The self titled Power Station album was released in the spring of 1985. Talk about an amazing alchemy of personnel making some great music. Robert Palmer on vocals, Duran Duran’s John and Andy Taylor on bass and guitar, respectively, and Chic’s Tony Thompson on drums. The fusion led to a percussion heavy rock album that quickly became one of my favorites.
I was introduced to Power Station, along with the rest of the world, during a February performance on Saturday Night Live. They unveiled their album’s two singles: a cover of the T. Rex classic “Bang A Gong” and the original “Some Like It Hot.”
It was incredible. I was instantly attracted to the beat of those songs and the album itself carried that rhythm through the entire album. The album also set the tone for Robert Palmer’s career resurgence. His Riptide album came out in the winter of 1985 and featured “Addicted to Love” and “I Didn’t Mean to Turn You On” among other songs. Riptide was produced by The Power Station’s producer and featured Thompson on the drums, along with backup from the Taylors.
Power Station reunited in ’97 with Living in Fear, which was pretty widely ignored. And there can never be another reunion since both Tony Thompson and Robert Palmer passed away in 2003.
Enjoy these two Power Station tracks, which helped gain this band Geek Out status since 23 years later these songs are still on heavy rotation on my iPod.
I had the biggest f-ing crush on this band, and especially John…I must get this back into my iPod…