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Jacques Fred Petrus & Mauro Malavasi

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The Birth Of Italian R&B-Disco

During the late seventies Petrus & Malavasi instigated a string of electrifying disco acts like Macho, Peter Jacques Band, Revanche, Midnight Gang and Rudy. The music Petrus and Malavasi initially fabricated was based on the kind of Disco that was in vogue at that time: energetic Eurodisco typified by an explicit synthsound, pulsating  rhythms, funky elements and catchy melodies. Petrus & Malavasi were the primary proponents of the 'Italian Sound' within the Eurodisco movement. Eurodisco's inventors were the Munich-based duo Giorgio Moroder and Pete Bellotte whose groundbreaking electrobeat-driven Disco textures, high-energy impact and cold, synthetic arrangements revolutionized dance music in the second half of the seventies (Donna Summer, Munich Machine, Giorgio Moroder, Roberta Kelly, Sparks, Trax). Representatives of the French Eurodisco sound were producers Jacques Morali and associate Henri Belolo (The Village People, The Ritchie Family, Patrick Juvet) and Jean-Marc Cerrone (Don Ray, Kongas, Cerrone). 

For the Macho album I'm A Man (# 6 Billboard Disco/Dance Charts), his first real project in 1978, Petrus decided to make a Disco remake of the Rock song "I'm A Man" originally released in 1967 by the Spencer Davis Group. He instructed Mauro Malavasi to recreate an atmosphere which had to be similar to that of the song "Africanism" by Cerrone's group Kongas. "Africanism" was based on "Gimme Some Lovin'", which also was a song of the Spencer Davis Group! Malavasi wrote all the arrangements and searched for every single sound that gave it a truly international appeal. Malavasi was lucky because he could cooperate with very young and skilled musicians living in Emilia-Romagna such as bass player Davide Romani, guitarist Paolo Gianolio, drummer Gabriele 'Lele' Melotti, saxophonist/percussionist Rudy Trevisi and percussionist George Aghedo. Romani's aggressive bass playing was an essential contribution, creating one of the characteristics of the powerful "I'm A Man". The featured lead vocalist was Marzio Vincenti who was a ballroom singer on the Italian Riviera (Rimini) where lots of disco's were located. He only sang on the first Macho album, and went on to record a solo album called Volcano. According to sources, he died in 2001. Once the job was finished in Italy, Petrus flew to the U.S. to record the choirs. Arthur Simms was a credited background singer. At the Sigma Sound Studios in New York the record was mixed by the famous DJ and remix expert Tony Savarese who carried out a track of the single "I'm A Man" lasting 17 minutes and 45 seconds! The album I'm A Man included two more tracks: "Hear Me Calling" and "Because There's Music In The Air", music by Mauro Malavasi and lyrics by Alan Taylor, who would collaborate on many early Petrus projects. The rights of the Macho record were bought by the disco label Prelude and instantly the record entered the American Disco charts. 

Petrus was aware that the collaboration with Malavasi was turning out to be winning and he immediately decided to undertake a second project: the Peter Jacques Band, clearly derived from his name Jacques Fred Petrus. Peter Jacques Band's 4 track-album Fire Night Dance (# 6 Billboard Disco/Dance Charts) was published in 1979. Leroy Burgess, a member of the Black Ivory group, was enrolled as lead vocalist. Fire Night Dance included the smash hit "Walking On Music", "Devil's Run" and "Fire Night Dance". Also memorable was Mauro Malavasi’s spacy disco journey on the fantastic track "Fly With The Wind" that melted a cool electronic base and warm choirs with classical airs. Again the Prelude label obtained the publishing rights for the U.S.. Because the original album artwork of Fire Night Dance showed a naked woman portraying the ultimate Disco Angel fantasy, it was banned in the U.S. before they replaced the cover with a cheesy Discoclub picture.  

