In 1979, "Can We Still Be Friends" became a hit again when Robert Palmer recorded a version for his album Secrets

Secrets (Robert Palmer album)

Secrets is Robert Palmer's fifth solo album, released in 1979. It includes "Bad Case of Loving You " which peaked at #14 on the Billboard Pop Singles chart in 1979, and "Can We Still Be Friends", which peaked at #52 in 1980...

. This version is a fairly faithful rendition of the Todd Rundgren original.

Chart performance

Chart (1980)	Peak position
U.S. Billboard Hot 100 Billboard Hot 100 The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...	52
Dutch Top 40 Dutch Top 40 The Dutch Top 40 is a weekly music chart, which started as the "Veronica Top 40", because the offshore radio station Radio Veronica was the first to introduce it. It remained "The Veronica Top 40" until 1974, when the station was forced to stop broadcasting...	32

Other versions

Rod Stewart

Rod Stewart

Roderick David "Rod" Stewart, CBE is a British singer-songwriter and musician, born and raised in North London, England and currently residing in Epping. He is of Scottish and English ancestry....

 remade this song as a track for his 1984 album Camouflage

Camouflage (Rod Stewart album)

Camouflage is a studio album released by Rod Stewart on June 18, 1984 . It was Stewart’s 13th studio album and was released on Warner Bros. Records . Three singles came from this album...

. This version is performed at a faster tempo

Tempo

In musical terminology, tempo is the speed or pace of a given piece. Tempo is a crucial element of any musical composition, as it can affect the mood and difficulty of a piece.-Measuring tempo:...

 than Rundgren's and Palmer's versions and features more prominent use of the synthesizer

Synthesizer

A synthesizer is an electronic instrument capable of producing sounds by generating electrical signals of different frequencies. These electrical signals are played through a loudspeaker or set of headphones...

. In 2001, Vonda Shepard

Vonda Shepard

Vonda Shepard is an American pop/rock singer. She appeared as a regular in the television show Ally McBeal from seasons 1-5 in which she played a resident performer at the bar where the show's characters drank after work. She plays piano, guitar, and bass.-Biography:Vonda Shepard was born in New...

's remake appeared on a soundtrack

Soundtrack

A soundtrack can be recorded music accompanying and synchronized to the images of a motion picture, book, television program or video game; a commercially released soundtrack album of music as featured in the soundtrack of a film or TV show; or the physical area of a film that contains the...

 for the television show Ally McBeal

Ally McBeal

Ally McBeal is an American legal comedy-drama series which aired on the Fox network from 1997 to 2002. The series was created by David E. Kelley, who also served as the executive producer, along with Bill D'Elia...

. Mandy Moore

Mandy Moore

Amanda Leigh "Mandy" Moore is an American singer-songwriter, actress and fashion designer. Moore became famous as a teenager in the late 1990s, after the release of her teen pop albums So Real, I Wanna Be with You, and Mandy Moore. In 2007, she took an adult pop-folk direction with the release of...

 recorded a version appearing on her 2003 album Coverage

Coverage (album)

Coverage is the fourth album released by pop singer Mandy Moore, composed exclusively of covers of songs from the 1970s and 1980s. The album was released by Epic Records.-History:...

, which is composed entirely of remakes. Kate Markowitz

Kate Markowitz

Kate Markowitz is an American singer-songwriter. Markowitz is perhaps best known as a back-up vocalist who has recorded and performed with a number of singers, most notably James Taylor but also Willy DeVille, Shawn Colvin, Mylène Farmer, Don Henley, Billy Joel, k.d. lang, Lyle Lovett, Graham...

 recorded a version on her album Map of the World. Argentine rock musicians, Charly García

Charly García

Charly García is a singer-songwriter, pianist and keyboardist from Argentina with a long career in rock music, forming successful groups such as Sui Generis and Serú Girán, cult status groups like La Máquina de Hacer Pájaros, and as a solo musician.-Early years:Charly García was the eldest son in...

 and Nito Mestre

Nito Mestre

Carlos Alberto Mestre known by his stage name Nito Mestre is an Argentine musician, founding member - along with Charly García - of Sui Generis, member of PorSuiGieco, bandleader of Nito Mestre y los Desconocidos de Siempre and a recording solo artist...

, founding members of the band Sui Generis

Sui Generis

Sui Generis is one of the most important rock bands in Argentine history, enjoying enormous success and popularity during the first half of the 1970s and a following that lasts to the present throughout South America...

, recorded a Spanish version entitled "Yo soy su papá" ("I am his father"), appearing on their 2000 album Sinfonías para adolescentes (Symphonies for Teenagers).