Nothing is more alluring to this world’s youth than something that has been banned. In fact, the very act of banning art has offered a transgressive stamp of approval to the likes of ‘God Save the Queen’, ‘Louie Louise’, and hundreds of others. While The Police were trying to convince everyone that they were, in fact, part of the punk movement, they figured they’d get in on the cunning act of commercial controversy.
It all began when ‘Roxanne’, a track now considered a mega-hit, failed to make BBC Radio One’s playlist. However, the band figured out a clever way to turn this limited airplay – usually the kiss of death for a track in 1978 – into a blessing: if the radio wasn’t playing it, then they would simply pretend it had been banned.
This was at the height of the punk revolution, and disrepute was what disenfranchised kids were clamming for. So, when The Police gave interviews at the time, they told the little white lie that ‘Roxanne’ had been banned because of its erotic lyrics. And when a similar airplay drought-hit ‘Can’t Stand Losing You’, they played the same stunt.
Their early career had got off to a stuttering start. Their debut single, ‘Fall Out’, landed in May ’77, right in the midst of the punk headlines, and it didn’t chart widely. So, it was back to the drawing board for the band. Thankfully, Andy Summers had already been in a plethora of successful bands, from The Animals to Soft Machine, so he knew the mechanisms of the industry.
And with that savviness on their side, they knew how to get things moving when it came to their subsequent stuttering singles in 1978. Suddenly, this disrepute began to not only launch their career, but the hint of an edgy new direction, musically the same, but spiritually a little more snarling and sharp. While this might have turned this inward and tore each other apart eventually, they might not have been a success without a bit of it at the start.
Both of these ‘banned’ tracks are now considered staple songs for the band, so the tactic clearly worked. Andy Summers even remembers the humble anti-punk beginnings of ‘Roxanne’. “Miles Copeland came down to hear us, and we were kind of embarrassed to play it for him, because Miles had blinders on and was into fast and furious punk,” he told Guitar World.
Concluding, “But much to his credit, he said, ‘This is great, a knockout!’ I was really surprised. And he took it to A&M and got a contract for one single. I don’t think it ever broke the Top 40 in America, but eventually it became the Police signature tune.” And it even secured 12th in the UK chart after their banned patter began to take hold.
Suddenly, it did start to get radio play, and the music press had already ensured that punk-inclined youngsters were endeared thanks to the banned myth. While 12th might not have been an enormous peak, it was as high as the band had ever soared, and it established them as a strange new force.
Over 75million record sales later, the rest is clearly history. The disrepute might have been traded for tantric rumours and ballads, but, as ever, it certainly served them well.
Over the years, the BBC banned an endless plethora for all sorts of reasons, whether it be political assertions or profanity. Naturally, most of these bans have since been lifted. However, you can find an assortment of the greatest formerly banned songs below.
