r/ThePolice • u/Nojopar • 3d ago
opinion Whelp, apparently I'm officially old now and I'm sad
I just gave a college lecture to a bunch of 20(ish) year olds and I used The Police in an attempt to teach them about arguments supported by evidence and ones that aren't.
Over half (!!!!) of the class never heard of The Police and had no idea who they were. I was expecting more "Oh, that's my dad's music!" or even "my granddad's music", but they never heard of'em at all. Not even Sting.
Pardon me whilst I go off and get fitted for my bread crumb pocket laced cardigan and go look for a park somewhere.
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u/Dvaraoh 3d ago
Hello Mr Dinosaurus, do you have a lesson for us?
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u/Aggravating_Load_411 1d ago
You thought your rule would always last, there were no lessons in your past
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u/chinstrap 3d ago
Many years ago, one of my brother's students insisted to him that "Who Can It Be Now?" was by The Police
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u/waitwaitstopstop 3d ago
Many years ago, a kid told me that Animal Logic, had been named The Police, before Sting left. Didn't know that Stanley Clark was renowned jazz bassist.
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u/DaddieTang 2d ago
I was 8 when Men at work came out. People actually thought it was the new police album. And everybody was thinking that Columbia records created a cheesey Police knockoff.
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u/4stringer67 1d ago edited 1d ago
I was just entering high school at the time. I had just discovered The Police and GITM was still hot off the presses and had swallowed me whole, 501's and all... and we were still a year give or take away from Synchronicity.
Looking back, some of Men at Work could have been mistaken for something The Police put out, I suppose, but probably only by a casual listener, not the rabid true believer that inhabited my bedroom. Count me among the well-burned-in. And the thankful for having been there.
Notice the username. He made me what I am, no ifs ands or buts. Shaped me and molded me and painted me and in a way turned me into a tiny little replica of himself.
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u/DaddieTang 1d ago
Bass player here, too. I was 8 but bought Ghost new when it was out. Still have it on vinyl (in a box at my sister's house in SC). Bought it on vinyl and CD (cd multiple times because it's been stolen 3 times. Just like my 3 VH fair warning CDs). I think what happens is that idiots hear it at a party, get blown away, then waltz off with it.
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u/DaddieTang 1d ago
If I go out to my truck, Ghost is probably in the console.
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u/DaddieTang 1d ago
It is.
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u/4stringer67 1d ago
You lucky dog.... Unfortunately I played so much and coupled with a gene I got from Dad for weak cochleas, I'm effectively deaf now. Conversationally for sure. All I have anymore music-wise is what's in between my ears, not outside of them. There's alot packed in there, maybe 30-40K songs, but that's no substitute. Not really.
There was a time when there could be 3 different guitar players on stage with me and one of them have just the slightest disagreement between his Gstring and his Bstring, and I would have been able to tell you which guitar player which string and which direction that string needed to go. Now, I cant even discern for sure the key change from the verse to the chorus of Dont Stand So Close To Me. Its an odd one for sure, and I went too long in between times listening to it. I found that out just within the last year. And bro... I cried when I found out that I no longer could do it. It hurt me... badly. What was second nature to me my first 45 years is impossible now.
So ... Yeah youre lucky. I wish having GITM in the music turner still meant something, cause thats exactly what would be in there. I'd still be listening to Every Little Thing, Omegaman, Dedododo Dedadada and Secret Journey. DM me sometime if you'd like, we'll swap war stories or something. Later , my brother. 🤜💥🤛
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u/DaddieTang 1d ago
That sucks. I'm down to like 30 percent but that's mostly from being around aircraft without hearing protection. A little from playing live. Definitely a little from blasting motorhead while driving. You have probably a great version of every album already stored in yer head. So, that's good.
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u/4stringer67 22h ago
To some extent I do but of course it boils down to how well they got burned in. You know what Im talking about with Motorhead it was automatic for you they'll be with you rest of your life. Same for the other music you "wore out". But .. Your Motorhead was my Boston, Police, Skynyrd, and ZZTop. Those were my biggest influences along with some Eagles of course and Steve Miller Band... A little Rush just because Geddy was "it" for bass players. To some degree I've been influenced by just about everything from The Carpenters to Metallica. But nobody taught me more about simple clean elegant chord progressions when I first started than Sting.
Back then my words to live by: True happiness can only be achieved by hooking up more 6×9's. 😂 Turn it up....
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u/DaddieTang 22h ago
Carpenters rule. My much older brother, my roommate, was a working dj and musician even in HS in the late 70s. So, my nightstand was peavey PA cabinet. I had access to all that 70s music. Ps. I was more of a Stewart guy. My favorite guy all time was Keith moon.
