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Thread: Stewart Copeland

  1. #1

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    Default Stewart Copeland



    Drummer: Stewart Copeland
    Main Styles: New Wave/Reggae, Soundtrack Scores
    Main Band: The Police
    Brief Summary: In 1977 founded the group The Police with bassist /vocalist Sting and original guitarist Henri Padovani (soon replaced by veteran session guitarist Andy Summers). The Police became one of the quintessential New Wave bands of the late 70's/early 80's with a distinct crossover reggae and rock sound, with Copeland's use of splash cymbals and Tama Octobans, a tightly tuned snare drum and toms, and later on electronic gear and racks of percussion, plus the group's clever use of reggae and Third World rhythms, whose influence can still be heard today. With their break up after five very successful albums, Stewart went on to write and score the soundtracks of literally dozens of movies, starting with Francis Ford Coppola's "Rumblefish" in 1983, "Wall Street", "Highlander II", "Talk Radio" and so on up until this day, as well as TV's "The Equalizer".

    Other Fun Facts: Born in Virginia, the very young Copeland was raised in Beirut by his CIA father, Miles Copeland Jnr and his mother Adie, an archaeologist. After having a very orthodox musical education (Stewart is a true multi-instrumentalist), he maintains that it was listening to Arabic rhythms such as baladi that he heard as a youngster that gave him the ease to play reggae offbeats. Stewart's oldest brother, Miles Copeland III was The Police's manager (as well as the founder of IRS records) whilst his other brother Ian was their booking agent.

    He also has done the music for the Playstation Game Spyro The Dragon and it's sequels.
    Last edited by Drumbledore; 10-25-2011 at 02:21 AM.
    "...it's the Paradigm Of The Cosmos!" Stewart Copeland on Youtube

    668: The Number Of The Guy Next Door To The Beast.

    "A random act of kindness; it keeps my heart in shape!" - Late8

  2. #2

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    Such an inspiration. Love this tune:

    Last edited by Olimpass; 03-27-2017 at 07:07 PM.

  3. #3

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    About 2 years ago, I saw this guy in Guitard Center, and he said, "Hey! You're the drummer for *****!" I said yeah. "Boy, Stewart Copeland is one of your biggest influences, isn't he?" I reluctantly agreed; then he said, "Hey! Don't feel bad that it's so transparent. You could have a lot worse influences than Stu Copeland!" . . . . True. . . .
    And the trees are all kept equal by hatchet, axe, and saw. . .

  4. #4

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    I've been on his message boards for a long time now, back before the reunion when he would post and interact regularly with his fans. I met him (and Sting and Andy) on the reunion tour, got into soundcheck and played his drums along with Sting and Andy on Roxanne and Every Breath while he went to the seats to hear how his kit sounded! It was an incredible experience- he is my drumming idol and such a cool guy in person. He really loves his little group of fans (nutters) and it shows!

  5. #5

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    the first Police record changed the way that i drum . when that record first came out ,all you heard on the radio was roxanne , they never played anything else off that record . this was before the internet,there was no way to hear anything else off of the record except to buy it . so off to the national record mart i went to get the record . when i got it home i listened to nothing else but that record for about a month . i was about 20 years old when all this happened im now 55 and i can still hear some of Copelands licks and grooves in my playing .. he was a major influence in my life as a drummer..... also that first Police record is still in my top 5 favorite records of all time.

    STEWART COPELAND RULES .....
    Tamaholic

  6. #6

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    For me it was Zenyatta Mondatta - spun that every night for months, picking apart and memorizing every ghost note, hat hit, etc- that album is when I became a drummer.

  7. #7

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    For me, the first "Stewie Moment" was learning (and failing at first...lol) to play "Walking On The Moon". Since then, I would have spent days, weeks, months and years on end analysing and breaking down his style, not only from all five Police albums, but anything that he played on, such as "Big Time" on Peter Gabriel's "So" album.

    Anthony, it's a great honour for me to see you on this thread here, I've been a fan of your playing for quite a while. There was a time when I thought I was the only Stewart Copeland nut, especially when grunge and other stuff was happening all around me and everyone else seem to be going back to a simpler way of playing. In retrospect, how wrong I was thinking that.....glad to know that there have been many other Copeland fans such as yourself and everyone here keeping the spirit alive.
    "...it's the Paradigm Of The Cosmos!" Stewart Copeland on Youtube

    668: The Number Of The Guy Next Door To The Beast.

    "A random act of kindness; it keeps my heart in shape!" - Late8

  8. #8

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    Thanks Drumbledore (love that name btw). If you aren't yet a member, go check out www.stewartcopeland.net and sign up! This goes for everyone else too! You will never meet a bunch of more dedicated SC fans (and horny middle aged women who still crush on him) than over there. He is still involved with that community of fans, and if you become a part of that contingent you're pretty much guaranteed to meet whenever he is out performing.

    Does anyone follow what he's been doing in Italy?

  9. #9

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    I can respect his body of work and his drumming, but as a person, I lost a lot of respect for Stewart Copeland when I saw him whip a stick as hard as he could backstage at someone during the show he was performing at the Modern Drummer Festival. He could have easily blinded someone in one eye with that action - it was so unthinking and so irresponsible, no matter what might have been going on with the sound or his monitor mix. He came off like a real horse's patoot that day.

    I've often heard people talk about how they analyze someone's sound and style, often times for long periods of time. I'm not quite sure how I feel about that. Stewart Copeland plays the way he does because he's Stewart Copeland, and he probably doesn't think about it too hard - he plays it the way he feels it.

    I do have to admit though that I really dig his feel and sound from the earlier Police recordings.
    Your = possessive - your stuff, your dog, your car, etc
    You're = you are - a contraction.

