Riptide – Robert Palmer (1985)

November 21, 2025

After finally crossing the threshold into mainstream pop music with 1980’s Clues, Robert Palmer had a bit of a backslide in the ensuing years. He oddly chose to have his next project be a mix of new studio tracks alongside live renditions of previously released work with 1982’s Maybe It’s Live, which did fairly well in the UK (#32), but struggled in the US (#148). He would then follow that up with 1983’s Pride, which was a similarly disappointing effort compared to the success of Clues. But later that year, Palmer would find himself performing for a charity event hosted by Duran Duran, where he made fast friends with John and Andy Taylor (who, it turns out, are not related). This would then lead to the formation of the Power Station – a supergroup consisting of Palmer, Duran Duran’s two unrelated Taylors, and Tony Thompson of Chic. 

As fate would have it, after over a decade of cutting his teeth recording solo albums with limited commercial success, Palmer’s first release to reach the top ten would come as a member of his new band – with the group’s self-titled debut reaching #6 on the Billboard 200 and featuring two hit singles. But Palmer was no fool (and clearly no team player), and opted to ditch the Power Station before their planned tour to promote the album. Instead, he wanted to capitalize on the momentum he now possessed and record another pop rock masterpiece under his own byline. At the time, many critics came after Palmer for his choice and called the decision “unprofessional,” but his bandmates (who were doing just fine financially given the mega-success of both Duran Duran and Chic) clearly did not harbor the same resentment – with John and Andy Taylor even supporting Palmer in the studio for his new project.

Robert Palmer, Andy Taylor, John Taylor, and Tony Thompson of the Power Station

Newly armed with a formula that clearly worked, Palmer would continue with the lethal combination of upbeat synth pop and guitar-driven hard rock to create 1985’s Riptide, which would prove to be just as commercially successful as The Power Station. The album would catapult to #8 in US and include four singles that would reach the Billboard Hot 100 – most notably, “Addicted to Love” (#1) and his cover of Cherrelle’s “I Didn’t Mean to Turn You On” (#2). On top of the record sales and the constant radio airplay, Palmer’s iconic music video for “Addicted to Love” – featuring five models with pale faces, heavy make-up, and all-black clothing as his backing band – received heavy rotation on MTV and has become one of the most beloved of the entire decade. 

Riptide follows a pretty clear-cut, two-act structure – beginning with the slow, introductory title track before launching into three consecutive heaters with “Hyperactive, “Addicted to Love,” and his cover of Earl King’s “Trick Bag.” On the B-Side, Palmer again begins with a slower ballad as a lead-in to another trio of pop rock masterpieces (“I Didn’t Mean to Turn You On,” “Flesh Wound,” and “Discipline of Love”), before ultimately concluding with a reprise of “Riptide.” And despite the fact that nearly half of the songs on the album are covers (the most compelling critique I can come up with on an otherwise fantastic record), his thematic through-line is about as 80s as you can get – with nearly all of the tracks including lyrics about love and drugs (or both, in the case of its signature song). But ultimately, you don’t put on Riptide to think or to connect or to relate – you put it on to have fun. And much like its lyrical focus, this record hits with the electricity of a coke-fueled night on the dance floor.

The iconic “Addicted to Love” music video

Regardless of the consistently lazy, bitter accusations of selling out and ripping off his former band’s sound, Palmer achieves pop perfection with his 1985 release. But clearly angered by the accusations, he did not hesitate to defend the work in a 1986 interview, saying, “Listen, I gave the Power Station that sound. They took it from me, not the other way around.” And to be honest, I’m inclined to agree with Bobby on this one – you’re going to tell me two of the guys from Duran Duran’s rhythm section and the drummer from Chic were the brains behind the operation? I doubt it. With Riptide, Palmer achieved a hit album, wrote one of the signature songs of the decade, and delivered an all-time classic music video – and any arguments against its creative value are flimsy at best. It was the logical next step for Palmer’s march toward pop greatness throughout the decade, and serves as the well-deserved apex of an underrated, under-appreciated, and ultimately undeniable career.