You guys need to hear the story behind 'Roxanne.' The band was struggling after their first three tracks failed to hit anything on the charts and they desperately needed a breakthrough. They were recording at The Edge Studios in London with Ken Scott as producer and Chas Charman on engineering, while Keith Richards actually popped by playing his Stratocaster just for inspiration — which is already wild enough. Between takes Sting was falling asleep against an open piano on the floor until Ray Epps told him to get up. That's when Stuart Levy started working out the melody over a keyboard and everyone was around it. The whole studio had been through multiple session nights trying to nail something that would stand out, so pressure was high but creative energy was still there.
Then came the iconic moment: someone left the piano lid open and singer just wanted to rest for a second while he was singing, so instead of sitting on a chair he sat down and played the chord with his backside — literally butt-sitting on the piano. He kept playing it over and over until Stuart Levy walked back in and asked if that wasn't 'the one.' Sting has been laughing about this method for decades because it worked and became their biggest hit, reaching number 6 in Britain and getting them critical praise from NME who gave it a perfect ten and Melody Magazine where they were named best new band. Now the song is an immortal classic played everywhere and his album 'Roxanne' went gold almost immediately after release.
Sting has even written about this anecdote in his book The Police Stories, detailing how one of the most famous songs of all time started as a bum-note chord he hit with his rear end because he was tired. He cracked jokes that if a cello had been nearby he would've sat on it instead — any instrument would have worked for his method. It perfectly captures why great songwriting is often accidental and chaotic rather than planned, which is exactly the kind of story this community loves. The song has played from radio stations all over the world since 1979 and every time I hear it now I can't stop thinking about him sitting on that piano.
Source: https://www.musicradar.com/artists/its-a-piano-chord-but-i-played-it-with-my-arse-i-was-singing-and-i-just-wanted-a-rest-and-the-piano-lid-was-open-so-i-sat-and-i-played-that-chord-the-polices-classic-breakthrough-hit-with-the-ultimate-bum-note
Then came the iconic moment: someone left the piano lid open and singer just wanted to rest for a second while he was singing, so instead of sitting on a chair he sat down and played the chord with his backside — literally butt-sitting on the piano. He kept playing it over and over until Stuart Levy walked back in and asked if that wasn't 'the one.' Sting has been laughing about this method for decades because it worked and became their biggest hit, reaching number 6 in Britain and getting them critical praise from NME who gave it a perfect ten and Melody Magazine where they were named best new band. Now the song is an immortal classic played everywhere and his album 'Roxanne' went gold almost immediately after release.
Sting has even written about this anecdote in his book The Police Stories, detailing how one of the most famous songs of all time started as a bum-note chord he hit with his rear end because he was tired. He cracked jokes that if a cello had been nearby he would've sat on it instead — any instrument would have worked for his method. It perfectly captures why great songwriting is often accidental and chaotic rather than planned, which is exactly the kind of story this community loves. The song has played from radio stations all over the world since 1979 and every time I hear it now I can't stop thinking about him sitting on that piano.
Source: https://www.musicradar.com/artists/its-a-piano-chord-but-i-played-it-with-my-arse-i-was-singing-and-i-just-wanted-a-rest-and-the-piano-lid-was-open-so-i-sat-and-i-played-that-chord-the-polices-classic-breakthrough-hit-with-the-ultimate-bum-note