Robert Palmer
Double Fun

THE REVIEW

Robert Palmer's discography absolutely needs to be rediscovered and brought back to light. Everyone remembers the video for "Addicted To Love" or the even more popular and much copied "Simply Irresistible" from 1988, taken from the good "Heavy Nova." If we go further back in time, the memory begins to falter because in Italy his '70s works are practically almost unknown, not to mention Vinegar Joe, which fade into memory.

Palmer has always played very ironically with his undeniable charm and seductive power, a blue-eyed soul man but also a musician and composer open to the most diverse crossovers without too much thought. If on the back of his second LP, "Pressure Drop" from '75, he looked flirtatiously at the naked backside of the girl who leans out from the balcony, in this "Double Fun" from '78 he immediately lets us know what his fun is, double obviously, at the edge of a pool. But these are just nuances, small appearances that conceal an album of remarkable charm in which the most varied genres from reggae to soul are mixed. If "Every Kinda People" is the most known track, "Best Of Both Worlds" is the boldest and "You Really Got Me" the most gritty. "Where Can It Go" is a rare foray into contemporary disco, very fitting for Robert's warm voice, "Love Can Run Faster" is pure sparkling reggae and Palmer confirms himself as one of the best white interpreters of the genre. The closing is more rock, "You're Gonna Get What's Coming" is simply overwhelming. An infinite number of musician friends, both white and black, participate in a perfect mix.

The following "Secrets" from '79 will once again confirm Palmer's multicolored creativity at excellent levels.