Drummer for The Police, Stewart Copeland says that if he could, he would change a few things about their recordings. In an interview published in Ultimate Classic Rock, Copeland said, “At the end of ‘Message in a Bottle’ there’s too many drum overdubs.”
Admitting that the trio often fought their own desire to overplay their music, they relied on guitarist Andy Summers to call them out on it.
Copeland says he does listen to it when it comes on the radio and added: “It’s such a great song, and then it comes to the end – I switch over to another station because I screwed up. Where was Andy at that moment? He was a really good filter for all that, because we all overdid it; and then usually Andy would say, 'No, too much. Too much. Less is more.'”
The Police recorded the song in 1979 and released it on the album, Reggatta de Blanc.