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Jacques Fred Petrus & Mauro Malavasi

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The End Of The J.F. Petrus Era

During the period 1978-1981 the Petrus & Malavasi productions charted consistently. But less successful releases in 1982 and especially 1983 showed that the hit pattern became difficult to maintain. Petrus' fortune was built on the exciting tail end of Disco music but this era was rapidly melting down into the dance medium of Pop music, which holded completely different elements from black music. The warm and melodic sound didn't have its usual appeal in the clubs where New Wave music and colder electronic music were preferred. People danced to the sounds of Thompson Twins, New Order, Captain Sensible, Soft Cell, Billy Idol, Simple Minds and Tom Tom Club. Many Disco artists and black musicians lost their focal point and were left at the mercy of the whims of Pop music. This shift in the music industry influenced the quality of black popular music drastically and announced the era of Pop-dominated dance music. 

Sale figures dropped and many musicians of Petrus’ Italian staff decided to leave as a result of an increasing economic commotion. Musicians didn't get paid fairly by Petrus who was clearly struggling the recession at his Little Macho Music company. He took the whole earnings away just for him and was less and less generous towards his production team whose enthusiasm waned accordingly. In the end none of his important Italian composers proposed him any song. Petrus could no more rely on the creative nerve of his Italian musicians, his well dried up! The only songs they carried out came from the American inside components of the various groups like Change, High Fashion or The B.B.&Q. Band, that were not able to write hits. Their poor quality penalized the productions always more.

Moreover, towards 1984 Petrus and Malavasi formed no longer a team. Mauro Malavasi quit due to homesickness, disagreements about the musical direction and mainly the financial conflict with Jacques Fred Petrus. He already decided to leave the U.S. in late 1982. In the course of 1983 Mauro finally left Little Macho Music to center on songwriting and production work for various Italian pop artists. His long-time associate Davide Romani even didn't participate in the fourth Change recording. Too worn-out by the economic debacle and the professional frictions with Petrus, he gave up his job at Little Macho Music. Strangely enough Davide Romani never broke completely with Jacques Fred Petrus as did Mauro Malavasi, Paolo Gianolio and Rudy Trevisi. Romani co-arranged the Italo-disco single "Sunlight" by M Like Moon for Petrus in 1984. The last Peter Jacques Band project again reunited Romani and Petrus in the studio in 1985. Davide Romani played an integral role as composer, arranger and musician in the album Dancing In The Street. He also delivered the song “Let’s Go Together” for the last Change record, which was in fact the same song as "All Right Let's Go" that he had composed previously for the Peter Jacques Band. 

One of the first projects that Malavasi and Romani contributed to back in their homeland was Page 2 with their Italo-Disco 12 INCH “Beat The Clock” (Polydor, 1983) and pop group Stadio with the album La Faccia Delle Donna (RCA, 1984). Also Rudy Trevisi and engineer Maurizio Biancani joined in.

Businessman Petrus stayed behind and somehow managed to revive his flagging company. In september 1983 he called up Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis (picture) to work on the next Change project. He clearly needed a fresh sound and made a smart move by teaming up with the ultra-hot American producer team. They had just scored with The S.O.S. Band’s “Just Be Good To Me” and Cheryl Lynn’s “Encore”. The cooperation resulted in an exciting Change album in 1984, applicably entitled Change Of Heart. Jam & Lewis’ Midas touch compensated the loss of Malavasi and Romani. 

This success proved difficult to emulate on later recordings though. Petrus was well aware that Pop music had taken the airwaves and he attempted to reach that 'white' market. In 1984 he set up the second unnoticed Silence project Silence 2 featuring Gordon Grody and dropped the Dance-Pop album The Beast In Me which included among other things the single “The Beast In Me”, the Change-ballad “Angel”, “Midnite Visitor” and “So Much For Love". Again artist Greg Porto took care of the cover design. The tracks were recorded in Bologna (Fonoprint Studios) and Modena (Umbi Studios) with again Celso Valli as the main force behind the music. Paolo Gianolio, Davide Romani and Gabriele 'Lele' Melotti  collaborated too. It seemed as if the Goody Music Orchestra had resurrected but the truth was that the sessions had been recorded earlier when the team was still reunited. Celso Valli finished the project later on. The record however made little impression, despite some fine Pop tunes and the powerful vocals of the American singer Gordon Grody. A further obscure Petrus co-production in 1984, the single "Sunlight" by M Like Moon, couldn't excite either.

