An Investigation Into The Records Of The Police, The Ultimate Discography Of The Police, Stewart Copeland, Sting, Andy Summers & Henry Padovani is a deep and detailed look into all the music the four members of The Police have made over the years. Jon Messier has been researching and compiling thousands of records, compact discs, promotional releases, and other cool items into one great big volume. The book has more than 600 pages with a nice index to help cross-reference the song you are looking for. This research book strategically looks at the entire collection of work created by the members of the Police before, during and after the break-up. This reference book covers the music released up to the year 2007. Here is an exclusive interview with Jon Messier for stewartcopeland.net.

When did you get the idea of working on such a hard project and why? Did someone commision it? 
No one commissioned "An Investigation Into The Records Of The Police, The Ultimate Discography Of The Police, Stewart Copeland, Sting, Andy Summers, Henry Padovani." It all started as a personal project and I never thought it would become a book. But the discography grew and grew and then the idea of a book started to take shape as the pages of information got larger. Here is just a little background: I have been a fan of The Police for many years. I got hooked on their music in 1981, when I first heard my friend's copy of "Ghost in the Machine." I remember how different the sound was from anything else being played on the radio. That first contact began my journey as a real fan of The Police, collecting anything I could find that had been released, from common albums to rare imports. That collection grew quickly, and I found myself cataloging the items for my own records. Soon I began to discover just how much more material was out there on The Police, and I thought it would be fun to begin tracking everything else available. So my initial documentation grew from a dozen pages on a legal pad to a more than 600 page document.

Your book can be considered the 'bible' for every Sting / Stewart Copeland / Andy Summers / The Police collector fan; do you feel a sort of responsibility? 
I've never considered this to be the "bible" but rather a good source of concrete, accurate information on the members of The Police. Now that the book is out in the world for people to buy and use, yes, I do feel a responsible to the accuracy of the information on the pages. I am a journalist by trade and believe in the importance of factual information. With that being said, I realize there are sections to the book that have information missing or wrong. With the amount of detail I have tried to include in the book, I am sure there are plenty of small mistakes that can be corrected. One thing I would like to add is that I highly encourage people to contact me who have information that may help fill in some of the blanks.

Do you own all these releases? 
Gosh no! I don't think my wife would appreciate me taking up any more space in our home with Police memorabilia. If anyone has all the items listed in this book, I would almost say they are half crazy! There are some really big collectors around the world. What is neat, is that some only collect Sting music, while others collect only Master Tapes directly from the recording studios, but in the end, for most collectors it is all about tracking down that one item that they really have been searching for, for many years. But back to the original question of owning all the items in the book, there are many collectors around the world who probably have a much bigger collection that I do. What I have tried to do with this discography is research and document, including records from other fans and collectors. To be honest, a lot of the information has come from other collectors and the lists they have for their own records. I have also used many commercial and personal websites with items being sold. Sometimes I have called or written to the owner of the item to get more detailed information about the record in question so that I have as much information about it without having to buy another record with music that I already have. So I guess what I am trying to say, is that this discography would have never happened without the help of dozens and dozens of people from around the world that have helped me out over the years. I would like to take this time to say "thank you" to everyone that helped and contributed to the final work. And if you have something that you think is cool or rare, please contact me with the information. I can never have too much!

How did you get all this information ? Did you get help by record companies and other collectors? 
I have been blessed with building many lasting friendships from my side hobby with The Police book. The Police fans are a great bunch of people. I may be biased in saying this, but I think they are the best fans in the rock world! This book would not have been possible were it not for the many fans who provided me with their own record lists and other facts. As the age of the internet grew, so did the discography. Tracking down records/compact discs is so much easier with the internet and email. I now can write to people around the world and usually get a response back within a few hours instead of a few weeks. The internet has also provided me with great access to various databases with music information. Some are actual online discographies and others are just collections with great details about items that I am looking for to add to the discography. But before the internet, I use to spend many hours in record stores all over the country flipping through the LP, 45 and CD racks looking for anything that was related to the Police. One of the craziest expereinces I had at a records store was in Meadville, Pennsylvania, here in the United States. I spend about three or so hours in the store because they had a lot of old, cool vinyl records. But the entire time I was in the store, the clerk (a woman in her 50's), played James Brown music at a high volume. After a while, I just started to laugh and smile about how music can change a person's life! I really hope the woman had a chance to meet James Brown because it was obvouis that he had a big impact on her life! I don't find myself in too many records stores anymore, which is too bad, but the internet has definitely made it easier to find information and to build new friends when collecting music for the discography!

