XTC on tour in the USA with The Police
1980 XTC and The Police
It was great news to hear that we were going to support the Police across North America for the majority of the rest of this year.
Even better news was the fact we were going to do this tour by sleeper bus, and so both band's and tour manager's jumped on board and we had a whale of a time together, everyone getting on really well, and the concerts were fantastic....
If you run the YouTube clip directly above at 9.00 minutes to the end you'll see the bus we're on with Andy Partridge and Kim Turner in particular. I can't spot me but I'm there somewhere!!!
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I've kept a series of photos of a truck stop we pulled into somewhere in the South, obviously, spot the cactus! The big Red Indian statue was a focus for everyone to pose in front of, and pose we did, everyone pretty much.
You can see me taking a picture of Miles Copeland taking a picture of Andy Partridge posing ha ha!!!
There is Sting in front of a totem pole, Andy Summers and Terry too.
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On the bus it was all peace and harmony, we did quite a few overnight drives when distance became an issue with getting to the next show on time, but more often than not, we had hotel rooms overnight and then day trips on to the next town. You can figure out from the distances in my date sheets whether we overnighted or not. Really anything over 250 miles would be an overnighter. This bus was the first time I had toured the US without flying everywhere and it's a great way to travel as long as everyone, and I mean everyone is getting on together.
Above the dates, Kim Turner, tour manager for the Police and subsequently partners with Miles Copeland in the management of Sting's solo career. Kim was also the sound engineer for the Police and was the brother of Martin Turner of Wishbone Ash. He was such a lovely man and unfortunately died of Cancer in 2003. RIP xxxx After this tour he called and asked me if I'd like to be the tour manager as he wanted to concentrate on doing the sound and helping Miles. It didn't happen but it was nice to be thought of and Billy Francis who was working as a security guy with the band by the end of this tour, became their next tour manager.
And here is a clip from the actual very last gig of the World Tour 1980. The Hammersmith Palais London.
At the end of the tour I was presented a gift, in fact a very nice gift of a engraved clock. It was a typical tongue in cheek XTC moment. In the vein of a retirement present, the boys thought that a watch is representative to retirement so I got a clock. They were retiring me :) !!!
I thank you all for a very enjoyable 6 months
So I went back to Oxford for Christmas and the boys went home to Swindon. Little did I know at this time that Swindon was to creep back into my life in 1983 when I started working for Supertramp, and the founder Rick Davies, another Swindonian......
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