Rock 'n' Roll Police | Henry Padovani + Sting Copeland Summers | Cannes • Henry Padovani doc
(featuring early Police) Cannes
http://www.stewartcopeland.net
WHEN YOU THOUGHT YOU WERE IN FOR A LIFETIME
Or a henry padovani biography.
HP's excited news brief in two languages:
' ROCK AND ROLL.. OF CORSE!' est SELECTION OFFICIELLE au FESTIVAL de CANNES!! ca y est, on peut le dire!
(http://bit.ly/aMpGFI)
1952 :Born 13/10/52 bastia ( Corsica)
1963: Being given a guitar at the age of 11 by his uncle .
Left the guitar in a corner until 14
1968 : Formed lapsus , a band with school mates
Playing English pop standards at local dance clubs
'ROCK AND ROLL.. OF CORSE' is OFFICIAL SELECTION at the CANNES FILM FESTIVAL!! thanks god, we can now tell it!
Late june, the flying padovanis start a mini tour of London clubs and culminate beautifully in Hyde Park, supporting the Police, for the Hard Rock Calling. Of course Lionel Guedj is filming all this
In july, they fly off to Japan where they have been invited for 3 concerts at the famous FUJI ROCK FESTIVAL Of corse Lionel Guedj is filming all this too!!
2009: the flying padovanis start the year recording a few tracks with Mark St John at the SmokeHouse studios in London. They record Mancini’s Peter Gunn, the Shadows’s Apache, Kraftwerk’s The Model and ‘I am Spartacus’, a fats furious riff from Henry for the movie ‘ rock and roll …of corse!’.
All winter, henry concentrates on the recording of the music for the movie and in the spring, he start the writing and the translation of ‘secret police man’ in English, with the caring help of Aysen Slack, Paul Slack’s wife. He adds 3 more chapters and the book is ready for October.
In november, Henry leaves for a serie of dates in Singapour, Australia and New Zeland. He visits 10 cities, screen a work in progress version of ‘ Rock and roll…of corse !’ and performs in 10 clubs and theaters, alone with his guitar, for a set consisting of 2 :3 of french songs, the rest in english
The early days of the Police
After Christmas I decided to go for an audition. Just like that. I wasn’t even sure whether or not I was going to stay in London, I was just rolling along, going with the flow.
I often played with Steward and Ian, and we got on well. We’d go out together to see bands. Stewart often talked about the band that he wanted to start. We’d see Miles organizing gigs – I remember watching Squeeze, his latest signing, supporting Generation X at some college gig, the audience seated behind the lecterns.
And then, maybe just to prove something to myself, I decided to reply to a small ad.
I was flicking through Melody Maker and I noticed a classified: London, punk group is looking for a guitarist. Why not? I gave them a call, and they asked me to come and see them in North London. Paul dropped me off. I met two guys: a singer, Riff Regan, and a drummer, John Moss, who later formed Culture Club with Boy George. Very cool. They handed me a guitar and I played some rock, a ‘twelve bars’ whilst Riff sang.
- “Do you want to join our band?”
Straight to the point.
I said I’d think about it and call them, and I left, over the moon. It was my first audition and they’d accepted me. I had been a bit stressed. It is not easy to sell yourself so quickly.
I went back to Paul’s, and that evening I called Stewart. I told him all about the audition. He seemed a bit surprised that I had done it. He asked me:
- “But, are you planning to stay in London, then?”
- “Maybe… Anyway, I said I’d think about it”
- “So you’re ready to stay?”
- “Yeah…” I replied, a bit lost. “I don’t know… I don’t really feel like going back just yet. Why?”
- “Look, if you’re going to stay in London, why don’t you join my band?”
- “You never asked me.”
- “I thought you understood. Anyway, the bass player I told you about is coming down from Newcastle”.
- “Oh yeah? The Sting or whatever his name is?”
- “Yeah, him!… What are you doing right now?”
- “Not a lot, I’ve just got back at Paul’s”
- “Why don’t you come round? We can have a chat about it”
I was thinking. He continued:
- “And I’ve just written a new song”
- “I’ll be right over!”
Stewart seemed to be a bit worried that I might join another group. I was surprised. I was pleased. I don’t know. It was simple and I liked that. Like always, I didn’t question myself too much, everything just fell into place, quietly and simply.
All my life I haven’t asked myself too many questions. I tend to trundle along on instinct, and either I’ve had a lot of luck or maybe that’s just the best way to make choices. So far, I think I have been right to work in that way. And when people ask, I reply that I don’t have many regrets, that I sleep well and dream a lot, and not always while sleeping either.
Like most people, I also have some pretty mad ideas sometimes, but ‘I’m not making any plans about the comet???’. ( wild dreams.. when the comet was first seen, people would have all kinds of ideas about it.. an English expression here?)
