Every Breath You Take: The Singles
1986 compilation album by The Police
Every Breath You Take: The Singles is the first compilation album by the Police, released in 1986. In 1990, the album was repackaged in New Zealand, Australia and Spain as Their Greatest Hits with a different cover.
A video collection entitled Every Breath You Take: The Videos was released alongside the album. It was released on VHS and Betamax cassette, as well as on LaserDisc in the UK, Europe and in Japan. The collection featured 14 promotional videos, for 12 of the 13 tracks on the album as well as "Synchronicity II" and the original version of "Don't Stand So Close to Me". However, it did not include "King of Pain".
This compilation also does not include songs from other original singles band: "Fall Out", "Bring on the Night", "The Bed's Too Big Without You" & "Secret Journey".
Background
In the aftermath of their Synchronicity Tour in 1984, the Police announced that they were taking a pause of reflection before recording a new album. The same year Andy Summers released a second album of instrumental music with Robert Fripp, Bewitched. Stewart Copeland worked on the soundtrack of the Francis Ford Coppola film Rumble Fish, with the single "Don't Box Me In" peaking at No.
This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Every Breath You Take: The Singles” as 1986 compilation album by The Police. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.
Why this record matters
The subject matters to the arts & letters register because the source frames it as 1986 compilation album by The Police. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.
Object files, edition statements, performance records and contemporary criticism preserve different stages of the work’s history. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 25, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q951801. None of the 1 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 1986, 1990 and 1984.
Titles can refer to several editions, objects or performances, making precise identification essential before interpretation. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Separate the work, its editions or performances, and its later reception. Catalogue records, publication histories and object files often preserve different parts of that story.
- Identifying works and editions
- Tracing reception history
- Finding collection records
The original object or edition, catalogue raisonné, performance record, rights file and holding institution.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Every Breath You Take: The Singles”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Every Breath You Take: The Singles primary sources, Every Breath You Take: The Singles archive and Every research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Every Breath You Take: The Singles”?
- How did later circulation or interpretation alter the work’s reception?
- Which edition, object, performance or recording is being described?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Every Breath You Take: The Singles” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.