ROCK MOMENT – Robert Palmer ‘Addicted To Love’
In 1986, Robert Palmer released ‘Addicted to Love,’ a track that would become a major milestone in his career. But while the song is memorable, it was the music video that truly embedded itself in 1980s pop culture—featuring Palmer performing in front of a “band” composed entirely of expressionless, beautifully made-up female models. These soulless mannequins, the “Palmer Girls,” were pivotal in defining the video’s ironic, high-fashion aesthetic.
The models in the video were:
- Julie Pankhurst — keyboard
- Patty Kelly (also credited as Patty Elias) — guitar
- Mak Gilchrist — bass guitar
- Julia Bolino — lead guitar
- Kathy Davies — drums
They were cast by director Terence Donovan—not for their musical skill, but for their striking visual presence. As one model, Mak Gilchrist, later shared, “I was 21 and got the part on the strength of my modelling book. We were meant to look and ‘act’ like showroom mannequins”.
Behind the scenes, the production was meticulously crafted. Azzedine Alaia dresses were used, and the women were styled with dramatic makeup—which Julia Bolino said involved having lip gloss applied “every three seconds”.
The shoot itself was filmed in a single day at Holborn Studios in London, under Donovan’s direction, who aimed to evoke a “satanic, pulsating, raw but ultra-saturated” quality in the band’s aesthetic.
Though they mimed with faux instruments, actual musicians played off-camera to guide their movements. And despite never playing, the models delivered a performance so memorable that the video has seen countless parodies and homages—including in Love Actually, Weird Al Yankovic’s UHF, and Shania Twain’s ‘Man! I Feel Like a Woman!‘
In the years since, the Palmer Girls have surfaced in retrospectives and reunions, with reports indicating that Patty Kelly now lives in California, Kathy Davies in Thailand, and the others still in London.
