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Jacques Fred Petrus & Mauro Malavasi

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Change

Change remains the most successful project of Petrus & Malavasi and was mainly the brainchild of in-house musician Davide Romani (picture left). Romani’s role was crucial in the Change story. Together with Mauro Malavasi and Paolo Gianolio he propulsed Change straight into the disco annals by means of smart dance productions and outstanding Disco compositions. Sleeve credits never mentioned the name of Romani as producer but his importance as producer of Petrus-projects throughout the early eighties is beyond any doubt. The group was originally a European/American studio outfit assembled with Italian musicians and hand-picked New York session vocalists. Change delivered five strong albums in line on the Atlantic subsidiary RFC, spawning many international hits and dance classics. High musicianship, strong melodies and remarkable singing were always evident on all their records.  

The first album The Glow Of Love, released in 1980, featured the distinguished vocals of a pre-stardom Luther Vandross (picture middle) and Jocelyn Shaw, a.k.a. Jocelyn Brown (picture right). Petrus hired the services of Luther Vandross after he had heard him sing a Coca-Cola commercial! Vandross had previously recorded under a variety of guises, cutting two albums for the Cotillion label under the name Luther and recording as a featured vocalist with session groups ranging from the likes of Quincy Jones, The Good Vibrations, Charme, The Charlie Calello Orchestra, Roundtree, Mascara, Soirée, Michael Zager Band, The New York City Band and Gregg Diamond Bionic Boogie. He also sang backgrounds on songs by Chic, Evelyn "Champagne" King, Sister Sledge, Chaka Khan, Kleeer, Roberta Flack and Melba Moore. Vandross could have toured with Change, but decided instead to tour with Roberta Flack who had just recorded his song "You Stopped Lovin' Me" from the movie soundtrack album Bustin' Loose. During the disco era Jocelyn Brown sang with Dazzle, Kleeer, Machine, Disco Tex & the Sex-O-Lettes, Joe Thomas, Cerrone, Dan Hartman, Candido, George Benson (wrongly credited as Jocelyn Allen in the Give Me The Night album!), Musique and Inner Life. She also was a featured vocalist on Revanche's Music Man. Guitarist Paolo Gianolio (picture left below) and bass-player/keyboardist Davide Romani formed the original European nucleus of Change. Among the background voices were Michael (Mic) Murphy and Kashif-protégé LaForrest Cope, better known as LaLa. Their debut album was received very well and got a Grammy Award nomination. The Glow Of Love opened with Change's best-known song and massive dance hit “A Lover’s Holiday” (# 5 Billboard R&B Charts). Other highlights were the marvellous title song “The Glow Of  Love” (# 49 Billboard R&B Charts), the passionate cult disco hit “Angel In My Pocket”, the sassy "It's A Girl's Affair", the fascinating galactic instrumental “The End” which was inspired by the electronic music of Giorgio Moroder, and "Searching" (# 23 Billboard R&B Charts). Luther Vandross was featured on the quiet storm favourite "The Glow Of Love" and on the very seductively pulsing electro groove of "Searching". Davide Romani had to convince Malavasi to put "Searching" in the Change album. Therefore "Starlette" was removed from the record and retained for the B.B.&Q. Band project. "The Glow of Love" is one of the most popular, covered and sampled dance songs with over 40 licensed uses to date, according to The National Music Publishers Association (NMPA) in the US. In fact, "The Glow of Love" is the #3 all-time greatest dance/club hit recording, according to Billboard's 100th Anniversary issue. The cover artwork of The Glow Of Love displayed an abstract geometric design created by artist Greg Porto, who would draw many covers for Change projects including six albums (U.K.-only cover artwork of Turn On The Radio included) and a Greatest Hits compilation. 

