Synchronicity I

The Zoo Crew is spinning "Synchronicity I" by The Police, a track from their 1983 album Synchronicity, and the Zoo Freaks are surely vibing to its hypnotic energy. This song kicks off the album with a sequencer-driven pulse, marking Sting's first dive into using an Oberheim DSX sequencer, which he pushed to its limits, likening it to HAL from 2001: A Space Odyssey. The song’s title and concept draw from Carl Jung’s theory of synchronicity, which describes meaningful coincidences with no causal link, a theme inspired by Arthur Koestler’s book The Roots of Coincidence. In a playful twist, drummer Stewart Copeland once joked in a Revolver interview that he can only tell "Synchronicity I" from "Synchronicity II" by the sequencer part, and even Sting keeps the connection between the two tracks a guarded secret, adding to the song’s mystique.

Another tidbit comes from the recording process at AIR Studios in Montserrat, where tensions ran high among the band. Producer Hugh Padgham revealed in Playing Back The 80s that the first two weeks yielded nothing usable, with the band nearly splitting up before manager Miles Copeland stepped in. The trio recorded in separate rooms—Copeland in the dining room, Sting in the control room, and Andy Summers in the studio—partly for sound quality and partly to keep the peace. Sting noted in Lyrics By Sting that he wrote the song while staying at Ian Fleming’s Golden Eye estate in Jamaica, gazing at the Caribbean amid global tensions like the Falklands War, which fueled the album’s introspective tone. The song also nods to William Butler Yeats’ poem The Second Coming, with Sting referencing "spiritus mundi," tying its lyrical depth to literary roots.

The Police, formed in London in 1977, began as a punk-inspired trio blending reggae, jazz, and new wave. Sting (Gordon Sumner), a former teacher and jazz bassist, met Stewart Copeland, an American drummer with a progressive rock background, in the vibrant London punk scene. Copeland, who’d played with Curved Air, was itching to start a new project and recruited Sting after hearing his voice. They initially teamed with guitarist Henri Padovani, but the lineup solidified when Andy Summers, a seasoned guitarist who’d worked with The Animals and Soft Machine, joined after a chance meeting. Their early gigs, often in dive bars, leaned into raw punk energy, but Sting’s songwriting and the band’s reggae-infused sound set them apart. Their debut single, “Roxanne,” caught fire after A&M Records pushed it, launching them globally.

The band’s rise wasn’t without struggle. Early on, they dyed their hair blond for a Wrigley’s gum commercial to fund their first U.S. tour, a scrappy move that paid off with growing fanbase. By 1983, Synchronicity made them, as the BBC and The Guardian noted, “the biggest band in the world.” After their 1984 split, each member pursued solo ventures, with Sting becoming a global icon, Copeland scoring films, and Summers exploring photography and jazz. They reunited briefly in 2007-2008 for a world tour. Fans can dive deeper at thepolice.com, follow them on Facebook, Instagram, and X, or join fan communities like the The Police Fans Facebook group and explore policefans.org for fan-driven content.