Robert Allen Palmer was born January 19, 1949 in Batley, England. He is the song of a British Naval Officer and often tuned into American Forces Radio where he learned to love jazz, soul, R&B and blues music that influenced his music. At the age of 15, he joined his first band, The Mandrakes while in high school. In 1969 he got his first break when singer Jess Roden left The Adam Bown Set and the band brought him in to be the voice on their next single, "Gypsy Girl". The band was so pleased with the result, they erased Roden's vocals and had Palmer re-record them. He also perfected his stage persona to embody the elegant and sophisticated image he wanted to project. The following year he joined Dada, a jazz rock fusion project then was onto Vinegar Joe recording three albums during 1972-1974. The ladies loved his rugged good looks and his sophistication. Going solo in 1974 for "Sneaking Sally Through The Alley", he achieved some success and then got James Jamerson to play bass on his reggae flavoured "Pressure Drop" LP of 1975. "Some People Can Do What They Want" followed the same vein as "Pressure Drop" in 1976 and Palmer took a sabbatical for two years and hit big with his 1978 opus "Double Fun" that produced his biggest hit to date, "Every Kinda People" a #16 pop hit that got covered by Randy Crawford (voice of Street Life by Crusaders) and oddly enough ex Christian singer Amy Grant. Bolstered by this success, he went full on rock and roll on his "Secrets" LP with the new wave sound of "Bad Case Of Loving you (Doctor, Doctor) which did even better than "Every Kinda People" topping out at #14 in 1979. The song was originally written and recorded by Moon Martin, a rockabilly artist from his 1978 LP "Shots From A Cold Nightmare". The hard rockin' "Doctor, Doctor" helped to cement Palmer's ambitions and he was fully accepted in the rock world. He continued with rocky new wave sound with the single "Looking For Clues" and "Some Guys Have All The Luck" that Rod Stewart then covered. Palmer did a cover of The Systems "You Are In My System" in 1983 using System band member and keyboardist David Frank. His next big project was combining forces with the then on hiatus band Duran Duran members Andy Taylor and John Taylor and Chic'S powerhouse drummer Tony Thompson to form Power Station and hit big with "Some Like It Hot" and "Get It On (Bang A Gong)", both Top 10 pop hits in the US. Robert quit the band at the height of their popularity to satisfy his solo ambitions and set about recording his breakout hit LP "Riptide" which contained the #1 pop hit "Addicted To Love". The follow up LP "Heavy Nova" was a fusion of the bossa nova beat and heavy metal which gave him a #2 pop hit with "Simply Irresistible" which was also the last top 10 hit of his career. Robert passed from this world on September 26, 2003 at the age of 54 when he suffered a fatal heart attack in his hotel room after performing a television appearance in London for a proposed retrospective called "My Kinda People". Did you know that "Addicted To Love" had the vocals arranged by Chaka Khan? The song was originally a duet, but due to percieved market saturation of Chaka's presence on the charts, her vocals were scrapped and the song became a hit without her. Too bad, I'm sure the vocals were incendiary if I know my Chaka. Now that missing tape is the holy grail for my remix of "Addicted To Love", if I can ever get my paws on them. The official word was that the studio ERASED her vocals from the master. I am so certain they still exist, cos studio engineers make copies of everything and I find it hard to believe that they are gone forever. Maybe someday?

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