In 1984 Duran Duran needed a break. Singer Simon LeBon, keyboardist Nick Rhodes and drummer Roger Taylor broke off and worked on their very-Duran Duran-sounding Arcadia, mostly known for “Election Day”. Andy Taylor and John Taylor wanted to ROCK! Well, to rock as much as you can, being a member of Duran Duran. The camped out at The Power Station recording studio in NYC to cut what was intended to be a album featuring rotation guest lead singers.

Then Robert Palmer showed up and somehow ended up recording vocals and even doing some co-writing for the entire project. Adopting the name of the studio for its handle, The Power Station remade and slight renamed the T-Rex classic “Bang a Gong (Get It On)”. Their big writing collaboration was “Some Like It Hot” which combined the flashiness of Duran Duran and showed us preview of what was to come in just a few months from Palmer. They performed this song on Saturday Night Live in February of ’85.

The SNL performance would be the band’s only live gig featuring Robert Palmer. He was off to give the world his biggest album, Riptide. When it was time to tour, the Taylor’s looked up actor Michael DesBarres, a veteran of bands including the fictional punk outfit Scum of the Earth on WKRP in Cincinnati. They played a few gigs until Andy shuffled back to Duran and John solo-rocked into obscurity.