Sting: Demolition Man

Mr. Sandford gives an insightful look into Mr. Sting. Unfortunately, the more you read, the more you discover that Mr. Sting is one of the most self indulgent, arrogant, childish people you would ever not want to know. A waste of a good write.

The book is heavy. It's about 400 pages and tells you everything about him, you almost think you'll learn what his favorite food is. Most of the complaints about the writer are angry concerning how he puts Sting down or critiques his music. They are not about the quality of the writing. I think rather than a fan write a glory book that makes him God, this approach is better; it's neutral. When Sting has accomplished good he is praised by the author and when he's in a slump the author hits him hard as though "he could have done much better". I loved the book because it tells you how he rises from the slums to the mansions the way it happened. I wished I had a dictionary at times as the writer uses very descriptive upper English, but you realize it couldn't be done any other way since Sting is also a former English teacher and intensely literate. What I got out of it was a look at how Sting came to be what he is and how he has continued it beyond The Police.

Sting can truly be called a 20th Century Rennaisance Man which this thorough and well-researched book points out several times. Full of facts and anecdotes about a fascinating and multi-talented man. It is a book, not just about Sting, but about the music and entertainment business in the 70s, 80s and 90s. It is a book well worth returning to again and again.

Although Sting did not co-operate or contribute to the biography Sandford's book is really very good, and the author has clearly done a great deal of research. It helps that Sandford is a good writer. The stunning analogy he draws in the first few paragraphs of the book between 60's supergroup Cream and the Police was one of the best introductions to a book we can remember. Very few people - understandably - get really close to Sting, so Sandford has sought out old friends, colleagues (and enemies) to help fill out Sting's life. Sting of course has lived the second half of his life in a media glare so bright it would have blinded and broken lesser men. Forever in the news and always available for a media friendly news-bite or always 'arms-length' interview, all of the attributable quotes in this book are recognisable to fans. It is in his examination of career-defining points, that Sandford digs up anecdotes and stories that have you glued to the page. Whether t! hese are details of Sting's legal case with Virgin which resulted in the return of ownership in his songs (and later guaranteed royalty income of millions of pounds), the decision to go solo in 1985, the visit to the Brazilian Rainforest, or his well publicised "missing millions" legal case in the mid 90's, the stories are told objectively and not in the tabloid friendly sensationalist manner of Wensley Clarkson's poor biography from 1996. There are of course errors which keen fans will see - The Police for example played no concerts in 1985, the show referred to was on the Blue Turtles tour (we were there at the Newcastle show he describes) and this story appears to be cribbed from Clarkson's book which makes the same error. There are one or two other factual errors - at one point Sting is described as past 50, when he won't hit that landmark until 2001! On the whole though, the book is well researched and it is clear that Newcastle Library has been graced by a visit or! two as the Newcastle Journal archives have been extensivel! y trawled. For example, "On the morning Gordon Sumner was born the weather broke in a shawl of rain." Sting comes out of the book with great credit, and as something of a conundrum - the shy man for example, who thinks nothing of performing in front of 200,000 people but quakes at the thought of playing to a few hundred. A perfectionist who toils late into the night mixing tracks or choregraphing shows, but who shows his accountant a picture in Country Life whilst walking on the beach and says "I want this house". Sandford also recognises that Sting, despite being is a star of huge proportions - selling out concerts from Croatia to Hong Kong - is also a journeyman, happily dueting with rapper Puff Daddy, trading licks with his peers at the Montserrat benefit, playing guitar for crooner Julio Inglesias, or donning a bootlace tie and adopting "Maverick" mode to play at the Country Music Awards. In short, the book is bang up to date, and is without questio!