggae sound. Sting grew re-interested in this song and re-recorded a variation of it for an i-Tunes Originals collection in June 2004.

Answer: Turth Hits Everybody

"Truth Hits Everybody" is the most poetically worded song from the album, and the variation of it that was created for The Police's reunion tour was masterful. In fact, its inclusion on the "Certifiable" collection that was released during their tour leaves the listener imagining that he or she is hearing a "new" Police song.

It's also one of the few Police songs downloadable for the "Rock Band" music video game.

Answer: Born in the 50s

If you don't remember Sting's mentioning of these words, perhaps you'll remember these lines: "We hated our aunt / Then we messed in our pants / Then we lost our faith and prayed to the TV / But we shoulda known better." The song has more of a traditional rock or "Old Wave" sound than the other songs on "Outlandos d'Amour".

Answer: the piano

You can hear the piano at the beginning and ending of the song as well as for a lengthy session that starts about two thirds of the way into the song. Joe Sinclair also performed in "Masoko Tanga."