STING INDUCTS MR. A AND M INTO ROCK HALL

Sting inducted Herb Alpert and Jerry Moss into the Rock And Roll Hall of Fame, and fans can catch the induction on VH1 on Tuesday, March 21. Alpert and Moss started the famous A&M records which at one time had a roster that contained Bryan Adams, The Police, Soundgarden, Sheryl Crow, and Blues Traveler among others.

While the band was considered major label in the late ’80s and ’90s, it actually started as an indie label started with 100 bucks each from Alpert and Moss. The first big signing was the Police, and Sting recalled meeting “Mister A&M” and his first visit to the west coast.

“I’d never been to California before, I’d never seen a palm tree, or the sun in winter and I was very excited to meet Mister A and Mister M. I wasn’t dissapointed, nor was my girlfriend Trudi, who I remember went weak at the knees when she met the debonaire Mr. Alpert. He is and he was then impossibly hansome, hugely talented, and rich. Mr. M wasn’t bad looking either. I realized I was going to have to compete in this highly rarified atmosphere of success, wealth, artisitic excellent and not to mention sex appeal. Despite my initial fears, I have never — to this day — met two finer gentlemen.”

Backstage at the Rock Hall Induction Ceremony, Jerry Moss recalled signing The Police.

“Well, Sting and The Police were signed by our English company. Derek Green was General Manager at the time. The manager of The Police, as you know, was Miles Copeland at that time, and his brother was Stuart, who was the drummer in the band. We always had great relationships with them, and when they offered us the band Derek did the right thing and signed ’em, and when we all heard ‘Roxanne’ back here in American and went crazy and basically that was it.”

Sting continued his relationship with A&M past The Police and released his solo albums The Dream Of The Blue Turtles and Nothing Like The Sun. He released albums on the label through 2003’s Sacred Love before it was dissolved into the Interscope family of labels.