A VETERAN member of York's music scene has paid tribute to the "unique innovator" and Yorkshire rock legend Robert Palmer, who died on Friday.

Steve Alderson, known as Aldo, first knew Mr Palmer in the early 1960s, when the man who wrote smash hit Addicted To Love was growing up in Scarborough.

Aldo, 54, said: "He was in his first band, The Mandrakes, I was in Gideon's Few. If he came to York he supported us, if we went to Malton or Scarborough we supported them."

Aldo described Mr Palmer as a shy, reserved man, who would only open up after he had met someone several times.

He said: "He came to life when he was on stage. He was a real showman, excellent at what he did. He set the tone for a lot of people, he was very individual and innovative.

"Even as a 17 and 18-year-old kid, when he stood on stage with that band you could see he was going to go on and do big things."

Aldo, band leader with Aldo's Orphans, said he felt deep shock when he heard Mr Palmer had died.

He said: "He is a massive loss. The songs he wrote were all different to the way everybody else wrote songs. He was a great ambassador for Yorkshire."

Mr Palmer died yesterday, aged 54, in Paris. He had suffered a heart attack.

Born in Batley, the star moved to Scarborough in the early 1960s.

Among his many career highlights was the award-winning Addicted To Love video, which featured black-clad women in striking make-up as his backing band.

Updated: 08:51 Saturday, September 27, 2003