Simply Irresistible (song)
| "Simply Irresistible" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 Standard artwork (7-inch vinyl single pictured); North American and Japanese editions use different colors | ||||
| Single by Robert Palmer | ||||
| from the album Heavy Nova | ||||
| A-side |
"Simply Irresistible (Extended Version)" (12" and CD) "Simply Irresistible (7" version) | |||
| B-side |
"Simply Irresistible (Instrumental Version)" (12" and CD) "Nova" | |||
| Released | June 22, 1988 (UK); 1989 (US) | |||
| Format |
Vinyl 7" and 12" Compact Disc | |||
| Recorded | Lugano, Switzerland, 1987 | |||
| Length | 4:14 | |||
| Label | EMI, Manhattan | |||
| Writer(s) | Robert Palmer | |||
| Robert Palmer singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
"Simply Irresistible" is the first single released by English rock singer Robert Palmer from the 1988 studio album Heavy Nova and is presented in one of the most distinctive and memorable music videos of the 1980s.
In 1988, the song reached #2 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart (behind "Sweet Child o' Mine" by Guns N' Roses) and was #1 on the Billboard Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks chart for three weeks.[1] It also earned Palmer his second Grammy Award the following year, and the song was nominated for the Brit Award for Best British Single.[2]
Along with "Addicted to Love" and "I Didn't Mean to Turn You On", "Simply Irresistible" is among Palmer's most recognized songs, in part because of the iconic music video by renowned British fashion photographer Terence Donovan, famously parodied in a Pepsi commercial in 1989, which in turn was parodied again in another Pepsi commercial during Super Bowl XXXVI featuring Britney Spears, and in 2014 it was parodied in Ingrid Michaelson's single "Girls Chase Boys".
The videos show Palmer surrounded by enigmatic women, styled in the manner of the artist Patrick Nagel. The video featured the leading supermodels and leading dancers that he met while visiting the Kentucky Derby (Karen Aubrey McElfresh, Kim Jones and Cheryl Day); Donovan's lighting and direction set the style for that era of music videos.
"Simply Irresistible" later appeared in the 1999 Tony Award-winning musical Contact. It later featured in the 2000 cult drama picture American Psycho. The song was recently used in the 2013 animated special Madly Madagascar and in the video game Saints Row IV, as well as the show Happy Endings.
References
- ↑ Whitburn, Joel (July 2004). The Billboard Book of Top 40 Hits (8th ed.). New York: Billboard Books. p. 479. ISBN 0-8230-7499-4.
- ↑ BRITs Profile: Robert Palmer. Brits.co.uk. Retrieved 14 April 2012
External links
- Simply Irresistible at Discogs
- Simply Irresistible on YouTube
- How to make a Robert Palmer Girl costume and make up