Stewart Copeland

Superlow

Pioneer Member
I am suprised no one has mentioned Stewart Copeland of The Police. Possibly one of the better rock drummers from the 1980's. He influenced a lot the heavy hitting drummers like Dave Grohl. He is well known for mixing raegae with rock drum beats. His timing is impecible and hits like a gorilla all with perfect posture of course.
 
NUTHA JASON said:
plus he's a hang of a composer. he did the soundtrack for 'blade runner' i heard.

j

No, that was Vangelis. Stewart Copeland has done a whole heap of stuff though, he's an amazingly talented guy.
 
boy is my face red. so i went to find the true list and was blown away. check this out. what a talent to do all this and be one of the hottest ska/rock drummers ever.

Music/Score - Stewart Copeland worked as music composer on following movies:
I Am David (2003)
Deuces Wild (2002)
On the Line (2001)
Sunset Strip (2000)
Skipped Parts (2000)
Boys and Girls (2000)
Simpatico (1999) dvd
She's All That (1999)
Very Bad Things (1998)
Taking of Pelham One Two Three, The (1998)
West Beyrouth (1998)
Pecker (1998)
Legalese (1998)
Futuresport (1998)
Good Burger (1997)
Little Boy Blue (1997)
Made Men (1997)
Gridlock'd (1997)
Four Days in September (1997)
Assassination File, The (1996)
Leopard Son, The (1996)
Boys (1996)
Pallbearer, The (1996)
Tyson (1995)
Fresh (1994)
Silent Fall (1994)
Rapa Nui (1994)
Surviving the Game (1994)
Babylon 5: The Gathering (1993)
Raining Stones (1993)
Airborne (1993)
Bank Robber (1993)
Wide Sargasso Sea (1993)
Afterburn (1992)
Highlander II: The Quickening (1991)
First Power, The (1990)
Men at Work (1990)
Hidden Agenda (1990)
Riff-Raff (1990)
Taking Care of Business (1990)
See No Evil, Hear No Evil (1989)
She's Having a Baby (1988)
Talk Radio (1988)
Wall Street (1987)
Out of Bounds (1986)
Equalizer, The (1985)
Rumble Fish (1983)


j
 
A great drummer.Very tasty as well especially on the second disc of "Police live"."Regetta de blanc" ,"Ghist in the machine" and "Synchronicity" , all by the Police are also incredible drumming albums.
 
Stewart is one of my favorite players of all time. He had a such a unique style. Brilliant hi hat work, that amazing snare, and his syncopation are some of my favorite aspects.

In addition to his playing, he always had good songwriting contributions on the Police records, stuff like Peanuts, and especially Fall Out, that's one hell of a barn burner especially live.

 
My moms friend said she went to go see Sting one time and she said it was the drummer from The Police and said he played a fantastic drum solo.She said it was the best part of the show.
 
Not saying it's not true, but unlikely. I think that with the break up of the Police for the 2nd time in the mid 80s, they were done with each other.

She saw probably Omar Hakin, Vinnie Colaiuta or Manu Katche. It's pretty easy to figure out which one is Vinnie as he's the only caucasian of the group. Vinnie was his main drummer up until the last few years.

Not saying Copeland isn't a great player. Murder by Numbers, great drumming as is the whole Syncronicity relase.

A side note: Go look at some of the pictures on early Police albums. See if you can read what's on Copeland's drum heads. :D

HurdyGurdyMan said:
My moms friend said she went to go see Sting one time and she said it was the drummer from The Police and said he played a fantastic drum solo.She said it was the best part of the show.
 
mlehnertz said:
A side note: Go look at some of the pictures on early Police albums. See if you can read what's on Copeland's drum heads. :D

You mean "XXXX off you XXXX"? Directed at Sting, I believe. They never got along very well.
 
HurdyGurdyMan said:
My moms friend said she went to go see Sting one time and she said it was the drummer from The Police and said he played a fantastic drum solo.She said it was the best part of the show.

I also find this very unlikely, but if for some reason or another it really was Copeland she saw, she's very lucky i think! I would have loved to see that guy in action with the Police. I really admire his unique and very very musical way to play the drums...
 
Catch the reunion video they made. From what I read, they were so pissed off at each other after a handful of dates, that it made the concert smokin' hot from all the anger-energy. And Stewart was a mother.

