Strange Things Happen
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"Copeland's confessions from the 2007-2008 reunion tour of the Police form a seamless and irresistible narrative...Readers feel as if they were on stage with him, Sting and Andy Summers, sharing with us the thrill of performing with one of the great bands of all time." -- Publishers Weekly
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Product Description
A remarkable memoir from the legendary drummer with The Police.
Stewart Copeland is a genuine rock legend. As the drummer with The Police he was part of the biggest rock band in the world. They sold over 50 million records, won 2 Brits and 5 Grammys and were inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. When they reformed in 2007 they played to nearly 4 million fans on a record-breaking world tour which grossed over $400m.
But his time with The Police is just a tiny part of his story.
Growing up in Lebanon, unaware that his dad was a major US spy. Being best friends with Kim Philby’s son. Singing in the choir in Wells Cathedral. Performing arts college in San Diego. Drumming with prog-rock gods Curved Air. Appearing on TOTP as Klark Kent in full camoflage make-up. Spray painting The Police logos around London at night. Rock stardom and fan obsessions. Filming experimental movies with a pygmy tribe. Playing polo against Prince Charles. Recording the score to Rumblefish with Francis Ford Coppola looking on. Composing operas. Reforming the band. Arguing with Sting. Embarking on one of the biggest tours of all time as he approaches sixty.
These are just a few of the episodes covered in this revelatory autobiography. It is destined to be a must-read for thousands of Police fans and music enthusiasts.
Strange Things Happen is an unforgettable memoir from a musician who has earned his place in rock history.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
If you were a massive fan of the police as i was then you may be thinking whats the point in buying this book , heard it all before in music papers ,police story books, heard the interviews on radio ,seen every documentary on tv . many years down the line after the band folded we had sting with his moving autobigraphy broken music , andy summers took us on a magical journey with his one train later and now its stewarts turn with strange things happen .
Some might say do we need yet another account of the police story , they gave us great music , they are all brilliant talented musicians and also in my opinion great wordsmiths , after reading all three autobiographies its easy to understand how they they managed to create one of the best bands in the history of music .
stewarts book is no exception in the first two pages he manages to ecapsulate his life story in the first chapter ''letter to a friend '' a true master stoke , but then he moves on to provide the reader with truely amazing , rivetting stories of his journey through life so far which makes for a cracking read , i particularly like the opening chapters when one morning after retiring from the police stewart looks in his wardrobe and wonders just what the hell does he wear now .
laced with great stories , rich in vocabulary from an articulate , acute observer , a feast of a book , enjoyed it immensely .
Some might say do we need yet another account of the police story , they gave us great music , they are all brilliant talented musicians and also in my opinion great wordsmiths , after reading all three autobiographies its easy to understand how they they managed to create one of the best bands in the history of music .
stewarts book is no exception in the first two pages he manages to ecapsulate his life story in the first chapter ''letter to a friend '' a true master stoke , but then he moves on to provide the reader with truely amazing , rivetting stories of his journey through life so far which makes for a cracking read , i particularly like the opening chapters when one morning after retiring from the police stewart looks in his wardrobe and wonders just what the hell does he wear now .
laced with great stories , rich in vocabulary from an articulate , acute observer , a feast of a book , enjoyed it immensely .
9 of 10 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
The emphasis is on fun in this memoir - for Copeland is a hyperactive sort, workaholic but easily bored, loving a challenge, never playing anything quite the same way twice, liking to be boss, and he's also much more than a mere drummer.
Jumping about in time with flashes back and forward, the book opens with pages about his childhood in Beirut, where he played with Harry Philby - yes, son of that Philby, and where his Dad was big in the CIA, through moving to boarding school in England, learning the drums and then in 1975 joining his first professional band Curved Air where he must have broken many a boy's heart by marrying the elfinly beautiful lead singer Sonja Kristina. Then - The Police - the band that made him world famous. Copeland deals with their initial years in just ten pages. It's clear that our mission, should we choose to accept it, is really to read about what Stewart did next ...
The next big chunk of the book takes us up to 2007, and there's a lot to tell. Playing polo against Prince Charles, making a film in Africa, playing with many other bands, and developing a love for the pizzica music of Salento in Southern Italy, meeting his second wife Fiona, and having a ball being a judge on the BBC celebrity duet show 'It takes two' ... all great fun. Then, there's the main day job as a composer. Copeland studied composition at college, and post Police, he composed an opera - not a rock one, a proper, grand one - with a plot based on the crusades; it was staged in Cleveland to a largely enthusiastic response. Following this is a long career, in between all these adventures, as a film and TV composer, having composed scores for many movies and lots of TV work, notably starting with Coppola's Rumblefish.
Then it all comes round again. Copeland's hobby project of editing all the film he took during the Police years into a movie is entered for the Sundance festival. For the first time in ages, the three musicians are reunited at the festival when Sting turns up for the premiere. This event sows the seeds for the Police reunion tour which takes up the final 100 pages.
Stewart & Sting's stormy relationship is the stuff of legend. Now they're both older and wiser, you might expect them to have mellowed. It starts off well, but these guys have had years of being top dogs now, and before long they're circling around each other, spoiling for a fight. They cope though, letting the music do it's work and manage eighteen months on tour.