The formula worked once, so Petrus & Malavasi retraced their footsteps and released the strong follow-up set Miracles in 1981 with James ‘Crab’ Robinson replacing Luther Vandross and Diva Gray taking over from Jocelyn Brown. James ‘Crab’ Robinson happened to be the cousin of Paris 'Peewee' Ford, the frontman/bassist on the initial B.B.&Q. Band release. Earlier the great-voiced Robinson was the featured lead singer on Norman Connor’s soulful ballad “Listen” from This Is Your Life (1977). He also appeared as a lead vocalist on Lonnie Liston Smith’s Song For The Children (1979) and Love Is The Answer (1980) albums. Former lead singer Luther Vandross was tied up with his inevitable first solo project Never Too Much on Epic but was, interestingly, credited as a background vocalist. In fact Luther Vandross should have sung lead again in the second Change album but Petrus' economic greed was the reason why Vandross refused. Davide Romani composed "Hold Tight" with Luther Vandross in mind as the interpreter of the song. Jocelyn Brown was still in the game too, as a backing singer and vocal arranger. Again Malavasi and Romani proved their mastery of disco songwriting and production. Quite a performance if you realise that Malavasi only was 23 years old at the time and his young friend Romani just 22. Key tracks were the chugging and thumping single “Paradise” (# 7 Billboard R&B Charts), the dreamy 2nd single “Hold Tight” (# 40 Billboard R&B Charts), “On Top”, the powerful “Heaven Of My Life”, the smooth radio-aired “Your Move” and the mellow “Miracles”. Romani explained that before beginning the recordings, he realized that the album missed a strong single. So, in one night he wrote "Paradise", whose main ingredient was the bass, which incessantly had to come and go. Americans liked this element very much. Romani wanted to create an original ear-catching feature and thought about opening the track with a slappy bass. Therefore he took a drumstick and played it on the strings of the bass guitar: "Paradise" began this way. "Paradise" was released on the British market in a softer remix. The beautifully sung and orchestrated “Stop For Love” was a smooth soul ballad that showed how versatile the Italian musicians were. Similar romance-themed gems occured more frequently on the third Change set.

For Sharing Your Love in 1982 a real band appeared on the coverphoto of the album. With touring engagements forthcoming, a permanent American group was put together. All the musicians were looked for and selected by Davide Romani in the New York inns. The line-up settled as Jeff Bova (keyboards), Timmy Allen (bass), Michael Campbell (guitar), Rick Galwey (percussion) and Vincent Henry (guitar, saxophone). This was the second and final album that featured lead vocalist James 'Crab' Robinson. The very gifted Deborah Cooper replaced Diva Gray as lead singer and remained until the group disbanded. Another featured female lead singer was Broadway artist Roz Ryan, who has also recorded with Butch Ingram and Skipworth & Turner. Sharing Your Love is the only Change album that was entirely recorded in New York. In 1982 all Petrus' musicians moved definitely to the U.S. because the collaborations with American artists and composers were always more frequent. Among the heavy-weight N.Y. studio musicians involved were names such as Kashif (keyboards), Barry Eastmond (keyboards), Terry Silverlight (drums), Kae Williams (keyboards), Yogi Horton (drums), Hiram Bullock (guitar), Fareed Abdul Hagg (guitar), Ira Siegel (guitar), Randy Brecker (trumpet) and Jon Faddis (trumpet). Also featured on this record was the future U.S. Grammy Award winner Johnny Kemp who sang backgrounds and co-wrote "Take You To Heaven" together with Romani. A dazzling all-star choir of the best session vocalists took care of the backings: Fonzi Thornton, Norma Jean Wright, Jocelyn Brown, Robin Clarke, Gordon Grody, Bobby Douglas, Michelle Cobbs, Leroy Burgess and Phillip Ballou among others. Highlights on this splendid more R&B orientated album were the single “The Very Best In You” (# 16 Billboard R&B Charts) composed by Mauro Malavasi and Herb Smith, "Hard Times (It's Gonna Be Alright)" (# 71 Billboard R&B Charts), “Oh What A Night”, a remake of a hit by Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons, the thumping “Take You To Heaven” written by Romani, and "Keep On It" that reminded of Patti Austin's song "The Genie". The tender ballads “Sharing Your Love”, composed by James Robinson, "Promise Your Love” and "You're My Girl" demonstrated that not everything Change recorded was aimed at the dancefloor. The uptempo tunes clicked in the clubs while the slow songs got urban contemporary airplay. In this record the sound was more R&B than Dance. Davide Romani wanted to keep the Disco/Dance style that had brought them success, whereas Mauro Malavasi preferred to develop the project, looking for a different direction. These conflicting points of view penalized the record's hit potential and made it less effective than the previous Change records. 

