May 21, 2021

RhoDeo 2120 Grooves

 Hello,  


Today's Artists were an Italian Disco-Soul group, based in Bologna, founded by songwriters-producers Jacques Fred Petrus and Mauro Malavasi.Initially they started with guest vocalist Luther Vandross but soon after James Robinson replaced him regularly.In the same mode, Jocelyn Brown was replaced by Deborah Cooper as a main lead vocalist. ..  N Joy

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Change was a studio project, masterminded by Guadaloupean business man, Jacques Fred Petrus. Petrus emerged on the late-70s disco scene with several successful outfits such as Macho, Revanche and Peter Jacques Band, all recorded with Italian musicians and New York session singers. With the arrival of the 80s, Petrus and his musical partner Mauro Malavasi moved away from the pounding disco sound into a more soulful pop-R&B-oriented sound. Together with bassist Davide Romani and guitar player Paolo Gianolio, they laid down a number of Chic-inspired grooves in Bologna, Italy, in December 1979, and took the tapes to New York to look out for suitable vocalists. They found Jocelyn Brown (at the time known as Jocelyn Shaw), already a hot session singer and lead vocalist of disco group Inner Life, and equally in-demand singer Luther Vandross. Released in April 1980, The Glow of Love soared to the Top 10 on the Billboard Disco Charts, yielding the hit singles "A Lover's Holiday / The End", "The Glow of Love / Searching". It even became Billboard's #1 Disco Album of 1980.

The second album Miracles emerged in March 1981. Jocelyn Brown chose to focus on Inner Life, and Vandross - intended to become the official lead singer - disagreed on the fee offered by Petrus. Yet both of them continued as backing vocalists on the project alongside Ullanda McCullough, Fonzi Thornton and Kristal Davis. Vandross soon after enjoyed his first solo hit with "Never Too Much". Instead, Diva Gray and James Robinson took over the lead vocals. With the singles "Paradise" and "Hold Tight" becoming big club hits, Miracles was another smash and topped the Billboard Disco Charts while Chic - as Change was constantly compared to - ironically was far from the same heights, struggling commercially at the same time.

When demands came in for the group to tour, Jacques Fred Petrus was unable to gather the original musicians since all of them were too busy with other projects so he assembled a tour line-up to go on the road. While James Crabs Robinson remained the male lead singer, Deborah (Debra) Cooper was brought in to do the female lead vocals, and by the third album, a real line-up for Change was finally assembled, and for the first time pictured on the album cover. Being less dance-oriented, Sharing Your Love came out in 1982 - while still yielding hit singles with "The Very Best in You" and "Hard Times", the success wasn't as overwhelming, same for This Is Your Time (1983) which also saw key songwriter Davide Romani's departure, due to financial disagreements with Petrus.

When Malavasi and lead singer James Robinson went solo, Petrus was forced to look for new musical partners to keep Change going. The salvation came with Jam & Lewis, already with hits such as S.O.S. Band's "Just Be Good To Me" to their credit. Change of Heart was the resulting fifth album, 1984, which yielded a Top 10 R&B hit single with the title track. Unfortunately, the lucky strike didn't continue in 1985 with Turn On Your Radio, mainly written & produced by Timmy Allen. It didn't perform well, and when Petrus himself was murdered by the mafia in 1986, Change ceased to be.

Compilations and selected CD-reissues of the original albums revived the music in the late 90s. Janet Jackson also sampled "The Glow of Love" for her 2001 hit single "All for You". Most recently, Italian Fonte Records released a 5CD box in November 2005, omitting the Change of Heart album but seeing the first CD re-issues of This Is Your Time and Turn On Your Radio.



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On This Is Your Time Change had shown the integration of the latest synths and styles of R&B / funk. The crew from start to finish are on good form with a heavy dose of angular funk, smooth R&B, and a great exchange of male and female vocals from James Robinson and Debra Cooper along with a host of talented backing vocals. Surely for those familiar with the soul and R&B of those years can hear the influence of technology and contemporaries. While not ground breaking Change can lay down the groove and tug at the heart strings every time out and This Is Your Time is no exception.


