Robert Palmer, Bad Case of Loving You (Doctor, Doctor) | Throwback Vibez 🕶️🎶

In the 60^th edition of Throwback Vibez (2024), we recollect and reflect on “Bad Case of Loving You (Doctor, Doctor)” by Robert Palmer. 

TThe vibes, the vibes, those Throwback Vibez 🕶️🎶! Throwback Vibez 🕶️🎶 is a column that celebrates awesome songs from the past.  The records that grace this column are older, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that they’re ancient – no fossils 🦴! All genres of music are welcome. In the 60^th edition of Throwback Vibez 🕶️🎶 (2024), we recollect and reflect on “Bad Case of Loving You (Doctor, Doctor)”, performed by Robert Palmer.

“Whoa!” Indeed! “Bad Case of Loving You (Doctor, Doctor)” commences Secrets, the 1979 album by the late, great English rock musician, Robert Palmer.  “Bad Case of Loving You” was written by John Moon Martin while Palmer produced it. A commercial success, it reached no. 14 on the Billboard Hot 100. Furthermore, he was nominated for a Grammy for Best Rock Vocal Performance, ultimately losing to Bob Dylan (“Gotta Serve Somebody”). Palmer eventually won two Grammys, both in the same category in the late 80s.

The title reveals the cards, or at least, the theme of the song.  Palmer is in L-O-V-E. “I need you to soothe my head / Turn my blue heart red,” he sings at the end of the first verse.  In the second, he asserts, “You think I’m cute, a little bit shy / Mama, I ain’t that kind of guy.” Of course, the centerpiece of this late 70s classic is the chorus:

“Doctor, doctor, gimme the news

I’ve got a bad case of loving you

No pills gonna cure my ill

I got a bad case of lovin’ you.”

Robert asks the doctor for help, but he knows what the circumstances are, PERIOD.  Palmer sounds fantastic, wowing with his commanding, nuanced pipes.  The music is lit too, matching the energy the singer brings to the table. What more needs to be said? This “Bad Case of Loving You (Doctor, Doctor)” forever remains our listening pleasure.

Robert Palmer // Secrets // UMG Recordings, Inc. // 1979

Robert Palmer, Bad Case of Loving You (Doctor, Doctor): Throwback Vibez 🕶️🎶 No. 60 (2024) [📷: Brent Faulkner / The Musical Hype; UMG Recordings, Inc.; OpenClipart-Vectors, Speedy McVroom via  Pixabay]