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  10. #10

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    For me, the first track I heard was Driven to Tears. I still love that jam they do to finish the track.
    Absolutely special drummer and I will always consider myself as a stewie nutter.
    He's just got that urgency about his playing and you never know what he'll do next when it's live. So spontaneous.
    Tama Rockstar & Paiste User and Abuser......

  11. #11

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    Quote Originally Posted by spesman View Post
    He's just got that urgency about his playing and you never know what he'll do next when it's live. So spontaneous.
    From what I've read it was his utter unpredictability coupled with his refusal to be reined in that ultimately killed the group and caused such friction between the members of the band.
    Your = possessive - your stuff, your dog, your car, etc
    You're = you are - a contraction.

    Learn it. Love it.

  12. #12

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    He and Sting both are the pinnacle of opinionated musicians. It certainly helped when it came to the music they made, but that friction absolutely did them in in 83 and 08.

  13. #13

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    Well it's like they say, you can't have a great band without friction.
    Whatever the tension, it still made for good music.
    Tama Rockstar & Paiste User and Abuser......

  14. #14

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    I met him a few weeks ago at a bar in Aurora. But you all know that.

    Haven't washed my right hand since we shook hands. Kidding. I have. But he's really a pretty cool guy. Trick, that would have pissed me off seeing that too. Uncalled for. Last time my guitarist came at me with a stick I beat him with it. Stuff freaking hurts.
    C&C ll Rogers ll Ludwig ll Slingerland

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  15. #15

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    Quote Originally Posted by IAmNotATable View Post
    I met him a few weeks ago at a bar in Aurora. But you all know that.

    Haven't washed my right hand since we shook hands. Kidding. I have. But he's really a pretty cool guy...
    NO WAAAAYYY!! You got to meet him? I'll try not to be envious......









    (fails)
    "...it's the Paradigm Of The Cosmos!" Stewart Copeland on Youtube

    668: The Number Of The Guy Next Door To The Beast.

    "A random act of kindness; it keeps my heart in shape!" - Late8

  16. #16

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    man,,,,, i love those blue sparkle octobans......
    Tamaholic

  17. #17

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    You guys will appreciate this - [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4HuGOypz-SE"]Anthony w/The Police Soundcheck - YouTube[/ame]

  18. #18

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    Quote Originally Posted by IAmNotATable View Post
    I met him a few weeks ago at a bar in Aurora. But you all know that.

    Haven't washed my right hand since we shook hands. Kidding. I have. But he's really a pretty cool guy. Trick, that would have pissed me off seeing that too. Uncalled for. Last time my guitarist came at me with a stick I beat him with it. Stuff freaking hurts.
    I throw sticks at my guitar player when he gets out of line. Gotta keep those fools in check.

  19. #19

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    Always kept this old Stewie quote from a Modern Drummer interview at the back of my mind whenever I rehearse with people:

    "...What you should do is step on that singer any time he comes into the rehearsal room! That is the first thing. Lead guitarists respond best to the boot - kick 'em! Singers are just little wimps that all you have to do is yell at to keep them in line. (laughs)..."

    And of course, there's this great little snippet:
    Last edited by Drumbledore; 06-30-2013 at 01:36 PM.
    "...it's the Paradigm Of The Cosmos!" Stewart Copeland on Youtube

    668: The Number Of The Guy Next Door To The Beast.

    "A random act of kindness; it keeps my heart in shape!" - Late8

  20. #20

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    Quote Originally Posted by Drumbledore View Post
    NO WAAAAYYY!! You got to meet him? I'll try not to be envious......









    (fails)
    Hey at least you're envious from a distance, hahaha! The drummers I told in person looked like they wanted to strangle me in envy. It was super lucky and random!

    Quote Originally Posted by marko138 View Post
    I throw sticks at my guitar player when he gets out of line. Gotta keep those fools in check.
    True that! It's the best way, too. If they know what they feel like to be hit with, they'll flinch and obey your every command the moment you raise a stick at them.
    C&C ll Rogers ll Ludwig ll Slingerland

    Istanbul Agop 16" Signature Hats ll 15" 30th Anniversary Hats
    Istanbul Agop 22" Special Edition Jazz Ride ll 22" Trash Hit
    Istanbul Agop 24" Turk Jazz Ride

    DW 6000/9000 Hardware ll Aquarian Drumheads ll Roland SPD-SX ll Ableton Live 9

  21. #21

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    Wow!
    1997 DW collectors kit
    2010 ddrum dios m series kit
    1966 Ludwig acrolite
    Sabian/zildjian cymbals
    Dw/Tama/Pearl hardware

  22. #22

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  23. #23

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    I love his kit, very beautiful. Great style too, fills are tasteful and never overused. I hear he made some of his first recordings with a Tama imperialstar, and often times uses the same snare from that kit for studio work. I could be wrong though, anyone know if he does?
    ZildjianLeague/LP/Aquarian/Mapex/Pearl
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    if double bass is cheating then so is using two sticks

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  24. #24

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    Steward Copland is the guvnor! - Love his playing!!!
    Dustin Lee Burgess
    Northfleet, England
    mapex mafia & paiste posse


  25. #25

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    I just found a whole new respect for Stewart Copeland. I was watching "Storage Wars" and he makes an appearance on there. Barry won a locker with a Ludwig kit in it, and somehow or other he's friends with Stewart, so he drags that kit over to his place to see what it's worth. Unfortunately, while it was a nice kit, Barry wasn't going to get his money back out them....until Stewart signed them all, tripling the value! LOL! There is also video of him playing them, so the signatures combined with the video is provenance that they were actually once played by Stewart - pretty cool IMO.
    Your = possessive - your stuff, your dog, your car, etc
    You're = you are - a contraction.

    Learn it. Love it.

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