The Police nearly didn’t include their classic hit single Every Breath You Take on their final album, guitarist Andy Summers has revealed. 

In 1983, the band released their fifth and final LP ‘Synchronicity’, but the sessions were far from plain sailing and mounting tensions led to them almost scrapping their biggest hit. 

Speaking to Guitarist, Andy opened up about the recording process, admitting the group “could not agree on how the bass and drums were going to go”. 

“Well I didn’t stand there and crow about it,” he said, insisting he knew the trio were on to something. “It was more about keeping those other bastards happy.

“That song was going to be thrown out… We were in the middle of ‘Synchronicity’ and Sting says, ‘Well go on then, go in there and make it your own’.

“And I did it in one take. They all stood up and clapped.”

The single went on to top the US Billboard Hot 100 and was the biggest US and Canadian hit of 1983, later winning the Grammys for Song of the Year and Best Pop Performance.

“Of course, the fucking thing went right round the world, straight to No. 1 in America,” Andy added. 

“And the riff has become a kind of immortal guitar part that all guitar players have to learn.”