The Police are now ready to embark on the latest leg of their reunion tour with forthcoming concerts in Australia and the Far East. Let's go back to 30 years ago, when the band was struggling to find some good clubs to play and to promote singles such as 'Roxanne' and 'Can't Stand Losing You', both to be later included on their debut album 'Outlandos D'Amour'.
On November 5th 1978 the Police played at a club in Detroit called Bookie's 870. One of the most renowned clubs in town; The Bookie's is now celebrating its 30th anniversary and we talked to Scott Campbell, who was in charge of booking bands to play at the Club. Scott is now planning a great party for the 30th anniversary of the club.

- The Police played in your club 30 years ago; how did it happen?
Bookie's was the only place to play in Detroit for "New Wave" or "Alternative" acts. David Bowie hung out at the club a few months before when he was playing a big venue earlier the same night. I had dealt with Miles Copeland on other bands he was booking at the agency he worked at before he started FBI. He sent an import copy of "Roxanne" and asked to get his brother's band a Sunday gig, which was our worst night. I was playing Toronto that weekend with my band The Sillies, so I wasn't crazy about bringing in someone from out of town and paying a guarantee, but Miles eventually dropped it to $200, so I decided to take a chance. We made exactly $200 at the door that night.

- Did you listen to their record before scheduling their gig, and what did you think about?
I liked it and played it heavily in the club. A deejay at a major FM rock station liked to hang out at the club and he loved it, but his station wouldn't let him play it. He later went on to a much bigger station in Chicago.

- Your club had some of the biggest names of the late Seventies scene; tell us something about the club, when did you open it and how it became so well known in Detroit.
There was nowhere for anyone to play in Detroit unless they were Peter Frampton. I had started The Sillies in 1977 and did a few shows at theaters I'd rented and at the University Of Michigan, but we needed some place to use as a nucleus for the Punk and New Wave Scene. We did a weekend at Bookie's on March 16 and 17, 1978. The owner was so impressed, he turned the club over to us (The Sillies) to book whatever we wanted. I brought in The Dead Boys, Ultravox, John Cale (of Velvet Underground), The Heartbreakers with Johnny Thunders (NY Dolls), The Damned, and basically anyone who was touring that was the right kind of music. That's why I booked The Police. There were also a lot of great Detroit bands like RUR, Coldcock, and The Denizens, which unfortunately never got much further than an occasional show in Chicago or Cleveland.

- Did you get phone calls to know more about The Police when they were scheduled to play the first time?
No one had heard of them when we had them. The only reason they heard anything is I played their ingle a lot at Bookie's and promoted the show. They came back in '79 just before the release of the second album and packed the place, though I didn't make any money off that show either.

- How was the band on stage and backstage?
They were nice but very tired. They were touring in an extended wheelbase Dodge passenger van, not a camper, bus, or RV. They must have slept on the bench seats. They had one roadie/driver.
Onstage, they sounded great except the amps were turned up too loud and made it hard to hear the vocals. I was also surprised that Sting sang only the backups on the chorus of "Roxanne", no lead. Stewart and Andy were doing fine on the backups, so I couldn't see why Sting wasn't singing "Put On The Red Light..." unless it was just too high for him or he just wanted to fatten up the backing vocals. I always wondered about that.
They were going to do a Monday at The Horseshoe in Toronto, where The Sillies had just headlined the Friday and Saturday, so I tried to give them some info on the club and what it was like. Back then, there was a feeling of camaraderie amongst the small independent bands. Neither of us had big money or big labels behind us and I felt it was our duty to look out after each other's interests. That was the idea behind starting Bookie's.

- Now, 30 years later, what has changed in booking bands to play at Bookie's?
My partner cut me out of the club a year later and the place changed hands several times before burning down in 1991, possibly for insurance reasons. I started several other bigger clubs but I simply book into an existing room these days when The Sillies want to play. Bookie's as a concept spread during the first two years of operation. There are perhaps a dozen rooms in Detroit where they have the kind of music Bookie's presented. One of them is The New Way in Ferndale, where we will hold the 30th anniversary. Bookie's itself is now a parking lot.

- Has the crowd changed as well or you can still breathe that spirit that brings people to see bands playing live in a club?
At the moment, it's hard finding the same type of crowd in Detroit. There is no one single club for the scene to coalesce around like Bookie's in 1978.

- You are planning a great party for your 30th Anniversary; tell us about it and who will be invited.
We are still planning the exact lineup. I had hoped that a corporate sponsor might be able to get one or all of The Police out to the event. People here think it's farfetched, but I think it would make the papers the world over and prove they aren't simply playing stadiums for the money. The Beatles wanted to go back and play a few small clubs just before they broke up, but they couldn't get John to agree to it at the time.

- Do you remember a specific story or an anecdote related to The Police coming to your club in 1978 or 1979?
In '78, I had to promote the hell out of the show to get 40 people to come. In '79, I could barely get in the door myself. The band wasn't any better, but they had radio play and promotion by the time they did the second show. People were jumping on the band wagon.

- Have you seen The Police live or listened to the recordings of the reunion tour?
No, I haven't, but I'm glad they are working together again and touring. I feel they offer a lot more than nostalgia and that the whole is more than the sum of its parts. Stewart and Andy contributed largely to what made The Police what they were and Sting is wise to be working with them again. Working solo has its own benefits, but it's good to come back to what made your music memorable in the first place.

To know more about the Bookie's 870 and The Sillies visit: www.bookiesclub870.com - www.thesillies.com