Why can't everyone be warm and fuzzy in the particular way that I want them to be, so I can respect them?
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Why I lost a bit of respect for Sting (Rick Beato Interview)
- Thread starter tb-player
- Start date
I feel like we as a mob have this expectation that every successful musician, athlete, actor, or whatever is going to be perfectly humble, meek, mild, grateful, gracious, polite...as if we need them to be perfect models of humility to aspire to or else we're disappointed. To me it's like, why would anyone expect that of them? These are low professions. A hundred years ago they'd have been prancing around some speakeasy for the amusement of drunks. We've elevated our entertainers beyond their station and now that we can see them more clearly thanks to the internet we're let down.
A few years ago I read Andy Summers' autobiography and Sting's back to back. I suppose Stewart Copeland probably has one I should read too, but I did watch a documentary he did using his footage of the Police days. Of course, all of them are giving their side of the story and crafting an image for public consumption, but it is interesting to compare them. Overall, I came away from the comparison liking Summers a great deal more as a person than I did Sting. So ego was par for the course, and I didn't expect otherwise.
Having said that, even so, I thought it was a great video, and a pleasure to see Sting responding to an interview about music AS a musician, and the thing not becoming a celebrity fluff piece.
Having said that, even so, I thought it was a great video, and a pleasure to see Sting responding to an interview about music AS a musician, and the thing not becoming a celebrity fluff piece.
- Feb 8, 2005
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- Endorsing Artist: Bag End - Dean Markley - Thunderfunk
I think Pat Metheny (ironically in another Beato vid) summed it up best:
“Compared to Bach, we all suck”
I haven't watched it yet, but that would make it worth watching. I'd rather know about the music than whose shirts he wears.
If it turned out Bach had a big ego, he wouldn't be worthy of your respect. Apparently...
But since everyone seems to agree he was a God of Music (sic) then it's safe to assume he was a "good guy". Which obviously makes all the difference.
I think I have posted at least 3 times without watching the interview...
Which one?
JS, presumably - one of those people who's so far ahead of their time that it makes someone like me at least consider the possibility of divine inspiration. The fact that so many of his kids were so good that we have to ask "which one?" is pretty remarkable, too.
Haven't watched said interview but there's not a lot here that surprises me - Sting's never been known for his humility. I can't find the link right now, but there's an interview with The Police from many many years ago, I think it was their first one together since they broke up, and it's very, very funny. You can tell there's a deep love and respect between the three of them, but they are also just trashing each other the entire time. Highly recommended.
I agree. I was wondering if I saw the same interview as everyone else here.
Sting acknowledged several times that Andy's and Stuart's contributions helped complete the Police's sound.
Sting downplayed his theory knowledge and jazz background, choosing rather to focus on surprise and adventure in songwriting. But when pressed by Rick, he conceded that he has had some jazz training.
Sting clearly stated that The Police had achieved all that they could, and that it was time to go in a new direction. As Beato pointed out, they were one of only a few bands to retire on top.
I've seen a bit of his egotism and arrogance in older interviews, but none here. I sense that most posters here are reacting to the Sting they think they know - not the one in this interview.
Copeland supposedly used to have “**** off you ****” written on his tom skins, one word each - referring to Sting.
Sting is a righteous dick. I love his music and the Police but he is a turd. The interview was terrible. His contempt for Betao and for the audience was palpable.
I don't get the hate for Beato.
I'm incredibly grateful for all his lessons. His channel has dramatically improved my understanding and my ability to appreciate the music I'm hearing, let alone my playing.
His interviews are top notch. He puts a great deal of effort and research into the conversations.
It's been fun to watch his channel and popularity grow but I suppose that haters come along with success.
Regarding Sting, I actually met him in the Hamptons in 1985ish. I was 15. I played harmonica and he sung.
He was very kind and supportive and encouraging. Gave me a tour shirt. He's cool in my book.
I didn't get any negative vibe from him in the Beato interview either.
I'm incredibly grateful for all his lessons. His channel has dramatically improved my understanding and my ability to appreciate the music I'm hearing, let alone my playing.
His interviews are top notch. He puts a great deal of effort and research into the conversations.
It's been fun to watch his channel and popularity grow but I suppose that haters come along with success.
Regarding Sting, I actually met him in the Hamptons in 1985ish. I was 15. I played harmonica and he sung.
He was very kind and supportive and encouraging. Gave me a tour shirt. He's cool in my book.
I didn't get any negative vibe from him in the Beato interview either.
Seven pages into this thread, I don't know how many will read this. I was working for a band (not as a musician) and we were staying in a "rock star hotel" in LA while recording. (The band was from the East Coast.) The band leader was a virtuoso Jazz/Rock ConFusion personality. The Police had recently "broken" with their single, Roxanne. They took their initial income from the deal and came to the USA, leased a van, hired a roadie and hit the Interstates, four guys. (Obviously they had some management brains/support on this endeavor.)
