Reggatta de Blanc

Reggatta de Blanc
Studio album by The Police
Released	2 October 1979
Recorded	1978 ("No Time This Time"), February – August 1979
Studio	Surrey Sound Studios
Genre	New wave post-punk reggae rock
Length	41:52
Label	A&M
Producer	Nigel Gray The Police
The Police chronology
Outlandos d'Amour (1978) Reggatta de Blanc (1979) Six Pack (1980)
Singles from Reggatta de Blanc
"Message in a Bottle" Released: 21 September 1979 "Walking on the Moon" Released: 4 November 1979 "Bring On the Night" Released: 22 November 1979 (US only) "The Bed's Too Big Without You" Released: 8 June 1980

Reggatta de Blanc is the second studio album by English rock band The Police, released on 2 October 1979. It features the band's first two UK No. 1 hits: "Message in a Bottle" and "Walking on the Moon".^[1] It was their first album to reach No. 1 on the UK Album Charts.^[1] In early 1980, the album was re-issued in the US on two 10" discs, one album side per disc, as a collector's edition with a poster of the band.

It was their second album to bear a foreign language title after the band's 1978 debut album Outlandos d'Amour. Reggatta de Blanc proved both more popular and successful than its predecessor. The title track earned the band their first Grammy Award for Best Rock Instrumental Performance in 1980.^[2]

In 2012, the album was ranked No. 372 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time.^[3]

Background

Reggatta de Blanc took four weeks to record, spaced over several months.^[4] Unlike its successor, Zenyatta Mondatta, there was no pressure on the band. Stewart Copeland described it, "We just went into the studio and said, 'Right, who's got the first song?' We hadn't even rehearsed them before we went in."^[5] In Modern Drummer magazine, Copeland considers Regatta de Blanc to be the 'best Police record.'

Against the wishes of A&M, who had wanted to equip the promising band with a bigger studio and more famous producer, the Police opted to again record at Surrey Sound with Nigel Gray.^[6] The small budget (between £6,000 and £9,000) was easily covered by the profits of their previous album, Outlandos d'Amour,^[7] further ensuring that the record label would have no control over the actual creation of the band's music.

Whereas Outlandos d'Amour had benefited from one of the most prolific songwriting periods of Sting's life, the recording sessions for Reggatta de Blanc were so short on new material that the band even considered re-recording "Fall Out" at one point.^[7] To fill in the gaps, Sting and Copeland dug up old songs they'd written and used elements of them to create new songs. Much of the lyrics to "Bring On the Night" were recycled from Sting's Last Exit song "Carrion Prince (O Ye of Little Hope)", and "The Bed's Too Big Without You" similarly started as a Last Exit tune,^[8] while "Does Everyone Stare" originates from a piano piece Copeland wrote in college.^[9] The closing track "No Time This Time" was previously the B-Side to "So Lonely" in November 1978, and was added to pad out the album's running time.

The album's title is a pseudo-French translation of "white reggae".

Songs

The instrumental "Reggatta de Blanc", one of the few songs written by the Police as a group, came from the long instrumental break in the live performance of "Can't Stand Losing You"^[10] and earned the band the 1980 Grammy Award for Best Rock Instrumental Performance.^[2] "Bring on the Night" was written three years earlier as "Carrion Prince", the title taken from Ted Hughes's poem "King of Carrion", and is about Pontius Pilate; however, after reading The Executioner's Song, Sting felt that the words fitted Gary Gilmore's death wish, and says that since then, "I sing it with him in mind."^[8] "The Bed's Too Big Without You" was covered by reggae singer Sheila Hylton in 1981, and became a UK Top 40 hit.^[11]

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[12]
Chicago Tribune	[13]
Christgau's Record Guide	B−[14]
Encyclopedia of Popular Music	[15]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide	[16]

Reggatta de Blanc continued to build on the success of the band's previous record, hitting No. 1 on the UK and Australian album charts upon its release in October 1979.^[1] "Message in a Bottle" and "Walking on the Moon" were released as singles and both reached No. 1 in the UK.^[1]

In 2012, the album was ranked No. 372 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.^[3]

Track listing

All tracks written by Sting, except where noted. 

