Wednesday, September 24, 2014

Musical Interlude: Johnny & Mary (1980)

Before Robert Palmer's breakthrough CD, "Riptide", came out in 1986, Palmer had already been a minor presence on MTV.

Palmer released the album, "Clues", in 1980, and, in addition to the title track, released the single, "Johnny & Mary", which was still getting a decent amount of airplay on MTV when the network debuted in my market in the winter of 1982. Husband & wife mimes Robert Shields & Lorene Yarnell are the title characters, while Palmer sings into an old school radio microphone, taking a break from writing.

2 comments:

magicdog said...

I vaguely remember the song, but Shields & Yarnell I'll always remember.

I think they got divorced not long after this video was made.

hobbyfan said...

It was a few years after the video that Shields & Yarnell parted company. Yarnell passed away some years later after remarrying. Shields is currently in Arizona with his current wife.