The Police were just checking into this hotel we were at and spotted the bandleader and a musician or two sitting by the hotel pool (on a very rare day off.) They had their matching "bottle blond" hair but were in "civilian clothes;" street wear. They spotted "the fusion virtuoso" and all three of them rush over and just completely unashamedly gushed to my boss and were incredibly deferential to the other guys. My boss was nice to these guys, which was not his default setting for fanboys. Everyone chatted for a while and that was that. We didn't see the Police again.
A year or so later, The Police had blown up and were STILL touring the US. Some friends of mine, an up-and-coming band from the SF Bay Area had just signed with Warner Brothers. They were a killing club band who had a then-fairly-unique New Wave-Reggae sound. And, of course they were huge fans of this new Brit sensation, the Police. The Police were playing in Stockton, a Central California town a few hours drive from the Bay Area and my friends were gonna drive down and catch the show, asked me if I'd like to come. So I went. I guess I had told them that I had met the guys and they seemed nice.
Anyway, they cajoled me to try use my savoir faire to boollsh!t my/our way backstage after the show to meet "my friends." I was game. And it worked. After giving a respectful few minutes for the band to to chill, decompress, I knocked on the dressing room door, all my pals standing behind me. The door opened and it was Sting. I introduced myself as being one of the "supporting cast members" at the scene at the pool in LA and said I had some friends with me who were huge Police fans.
Sting and the guys could not have been nicer to these guys, who they had never heard of. I'm sure all these Police guys have "had their moments" -- being in the biggest rock band in the world might do that to a guy -- but I saw them all be nice folks a couple of times.
The Police were just checking into this hotel we were at and spotted the bandleader and a musician or two sitting by the hotel pool (on a very rare day off.) They had their matching "bottle blond" hair but were in "civilian clothes;" street wear. They spotted "the fusion virtuoso" and all three of them rush over and just completely unashamedly gushed to my boss and were incredibly deferential to the other guys. My boss was nice to these guys, which was not his default setting for fanboys. Everyone chatted for a while and that was that. We didn't see the Police again.
A year or so later, The Police had blown up and were STILL touring the US. Some friends of mine, an up-and-coming band from the SF Bay Area had just signed with Warner Brothers. They were a killing club band who had a then-fairly-unique New Wave-Reggae sound. And, of course they were huge fans of this new Brit sensation, the Police. The Police were playing in Stockton, a Central California town a few hours drive from the Bay Area and my friends were gonna drive down and catch the show, asked me if I'd like to come. So I went. I guess I had told them that I had met the guys and they seemed nice.
Anyway, they cajoled me to try use my savoir faire to boollsh!t my/our way backstage after the show to meet "my friends." I was game. And it worked. After giving a respectful few minutes for the band to to chill, decompress, I knocked on the dressing room door, all my pals standing behind me. The door opened and it was Sting. I introduced myself as being one of the "supporting cast members" at the scene at the pool in LA and said I had some friends with me who were huge Police fans.
Sting and the guys could not have been nicer to these guys, who they had never heard of. I'm sure all these Police guys have "had their moments" -- being in the biggest rock band in the world might do that to a guy -- but I saw them all be nice folks a couple of times.
I wish I would have kept this great picture of the three guys on the cover of French magazine during the Synchronicity tour:
Zoom on the faces, side by side, three blond guys, six very red eyes, three cool smiles. it was a great snapshot of band camaraderie at its finest.
Zoom on the faces, side by side, three blond guys, six very red eyes, three cool smiles. it was a great snapshot of band camaraderie at its finest.
In Sting's world, Beato is basically a nobody. The most fascinating part of the interview is that Sting and Dom actually agreed to sit through the entire thing. Who knows how much stuff got cut before it was released.
The Saccharine attempt at trying to draw out why the songs are so good would drive a lot of artists back into their shells for a long time.
Besides, in the music of the Police, every one of them has basically laid claim or credit to the works. If you didn't know better, you'd think nothing happened without unanimous agreement. That simply wasn't the case.
Sting was right to push off all of the more technical questions about the music to Dominic Miller. Even then, Beato practically buttered his bread for him and fed it to him.
The Saccharine attempt at trying to draw out why the songs are so good would drive a lot of artists back into their shells for a long time.
Besides, in the music of the Police, every one of them has basically laid claim or credit to the works. If you didn't know better, you'd think nothing happened without unanimous agreement. That simply wasn't the case.
Sting was right to push off all of the more technical questions about the music to Dominic Miller. Even then, Beato practically buttered his bread for him and fed it to him.
Agreed.
The one thing that stood out to me was Sting saying that his songwriting process was driven by an idea that seeded a song. Rick hinted that Sting would start a songwriting session by saying, "I'm going to write a song in Lydian, today" and Sting shut that theory down time after time. He kept going back to the notion of giving the song what it needed. I liked that.
However, just like Dominic, I couldn't get through the whole interview without falling sleep.
Maybe I'll go back and finish the interview.
^^^^ and that above is what's funny about Beato - he's basically full of crap... lol!
