Robert Palmer - Riptide
Written by: Moti Kupfer
Release date - 4.11.1985
"When I think about those days, and about what I could give and offer in terms of playing ability and a good, comprehensive sound, I have no doubt that pop music limited my abilities", says guitarist Eddie Martinez.
Martinez played brilliantly on the groundbreaking rap-rock anthem "Rock Box" by "Run-DMC".
"This album was like a blank canvas, and everything I knew and heard I could finally explore and use. I mean, it was heaven for a guitarist like me taking part in recording an album". Martinez is talking about "Riptide", Robert Palmer's eighth album, released on November 4, 1985.
By 1984, Palmer had earned a reputation as an exceptional artist, a "Maverick". There was no common thread running through his albums, something many attributed to his eagerness to adapt his music to the trends of the day.
His first albums, "Sneakin' Sally Through the Alley" and "Pressure Drop", were a blend of blues and blue-eyed soul, followed by pop with a funk flavor and disco on "Some People Can Do What They Like" and "Double Fun".
In the early eighties Palmer embraced the electronic scene, with an emphasis on new wave, on "Clues", but right after that relative success came the album "Pride", which flopped and left Palmer wondering which way to turn next.
While in New York during a grueling tour schedule, Palmer met John and Andy Taylor of "Duran Duran", who were on a long break. Together with Bernard Edwards and Tony Thompson of "Chic", they formed the rock supergroup "The Power Station".
Their self-titled album, "The Power Station", was full of Edwards' slick, polished production, with a funky drum mix and a reverberant sound, along with a bass guitar that at times recalled that of "Chic". It was the elusive spark of success that Palmer had been looking for over the previous ten years.
Palmer gained recognition and success with "The Power Station" and realized he had to strike while the iron was hot. He gave up the summer tour with the supergroup in order to go into the studio and record "Riptide", which naturally continues the line of "The Power Station", with Edwards, Thompson and Andy Taylor contributing as well to Palmer's most successful album.
The album included the single "Addicted to Love", which reached number one in the United States and number five in the UK. Among the musicians who contributed to the single's funky sound, besides Eddie Martinez, was keyboardist Wally Badarou (who played the amazing synthesizer solos on "Burning Down the House" and "This Must Be the Place" by "Talking Heads"), with the delicate and stunning sequencer that drives the song's rhythm.
The single was accompanied by an unforgettable, much-imitated video, directed by Terence Donovan, in which Palmer is surrounded by a group of identically dressed, heavily made-up models, miming being musicians.
The idea behind the video was inspired by the American painter Patrick Nagel and his paintings, known as the "Nagel Women", one of which even adorned the cover of "Rio", the second album by "Duran Duran".
Donovan directed videos for other Palmer singles as well: "Simply Irresistible" (from the next album, "Heavy Nova") and "I Didn't Mean to Turn You On". The three videos contain similar elements, with heavily made-up women and nearly identical clothes and looks.
In September 1986, Palmer performed "Addicted to Love" at the MTV Video Music Awards in Los Angeles, and in 1987 he won the Grammy Award for Best Male Rock Vocal Performance for the song.
Palmer's cover of "I Didn't Mean to Turn You On" by R&B singer Cherrelle was also a chart success, reaching number two in the US. Palmer loved the song musically, but found the lyrics disgusting and sexist, because he thought they were written by older men to be sung by a young woman (in fact they were written by Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis). Palmer recorded it partly as a joke, thinking it would be ironic for the lyrics to come from a man nearly 40.
Not many people know this, but Palmer intended to record "Addicted to Love" as a duet with Chaka Khan, but her vocals were removed before the song was released. Palmer himself was not particularly pleased with this development.
"Politics intervened," Palmer told the Los Angeles Times in 1986. "Her people said it was a conflict of interest. She'd have three singles out at the same time".
Still, Khan received credit for the vocal arrangement. "She threw parts in and helped develop the song," Palmer said. "I couldn't use her vocals but she deserves credit for what she contributed to the arrangement".
"The song could have been about drug use, but I changed it," Palmer wrote later. "It could have been drugs or food or drink, but if you make it about love, it's more appealing".
The theme of "love as addiction" is a common lyrical device, which was also used successfully in the hit "I Want a New Drug" by "Huey Lewis and the News" from 1983.
Bernie Taupin, Elton John's lyricist, claimed that the models in the video were influenced by the song "Bennie and the Jets", in which he wrote about a futuristic rock band of androgynous beauties. Taupin said: "I can't help believing that the Robert Palmer video with all the identical models was no coincidence, but inspired by the imaginary band I wrote about".
The album's title track, "Riptide", is a cover of a 1933 song written by Walter Donaldson and Gus Kahn and first recorded by Eddy Duchin and his orchestra. "Trick Bag" is also a cover: the song was written by one of Palmer's main influences, New Orleans blues artist Earl King.
Martinez could not help praising Palmer's eclecticism: "He'd listen to Billie Holiday and Nat King Cole, and then hear Sepultura and Hüsker Dü on the same tape. It was great music, regardless of genre".
Martinez also played with Palmer on the next album, "Heavy Nova", released in 1988.
Martinez recalled the tour for "Heavy Nova", which ended with a show at the Apollo in Harlem in December 1988: "The tour started in Canada, and the first leg of the tour was 56 shows in 56 days, 56 in 56 days," he repeated, letting that statistic sink in.
"It was amazing. You know, when you're young and you play a show every night, you don't even know which city you're in. We did that leg, and then took a week or 10 days off. Then we went to Europe and did 14 shows in 17 days. We came back to the United States, took maybe a week off and did 57 shows in 59 days, and that tour ended at the Apollo. It was a very emotional moment for me, that last show, because it was the culmination of so much hard work".
The considerable success of "Riptide" (about 2 million copies in the US) allowed him to sign a lucrative contract with EMI, leading him to leave Island after more than a decade. The big question was what he would do next.
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