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"Don't think me unkind. The words are hard to find."

Everyone has a band or artist they can call their own, a musical act that you can relate to, that you grew up with your favorite band of all time. Much of that is based on when and where you grew up, your generation, what kind of music your parents of friends listened to, your general musical preference and other internal and external influences.

For me, that band was the Police. Ironically, it wasn't until Eddie Murphy mocked singing "Roxanne" in a jail cell in the 1982 movie "48 Hours" that I started really listening to the band. I was 14 years old at the time. I was familiar with most of their hits but had never purchased one of their albums. Yes there were albums back then.

Shortly thereafter, I moved overseas, so I was isolated from the Flock of Seagulls/new wave/Born In The U.S.A. phenomena that dominated U.S. radio airwaves in the early to mid-1980s. In high school, I began rocking out to the likes of Zeppelin, Rush, Van Halen, Def Leppard and the like. But the Police were an influence all their own. Despite only three musicians and five studio albums, their mark on modern music is indelible.

The band, comprised of energetic drummer Stewart Copeland, cerebral guitartist Andy Summers and front-man, bassist and lyricist Sting, formed in London in 1977. They released their first album, Outlandos d'Amour the following year. It included such hits as "Roxanne," "So Lonely," and "I Can't Stand Losing You."

The Police were able to release hit after hit at a time when much of modern music was devoid of quality and meaning. Disco was dying or dead. Rhythm and blues was nearly non-existent. Most rock and roll had little or no substance. Neither new wave nor hip-hop had yet hit the music scene. The Police successfully melded rock, pop, ska, reggae, jazz, funk and punk influences into a sound uniquely their own. The band's success finally peaked in 1984 with the release of its top-selling, multi-platinum Synchronicity. Due to egos and personality clashes, primarily between Copeland and Sting, the band broke up shortly thereafter, and all they went on to pursue solo careers.

"All made up and nowhere to go, welcome to this one man show."

I can still remember where I was after returning home for college, a lanky, teenager stocking shelves in a Massachusetts grocery, when I first heard Sting's solo, acoustic version of "Message in a Bottle" piped throughout the store. The Police, my favorite band, were no more. I never got

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