In 1979 the productions went on and the third one was Revanche, a French word that means revenge in English. French seemed quite hip during the hey-days of Disco. Disco act Chic introduced French albumtitles and songtitles. It gave the music an air of sophisticated elegance, something Petrus must have liked when he picked this name for a new concept. Besides, Petrus originated from French overseas territory himself. The Mini-LP Music Man (# 13 Billboard Disco/Dance Charts) was released on Atlantic records and again included four extended tracks. The song "Revanche" recalled Macho's style. The three other cuts on the record somewhat cloned the popular disco styles of that era: “1979 It’s Dancing Time” sounded Chic-like, the hit single “You Get High In N.Y.C.” reminded of The Village People and "Music Man" was similar to the arrangement of "Hold Your Horses" by First Choice. Once again all the songs were composed, arranged and conducted by Malavasi, assisted by Rudy Trevisi. For the vocals some prestigious session singers of New York were enrolled, among them: Jocelyn Shaw (a.k.a. Jocelyn Brown), Bobby Douglas and Yvonne Lewis. 

The fourth Petrus project was Rudy, arranged and conducted by the Goody Music musicians Rudy Trevisi (picture), Paolo Gianolio and Luca Orioli. While Malavasi concentrated on the main productions, Petrus tried to exploit at the most the talent of the other musicians around him, inventing new concepts like Midnight Gang and Rudy. The Rudy album Just Take My Body was published in the U.S. on the Polydor label in 1979. The long-player comprised five songs, among which the single “Thank You Baby”, "Just Take My Body" and "White Room" which was a Disco remake of a song by the Rock band Cream, originally published in 1968. “Thank You Baby”, composed by Trevisi, showed a glimmer of the new Italian R&B/Disco-blueprint with arrangements pointing towards the glorious Change productions. This album was chiefly a showcase for Rudy Trevisi’s skills as composer, arranger, conductor and musician within Goody Music Production. Trevisi had worked extensively as a musician on the Peter Jacques Band, Revanche and Macho projects. Even if the record wasn't bad, it only generated modest interest and couldn't compete with the success of the previous productions. 

Lesser known on the Goody Music label, but as much explosive, were Midnight Gang’s infectious disco stompers “Love Is Magic” and “Midnight Game”. Both tracks can be found on the album Love Is Magic, composed and arranged by Marco Tansini and Gianni Grecchi in 1979. This record's quality wasn't as good as the former Goody Music projects and was distributed in Italy only, without great sales. Another obscure record is the little known Petrus & Malavasi production “D.I.S.C.O.” by A.N.T.I. Rock, released in 1980. This single was an Italian remake of Ottawan’s Eurodisco hit “D.I.S.C.O.” written by the French-Belgian producer team Daniel Vangarde and Jean Kluger (Claude François, Dalida, The Gibson Brothers, La Compagnie Créole, Sheila). Malavasi's version of  “D.I.S.C.O.” has at present become one of the most collectable Goody Music 12 inches. 

In 1980 Goody Music Production released Roll, the unusual Rock-tinted 2nd record of Macho featuring the renown N.Y. session singer Gordon Grody on lead vocals. This project was a Celso Valli vehicle with very little Malavasi input. Celso Valli was a young composer and arranger whose success began with such records as "Hills Of Katmandu" by Tantra and "San Salvador" by Azoto. Petrus, sure of his international success, was trying to put all the young Italian talents together. In 1980 the new musicstyle 'Rosco', a mix of rock and disco, was in fashion for a short while and the 2nd Macho album aimed for that specific market. The songs, which differed from the usual smooth disco of Goody Music Production, weaved an agressive hard-edged Rock sound with synths and dance beats. Especially the muscular “Roll” (# 78 Billboard Disco/Dance Charts) was a smoker and “Montreal” and “You Got Me Running” were enjoyable too but did perhaps not appeal to those who were keen on Malavasi’s smoother Italian R&B-Disco. Roll had little success and this was also due to the failure of Rosco music. Later Celso Valli was involved in two more Petrus album projects influenced by rock/pop music: Silence - Goodtime Baby (1982) and the successor Silence 2 - The Beast In Me (1984). Again the vocals were provided by Gordon Grody on both albums.

