issued as a single

During one of his studio visits, Miles heard ” Roxanne ” for the first time at the end of a session. He had been less enthusiastic about the band’s other songs, but the elder Copeland was struck by the track, and got the Police a record deal with A&M Records on the strength of it. “Roxanne” was issued as a single in early 1978, while other album tracks were still being recorded, but failed to chart. It also failed to make the BBC ‘s playlist, which the band attributed to the song’s depiction of prostitution. A&M consequently promoted the single with posters claiming “Banned by the BBC”, though it was never banned, just not play-listed. Copeland later said, “We got a lot of mileage out of it being supposedly banned by the BBC.”