Robert Palmer - Addicted To Love

Robert Palmer - Simply Irresistible

You can't sleep, you can't eat There's no doubt, you're in deep Your throat is tight, you can't breathe Another kiss is all you need

Double Hit: Robo-chicks

“Addicted to Love” by Robert Palmer (1986)

“Simply Irresistible” by Robert Palmer (1988)

I remember in 2003 when Robert Palmer passed away and Bill at work said, “He was in Emerson, Lake and Palmer too right?” I cringed inside and tried not to be a total music nerd. I simply said, “No that is Carl Palmer and he was the drummer. I don’t think he is dead. Carl was also in the group ‘Asia’, remember them?”

Robert Palmer, (also not to be confused with the music historian Robert Palmer) was an English singer-songwriter who combined many styles of music. He could take jazz, blues, rock and even reggae and create unforgettable rhythms.

You may recognize his voice from when he covered ‘Get It On (Bang A Gong’, the old T-Rex song when he was in PowerStation or maybe you remember when he did the Moon Martin penned ‘Bad Case of Loving’ You’. His voice was distinctive. His style was polished. He dressed well. He was always trying to find a new and interesting sound or lyric or idea.

Goin' up to the spirit in the sky That's where I'm gonna go when I die

Quick Hit

“Spirit in the Sky” by Norman Greenbaum (1969)

In 1968 he had a hit with “The Eggplant That Ate Chicago” with his band ‘Dr. West’s Medicine Show and Junk Band”. I don’t remember it.

Born in Wisconsin and raised in a Jewish family, Greenbaum watched a lot of western movies and from those he got the idea for ‘Spirit in the Sky”. It was not really a Christian song according to Greenbaum. It has become one of the staples of the hippie generation and still sounds good – the sound was cutting edge at the time – a key example of ‘psychedelic” music for sure.

The 1949 the Gene Autry movie entitled “Riders in the Sky” became a huge song for Gene as well. It was originally written by Stan Jones in 1948. It got recorded by many artists and became ‘Ghost Riders in the Sky” for Johnny Cash in 1979.  There had been the instrumental “Apache” by the “Shadows” which was widely known and hugely popular in 1966. There was “Riders on the Storm” done by the Doors which was western influenced quite possibly by Gram Parsons of the Flying Burrito Brothers who I am sure crossed paths with Jim Morrison. Robbie Krieger says it was influenced by “(Ghost) Riders in the Sky: A Cowboy Legend”.