VOLTAGE RESTORED ROBERT PALMER'S POWER STATION BRINGS THE FUNK BACK TO MISSISSIPPI NIGHTS
By Chris Dickinson
Post-Dispatch Pop Music Critic

In the mid-'80s radio hit sweepstakes, the Power Station's "Some Like It Hot" ranked high on the rocking dance-o-meter. When the re-formed band pulls into Mississippi Nights, it'll be possible to re-live those sweat-soaked dance-floor days.

The Power Station's original lineup included vocalist Robert Palmer, Duran Duran-ies Andy Taylor and John Taylor, as well as Chic members Tony Thompson and Bernard Edwards. Besides "Some Like It Hot," that collaboration also yielded a hit cover of the T. Rex classic,"Get It On."

The currently re-formed Power Station has been altered since its original incarnation, what with the departure of John Taylor and the untimely death of Edwards. But Robert Palmer, the voice of the group, as well as Andy Taylor, are both back in the Power Station saddle.

"A rock-funk quartet augmented by the Uptown Horns," is how Palmer, calling recently from his home in Switzerland, describes the Power Station. The band's current release, "Living in Fear" (Guardian), moves from the hard, guitar-driven "She Can Rock It" to the funkified, horn-blasting "Power Trippin' " and "Fancy That."

For his part, Palmer, 48, carries with him a long solo discography of his own, beginning with 1974's white-soul ode "Sneakin' Sally Through the Alley."

It's true that Palmer has had a long and varied history, but to a lot of folks, he's best remembered as that guy fronting all those slick-haired, look-alike models in the video for the 1986 hit, "Addicted To Love." At the time, it was a video that hit a major nerve; it was much copied, referenced and parodied. Did its impact surprise Palmer?

"Absolutely," he says. "First of all, it was a low-budget thing that took about an hour that I had no involvement with. Why it caught the public's imagination is anyone's guess, but that's always the case. I had a lot of faith in that song, and I like to sing it. But I've written better songs since, and they haven't done jack

"Addicted to Love" is included in the Power Station's current repertoire, along with a good chunk of Palmer's solo work and covers of James Brown's "Hot Pants" and Rufus' "Tell Me Some thing Good."

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