Addicted to Love

Before I go ahead with this week's Sunday Jukebox, I want to reiterate that the Sunday Jukebox will be one of the few theme days that is staying put where it is as we head towards the third anniversary makeover for the blog. 

Can you tell that I'm just a wee bit EXCITED about changing things up for this month?  Why, I'm almost giddy about it to tell you the truth!

Now, in addition to the Sunday Jukebox sticking around on Sundays for the foreseeable future, something else that is still in play - at least for the year 2014 anyway - is the fact that every Sunday Jukebox song that I feature this year will have been a #1 hit on the Billboard charts for at least one week.  And that is a theme that will continue until the calendar rolls around to the year 2015.  Then I will switch to #2 songs.  Or one-hit-wonders.  Or songs that have music videos featuring clouds.  Or whatever the heck I decide to do!

This week, we're heading back in time twenty-eight years to the year 1986.  It's also one of the first years that I have vivid memories of.  Prior to '86, everything was a blur...though it could be because I was only five that year.

So, what was happening in May 1986?  Well, "Benson", "Knight Rider", and "Diff'rent Strokes" were on their way out.  The brand new movies of the month were "Short Circuit", "Top Gun", and "Cobra". Tommy Lee was getting married to Heather Locklear (of which that marriage would end in divorce).

And some of the albums that were being released in May of '86 were Peter Gabriel's "So", Poison's "Look What The Cat Dragged In", and Nu Shooz's "Poolside".

But what was the #1 hit during the first week of May 1986?  Well, have a look for yourselves!

NOTE:  The "release date" is the date the song entered the Billboard 100...I couldn't find the actual release date for this song, so I improvised.

ARTIST:  Robert Palmer

SONG:  Addicted to Love

ALBUM:  Riptide

DATE RELEASED:  February 8, 1986

PEAK POSITION ON THE BILLBOARD CHARTS:  #1 for 1 week

Now, this is a song that you probably have recognized from a number of different places.  Perhaps you remember that episode from "Beverly Hills 90210" in which Brenda, Kelly, and Donna dressed up as the girls from the video to do some talent show at school.  Perhaps you may recall Shania Twain borrowing the concept of this video for her own single, "Man...I Feel Like a Woman".  Or, maybe you recall the television series "Hot in Cleveland" doing a parody version of this video during a 2012 episode. 

Regardless of where you might remember the video from, I have actually been looking for an excuse to feature a Robert Palmer video in this blog for quite a while.  Robert Palmer was definitely one of my favourite singers from the 1980s, and he has had a lot of hits besides "Addicted To Love".  Since he burst onto the music scene in 1974, Palmer had dozens of hits - both original compositions and cover hits.  Let's see...there was "Looking For Clues", "Every Kinda People", "I Didn't Mean To Turn You On", "Simply Irresistible", "Mercy Mercy Me/I Want You".  I honestly don't know if there's a bad song that Palmer ever did.

His death in September 2003 at the age of just 54 years old was very shocking.  And, admittedly, there's a part of me that still feels as though he left the world way too soon.  But at least he left behind nearly three decades of music for us to enjoy.

And, certainly "Addicted to Love" was one of Palmer's most well-known songs.  Although it only spent a total of seven days on the top of the charts, it certainly made a huge impact in the world of pop culture.  And, I think one of the most amusing things about the song is the music video itself...as well as some of the juicy little secrets about how the song and the video were made.

(Thank you VH1's "Pop-Up Video" for helping me with the research!)

I'm sure that you want to know what these secrets are.  Heck, the video is almost thirty years old, and you may know this stuff already...but just for argument's sake, let's just assume that you don't.

All right, let's begin with secret #1.

1 - A MEMBER OF DURAN DURAN ASSISTED WITH THE MUSIC

All right, so this shouldn't come as too much of a shocker if you were up to date on the New Wave music scene circa 1985.  As many of you know, Duran Duran briefly split up to form two side projects.  One project was Arcadia which featured Simon Le Bon, Nick Rhodes, and Roger Taylor.  The other project was "The Power Station", which featured Andy and John Taylor, Chic's Tony Thompson, and Palmer.  So, the connection between Robert Palmer and two-fifths of the original Duran Duran was established about a year prior to "Addicted to Love" being released. 

That connection was expanded to Robert Palmer's solo projects.  Andy Taylor played lead guitar.  So, if you ever wanted to know who provided that wicked guitar sound, Taylor's your man.

2 - ADDICTED TO LOVE WAS SUPPOSED TO BE A DUET

This was probably the fact that stunned me the most about this song.  I mean, Robert Palmer owned this single.  I can't even think of anyone else doing this song justice, and I honestly couldn't picture this song as a duet.

But believe it or not, this single was planned as a duet between Palmer and Chaka Khan.  And, had Chaka Khan's record company been more flexible, Khan would have joined Palmer as a duet partner.  Alas, the duet was not meant to be.  However, if you look closely at the album liner notes for Palmer's "Riptide" album, Chaka Khan is still credited.  Interesting.  I have that album, I should definitely see if I can spot her name on it.

Edited to add:  Yep, sure enough, Chaka Khan's name IS credited.  Well, I'll be damned.

Okay, moving on.

3 - ANOTHER ROCK PERFORMER WISHED HE RECORDED THE SINGLE

Now, many of you in North America might not know the name Noddy Holder, but those of you in the UK know him as the lead singer of UK based rock band, Slade (best known for their '73 holiday classic "Merry Xmas Everybody").  And, admittedly in an interview that he did after the single was released, Holder admitted that he wished that he would have wrote the song instead, claiming it to be a perfect pop song.

4 - ONE OF THE MODELS ACCIDENTALLY INJURED ROBERT PALMER ON SET!

Don't worry.  It wasn't a serious injury.  It was more along the lines of a freak accident.  The five models that were used in the video were Julie Pankhurst, Patty Kelly, Mak Gilchrist, Julia Bolino, and Kathy Davies.  Whenever they feature the shots where the four models are all lined up together with the guitars and keyboards, look at the guitar model in the middle.  That would be Mak Gilchrist...the woman who did the deed.

As Gilchrist explained in an interview, she and the other models were cast by director Terence Donovan - then a noted British fashion photographer - and she explained that Terence had brought a bottle of wine for all of them to drink to loosen them up.  Unfortunately, it worked a little too well.  Mak became quite tipsy on the wine, and while she and the other models were getting their make-up retouched, she stumbled in her high heels, lost her balance, and her guitar slammed into the back of Robert Palmer's head with such force that his face hit the microphone!  Ouch!

But I suppose that Robert Palmer wasn't too mad about it.  He did use Gilchrist and the other models in future video projects!

5 - A GUITAR EXPERT WAS BROUGHT ON SET TO TEACH THE MODELS FINGERING TECHNIQUES

He was brought in to teach the models the techniques to make the video look more authentic.  But he gave up after an hour and quit the project when it became clear that the models weren't grasping the concept...not to mention the guitars!

6 - THE SONG HAS SINCE BEEN COVERED BY SEVERAL ARTISTS

Perhaps the most famous cover version of the song is by Tina Turner, who has made the song a regular feature on her tours and concerts since the late-1980s.  Have a listen to Tina's version above.

But did you know that the song was also covered by Ciccone Youth, Westlife, Florence + The Machine, and even Garth Brooks?

At any rate, "Addicted to Love" is a fantastic song by an artist who left us far too soon.