BURNING THE GROUND EXCLUSIVE 1986

“Don’t Stand So Close to Me” is a 1980 song and hit single by the British rock band The Police. It concerns a schoolgirl’s crush on her young teacher which leads to an affair, which in turn is discovered. The Police won the 1982 Grammy Award for Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal for this song.

In 1986, a re-recorded version of the song was released as “Don’t Stand So Close to Me ’86”. The song was re-recorded in 1986 with a new, brooding arrangement, a different chorus and a more opulent production. The new version appeared as “Don’t Stand So Close to Me ’86” on the album Every Breath You Take: The Singles, and was released as a single, reaching number 24 in the British charts. It also reached number 11 in Ireland, number 14 in New Zealand, number 19 on the Netherlands MegaCharts Singles Chart (number 20 on Dutch Top 40), number 27 in Canada and number 46 on Billboard Hot 100 (number 10 on the Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks).

Because of the decrease in tempo, a slight lyric change is found in the line “Just like the old man in that book by Nabokov” (the word ‘famous’ was added). A new music video was produced for the reworked song by Godley and Creme, notable for its early use of animated computer graphics.

Because drummer Stewart Copeland had broken his collarbone and was unable to drum, he opted to use his Fairlight CMI to program the drum track for the single. While singer/bassist Sting pushed to utilize the drums on his Synclavier instead, the group’s engineer found the Synclavier’s programming interface difficult—and it ended up taking him two days to complete the task. Copeland ultimately finished the drum programming and claimed that the Fairlight’s then-legendary “Page R” (the device’s sequencing page) saved his life and put him on the map as a composer. In a Qantas inflight radio program named “Reeling in the Years”, Copeland was quoted as saying that the argument over Synclavier versus Fairlight drums was “the straw that broke the camel’s back,” and that this led to the group’s unraveling.

As the Police had already disbanded by the time the 1986 single was released, this, aside from the then-unreleased “De Do Do Do, De Da Da Da ’86,” was the last recording before the band’s reunion and the most recent studio recording the band has released.

SIDE A:
Don’t Stand So Close To Me ’86 (Dance Mix) 6:24
Producer – Laurie Latham, Police, The

Don’t Stand So Close To Me ’86 4:51
Producer – Laurie Latham, Police, The

SUDE B:
Don’t Stand So Close To Me (Original Version) 4:00
Producer – Nigel Gray, Police, The

Don’t Stand So Close To Me (Live) 4:01
Mixed By – Kim Turner

VINYL GRADE:
Vinyl: Near Mint
Sleeve: Near Mint

U.S. CHART HISTORY:

RELEASE INFORMATION:
Label: A&M Records ‎– AMY 354
Format: Vinyl, 12″, 45 RPM, Single
Country: UK
Released: 1986
Genre: Rock
Style: Pop Rock

CREDITS:
Mastered By – Timtom*
Photography By – Peter Mountain
Written-By – Sting

NOTES:
Track A2 taken from the forthcoming compilation album
“Every Breath You Take – The Singles”

Find the 12″ On DISCOGS

EQUIPMENT USED:
Turntable: Pro-Ject Debut Carbon (DC)
Cartridge: Ortofon 2M
Stylus: Ortofon OM Stylus 30
Platter: Pro-Ject Acryl-It platter
Stabilizer: Pro-Ject Record Puck 
Phono Pre-amp: Bellari VP130 Tube Phono Preamp
Tube: Tung-Sol 12AX7ECC803-S Gold Electron Tube
Soundcard: ESI Juli@
Record Cleaning: VPI HW 16.5 Record Cleaning Machine
Artwork Scans: Brother MFC-6490CW Professional Series Scanner

SOFTWARE USED:
Recording/Editing: Adobe Audition 3.0 (Recording)
Down Sampling: iZotope RX Advanced 2
Artwork Editor: Adobe Photoshop CS5
Click Removeal: Manual
FLAC/MP3 Conversion: dBpoweramp
M3U Playlist: Playlist Creator

RESTORATION NOTES:
All vinyl rips are recorded @ 32bit/float
FLAC (Level Eight)
MP3 (320kbps)
Artwork scanned at 600dpi