I listen to a number of different radio stations when I am driving around. Sometimes I listen to the classic rock station, sometimes the “variety” station or the new/pop music station, the oldies or news, you get the idea.
One artist I heard crop up the last few weeks on a couple of different stations was Robert Palmer. Usually the songs played are the hits from the 80s, but there are a number of other great songs in his catalog.
Let’s start with his first hit, from his debut solo album, the title track.
1974’s “Sneakin’ Sally Through The Alley”
Sure, it’s a cover, but an obscure one that he makes his own. I’ve always like that tune.
A couple of albums later and he would find some more success with 1978’s “Every Kinda People” a song that didn’t have a video until 1992 when a second greatest hits album was being released.
His next album fared even better led by the single “(Doctor, Doctor) Bad Case Of Loving You). I think this is about when I was introduced to Robert Palmer.
The next album, Clues, released in 1980 has a couple of songs that I remember quite well. First up is “Johnny And Mary” which I remember more for the video than the song.
Then there is one of my all-time favorite songs of his, “Looking For Clues”.
At some point He hooked up with a couple of members of Duran Duran and made an album. Power Station elevated his profile quite a bit. Working with the others also gave his next solo album a bit of a harder edge to it and the result was a major hit.
Yeah, you know the one.
His next album was also a hit with “Simply Irresistible” also hitting number 1 on the charts. The late 80s saw Robert Palmer being nearly ubiquitous.
At the turn of the decade the hits did not come as readily.
In 1994 he released an album that might be the last “popular” one he had before is death in 2003 of a heart attack. It features a DEVO cover that I rather like. Robert Palmer makes it his own while keeping the sound of the original. The video is pretty bad though.
A couple of albums later and he would be gone, taken by a heart attack.
An interesting career, and I don’t know much about the band he fronted before going solo, unfortunately, and I don’t have nearly as many of his albums as I would like, but I have always enjoyed listening to Robert Palmer. I hope you do to.