The Intro
After a couple of near misses, The Police found themselves back at the top of the hit parade for the fourth time with Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic.
Before
The trio’s third album, Zenyatta Mondatta, had spawned their third number 1, Don’t Stand So Close to Me. But the next record – their ‘gibberish classic’ (as Alan Partridge called it) De Do Do Do, De Da Da Da – was understandably their lowest-placing chart position (minus some reissues) at five.
Sting, Stewart Copeland and Andy Summers headed to AIR Studios in Montserrat to record their fourth LP, Ghost in the Machine, which was co-produced by Hugh Padgham. First single from this collection was Invisible Sun, which did very well indeed, peaking at two.
Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic was an exception from the album, in that it was recorded at Le Studio at Morin Heights, Quebec, Canada. It was also the oldest track from Ghost in the Machine, having originated back in 1977 as a track by Sting, before the band had formed. He eventually revealed the inspiration for the track was Trudie Styler, who lived next door to Sting and his then-wife Frances Tomelty, who was Styler’s best friend at the time.
The demo of Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic eventually surfaced on the 1997 compilation Strontium 90: Police Academy. Strontium 90 was the name of Sting, Copeland and Summers’ – plus Gong’s Mike Howlett – previous band. On this rather charming, gentle acoustic guitar-led version, Sting played every instrument.
Four years later, Sting worked on a second demo in Le Studio, this time with piano to the fore. He was confident this would form the basis of a number 1 single, but Copeland and Summers were less keen, so they started from scratch on a band version. When this didn’t work out either, Sting finally persuaded the others to go back to the Le Studio demo.
Tensions grew when Sting decided to bring in session keyboardist Jean Roussel, who had played on Cat Stevens’ Wild World. Summers found Roussel pushy, and his inclusion on piano, Minimoog and clavinet certainly sounds like a potential recipe for excessive use of instrumentation on such a light track. However, Roussel’s input makes for that rather lovely intro, and adds colour in general throughout. The rhythm section did get to add some of that signature Police sound, though muted compared to their previous chart-toppers.
Review
It’s clear that Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic meant a lot to Sting and had personal meaning for him as it meant he could express his forbidden love. But his determination to get Copeland and Summers to in effect play backing band to this solo outing understandably caused problems.
However, Sting was ultimately proven right. Sure, it’s on the lighter side of The Police’s back catalogue and possibly too saccharine for some, but it’s a lovely, sun-kissed burst of upbeat loveliness. It’s not without flaws though. Rhyming ‘magic’ with ‘tragic’ is a bit rubbish, and I don’t understand why, after all the time spent getting Roussel to give the track more, they decided to make Sting sound like he’s singing from a cave. What happened there?
Far better is the second verse, which Sting returned to several times through the years:
‘Do I have to tell the story
Of a thousand rainy days since we first met
It’s a big enough umbrella
But it’s always me that ends up getting wet’
Again, this most likely has personal meaning to the singer and Styler, as he uses it again on O My God, a track on the final Police LP, Synchronicity (1983), and the song Seven Days from his fourth solo album Ten Summoner’s Tales (1993).
The video, filmed in Montserrat by Derek Burbidge, is also a mixed bag. It’s nice to see the band performing for locals and the island footage ties in nicely with the joy of the song. But this is the fourth Police video I’ve watched now, and they’re all the same. Put the band in a very literal setting that fits the theme of the track, and also film them pissing about in the studio and generally acting up for the camera.
After
Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic topped the charts in the UK, Canada, Ireland and the Netherlands, and peaked at three in the US. They had one more UK chart-topper to come before they split up.
The Outro
An orchestral version of Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic was recorded by Sting for his 10th album, Synchronicities, in 2010.
The Info
Written by
Sting
Producers
The Police & Hugh Padgham
Weeks at number 1
1 (14-20 November)
Trivia
Births
15 November: Labour MP Jared O’Mara
17 November: Girls Aloud singer Sarah Harding
20 November: Frightened Rabbit singer Scott Hutchison/Actress Andrea Riseborough
Deaths
14 November: Ulster Unionist MP Robert Bradford (see ‘Meanwhile‘)
17 November: Anglican bishop Colin Winter
Meanwhile…
14 November: Ulster Unionist MP Robert Bradford was gunned down by three IRA members in Finaghy, Belfast, during political surgery.
18 November: The England football team qualified for the World Cup in Spain by defeating Hungary 1-0 at Wembley Stadium. It was the first time they had qualified for the tournament since 1970.