Little Macho Music shut down after the last Change album. The decline of Petrus’ empire was irreversible. In 1985 the reanimated Peter Jacques Band and B.B.&Q. Band were housed in a new short-lived production company called Renaissance International. Petrus' new publishing company in the U.S. was baptized Vedette International. Besides Change, B.B.&Q. Band and Peter Jacques Band, the Renaissance International label also released the poor and little known Italo-Disco 12 inches “Crazy Boy” by Tato, "Turn On Your Radio" by Nobel, “So Decide” by Persuader and “Sunlight” by M Like Moon (previously released on the Ariola label in 1984), all (co-)produced by Jacques Fred Petrus. Petrus appointed the experienced Luigi 'Luis' Figini as artistic director of his new Renaissance International label. Figini was together with Malavasi one of the first Italian producers to have reached success in the U.S. and the man behind the Kano hits "I'm ready” (1979) and "Dance school" (1983) as well as Dr. Togo’s soulgem “Be Free” (1983). It was an attempt to bring back the magic of the good old days but it didn’t work out. The Renaissance company couldn't fulfill its symbolic appellation. Petrus’ last projects for Peter Jacques Band and Change did poor on the charts in 1985. Yet Peter Jacques Band’s album Dancing In The Street, which was published first in 1985, faired better in sales and clubplay than Change’s swan-song Turn On Your Radio. The cover showed four new faces, none related to the original members of the Peter Jacques Band in 1980. The vocalists were Ilto Sampaio, Betty Lami, Carin McDonald, and Carmen Björnald. The set included among others "All Right Let's Go", “Going Dancin’ Down The Street”, "Hightime" and “Drive Me Crazy”. Oddly enough the track “All Right Let’s Go”, written by Davide Romani, reappeared on the Change album as the single “Let’s Go Together”. Most of the songs were composed by Jacques Fred Petrus and Davide Romani who was the prominent musician involved. Change performed the backing vocals. The music on Dancing In The Street was synth-Pop blended with a touch of Italo-Disco and only vaguely echoed R&B music. The fresh, Soulful vibe that once blessed the Petrus products had made way for plastic consumer Pop. Jacques Fred Petrus’ music business regained some of its original musical glow with the release of the 4th B.B.&Q. Band project in 1985. The Genie offered a collection of strong and varied R&B songs, beautifully produced and arranged in an urban synth-Funk mould. But unfortunately the momentum was of a brief duration as Petrus was fatally shot dead a little later. The Renaissance International label collapsed subsequently.

Sadly, Jacques Fred Petrus was murdered in 1986. For a long time very little was known concerning the mysterious circumstances of his untimely death. There were several theories but no accurate reports confirming anything. Some sources claimed that the whole affair was drugs-related or even Maffia-connected because Petrus would have been involved in laundering operations of Maffia money into the music industry. The New York representative for Blues & Soul magazine, editor Jeff Lorez, was told by producer Jimmy Jam that Petrus had been mixed up in some underworld activities and that his body had been found at the bottom of the Ocean. A similar report mentions that he was found shot to death and submerged in a lake outside of Mexico City, held down by a heavy object around his legs, the apparent victim of a mob hit. Other sources stated that Petrus was shot dead by the police at the airport of Raizet in Guadeloupe. A recent reliable source however, revealed that Petrus’ gruesome fate had a more banal but not less tragic origin. According to Claude Petrus, a cousin of Jacques Fred Petrus, he was killed at home in Saint-Anne on the Island of Guadeloupe, hit by several gun bullets. The troubles started in Gosier, a popular touristic centre in Guadeloupe where Petrus owned a discotheque frequented by the jet set of the island (a place where American musicians like Kevin Robinson regularly guested as it seems). One night Fred Petrus had a fierce argument with a club goer outside his disco. That same person coldbloodedly shot Petrus at his villa a few days later, as the most cruel act of revenge. The murderer, a Swiss, left Guadeloupe the following day but was caught by the French police a few months later and confessed the crime. Surely a tragic end for a remarkable music figure who will live on in the delightful music he created with producer Malavasi and his collaborators. 

Today the Jacques Fred Petrus Estate is owned by Marthe Petrus, the mother of Jacques Fred Petrus who's still living in Saint-Anne on the island of Guadeloupe. The estate is administered by a loyal business connection of the late Petrus, entertainment attorney Stephen L. Kopitko (1780 Broadway, Suite 805, New York, NY 10019 - VibeLaw@aol.com). Publishing rights can also be licensed from Clock Music S.r.l. in Bologna (Italy) owned by Mauro Malavasi (ClockMusic@tin.it).