Do you think there are still missing releases from the past not included yet in your book?  The book is updated to the end of 2006; are you working on a new edition for everything that is coming out this year? New compilations, box sets, etc... 
Yes, there are items missing from this book and so I am updating it all the time with new items being released, like the Stewart new anthology collection and the Police's 2-CD set. While I am updating and collecting new information for the big discography, my plan is to release a "supplemental" edition with just the new and updated information so that people don't have to buy the whole 600+ page book just for a couple of dozen pages of newly discovered recordings. I hope to have the supplemental book available sometime in the near future (maybe toward the end of the year). It is pretty crazy trying to keep up with all the new releases and it helps having people email me with recordings I have not heard about. I also have some new items that very few people have ever heard of (here is a little hint...it has to do with "De Do Do Do, De Da Da Da"). So I encourage everyone to keep an eye out for future editions of the book (I am expecting lots of new recordings to be uncovered and documented).

Did you realize when you started working on it, that the book would end up being more than 600 pages long?
Absolutely not! When I first began it started with a few legal pages worth of hand-written notes of my collection. Once I got my own personal computer in the late 1980's, the document (book) began to grow and it's still growing today. It's amazing when you begin to look at all the music and material that four talented people have created in this world. I know that looking at all the items I have documented in the book, I sometimes forget that it is music that I am researching. I have read, typed and looked at the names of the songs and albums so many times, that there are moments I need to take a few deep breaths and put on some music to remind me how much the music means to me.

Do the members of The Police, or their managers, got a copy of this book in their hands?
I am not sure if any of the members of The Police have seen the discography. It would be an honor for me to have any of the members of The Police see and hold a copy of the discography. I think they would be surprised to see how much work each of them has created over the years. Stewart, Sting, Andy and Henry have all had their hands in the music industry for so long, is it really amazing to see who they have worked with over the years and what songs they have recorded (whether their own or collaborations or even cover songs).

Will you work on a website? 
If you are asking me if I have any plans to create and maintain a website like the wonderful Sting discography website, (www.stingoop.com), no I am not. I wish I could, but keeping up with all the latest releases takes the majority of my time. Plus, I still try to maintain a balance in my life. Enjoying music, either collecting it or listening to it, is still a fun hobby for myself and if I tried to take on a comprehensive website, I would need about 20 more hours per week to get things done!
Plus call me a little old fashion, but I still like to hold a book in my hands and browse through it when I am looking for details about a particular recording of the band.

Are there details you would like to add to future editions of the discography?
One thing I would really like to add are photographs of some of the records. I am not quite sure how or when I will tackle this goal, but it is something I get a lot of requests about. Since I already have more than 600+ pages, my thoughts are to try to reduce the number of pages so that I could add photos. Again, I am not sure how I am going to accomplish this, but it is something I would like to further explore. Another thing I would like to see happen is to really fill in the holes in Henry Padovani's section. I realize that some people might think it is crazy to spend so much time and effort on Henry's sections, but he has a wide and varied career that intrigues me. And the last goal I have, is to add a few chapters titled "Family Connections To The Police." I have started to track down information of recordings that Stewart's and Sting's kids have done. It is quite amazing to see how some of the children of The Police have followed in their father's footsteps. For example, Sven Copeland is a pretty good drummer with a couple of albums under his belt. And most people already know about Joe Sumner's recording history with Santa's Boyfriend and Fiction Plane, but he has a few recordings that are quite rare and I would love to track down more information about those items.

You sell the book through Lulu.com; they press copies upon request. How do you feel about distributing a book this way?
When my book was 400+ pages long several years ago I attempted to print and distribute the book myself. I sold a few copies that way, but I found it very challenging because the discography has a very small targeted audience. At that time, the book itself was nearly a ream of paper. It was simply not cost effective for me to do this on my own. Since that time, the Internet has really changed how the printing industry works. With Lulu's on-demand printing, I found it to be the best solution for my niche audience of Police fans. By working with a company like Lulu, they can handle the printing and shipping of the book at much better prices than I could ever do. Lulu does a great job of print and it is wonderful that they ship the books worldwide.

The staff of stewartcopeland.net wish to say thanks to Jon Messier for his availability and his great book.