Robert Palmer, 1945-1997

POPULAR MUSIC has never had a better friend than Robert Palmer, the critic and musician who died l

POPULAR MUSIC has never had a better friend than Robert Palmer, the critic and musician who died last Thursday, November 20. He loved it – absolutely and in all forms: rock, blues, noise, jazz, North African trance, punk, country, heavy metal. He had very high standards and could be a stern reviewer, but a particularly greasy tumble of notes from the Mississippi bluesman Junior Kimbrough or the buzz of the Ramones slicing through a high-impact version of 'Blitzkrieg Bop' were equally likely to light him up and elicit his approving, lightly drawled "Wow."

ast Thursday, November 20. He loved it – absolutely and in all forms: rock, blues, noise, jazz, North African trance, punk, country, heavy metal. He had very high standards and could be a stern reviewer, but a particularly greasy tumble of notes from the Mississippi bluesman Junior Kimbrough or the buzz of the Ramones slicing through a high-impact version of 'Blitzkrieg Bop' were equally likely to light him up and elicit his approving, lightly drawled "Wow."