Malavasi's somewhat icily futuristic and ultra-melodic Disco clearly had similarities with the music of the Disco producers Gino Soccio, Cerrone and Giorgio Moroder who all favoured stacks of synthesizers. Most of the Small Disco albums Petrus & Malavasi released in those days contained merely four extended tracks, a typical disco phenomenon. The Macho monstergroove “I’m A Man” covered a complete album A-side! The accessible Hi-NRG dance music easily reached the international disco crowd. In fact it was tailor-made for the booming discotheques with their almost extraterrestrial atmosphere: flashing dancefloors, glittering mirror balls and hypnotising laserbeams. Petrus & Malavasi’s early work possibly never achieved the classic status of for example Donna Summer or Sylvester. Nevertheless it yielded some huge disco hits with “I’m A Man” by Macho and “Walking On Music” by Peter Jacques Band. Eurodisco however, remained a critically ignored and disrespected musical tradition that was rather associated with kitschness than soundness. But this perhaps ephemeral stage of transition in the career of Petrus & Malavasi was a crucial laboratory for the development of their promising Italian R&B/disco-funk... (picture: Peter Jacques Band in 1980)

While Celso Valli was carrying out the 2nd Macho project, Malavasi was in the U.S. working on the 2nd Peter Jacques Band album and also preparing a new concept called Change. By 1980 Petrus & Malavasi decided to "change" direction. Their goal was to blend the funky, soulful, R&B-derived elements of American disco with the harder-edged Eurodisco stylings. Disco music was in a continuous evolution. Acts as Chic, The Whispers, Michael Jackson, Earth Wind & Fire and productions such as those by Narada Michael Walden, Quincy Jones, James Mtume & Reggie Lucas, Leon Sylvers, Eumir Deodato or Randy Muller had shifted the sound genre towards Black Soul music. 

The second Peter Jacques Band project introduced Malavasi's new style on the Welcome Back set in 1980 (# 60 Billboard Disco/Dance Charts), a style similar to the coming R&B-disco of Change. The featured tracks “Mighty Fine”, “The Louder” and “Is It It?” displayed a warmer, soulful, less robotic discosound than their previous selections. Only the single "Counting On Love (One, Two, Three)" reminded the frantic Sequencer-driven Disco beat of the earlier productions. Vocalists Sandi Bass, Dianne Washington, Von Gretchen Shepard and Jacob Wheeler formed the Peter Jacques Band. Welcome Back occasionally featured vocals by Luther Vandross who also wrote some of the lyrics. Strangely the album was not released in the U.S., but in Canada on Petrus' Goody Music label. 

The breakthrough came with the creation of studio group Change led by bassist Davide Romani and guitar player Paolo Gianolio. The innovative, classy disco-soul on Change’s 1980 smash debut album The Glow Of Love stirred U.S. and European dancefloors. This time Luther Vandross played a leading role on two hit tracks. There was undeniably a substantial musical resemblance with that other legendary discogroup Chic. Nonetheless, Change had an energy of its own and wasn’t a carbon copy of Chic. The Eurodisco influence was what put them apart from American R&B-disco groups like Sister Sledge, Kool & The Gang, The Jacksons, Shalamar or Skyy. 

Impeccable smooth harmonies, dynamic basslines, subtle piano chords, lush strings, irresistible hooks, explicit synths, multiple breaks and an overall funky sound characterized the Petrus & Malavasi productions. The special 'melody touch', which Italians are famous for, was a vital element in their music, or as Jacques Fred Petrus phrased it:"The X-factor in our music is too much melody". Due to this success, Petrus & Malavasi set up offices in New York, the Disco Capital of the World. 1981 was the most important year for Petrus & Malavasi. They had invented a very appreciated sound that distinguished their productions from all the other ones. Petrus and his musicians had succeeded in imposing themselves with their music in the U.S.. In 1981 they were in the studio for a long time preparing Change's 2nd album Miracles and the new project Brooklyn Bronx & Queens Band which are considered their best achievements. The producers also decided to involve American musicians to give more strength to the projects. In 1982 the Italians even worked permanently in the U.S. recording great material together with the finest studio musicians of NYC. New productions for Change and other creations like Zinc and High Fashion further established the fashionable, proven sound. Since disco was virtually dead by 1982, their music developed naturally into urban R&B and techno-funk, staying original and thrilling yet.