Zero to 180 – Three Minute Magic

Discoveries of a Pop Music Archaeologist

“Love Can Run Faster”: B-Side of Mystery

In 1978 Robert Palmer traveled to Lee Perry‘s recording compound in Kingston, Jamaica to get a little piece of that magic Black Ark sound.  “Love Can Run Faster” (B-side of Robert Palmer’s big 1978 hit, “Bad Case of Lovin’ You“) is the only song Palmer released from that recording session and bears the unmistakable imprint of Perry during a particularly fertile period of sonic exploration at Black Ark Studio:

Love Can Run Faster

Robert Palmer (1978)

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“Love Can Run Faster” – which shows Palmer very much under the spell of Stevie Wonder – is a song I did not encounter until much later in life when it came mistakenly bundled on a CD — or rather, included as a mis-identified bonus track on Lee Perry’s groundbreaking collaboration with two stranded and destitute musicians from Zaire, Kalo Kawongolo and Seke Molenga.

 

That is, on the 1993 CD reissue of From the Heart of the Congo, the track listing indicates the final track to be “River Stone” – a dub reggae instrumental by Jamaican band, Zap Pow – but for some unfathomable reason, “Love Can Run Faster,” Robert Palmer’s soulful Lee Perry-produced flip side is, in fact, the actual track included on the disc!

Love Can Run Faster - Robert Palmer

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LINK to Pop +/- Strings Reggae

LINK to 45 Sides =/- Obscure Tracks

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