The Police “Outlandos d’Amour” released 40 years ago today, November 2nd, 1978. Outlandos d’Amour, The Police’s debut album, went to #6 on the UK album chart and to #23 in the US and is considered one of the best debut albums of all-time. It’s an interesting mix of post-punk power pop (“Next to You”, “Peanuts,” “Truth Hits Everybody”) and new-wave tinged reggae (“So Lonely” which Sting has stated was influenced by Bob Marley’s “No Woman, No Cry,” “Roxanne” and “Hole in My Life”). The more mellow reggae-inspired tracks became the singles – and the hits – from the LP, though in each case not upon initial release. “Roxanne,” when first released in April ‘78, didn’t do well but when re-released in ‘79 it went to #12 on the UK charts and became one of the band’s best known songs, eventually inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2008. The second single from Outlandos d’Amour “Can’t Stand Losing You” suffered the same fate as “Roxanne” upon its initial release in August ‘78 (though it did hit a respectable #42 spot). But after its re-release, also in ‘79, it shot to #2 in the UK. The final single, “So Lonely,” was first released on November 3rd ‘78 and did not chart at all but after the success of both “Roxanne” and “Can’t Stand Losing You,” The Police reissued “So Lonely” in February 1980 when it went to #6 in the UK.