Zenyattà Mondatta

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Zenyattà Mondatta
Zenyattà Mondatta cover
Studio album by The Police
Released October 3, 1980 (1980-10-03)
Recorded Wisseloord Studios, Hilversum, Netherlands, July 7, 1980 (1980-07-07)–August 7, 1980 (1980-08-07)
Genre New Wave
Length 38:16
Label A&M - AMLH 64831
Producer The Police, Nigel Gray
Professional reviews
The Police chronology
Reggatta de Blanc
(1979)		 Zenyattà Mondatta
(1980)		 Ghost in the Machine
(1981)
Singles from Zenyattà Mondatta
  1. "Don't Stand So Close to Me"
    Released: October 1980 (1980-10)
  2. "De Do Do Do, De Da Da Da"
    Released: October 1980 (1980-10)

Zenyattà Mondatta is the third album by The Police, released in 1980.

Contents

[edit] History

Written during the band's second tour and recorded in just four weeks (minus several days for a short tour of the Netherlands), the album is often regarded as one of their best works. However, the band members themselves have often expressed disappointment over it, going so far as to re-record two songs during a brief, unsuccessful reunion. Drummer Stewart Copeland, who contributed the songs "Bombs Away" and "The Other Way of Stopping", said about the time pressures:

“ We had bitten off more than we could chew. We finished the album at 4 a.m. on the day we were starting our next world tour... It was cutting it very fine. ”

Nevertheless, Zenyattà Mondatta went to #5 in the U.S. [1] and #1 in the UK and Australia, spurred by the success of the Sting-penned singles "Don't Stand So Close to Me" and "De Do Do Do, De Da Da Da". It would later receive glowing reviews from re-assessments in Rolling Stone and Q Magazine, among others.

As alluded to by Copeland, the Police embarked on a tour of the world the day of the album's completion, beginning in Belgium and reaching places such as India and Egypt.

The album itself is the last of the Police's early era, influenced by reggae and punk and featuring few musical elements on top of the core guitar, bass, and drums. Perhaps due to the lack of time for writing lyrics, the record has two instrumentals, "The Other Way of Stopping", and the Grammy-winning "Behind My Camel". The latter was guitarist Andy Summers' first entirely self-penned composition, and it was not popular with the other members of the band. According to Sting, "I hated that song so much that, one day when I was in the studio, I found the tape lying on the table. So I took it around the back of the studio and actually buried it in the garden." Allegedly, Sting was so uninterested in the piece that he refused to play it. Andy Summers managed to coax Stewart Copeland into recording the bit as a duo, and then overdubbed the bass line himself. One can notice that the bass does sound different in this recording when compared to the rest of the album. Since the recording later won the band a Grammy award, it created an amusing situation where Sting would receive an award for a performance he actually did not make.

Zenyattà Mondatta is also notable for containing the first lyrics referring to political events, with Sting's "Driven To Tears" commenting on poverty and Copeland's "Bombs Away" referencing the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. These themes would become more prevalent in the Police's next album, Ghost in the Machine.

[edit] Track listing

All songs written by Sting except as noted. [2]

  1. "Don't Stand So Close to Me" – 4:04
  2. "Driven to Tears" – 3:20
  3. "When the World Is Running Down, You Make the Best of What's Still Around" – 3:38
  4. "Canary in a Coalmine" – 2:26
  5. "Voices Inside My Head" – 3:53
  6. "Bombs Away" (Stewart Copeland) – 3:09
  7. "De Do Do Do, De Da Da Da" – 4:09
  8. "Behind My Camel" (Andy Summers) – 2:54
  9. "Man in a Suitcase" – 2:19
  10. "Shadows in the Rain" – 5:02
  11. "The Other Way of Stopping" (Copeland) – 3:22

Track listing note: On the original LP album release,side one was comprised of tracks 1-6; side two of tracks 7-11. [2]

[edit] Personnel

[edit] Charts

Album'

Year Chart Peak
Position
1981 Billboard Pop Albums 5 [1]
1983 Billboard Pop Albums 129 [1]

Singles

Year Single Chart Peak
Position
1981 "De Do Do Do, De Da Da Da" Billboard Pop Singles 10 [3]
1981 "Don't Stand So Close to Me" Billboard Mainstream Rock tracks 11 [3]
1981 "Don't Stand So Close to Me" Billboard Pop Singles 10 [3]
1981 "Driven to Tears" Billboard Mainstream Rock tracks 35 [3]
1981 "Voices Inside My Head" /
"When The World Is Running Down, You Make The Best Of What's Still Around"		 Billboard Club Play Singles 3 [3]

[edit] Certifications

Organization Level Date
BPI – UK Gold October 3, 1980
BPI – UK Platinum October 3, 1980
RIAA – U.S. Gold December 12, 1980
RIAA – U.S. Platinum February 27, 1981
RIAA – U.S. 2x Platinum December 17, 2001

[edit] Awards

Grammy Awards

Year Winner Category
1981 "Behind My Camel" Best Rock Instrumental Performance
1981 "Don't Stand So Close to Me" Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal

[edit] Trivia

 Trivia sections are discouraged under Wikipedia guidelines.
The article could be improved by integrating relevant items and removing inappropriate ones.
  • The track "When the World Is Running Down" was remixed in 2000 and released as a single under the moniker "Different Gear Vs The Police". It reached number 28 in the UK Singles Chart, but it does not feature on any of The Police albums.
  • Jerry Moss, the M in A&M Records, named a filly race horse Zenyatta in honor of this album. Zenyatta (b. 2004) [4]

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b c allmusic (((Zenyatta Mondatta > Charts & Awards > Billboard Albums))). Retrieved on 2008-05-11.
  2. ^ a b The Police. Zenyattà Mondatta. A&M Records, 1980.
  3. ^ a b c d e allmusic (((Zenyatta Mondatta > Charts & Awards > Billboard Singles))). Retrieved on 2008-05-11.
  4. ^ Zenyatta stings El Encino rivals - NTRA
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