The Police - Spirits In The Material World demo (rare audio)

[80spodcastchannel]

still shows the sheer musicality of these guys...

such a power trio ...wow

[Arjozof]

The double-bass track is overdubbed with guitar line for the "click" trebly tone - a trademark sound of Sting in Police, but not always heard on the finished records.

[MJLU280]

this bass line is killer, I can't imagine how many times I've listened to this song over the years, its in the thousands

[calanais06]

Simply beautiful, thank you for uploading this... :-)

[Zfilmovana123XD]

Ciekawa wersja, dla mnie rewelacja - Robert 39 lat -fan Police od wczesnego dzieciństwa tj od 1980 r. jako przedszkolak. Generał JAruzelski pozbawił mnie bieżącego dostępu do nagrań The Police, teraz nadrabiam zaległości.

POLAND LOVE THE POLICE

[00x98pd]

i've seen THE POLiCE 1980 Alta.GA. only regret i have is i wish i could go back there now and stay..

[newaver64]

@00x98pd those were happier times.

[BlackfyreWarrior]

For someone who has a LOT of Police material, this is one that escaped...excellent! I have a version of "Spirits" from the Shea Stadium rehearsals where Sting has to actually show Andy how he wants the guitar part played (For real). Stewart has to play the intro about 10 times and for us who loves drums & beats, it's like hearing God play.

[superdinamo]

@BlackfyreWarrior Could you post these treasures you have?

[Landotter1]

This is such a cool track, where did you find it ?

[POLICEchout]

@Landotter1

I found all these demos from searching around online.

[freshseth83]

the bass has always been so great with the police and sting tunes.

[pazzensutra]

Man, where do you guys find this stuff?

[Millst0ne]

Love this sh*t !!

[patpongrecords]

attractive



[plutoisacomet]

Gotta like the Demo!!

[xXCheech24Xx]

Yo i like this beat dogggg

[pikiwiki]

how amazing to find anyone in the world, on youtube

[awwwyeaboyeeee]

i like how copeland made this something other than another reggae tune on the album version.

[Alejandroenfuego]

Can this version be purchased anywhere?

[unbelivableLP]

@Alejandroenfuego I think if you buy Message in a Box, you get every song, every demos and more. I'm not sure. You can inform yourself on google I guess.

[johnnybeane]

@unbelivableLP @Alejandroenfuego "Message in a Box" does not have any unreleased demos in it.

[unbelivableLP]

@johnnybeane How do you get them? I mean I could just download this clips soundtrack but I prefer buying their cd's

[johnnybeane]

@unbelivableLP u mean the demos like this one? they never put these out on cd. they are out there on mp3.

[MaryPastorius]

yesssssssss

[pikiwiki]

@MaryPastorius jaco's sister?

[MaryPastorius]

@pikiwiki daughter

[threat20]

The rawness about this version that should have been on the original

[recto89]

Wow Its strange that I can't remember any song that was made in the 2000's but I can Still sremember songs in the 1980's and the 1990's. Long Live the Police, U2, and REM they did real music.

[bonzoleum]

When you hear it this way it's easier to hear the rhythm against the reggae pulse. In the original it gives the illusion to hear the reggae pulse as the downbeat and hear the bass drum as a synced beat.

[victorspell1]

hey, i'm fellin' this version!

[Delgift]

@bonzoleum I could never understand the pattern in the first verse. I mean, I can follow it but I can`t defined it completely yet.

[bonzoleum]

@Delgift The synth part is the &s of 1 & 2 & 3 & 4 & (reggae pulse). It's hard to not hear it as the 1 2 3 4.

[MrAgentx240]

This is better than the original in some ways.

[zoconino]

I´m agree with you

[Delgift]

@MrAgentx240 I don`t know if it`s better, the thing is that it`s very cool to hear these archives and gives us the feeling of being better than the version we`ve always listened to.

