Stewart Copeland, Sting and Andy Summers in an A&M Records publicity photograph for Reggatta de Blanc, October 1979. Distributed by A&M Records, public domain.

October 1979: three in one frame.

Paris · Hammersmith · Montserrat · Shea · 1977–1984

The Police

They started three to a cheap hotel room and made their biggest record in three rooms, two buildings apart. Get one take out of them.

One room · October 1977 – 1979

Three to a room,
a poster on the wall.

A narrow Paris street of tall old buildings in black and white — A Left Bank street in Paris, October 1978, a year after the visit. The band’s hotel and its street are not named in the sources. Osbornb from San Diego, California, United States · CC BY 2.0

A Paris hotel, October 1977 · named, not mapped

In October 1977 the band went to Paris to play a show with the Damned, which was cancelled when they arrived. Money was so tight that they shared a room in a cheap, run-down hotel.

Outside, in a back alley between a sex shop and a dim bookshop, sex workers stood waiting; Sting began writing Roxanne from what he saw. The name came from a peeling poster for Cyrano de Bergerac on the wall of the hotel foyer.

Back in England the band rehearsed the song in Finchley.

No source names the hotel or the street, so it is named here and not mapped.

Sources

A pedestrian high street of brick shops in summer — High Street, Leatherhead, 2024. The studio’s building is not identified here. DimiTalen · CC0

Surrey Sound Studios, Leatherhead · named, not mapped

He had turned a former village hall in Leatherhead into a studio; Sting remembered it as a studio above a dairy.

Nigel Gray recorded and engineered the Police’s first three albums. Outlandos d’Amour (1978) and Reggatta de Blanc (1979) were both made there.

Gray sold Surrey Sound in 1987 and retired to Cornwall.

The studio has gone and its building is not identified, so it is named here and not mapped. Leatherhead is a short train ride from London.

Sources

New York · 20 October 1978

Instruments as luggage,
two sets on the Bowery.

The Police played their first American concert at CBGB on 20 October 1978: two late sets, to a small crowd.

They had flown in on budget tickets with their instruments as luggage, and toured on in a cramped Ford Econoline van.

Sting laughing at the microphone with his bass, lit red — Sting at the Agora Ballroom, Atlanta, 27 April 1979. Acroterion · CC BY-SA 4.0

Andy Summers playing a guitar, lit red — Andy Summers at the Agora Ballroom, Atlanta, 27 April 1979. Acroterion · CC BY-SA 4.0

Stewart Copeland at his drum kit under red light — Stewart Copeland at the Agora Ballroom, Atlanta, 27 April 1979. Acroterion · CC BY-SA 4.0

Six months later, on that first run of American clubs: the Agora Ballroom, Atlanta, 27 April 1979.

A shopfront with a black awning on a pale building on the Bowery — 315 Bowery in 2008, by then the John Varvatos store. Sbazzone · Public domain

CBGB · 315 Bowery, East Village, Manhattan

CBGB opened on 10 December 1973 and closed on 15 October 2006. John Varvatos opened a store in the space about 13 months after the club closed.

The building was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2013.

A shop now. See the front from the Bowery.

Sources

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Hammersmith, London · 1979

Two halls, one night,
an armoured car between.

A 1986 magazine piece guessed it was the busiest night they ever played: both halls, with an armoured personnel carrier between them.

First set: the Apollo, Queen Caroline Street.

A broad pale art deco cinema front with a long canopy on a London street — The former Hammersmith Odeon, now the Eventim Apollo, June 2008. Alex.muller · CC BY-SA 3.0

Hammersmith Odeon, now the Eventim Apollo

On one night in 1979 the band played the Apollo, then went round the corner to the Palais by what Sting called a tank.

On 18 December 1979 an Evening Standard photographer pictured the three outside the stage door of a Hammersmith hall, with a policeman standing behind them. Before that, Sting says, the Police had played local pubs such as the Red Cow.

