Zenyatta Mondatta was written during the Police's second tour and recorded in four weeks (minus two days for concerts in Ireland and at the Milton Keynes festival in the United Kingdom). The band members have often expressed disappointment over the album, going so far as to re-record two songs during a brief, unsuccessful reunion in 1986. Drummer Stewart Copeland said about the time pressures:

"We had bitten off more than we could chew...we finished the album at 4 a.m. on the day we were starting our next world tour. We went to bed for a few hours and then traveled down to Belgium for the first gig. It was cutting it very fine."

Stewart Copeland said that the group arrived at the album's title after deciding it should roll off the tongue. Zenyatta and Mondatta are invented words, hinting at Zen, at Jomo Kenyatta, at the French for 'the world' (le monde), and at reggatta, from the title of the previous Police album, Reggatta de Blanc.

Zenyatta Mondatta debuted at number one on the UK Albums Chart and stayed atop the chart for four weeks. In the United States, it spent almost three years on the Billboard 200 chart and peaked at number five.  At the Grammy Awards in 1982, "Don't Stand So Close to Me" won for Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal, while "Behind My Camel" won for Best Rock Instrumental Performance, marking the Police's second consecutive win in the latter category.

TRACKLIST

Don't Stand So Close To Me
Driven To Tears
When The World Is Running Down, You Make The Most Of What's Still Around
Canary In A Coalmine
Voices Inside My Head
Bombs Away

De Do Do Do, De Da Da Da
Behind My Camel 
Man In A Suitcase
Shadows In The Rain
The Other Way Of Stopping