Writers: Sting
Producer: The Police and Nigel Gray
Recorded: Early 1979 at Surrey Sound in Surrey, England
Released: September 1979
| Players: | Sting — vocals, bass Andy Summers — guitar Stewart Copeland — drums, percussion |
| Album: | Reggatta De Blanc (A&M, 1979) |
“Message In A Bottle” was one of the first songs Sting had written for the Police’s second album, Reggatta De Blanc, but the trio had a difficult time coming up with enough songs to fill out the album.
The album at least found the group working in somewhat better studios, with a bit more money to spend after the modest success of their debut, Outlandos D’Amour, and the singles “So Lonely,” “Roxanne,” and “I Can’t Stand Losing You.”
In the midst of recording Reggatta De Blanc, the Police had to interrupt the sessions to return to America for a tour to take advantage of the success of “Roxanne.”
“Message In A Bottle” topped the singles chart in the U.K. Reggatta De Blanc also topped the British album chart.
In the U.S., however, “Message In A Bottle” only hit Number 74 on the Billboard Hot 100, while the album reached Number 25.
The video for “Message In A Bottle” was embraced by MTV, however, which gave the song additional shelf life.