Ignored             Obscured              Restored

Back in 1980, an EP was released in the U.S. on clear green 10-inch vinyl by a band called Klark Kent. As it turned out, Klark Kent was a pseudonym for a solo project by Stewart Copeland, the powerhouse drummer of The Police.

At the time, The Police were riding high on the success of their third album, Zenyatta Mondatta. Copeland, wary of competing with his own band, initially denied any connection to the mysterious Klark Kent.

When the “band” performed the EP’s lead single, “Don’t Care,” on the British music program Top of the Pops, the lineup included Copeland, Sting, Andy Summers, Kim Turner, Florian Pilkington-Miksa, and Miles Copeland—all wearing masks to conceal their identities. The performance, delightfully bizarre and unmistakably tongue-in-cheek, is still available on YouTube.

“Don’t Care” is a classic Stewart Copeland track: fast-paced, punchy, and bursting with energy. It climbed to #48 on the UK Singles Chart. Remarkably, Copeland played all the instruments on the Klark Kent disc himself.

The name Klark Kent was a clever nod to Superman’s mild-mannered alter ego, a fitting disguise for a rock star moonlighting as his own one-man band.

Enjoy… until next week.