It was 1999, and for most people, Robert Palmer was a cultural footnote, the guy from the ‘80s videos, forever wearing sharp suits while mannequin-like ladies mimed and jiggled behind him . He was four years away from dying way too young at 54 years of age, but his at-that-point moribund career had preceded his physical demise, as his first solo album in a half-decade, entitled Rhythm & Blues , came and went without much notice or fanfare. No hits, no videos of note, just a record on a tiny label distributed by a reissue arm of a multinational company about to get kneecapped by technological innovation. In other words, blip and blink. The reviews -- that is, what reviews were generated -- didn't help, either: “ …not groundbreaking or particularly innovative ” said Dave Kendrick of the Hartford Courant (in an otherwise positive blurb at the time of the album’s release), and “ there is neither actual rhythm nor blues on or anywhere around this album (except perhaps the blues f...