Side one
No.	Title	Length
1.	"Message in a Bottle"	4:51
2.	"Reggatta de Blanc" (Andy Summers, Sting, Stewart Copeland)	3:06
3.	"It's Alright for You" (Sting, Copeland)	3:13
4.	"Bring on the Night"	4:15
5.	"Deathwish" (Summers, Sting, Copeland)	4:13

Side two
No.	Title	Length
6.	"Walking on the Moon"	5:02
7.	"On Any Other Day" (Copeland)	2:57
8.	"The Bed's Too Big Without You"	4:26
9.	"Contact" (Copeland)	2:38
10.	"Does Everyone Stare?" (Copeland)	3:52
11.	"No Time This Time"	3:17

Personnel

• Sting – bass guitar, lead (all but 7) and backing vocals, double bass
• Andy Summers – guitar, backing vocals, piano (10)
• Stewart Copeland – drums, backing and lead (7) vocals, guitar (3, verses and chorus), spoken word (10)

Charts

Album

Year	Chart	Position
1979	UK Albums Chart	1[1]
	Billboard 200	25[17]
	Dutch Albums Chart	1[18]
	New Zealand Albums Chart	4[19]
	Norwegian Albums Chart	32[20]
	Swedish Albums Chart	21[21]
1980	Australian Kent Music Report Albums Chart	1
1983	Billboard 200	153[17]

Singles

Year	Single	Chart	Position
1979	"Message in a Bottle"	UK Singles Chart	1[1]
		Billboard Pop Singles	74[22]
		Dutch Singles Chart	4[18]
		German Singles Chart	35[23]
		New Zealand Singles Chart	11[19]
		Swedish Singles Chart	20[21]
	"Walking on the Moon"	UK Singles Chart	1[1]
		Dutch Singles Chart	8[18]
1980		New Zealand Singles Chart	12[19]

Awards

Year	Winner	Award	Category
1980	"Reggatta de Blanc"	Grammy Awards	Best Rock Instrumental Performance[2]

References

1. "The Police Chart history". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 28 November 2014
2. Grammy Awards by the Police, Grammy.com.
3. "500 Greatest Albums of All Time: The Police, 'Reggatta de Blanc'", Rolling Stone.
4. Sutcliffe, Phil (1993). "Outlandos at the Regatta". In Message in a Box: The Complete Recordings (pp.32–35) [Boxed set booklet]. A&M Records Ltd.
5. Sounds magazine, January 1980.
6. Summers, Andy (2006). One Train Later. New York: St. Martin's Press. ISBN 978-0-312-35914-0.
7. Sutcliffe, Phil & Fielder, Hugh (1981). L'Historia Bandido. London and New York: Proteus Books. ISBN 0-906071-66-6. Page 61.
8. Sutcliffe, Phil & Fielder, Hugh (1981). L'Historia Bandido. London and New York: Proteus Books. ISBN 0-906071-66-6. Page 36.
9. Copeland, Stewart (2009). Strange Things Happen: A life with The Police, Polo and Pygmies. London: Harper Collins. ISBN 0-00-733940-2Pages 21–22
10. Garbarini, Vic (Spring 2000). "I think if we came back...", Revolver.
11. Sheila Hylton UK chart history, The Official Charts. Retrieved 16 November 2011.
12. Prato, Greg. "Reggatta de Blanc – The Police". AllMusic. Retrieved 10 November 2015.
13. Kot, Greg (7 March 1993). "Feeling A Sting". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 10 November 2015.
14. Christgau, Robert. "The Police: Regatta de Blanc". RobertChristgau.com. Retrieved 10 November 2015.
15. Larkin, Colin (2007). The Encyclopedia of Popular Music (5th ed.). Omnibus Press. ISBN 0-857-12595-8.
16. Brackett, Nathan; Hoard, Christian, eds. (2004). "The Police". The New Rolling Stone Album Guide (4th ed.). Simon & Schuster. ISBN 0-743-20169-8.
17. Regatta de Blanc in the Billboard charts, AllMusicGuide.
18. Regatta de Blanc in the Dutch music charts, dutchcharts.nl. Retrieved 18 November 2011.
19. Regatta de Blanc in the New Zealand charts, charts.org.nz. Retrieved 18 November 2011.
20. Regatta de Blance in the Norwegian charts, norwegiancharts.com. Retrieved 18 November 2011.
21. "Message in a Bottle" in the Swedish charts, swedishcharts.com. Retrieved 18 November 2011.
22. "Message in a Bottle" Chart History, Billboard.com.
23. "Chartverfolgung / The Police / Single". Music Line (in German). Germany: Media Control Charts. Retrieved 18 November 2011.

External links

• Reggatta de Blanc (Adobe Flash) at Radio3Net (streamed copy where licensed)