Robert Palmer and Addicted to Love

May, 1986. Robert Palmer and five red lipped beauties. That beat. Those lyrics. Yeah, I’m talking about a hot, hot, hot PERFECT song that peaked at number 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 on May 3, 1986 and spent a week there. Addicted to Love. What. A. Fucking. Great. Song.

Your lights are on

But you’re not home

Your will

Is not your own

Your heart sweats

Your body shakes

You can’t eat

You can’t sleep

There’s no doubt

You’re in deep

OOOOO boy! Can you recall being so enthralled with someone that you had zero willpower to resist? I can. And I definitely did in 1986. And maybe I still do today…

Robert Palmer in his white shirt, tie and trousers and those sexy ladies behind him. Who could forget that video? And Robert Palmer’s voice- absolutely delicious.

What were you doing in May, 1986? I was finally enjoying myself, I had just turned twenty, had a hard crush on a senior lacrosse player, and was generally feeling good. If I recall correctly, that spring was warm and sunny. Spring had bloomed on the shores of Seneca Lake and I was finally feeling like I fit in. I was not from a wealthy family or preppy like most of the students on campus, and as I mentioned before it took me a long time to settle in after transferring as a second year student. But as usual, it was music, some really decent human beings, that soothed my soul.

Addicted to Love was Robert Palmer’s biggest breakout hit in 1986. Ironic because he had been recording in a variety of groups since the 1960s. In 1974 he recorded a solo album with members of Little Feat, and had a minor hit with a song I love, Sneaking Sally Through the Alley. He had a top twenty hit in 1978 with another great song Every Kinda Peopleand then another in 1979 with Bad Case of Loving You which I clearly remember yell-singing with my bestie

Doctor, doctor,

give me the news,

I got a bad case of lovin’ you

In 1985 he was invited to be lead vocalist for Duran Duran’s side project the Power Station and had a hit with that cover of T. Rex’s Bang a Gong. He then assembled his own super group, including members of Chic and Duran Duran’s Andy Taylor, recorded the album Riptide which in addition to Addicted to Love spawned several other hits: Simply Irresistibleand the smoldering I Didn’t Mean to Turn You On and introduced him to a whole new audience and level of fame. He won the best male rock vocal performance Grammy for Addicted to Love and the best male video MTV VMA- kind of ironic because that video was really famous because of the models.

Oh well.

Sadly Robert Palmer died of a heart attack in 2003. He was only 54.

If you feel like reminiscing, hop into the time machine that is music, go back to 1986 and youthful longing and shenanigans. Revisit the greatness that was Robert Palmer.  Addicted to Love is THE perfect song.