Strange Things Happen
Written by Stewart Copeland
Narrated by Stewart Copeland
4.5/5
()
About this audiobook
“An excellent read.”
—St. Petersburg Times
“An often hilarious, always candid and astutely observed memoir chronicling a life observed, largely, from the vantage point of a drum throne.”
—Buffalo News
Rock legend Stewart Copeland, drummer for seminal pop trio The Police, shares his stories from before, during, and after his days with Sting and Andy Summers, in one of the most popular and influential bands of the eighties. Strange Things Happen indeed.
Stewart Copeland
Stewart Copeland was a founder member of The Police, one of the most successful rock bands of all time. Before The Police he enjoyed chart success as the mysterious masked pop star Klark Kent. Since the band broke up in the early 80s he has enjoyed a successful career as a composer, working on operas, ballets and film music – most notably the score to Rumblefish. In 2007, The Police reformed and staged the biggest grossing tour in recent years.
Related to Strange Things Happen
Related audiobooks
Born to Run Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Last Chance Texaco: Chronicles of an American Troubadour Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5My Damage: The Story of a Punk Rock Survivor Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Ted Templeman: A Platinum Producer's Life in Music Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Van Halen Rising: How a Southern California Backyard Party Band Saved Heavy Metal Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Never Say No To A Rock Star: In the Studio with Dylan, Sinatra, Jagger and More... Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5When the Hammer Falls: Led Zeppelin: Untold Adventures Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5My Cross to Bear Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Hotel California Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Sex, Drums, Rock 'n' Roll!: The Hardest Hitting Man in Show Business Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Led Zeppelin IV Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Ringo: With a Little Help Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Light & Shade: Conversations With Jimmy Page Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Kicking & Dreaming: A Story of Heart, Soul, and Rock and Roll Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Where’s My Guitar?: An Inside Story of British Rock and Roll Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5My Life in Dire Straits: The Inside Story of One of the Biggest Bands in Rock History Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Who I Am Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Birth of Loud: Leo Fender, Les Paul, and the Guitar-Pioneering Rivalry That Shaped Rock 'n' Roll Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5All These Things That I've Done: My Insane, Improbable Rock Life Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Freak Out!: My Life with Frank Zappa Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Far and Wide: Bring That Horizon to Me Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Dancing with Myself Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Moon The Loon Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Stories to Tell: A Memoir Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Storms: My Life with Lindsey Buckingham and Fleetwood Mac Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Adrenalized: Life, Def Leppard, and Beyond Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Entertainers and the Rich & Famous For You
The Woman in Me Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Counting the Cost Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing: A Memoir Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Born Standing Up: A Comic's Life Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Love, Pamela: A Memoir of Prose, Poetry, and Truth Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5I'm Glad My Mom Died Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Making It So: A Memoir Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Paris: The Memoir Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Good Neighbor: The Life and Work of Fred Rogers Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Wishful Drinking Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Bad Mormon Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5If You Would Have Told Me: A Memoir Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Open Book Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Pageboy: A Memoir Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Happy People Are Annoying Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5As You Wish: Inconceivable Tales from the Making of The Princess Bride Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Being Henry: The Fonz . . . and Beyond Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5BRITNEY: Breaking Free Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Taste: My Life Through Food Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Hello, Molly!: A Memoir Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Boys: A Memoir of Hollywood and Family Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Not My Father's Son: A Memoir Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Inside Out: A Memoir Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Is this Anything? Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Whiskey in a Teacup Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Yes Please Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Trejo: My Life of Crime, Redemption, and Hollywood Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Office BFFs: Tales of The Office from Two Best Friends Who Were There Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Pretty Boys Are Poisonous: Poems Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5You Can't Be Serious Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5
