19 Songs From When I Was 19: Message in a Bottle (#14)

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What do you balance an Abba song with? How about THIS??? Here’s the next song on my list of songs that were released 40 years ago, in 1979. And, as I’ve said, even “youngsters” who weren’t born in 1979 (or 1989, for that matter) know a lot of these songs because they’ve become “classic rock” staples. #14: Message in a Bottle - The Police The Police was one of the bands that heralded the “new wave” sound to me. Nothing “new,” per se, just rock blended with reggae, but man, did it sound good after all those years of disco. While you hear this song at least once a day on “classic rock” radio, it wasn’t all that popular back when it was first released. It was more of a hit on “underground” stations that were also playing Elvis Costello, the Jam, the Clash, and Talking Heads than the ones who were slowly evolving into “the same 60 songs by the same 20 acts, over and over and over and over and over and....” Yes, it’s a classic. And it’s been a classic for 40 years now. Seems I’m not alone in thinking that, either. Message in a Bottle Written by Sting Recorded by The Police From Regatta de Blanc, 1979 Sending out an SOS: