Riptide (album)

Riptide
Studio album by Robert Palmer
Released November 1985
Recorded July–September, 1985
Studio Compass Point Studios, Nassau, Bahamas
Genre Hard rock[1]
Length 34:55
Label Island
Producer Bernard Edwards
Robert Palmer chronology
Pride
(1983)Pride1983		 Riptide
(1985)		 Heavy Nova
(1988)Heavy Nova1988
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[1]
Robert ChristgauC+[2]

Riptide is the eighth solo studio album by the British singer Robert Palmer, 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", "Hyperactive", "Discipline of Love", and "Riptide" which were all released as singles.[3][4] 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 (and appropriately pouty) female "musicians," either mimicking or mocking the painting style of Patrick Nagel.[5] In September 1986, Palmer performed "Addicted to Love" at the 1986 MTV Video Music Awards in Los Angeles.[6] 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.[7]

Another single from Riptide, his cover of Cherrelle's "I Didn't Mean to Turn You On", also performed well (US#2, UK#9).[5] 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).[8]

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.[9]

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."[2]

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."

Track listing

Side one

No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Riptide"Walter Donaldson, Gus Kahn2:24
2."Hyperactive"Tony Haynes, Dennis Nelson, Robert Palmer5:08
3."Addicted to Love"Palmer6:01
4."Trick Bag"Earl King3:01

Side two

No.TitleWriter(s)Length
5."Get It Through Your Heart"Palmer2:49
6."I Didn't Mean to Turn You On"James Harris III, Terry Lewis3:43
7."Flesh Wound"Frank Blair, Palmer3:43
8."Discipline of Love"David Batteau, Don Freeman6:06
9."Riptide (Reprise)"Walter Donaldson, Gus Kahn2:00
Total length:34:55
Additional tracks

Personnel

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 – Giuseppe Pino

Chart performance

Chart (1985–86) Peak
position
Canadian Albums Chart[10] 2
New Zealand Albums Chart[11] 13
UK Albums Chart[12] 5
US Billboard 200[13] 8

Release history

Label Cat. No. Format Date
Island90471-1, 7 90471-1USVinyl1985
Island7 90471-4USCassette1985
Island610 541-222, CID 130, 90471-2GECD1985>
IslandICT 9801UKCassette1985
Island407 083-630, 407 083GECassette1985
IslandZCI-9801UKCassette1985
IslandA4-90471, A4 90471USCassette1985
IslandISLC-1066, ISLC 1066CACassette1985
IslandILPS 9801UK, IRE, PO, SCVinyl1985
IslandR25D-2014JPVinyl1985
IslandISL 1066CAVinyl1985
Island7 90471-2USCD1986
IslandP35D 20010JPCD24 April 1987
Island, Island Masters826 463-2, IMCD 25EUCD1989
Island MastersPSCD-1152JPCD25 November 1991
Island MastersUICY-6600JPCD22 November 2006
Culture Factory782026FRACD30 April 2013

See also

References

  1. 1 2 "Heavy Nova" on All Music Guide. Retrieved on 13 August 2009
  2. 1 2 "Robert Christgau: CG: Robert Palmer". Robertchristgau.com. Retrieved 17 July 2018.
  3. ↑ Whitburn, Joel (2006). The Billboard Book of Top 40 Hits. Billboard Books
  4. ↑ Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums. London: Guinness World Records Limited
  5. 1 2 Strong, Martin C. (2014). The Great Rock Discography (5th ed.). Mojo Books. pp. 2–3. ISBN 1-84195-017-3.
  6. ↑ 1986 MTV Video Music Awards MTV.com. Retrieved 5 December 2011
  7. ↑ BRITs Profile: Robert Palmer Archived 23 June 2014 at the Wayback Machine.. Brits.co.uk. Retrieved 14 April 2012
  8. ↑ "The Estate Project". Web.archive.org. 1 October 2006. Retrieved 17 July 2018.
  9. ↑ "Home". Culturefactoryusa.com. Retrieved 15 January 2014.
  10. ↑ "LIBRARY AND ARCHIVES CANADA". Collectionscanada.gc.ca. Retrieved 11 August 2011.
  11. ↑ Steffen Hung. "New Zealand charts portal". charts.org.nz. Retrieved 11 August 2011.
  12. ↑ "UK Singles & Albums Chart Archive". Chart Stats. Retrieved 11 August 2011.
  13. ↑ "Music News, Reviews, Articles, Information, News Online & Free Music". Billboard.com. Retrieved 11 August 2011.
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