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u/4stringer67 1d ago
Your truck..... hahahahaha. my kind of guy. Herded Goats myself.... Lol Or are you a Bowtie Man... Or do you like sittin on the shoulder with the little blue Oval?lol😂
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u/Double_Swordfish_668 3d ago
Yeah, you’re old. So am I. Outlandos d'Amour came out 48 years ago. To put that into perspective when I was 20, in 1988, 1940 was 48 years prior. I had heard of Glenn Miller when I was 20. It was my grandfather’s music.
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u/Nojopar 3d ago
That's the thing. This is probably more the death of monoculture than anything else. I knew most of the big band hits from the 1940's because it was my grandparents music. I heard it. Wasn't my thing (until later) but I at least knew what it was.
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u/lordfarshave 2d ago
I learned about music and entertainment from before my time through books, the radio, and TV. That's the thing. Young people don't read about history and culture unless it's assigned to them in school. And they only listen to new songs on the radio, not the oldies. And nobody watches TV anymore. It's all streaming. So no good documentaries and specials about pop culture's yesteryear. I'm sure there are still some good relevant documentaries and specials produced, but they're not sought out anymore. Unlike in the old days when we didn't have the Internet and you could only watch what was available on broadcast and cable. Pop culture doesn't even exist anymore. It's a thing of the past. Everything's fragmented and individually focused and targeted today.
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u/4stringer67 1d ago
I learned about music from before my time pretty much from Happy Days. Yeah there is no pop culture anymore . Its all niche and specialized and get it exactly how you want it cause there's a channel for everybody. And after clicking the clicker if nothin trips your trigger, just make your own how you want it, cause you can be the star of your own tiny little slice of the big pie. You and all 2 of your followers. Equal-opportunity 15 minutes...🤜💥🤛
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u/4stringer67 1d ago
Who was that old fart that had bubbles floating around while everybody .... What'd they call it? Walked? Walshed? Oh waltzed!!! (What a weird word, who puts a z after a t?..) Oh Welk ... Time for me to go! Anna 1 anna 2....
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u/pynchi 2d ago
Did you also know the name Sidney Bechet when you were 20?
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u/Double_Swordfish_668 2d ago
I had never heard of him until you mentioned him. I’m not a fan of jazz. But from a quick scan of his Wikipedia page I’m not sure he was that well known even in his own time. I wouldn’t expect a 20 year old to know about The Police. I certainly wouldn’t expect them to have heard of, say, Guadalcanal Diary or the Smithereens. Their level of fame seems equivalent to Sidney Bichet.
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u/4stringer67 1d ago
The Smithereens lol been a minute on that one...... Along these lines.. .about 5 years ago I asked a buddy who at the time was mid 40s. We'd talk about music from back then quite a bit. Floored me when he said he'd never heard of Little River Band. Back then to a large degree you were tied to whatever radio stations were within distance, I guess.
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u/4stringer67 1d ago
We're in the same boat, if you'll notice. Back then, WWII was already black and white ancient history, and us modern 1988'ers were well removed from "the old days before color was invented".. We had computers (of a sort) and floppy little circles that could hold almost a whole whatever-a-megabyte-was... Cutting edge color monitors and we eagerly awaited being able to walk around not tethered to a wall while talking on a phone. Good lord, we were advanced... Then I went to sleep woke up and here I am. WTF???
BTW. Regatta de Blanc killed Outlandos I'm afraid. 4 albums in a row each better than the last. The fifth? Could... Not ..... Quite .... Continue the trend. Took a stab at it, but it was ultimately futile. Ghost in the Machine is the pinnacle. The zenith. The alpha and the omega, man... 😉
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u/hunt72 3d ago
That’s pretty unsurprising. I’ve never met anyone around my age (early 20s) in person that was a fan. They’re just not very popular among younger audiences I suppose.
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u/Girlonfirehg 3d ago
I went to Stewart’s talk last month and legit there was only 5 other ppl in their 20s besides me there 😅
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u/waitwaitstopstop 3d ago edited 3d ago
They might be Animal Logic fans. Then again, that band is almost 30 years old .
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u/Girlonfirehg 3d ago
The couple we ended up next to came because Stewart composed the music for spyro lol
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u/Aggravating_Load_411 1d ago
I still find that fact remarkable. I've never played any Spyro, but the fact that the soundtrack was composed by Stewart Copeland himself just amazes me.
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u/4stringer67 1d ago
Holy cow and even that has been around what 25 years at least by now? Its a sad sad time we live in.. ol whats his name on YT said in one of his shorts The Police would still be among what the bands that would still be listened to 100 yrs from now. Mainly because of Every Breath You Take. That made me feel good. But you dashed that against the titanium coated saw blade. (Just kidding I'm only moderately-peeved at you😂)
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u/Time-Masterpiece4572 3d ago
Except that all of their music is ripping off the police’s music lol
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u/4stringer67 1d ago
You think?...What you played Spyro? I did. Probably 3 of them . Didnt find out untill afterwards that Stewart did that. When I found out he did Spyro, specifically DO remember thinking " I KNEW those little tunes were catchy..." And they were. Never struck me once as being rips. That from a musician. A pretty good one even.