In late 1982, Petrus and Malavasi headed back to Modena, Italy, to record the 4th Change album. By that time Romani was no longer a keystone of the production team. The bad understanding with Petrus and the financial disputes made him decide to cut back his contributions drastically and leave Little Macho Music ultimately, as had done Paolo Gianolio earlier. Malavasi was alone now and had to take all responsibilities of the whole production. But he too was hindered by the ideas of Petrus and couldn't consolidate Change's initial success. The record This Is Your Time, released in 1983, was certainly not a bad album, the music continued to sound like Change. This Is Your Time was very rich of particular sounds and comprised innovative ideas. It included “This Is Your Time” (# 33 Billboard R&B Charts) that reminded of The System's synth-funk style, Celso Valli's beautiful "Angel", "Stay 'N Fit" written by Timmy Allen, “Don’t Wait Another Night” (# 89 Billboard R&B Charts), “Magical Night” and the pulverizing groove “Got To Get Up”. The group still consisted of the same musicians as the year before. Lead vocalist Rick Brennan strengthened the band in 1983. The cover art returned to a stark white background and a geometric abstract figure by Greg Porto. 

In 1984 Mauro Malavasi quit and Jimmy Jam (a.k.a. James Harris III) & Terry Lewis were enlisted to write and produce the innovative Change Of Heart set. The album that yielded the hits “Change Of Heart” (# 7 Billboard R&B Charts) and “You Are My Melody” redefined soul and R&B, creating a high-tech groove for the eighties and beyond. Utilising the modern technology such as the Roland TR-808 drum-machine and banks of layered synthesizers, married to the soulful vocals of Rick Brennan and Debra Cooper, the duo produced an entire collection of epic soundscapes and memorable music. The unforgettable opener "Change Of Heart", which virtually borrowed Davide Romani's melody of "Paradise", was a brilliant slice of accurate, sophisticated synth-funk. "Change Of Heart" was typically Jam & Lewis - the stacatto drum program, the keyboard run at the beginning of the song, the chunky synth-bass, the multiple vocal parts and that ability for crafting a catchy melody and chorus were all present. This was as good as any of the cuts they did with Cheryl Lynn and the S.O.S. Band around the same time. Other delightful selections on Change Of Heart were the serene “Say You Love Me Again”, “Warm”, the quirky "Lovely Lady" and the sly 'n' funky single “It Burns Me Up” (# 61 Billboard R&B Charts) that was written and co-produced by Timmy Allen. The future star-producers Jam & Lewis were ex-members of the Minneapolis funk outfit The Time and had formerly written and/or produced material for Vanity 6, Klymaxx, Dynasty, Gladys Knight & The Pips, The S.O.S. Band, Cheryl Lynn and Real To Reel. They went on to become the most successful production duo in contemporary music history. The longtime friends have had a hand in over 100 albums that have exceeded gold, platinum and multi-platinum status and they have worked with the best in the business from Alexander O'Neal, Usher, Janet Jackson, Patti LaBelle, Thelma Houston, Cherrelle to Prince, Luther Vandross, Barry White, Lionel Richie and Michael Jackson. Unfortunately Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis don't have pleasant memories of their stay in Italy. They never got paid by Petrus for their Change job and it seems they even had to sell their flight tickets to pay the hotel! Lead singer James Robinson was no longer with Change in 1984. 

