Simply Irresistible by Robert Palmer

Album: Heavy Nova (1988)

Charted: 44 2

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Robert Palmer followed his Power Station hit "Some Like It Hot" and his solo breakout "Addicted To Love" with another lusty rocker with just the right amount of synth: "Simply Irresistible," a song about an enticing woman who gets whatever she wants from her man. It was another big hit, going to #2 in America behind "Sweet Child O' Mine" by Guns N' Roses. It did top the Mainstream Rock chart for three weeks.
Palmer brought back the models from "Addicted To Love" for the music video, but this time they've multiplied! Five of them do choreographed dance moves, but another eight stand behind Palmer looking bored. Both videos were directed by Terence Donovan and got lots of airplay on MTV.
The big, sexy hook in this song is the pause after Palmer sings, "Now I find her." After some drumbeats, he comes back with "...simply irresistible."

The song was in the works for three years before Palmer came up with this part, making the song complete. "A little thing like that makes the difference between an idea and the complete song," he wrote in his Addictions: Volume 1 liner notes, adding, "I like the manic military rhythm and the strong counter melody."
Palmer won the 1988 Grammy Award for Best Rock Vocal Performance, Male for this song, the same award he won two years earlier for "Addicted To Love."
A 1989 Pepsi commercial parodied the clip by cutting in images of the "simply irresistible" soft drink.
In the 2000 movie American Psycho, Patrick Bateman (Christian Bale) complains he can't enjoy this "new Robert Palmer tape" as his girlfriend keeps chattering in his ear.
Palmer performed this on Late Night with David Letterman in 1988 (before Dave headed to CBS as the Late Show host).
This was the first single from Palmer's ninth album, Heavy Nova, his first through EMI after a 16-year stint with Island Records.
"Simply Irresistible" shows up in the movies Bringing Down the House (2003) and Little Black Book (2004), and in these TV shows:

What We Do in the Shadows ("On the Run" - 2020)
Ugly Betty ("A Thousand Words by Friday" - 2008)
Northern Exposure ("Spring Break" - 1991)

Comments: 10

George Pope from Vancouver - CanadaLeonard in Pittsburg PA: Let's not forget his charting with Led Zeppelin in the '60s also! So that's 4 decades his music has charted; three being solo.
Mikey B from RizalI still wanna know if the girl playing guitar in the video was "actually" playing it, because her hand moves are so on-the-spot. I know the actual guitarist on the recording is Eddie Martinez, but whoever the girl miming (I don't think it's the actual girl on the video though) with her hands only shown in the video is really doing a very believable job.
Hwallace from McleanShe's so fine there's no telling where the money where the money went now that she's all mine I can tell you it was money well spent
F from GeorgiaIn response to the earlier questiob about where the money went.... Her being so fine js what makes the her irresistible to Robert Palmer.

She's so irresistible that he spends his money on whatever she wants and he cant keep track of his spending and he cant control himself.....its common behavior for a man thats completely taken with a woman (ie, simp)
L. from FloridaI love the song simply irresistible. What I don't understand is what does the lyric mean that she's so fine you can't tell where the money went? what does her being fine and where the money went have to do with it? It drives me crazy not knowing what that is supposed to mean. Can anyone tell me? May be simple but I don't get it
Thomas Leonard from Pittsburgh, Pa, PaPalmer is one of a handful of artists who can lay claim to charting Top 10 or Top 20 hits in three separate decades in the US. (Every Kinda People 1978, Bad Case of Loving You, 1979, Addicted To Love & I Didn't Mean To Turn You On 1986, Simply Irresistible & Early In The Morning 1988, Mercy Mercy Me/I Want You 1991)
Thomas Leonard from Pittsburgh, Pa, PaThe single was Palmer's last US Top 10 Hit, peaking at #2 on The Billboard Charts of Sept of 1988. Far less successful in the UK (#44) he continued having Top 10 hits there with follow ups such as She Makes My Day & his UB40 duet I'll Be Your Baby Tonight. In the US he remained a Top 40 fixture for the next few years however with hits such his Gap band remake of early In The Morning (US #19, 1988), You're Amazing (US #28, 1990), and his medley of Marvin Gaye hits Mercy Mercy Me/I Want You (US #16, 1991).
Thomas Leonard from Pittsburgh, Pa, PaPalmer had to re-record the song before final release because he didn't feel it "rocked" enough. The "Palmer Girls" video concept, was used in four videos ...Addicted To Love, I Didn't Mean To Turn You On, Simply Irresistible, and Change His Ways, the last one a comedy song about a hopeless couple with conflicting personalities lead by a strong female who thinks she can "Change His Ways", the video done as a cartoon. In the second half of the video a very real Palmer appears to sing a few verses and is backed by a cartoon version of the "Palmer Girls", to which his facial expressions show great surprise. Female concert goers dressed like the video girls are shown in the live performance video for Tell Me Im Not Dreaming.
Thomas Leonard from Pittsburgh, Pa, PaPalmer stated in interviews in 1988 (when the song was released) that the original concept for the video was to have numerous shots of attractive women in various activities without him appearing at all. It was his new record company (EMI/Capitol) that wanted to use the "Addicted To Love" video concept.
Pete from Nowra, AustraliaHeard that the models were added in later for the clip Addicted to Love , and Palmer didn't know at the time

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