The first Police album I ever heard was Outlandos d’Amour , at my buddy Mike’s place. I heard it once. I’m pretty sure it belonged to one of his three sisters - most likely Leslie, because she was scary and cool and smoked cigarettes. Of course I liked “Roxanne" and "Message in a Bottle." Who didn’t? But the punk‑ish reggae thing never really landed with me. Sting’s habit of tossing in those yo‑yo‑yo yodels irritated me then and honestly are still irksome. Oddly enough, though, I loved “Be My Girl - Sally” from the debut, and staying true to my contrarian streak, I also really liked “Mother” from Synchronicity , which ended up being the first Police album I actually bought. I suppose this is my way of saying I was not, am not, and likely never will be a dyed‑in‑the‑wool fan of The Police - so take everything that follows as confirmation of my suspect credentials. The first time I remember hearing anything from Zenyatta Mondatta , I was on a basketball road trip and one...
From the annals of What Could Have Been I present Flesh for Lulu's 1989 release Plastic Fantastic . This wasn't my first exposure to the band. I first heard them on the radio back when CBC Radio in the dark hours would feature Brave New Waves and expose people to indie and alternative music the mainstream eschewed. I'm racking my brain trying to remember the song that caught my interest. It's probably a false memory at this point but I'm inclined to think it was "Baby Hurricane" from Big Fun City / Blue Sisters Swing . At the time when I found the CD I figured it was a collection of two releases, but there was no internet so I was never sure. It was a rough, raw and pretty cool collection. I will also admit that I thought "Laundromat Kat" was awesome ... and yes it is two of their 1985 releases repackaged in 1986. A few years later I stumbled upon Plastic Fantastic , and this time while the songs were still raw there was also a polished sheen to...