I wish I thought of Synchronicity in that other thread of "really good drumming albums". It's a fine piece of drumming. The two Synchronicity tunes, Murder by Numbers (one-two-three-FOUR-five-six), Wrapped Around Your Finger (which made everyone run out and get splash cymbals), and just a great album in terms of some nice reggae grooves. Still one of my favorites.

Chano said:
I also find this very unlikely, but if for some reason or another it really was Copeland she saw, she's very lucky i think! I would have loved to see that guy in action with the Police. I really admire his unique and very very musical way to play the drums...
 
I'm a big fan of Copeland. He's one of the most creative guys in the rock genre, and he can take a simple rock beat and expand it into something awesome. I love the beat to Walking on the Moon. First time I tried playing it i threw the sticks across the room in frustration.

His playing reminds me of Matt Cameron for some reason. They both take simple rock stuff and expand it into something on a whole other level.
 
Stewart Copeland is one of the big reasons that I play drums today! The very first cassette I ever purchased was a comilation of the Police's greatest hits....and wow. His drumming was first really different style of drumming I'd ever heard. At that time, all I was really listening to was was like...top 40, pop/rock stuff, lots of Beatles etc...and while most of that was all great and fun music to listen to, the drum parts were pretty much straight up 2 and 4 back beats. The first time I heard Roxanne I was totally confused by what was going on! I listened more and more, and got super hooked!

I love his style! He's rock solid on time, all the high hat work is AWESOME and he plays with so much confidence! He has to be one of the hardest hitting guys with traditional grip I've ever seen...good times! Playing wise, he's one of my biggest influences! Plus...his score work is amazing! It's incredibly cool to see such a drumming hero doing such DIFFERENT and creative stuff!
 
NUTHA JASON said:
boy is my face red. so i went to find the true list and was blown away. check this out. what a talent to do all this and be one of the hottest ska/rock drummers ever.

Music/Score - Stewart Copeland worked as music composer on following movies:
I Am David (2003)
Deuces Wild (2002)
On the Line (2001)
Sunset Strip (2000)
Skipped Parts (2000)
Boys and Girls (2000)
Simpatico (1999) dvd
She's All That (1999)
Very Bad Things (1998)
Taking of Pelham One Two Three, The (1998)
West Beyrouth (1998)
Pecker (1998)
Legalese (1998)
Futuresport (1998)
Good Burger (1997)
Little Boy Blue (1997)
Made Men (1997)
Gridlock'd (1997)
Four Days in September (1997)
Assassination File, The (1996)
Leopard Son, The (1996)
Boys (1996)
Pallbearer, The (1996)
Tyson (1995)
Fresh (1994)
Silent Fall (1994)
Rapa Nui (1994)
Surviving the Game (1994)
Babylon 5: The Gathering (1993)
Raining Stones (1993)
Airborne (1993)
Bank Robber (1993)
Wide Sargasso Sea (1993)
Afterburn (1992)
Highlander II: The Quickening (1991)
First Power, The (1990)
Men at Work (1990)
Hidden Agenda (1990)
Riff-Raff (1990)
Taking Care of Business (1990)
See No Evil, Hear No Evil (1989)
She's Having a Baby (1988)
Talk Radio (1988)
Wall Street (1987)
Out of Bounds (1986)
Equalizer, The (1985)
Rumble Fish (1983)


j


Holy cats! That is an awesome resume! Just his work with the Police is the stuff of excellence, and add all that... yikes!

I always liked his reggae influenced beats, and that super crisp hihat and snare sound.
 
Riff Raff....? That's AC/DC or is it also some other thing...? Very impressive list...
 
i love stewart's playing. i was lucky enough to see him perform in albany, ny with the albany symphony. they were playing selections from his soundtracks and scores. with him on the drumset!!! he was great. i was so charged after seeing him play. he's one of the biggest influences on my drumming. his reggae/world music approach gave his rock drumming an inside out sound. and he plays with a lot of heart.
 
Copeland is awesome. Easily one of my top favorite drummers. He is definately one of those guys who if you are bored and need something challenging to play, he's it. Even the more "basic" beats where he just does alot of hi-hat accents and sensitive foot playing, it's really hard to get the same feel.
 
Stewart tunes his drums tight as hell. As a matter of fact, he tunes them as tight as they go. He has some very fast hands also.
 
This thread has made me drag out my Police cd's and start practicing those Copeland chops again. My ultracast and quick beat hats are crisp enough to sound like the stuff he used.

"Every little thing she does is magic..."
 
Back
Top