I thought to myself, one day I’d give this guy another chance. When I first heard Robert Palmer’s music, I was not impressed to say the least. The first time I discovered him, was when I heard his #2 hit song from 1986 called, “I Didn’t Mean To Turn You On.” I absolutely hated this song! He performed this song as tho he was bored, and he was forced to sing it. His vocals were incredibly flat and monotone. Even the music video was kind of boring. The song was written by Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis (the very same men that produced Janet Jackson’s Control album), for an artist named Cherrelle. Cherrelle released her version of “I Didn’t Mean To Turn You On” in 1984 without major success. However, I did note it ranked #6 on the dance category; but in terms of the Top 100s, it was only at #79.
To be honest, I didn’t like his 1986 song “Addicted To Love” either. It was one of those songs you just tolerated listening to on the radio, ’cause none of the other stations were playing anything interesting. I also check out his quote “Greatest Hits;” but didn’t hear anything I liked either. However, not too long ago I was listening to an Ohio radio station (I think it was), and I heard a great song, and I didn’t even know it was Robert Palmer. The song was called, “Every Kinda People,” from his 1976 album called “Double Fun.” This song peaked at #16 on the Top 100. This song should have been #1 if you ask me. I’m really feelin’ this song. In essence the song is about doin’ the best you can in life. This song is entirely different from anything I’ve heard from him.
Thanks to Spotify, I can now easily look up his other original old albums. I was absolutely stunned, to find out he did a cover of Toots & the Maytals’ “Pressure Drop,” on his 1975 album “Pressure Drop.” I was stunned because even when I was growing up, and when my mom was playing this kind of music, very few people knew who the hell Toots & the Maytals were. I’m no going to lie, Palmer did a very good job on this song. Lastly, I like his 1976 song called “Keep In Touch,” from his album “Some People Can Do What They Like.” It has a strong funk that hits hard, yet some hints of that Blaxploitation sound. So, I guess I had to really dig for his older stuff to find what I liked from Robert. This is one of the reasons streaming services are important. No way would I find this music from solely looking at YouTube (unless I already knew what I was looking for (and sometimes not even then)).