The term “rock star” usually conjures images of luxurious hotels, nonstop partying, and private jets. However, the leaner years of a band’s life can be overlooked — playing dive bars, staying in cheap motels, and traveling in beaten-up cars. The rough road to success is explored in the documentary Everyone Stares: The Police Inside Out, a compilation of Police member Stewart Copeland’s Super 8 camera movies.
Also narrated by the drummer, the film simulates the experience of Copeland sitting next to you, screening his home videos and reminiscing about the Police’s rise. In addition to providing an inside look at the band’s ascent from obscurity to worldwide fame, it shatters the “pampered rock star” cliché and instead reveals the less glamorous journey of building a career. First released in 2006, Everyone Stares has finally made its Blu-ray and digital debut.
After Stewart Copeland bought his first Super 8 camera in 1978, he began filming the Police’s U.S. tour. Supporting their debut Outlandos d’Amour, the band played every gig they could find, introducing themselves to American fans. Seeing Sting, Andy Summers, and Copeland hauling their own gear, staying at nondescript hotels, traveling in old vans, attending sparsely populated record-store signings, and playing “Next to You” night after night, shows just how hard a struggling band must work. The grainy footage illustrates how the Police and their crew formed a family, with Copeland, Summers, and Sting clowning with each other in ways unimaginable by 1983’s Synchronicity.
[SOMETHING ELSE! INTERVIEW: Andy Summers stopped by for a Something Else! Sitdown to discuss his work with the Animals, Neil Sedaka and Robert Fripp – and, of course, the Police.]
Everyone Stares: The Police Inside Out follows the Police as they schmooze with record executives and perform at music festivals in less desirable time slots to drunk audiences – something that would rapidly change. The music, of course, also plays a starring role. Remixes and live versions of well-known classics like “So Lonely” and “Next to You” reveal their punk roots, while studio footage of the group recording Regatta de Blanc and Zenyatta Mondatta allows viewers to witness the development of staples in the Police canon. Seeing Sting attempt to master the rapid-fire lyrics of “Canary in a Coalmine” is both fascinating and entertaining.
The film also traces how the Police transitioned to international stardom. Copeland’s narration chronicles his increasing uneasiness with rabid fans and nonstop schedules. His camera captures scenes of women swarming their limos, pounding on the windows (their “boy-band phase,” as Copeland dubs it). The group appears tired during a snowy video shoot for “De Do Do Do, De Da Da Da”; by 1981, Copeland reveals in a subtitle, “Life Becomes a Duran Duran video.”
Sting quickly emerged as the star of the group, with fans chanting “we want Sting” during one concert. By 1982, Stewart Copeland states, Sting brought songs fully formed to the studio, not allowing for the true collaboration they once enjoyed. Copeland argues that the Police were already thinking of calling it quits, with their performance at 1982’s Us Festival symbolizing what they thought was their peak.
Of course, they would go on to record their final album, Synchronicity, and embark on a highly successful tour. However, it is clear that the drummer views the early years as the best, and fondly recalls their initial closeness, with Andy Summers acting the clown, Copeland playing drums furiously (a skill on display during several concerts included here; viewers feel as though they are onstage with the band), and Sting joking with bandmates and swearing during shows.
Everyone Stares lets fans into the inner Police sanctum as the musicians achieve victories and undergo frustrations. All the while, Stewart Copeland serves as a wry tour guide, uncovering the very human moments in a rock musician’s life and career. Quite simply, Everyone Stares: The Police Inside Out is an experience no Police fan should miss.
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