 


Mauro Malavasi (second from left) and Maurizio Biancani (left) at the Fonoprint studios

Meanwhile Mauro Malavasi had resumed a successful career as an accomplished musician in Italy. He established himself as one of Italy’s leading producers and conductors often making use of the talents of his friends musicians Davide Romani, Celso Valli, Paolo Gianolio and Rudy Trevisi. Operating from his Clock Studio in Bologna, he has produced among others Cube (album Can Can In The Garden, 1983 incl. “Prince Of The Moment”, "Concert Boy"; “Performance”, 1985; “Love’s Taboo”, 1986), Stadio, My Mine (“Hypnotic Tango”, 1983; album Stone, 1985 incl. “Cupid Girl”), Tony Esposito ("Kalimba De Luna", "Simba De Ammon", 1984; “Sinuè (Latin Tamborder)”, 1987), Luca Carboni, Gianni Morandi, Lucio Dalla, Ron (album Calypso incl. “Sogno”, 1983), Biagio Antonacci, Loredana Berté, Mango (“Bella D’Estate”, 1987), Gerardina Trovato, Ossigenata and Elisa. Furthermore he worked with the Latin pop artist Emmanuel (album Vida, 1990), Steve Allen (“Letter From My Heart”, 1984), glamour diva Dalida and soulsinger Ava Cherry (“Gimme, Gimme”, 1993; album Spend The Night incl “You Are”, 1997). He has achieved remarkable success as a producer, arranger, conductor and songwriter for the international Italian star Andrea Bocelli (albums: Romanza, 1997; Sogno, 1999; Per Amore, 2000; Andrea, 2004) and even collaborated with Luciano Pavarotti. Malavasi has also composed several film and TV scores (The Rogues, 1988; The Sparrow’s Fluttering, 1988; The Fortunate Pilgrim, 1988; Pummarò, 1990; Tuscan Skies, 2001).

Davide Romani, Celso Valli, Marco Tansini, Paolo Gianolio and Rudy Trevisi are still active on the Italian music scene today. Rudy Trevisi (saxophone, flute, percussion, keyboards) plays the clarinet in a symphonic orchestra and collaborates regularly with Mauro Malavasi on Andrea Bocelli projects. He has also done session work for Eros Ramazzotti, Black Box, Lonnie Gordon, Elisa, Miguel Bosé, Luca Carboni and Gerardina Trovato. Keyboardist and composer Celso Valli became a prolific producer/arranger in his own right and instigated many Italian disco acts in the late seventies and early eighties like Azoto, Tantra, Elite, Passengers, Visa, Nuggets, Neon, Casino, etcetera. Celso Valli often used the Goody Music musicians for his various projects. Still nowadays he’s a prominent producer in Italy and has worked with Andrea Bocelli, Eros Ramazzotti, Filippa Giordano, Laura Pausini, Miguel Bose, Mango, Claudio Baglioni, Giorgia and Gerardina Trovato. Marco Tansini (guitar, keyboards, clarinet) is a succesful composer and arranger. He owns three recording studios in Codogno (Milan) and has produced Moonshine, Valerie Dore and Etta Scollo among others. In 1984 he wrote and produced together with Simona Zanini the Midnight Gang single “Hollywood City” on Speed Records. But this time Jacques Fred Petrus was not involved. Paolo Gianolio (guitar, bass guitar) has worked with Vivien Vee (disco album With Vivien Vee, 1983), discogroup Fascination (“Out To Get You”), Mina, Celso Valli, Claudio Baglioni, Vasco Rossi, Eros Ramazzotti, Morandi, Concato, Vanoni, Anna Oxa, Laura Pausini, Renato Zero, Andrea Bocelli and many other artists. Davide Romani (bass guitar, keyboards) owns a recording studio (White Studio) in Ferrara and has produced or arranged for artists like Amii Stewart, Mike Francis, Celentano, Edoardo Bennato and Enzo Avitabile.

The early to the mid eighties was a prolific era for black dance music. A Period that has yet to be surpassed in terms of sheer quality, excitement and innovation. Petrus & Malavasi surely deserve their spot in the gallery of brilliant producers who contributed to the eminent musical output of that time. They left a rich legacy of incendiary dance material, exceeding disco triviality and unlikely to be forgotten by those who have the groove in the heart.


Change 1982

(Admor "Funky" Pages, 03-05)