Discord & Rhyme: An Album Podcast

Discord and Rhyme is a podcast where we discuss the albums we love, song by song.

086: The Police - Synchronicity (1983)

December 21, 2021  /  Amanda Rodgers

“I felt very strongly that this album should say to the world that we are individuals. We are not joined at the hip; we are not a three-headed Hydra. We were very much thrown together by accident and we're very distinguished by strong egos.”

—Stewart Copeland

Happy holidays from Discord & Rhyme! We got you a big enough umbrella, though you’ll probably still end up getting wet. To close off our fourth(!) calendar year as a podcast, Phil, Rich, John, and Mike have decided to sit around the fire and talk about an album we all know and love. When the Police recorded their final album, 1983’s Synchronicity, the trio of Sting, Andy Summers, and Stewart Copeland were at the peak of their popularity, but were also on the verge of collapse, fracturing under the stress of three very different personalities moving in opposite creative directions. The album often receives criticism as a prelude to Sting’s solo career, but we argue that it’s much more nuanced than that, and that even at their most incoherent, the trio had a natural chemistry and an ability to check and balance one another’s excesses that all came together into some truly remarkable arrangements. Whether Synchronicity is the best or worst Police album is very much up for debate, but it’s certainly one of their most interesting.

Miscellany

  • John’s audio is a little crackly in this one because, as he only discovered after recording, the USB cord for his microphone needed replacement. This should be remedied in future episodes.

  • Rich wants to clarify that, while he still doesn’t care for “On Any Other Day” (an opinion his co-hosts take umbrage with), the homophobia is part of the song’s King of the Hill-style satire of suburban life, and not reflective of Stewart Copeland’s actual views.

  • John was delighted to learn after the fact that, despite what he had always assumed, Sting apparently loved “Mother” and was happy to have it on the album. Summers expanded upon this revelation in a 2015 interview with Songfacts.

  • To give credit where it’s due, the “Peter Gunn”/“Every Breath You Take” mash-up from The Sopranos was arranged by HBO music editor Kathryn Dayak. 

Other links 

Discord & Rhyme Roll Call 

  • Phil Maddox (moderator)

  • Rich Bunnell

  • Mike DeFabio

  • John McFerrin 

Synchronicity tracklist 

  1. Synchronicity I

  2. Walking in Your Footsteps

  3. O My God

  4. Mother

  5. Miss Gradenko

  6. Synchronicity II

  7. Every Breath You Take

  8. King of Pain

  9. Wrapped Around Your Finger

  10. Tea in the Sahara

  11. Murder by Numbers 

Other clips used 

The Police:

  • Message in a Bottle

  • Can't Stand Losing You

  • Fall Out

  • Roxanne

  • Walking on the Moon

  • Don't Stand So Close to Me

  • Spirits in the Material World

  • Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic

  • Flexible Strategies

  • Behind My Camel

  • Friends

  • Contact

  • Once Upon a Daydream

  • I Burn for You

  • Omegaman

  • When the World Is Running Down, You Make the Best of What's Still Around

  • Peanuts

  • Reggatta De Blanc

  • Shambelle 

Others:

  • King Crimson - The Sheltering Sky

  • Pacific Data Images - Chromosaurus

  • Sting - Seven Days

  • Yasunori Mitsuda - Lab 16’s Ruin

  • Stewart Copeland - Opening Theme from Spyro the Dragon

  • Stewart Copeland - Opening Theme from Good Burger

  • XTC - Ten Feet Tall

  • Michael Jackson - Smooth Criminal

  • Puff Daddy and Faith Evans (feat. 112) - I'll Be Missing You

  • Henry Mancini - Peter Gunn theme

  • "Weird Al" Yankovic - King of Suede

  • "Weird Al" Yankovic - Velvet Elvis

  • Sting - Fortress Around Your Heart

  • Sting - Be Still My Beating Heart

  • Frank Zappa feat. Sting - Murder by Numbers

  • Sting - Desert Rose

Band/album personnel 

  • Sting – lead and backing vocals, bass guitar, upright bass, keyboards, drum machine and sequencer (1), saxophone (3), oboe (4, 10), production

  • Andy Summers – electric guitars, backing vocals, keyboards, lead vocals (4), production

  • Stewart Copeland – drums, marimba, percussion, backing vocals, production

  • Hugh Padgham – production, engineering

  • Renate Blauel – assistant engineer

  • Robbie Whelan – assistant engineer

  • Bob Ludwig – mastering

Credits 

“Discord & Rhyme (theme),” composed by the Other Leading Brand, contains elements of: 

  • Duran Duran - Hungry Like the Wolf

  • Amon Düül II - Dehypnotized Toothpaste

  • The Dukes of Stratosphear - What in the World?? ...

  • Faith No More - Midlife Crisis

  • Herbie Hancock - Hornets

  • Kraftwerk - Autobahn

  • Talking Heads - Seen and Not Seen

  • The Police - Walking in Your Footsteps (this episode only) 

You can buy or stream Synchronicity and other albums by the Police at thepolice.com, your local record store, or the usual suspects such as Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube, and Amazon. Follow Discord & Rhyme on Twitter @DiscordPod for news, updates, and other random stuff. Editing is by Rich, and special thanks to our own Mike DeFabio, the Other Leading Brand, for production and original music. See you next album, and keep as cool as you can.

This website and all episodes' discussion/commentary © 2018—2024 Discord & Rhyme. Excerpts from recordings appearing in episodes are included for purposes of review only, and all rights to such material remain property of their copyright holders. Please note that we make a good-faith effort to ensure all information included in these episodes is accurate, but if we get something wrong, let us know at discordpod@gmail.com and we will print a correction in the show notes. As an Amazon Associate, we earn from qualifying purchases. Website design by Amanda Rodgers. Thank you for visiting, and keep as cool as you can.

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