Author: Jernej Vene
Artist: Power Station, The
Label: Capitol Records
Released: 1985
Length: 34:21
Rating: 4.5/5
Yep, that’s how many revolutions per minute a vinyl record spins at. By the time this album came out there were loads of them around, while CD players, at least over here, were a real rarity. I saw my first Philips at a buddy’s place in 1986.
The idea of a supergroup in rock or popular music often barely lives up to the weight of the label. I don’t know how the guys in Power Station clicked as people, but the music is potent, powerful rock with slight detours into soul and rhythm and blues. The project was originally meant as a backing band for a cover of T. Rex’s Get It On (Bang – A – Gong), which Bebe Buell, then the companion of Duran Duran bassist John Taylor, wanted to record. Nothing came of that, and Buell is perhaps best known as the mother of Liy Tyler, from a brief fling with Aerosmith singer Steven Tyler. Next came an invitation to singer Robert Palmer, who, after a successful demo for that song, agreed to record the whole album. Duran Duran were on hiatus that year, the side project Arcadia featured keyboardist Nick Rhodes and singer Simon LeBon, and all three Taylors from Duran Duran (no relation) took part in Power Station. Drummer Roger was the first to bow out and the band became a quartet. Teaming up with Chic funksters Tony Thompson and Bernard Edwards turned out to be a stroke of luck.
The combination of Black musical bloodlines and the white new pop of the eighties resulted in the album 33 1/3. The New York studio where the album was recorded gave the band its name, while the music and lyrics were pieced together by the band members and their famous helpers. Power Station is music full of Palmer’s seemingly distant, laid-back ease and Andy Taylor’s hard guitars, which were just sharp enough not to bother spoiled pop ears. Bassist John Taylor gave it his best shot and complemented drummer Tony Thompson as much as he possibly could. And of course, without the seasoned Bernard Edwards as a “hidden” advisor, the music wouldn’t have caught fire like it did. Two covers, Get It On – Bang – A – Gong (T. Rex) and Harvest For The World (The Isley Brothers), were welcome boosts to the rest of the original material.
Murderess has a totally simple setup and is wrapped, no fuss, in pop with standout guitar and drums. As was typical of mid-eighties pop, keyboards played a big role. Sometimes they even replaced the bass guitar, which rubbed us organic-sound purists the wrong way, but the artists and producers decided otherwise. These days that sound gets called dated, but you can get used to it. Good songs survive no matter what their original sound was like. Power Station’s music isn’t disco either, but pop funk, with a velvety touch courtesy of Palmer’s baritone.
Andy Taylor serves up tasty solos, where he doesn’t overdo it on either length or note density. There’s only one real ballad on the record (Still In Your Heart), so 33 1/3 is perfect for a dance party. The original Some Like It Hot is the biggest hit, though T. Rex’s Get It On (Bang A Gong) was a huge success too. It has just the right amount of instrumental excursions, since besides Andy, bassist John Taylor gets to shine in it as well.
In 1985, Andy Taylor, Tony Thompson and Chic bassist Bernard Edwards helped Robert Palmer make his very successful solo record Riptide. In 2005, an expanded edition came out for the twentieth anniversary of the debut. On it you’ll find Someday, Somehow, Someone’s Gotta Pay, which later became We Fight For Love and was supposed to be featured in the movie Commando starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, but that never happened. It remains a solid hard rock tune. It might have had better odds if Robert Palmer had sung it, but by then he was no longer in the band, replaced by Michael Des Barres. If you can’t get enough dancing, you’ll also enjoy the remixes of Communication, The Heat Is On (a spin-off, or rather a piece of Some Like It Hot) and Get It On (Bang A Gong). For the anniversary they most likely put out every known recording from the days when this pleasant album was coming together.
Robert Palmer did return to the lineup, and in 1996 they recorded a second album, Living In Fear, which is nowhere near as good as the debut. Tony Thompson and Robert Palmer left this world in late 2003, and a lovely chapter in rock history came to a close.
Power Station is a pompous, colorful and immensely fun album from seasoned funk rock masters.
Lineup
Robert Palmer – vocals
Andy Taylor – guitars
John Taylor – bass
Tony Thompson – drums
Contributors:
Curtis King Jr., Fonzi Thornton, BJ Nelson, Charmaine Burch – backing vocals
Lenny Pickett, Mark Pender, Stan Harrison, Hollywood Paul Litteral, Mars Williams – woodwinds and brass
Roger Taylor, Jimmy Bralower – percussion
Wally Badarou, David LeBolt, Robert Sabino, Rupert Hine – keyboards
Production
Bernard Edwards
Track list
- “Some Like It Hot” – 5:05
- “Murderess” – 4:17
- “Lonely Tonight” – 3:58
- “Communication” – 3:37
- “Get It On (Bang a Gong)” – 5:29
- “Go to Zero” – 4:58
- “Harvest for the World” – 3:37
- “Still in Your Heart” – 3:20
Bonus tracks on the 2005 reissue:
- “Someday, Somehow, Someone’s Gotta Pay” – 4:32
- “The Heat Is On” – 3:18
- “Communication” [Long Remix] – 4:39
- “Get It On (Bang a Gong)” [7″] – 3:45
- “Some Like It Hot and the Heat Is On” – 6:36
- “Communication” [Remix] – 3:51
- “Some Like It Hot” [7″] – 3:44