I’d been in London for about a month. I wanted to be a musician. I was one. I wanted to be a guitarist in a band. I’d been offered two options in one day and I had chosen. Everything was going well.
When the band that I was about to join eventually became very famous – and I wasn’t part of it anymore – many people in France did asked me if I wasn’t disgusted, jealous, bitter or even sour. Never once have I ever felt anything other than joy for my friends, for their well deserved success. Maybe if I had gone through the same thing in France, I might have felt that way, but in England, we all pulled together in the same direction, and if one group became successful, then we all had a chance to also become so one day. I have never made music thinking that I wanted to become number one, and neither have any of the groups I have played with in the UK. Obviously we wanted our music to be heard, we wanted to be successful, wanted to play in front of larger and larger crowds. And, even though there was so much competition, we knew that we could all have our chance, and we all did everything we could to have it. In England, no one has ever asked me whether I was jealous of The Police’s success. My friends are proud to know that I, along with two mates, started a group that became one of the biggest pop group in the world.
The bassist he’d mentioned was about to visit him.
He was from from Newcastle. Stewart had discovered him playing in a jazz-rock band.
After a Curved Air gig, Phil Sutcliffe, a journalist had taken him to see the pride of Newcastle: Last Exit. He didn’t much like the band, but the bassist impressed him. He had ‘it’. He could sing and play bass at the same time, which was perfect because Stewart wanted to start a three-piece. Jimi Hendrix was his model. It’s true that being just three in a band has many advantages. It works out cheaper, it’s easier to get around, you can work just about anywhere and you don’t need so much gear. The idea was first to be able to survive and earn a living, and when you are three it would be that much easier. Whenever I see bands with six, seven or even more members, I worry for them. It will be hard, they won’t earn much money, they’ll have trouble lasting it out and will quickly give up, unless success knocks at the door very quickly. For example, when I started The Flying Padovani’s after having played with The Police and The Electric Chairs, we were just three. And it’s true that we had our moments of glory, we held out, and we made a lot of noise… just the three of us.
Rock 'n' Roll Of Corse! Henry Padovani (1er Police Guitarist)sea Cannes
Cannes, May 21: Armed police in full riot gear today sealed off all approaches to the venue of the Cannes Film Festival after angry protesters threatened to
Day 10 at the 63rd Cannes film festival and here's a timely reminder that this most glamorous jamboree is also a grand platform for ...
guardian.co.uk/film/cannes-film-festival-hors-la-Commissariat de Police
Rock 'n' Roll Police: Cannes
http://entertainment/fashion-police-cannes
CANNES FASHION
May 23, 2009 ... Julianne Moore's Sunglasses - Cannes Must-Haves - Film Festival ... The fashion police at Cannes – The Marquee Blog - CNN.com Blogs ...
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/
Holley told Judge Revel that Lohan had “filled out police reports in Cannes.” Cannes police told TMZ.com that they have not seen any filed reports from ...
http://thecelebritycafe.com/feature/lohan-blames-father-again-05-21-2010
From TheCelebrityCafe.com - 10 hours ago
1919 related articles
1971 : goes to university in aix en provence and ..but became a dj in a club.
Summer 76: plays in a club in calvi and meets paul mulligan.
1976 : autumn : goes to a flaming groovies concert at the university of aix en provence.
Meets them and they get along great. They invite him in London .this encounter will urge him to go to London.
Decide to leave to England in December 76 car packed with a guitar and an amplifier.
Moves in at the English friend he met in Corsica , paul mulligan, in Islington
His first task is to go and see his new friends ‘ the flaming groovies’. He meets there marc zermati who will become a lifetime friend
Paul introduce him to stewart Copeland who is just disbanding curved air.
Hangs around clubs and love the ‘punk’ vibe.
In the meantime , jams with stewart, his brother ian and various friends in stewart’s Mayfair squat. Miles Copeland is setting up management and touring office.
Goes to an audition : London with john moss ( future ex culture club) and ……They want him. Henry hesitates. tells stewart who ask him officially to join him and form a band . he knows a bass player who will move to London from newcastle..his idea is to form a trio à la Jimi Hendrix.
He knows a bass player who can sing great , who had a jazz rock band Last exit and who will come down from Newcastle
Henry decides to spend Christmas in England.
1977 : January 1977: meet with sting at stewart’s mayfair squat .sting and his wife frances , an actress , just had a baby and they are sleeping at a friend’s in Bayswater.
They jam and they decide to form the police. Repertoire is all stewart’s.
12/1/1977 - The Police had their first rehearsal, held at drummer's Stewart Copeland's London flat, with stng on bss and vocals, stewart on drums Henry on guitar.
They rehearse for a month and start playing in clubs in london and around the country.
March 1977 :sees the electrics at dingwalls. Meet with them ( . wayne county, greg van cook, val haller and J.J Johnson.)