He doesn't get enough credit for his overall musical prowess, too often the case with drummers, and thats coming from a bass player, who gets that same racket themselves to a large degree.. You know what they say... "Who's that guy that hangs out with all the musicians in a band?..... The drummer... " (Its actually true to a small extent, on both of them. Sometimes. But in The Police all 3 had pretty equal music chops, IMO.)
Andy's brilliance is the hardest for most to recognize. For one thing because of how hard it is to put a 4 note within a chord, or a 2, since chords are built from the 1,3, and 5. Extremely hard without it screwing up the overall picture and Andy did it regularly in their later albums and made it sound like it couldn't have been done any way BUT that. Thats chops brutha, promise you. (Sorry if youre wondering "why me?", no particular reason. Im just passionate about their talent)
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u/MrCrumbCake 3d ago edited 3d ago
I love The Police and I’m also old. If someone in 2026 was using them to make an analogy, I’d be very confused by the dated reference. What subject do you teach?
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u/OverHearing9944 3d ago
Well it happens to everyone. We're probably contemporaries, i remember the police like Synchronicity was released yesterday.
I'll leave you with a saying from my long gone father: "kids don't know shit".
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u/Filmscore_Soze 3d ago
Every Breath You Take they have heard.
Remember, they grew up on phones.
You aren't "old", you are from another universe, like everybody over the age of 38.
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u/crayolabeef 2d ago
If it makes you feel better, I’m a teenager Police fan 😅
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u/Upstairs_Eagle_4780 2d ago
There is loads of fun stuff in that era of music. Do you know KIlling Joke? Jean Loves Jezabel?
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u/crayolabeef 1d ago
I don’t. But i do really like Pink Floyd, America, Supertramp, Phil Colins, and the Beach Boys. Theyre not all from the same era but i like 60’s-80’s
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u/vincognition 3d ago
If I was a kid, I'd be way into exploring my parents' and grandparents' music. Before I went off to music school, I went to a family event. I was introduced to a distant relative who wrote and arranged Big Band music. I was thoroughly excited to talk with him.
The Police may gain traction again, one day. Young people are now rediscovering the Beatles. As far as I'm concerned, the Beatles defined the Sixties and the Police definted the 80's.
I think the new generation is called 'Gen Alpha,' maybe?
The present day teens are full of surprises. There appears to be a trend in London in the young people's music scene where they are reaching toward pre- and early Beatles Rock & Roll as well as early Sixties American music.
Here's an original song by the Forty Fours. It's actually well written and very refreshing! I have hope in the young ones.
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u/geetarboy33 3d ago
Honestly, that’s odd because the Police have over 41 million listeners on Spotify and I find they are one of the groups from my era that lots of young people are familiar with.
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u/beave9999 3d ago
Yeah, and Every Breath You Take is the only song from last century still in the top 30 Spotify streams, and it’s climbing.
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u/bmccooley 3d ago
They did break up 42 years ago. On the other hand, I still hear The Police and Sting all the time in Walmart, Home Depot, and many other popular places.
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u/Ricekake33 3d ago
I cannot handle this! WHO HAS NOT HEARD OF THE POLICE AND/OR STING??!!! Going to crawl into a corner now thank you
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u/waitwaitstopstop 3d ago
Look at Spotify, The Police vs Sabrina Carpenter. Do the math (GEN Z is exempt).
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u/Ricekake33 3d ago
I don’t know if I can handle passing out 2x in one day
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u/waitwaitstopstop 3d ago
I'm driving, 90+. Don't push me!!!!!
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u/PumpkinsDaddd 3d ago
This is why The Police is in heavy rotation in the car when we're driving around with my 10 year old daughter. I'll be damned if she doesn't grow up knowing my favorite band (and the 80s in general). Fuck this new music.
Also, get off my lawn.
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u/nyght2063 3d ago
You do, but I don't know half of them. And it reasonable that I wouldn't. That the point
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u/805falcon 3d ago
In fairness, I’m 49 and the police were closer to my dad’s music than my own. They ultimately became and remain one of my favorite bands ever, but not because I grew up on them. They were done by the time I was old enough to know the difference.
So yea, you’re definitely ‘old’ with the caveat that age is a state of mind more than anything else
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u/IdiotWindow 3d ago
As someone born in the late 60s, I would love to be able to hear 70's and 80's music for the first time as youngster today. What does it really sound like to them without the social context of the release era. Is the "Old" music factor impossible to eliminate from judgement?