[salvadorianG13]

I am addicted to this song(i listen to it everywhere)

[MrJenac]

Love tha bass gitur in this song

[erektorplus80]

With words they try to jail you

[zenaku954]

makes sense to me

[tonydrum1]

FUCKING GENIUS STING thats all i have to say simple,yet complex,'The art is to conceal the art'.

[hippojuice23]

Can't say that of his 'art' as of late, though

[cranie4]

This tune's verse always had the strangest timing..the bass on one feel with the drums and the keys on the upbeats...and then they all line up on the chorus. Genius music..

[Delgift]

@cranie4 You surely know about music theory, great from you to mention that. This song is very well arranged, and the music by The Police is unique.

[tabernavudu]

@cranie4 The Police got the Ska.

[Perfectrequire]

amazing...incredible...speachl­ess

[aaronp01]

she's a very freaky girl....in the material world! lol the demo has a rick james groove to it with the drum machine.

[dhunninghake]

Ghost in the Machine was released before Rick Jame's album featuring Super Freak. Would say that Super Freak has a Spirits in the Material World groove to it. Still, pretty nice call on that beat.

[aaronp01]

i had to wikipedia it to see which came first,and you're right. Ghost in the Machine came out a month before Super Freak. Maybe Rick James and The Police were listening to each others songs! lol

[pazzensutra]

Back in the day these cheesy rinky-dink drum machine sounds were used to assist in making home demos. Today, they're used in making popular music. That's the turn-of-the-century progression in music for ya.

[rg2027x]

@pazzensutra devolution..

[admirerthecure]

Bueno

Me gusta. Pezzo grandioso.

Mi ricorda gli anni GRANDI, quelli dove la musica era MUSICA! FANTASTIC!

[darkvaper2010]

this is true genius at work thanks for posting!

[invisiblelock]

It's really seems there has been a ghost in the sinthetyzer.

[ralphbuttawitzonline]

Where Can I find this???

[amphibianTEEF]

this sounds amazing!

[Darkin7]

excelent audio file, but where made it the police, at the BBC or Monserrat island?

[xXCheech24Xx]

Yo i like this beat dogggg

[stargate669]

dude there's no dog playing the beat. It's called a synthesizer.

[FezzickO]

AMAZING!

[dw2345]

this is genius..!!!

sting said during the recording of this album that andy and stewart were brilliant musicians that understood the music and took it to a new level...

all three were essential to The Police....!

[superdinamo]

This demos by Sting alone show how important Andy & Stewart were for the Police music style.

[RidankMusic]

@superdinamo And they also show how important Sting was for the Police songwriting style, haha.

[superdinamo]

@RidankMusic Sure, Andy and Stewart were very bad songwriters. But they knew how to elaborate Sting's songs so that they had that magical "The Police style". Wihout them, Sting songs sound boring, they lose all their appeal. And i am not refering only to the post Police period. Listen to how Sting songs sounded before he met Stewart and Andy, it was a very boring jazz fusion style or sometimes a little bit bossa nova, like his first version of every little thing in 1977.

[satchvanjohnson41]

@superdinamo I agree with you on most of that although I think the early ELT demo is brilliant, and yes, I've heard his early stuff. They definitely complemented each other in a way that was truly unique. But I personally could listen to Sting's demos all day long because as a songwriter, they are so entertaining to listen to. The man had a strange yet beautiful approach to music and the fact that someone could make this song (Spirits) by themselves is mind-blowing. That's the appeal to me.

[WLS1971]

A great band! A great band with a message! What a rare concept these days....=P

[Fenceman000]

This should have been released! Thx alot for sharing this.

[jetershomie]

If you really listen the words in this song, it puts everything we all should a live by in perspective.

Love one another, this world we live in is but a speck in a huge material existance.

[faxxanadu]

Ahh cool. Thanks for sharing this track!

[CaramelCamel]

This bass line is awesome.

[ReggattaDeBlanc]

Awesome... even the simplified line for live versions (original one is almost impossible to play while singing - at least Sting does not even try it ;-)

[kalisteboat]

Unfortunately you are right ! Very easy to play and make it groovy with my bass but catastrophic by playing it while i sing.

