Jacques Fred Petrus

Early years

He worked as a diesel-engine mechanic on a cargo ship aged only 15 before his early interest for R&B and Soul music brought him to Paris where he worked as a DJ at different clubs, including the legendary jet-set nightclub "Club Saint-Hilaire".

In the early 70s, he moved to Milan, Italy and continued his career as a DJ for several famous local clubs like "Good Mood". After a crucial meeting with music student Mauro Malavasi (°1958) in Bologna, who became his working partner and main song writer and producer, they formed a disco production company called Goody Music Productions (GMP), invested in a recording studio at Bologna and created the Goody Music record label.

In 1978 the associates released their first studio project called Macho which was followed by more or less commercially successful disco productions like Revanche and Peter Jacques band. But it wasn't until 1980, when their latest creation called Change was revealed, that Petrus and Malavasi established their own signature sound and reached their goal of world wide success. In 1979 Fred Petrus gathered his international music activities under the company name Little Macho Music.

Change - Petrus' biggest success

When Change hit the market in 1980 with their debut album The Glow of Love Petrus and Malavasi didn't realise the magnitude of the success that was to come. Petrus used two other Italian musicians besides Malavasi on this album, bassist Davide Romani (°1959) and guitarist Paolo Gianolio. Romani, who not only wrote the No 1 hits "A Lover's Holiday" and "The Glow of Love" (vocals by Luther Vandross, who was hired by Petrus to perform together with Jocelyn Brown), but also arranged and conducted the entire set in conjunction with Gianolio. Besides "A Lover's Holiday" which reached the No 1 spot on Billboards Hot Dance Club Play for nine weeks, the album also received 7 Grammy Award nominations.

Although similarities with famous disco band Chic, which was a source of inspiration for Romani, Change had their own slick and sophisticated blend of Eurodisco and American Chic'esque R&B-disco. From 1980 to 1983 when Chic's fame was waning Change managed to climb higher on the charts each year, a rather satisfying and amusing fact for the founders Petrus, Malavasi, Romani and Gianolio. Although Jacques Fred Petrus released many other tracks with many other artists, none achieved the same fame and success as Change.

Other projects until 1986

Early Petrus projects included Macho (1978), Elvin Shaad (1978), Peter Jacques Band (1979), Revanche (1979), Rudy (an album bringing the Italian Goody Music collaborator Rudy Trevisi to the front), Midnight Gang (1979), A.N.T.I. Rock (1980) (the Italian version of Ottawan's disco hit D.I.S.C.O.), The Jumpers (1980), Gianni Riso (1980) and Caprice (1980).

After the tremendous hype with Change Petrus and Malavasi launched several new projects like The Brooklyn, Bronx and Queens band (B. B. & Q. band) in 1981, High Fashion (1982) (including the Romani/Malavasi penned hit "Feelin' lucky lately" which reached the No 32 spot on Billboards R&B chart), Silence (a pop album released in 1982) and Zinc (1982). Petrus and his troupe of Italian studio musicians and writers also co-wrote and produced parts of The Ritchie Family's 1982 album "I'll do my Best". The title track became a club hit, and was penned by Malavasi. Of all these new projects the B. B. & Q. band was by far the most successful concept. Their self-titled 1981 debut album included "On the Beat" (by Malavasi/Slade), a highly catchy and hypnotic dance floor filler with a powerful intro that rocketed to the No 8 spot on the Billboard black singles charts.

During the second part of the 80's Petrus achieved success with album releases of B.B.&Q. Band (1985), Peter Jacques Band (1985) and Change (1985). Less successful projects in 1984 and 1985 (often single releases) included Silence 2 feat. Gordon Grody (1984), Macho III (1984), Kevin Johnson (1984), Zinc feat. Sherwin (1984), M Like Moon (1984), Midnight Gang (1984), Tato (1985), Nobel (1985) and Persuader (1985). Due to severe troubles with the US taxman, Petrus was forced to shut down the Little Macho Music company. In 1985 he started up a new production company and record label called Renaissance International. Vedette International was the name of his new publishing company.

Death

In 1986 the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) of the US federal government accused Jacques Fred Petrus of tax evasion. Petrus put his music industry activities on hold and fled to Guadeloupe. Petrus was murdered in the Spring of 1987 in Guadeloupe under mysterious circumstances. He was only 39 years old. The official version from the French police reported that Petrus had been shot at home in the heights of Saint-Felix by a Swiss gunman who had clashed with him earlier that night at the Petrus-owned club L'Elysée Matignon in Le Gosier.

Producer discography

singles: “On The Beat”, “Starlette”, “Time For Love”, "Mistakes".

singles: “Imagination”, “All Night Long (She’s Got The Moves I Like)”.

singles: “Keep It Hot”, “She’s A Woman”.

singles: “Genie”, “Dreamer”, “On The Shelf”, “Riccochet”, "Minutes Away", "Main Attraction".

singles: "Russia", "Stay Tonight".

singles: “A Lover’s Holiday”, “The Glow Of Love”, “Searching”, "Angel In My Pocket".

singles: “Paradise”, “Hold Tight”, “Miracles”, "Stop For Love", "Heaven Of My Life".

singles: “The Very Best In You”, “Hard Times (It’s Gonna Be Alright)”, “Oh What A Night”, “Keep On It”, "Sharing Your Love".

singles: “Got To Get Up”, “This Is Your Time”, “Don’t Wait Another Night”, “Magical Night”.

singles: “Change Of Heart”, “You Are My Melody”, "Say You Love Me Again", “It Burns Me Up”.

singles: “Let’s Go Together”, “Oh What A Feeling”, “Mutual Attraction”, "Examination", "Turn On Your Radio".

single: “Live For Love”.

singles: “Feelin’ Lucky Lately”, "You're The Winner", “Hold On”.

single: “Break Up”, "Make Up Your Mind".

singles: “I’m A Man”, “Hear Me Calling”.

singles: “Roll”, “Mothers Love”, "Not Tonight".

singles: “Love Is Magic”, “Midnight Game”.

singles: “Walking On Music”, “Fire Night Dance”, “Devil’s Run”, “Fly With The Wind”.

singles: “Is It It”, “Counting On Love (One-Two-Three)”, “The Louder”, “Mighty Fine”.

singles: “Going Dancin’ Down The Street”, “Mexico”, “Drive Me Crazy”, "This Night".

singles: “Music Man”, “Revenge”, “You Get High In N.Y.C.”, “1979 It’s Dancing Time”.

singles: "I’ll Do My Best (For You Baby)", “Walk With Me”, “Alright On The Night”.

singles: “White Room”, “Just Take My Body”, “Thank You Baby”.

singles: “Midnight Visitors”, “No Way”.

single: "The Beast In Me".

singles: “Street Level”, “Punkulation”, "Amazon", "I'll Never Stop".