"Bad Case of Loving You (Doctor, Doctor)" is a 1978 song, written and originally recorded by

Moon Martin John David "Moon" Martin (October 31, 1945 – May 11, 2020) was an American singer-songwriter and guitarist. Career Born in Altus, Oklahoma, United States, Martin gained recognition in the 1970s as a pop artist and composer. Originally a rockab ...

and sung a year later by Robert Palmer. The song became one of Palmer's definitive hits.

Background

Moon Martin originally recorded the song in 1978. Martin's record label Capitol Records released the song in the United Kingdom and Spain as a stand-alone vinyl single but inserted the song into the United States release of Martin's album ''Shots from a Cold Nightmare''. His original recording did not enter the music charts.

Robert Palmer version

A year later, the song appeared on Robert Palmer's 1979 album ''Secrets''. In Palmer's home country, the United Kingdom, the song debuted and peaked at #61 on the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

on 7 July 1979. The version became more successful in other countries. In the United States, Palmer's version reached #14 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, #10 on the '' Cash Box'' Top 100, and #1 on the Canadian ''RPM'' chart in 1979. The Palmer version was remixed with heavier guitars and drums for his greatest hits collection '' Addictions: Volume 1''. The song was nominated for

Best Male Rock Vocal Performance The Grammy Award for Best Male Rock Vocal Performance was an award presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards, to male recording artists for works (songs or albums) containin ...

at the

22nd Annual Grammy Awards The 22nd Annual Grammy Awards were held on February 27, 1980, at Shrine Auditorium, Los Angeles, and were broadcast live on American television. They recognized accomplishments by musicians from the year 1979. This year was notable for being th ...

. In the Netherlands, it reached #2 on the Dutch Top 40 chart on 4 August 1979, five weeks after its debut (7 July) on the chart. In New Zealand, it reached #20 in the Top 40 Singles Chart on the week of 7 October 1979, five weeks after its debut at #43 on the chart (9 September). The song begins with a stanza written in typical eight-bar blues structure and chord sequence and then progresses to a 10-bar blues chorus. Other uses of mixing bar structure include "

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", recorded by

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and written by

Felice and Boudleaux Bryant Felice Bryant (born Matilda Genevieve Scaduto; August 7, 1925 – April 22, 2003) and Diadorius Boudleaux Bryant (; February 13, 1920 – June 25, 1987) were an Americans, American husband-and-wife country music and pop songwriting team. They ...

in 1957, which has a 12-bar blues stanza and an eight-bar blues chorus. "Bad Case of Loving You", however, is an example of mixing the rarer 10-bar blues structure in charted country compositions. '' Billboard'' reviewer Ed Harrison praised Palmer's rendition as "the kind of intelligent rock tune."

Other covers

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singer Paul Rodgers covered the song for the soundtrack of the 1992

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''. Mexican-American singer

Tatiana Tatiana (or Tatianna, also romanized as Tatyana, Tatjana, Tatijana, etc.) is a female name of Sabine-Roman origin that became widespread in Eastern Europe. Variations * be, Тацця́на, Tatsiana * bg, Татяна, Tatyana * germ ...

recorded a Spanish-language cover version in 1994 for her album ''Un Alma Desnuda'' and was released as the second single from the album. A cover version of the chorus also is part of the theme of the American syndicated series '' The Doctors''. Australian

Adam Brand and the Outlaws ''Adam Brand and the Outlaws'' is the thirteenth studio album by Australian recording artist Adam Brand; this one credited to Adam Brand and the Outlaws. The outlaws consists of Australian country musicians Drew McAlister, Travis Collins, Matt ...

covered the song on the 2016 album ''

''.

Chart performance

;Weekly charts ;Year-end charts

References

{{authority control 1978 songs 1979 singles Robert Palmer (singer) songs Island Records singles RPM Top Singles number-one singles