Music

You Need to Hear This Song Right Now #23

Heavy Rotation — Miss Gradenko, the Police (Synchronicity, 1983)

Heavy Rotation was a music industry term for songs that, one way or another, got a lot of airplay. It referred to the large amount of rotation that a particular record got on turntables at radio stations. Since until the 1980s, this was the only way to get new music into the ears and brains of listeners, heavy rotation meant increased sales. These were good for record companies and artists alike.

Today, some of us still put records on at home and give them a spin. Most of us don’t. However, the term still applies, though in a different way. Streaming services like Spotify sell subscriptions to listeners and then pay artists based on listens. At least, that’s the way we think it works.

For me, heavy rotation means a song that is in my head for some reason. Maybe for a moment, maybe for a day, maybe for longer. It’s a song that you come back to from time to time and still feels just as good.

This series of articles is dedicated to these songs.

Here, I aim to highlight a particular song by a particular band or singer. We should know a bit about the band, a bit about where the song fits into its history, and where the song fits into what was happening in music at that time. Then there’s the song itself. Who’s playing on it, what are the lyrics getting at, and why is it so good? How does it still occupy sonic space in our lives?

I’ll (try to) keep it short. It shouldn’t take you any longer to read than the song itself. To that end, I’ll put a Youtube clip of the original recording at the top of the article so you can listen as you read. Or not. And because a song is often much different live than in the recording studio, I’ll stick a live clip on at the end.

What song is in your head right now? Here’s one that won’t leave mine today:

#23 — Miss Gradenko, the Police (Synchronicity, 1983)

1983 was a huge year in music, and many artists put out the best work of their careers: Prince, ZZ Top, Billy Idol, and David Bowie, to name a few. Happily, it coincided with the point in life at which I was beginning to make my own decisions regarding music.

Arguably, the biggest album of that year was “Synchronicity” by the Police, and it is the first record I ever bought. That’s right, record. And I still have it.

It was their last of five albums and spawned a string of hits that are probably their biggest. “Every Breath You Take,” “King of Pain,” “Wrapped Around Your Finger,” and “Synchronicity II” are all on anyone’s Police Greatest Hits Mix Tape.

As they’d never record together again, what is most striking now about the album is how different it sounds, how un-Police like it sounds, from its four predecessors. They had developed an easily recognized sound, but by 1983, it was probably clear that they were about to go their separate ways and wanted to go out on top by making something very different.

The unmistakable virtuosity of the three separate instruments with Sting (on bass), Andy Summers (on guitar), and Stewart Copeland (on drums) is still there. The songwriting is still there. Sting still sounds like Sting. But “Every Breath You Take” is a million miles away from “Every Little Thing She Does is Magic.”

There is one song that would fit on any of the previous albums, and that is Miss Gradenko (track 5 on side 1). On this album, surrounded by such heavy hitters, it might be considered a filler or a throwaway, but for me, it is the most Police sounding of all the songs on the album.

It was written by Stewart Copeland, and at barely 2 minutes, it might even be considered a ditty more than a song. This is probably as good a place as any to throw in the fact that, for me, Stewart Copeland is the greatest rock drummer of all time. His style, his sound, and his artistry has never been copied, and I can’t think of a drummer whose sound is more instantly recognizable. In fact, if you give a listen to his sadly forgotten late 80s band, Animal Logic, you will hear it immediately.

But to the song. Three on the toms, straight into Sting’s distinctive bass line, and Andy Summer’s with a “Bring on the Night” type intro.

“Don’t tell the Director I said so

But are you safe, Miss Gradenko

We were at a policy meeting,

They were planning new ways of cheating”.

The Cold War is still on at this point, and the Russian / Ukrainian-sounding name of the protagonist might hint at criticism of the Soviet political system. That’s a hunch, and I don’t know that for sure.

The first chorus at :40 asks, “Is anybody alive in here?” and answers with “Nobody but us.” Verse two contributes more to the scene:

“Your uniform don’t seem to fit,

You’re much to alive in it

You’ve been letting your feelings show

Are you safe, Miss Gradenko”

Has Miss Gradenko blown the whistle on some improprieties and is now being silenced?

Andy Summers’ guitar is at the forefront starting at 1:12 and leading to the most glorious Police-sounding passage in the song at 1:29 with the Copeland drum fill.

An awkward ending finishes the tune, but this song is always in my head, possibly as the calm before the apocalyptic storm and driving rock of Synchronicity II.

Here’s Copeland playing an instrumental version of the song with an orchestra in London in 2019.

If you have made it this far, it will occur to you that if this is #23 in this series, then there must be 22 previous ones. This is a correct assumption, and here I will link #22. At the bottom of it, you find a link to #21, and at the bottom of it, you can — if you so choose — be taken to #20.

This ingenious system that I thought up all by myself continues all the way to #1.

I really do hope that you like what you have just read. If you want unlimited access to thousands of writers, consider a subscription to Medium. It will set you back $5 a month, and if you use this link, then I get a slice of that and will continue to promote the lesser-known tracks of the Police canon.