This book is mainly about his career and working families, rather than the loving one at home. We find out very little about his parents, siblings, and even less about his seven (yes!) kids, although there's a nice photo of them all at the end. Copeland however, is an aimiable yet sparky host, always capable of seeing the funny side of things; his straight talking and writing style always lets us know what he thinks. What also come through strongly are what he sees as the shamanistic properties of music to inspire and inhabit a body - any music has the possibility to do this, and refreshingly he embraces this philosophy throughout.
Copeland is anything but a normal rock star - and this is an excellent read for any music fan, I really enjoyed it.
Jumping about in time with flashes back and forward, the book opens with pages about his childhood in Beirut, where he played with Harry Philby - yes, son of that Philby, and where his Dad was big in the CIA, through moving to boarding school in England, learning the drums and then in 1975 joining his first professional band Curved Air where he must have broken many a boy's heart by marrying the elfinly beautiful lead singer Sonja Kristina. Then - The Police - the band that made him world famous. Copeland deals with their initial years in just ten pages. It's clear that our mission, should we choose to accept it, is really to read about what Stewart did next ...
The next big chunk of the book takes us up to 2007, and there's a lot to tell. Playing polo against Prince Charles, making a film in Africa, playing with many other bands, and developing a love for the pizzica music of Salento in Southern Italy, meeting his second wife Fiona, and having a ball being a judge on the BBC celebrity duet show 'It takes two' ... all great fun. Then, there's the main day job as a composer. Copeland studied composition at college, and post Police, he composed an opera - not a rock one, a proper, grand one - with a plot based on the crusades; it was staged in Cleveland to a largely enthusiastic response. Following this is a long career, in between all these adventures, as a film and TV composer, having composed scores for many movies and lots of TV work, notably starting with Coppola's Rumblefish.
Then it all comes round again. Copeland's hobby project of editing all the film he took during the Police years into a movie is entered for the Sundance festival. For the first time in ages, the three musicians are reunited at the festival when Sting turns up for the premiere. This event sows the seeds for the Police reunion tour which takes up the final 100 pages.
Stewart & Sting's stormy relationship is the stuff of legend. Now they're both older and wiser, you might expect them to have mellowed. It starts off well, but these guys have had years of being top dogs now, and before long they're circling around each other, spoiling for a fight. They cope though, letting the music do it's work and manage eighteen months on tour.
This book is mainly about his career and working families, rather than the loving one at home. We find out very little about his parents, siblings, and even less about his seven (yes!) kids, although there's a nice photo of them all at the end. Copeland however, is an aimiable yet sparky host, always capable of seeing the funny side of things; his straight talking and writing style always lets us know what he thinks. What also come through strongly are what he sees as the shamanistic properties of music to inspire and inhabit a body - any music has the possibility to do this, and refreshingly he embraces this philosophy throughout.
Copeland is anything but a normal rock star - and this is an excellent read for any music fan, I really enjoyed it.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
I am still halfway through this and to be honest it's a bit of a weird one.
clearly the guy is a genius, and he had an interesting life, but the problem is that this book is difficult to read.
each chapter is quite disconnected from the previous and this makes you feel like you are just told small episodes rather than a nice entertaining story.
I read a lot of rock bios, and I wouldn't put this in my top 5, not even top 10.
An example of an excellent one is Andy Summer's one, fellow Police member: it sits on a different league altogether.
anyway, a good read (at times), not SO focused on music and the Police but hey...
clearly the guy is a genius, and he had an interesting life, but the problem is that this book is difficult to read.
each chapter is quite disconnected from the previous and this makes you feel like you are just told small episodes rather than a nice entertaining story.
I read a lot of rock bios, and I wouldn't put this in my top 5, not even top 10.
An example of an excellent one is Andy Summer's one, fellow Police member: it sits on a different league altogether.
anyway, a good read (at times), not SO focused on music and the Police but hey...
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
OK read
Bought for my husband who is a Police fan. He quite liked the book but preferred, Andy Summers biography. (his words -not a very exciting review really is it !)
Published 9 months ago by Mrs. A. Andrews
Drumming away!
After reading both Sting and Andy's autobiographies I just had to complete the collection by reading Stewarts too! Read more
Published 11 months ago by Matt182
really dull
I too got this book based on my love of the police and stewart Copelands drumming. Basically if your looking for a unique insight into the Police then don't by this book as he... Read more
Published 16 months ago by C. Gorman
Was this the same Stewart Copeland??
The claim on the cover of this book that it is " .... a life with The Police" is seriously misleading. Read more
Published 20 months ago by The Man From Essex
Pretty Boring stuff
Love the Police, Love Stewart Copelands Drumming, as a drummer myself thought id give this book a go. Read more
Published 23 months ago by saloon
WONDERFULLY ENJOYABLE READ...BY THE DRUMMER !
This is a super read from an artist who's more than the well known drummer with a very well known band,of course The Police. Read more
Published on 1 Mar 2010 by P. Clack
A MUST!
This Book is a must for all of you Copeland fan.Very well written and hilarious too,in particular the wrong italian "blaspheming" behaviour.. Read more
Published on 10 Dec 2009 by Umberto Cozzula
brilliant book
stewart flies through chapters of his life with the fast-paced enthusiasm with which he dives into everything. Read more
Published on 4 Oct 2009
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