Roxanne (song)

"Roxanne"
1978 A&M single art for Roxanne.
Recorded by The Police
Released:	1978-04-14 (UK) re-issue in April 1979 1979-04-05 (Japan)
Recorded:	January - March 1978
Length:	3:12
Album(s):	Outlandos d'Amour
Label(s):	A&M
Writer(s):	Sting
Producer(s):	The Police
Studio(s):	Surrey Sound Studios
Released as single?	YES

"Roxanne" is a song written by Sting and recorded by The Police in 1978.

About the song

Sting had the idea for the song while being in Paris' red light district with The Police on 1977-10-20.

He presented the song to the band at their rehearsal room in Finchley and they changed the Bossa Nova style to the rhythm we all know.

There's a longer version from the Outlandos d'Amour sessions that lasts about four minutes. Verse two is repeated with Sting singing it in a jazzy way - also changing some lines slightly to "I just have to tell you how I feel - I won't share you with another man" (!). The instrumental jam in the middle with just bass and drums is also extended.

Sting sang four different vocal takes and Nigel Gray combined the best bits to this longer version, which was edited down to the classic we all know.

When recording Outlandos d'Amour (initially for Illegal Records) at Surrey Sound Studios they presented the songs they had to Miles Copeland. He was indifferent until he heard Roxanne.

Miles talked to people from A&M and got a record deal.

At the beginning of the song, during the intro, you can hear a strange piano chord, then Sting laughing. In fact, during the recording of a fourth vocal track, a tired Sting sat down on the piano just behind him. As its lid wasn't closed a strange piano chord was created by Sting's buttocks. They decided to keep this on the final mix. Note that you won't hear it on the instrumental track, as it was recorded on a vocal track.

Personnel

• Sting - vocals, bass, (ass) piano
• Stewart Copeland - drums
• Andy Summers - guitar

• produced by The Police

Release History

Albums

Roxanne appears on the following album releases:

Cover art	Album title	Release date	Release country
	Outlandos d'Amour	1978-11-17	UK
	Message In A Box: The Complete Recordings	1993-MM-DD	UK

Singles

CD Singles

Cover art	Catalog no.	Songs	Release date	Release country
	AMCD 905	"Roxanne" / "Canary In A Coalmine" / "The Bed's Too Big Without You" / "Can't Stand Losing You"	1988-04-25	UK
	AM 390 563-2	"Roxanne" / "Every Breath You Take" / "Message In A Bottle" (live)	1990-MM-DD	Germany

7" Singles

Cover art	Catalog no.	A-side song/B-side song	Release date	Release country
	AMS 7348	"Roxanne"/"Peanuts"	1978-04-14	UK
	AMS 6603	"Roxanne"/"Peanuts"	1978-MM-DD	Germany
	AMS 6603	"Roxanne"/"Peanuts"	1978-MM-DD	The Netherlands
	K 7376	"Roxanne"/"Peanuts"	YYYY-MM-DD	Australia
	K 7376	"Roxanne"/"Peanuts"	YYYY-MM-DD	New Zealand
	AM 01.09.1406	"Roxanne"/"Dead End Job"	YYYY-MM-DD	Peru
	AMS 6603	" Hoxanne" /"Peanuts"	YYYY-MM-DD	Spain
	AM 2096 (promo)	"Roxanne"/"Roxanne"	1979-MM-DD	Canada
	AM 2096 (promo)	"Roxanne"/"Dead End Job"	1979-MM-DD	Canada
	AM 2096 (promo)	"Roxanne" (stereo) /"Roxanne" (mono)	1979-01-DD	USA
	AM 2096	"Roxanne" /"Dead End Job"	1979-01-DD	USA
	AM-70502	"Roxanne" /"Peanuts"	1979-MM-DD	Philippines
	PAMS 7348 F	"Roxanne" /"Peanuts"	1979-MM-DD	Portugal
	AMS 7348	"Roxanne"/"Peanuts"	1979-MM-DD	UK
	AMS 6603 reissue	"Roxanne"/"Peanuts"	1979-MM-DD	Germany
	AMS 6603 reissue	"Roxanne"/"Peanuts"	1979-MM-DD	The Netherlands
	AMP-1029	"Roxanne"/"Can't Stand Losing You"	1979-MM-DD	Japan
	K 7376 reissue	"Roxanne"/"Peanuts"	1980-MM-DD	Australia
	AM 8622 (Forget Me Nots reissue)	"Roxanne" /"Can't Stand Losing You"	YYYY-MM-DD	USA
	AMS 9211 (Do You Remember reissue)	"Roxanne"/"Peanuts"	1982-MM-DD	The Netherlands
	AM-8622 (Memories reissue)	"Roxanne"/"Can't Stand Losing You"	1985-MM-DD	Canada
	AM 8622 (Memories reissue)	"Roxanne" /"Can't Stand Losing You"	1985-MM-DD	USA
	AM 363	"Roxanne"/"Synchronicity II"	1986-11-21	UK
	AMS 390 161-7	"Roxanne"/"Synchronicity II"	1986-MM-DD	Germany
	AM 390 161-7	"Roxanne" /"Synchronicity II"	1986-MM-DD	Spain
	AM 118Y3039-2 (from The Police Box)	"Roxanne"/"Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic"	1987-MM-DD	Japan
	AMS 390 563-7	"Roxanne"/"Every Breath You Take"	1990-09-DD	Germany
	AM 75021 8622 7 (Memories reissue)	"Roxanne" /"Can't Stand Losing You"	1996-MM-DD	USA

