A historical tape of The Police's first performance in the United States will soon be released. The tape of their show at New York's CBGB back in 1978 was recently rediscovered, and The Police are gearing up to release the disc. Ahead of the release of the tape, the band's guitarist, Andy Summers, spoke more on what fans can expect from the release as he sat down with Ultimate Classic Rock.
The upcoming release will see all 16 tracks that The Police had played at their first U.S. show, with Summers explaining that he's not entirely sure of what the current plan for releasing it is.
"This is brand new," Summers said. "It's just sort of hot off the press, it just turned up. Somebody found that. I've heard it, it's very raw. It's really in your face, not finessed at all. So I'm not quite sure what's going to happen with it yet. I would love to see it out, of course, because I think it's historical and important. There we were."
Summers also laughed at how the band's sound began to change over the year from when they had their first U.S. performance. "It's sort of interesting, because it's early days," he continued. "It sounds enthusiastic! [Laughs]. We're pounding away. I think later, we finessed some of the material. I mean, we got better at what we did. But it's very interesting to hear these early takes when I didn't even have the guitar pedals to really get the sounds that I sort of became known for later on. It was too early. I didn't have much. It was pretty much into a Fender Twin amp and that kind of thing. But the band is playing great, with very fierce, strong playing. You know, it's kind of raw and violent!"
The guitarist also reflected on the performance, sharing his own memories of playing at the CBGB. "It was very important for us to play there," he said. "Because we were getting the official seal, the stamp of authenticity. Our punk credentials were dubious, but once you played at CBGB, it was, like, okay, you guys are the real thing. Not that any of that matters, really. It's all rubbish. But in that political climate, that was an important gig."
As Summers and the rest of the band reflect on their early days with the upcoming release of their 1978 CBGB performance, drummer Stewart Copeland is planning to release a memoir about the band's earlier years. Utilizing his diaries from the '70s, the upcoming memoir will be released in early 2022.