Robert Palmer

Robert Allen Palmer (19 January 1949 – 26 September 2003), born in Batley, Yorkshire, was a Grammy Award winning English ^{English people} singer-songwriter.

  Palmer's father was a British ^{United Kingdom} naval intelligence officer stationed in Malta. Palmer moved with his family to Scarborough ^{Scarborough, England} , Yorkshire in 1959. Influenced as a child by blues, soul, and jazz music on American Forces Radio ^{American Forces Network} , Robert Palmer joined his first band, The Mandrakes, at the age of 15 while still at Scarborough Boys' High School. His first major break came with the departure of singer Jess Roden from the band The Alan Bown Set in 1969, after which Palmer was invited to London to sing on their single ^{single (music)} "Gypsy Girl". The vocals for the album The Alan Bown!, originally recorded by Roden (and released in the US that way), were re-recorded by Palmer after the success of the single.

In January 1970, Palmer married Suzan Eileen Thatcher. That same year, Palmer joined the 12-piece jazz-rock fusion band Dada, which featured singer Elkie Brooks. The band lasted a year, after which Brooks and Palmer formed the critically acclaimed but commercially unsuccessful rhythm and blues group, Vinegar Joe ^{Vinegar Joe (band)} ; Palmer sang and played rhythm guitar. Signed to the Island Records label, they released three albums: Vinegar Joe (1972), Rock 'n' Roll Gypsies (1972), and Six Star General (1973), before disbanding in March 1974.Island Records signed Palmer to a solo deal in 1974. His first solo album Sneakin' Sally Through the Alley ^{Sneakin' Sally Through the Alley (album)} recorded in New Orleans, Louisiana in 1974, was heavily influenced by the music of Little Feat and the funk fusion of The Meters who acted as backing band along with producer/guitarist Lowell George of Little Feat. Although unsuccessful in the UK, both the album and single reached the Top 100 in the US. Notably, "Sailin' Shoes" (the album's first track), Palmer's own "Hey Julia" and the Allen Toussaint–penned title track carry virtually the same rhythm, and were packaged on the album as a "trilogy" without a pause between them.

Subsequently relocating from London to New York ^{New York City} with his wife, Palmer released Pressure Drop ^{Pressure Drop (album)} in November 1975 (featuring Motown ^{Motown Records} bassist James Jamerson). An album infused with his interests in reggae and rock music, it was noted for its cover art of a *** girl on a balcony rather than any commercially successful songs. He toured with Little Feat to promote that album.

However, with the failure of the follow-up Some People Can Do What They Like ^{Some People Can Do What They Like (album)} , Palmer decided to move to Nassau ^{Nassau, Bahamas} , Bahamas, directly across the street from Compass Point Studios.

In 1978, he released Double Fun, a collection of Caribbean-influenced rock, including a cover ^{cover version} of "You Really Got Me". The album reached the Top 50 on the US Billboard ^{Billboard (magazine)} chart and scored a Top 20 single with the Andy Fraser–penned "Every Kinda People". The song has been covered by other artists including Chaka Demus and Pliers, Randy Crawford and Amy Grant. It reached #16 on the Billboard Hot 100.

Palmer's next album was an artistic departure, concentrating on pure rock. 1979's Secrets ^{Secrets (Robert Palmer album)} produced his second Top 20 single with Moon Martin's "Bad Case of Loving You (Doctor, Doctor)". The #14 hit also gave Palmer his first Billboard Hot 100 year end chart hit.

The 1980s saw 'Compass Point Star ^{Compass Point All Stars} ' Palmer find an increasing amount of commercial success. The album Clues ^{Clues (album)} , produced by Palmer and featuring Chris Frantz and Gary Numan, generated hits on both sides of the Atlantic ^{Atlantic Ocean} , first with the radio-friendly single "Johnny and Mary" and then "Looking for Clues". Catchy music videos matching the synth pop stylings of New Wave ^{New Wave music} gave him much needed exposure to a younger audience. The success was repeated with the 1982 EP release of Some Guys Have All the Luck.

In April 1983 Pride ^{Pride (Robert Palmer album)} was released, which not as commercially successful as Clues did feature the title song and Palmer's cover of The System ^{The System (band)} 's "You Are In My System", with The System's David Frank contributing keyboard tracks to the latter song. On 23 July, Palmer performed at Duran Duran's charity concert at Aston Villa football ground 1983 where he struck up friendships with members of Duran Duran that in late 1984 spawned the supergroup ^{Supergroup (music)} Power Station ^{Power Station (band)} .Duran Duran went on hiatus, and their guitarist Andy Taylor ^{Andy Taylor (guitarist)} and bassist John Taylor ^{Nigel John Taylor} , joined former Chic ^{Chic (band)} member Tony Thompson and Palmer, to form Power Station. which would later be featured in the Tony Award winning musical ^{musical theatre} Contact ^{Contact (musical)} . Rolling Stone magazine voted Palmer the best-dressed rock star for 1990.

Palmer expanded his range even further for his next album, Don't Explain ^{Don't Explain (album)} (1990). It also featured the Bob Dylan penned Top 10 single "I'll Be Your Baby Tonight", in a collaboration with UB40, that secured a #6 placing in the UK, and the Top 20 Marvin***e cover ^{cover version} "Mercy Mercy Me ^{Mercy Mercy Me (The Ecology)} ". Throughout the 1990s, Palmer ventured further into diverse material. The 1992 album Ridin' High ^{Ridin' High (Robert Palmer album)} was a tribute to the Tin Pan Alley era.

In 1994, Palmer released Honey ^{Honey (Robert Palmer album)} to mixed reviews. While the album failed to produce any hit singles in the US, he did find success in the UK with the release of three modest hit singles "Girl U Want ^{Freedom of Choice} ", "Know By Now" and "You Blow Me Away".

In 1995, Palmer reunited with other members of The Power Station to record a second album. Bassist John Taylor eventually backed out of the project, to be replaced by Bernard Edwards. Palmer and the rest of the band completed the album Living in Fear (1996), and had just begun touring when Edwards died from pneumonia.Palmer's favourite author was Jack Vance and he was especially fond of Cugel. Jack Vance paid homage to Palmer in his novel Night Lamp, whose first lines are: "Toward the far edge of the Cornu Sector of Ophiuchus, Robert Palmer's Star shone brilliant white, its corona flaring with films of blue, red and green colour."Palmer and his wife, Sue, had two children, James and Jane, who were born in 1979 and 1980 respectively. The couple divorced in 1993. Also in 1993, Palmer relocated from the Bahamas to a converted mill-house in Lugano, Switzerland after he found that the islands had become overrun with drugs and guns and were no longer safe. Palmer's companion at the time of his death was Ohio-born Mary Ambrose, whom Palmer had met in the early 1990s when she was a waitress in California.Palmer, who made his home in Lugano, Switzerland for his last 15 years, was in Paris, France when he died of a sudden heart attack ^{myocardial infarction} on September 26, 2003. He was 54 years old. He is interred at the cemetery in Lugano.

In October 2004, newspapers reported on the struggle for Palmer's estate, worth an estimated £30 million ($46 million), between Mary Ambrose and Palmer's two children. Although Palmer had allegedly changed his will to favour Ambrose, Swiss law does not recognise common-law wives, resulting in a battle between Ambrose and James and Jane Palmer. The matter remains unresolved.

On her All The Best ^{All the Best (Tina Turner album)} compilation album, Palmer's Switzerland neighbour Tina Turner added a live version of "Addicted to Love ^{Addicted to Love (song)} " in tribute to him.
Albums




Singles