Rocktrospectiva: Robert Palmer's Breakthrough Album "Riptide" Turns 40

Released on 4 November 1985, "Riptide" was the 8th., studio album by English singer Robert Palmer. The album was recorded over a period of three months in 1985 at Compass Point Studios in Nassau, Bahamas. The album peaked at No. 5 on the UK Albums Chart and at No. 8 on the US Billboard 200. It was certified double Platinum in the US. It features the songs "Addicted to Love", "I Didn't Mean to Turn You On", "Hyperactive", "Discipline of Love", and "Riptide" which were all released as singles.

 

The single "Addicted to Love" was accompanied by an iconic and much-imitated music video, directed by Terence Donovan, in which Palmer is surrounded by a bevy of near-identically clad, heavily made-up female "musicians," either mimicking or mocking the painting style of Patrick Nagel. 

 

For the album, Palmer collaborated with two former members of his band the Power Station: guitarist Andy Taylor and drummer Tony Thompson. The Power Station's producer Bernard Edwards also played bass and produced the album. 

The album also features contributions from Chaka Khan and notable session musicians such as Guy Pratt, Wally Badarou, Jeff Bova, Eddie Martinez, Dony Wynn, and Jack Waldman (who died a year after the album's release). This was after the massive success of the Power Station, so as a way to captured that flavor, Riptide packaged Robert Palmer's voice and suave personality into a commercial series of mostly rocking songs that seem custom-tailored to be chart hits. 

The Power Station connection was in some way evident on Palmer's usually more eclectic musical interest, but with that band's producer/member Bernard Edwards handling production duties and members Andy Taylor and Tony Thompson contributing as well, stylistic similarities were inevitable. the track "Flesh Wound," for instance, though, sounds like a retread of "Some Like It Hot," with its squelching staccato guitars and tribal drums mimicking the hit single. The track "Hyperactive" adds a bit of a pop veneer to the formula, with its bright keyboards dating the song to the Miami Vice era.

But the jewel of the crown was "Addicted to Love" shared some of the same punch, somewhat slowing down the Power Station's bombast into slinkier, blues territory, while maintaining a heavy rock crunch. The song skyrocketed to the top of the U.S. charts and sold more than a million copies as a single worldwide. A music video for the song, featuring sexy models gyrating blankly, no doubt helped sales and launched a new phase of Palmer's career, where music videos would nearly overshadow his songwriting. Equally catchy and was the brilliant take on the Jimmy Jam/Terry Lewis song "I Didn't Mean to Turn You On." It was considered, perhaps Riptide's most daring track, with its fractured jittery notes, funky basslines, and pounding drums matching Palmer's bothered, sweaty vocals to create a yearning song that drips with passion. 

Also not to be missed is Earl King's "Trick Bag," which Palmer translates into a fun Clues-style minimalist modern blues song. Even if Riptide had the Power Station blueprint, "Riptide," was different, caused had some truly addictive moments and it set him firmly on course for the even harder-rocking Heavy Nova.

The title track of the album is a cover of a 1933 song written by Walter Donaldson and Gus Kahn and first recorded by Eddy Duchin and his orchestra, the album had favourable critic highlighting Palmer's voice that sharpened the album and the singles into custom-tailored chart hits. 

 

Riptide Track List:

 

1. Riptide

2. Hyperactive

3. Addicted To Love

4. Trick Bag (Earl King Cover)

5. Get It Through Your Heart

6. I Didn't Mean To Turn You On

7. Flesh Wound

8. Discipline Of Love

9. Riptide (Reprise)