The hall opened as the Gaumont Palace on 28 March 1932 and became the Hammersmith Odeon in 1962. It is now the Eventim Apollo, Grade II* listed, holding 3,655 seated or 5,300 part standing.

A working concert hall. Buy a ticket for any show.

Sources

A shabby two-storey club front with boarded doors on a London street — The Hammersmith Palais on Shepherd’s Bush Road in November 2008, closed and before demolition. Mark Hillary · CC BY 2.0

Site of the Hammersmith Palais

The second hall of that 1979 double night was the Palais, reached from the Apollo by armoured car.

Bulldozers began pulling down the Palais in May 2012, and the site was rebuilt as student flats.

The Palais has gone; student flats stand on the site. See it from Shepherd’s Bush Road.

Sources

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Sting in a sleeveless top playing bass under orange stage light — Sting on stage at Estadio Obras Sanitarias, Buenos Aires, 15 December 1980. Harryhesse · Public domain

Hilversum and Buenos Aires · 1980

A third album
made abroad.

The third album, Zenyatta Mondatta, was recorded at Wisseloord in Hilversum, with Nigel Gray as co-producer.

Gray won two Grammys for it: Best Rock Performance for Don’t Stand So Close to Me and Best Rock Instrumental for Behind My Camel.

A large wood-panelled recording room with daylight from high windows — Studio 1 at Wisseloord, Hilversum, in 2012. Marco Raaphorst · CC BY 2.0

Wisseloord Studios, Hilversum

Wisseloord’s studios are at Catharina van Renneslaan 10 in Hilversum.

A working studio complex, not open to drop-in visitors. See it from Catharina van Renneslaan.

Sources

AIR Montserrat · December 1982

Three rooms,
one take.

For Synchronicity the band met on Montserrat in December 1982 with the producer Hugh Padgham, each bringing his own songs. Stewart Copeland’s drums were set up in the upstairs dining room of the house next door. His only link to the studio below was a television monitor. After each take someone had to press the talkback in the control room to tell Copeland what the others thought.

Control room

Sting

Padgham worked in the control room; Sting played there too, bouncing on a jogging mat. Andy Summers was in the live area.

Live area

Andy Summers

Summers played through a Roland JC-120 amplifier with its chorus always on.

Dining room, next door · the house next door

Stewart Copeland

The dining room was hot; Copeland needed many takes, and Padgham taped his sticks and headphones in place.

Nobody is ready. Get each room ready, then roll a take.

Sources

A plain wooden writing desk with a chair by a window shutter — The desk at GoldenEye, Oracabessa, where Ian Fleming wrote the Bond books, 2011. Dagomir Marquezi · CC BY-SA 4.0

GoldenEye, Oracabessa, Jamaica · 1982

Written at
Fleming’s desk.

He wrote Every Breath You Take, King of Pain and Wrapped Around Your Finger at the desk where Fleming wrote the James Bond novels.

Sting wrote many of the Synchronicity songs at GoldenEye, Ian Fleming’s former house on Jamaica’s north shore, in 1982. He has also described watching sunspots from a clifftop over the Caribbean while he wrote.

Ian Fleming’s house is now part of a hotel, with beach villas, lagoon cottages and huts: book a stay to go in. GoldenEye is now a hotel on Oracabessa Bay, founded by Chris Blackwell, with beach villas, lagoon cottages and beach huts.

Sources

GoldenEye

GoldenEye, Oracabessa

Oracabessa Bay, St Mary, Jamaica · Book direct · +1 800-688-7678

Ian Fleming’s house on Jamaica’s north shore, now a hotel of beach villas, lagoon cottages and beach huts. Sting wrote Every Breath You Take here at Fleming’s desk. Pictured: the desk, 2011.

Check rooms

Shea Stadium, Queens

A borrowed
stadium.

On 18 August 1983 the Police played Shea Stadium, home of the Mets, on the Synchronicity tour. In the encore Sting thanked the Beatles for lending them their stadium.