When it came time for a 6th and final Change album in 1985, Petrus looked inward for talent instead of outward. Turn On Your Radio was co-produced by Jacques Fred Petrus and groupmember Timmy Allen. The bulk of the album was written by Timmy Allen. Petrus co-wrote two songs which was highly unusual. During the post-Romani/Gianolio era, keyboardist Timmy Allen occupied a prominent role within Change, composing and co-producing tracks on This Is Your Time, Change Of Heart and Turn On Your Radio. Allen was formerly a member of the New York groups Hi-Gloss and Kinky Foxx, well-known among connoisseurs for their club hit "So Different" in 1983. Musically Turn On Your Radio was the weakest set of their career and displayed an R&B group that got somewhat lost, struggling with sterile dance-pop. The curious thing about this album is that the American record label Atlantic didn't believe that the record was strong enough for the U.S. market, so it was released in Europe first. It came out in the U.K. in April 1985, but with a different cover and with the slightly different title Turn On The Radio. Nevertheless, Change enjoyed a continued success with the seductive gem “Mutual Attraction”, composed by Timmy Allen (12 inch remix by Nick Martinelli), "Oh What A Feeling" (12 inch remix by Paul Hardcastle), the catchy Pop tune "Turn On Your Radio" and the infectious “Let’s Go Together” (# 56 Billboard R&B Charts) which was Davide Romani’s last contribution. The dreamy downtempo "You'll Always Be Part Of Me" was another cream cut, inspired by The S.O.S. Band's "Weekend Girl". Unfortunately, the rest of the album paled in comparison. Change was later dropped from the Atlantic label and broke up.

In 2001 Davide Romani stated that a comeback of Change was not unreal. But surprisingly, some artists appropriated the name of Change and performed live on stage during a 'Tribute To The Funk' concert in Paris (Bercy) in 2003. A year later the unpublished Change song “You Miss My Love” and a new version of the Change hit "You Are My Melody" appeared on the compilation CD Tribute To The Disco Funk, released by Sony Music-France/Yanis Records. The Nu R&B-styled “You Miss My Love” was written by Rick Brennan, Sloan Maxine Glenda, Olalekan Olujimi, Fathi Barkati, Faouze Barkati and Snouci Benyekkou. The lead singer on the song is Rick Brennan, a former Change vocalist. This French production was handled by Faouze Barkati, Krem Barkati and Wallid Barkati in a rather good attempt to update the music formula of Change. There are however no associations with the Italian founders of Change and that's why there's a lot of confusion about this unofficial Change project. The legitimate owners of Change are not happy with the situation. They don't want previous Change artists to perform as Change without their permission. In the meantime they're taking action in order to put things right. Besides "You Are My Melody", the Barkati's also produced a new version of "On The Beat" by the B.B.&Q. Band, also included in the Tribute To The Disco Funk compilation CD.

Timmy Allen, Jeff Bova and Michael Campbell went on to become very indemand top session musicians. Timmy Allen has written and produced for various soul acts as Stephanie Mills, Lillo Thomas, Joe, Christopher Williams, Mike Davis, Hi-Five, Backstreet Boys and Glenn Jones. Jeff Bova has worked as musician and producer for a myriad of pop stars: Michael Jackson, Celine Dion, Billy Joel, Eric Clapton, Joe Cocker, Meat Loaf, Michael McDonald, Herbie Hancock, R. Kelly, Chaka Khan, Vanessa Williams, Tina Turner and Robbie Williams, to name a few. Former lead singer James Robinson (picture) signed to Tabu Records in 1987 for his one solo album Guilty, which was produced by guitarist Fareed Abdul Hagg. Earlier, in 1983 he was a featured vocalist on the track “You Bring Out The Best In Me” from Lenny White’s Attitude album and was very likely lead vocalist on the rare 12 inch “Take Time” by Jagg, released on Delirium records the same year. In 1985, Robinson also masterly sang lead on "Every Woman Needs It" from Jeff Lorber's album Step By Step. He’s been regularly guesting since on smooth jazz albums as a vocalist. In 1995, Robinson teamed up with Mark Johnson for the track “Daydream” taken from the album Daydream and with another jazz keyboard artist, Bob Baldwin, for his album City Sketches in 2001. He has also been continuously involved with Paris Ford as a featured vocalist on his songs "Be My Girl" (1982), "Keep Dancin'" (1983), "2 Far" (1989) and "Chocolate Swirl" (2007). Deborah Cooper sang with C&C Music Factory in 1992. The artist who benefited most from the Change exposure was certainly Luther Vandross who embarked upon a huge solo career in soul music, scoring a multi-platinum album with each release. In R&B music he ranked with Prince, Stevie Wonder, Lionel Richie and Michael Jackson as one of the most successful singer/songwriters and producers of the eighties. Vandross wrote and/or produced for many black acts like The Temptations, Roberta Flack, Whitney Houston, Aretha Franklin, Cheryl Lynn, Dionne Warwick, Gregory Hines, Teddy Pendergrass, Lisa Fisher and Diana Ross. Unfortunately, Luther Vandross died 1st July 2005 at the JFK Medical Centre, New Jersey, USA. He was 54 years old. The original Change vocalist Jocelyn Brown remained very active in the N.Y. session circuit and sang backgrounds for Luther Vandross, Bernard Edwards, Kleeer, George Benson, Michael Jackson, Roberta Flack and many others. She was also lead singer with Cerrone and the disco groups Inner Life and Salsoul Orchestra. In 1984 she launched her solo career with the instant smash hit “Somebody Else’s Guy”. The big voiced diva also sang on Incognito’s 1991 and 1999 albums and guested on the Nuyorican Soul project in 1997.

