The Three Best Songs By Robert Palmer

I saw Robert Palmer in 1977 at the Binghamton Arena, opening for the Doobie Brothers on their Takin’ It To The Streets tour.

Truth be told, I had no idea who he was until he did Everyday People. Even then, I wasn’t sure; I has to listen for the song on the radio and call the DJ to figure out what his name was. In the years hence, I’ve always come back to Everyday People as the song that really defined who Robert Palmer was to my ears: much more funky, delicate and soulful than he was during the Looking For Clues period and far less heavy-handed than he became even later.

The Looking For Clues period was around the time I started spinning records in college bars, around the time I was 18 or 19 years old. I was still largely clueless about who Palmer was but the title cut from that album always went well with with the mix of punk and new wave that I spun during happy hours.

As the 80′s came to a close, it was almost impossible to not know who Robert Palmer was (or to avoid him if you chose to). You couldn’t swing a dead cat in any direction, as they used to say in my hometown, without bumping into something touched by Robert Palmer. As much as it was overplayed on the radio and on the MTV, Addicted To Love, when listened to with fresh ears, still has a crushing power and overt sexuality that comes pushing through the speakers. And it doesn’t really need to visuals of the mannequins air-guitaring along. There was an essence of Everyday People in spite of it’s heavy metal meets disco production.

These are the three best songs by Robert Palmer.

Robert Palmer – Every Kind Of People
Robert Palmer – Looking For Clues
Robert Palmer – Addicted To Love