1978 single by the Police, named after a character in Cyrano de Bergerac (7)

'1978 single' is the definition.
I can't tell whether this definition defines the answer.

'by the police named after a character in cyrano de bergerac' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite see how this works, but
'by' could be 'x' (multiplication sign) and 'x' is found in the answer.
'a' could be 'an' and 'an' is located in the answer.
'character' could be 'r' and 'r' is found within the answer.
The remaining letters 'one' is a valid word which might be clued in a way I don't see.
This may be the basis of the clue (or it may be nonsense).

Can you help me to learn more?