Change songs and samples appear on:

• Luther Vandross: "The Glow Of Love", "Searching" (original Change versions) from The Best Of Luther Vandross...The Best Of Love, Epic, 1989.
• Black Sheep: "Strobelite Honey (Remix)" (sample: The Glow Of Love) 12", Mercury, 1991.
• Grace Under Pressure: “The Glow Of Love” (song: The Glow Of Love) from Grace Under Pressure, ARS, 1993.
• Randy Crawford: “The Glow Of Love” (song: The Glow Of Love) from Naked And True, WEA, 1995.
• Billy Lawrence: "Up And Down" (sample: The Glow Of Love) 12", Elektra, 1997.
• AZ: “Just Because” (sample: The Glow Of Love) from Pieces Of A Man, Noo Trybe/Virgin, 1998.
• Aretha Franklin: “Here We Go Again” (sample: The Glow Of Love) from A Rose Is Still A Rose, Arista, 1998.
• R. Kelly: “Spendin’ Money” (sample: A Lover’s Holiday) from R., Jive, 1998.
• LFO: "Can't Have You" (sample: The Glow Of Love) from LFO, Arista, 1999.
• Naughty By Nature: "Holiday" (sample: A Lover's Holiday) from Nineteen Naughty Nine: Nature's Fury, Arista, 1999.
• Phats & Small: "Turn Around" (sample: The Glow Of Love) 12”, La Belle Noire, 1999.
• Funky Green Dogs: “Just A Little Luck” (sample: Paradise) from Star, Twisted/MCA, 1999.
• Jazzy M: “Jazzin' The Way You Know” (sample: Let’s Go Together) 12”, Perfecto, 2000.
• Nobody's Angel: "Next Stop Heaven" (sample: Paradise) from Nobody's Angel, Hollywood Records, 2000.
• Bobby Summer: "Pretty Queen" (sample: Miracles) 12", Papersleeve, 2001.
• Janet Jackson: “All For You” (sample: The Glow Of Love) from All For You, Virgin, 2001.
• Ricky J: "Loot" (sample: The Glow Of Love) from Lose Control, Warner Music Canada, 2001.
• Luther Vandross: “Can I Take U” (Remix of “Take You Out”) (sample: Hold Tight) 12”, LV, 2001.

In Los Angeles, June 2002, Mauro Malavasi and Davide Romani received several prestigious ASCAP Awards: an ASCAP Pop Music Award, an ASCAP Rhythm & Soul Music Award and an ASCAP Grammy Award. All this for their composition “The Glow Of Love” which has been sampled fruitfully in the award-winning Janet Jackson single “All For You”. ASCAP is the abbreviation of American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers.