“Addicted to Love” is a song by English rock singer Robert Palmer released in 1986. It is the third song on Palmer’s 1985 album Riptide and was released as its second single.

Palmer wanted this song to be a duet with Chaka Khan and recorded it with her. Her label, Warner Brothers Records, would not allow her voice to be used on the record, so he had to erase her part and re-record her high notes before releasing it.

The video featured Palmer singing in front of a “band” of beautiful women who looked exactly alike. They wore lots of makeup and identical clothing as they pretended to play the instruments. The video became an icon of the ’80s, and is constantly parodied, including in a Pepsi commercial with Britney Spears.

The funny thing about the video was that the models posing as a band were selected precisely because they did NOT know how to play the instruments. As a result, each girl was keeping her own time and moving to a different beat.

One of the girls in the video was “bassist” Mak Gilchrist. She recalled to Q magazine June 2009:

“I was 21 and got the part on the strength of my modeling book. We were meant to look and ‘act’ like showroom mannequins. Director Terence Donovan got us tipsy on a bottle of wine but as were having our makeup retouched, I lost balance on my heels and knocked the top of my guitar into the back of Robert’s head, and his face then hit the microphone.”

“I remember feeling an acute sense of embarrassment when I first saw how sexy the video was. The most unusual place I saw it was on a huge screen on the side of a Tokyo building.”

This is the tune most coveted by Slade frontman Noddy Holder. He tells Soundchecks Music Review: “The one main song that I wish that I’d written and recorded is ‘Addicted to Love’ by Robert Palmer. To me, that’s a perfect pop song. Everything about it really hits the nail on the head.”

Palmer bet against himself while this was climbing the charts. He recalled:

“There’s a phone number you can ring for Billboard magazine to let you know your chart position and we were flying from Tokyo to Hawaii and had to stop in Guam and we had made a bet as to what number ‘Addicted To Love’ was going to be and I lost. I bet on number two but it went to one! It was a bet over a garment… a black and white cashmere cloak! But I ended up winning it back the following week.”

It all started with a guitar riff that came to Palmer in a dream. He told Q magazine in 1988:

“That noisy riff woke me up. I went downstairs, got out the tape recorder, then went back to bed. Next morning, I thought, Phew, caught one there!”

LYRICS

Your lights are on, but you’re not home
Your mind is not your own
Your heart sweats, your body shakes
Another kiss is what it takes
You can’t sleep, you can’t eat
There’s no doubt, you’re in deep
Your throat is tight, you can’t breathe
Another kiss is all you need
Whoa, you like to think that you’re immune to the stuff, oh yeah
It’s closer to the truth to say you can’t get enough
You know you’re gonna have to face it, you’re addicted to love
You see the signs, but you can’t read
You’re running at a different speed
Your heart beats in double time
Another kiss and you’ll be mine, a one track mind
You can’t be saved
Oblivion is all you crave
If there’s some left for you
You don’t mind if you do
Whoa, you like to think that you’re immune to the stuff, oh yeah
It’s closer to the truth to say you can’t get enough
You know you’re gonna have to face it, you’re addicted to love
Might as well face it, you’re addicted to love
Might as well face it, you’re addicted to love
Might as well face it, you’re addicted to love
Might as well face it, you’re addicted to love
Might as well face it, you’re addicted to love
Your lights are on, but you’re not home
Your will is not your own
You’re heart sweats and teeth grind
Another kiss and you’ll be mine
Whoa, you like to think that you’re immune to the stuff, oh yeah
It’s closer to the truth to say you can’t get enough
You know you’re gonna have to face it, you’re addicted to love
Might as well face it, you’re addicted to love
Might as well face it, you’re addicted to love
Might as well face it, you’re addicted to love
Might as well face it, you’re addicted to love
Might as well face it, you’re addicted to love

Wikipedia

Songfacts

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