The Police “Zenyatta Mondatta” released on this date, October 3rd, 1980. The Police really liked releasing their early stuff around Sting’s birthday, which was yesterday: their second album Regatta De Blanc was released on October 5th, 1979 and their fourth LP Ghost in the Machine came out on Sting’s birthday, October 2nd, in 1981. Zenyatta Mondatta, their third studio album, hit #1 in the UK and Australia and went to #5 in the US. So many strong and reggae-rhythmic tracks! Of course the two singles are great: “Don’t Stand So Close to Me” which went to #1 in the UK and #10 in the US (and won a Grammy for Best Rock Performance) and “De Do Do Do, De Da Da Da” which hit #5 in the UK and also #10 in the US. I still hear both of these songs played on (retro) radio today but many non-singles are still popular like “Driven to Tears,” “Canary in a Coalmine” and the instrumental – another Grammy winner – “Behind My Camel.” According to Wiki, Sting hated “Behind My Camel,” Andy Summers first solo-written song, and not only refused to play on it but said that “one day when I was in the studio, I found the tape lying on the table. So I took it around the back of the studio and actually buried it in the garden.” Also the title may refer to the fact that what’s behind a camel is a pile of shit. (Clearly the Grammy committee disagreed.)