''Heavy Nova'' is the ninth studio album by English singer Robert Palmer, released in 1988. His first album for

EMI Records EMI Records (formerly EMI Records Ltd.) is a multinational record label owned by Universal Music Group. It originally founded as a British flagship label by the music company of the same name in 1972, and launched in January 1973 as the succ ...

after a 15-year association with

Island Records Island Records is a multinational record label owned by Universal Music Group. It was founded in 1959 by Chris Blackwell, Graeme Goodall, and Leslie Kong in Jamaica, and was eventually sold to PolyGram in 1989. Island and A&M Records, anoth ...

, it followed Palmer's very successful album ''

Riptide A rip tide, or riptide, is a strong offshore current that is caused by the tide pulling water through an inlet along a barrier beach, at a lagoon or inland marina where tide water flows steadily out to sea during ebb tide. It is a strong tidal fl ...

'' (1985).

Background

The name ''Heavy Nova'' derives from Palmer's love of both heavy metal and

bossa nova Bossa nova () is a style of samba developed in the late 1950s and early 1960s in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It is mainly characterized by a "different beat" that altered the harmonies with the introduction of unconventional chords and an innovativ ...

rhythms. The album continued Palmer's popularity with the single " Simply Irresistible", which spent three weeks at No. 1 on the ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

Mainstream Rock Tracks Mainstream Rock is a music chart in ''Billboard'' magazine that ranks the most-played songs on mainstream rock radio stations in the United States, a category that combines the formats of active rock and heritage rock. The chart was launched in Ma ...

chart in the United States. The album peaked at No. 13 in the US, No. 17 in the UK and No. 15 in The Netherlands. The album was certified Platinum by RIAA in November 1988 and Gold by BPI in November 1988. It remains Palmer's second most successful album worldwide, behind his 1985 album ''Riptide''.

Recording

The album was recorded at Logic Studios in

Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...

, Italy and

Compass Point Studios Compass Point Studios was a music recording studio in the The Bahamas, Bahamas, founded in 1977 by Chris Blackwell, the owner of Island Records. The concept of the studio was of a recording facility supported by in-house sets of artists, musici ...

The Bahamas The Bahamas (), officially the Commonwealth of The Bahamas, is an island country within the Lucayan Archipelago of the West Indies in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic. It takes up 97% of the Lucayan Archipelago's land area and is home to ...

Track listing

All tracks written by Robert Palmer, except where noted.

Personnel

* Robert Palmer – lead and backing vocals * William Bryant – keyboards * Misha Schneider – keyboards *

Jeff Bova Jeff Bova (born Jeffrey Bova in 1953) is an American musician. He has been active in the music industry since the mid-1970s, contributing to recordings by significant mainstream artists like Celine Dion, Michael Jackson, Blondie, Eric Clapton, ...

– additional keyboards *

Richard Gibbs Richard "Ribbs" Gibbs (born December 5, 1955) is an American film composer and music producer whose credits include ''Dr. Dolittle'', ''Big Momma's House'', ''Queen of the Damned'', the television series ''Battlestar Galactica'' and the first s ...

– additional keyboards *

Garth Hudson Eric "Garth" Hudson (born August 2, 1937) is a Canadian multi-instrumentalist best known as the keyboardist and occasional saxophonist for rock group the Band, for which he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1994. He was a ...

–

accordion Accordions (from 19th-century German ''Akkordeon'', from ''Akkord''—"musical chord, concord of sounds") are a family of box-shaped musical instruments of the bellows-driven free-reed aerophone type (producing sound as air flows past a reed ...

, additional keyboards *

Tom "T-Bone" Wolk Tom "T-Bone" Wolk (December 24, 1951 – February 28, 2010) was an American musician and bassist for the music duo Daryl Hall & John Oates and a member of the ''Saturday Night Live'' house band. Life and career Wolk was born and raised in Y ...

– accordion * Eddie Martinez – guitars *

Dennis Budimir Dennis Matthew Budimir (June 20, 1938 – January 2023) was an American jazz and rock guitarist. He was considered to be a member of The Wrecking Crew. Biography Budimir learned to play piano and guitar in his youth and first played profession ...

– additional guitars * John Grey – additional guitars, additional percussion * Frank Blair – bass * Barry "Sun John" Johnson – additional bass * Dony Wynn – drums *

Ricky Fataar Ricky Fataar (born 5 September 1952) is a South African-English multi-instrumentalist of Cape Malay descent, who has performed as both a drummer and a guitarist. He gained fame as an actor in ''The Rutles: All You Need Is Cash'', a spoof on t ...

– additional drums *

Dom Um Romão Dom Um Romão (3 August 1925 – 27 July 2005) was a Brazilian jazz drummer and percussionist. Noted for his expressive stylings with the fusion band Weather Report, Romão also recorded with varied notable artists such as Cannonball Adderley, ...

– percussion, additional backing vocals * Robyn Lobe – additional percussion *

Chuck Findley Charles B. Findley (born December 13, 1947 in Johnstown, Pennsylvania) is an American trumpet player known for his diverse work as a session musician. He also plays other brass instruments such as flugelhorn and trombone. His technical abilities ...

– trumpet * Luka Belak – violin *

Clare Fischer Douglas Clare Fischer (October 22, 1928 – January 26, 2012) was an American keyboardist, composer, arranger, and bandleader. After graduating from Michigan State University (from which, five decades later, he would receive an honorary doctorate ...

– strings *

Rick Danko Richard Clare Danko (December 29, 1943 – December 10, 1999) was a Canadian musician, bassist, songwriter, and singer, best known as a founding member of the Band, for which he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1994. During ...

– additional backing vocals * B.J. Nelson – additional backing vocals

Production

* David Harper – executive producer * Robert Palmer – producer, art direction * Tim Kramer – engineer * Bookie Epsie – assistant engineer * Scott Forman – assistant engineer * Roy Sweeting – assistant engineer * Eric Thorngren – mixing * Richard Cobble – production coordinator * Henry Marquez – design * Terence Donovan – photography * Tony Baglio – management * Pino Pischetola – management

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

References

External links

{{Authority control 1988 albums Robert Palmer (singer) albums EMI Records albums Albums produced by Robert Palmer (singer)