The Police track that Sting hated

So much so that he refused to play it with Grammy-winning guitarist Andy Summers and never even wanted to release it.

When The Police won in the Best Rock Instrumental Performance category at the 1982 Grammy Awards, guitarist Andy Summers was thrilled. Mostly because his bandmate Sting hated the song. So much so that he refused to play on it, and actually buried the tape of the original recording in a garden. This way he tried to make sure the track would never be finished by his bandmates.

Which Police track are we talking about? Behind My Camel. Summers, who wrote the song for the Police's third studio album, Zenyatta Mondatta, tells the story in an interview. The guitarist laughs off the tension surrounding the recording as "typical band behaviour."

"I was always more interested in the weirder stuff," says Summers. "And the commercially successful songs always seemed to come from Sting anyway. But we didn't have enough songs to fill out the album and I had this track. I said, 'So what about it?' and Sting said, 'I'm not playing on that!' I actually think he buried the tape in the garden! Stewart [Copeland, the Police drummer] was really up for working on it though. So we put together this Police track."

"I actually think he buried the tape in the garden!"

Upon its release in October 1980, Zenyatta Mondatta went straight to number 1 in the UK. It later reached number 5 on the Billboard 200 chart in the US, where the singles Don't Stand So Close To Me and De Do Do Do, De Da Da Da, reached the Top 10. Don't Stand So Close To Me Don't Stand So Close To Me also won a Grammy (for Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal) in 1982. But the success of Behind My Camel was less expected.

"I loved the irony," Andy Summers laughs now. "I'm sure there was some satisfaction in it."