THE POLICE IN DUB – dubXanne (backed by okada)

In the late seventies, THE POLICE were the biggest band in Britain; by the early eighties they ruled the globe as a three-headed, bleached-blond monster of rock (or to be more precise… they pioneered an evolutionary shift in rock — sensitive and articulate, in touch with the feminine side, the new model band with a new man as a singer.)

Surfing a new wave sound which valued intellectual cool and lightly sprinkled ethnic influences over the discredited rock’n’roll bluster of old. The first post-punk supergroup – a constructive arrogance and a very lucky streak.

At the end of 1977, over the Christmas period, Stewart Copeland played Sting some of his reggae records. When Summers returned to Britain from his vacation in America, he found his band mates newly inspired by Jamaican sounds.

“There’s is this terrible wrong-headed cliché that The Police were a white reggae band,” protests Summers. “We weren’t at all. A white reggae band would be UB40. The Police was The Police. We took elements out of reggae, principally the bassline and tempo, and used them creatively… and that was the point of departure.” Indeed it was. Reggae rhythms finally shook The Police free from post-punk rock convention. They loosened up, lightened up, opened up. They were ready for take off. The rest of this story has become history — to date, 40 million people all over the world have bought a Police record…!

24 years later after they split up… and everybody knows what’s going on with The Police: they’ve reformed and they’re going back out on tour. Another key event — also 24 years later – is the release of a project which has been simmering for quite some time now: The Police in Dub. Due for release in may 2008 on ECHO BEACH and subdivisions, the first recordings for the Police In Dub sessions by dubXanne (backed by okada) started in September 2006.

After exhaustive scrutiny of the Police back catalogue at EMI Music Publishing (which controls and manages the rights for most of Sting’s songs) and lengthy negotiations with Sting’s management team, final consent for the project was granted in March 2007. Now the world can sit back and look forward to dub versions of the biggest tunes by The Police : Walking On The Moon — Walking On The Dub; Roxanne — DubXanne feat. EASED (SEEED), So Lonely – So Dub feat. BIG YOUTH, Bring On The Night — Bring On The Dub, Wrapped Around Your Finger – Wrapped Around Your Dub feat. JAZZ’MIN, Message In A Bottle – Message In A Dub feat. EARL 16, Spirits In A Material World – Spirits In A Dub World feat. BENJAMIN ZEPHANIAH, The Bed’s Too Big Without You – The Bed’s Too Big Without Dub feat. RANKING ROGER (THE BEAT) as well as many others. So don’t be shy .. check it out and spread the word. (Uncut Cut of Uncut)