the success of their new album Zenyatta Mondatta. The band's four-week run at was the most for any single in the UK in 1980. Having held off considerable competition from Ottawan with "D.I.S.C.O." and "Baggy Trousers" by Madness, the Police fell to (being replaced at by "Woman in Love" by Barbra Streisand). "Don't Stand So Close To Me" spent a total of 8 weeks inside the UK top 40, dropping out on 22 November. Three weeks later, their follow-up hit "De Do Do Do, De Da Da Da" charted at , eventually peaking at . US chart history "Don't Stand So Close To Me" broke into the Billboard Hot 100 Top 40 on 21 February 1981 at . By 25 April, it reached a peak position of , matching their previous US hit "De Do Do Do, De Da Da Da". It dropped out of the top 40 on 23 May after a 13-week run. Legacy During the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic, "Don't Stand So Close To Me" took on a very different meaning in the context of COVID-19, as people worldwide practiced social distancing. "Don't Stand So Close to Me '86" The song was re-recorded in 1986 with a new, brooding arrangement, a different chorus and a more opulent production. The new version appeared as "Don't Stand So Close to Me '86" on the album Every Breath You Take: The Singles, and was released as a single, reaching in the British charts. It also reached in Ireland, in New Zealand, on the Netherlands MegaCharts Singles Chart (number 20 on Dutch Top 40), in Canada and on Billboard Hot 100 ( on the Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks). Because of the decrease in tempo, a slight lyric change is found in the line "Just like the old man in that book by Nabokov" (the word 'famous' was added). A new music video was produced for the reworked song by Godley and Creme, notable for its early use of animated computer graphics. The version of the song used on the music video was subtly different to the version released as the single. It was approximately 6 seconds shorter, with a longer atmospheric break before the first lyric, but part of the chorus edited out towards the end. This version is only available on the music video; it has never been separately released as an audio recording. Because drummer Stewart Copeland had broken his