I remember reading that ‘Every Breath You Take’ was his favorite song around the time of his passing… Do we know any info about Dennis being a fan of The Police in general, and what other music he might have been listening to/been a fan of in his last years? I find it interesting, since the music he may have been into around that time could give us an idea of what directions he might have taken his own music, had he cleaned up and made it past 1983.
When I first read about Dennis and ‘Every Breath You Take’, it seemed odd to me, since I tend to associate that song more with the mid 80s (even though Syncronicity did come out in ’83)… and for me, 1983 in my mind is the cutoff point for what I consider to be the early 80s. Initially, it almost seemed to me like Dennis and that song didn’t coexist in the same era, until I checked the dates and was proven wrong. Obviously, the song was still a very newly-released song at the time for Dennis to have proclaimed it as being his favorite ever song.
There's no accounting for taste.