Old Enough to Forget

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...