“It was going to be thrown out… Sting says, ‘Go on then, make it your own.’ I did it in one take”: The Police were set to ditch Every Breath You Take before Andy Summers added his riff – now the original demo has surfaced after 42 years, you can hear why

The Police 1981.

Paranoid excluded, not every hit single is bashed out in mere moments, and The Police’s 1982 chart-smasher Every Breath You Take is proof.

Now, 42 years after the song began its radio domination, Sting’s initial solo demo has surfaced, underlining how important Andy Summers’ role was in injecting the track with a little je ne sais quoi.