Riptide

After nearly 10 years of making songs that should’ve been hits but never quite were, Robert Palmer finally broke through to the big time with 1985's “Addicted to Love.” An Otis Redding–style tune dressed up in a flashy suit, “Addicted to Love” became a definitive song of the '80s. The only downside was that its massive popularity eclipsed the other songs on Riptide, an album that's as muscular as it is textural. “Hyperactive,” “I Didn’t Mean to Turn You On," and “Disciple of Love” are a trifecta of strong-armed funk-rock tunes that match “Addicted to Love” for visceral effect. The album’s production—handled by Palmer himself—is a revelation. As cacophonous as it is funky, the sound design is a major precursor to the string of innovative dance hits that Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis would make with Janet Jackson in the second half of the '80s. Though the album’s skyrocketing popularity may have obscured Palmer’s R&B pedigree, a cover of Earl King’s New Orleans anthem “Trick Bag” betrays the singer’s longstanding allegiance to down-home American soul music.