CELEBRITY INTERVIEW
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50 PLUS MAGAZINE
GORDON SUMNER, FROM TEACHER TO SUPERSTAR FORGING an enduring career in a business as fickle as the pop music world takes a particular kind of talent and savvy – but Sting appears to have both in large amounts. The singer, songwriter, actor and activist has managed not only to have a spectacularly successful career spanning almost five decades but has stayed relevant to the music scene throughout that time. That unique approach probably started with his name. This happened in his native Northeast when his love of wearing a favourite bee-like black and yellow striped sweater was spotted by a fellow musician who christened him Sting. Young Gordon Sumner, to give him his own name, wanted to become a musician from early on in life – not necessarily an obvious choice for a lad from an area steeped in the ship-building industry. For his “day job” instead, he opted to train as a teacher
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and taught in local primary and secondary schools. At the same time, though, he was actively pursuing his music career – which veered towards jazz - playing bass with The Newcastle Big Band, The Phoenix Jazzmen, Earthrise and Last Exit. In the latter, his first efforts at songwriting were featured. That group was big in the North-east but their jazz fusion was doomed to failure when punk rock exploded onto the music scene in 1976. Stewart Copeland, drummer with another group, saw Last Exit on a visit to Newcastle and recognised the potential and charisma of the bass player. The two hooked up shortly afterwards and, within months, Sting had left his teaching job and moved to London.
Stewart named them The Police and they steeped themselves in punk and toured the clubs along with Corsican guitarist Henri Padovani, later replaced by Andy Summers. The band also enrolled Stewart’s elder brother Miles as manager, wowing him with a Sting song called Roxanne. In a short time, Miles had them a record deal but the hip London press saw through their punk camouflage and were contemptuous of their talents so the band’s early releases failed to have chart success. As a result, The Police did something quite unthinkable for the time: they went to America. Here, they had a tough experience touring under their own steam and playing tiny audiences. Their tenacity, however – combined with Sting’s pin-up looks and compelling high, raspy voice - paid off as they built a loyal following, getting some all-important air-play and creating their own unique sound. The band returned to the UK to find Roxanne in the charts. They played a sell-out tour of mid-size venues and their debut album Outlandos d’Amour in 1978 gave
