Should Robert Palmer have stayed on longer with the Power Station?

That entire album is an achievement.

 

They certainly do. That hideous re-recorded version of LfC is on the best of.. Addictions. Not good.

 

But they must have been ticked off that Palmer turned down their tour, which presumably would have been more successful with him on board, and then in only a few months time came out with his own album that, a couple of standards aside, sounded very similar to their album. It's not like they all made a reggae album or something and then Palmer went back to what he'd been doing before -- he pretty much commandeered the Power Station's sound as his own. So I'm sure Andy and John felt stung by that (Edwards and Thompson got paid either way!).

I'd forgotten there were only eight months between the releases of the two albums -- I associate Riptide more with 1986, when "Addicted to Love" was everywhere.

 

Then you should look into it more. He made some good records with Silverhead and Detective.

 

Not sure it could've been more successful - I think it sold really well as it was.

Pretty sure the show I saw was a sell-out, or close to it, and I suspect the rest of the tour followed...

 

Better then?

 

One thing nobody has yet mentioned is that Palmer DID tour as singer for Power Station, only it was much later (97?) when hardly anyone was paying attention. I saw them at the Fillmore Auditorium in SF. A very small audience for what must have been an expensive show (they had a full horn section: the Uptown Horns, who had previously been employed on tour by the Rolling Stones). So they had no problems with "not having enough material" as one previous poster suggested.

 

Better what? Not sure what the question is...

 

Love the original obviously, love the power station but hated their version of Bang. Will always listen to their version because it is the power station.

 

That's a great answer to a trivia question on Casey's countdown. Three guys named Taylor in Duran Duran. None of them related!

Yes, it was their idea, but they had no concept of the final outcome. As mentioned earlier in the thread, this was never supposed to be more than a single with a B side or an album with different vocalists. If it had been the latter, this project would have been not much more consequential than No Talking...Just Heads.

We could debate whether or not Robert Palmer's stage presence, but the man did a lot to give the Power Station image. Despite the fact that the Duran guys were experienced with video, RP was equally important for the MTV promotion.

As for the sound, this thread led me to cherrypick the PS album and RS - Riptide. Those who've stated that Ridtide was PSII were definitely onto something. Andy Taylor was somewhat generic for the times - easily replacebale by a more able player, such as Steve Stevens. For that matter, Robert Palmer go-to guy, Eddie Martinez, could have done just as well in that role. Which brings us to John Taylor. This comes from somebody who appreciates his playing/ability. His bass runs in the song, "Rio," demonstrate that at least he was much more than pretty boys. However, he would be the first to admit that Bernard Edwards was a superior player. Finally, we have Tony Thompson. Yes, was a monster player on the PS album, but we also need to give additional credit. He did benefit from the "gated drums" sound of the time. So, the production/engineering skills of Bernard Edwards and Jason Corsaro need to be acknowledged as should the sound of the late, great studio with the same name, The Power Station.

 

It would have been a better show with Palmer. Maybe that isn't important as long as they sold tickets. (Did you enjoy it?)

 

Oh - that's what you meant. I thought you were still saying it would've sold better with Palmer!

Honestly, I don't recall the show very well. I think I thought it was fine, but man, it's been 31 years!

Whatever I thought then, I do agree that the show almost certainly would've been better with Palmer. Like I said, my memory is sketchy, but I vaguely recall thinking Des Barres wasn't a very good substitute.

Most of the crowd was Durannies, though, so they didn't care - they just wanted to scream for the Taylor boys!

 

It wasn't "one poster" suggesting it. "Not having enough material" came directly from Robert Palmer himself. Watch and see:

He asked rhetorically, "what do we play 8 songs 3x?

 

Palmer obviously did the project, and then said "the thing that's really making this work is Tony Thompson and Bernard Edwards -- I'm hiring them." He'd gotten what he needed out of it so why go on a tour where even as the lead singer he'd be playing second fiddle to two guys from Duran Duran?

 

Well, by then they had two albums, plus I would assume they played all the Power Station type stuff from Palmer's post-85 albums.

Meanwhile, John Taylor wasn't on that tour or the second album.

 

Search through the thread and draw your own conclusion. We've already been presented with the possibilities that they were only going to pay him as a side man, rehearsals didn't go well (recall that dates were already booked with offical announcements from band members) and he was already involved with the recording process of Riptide.

As point of reference, I'm a much bigger fan of RP, but appreciate John Taylor's bass playing but think that the Chic guys were vastly better musicians than Duran Duran. Having said that, my instinctive reaction is that these 2 members of DD were not high profile enough to carry the tour alone and make a lasting impression from Live Aid. Michael Des Barres was basically a last ditch effort, and he wasn't enough to generate more demand.

The fact that Riptide exceeded the PS album leads me to believe that RP was correct in claiming credit for giving the sound, which nobody from DD disputed. So, if there were issues over money and which songs to fill a set list, it seems silly that the issues couldn't have been settled. Prior to 1985, there was no huge pent-up demand for Robert Palmer, but he found himself suddenly with a busy schedule and some new found fame.

 

Correct on both counts: no John Taylor (which I didn't mind) and they did play Robert Palmer's solo hits. It was very good show, actually, the only time I've seen Palmer, Thompson, or Andy Taylor. Shame about the small audience though!

After the show, I had to wait around while my ride was busy getting autographs. I wound up talking to one of the horn players, and when I told him I recognized the names of the horn section as the Rolling Stones tour mates, the horn players were so pleased they gave me a bottle of beer from the tour bus which I hadn't even asked for! I couldn't drink it until I got home, SF has laws against drinking in public, and we were on the sidewalk in front of the Fillmore.

 

Yeah, although Palmer, Thompson and Edwards more or less defined the Power Station sound, I suspect the main draw for a lot of fans who went to see them live was John and Andy Taylor. Like, I'm sure a decent proportion of the people Oatsdad saw at the show were Durannies*.

* Edit: Oops, should have read a few more posts. Post #87 makes the point about Durannies already!

 

Didn't he appear on SNL with them?

 

Yeah, I caught them on that tour, at a free show in Ft. Worth. I don't remember much about it but I imagine I enjoyed it well enough.

 

Very cool thread, I always wondered why this did not happen--I thought the whole project was a surprisingly good effort, dug the singles, and thought they'd be great live, but, looking back, I agree, it was probably the proposed set list that killed it. Believe it or not, I was listening to a copy of Duran Duran's Arena last night and it brought back how surprisingly good that band was and also how huge they were in 1984 - 1985. I can also imagine that management and the legions of Duran Duran fans who would show up to Power Station gigs would demand some Duran Duran. Bummer. Probably doomed it, to everyone's frustration. Too bad.

Given the short-list of material, the ideal tour would have been an opening slot for a band like the Rolling Stones, but we all know what state they were in during 1986...

 

Robert Palmer has joined the Power Station?

(I haven't kept up on the news lately).

 

You should be banned for that transgression!!!

As I've noted, my memories of the show are sketchy, but I do have a pretty good recollection that the crowd was Durannie-heavy and LOUD! Screaming, screaming, screaming.

Maybe that's why I don't remember the performance well - I was too distracted by the shrieking!

 

He did, but that was in... February? He quit before they went on a formal tour in the summer...

 

That was the only time the original lineup performed live wasn't it? It was visually very weird, with the Taylors looking like they came from the same band, fronted by a guy who stepped off a cover of GQ. Love the album though. Never heard the second one.