                                            
<a href="https://mir.cr/DJIZHXE6"> Change - This Is Your Time</a> (flac  373mb)

01 Got to Get Up 5:56
02 This Is Your Time 5:49
03 Angel 4:31
04 Magical Night 6:12
05 Stay'n Fit 5:30
06 Tell Me Why 5:15
07 You'll Never Realize 5:46
08 Don't Wait Another Night 5:51
09 Magical Night (Single Edit) [bonus track] 4:06
10 Got to Get Up (Extended Version) [bonus track] 6:13

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Music maestros Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis were responsible for this release, and what a wonderful one! Recorded in Modena, Italy and with vocals added at Media Sound Studios, NYC and at Jam & Lewis' own studio Creation Audio, Minneapolis. A classic album and a timeless effort from start to finish. _Change Of Heart_ being the first single and it managed to reach all the way to the top of the charts in May 1984. Followed by the equally impressive _You Are My Melody_ which also charted. The 3rd single was _It Burns Me Up_ also a highly regarded track and written by Timmy Allen of the group. The album was engineered by Michael H Brauer who had engineered on previous Change albums in 1980, 1981 and 1982. Jam & Lewis thought this was a good move to use him, to capture that old Change sound. And they were right of course! The album was a huge success. It's also one of the group's most loved and cherished records which does say a lot. Here in the 2011 remastered and extended version



<a href="https://multiup.org/7416cd02ea91bcaf5c6d09aa5ded376b"> Change - Change Of Heart </a> (flac  410mb)

01 Say You'll Love Me Again
02 Change of Heart
03 Warm
04 True Love
05 You Are My Melody
06 Lovely Lady
07 Got My Eyes on You
08 It Burns Me Up
Bonus Tracks
09 Change of Heart (Single Version)
10 It Burns Me Up (Edit)
11 You Are My Melody (Edit)
12 Change of Heart (12" Alternate Dance Mix)

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Change's sixth and final album, released as a twin album together with Dancing in the Street by Peter Jacques Band. Often described as a weak effort, both albums are in fact better than their reputation although neither rivals the glory days of Jacques Fred Petrus' productions. Still, "Let's Go Together" ("All Right Let's Go" borrowed from the Peter Jacques Band album) is a strong selection, and ditto for "Mutual Attraction". "Oh What a Feeling" sounds a bit too much of a rip-off of their 1984 hit "Change of Heart", yet the Chic-like repetitious chant makes it work. Had these three titles, and "Turn On Your Radio", been put back to back on one album with Peter Jacques Band's "This Night", "Going Dancing Down the Street"


 

<a href="https://www.imagenetz.de/q8SuW"> Change - Turn On Your Radio </a> (flac  385mb)

01 Turn On Your Radio 5:15
02 Let's Go Together 6:06
03 Examination 5:34
04 You'll Always Be a Part of Me 5:25
05 Oh What a Feeling 5:42
06 Mutual Attraction 6:00
07 Love the Way You Love Me 5:39
08 If You Want My Love 5:24
09 Turn On Your Radio (Single Edit) [bonus track] 3:24
10 Let's Go Together (Single Edit) [bonus track] 4:10

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Assembled by Guadaloupean producer Jacques Fred Petrus, Peter Jacques Band emerged on the disco scene early 1979, hot on the heels of another Petrus' act, Macho, who had just enjoyed a Top 10 hit on the Billboard Dance Charts with an energetic version of The Spencer Davis Group's 60's "I'm a Man". Released on Prelude Records, Peter Jacques Band's Fire Night Dance album consisted of only four extended cuts - including the single "Walking on Music / Fly With the Wind" - and proved a club hit. While singer Leroy Burgess had sung the lead vocals on the record, it was typically of the disco era that it was a lip-sync group of nameless models who performed on TV.

The second Peter Jacques Band album Welcome Back and the single "Is It It?" were released in the spring of 1980 and launched an all-new band line-up: Jacob Wheeler and Dianne Washington (later married to each other), Sandi Bass and Von Gretchen Shepard. Jacques Fred Petrus had cleverly taken notice of the dying disco market, and the new album focussed much more on the pop / R&B market than the club scene. While Petrus' simultaneous album with Change went straight to the top of the Billboard Dance Chart, Welcome Back went quite unnoticed and even failed to gain a release in the United States, and Petrus dropped the band.

Surprisingly, Peter Jacques Band emerged after a five year hiatus, for the third time with an all-new personnel. Recorded simultaneously with Change's sixth (and final) album Turn On Your Radio, Dancing in the Street featured the same musical crew and was a moderate success with its italo-pop tunes ""This Night", "Going Dancin' Down the Street" and "Mexico".

The following year, Jacques Fred Petrus was brutally murdered by the mafia.




<a href="http://depositfiles.com/files/n1kpmu34h"> Peter Jacques Band - Dancing In The Street </a> (flac  259mb)

01 All Right Let's Go 6:27
02 This Night 5:43
03 Mexico 4:35
04 Everybody Have a Party 4:00
05 Going Dancing Down the Street 5:49
06 Drives Me Crazy 4:16
07 High Time 4:57
08 Don't Say You've Gotta Go 3:57

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2 comments:

quantize said...

wow was not expecting that end to the story!

Georgio said...

"murdered by the mafia"?
https://www.vice.com/en/article/vvn9p4/the-story-of-italys-biggest-disco-producer-his-ruthless-rise-to-the-top-and-eventual-assassination