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Riptide (album)

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Released
  
November 1985

Length
  
34:55

Artist
  
Robert Palmer

Producer
  
Bernard Edwards

Recorded
  
July-September, 1985

Riptide (1985)
  
Heavy Nova (1988)

Release date
  
November 1985

Label
  
Island Records

Riptide (album) httpsuploadwikimediaorgwikipediaen330Rob

Studio
  
Compass Point Studios, Nassau, Bahamas

Genres
  
Rock music, Pop rock, Hard rock

Similar
  
Robert Palmer albums, Rock music albums

Robert palmer riptide


Riptide is the eighth solo studio album by the British singer Robert Palmer. It was originally released in November 1985. The album was recorded over a period of three months in 1985, at Compass Point Studios in Nassau, Bahamas. The album charted at number 8 in the US and No. 5 in the UK. It was certified double platinum in the US by the RIAA in March 1996 and certified gold in the UK by BPI in August 1986. It featured the songs "Addicted to Love", "I Didn't Mean to Turn You On", "Discipline of Love", and "Riptide" which were all released as singles. The single "Addicted to Love" was accompanied by a memorable and much-imitated music video, directed by Terence Donovan, in which Palmer is surrounded by a bevy of near-identically clad, heavily made-up (and appropriately pouty) female "musicians," either mimicking or mocking the painting style of Patrick Nagel. In September 1986, Palmer performed "Addicted to Love" at the 1986 MTV Video Music Awards in Los Angeles. In 1987, he won the Grammy Award for Best Male Rock Vocal Performance for "Addicted to Love". At the 1987 Brit Awards, Palmer received his first nomination for Best British Male.

Contents

Another single from Riptide, his cover of Cherrelle's "I Didn't Mean to Turn You On", also performed well (US#2, UK#9). Another song, "Trick Bag," was written by one of his major influences, New Orleans jazz artist Earl King.

For the album, Palmer collaborated with two former members from 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 American Singer-songwriter Chaka Khan, Level 42's keyboardist Wally Badarou, and session musicians Guy Pratt, Jeff Bova, Eddie Martinez, and Jack Waldman (who died a year after the album's release).

2013 reissue

Riptide was reissued on 30 April 2013 by Culture Factory USA, an independent label that specialises in cult artists. The reissue CD was packaged in a miniature replica of the original quality vinyl packaging complete with an inner sleeve that features the original lyrics, photographs of Palmer and credits for the album. The label side of the CD features a replica of what the original Island label looked like at the time of issue and even features "grooves" as if the black CD is made of vinyl.

The reissues did not have any additional outtakes or bonus tracks.

Critical reception

In a contemporary review music critic Robert Christgau gave the album a "C+" and panned it as "his pop breakthrough" and added that "what makes him barely listenable is his holdings in r&b."

In a retrospective review, an anonymous critic for AllMusic gave the album four and a half out of five stars and wrote that "Riptide packages Robert Palmer's voice and suave personality into a commercial series of mostly rocking songs that seem custom-tailored to be chart hits."

Side two

Additional tracks
  • The track "Hyperactive" was used in the 1987 film The Bedroom Window.
  • Personnel

  • Robert Palmer – vocals
  • Tony Thompson – drums (tracks 1-4, 6, 7, 9)
  • Dony Wynn – drums (tracks 5, 8)
  • Bernard Edwards – bass (tracks 1-7, 9)
  • Guy Pratt - bass (track 8)
  • Eddie Martinez – guitar (tracks 1, 2, 4-9)
  • Andy Taylor – guitar (track 3)
  • Wally Badarou – keyboards
  • Jeff Bova – keyboards
  • Jack Waldman – keyboards
  • Lenny Pickett – saxophone
  • Benny Diggs – backing vocals (tracks 3, 8)
  • Fonzi Thornton – backing vocals (tracks 3, 8)
  • Chaka Khan – vocal arrangement (track 3)
  • Production

  • Producer – Bernard Edwards
  • Post-Production – Eric "ET" Thorngren and Robert Palmer
  • Engineer – Jason Corsaro
  • Assistant Engineers – Michael Abbott, Benjamin Armbrister, Steve Boyer, Jamie Chaleff, John Davenport, Billy Miranda, Dan Peterkofsky and Steve Rinkoff.
  • Mixed by Eric "ET" Thorngren
  • Recorded at Compass Point Studios (Nassasu, Bahamas).
  • Mixed at The Power Station, Electric Lady Studios, The Hit Factory and Right Track Recording (New York, NY).
  • Mastered by Jack Skinner at Sterling Sound (New York, NY).
  • CD Mastering by Barry Diament at Atlantic Studios (New York, NY).
  • Illustration – Susan Palmer
  • Design – Robert Palmer
  • Photography – Guiseppe Pino
  • Songs

    1Riptide2:27
    2Hyperactive5:10
    3Addicted to Love6:04

    References

    Riptide (album) Wikipedia