Change
Change of Heart

Today, they are among the most famous production teams (remember Flyte Time Productions), although in 1984, somewhat less so. I'm talking about Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, two great musicians with impeccable flair, always dressed in black (as if they were the Blues Brothers) and possessing a certain charisma. They were the ones who discovered Janet Jackson in 1986, co-created the "New Jack Swing" sound of the early nineties, they were the true authors of "Crash," the last great album by Human League, and they also resurrected the "SOS Band" from the ashes.
Their industrial yet refined sound is still an unmistakable trademark today. It has inspired a generation of musicians, rewritten the rules of pop, and given birth to the genre so trendy today, "modern R&B" in the style of Macy Gray, Janet Jackson, Rihanna, Michael Jackson, and many others of the same vein. They began making their presence felt on the radio in the early eighties, when they started their own thing. One of their early works is this album, "Change of heart", the fifth and penultimate album of an Italian-origin studio band, Change, led by producer Jacques Fred Petrus, who had made it his flagship product over the years. Well, the Little Macho, Petrus' music label, had not been doing well lately. Contributing to the economic (and idea) crisis was the sudden shift in sound that pop underwent in the early eighties, the not-so-sparing use of certain economic resources, little attention to the market, and above all, a lack of a new sound. Two prominent figures of Change, bassist Davide Romani and composer Mauro Malavasi (those who formed the "Chic inspired" sound) had left the team, and the machine began to collapse. After a nightmare year, Petrus tried to play his only cards on Change, abandoning the other bands (the label had several acts under contract), and turned to an emerging team with a new sound, specifically Terry Lewis and Jimmy Jam.
The result was "Change of heart", a completely new album with a fresh and modern sound (which still holds up today) that revived (albeit briefly) the pride of Italian R&B. The extremely low budget and lack of musicians did not discourage the album's success. The historic male voice of James Robinson (who was also alongside the late Luther Vandross in the first album) was replaced by Rick Brennan, while the already well-established Deborah Cooper remained as the female voice. For the first time (after all, it was the eighties), the rhythm section was performed using a drum machine (more precisely, the historic Roland TR-808, which made the Jam/Lewis sound unmistakable) and "old" string orchestras were abandoned in favor of the more modern Yamaha DX-7 synthesizers (another eighties myth, the first synth to support the MIDI protocol and co-creator of the Jam/Lewis sound, which also inspired the band "ABC") which the album is filled with. The bassline was played by the talented Timmy Allen (a former member of Kinx Fox and author of side B), Jeff Bova made his last appearance on piano, today a successful producer, Michael Campbell remained on guitar, and Vincent Henry on sax.

The record was printed and distributed worldwide in the spring of 1984. The title track soon reached #7 on the Billboard R&B chart and was performed at that year's Festivalbar. The success revived the band and somewhat uplifted (though not completely) the finances of Petrus' label (which would produce records for another year before he was assassinated). The last track "It burns me up" was also released as a single, a modern and sensual funk track. Side A begins with the romantic "Say you love me again" and then quickly moves to "Change of heart", the real hit of the album, seven minutes of pure rhythm. Then it continues with the atmospheric "Warm" and the lively six-eighths "True love". Side B begins with another hit of the album, "You are my melody", which found decent success in England. Then the three tracks by Timmy Allen, the bassist: the decisive "Lovely lady", the energetic and rock-oriented "Go my eyes on you" and the last and grand track, the already mentioned "It burns me up". Forty minutes of the album go by quickly and manage to get stuck in your head. Unfortunately, this is not a property of every music album, but "Change of heart" succeeds in its intent, standing out as an example of a quality album with style.
It will be one of the last Italian glories in the field of international R&B. These eight perfect tracks would be a shame not to revive today, as we struggle so much to find decent music around.