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Watch an unseen ‘Christmas’ video for The Police’s Don’t Stand So Close To Me

Sting, Andy Summers and Stewart Copeland on ice…

By Paul Sinclair

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9

The Police photographed by Danny Quatrochi

In a move that hints of archive ‘activity’, a previously unseen music video for The Police’s 1980 UK number one single ‘Don’t Stand So Close To Me’ has been unearthed after 41 years. The video has now been ‘released’ for Christmas 2021.

The film shows the band lip-syncing and generally larking around on the ski slopes of Grey Rock, Quebec, Canada, in the same location the original video for ‘Don’t Stand So Close To Me’ was shot. This was the winter of 1980 and a concert at Montreal’s Centre Sportif had been cancelled leaving the band with some time on their hands.

What is being dubbed the “Official Christmas Version” shows Sting, Andy Summers and Stewart Copeland messing around, dressing up as Santa, whizzing about on snowmobiles and indulging in high jinks such the other two encouraging Sting to get his kit off at one point (thankfully his modesty stays in tact and we only see the top half).

‘Don’t Stand So Close To Me’ was the first single from 1980’s Zenyatta Mondatta. Six years later, the band re-recorded the song. ‘Don’t Stand So Close To Me ’86’ was a modest hit and featured on the chart-topping compilation, Every Breath You Take: The Singles.

Andy Summers told SDE in August that a four-disc version of The Police’s 1979 album, Regatta De Blanc, “is coming” and although expected in 2022 he was not forthcoming with timelines (“There’s a gap this year, but it’s all coming, don’t worry” were his exact words).

Watch the unseen ‘Don’t Stand So Close To Me’ video, below.

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9 Comments

9 thoughts on “Watch an unseen ‘Christmas’ video for The Police’s Don’t Stand So Close To Me”

  2. It’s interesting that the official Police videos on youtube are HD whereas they’ve only ever been issued on DVD in SD. Also the original Don’t Stand So Close To Me video is in a slightly wider format to the usual 4:3 ratio released on DVD (see pic).

  3. My mind must be playing tricks on me but I think I’ve seen that before on
    (Glen Michael’s) ‘Cavalcade’, a Scottish TV programme which had also shown a video for ‘Eagle’ by ABBA which was either well before ‘ABBA the Movie’ or a different version.

    1. I once met glen Michael in Fraser’s Buchanan Street Glasgow 1980 cool guy,!!!? Wot a show cartoon calvacade was on a Sunday afternoon on
      stv,,I remember a boy up the block of high rise flats I lived in appeared on it as a impressionist,Colin Campbell his mother was a cleaner in stv and got him on it legend

  4. I was not overly impressed with Andy’s interview. The first thing that needs to be undertaken is a discrete and immersive (in the drum kit) 5.1 mix of each POLICE studio-album!

    If, after that, THE POLICE want to include “archival footage,” outtakes, concerts, etc. in a SA-CD/Blu-ray (or DVD) BOOKSET (à la Tull), have at it.

    Otherwise, it’s a waste of time and money judging by the lack of commentary here — simply NOT a smart fiscal undertaking and a continued snub (IMO) to “immersive music” audiophiles.

  5. As a life-long Montrealer, one point of correction: the video was shot at Gray Rocks ski resort which was located in Mont-Tremblant, Quebec (131 KM north west of Montreal). The ski resort closed in 2009.

  6. Great to see after all these years. Looks like it was filmed the same time as they made the
    “De Do Do Do, De Da Da Da”  video which did get released back in the day. Great stuff. Also its nice to hear about deluxe versions of their albums coming up.

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