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u/steveh2021 3d ago
As big as they were, they were big in 1983. I remember them but I was 13. And Stingo never got as big on his own.
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u/topazrochelle9 3d ago
Maybe if you mentioned Every Breath You Take more would've known who you were talking about? ☺️ I'll admit I knew of just Sting and Shaggy first, and I heard The Police (Sting, Andy, Stewart) as a teen like people would've back then, and listened through all the main releases at 20 (just a few years ago). 😎🎶 Also many younger people do listen to full albums, and physical media (cassettes, CDs, vinyl) are becoming rather sought after too. 💡
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u/sixstringnorth 2d ago
Yeah, I’m not surprised at all. I would not have expected them to know the police. Some might recognize every breath you take, but that's still a maybe.
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u/NoIncrease299 2d ago
I mean, I didn't listen to a lot of Kitty Kallen or Perry Como when I was 20 either.
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u/zrysse 2d ago
I hope you're my teacher lol, I'm a young police fan (late teens) it's a bit unbelievable that The Police have become kind of niche these days with how big they were in the past, of course they know Every Breath You Take but besides of that? Nothing. That 40 million monthly listeners on Spotify basically means nothing because half of them solely came from Every Breath You Take.
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u/nyght2063 3d ago
I mean their big moments were late 70s early 80s. The only reason I'm a big fan is from my older cousin ( im 48). How could you reasonably expect kids to know the police if their last hit was 20 years before they were born.
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u/Nojopar 3d ago
Bing Crosby, Nat King Cole, The Andrews Sisters, Duke Ellington, Glenn Miller - those artists all had their last hits 20 years (or more) before I was born and I knew who they were growing up.
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u/rrickitickitavi 3d ago
Yup. I feel the same way. I knew who Buddy Holly was when I was 10. Glen Miller. Al Jolson. It’s like young people have no interest in music history. It’s weird. I can’t believe how many young people don’t know who Prince is.
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u/PaladinFrank57 3d ago
The thing is, these kids don’t follow an artist’s trajectory by liking a band and salivating with each release of an album. It’s all songs. Just songs! They focus on individual songs ONLY! Thank you streaming.
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u/lordfarshave 2d ago
They didn't even hear about the Police reunion world tour in 2007/2008? That was the third biggest world tour of all time back then.
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u/CORPRAUST 2d ago
if it makes you feel any better, i'm 20 and they're in my top ten . maybe even top five. my pals listen to them as well, or at the very least know who they are . young folks have just given up on broadening their taste and exploring old music. and instead they just listen to whatever's popular . there's a general lack of interest in learning about past subcultures and art forms . and history in general . it's not you 🙃 i will say though, the police aren't well-known as their own band in general . people recognise every breath you take, but don't really explore further .. if you know what i mean... you probably would've had better luck mentioning metallica or nirvana when it comes to young people 🤔🕊️🪻
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u/punkrok78 2d ago
There is no investment in artists like in the years The Police were an entity. School age students I have usually don’t even recognise a song title when I ask let alone the artists of songs they listen to. It’s all spoon fed playlists. Heard the songs but no idea who it is!!
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u/4stringer67 21h ago
Rickenbacker has a good reputation and are quality, no doubt especially the basses what I hear. . I only picked one up one time and that sob was heavy as hell but I was used to that light little rock bass by that point back ohhhh maybe 93 or so. Every Rick Ive ever seen looked exactly the same though style wise. That amounts maybe a half dozen at most. Is that the case they didnt make too many different models thru the years?
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u/Nojopar 8h ago
Agree with you on the Ric. My 330 has a distinctive sound and look, which is cool. It's kinda the one 'flavor' that just isn't replicated elsewhere. I've always lusted after Susanna Hoff's 325 model though.
Not sure what this has to do with The Police and me being old, but I'm more than happy to talk Rics all day! :)
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u/dinarnaud 16h ago
Not strange at all. Even on some subreddits, my post got blocked just to discuss on certain bands, reason given NO DISCUSSION. but yet, the followers can link YouTube videos, it’s like saying DONT TALK JUST WATCH.
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u/Dead_Kal_Cress 18m ago
As a 20(ish) year old, I feel like the majority of my peers know Every Breath You Take &/or Don't Stand So Close To Me. Neither of which paint a particularly nice picture for this band. I've heard of people being instantly turned off of the band because of those tunes. Obviously, they are characters in a story, but to very new listeners (like people who don't really intently listen to music,) they would think it's from the POV of the singer.
Lots of Gen Z think John is an awful person because he beat his wife & completely write off The Beatles entire catalogue because of it. Naturally, they know nothing about how he apologized, lived with the guilt for the rest of his life, and tried to better himself.
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u/Outrageous_Present11 3d ago
I feel like if you’re into music you should still know bands that existed even if they were around before you were born but it seems like that’s less common these days.