Henri is arrested drunk and driving a mini in kings cross. Bailed out by his friend paul, he spends a month signing on every evening at the clerkenwell police station..
In the meantime, Record fall out / nothing achieving at bazza’s with money lent by his friend paul mulligan. They put it out on miles label created for the occasion: illegal records.Stewart and henry spend their nights tagging the walls of London with a handcuffs logo and the name ‘the police’.
The record comes out to bad critics from press. They have little offers for gigs.
Miles come up with the costs saving idea of several bands on a bill .
The police goes on a European tour with cherry vanilla and plays also some dates with wayne county and the electric chairs. Tours England with johnnt thunders and the heartbreakers and cherry vanilla.
More tours and dates with the police.
May 1977 : meet with andy summers. Gong are doing a reunion in paris and the police will back mike howlett with andy summers in mike’s band strontium 99 .
The police does the gig in paris. They follow with more festivals.
June 77: Andy joins the band. They rehearse and play the music machine, The marquee.
6 aout 1977 : they are invited to play the festival de mont de marsan., punk festival with the clash, the damned? Eddie and the hot rods, etc etc..
Back in london for the recording of visions of the night and dead end job with john cale as producer .at bazza’s studios. It doesn’t go so well as john cale and andy summers go into dispute over and revive a querel henry and andy had in mont de marsan.
After recording sting and henry discuss his future in the police.
Andy brings in session work to sting and stewart..and times are tough….
Andy is bringing session work and money is needed. ..sting is thinking of joining his friend gerry from last exit in billy ocean baking band…
Henry leaves to Corsica after a first year of rock and roll. He is decided to go back there.
He is having a great time and knows everyone. He was to be voted ligger of the year with phil lynnott of thin lizzy , just in front of steve jones of the pistols by city limits magazine…
September 1977: back in London. The electric chairs ask him to join.
First gig at the roundhouse in London.
During that time henry goes and see his friends from the police who are having a hard times making ends meets. Andy takes them in germany to work with eberahard shoener whom with they record 17 songs between 78 and 81.
September 1977 until ….
Henry has just joned the band after they recorded their first album and the infamous single 4if you don’t want to fuck me , fuck off’.
He will stay 3 years with them recording 2 albums and various singles.
Storm the gates of heaven with producer martin birch at the marquee studios at the end of 78 and things you mother never told you with producer david Cunningham of the flying lizards at berry streets studios in .april 79.
TUESDAY MAY 1ST
The Police are back !
The police are back and everyone is happy.
Police are back and as always most people see in a band just the success that has surrounded it. People think that, as soon as Sting started to write songs it was bingo time.
The police are back and a lot of people ask me what, I, think about it.
Of course, I have something to say about it, and if journalists want to speak to me, it is either because they don’t have access to Sting, Stewart or Andy and that I am a bargain article, easy to obtain, or because they would like me to give them a scoop of the bitter, sour, or disappointed guy.
Sorry! All my life, I have only had love, solidarity and joy for the Police success. I know they might not understand, they might be disappointed to miss a good tabloid article and of course they are sent back to the reading of that band’s history. What they should take out of it is a great story of solidarity and tenacity, an example!
It is not because today record companies and medias put forward and put their money on young artists that have just a look or had had the good idea to fart live on TV, that the history of pop and rock has always counted essentially on A&R to bring up new talents or on journalists to inform us on the arrival or on the existence of stars-to-be.
At the contrary, the history of rock has nearly always counted onto itself or on the public to be beautiful and interesting. In the same way medias couldn’t understand Elvis or in the same way record companies didn’t want The Beatles, no one wanted the Police.
Of course, in 77 or 78, everyone was looking for the new Clash or the new Sex Pistols and when the Police arrived, maybe rightly, those talents scouts only saw there some opportunists that were trying to take advantage of a scene that this band was trying to infiltrate. When I wasn’t part of that band anymore, and that it then consisted of Stewart, Sting and Andy, it was not any better. Of course Sting did find in Andy an associate and that new balance did please him more. In the previous combo, I was at the same time, the ‘punk’ guarantee’ and a support to Stewart. I, who would go out all the time in every London club ( I had actually been voted ‘ ligger of the year’ in a magazine called ‘city limits’ with Phil Lynnot of thin lizzy, while Steve Jones of the Sex Pistols arrived 3rd.. well, not something to get a medal but it gives you an idea of the life I was having..), who befriended the whole of the punk scene and would give report to my friends of the growing impact of that scene on the record companies choices and on the medias attitude, I was conforting Stewart on the direction he had chosen for his band, and who would then let Sting hold his brakes. Sting wasn’t trying to really understand anymore. All that was bigger than him. Him, his priority was to find money and feed his family.
In any case, as far as I am concerned, that is the way. I was following their footsteps in the beginning, supporting with all of my heart until they took on the world, and still until today, wishing more than anyone that they would reform.
In the face of the world.