Reviews for Strange Things Happen
27 ratings3 reviews
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Copeland would have us believe that The Police and his time with that important band had become almost a vague and rarely thought of memory such is the intensity of his life and achievements since however the ghost in the machine presides over all and is only exorcised through an ecstatic and exhausting reunion tour.Copeland is an effervescent character, born into an unusual family of the world, surrounded by celebrity and infamy, and not wanting for anything, this is no rags to riches story. One senses that he would have found fame and fortune at something, somewhere, such is his drive, talent, thick skin, and appreciation of good fortune. When a door opens he swaggers through, all except his favoured polo club which stubbornly refused to bow to his celebrity, and rising to the challenge he achieves acceptance through sheer hard work, sweat and determination.What I found most intriguing was that Copeland is a learned and disciplined writer, arranger and performer of music, whether for TV and movie scores, or as part of a euphoric Italian folk ensemble, yet it is with The Police that his wild child emerges and he revels in a chaotic drumming style which creates perfect tension against the perfectionist Sting, Andy Sumner providing the oft needed sanity to prevent the polar opposites from tearing everything apart.The book contains many anecdotes as one may expect but this is no tale of rock and roll excesses, no drugs, some booze but only in moderation, and Copeland's principal vice seems to be an obsession with the post performance power shower.Strange Things Happen is an enjoyable and insightful read.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The emphasis is on fun in this memoir - for Copeland is a hyperactive sort, workaholic but easily bored, loving a challenge, never playing anything quite the same way twice, liking to be boss, and he's also much more than a mere drummer.Jumping about in time with flashes back and forward, the book opens with pages about his childhood in Beirut, where he played with Harry Philby - yes, son of that Philby, and where his Dad was big in the CIA, through moving to boarding school in England, learning the drums and then in 1975 joining his first professional band Curved Air where he must have broken many a boy's heart by marrying the elfinly beautiful lead singer Sonja Kristina. Then - The Police - the band that made him world famous. Copeland deals with their initial years in just ten pages. It's clear that our mission, should we choose to accept it, is really to read about what Stewart did next ...The next big chunk of the book takes us up to 2007, and there's a lot to tell. Playing polo against Prince Charles, making a film in Africa, playing with many other bands, and developing a love for the pizzica music of Salento in Southern Italy, meeting his second wife Fiona, and having a ball being a judge on the BBC celebrity duet show 'It takes two' ... all great fun. Then, there's the main day job as a composer. Copeland studied composition at college, and post Police, he composed an opera - not a rock one, a proper, grand one - with a plot based on the crusades; it was staged in Cleveland to a largely enthusiastic response. Following this is a long career, in between all these adventures, as a film and TV composer, having composed scores for many movies and lots of TV work, notably starting with Coppola's Rumblefish.Then it all comes round again. Copeland's hobby project of editing all the film he took during the Police years into a movie is entered for the Sundance festival. For the first time in ages, the three musicians are reunited at the festival when Sting turns up for the premiere. This event sows the seeds for the Police reunion tour which takes up the final 100 pages.Stewart & Sting's stormy relationship is the stuff of legend. Now they're both older and wiser, you might expect them to have mellowed. It starts off well, but these guys have had years of being top dogs now, and before long they're circling around each other, spoiling for a fight. They cope though, letting the music do it's work and manage eighteen months on tour.This book is mainly about his career and working families, rather than the loving one at home. We find out very little about his parents, siblings, and even less about his seven (yes!) kids, although there's a nice photo of them all at the end. Copeland however, is an aimiable yet sparky host, always capable of seeing the funny side of things; his straight talking and writing style always lets us know what he thinks. What also come through strongly are what he sees as the shamanistic properties of music to inspire and inhabit a body - any music has the possibility to do this, and refreshingly he embraces this philosophy throughout.Copeland is anything but a normal rock star - and this is an excellent read for any music fan, I really enjoyed it. Finally, a big thank you to Scott who arranged to get me a signed and dedicated copy of this book - much appreciated.
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Wish I would have read this before I saw The Police in concert a few years ago. Interesting read about the band's personal dynamic.