Exclusive Interview: Frank Zappa Talks about Collaborating with Sting on 'Murder By Numbers'

Here is the full story of how Sting (The Police) came to perform with Frank Zappa and released on 'Broadway The Hard Way'. Complete with an unedited version of 'Murder By Numbers by The Police that does not appear on the album.

The full story of how Sting came to perform with Frank Zappa is partially told on Zappa's 1988 'Broadway The Hard Way'. Here is the full story. Complete with an unedited version of 'Murder By Numbers by The Police.

Sting is talked into performing with Zappa's group after watching and listening to a number of pointed and satirical songs written to highlight the near collapse of 1980's television evangelical broadcasters (think Jim and Tammy Bakker, Pat Robertson and, Jimmy Swaggart).

Murder By Numbers is edited on Zappa's Broadway The Hard Way. It is presented here in it's entirety. Enjoy.

From Wikipedia:

Gordon Matthew Thomas Sumner CBE (born 2 October 1951), known as Sting, is an English musician and actor. He was the frontman, songwriter and bassist for new wave rock band the Police from 1977 to 1984. He launched a solo career in 1985 and has included elements of rock, jazz, reggae, classical, new-age, and worldbeat in his music.[4]

As a solo musician and a member of the Police, Sting has received 17 Grammy Awards: he won Song of the Year for "Every Breath You Take", three Brit Awards, including Best British Male Artist in 1994 and Outstanding Contribution in 2002, a Golden Globe, an Emmy and four nominations for the Academy Award for Best Original Song. In 2019, he received a BMI Award for "Every Breath You Take" becoming the most-played song in radio history.[5] In 2002, Sting received the Ivor Novello Award for Lifetime Achievement from the British Academy of Songwriters, Composers and Authors and was also inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of the Police in 2003. In 2000, he received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for recording. In 2003, Sting received a CBE from Elizabeth II at Buckingham Palace for services to music. He was made a Kennedy Center Honoree at the White House in 2014 and was awarded the Polar Music Prize in 2017.[6]

With the Police, Sting became one of the world's best-selling music artists. Solo and with the Police combined, he has sold over 100 million records.[7] In 2006, Paste ranked him 62nd of the 100 best living songwriters.[8] He was 63rd of VH1's 100 greatest artists of rock,[9] and 80th of Q magazine's 100 greatest musical stars of the 20th century.[10] He has collaborated with other musicians on songs such as "Money for Nothing" with Dire Straits, "Rise & Fall" with Craig David, "All for Love" with Bryan Adams and Rod Stewart, "You Will Be My Ain True Love" with Alison Krauss, and introduced the North African music genre raï to Western audiences through the hit song "Desert Rose" with Cheb Mami. In 2018, he released the album 44/876, a collaboration with Jamaican musician Shaggy, which won the Grammy Award for Best Reggae Album in 2019.

Frank Zappa – lead guitar, computer-synth, vocal
Ike Willis – rhythm guitar, synth, vocal
Mike Keneally – rhythm guitar, synth, vocal
Bobby Martin – keyboards, vocal
Ed Mann – vibes, marimba, electronic percussion
Walt Fowler – trumpet, flugel horn, synth
Bruce Fowler – trombone
Paul Carman – alto sax, soprano sax, baritone sax
Albert Wing – tenor saxophone
Kurt McGettrick – baritone sax, bass sax, contrabass clarinet
Scott Thunes – electric bass, Mini-moog
Chad Wackerman – drums, electronic percussion
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BACKGROUND (by way of) EXPLAINATION
I have been obsessively listening to Frank Zappa and The Mothers of Invention since the summer of 1979. Nonstop Zappa consumerism with some MOI thrown in. These videos seek to provide context to Frank Zappa’s entire body of work.

AUDIO
A few have suggested that I re-double my efforts and invest a little time in Audacity training for consistency in my audio editing. Thank you for the suggestions. This recording was normalized to -1db and compressed to -20db.

ADDITIONAL MATERIAL:
All the news that’s fit to consume: https://www.zappanews.co.uk/
Articles spanning FZ's career can be found at: https://www.afka.net/index.htm
Interviews and more:    / lagzatzappateers  
Original lossless quality audio can be found at: www.zappateers.com
Complete discography can be found at: http://www.donlope.net/fz/lyrics/inde...
Show listing with set lists at: https://www.zappateers.com/fzshows/in...