Tickets sold out in about five hours, and 15,000 more seats were added.

Sources

A home-plate shaped plaque set in asphalt — The plaque marking Shea Stadium’s home plate in the Citi Field car park, February 2010. Commandr Cody · CC BY-SA 3.0

Long Island · 1983, then Australia · 1984

Then apart.

Afterwards the three met at a house on Long Island, and Sting suggested they stop.

Synchronicity was No. 1 for 8 weeks in Britain and 17 in America; the band played its last concert in Australia about seven months after Shea.

Sources

Where it is now

Three rooms,
8 places.

The two Hammersmith halls are round the corner from each other; the Bowery and the Shea plaques are a subway ride apart; AIR and the Observatory share a hillside.

Where it is now

8 places you can visit, from Queen Caroline Street to Oracabessa Bay. The Paris hotel and Surrey Sound’s building are not identified, and Le Studio has been demolished on private land, so all three are named and not mapped.

Pins mark public places; private homes are named but not pinned.

General reference · Public access · Coordinate precision: building · Not an exact scene or camera position; not a visitor route. A working concert hall. Buy a ticket for any show.
General reference · Public access · Coordinate precision: site · Not an exact scene or camera position; not a visitor route. The Palais has gone; student flats stand on the site. See it from Shepherd’s Bush Road.

The former Hammersmith Odeon, now the Eventim Apollo, June 2008. Alex.muller · CC BY-SA 3.0
45 Queen Caroline Street, Hammersmith, London
Hammersmith Odeon, now the Eventim Apollo
On one night in 1979 the band played the Apollo, then went round the corner to the Palais by what Sting called a tank.
A working concert hall. Buy a ticket for any show.
Sources
The Hammersmith Palais on Shepherd’s Bush Road in November 2008, closed and before demolition. Mark Hillary · CC BY 2.0
242 Shepherd’s Bush Road, Hammersmith, London
Site of the Hammersmith Palais
The second hall of that 1979 double night was the Palais, reached from the Apollo by armoured car.
The Palais has gone; student flats stand on the site. See it from Shepherd’s Bush Road.
Sources

Stay

A room at Fleming’s house.

GoldenEye, where Every Breath You Take was written, is a hotel now.

GoldenEye

GoldenEye, Oracabessa

Oracabessa Bay, St Mary, Jamaica · Book direct · +1 800-688-7678

Ian Fleming’s house on Jamaica’s north shore, now a hotel of beach villas, lagoon cottages and beach huts. Sting wrote Every Breath You Take here at Fleming’s desk. Pictured: the desk, 2011.

Check rooms

Go there

Stand where it happened.

The Volcano Observatory above AIR, and music and island tours in London, New York and on Montserrat.

Montserrat Volcano Observatory

Flemings, Salem, Montserrat · Free · Mon–Fri 9am–4pm · film EC$10 (US$4)

The deck looks over the volcano, the Belham Valley and buried Plymouth, under a kilometre from the AIR ruins. A documentary runs every hour.

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What’s on

No band dates announced.

No Police concerts are on sale; solo shows are not listed here.

No current dated events are listed. Check providers for the latest programme.

Take it home

Three memoirs and five albums.

One book each, and the records made in the places on this page.

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One Train Later

Andy Summers

The guitarist’s memoir.

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Strange Things Happen

Stewart Copeland

The drummer’s memoir.

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Every place and moment behind this page, with sources.

Search all places and Moments Current state Sort

11 of 11 places · 18 of 18 Moments

A Paris hotel, October 1977
Paris; the hotel and its street are not named
- Roxanne
  A cancelled gig, a shared room in a cheap hotel, and a song begun from the street outside.
Surrey Sound Studios, Leatherhead
Leatherhead, Surrey; the exact building is not sourced
- Outlandos d’Amour
  The first album is made with Nigel Gray in a converted hall in Leatherhead.
- Reggatta de Blanc
  The second album is made at Surrey Sound too.
Hammersmith Odeon, now the Eventim Apollo
45 Queen Caroline Street, Hammersmith, London
- Two halls, one night
  The Apollo first, then the Palais, reached by armoured car.
- Police with police
  The three photographed at a Hammersmith stage door with a policeman behind them.
Site of the Hammersmith Palais
242 Shepherd’s Bush Road, Hammersmith, London
- The second set
  The Palais, round the corner, the same night.
- The Palais comes down
  Bulldozers start on the Palais; student flats go up.
CBGB
315 Bowery, East Village, Manhattan
- First American night
  Two late sets at CBGB, after a budget flight with the instruments as luggage.
Wisseloord Studios, Hilversum
Catharina van Renneslaan 10, Hilversum, Netherlands
- Zenyatta Mondatta
  The third album is recorded in Hilversum; two of its tracks win Grammys.
AIR Montserrat
Friths Road, Salem, Montserrat
- Ghost in the Machine
  The fourth album is recorded at AIR Montserrat.
- Three rooms
  Synchronicity is started in three rooms in two buildings, linked by a television monitor.
- Hurricane Hugo
  The studio is damaged beyond repair and closes.
Montserrat Volcano Observatory
Flemings, Salem, Montserrat
- The eruption
  The Soufrière Hills volcano buries Plymouth and the airport.
GoldenEye, Oracabessa
Oracabessa Bay, St Mary, Jamaica
- Fleming’s desk
  Sting writes Every Breath You Take, King of Pain and Wrapped Around Your Finger at Ian Fleming’s desk.
Le Studio, Morin-Heights
Morin-Heights, Laurentides, Quebec
- Overdubs and the mix
  Every Breath You Take is built up instrument by instrument in Quebec.
- Fire at Le Studio
  Fire damages the empty studio; it is later demolished.
Site of Shea Stadium
Citi Field car park, Flushing Meadows, Queens
- Shea Stadium
  A sold-out stadium, and thanks to the Beatles for the loan of it.
- Stop
  After Shea, on Long Island, Sting suggests they stop; the last concert is in Australia about seven months later.

The Police

Three to a room,a poster on the wall.

Instruments as luggage,two sets on the Bowery.

East Village and Bowery punk tours

Two halls, one night,an armoured car between.

London music history tours

A third albummade abroad.

Three rooms,one take.

Written atFleming’s desk.

GoldenEye, Oracabessa

A borrowedstadium.

Three rooms,8 places.

Where it is now

Hammersmith Odeon, now the Eventim Apollo

Site of the Hammersmith Palais

GoldenEye, Oracabessa

Montserrat Volcano Observatory

London music history tours

East Village and Bowery punk tours

Montserrat island tours

One Train Later

Strange Things Happen

Broken Music

Outlandos d’Amour

Reggatta de Blanc

Zenyatta Mondatta

Ghost in the Machine

Synchronicity

The full record

A Paris hotel, October 1977

Roxanne

Surrey Sound Studios, Leatherhead

Outlandos d’Amour

Reggatta de Blanc

Hammersmith Odeon, now the Eventim Apollo

Two halls, one night

Police with police

Site of the Hammersmith Palais

The second set

The Palais comes down

CBGB

First American night

Wisseloord Studios, Hilversum

Zenyatta Mondatta

AIR Montserrat

Ghost in the Machine

Three rooms

Hurricane Hugo

Montserrat Volcano Observatory

The eruption

GoldenEye, Oracabessa

Fleming’s desk

Le Studio, Morin-Heights

Overdubs and the mix

Fire at Le Studio

Site of Shea Stadium

Shea Stadium

Stop

Three to a room,
a poster on the wall.

Instruments as luggage,
two sets on the Bowery.

Two halls, one night,
an armoured car between.

A third album
made abroad.

Three rooms,
one take.

Written at
Fleming’s desk.

A borrowed
stadium.

Three rooms,
8 places.