Klark Kent is actually Stewart Copeland, the drummer from the Police. Say what you will about the Police breeding the triple-A juggernaut we commonly refer to as Sting, Copeland has always been one of our greatest drummers. Klark Kent (and the subsequent persona Klerk Kant) was his official steam outlet. He also went to the trouble of creating a false biography, according to Michael Sutton on
All-Music Guide: "The fictional story line portrayed Kent as a computer programmer who had sued IBM for stealing a mysterious invention; in reality, Copeland merely wanted to record songs he wrote for the Police that Sting didn't like." While the Police wrote songs about messages in bottles and spirits in material worlds and de-do-do-do's in de-da-da-da's, Copeland's Klark Kent subject matter was defiantly insubstantial. He also played all the instruments, revealing not just his usual drumming brilliance but more-than-passable facilities with guitar and bass. As a singer, you could definitely make a plausible argument for his existence. Promo shots of Klark Kent always featured him behind a mask. When he went on
Top of the Pops to lip-synch "Don't Care" he had to bring a band with him to preserve the illusion, so he put the other two Police (allegedly) and two other guys in masks for the clip. Do I say "It was a simpler time" a lot on this blog? I feel like I do. Well, it was.
