Change
Change was a studio group put together by Jacques Fred Petrus and Mauro Malavasi in Italy. It was mainly the brainchild of in-house musician Davide Romani. Together with Mauro Malavasi, Romani propulsed Change straight into the disco annals by means of smart dance productions and outstanding disco compositions.
Many of their studio concepts were amalgamations of Italian studio musicians and American session vocalists. For the first album 'The Glow Of Love', they put together session musicians and took the recorded music to New York, to look for singers. Here they teamed up with Luther Vandross and Jocelyn Brown.
After shopping around for a deal, they signed with RFC Records, who then released the album The Glow Of Love. The first single 'A Lover's Holiday' was a big hit. Follow up singles 'Searching' and 'The Glow Of Love' also topped the charts in the Summer of 1980 and earned them a couple of Grammy awards.
In late 1980 they were back in Italy to record the follow-up album. Again, they took the recorded music to New York and lay down the vocals. This time they recruited a new lead singer; James "Crabs" Robinson. Luther had just signed a solo contract with Epic Records and was not available. But he is featured as a background singer on the Miracles album though. The first single was 'Paradise' followed by 'Hold Tight' and 'Miracles'. The album did very well in the charts.
For the third album, Petrus and Malavasi decided to record the whole album in New York, at the Media Sound Studios. This time a "real" group had emerged, the cover of this album has a photo of all the members - Mike Cammbell (Lead guitar),Deborah Cooper (Lead vocals),Vincent Henry (Guitar & Saxophone),Rick Brennan (Lead vocals & Percussion),Timmy Allen (Lead vocals & Bass guitar),Jeff Bova (Keyboards), James Robinson (Lead vocals) and Toby Johnson (Drums).
The first single release was 'The Very Best In You' followed by 'Hard Times (It's Gonna Be Alright)'.
In late 1982, Petrus and Malavasi headed back to Italy, to Modena to record the fourth album. The vocals were recorded at Sorcerer Sound Studios. In early 1983 the first single release was the wonderful track 'This Is Your Time', followed by 'Don't Wait Another Night', 'Magical Night' and 'Got To Get Up'.
In september of 1983 Petrus called up Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis to work on the next album. They were fresh from success with Cheryl Lynn's Encore and S.O.S. Band's Just Be Good To Me. The music was recorded in Modena once again, with Jimmy and Terry. The first single was the title track 'Change Of Heart'. Followed by 'You Are My Melody' and 'It Burns Me Up'.
By 1985 Malavasi had returned to Italy and was no longer working with Petrus. The sixth and final album Turn On Your Radio was co-produced by groupmember Timmy Allen. The first single off the album was 'Let's Go Together' followed by 'Oh What A Feeling' and the excellent 'Mutual Attraction'(composed by Timmy Allen).
The group was later dropped from the Atlantic label and broke up. Sadly, Jacques Fred Petrus was murdered in 1987.
Albums
The glow of love (1980)
Miracles (1981)
Sharing your love (1982)
This is your time (1983)
Change of heart (1984)
Turn on the radio (1985)
Change Album info
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