SPILL FEATURE: MIGHT AS WELL FACE IT – A CONVERSATION WITH GUITARIST EDDIE MARTINEZ (ROBERT PALMER)

MIGHT AS WELL FACE IT

A CONVERSATION WITH GUITARIST EDDIE MARTINEZ (ROBERT PALMER)

The name Eddie Martinez may not be instantly recognizable, but take a few minutes and go through your albums and his name is going to pop up everywhere. He has played with some of the biggest names in rock history. Steve Winwood, David Lee Roth, Meat Loaf, Blondie, Run DMC, Mick Jagger (he actually played with Jagger at the Philadelphia concert of Live Aid), Lou Reed and Yoko Ono. And that is a partial list. Not to mention his own solo albums, which includes his debut album No Lies which was produced by Chic’s Bernard Edwards. He also played guitar for Robert Palmer on 3 of his classic albums and toured with him on several tours. One show, Live At The Apollo (Recorded 1988) has just been re-released. I recently had the chance to chat with Eddie Martinez to talk about his time with Robert Palmer.

And Martinez is very happy that the Live At The Apollo album is getting a new lease on life.

“I think it is a great idea. I remember that night really well. It was the end of the American tour, December of 1988 and it was a culmination of a lot of hard work and touring all over. We toured the States, Canada extensively and we went to Europe and came back and did another swing. The U.S. and Canada it was 56 shows in 56 days.”

Although it sounds like a lot of travelling and work, for Martinez, it was a pleasure.

“When you are young, you don’t think about those things,” laughed Martinez. “There is something that happens when the lights go down and you are being ushered to the stage, just the adrenaline kicks in and you don’t even know where you are. Luckily the stage crew writes down the city you’re in on the floor. Something that just happens. But when that downbeat hits, you know it is time to deliver the goods and you muster up the energy. We did the 56 shows, took maybe a week off, 14 shows in 17 days in the U.K. and Europe. Then we came back to the States and did 57 shows in 59 days and we ended at The Apollo in December, 1988.”

Hearing the album in 2025, it is a revelation as to how good Palmer and his band was live. The album was originally released in 2001 but has not been available for quite a while. This new release is a chance to hear this band in all its glory. “The band was so finely tuned at that point. We were really a tight band. Needless to say, when you are playing every night not only does it become rote, and you don’t want it to become rote, therein lies the challenge. You don’t want it to be a phone-in thing every night. You want to find things you can focus on that really keep the spirit and energy going. There is a challenge in that. The process of the show is going through the music and always thinking about what you are doing. A lot of it is energy, focus and always making it fun. Fun is the operative word. We are playing instruments, we are not working instruments.”

Not only were the band having fun but really rocking out. “That was part of the evolution of the show. If you think about all the different kinds of music we played, we played R&B, South African music, pop tunes and then there was a point in the show, about two thirds in, when we used to call ‘The Metal Zone’, where we would do “New Day Rising”, the Power Station stuff, “Flesh Wound”, all the heavier stuff. We even used to do Motorhead’s “Eat The Rich”  in subsequent tours. And we would always end the tours with the hits, “Simply Irresistible” and “Addicted To Love”. He was an incredible musicologist because he loved all kinds of music.”

For the tours, Martinez had to learn some of the songs by Palmer that he did not initially play on. This was not a challenge for him. “It is all part of the process,” Martinez said. “He wanted a comprehensive view of all of his albums. I kind of liked that. Learning some of the older songs, seeing if they worked. Maybe add something that wasn’t there before. Robert was always open to the interpretation of something. Even in the studio, he gave us such freedom. And that kind of trust is special.”

Martinez recorded three of Palmer’s biggest albums, Riptide (1985), Heavy Nova (1988) and Don’t Explain (1990). Recording them was always a pleasure for Martinez as he was always made to feel part of the creative process. “You would just start playing something. I was just so grateful that Robert loved the way that I played and therein lies a real sense of confidence that really opens up a whole other area for me as a musician. He understood that as a guitarist you have to honour the song. And that is a discipline in itself. You can play a million things on a song, but zeroing in on what sounds best and complements the song is most important. … And then there is a nice lane for the vocalist to interpret themselves. When I worked with Jim Steinman, I would say, ‘Jim can you get me a copy of the lyrics as well?’ And he loved that, it was a holistic way to approach. It is such a collaborative experience.

“I tell anyone who wants to be a musician, first of all learn all that you can, try to forget as much as you can so you are not too academic in what you are doing,” laughed Martinez. “But most importantly is to be sensitive to and be listening for what the artist or producer is looking for.”

Martinez had known Robert Palmer in the past, but the way in which he came to work with Palmer is an interesting story. “I was recording with Mick Jagger at Power Station (in New York City) and my friends, Tony Thompson and Bernard Edwards, were upstairs. I knew those cats and I knew Andy [Taylor] and John [Taylor] from when I played with Blondie in 1982.  Duran Duran opened up for us for some shows. This Power Station album came up, so I went up to say hello, and I had met Robert years before that when I was playing with Labelle and he opened up for us at a show in the Aladdin in Las Vegas. I hadn’t heard from him since, but he had heard about me from Bernard and Tony and he asked what I was doing for the rest of the year as he was working on a solo album and would I want to play on it? So, of course I would love to, and that was how that came about.”

“When we cut “Addicted to Love”, I said, this is the track, this is the one that will be a big hit. Of course, I am saying it to myself. But actually, I did an interview with Musician magazine at the time, and I said ‘there’s a track on it, “Addicted To Love” is pure fire.”

“It’s kind of a trip, when I think about it. I remember seeing the Stones in 1969 at Madison Square Garden and being totally blown away. And the fact that I worked really closely with Mick on that album, and got to know him, he is kind and generous, it was really something special. And to perform with him on Live Aid was the icing on the cake. Believe me, I was in awe but being a professional, I have to compartmentalize that you know.”

For Martinez, one of the most pleasant memories of working with Palmer was experiencing the immense success of Riptide and Heavy Nova. “I was so thrilled for him, because I couldn’t think of anybody more deserving because he was so dedicated to what he did and he was real serious about what he did, but not in an oppressive way. He was an absolute joy to work with. It was collaborative, it was fun, and all those adjectives and it was just incredible. I feel that that Riptide album, for me, created a distinction from being just a studio ad hoc guitarist and working on what was a full-fledged project. It is a different thing, because it is a self-contained unit and you are looking for something magical, right down to the source on how you are creating sounds. It is a project, and there is a big difference between doing a record and a project.”

And finally, Palmer was able to not only achieve success in the U.K. but also critical acclaim. Martinez remembers that the press was not always kind to Palmer, but that changed during the tour for Heavy Nova. “I remember we played Wembley, and it was great. He got a really good review and that made him feel great. The band we had was extraordinary and the live experience was something special with Robert.

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