Nevertheless i guess that many professionnal bass players are able to manage it !

Very surprising and interesting version.

Slow and reaggae like ! Uuuummmmwhaaahh

[cantbeleive1t2]

I think the one they released is much better but it's cool to see early versions like this and see how each song evolved.

[TheIntruders]

Well of course the released version is better. Do you even need to say that?

[Jolar70]

Fucking AMAZING! Sounds like early house music. The finished version is obviously much fuller but this was so great to hear. Thanks.

[kalisteboat]

True ! a bass drum that belongs to the house universe and a simple synthetic snare like Kraftwerk.

Emotional and shamanic mix !

[Brock2097]

Haha...wow!! Sounds pretty different with just Sting, a drum machine, and synthesizer. Thanks for posting, these are interesting.

[berherbi]

thanks a lot for SHARING ; WONDERFUL WONDERFUL andreas

[oceanwind402001]

HI? Sounds So Cool!!!!

[lookingfortalent2007]

take this down!!!!!, they'll make a rap song out of the "beat"

[razzmatazz1974]

loved this demo version. i wish i had heard this back in the 80s... it was so difficult to find rare jewels like this,... thanks for sharing it!

[davideirth]

Love how the bass is so clear.

[Pdubinit]

I like the demo better than the final cut.

[JSheehan07]

Yet again, the lyrics, vocals, bass, guitars, drums, wonderful.

[rock2208]

sting is a genius...thnxs for this...!

[JSheehan07]

I like the D Sting plays at 2:16. How he changes it. Great.

[mork1]

Subtle ear you have (litteral trnslation from italian):-).

It's pretty strange /perhaps a simple mistake? - Anyway,great, yes.

[rock2208]

i heard that as well...figured it was a mistake...great anyways..

[ishredu]

this is a scratch track to be sure.

[helgaapeldoorn]

the vocals are so beautiful

[Plato12345]

bass drum on the first beat :S

[Raminstein]

LOL, not a copeland thing lol

[fabriziobarrera]

I cant believe it!!! Amazing!

[cricket000cricket]

arrrgh, the keyboard intro here in this particular version of SITMW sounds like another keyboard sequence from another 80's song from another band, but for the life of me I can't remember the song or group. Journey? Foreigner? hmmm.

[xensboy]

it is a bit like the fine synth hook played by thomas dolby on foreigner's urgent, isn't it?

[xensboy]

also reminiscent of tom petty's "you got lucky"

[MJLU280]

Sting came up with some really good stuff on Ghost, he brought in all these demo's which sound very, very good. "Spirits" is still my favorite Police tune, 25 years later.

[xensboy]

where does the answer lie?

living from day to day

if it's something we can't buy

there must be another way

blueprint for one of the best songs ever. will we find the light in our spiritual world soul?

[POLICEchout]

I should say I've been obsessed with this song for years...I never get sick of it. It's fun to play along to on bass.

[Landotter1]

@POLICEchout Never heard of someone not getting tired of it. I don't either. I can listen to this song 30 times in a row and not know it. One thing I did in the 80's is buy the 45 RPM and play it on 33 RPM. It's a trip and actually doesn't change the voices as much as you'd think.... Anyway, I thought it was cool! :-D

[NotAValidUsername]

It's interesting to hear how the vocals fade out before the backing track at the end of the song, just like the record.

[2kl2klps]

Wow! Sting would be SOOO happy to hear the others eliminated from the recording...

[ecobox]

Except that this is Sting's demo. It's all him -- drum machine, synths, bass, and vocals. Andy and Stewart (God bless 'em) had to redo this to sound more like a Police recording. And thank God they did. The drum machine's a bit much... ;)

[candlemass]

totally agree!!

[TheRealJJJ]

Wow... I REALLY like this version! Has a good beat. Even in this early demo you can hear the brilliance of these 3 guys... yeah, I'm a fan. ;-)