His first two albums are essential to any music collection. I remember seeing him as a guest on The Mike Douglas Show. Mr. Douglas was a great judge of great music talent. "Work to Make It Work" - Robert Palmer, from Pressure Drop 1975.
He was a great singer and a good songwriter who adapted to various styles. He managed to get together with some great musicians to make some music that was, certainly in the earlier years, resolutely hip. From Vinegar Joe with Elkie Brooks (a great singing partnership) through the sessions with Little Feat, a bit of reggae here and there, the 70s stuff was all consistently very good. In the 80s I think he lost some popularity through too much success and negative reaction to his promotion. He had always been promoted as a bit of a pretty lover boy in a smart suit, which I think is a shame as he was a good enough musician not to need it. Then came the bad reaction from certain lobby groups (you know who you are) to the video for Addicted To Love which was regarded as sexist and lost him support from a part of his audience. I think it is because of all that notoriety that he became a bit too famous for his own good and this is why he is disliked by some for being "mainstream". The only album from the 80s that I know well is Riptide, which is excellent. There's great variety of well-chosen covers and new creations. the band are great. Addicted to Love is a brilliant piece of rock, Rip Tide is a beautfully sung jazz standard, but for me the standout is Earl King's Trick Bag. He "performed" that one on Top Of The Pops in a different arrangement from the album, playing guitar. That was seriously groovy.
A very cool dude and very talented. Slick. I have nothing at all by him though. Maybe I'll get round to him one day.
Getting an early start on substance and style... The Mandrakes, performing during their third ever appearance, at The Condor Club, Scarborough UK on 27 February, 1965. Group members, L-R: Rob Southwick, Keith Griffin, Allen Robert Palmer (16 years old at the time), Mick Stephenson & John Standing.
Couldn't stand the "Rico Suave Ladies Man" image he pushed so hard when he went MOR. But "Sneakin’ Sally Through the Alley" (which predated said image) and the album it came from (which was sort of Bayou-tinged, IIRC) are pretty good. .
Problem for me was RP was never very consistent. The highs (Sneaking Sally, Pressure Drop, Riptide, Power Station etc) were fantastic......otherwise you had to delve through a lot of mundane stuff to fund anything else of value.
I don't love everything he did, but I think Robert Palmer was serious about at least trying to make good music. He had a great voice and usually chose to work with top drawer musicians. I would recommend a couple of overlooked classics - his 'New Wave' album 'Clues' (but get the original version, not the re-worked one) and his last album, 'Drive', a roots & blues record that deserves a lot more attention than it has gotten so far.
+1 here. That plus "Bad Case of Loving You" are my fav's of his! He's a solid artist who had great talent and could put together solid LP's. I didn't follow him much after his style seemed to change in the 80's but IMHO he still put out decent material all through his career. He died much too young
Although most of the albums I've heard are very inconsistent, he's come up with some great highlights throughout the years. I really like this compilation from a few years ago:
Excellent singer. He's kind of defined by the Addicted To Love and Simply Irresistible videos which is too bad. I like all the albums from Sally to Clues. Not sure about the later ones because I haven't heard them.
A huge body of excellent work capped by the jaw-droppingly awesome Drive Too many confusing compilation albums and 'Greatest Hits' CDs obscure the fact that his work was consistently great I think we're overdue for an audiophile reissue of his core catalogue
He absolutely was great. His embracing, and understanding, of soul and reggae early on was very astute, not to mention prescient. And, I love Clues...
I wrote Robert Palmer off for many years, because I didn’t think he was any more than the smarmy guy in front of the “band” of models. It took me 20 years and a cheap cut-out copy of Pressure Drop to figure out that I was dead wrong. His ‘70s/early ‘80s albums in particular are all excellent, and showcase an incredibly gifted and versatile performer. If you suffer from the same musical foolishness that I did, fortunately his records seem to be cheap and plentiful in the used bins, and ripe for discovery.
I'm sure it was, not to be confused with his best however. If you want to explore, start with Sneaking Sally Through The Alley for sure.
Good, cheap place to start https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01BW9QW86/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER&psc=1
Some guys Johnny & Mary Addicted to love Didn't mean to turn you on Know by now You blew me away Looking for clues Can we still be friends Bad case of loving you She makes my day Simply irresistable Change his ways +++ I might not sit through an album but comfortably fill a strong playlist... I think he experimented and varied so much that he couldn't be pinned down commercially and suffered as a result.
Great voice and talent. I go back to Vinegar Joe and love much of the Island years. The MTV 80s stuff didn't do as much for me but his premature death was a huge shock and he is much missed, possibly more so in the UK. This belongs in any collection.....
i've always liked palmer, right form his first album. as someone mentioned, there is something on every record that is captivating for sure. and yes, constantly changing genre's and styles, but always good stuff. there was a time when you could get most of his albums for a buck, or less.....not anymore. try to find some of those early ones......$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