12" Singles

Cover art	Catalog no.	A-side song(s)/B-side song(s)	Release date	Release country
	AMS 7348	"Roxanne"/"Peanuts"	1978-MM-DD	UK
	AMS 7348	"Roxanne"/"Peanuts"	1979-MM-DD	UK
	SAMP 5	"The Bed's Too Big Without You"/"So Lonely"/"Can't Stand Losing You"/"Roxanne"/"Message In A Bottle"/"Walking On The Moon"	1980-MM-DD	UK
	AM 392 161-1	"Roxanne"/"Synchronicity II"/"Message In A Bottle" (live)	1986-MM-DD	Germany
	AM 392 161-1	"Roxanne"/"Synchronicity II"/"Message In A Bottle" (live)	1986-MM-DD	Spain

Video

"SONG TITLE" appears on the following video and dvd releases:

Cover art	Video title	Release date	Release country
	Video or dvd title	YYYY-MM-DD	Country

Awards, nominations, and certifications

Awards

This section needs more information.

Year	Winner	Award	Category
YYYY	WINNER (album, song, producer, etc.)	AWARD (Grammy, People's Choice, etc.)	CATEGORY

Nominations

This section needs more information.

Year	Nominee	Award	Category
YYYY	NOMINEE (album, song, producer, etc.)	AWARD (Grammy, People's Choice, etc.)	CATEGORY

Certifications

This section needs more information.

Country	Certifier	Classification	Certification
COUNTRY	CERTIFIER (RIAA, IFPI...)	CLASSIFICATION (Album, singles, foreign artist...)	CERTIFICATION (Gold, Platinum, Diamond...)

Lyrics

Lyrics are property and copyright of their owners, and provided here for educational purposes only.

• LP version:

Roxanne, you don't have to put on the red light
Those days are over
You don't have to sell your body to the night
Roxanne, you don't have to wear that dress tonight
Walk the streets for money
You don't care if it's wrong or if it's right

Roxanne, you don't have to put on the red light
Roxanne, you don't have to put on the red light
Roxanne
Put on the red light
etc...

I loved you since I knew ya
I wouldn't talk down to ya
I have to tell you just how I feel
I won't share you with another boy
I know my mind is made up
So put away your make up
Told you once I won't tell you again it's a bad way

Roxanne, you don't have to put on the red light
Roxanne, you don't have to put on the red light
You don't have to put on the red light / Roxanne
Roxanne
Put on the red light
etc...

• alternate version:

Roxanne, you don't have to put on the red light
Those days are over
You don't have to sell your body to the night
Roxanne, you don't have to wear that dress tonight
Walk the streets for money
You don't care if it's wrong or if it's right

Roxanne, you don't have to put on the red light
Roxanne, you don't have to put on the red light

I loved you since I knew ya
I wouldn't talk down to ya
Have to tell you just how I feel
I won't share you with another boy
You know my mind is made up
So put away your make up
I just have to tell you how I feel
I won't share you with another man

Roxanne, you don't have to put on the red light
Roxanne, you don't have to put on the red light
Roxanne
Put on the red light
etc...

I loved you since I knew ya
I wouldn't talk down to ya
I have to tell you just how I feel
I won't share you with another boy
I know my mind is made up
So put away your make up
Told you once I won't tell you again it's a bad way

Roxanne, you don't have to put on the red light
Roxanne, you don't have to put on the red light
You don't have to put on the red light / Roxanne
Put on the red light
Roxanne
Put on the red light
etc...

Ads

• this strange ad is from SOUNDS (April 22, 1978) - promoting the original UK single release (back then you'd hear bits from the song when you called that number):

• another strange ad is from US radio magazine "Fred" (March 5, 1979):

• an ad for the 1979 re-release in SOUNDS (April 14, 1979):

Reviews

• Sounds - April 15, 1978 review by Alan Lewis:

• Melody Maker - April 15, 1978 review by Ian Birch:

• Record Mirror - April 15, 1978 review by Bev Briggs:

Quotations and trivia

On 1978-04-06 Stewart Copeland grabbed an advance copy of Roxanne from the DJ at the Music Machine.

Andy Summers sent a single to Keith Richards who played it a lot during The Rolling Stones' US tour in the summer of 1978. Keith Altham was forced to hear it and eventually became The Police's publicist.

The 7" single version of Roxanne sold over a half-million copies in the U.S. and would have qualified for Gold record certification under current rules set by the Recording Industry Association of America. However, at the time of the song's release, singles were awarded with a Gold certification for sales of 1,000,000 units and a Platinum certification for sales of 2,000,000 units. The change to certification of Gold status for sales of 500,000 7" units did not occur until January 1, 1989.

Alternate and cover versions

An alternate version from the Outlandos d'Amour sessions lasts 3:59 minutes.

Alternate versions

Cover art	Catalog no.	A-side song/B-side song	Release date	Release country
	AMP-782	"Every Breath You Take (backing track)"/"Roxanne (backing track)"	1983-MM-DD	Japan

Cover versions

Cover versions of Roxanne appear on the following album releases:

Cover art	Artist	Album title	Release date	Release country
	Aswad	Reggatta Mondatta	1997-MM-DD	The Netherlands
	Fall Out Boy	Policia! A Tribute To The Police	2005-MM-DD	USA

• George Michael also did a cover version.

See also

• Outlandos d'Amour
• 1978-04-06

External links

http://www.followtheleaders.fr/rox2006.htm

References

• Stewart Copeland's diary (1978 release date)
• ThePolice.com. UltraStar Entertainment LLC. 31 May 2008. <http://www.thepolice.com/discog/?v=so&a=2&id=219>
• Craig Betts
• November 1986 release date from Outlandos newsletter - December 1986
• 1986 UK press sheet provides the exact November 21 release date