Change
The Glow Of Love

LA RECENSIONE

The name "Change" doesn't automatically lead any listener who stumbled upon them by chance to think of an Italian band. Moreover, the lyrics are also in English. So the spontaneous question will be: what does Italy have to do with a musical group called Change? More than it seems at first glance.

To clarify to those who probably don't know who the "Change" are, I'll resort to the history of music (so often overlooked). The '70s, more precisely around '72/'73, saw in America the timid rise, later devastating, of a musical genre called "Disco music." The turbulent growth that the genre experienced by the end of the decade underwent an equally brutal and sad end. Thus, in America, historians prefer to define the end of Disco around 1980-81, for various reasons, including it becoming too commercial and omnipresent, or some believed it was too vulgar and immoral, or simply because the '80s were around the corner and Disco was too tied to the past (a past not so remote, to be honest). Not so in Italy.

Disco Music in Italy existed and over time became a very distinctive musical genre. Furthermore, Italy was the only country in the world (perhaps slightly competing with France) where Disco Music continued to survive until around the '90s. If the '80s saw its success, the '90s saw its demise, the '70s (specifically 1977) saw its birth. The movie "Saturday Night Fever" hadn't even arrived here when a dancehall singer known as "Marzio" asked a young author and composer named Mauro Malavasi to rearrange a previously rock song for him, following new rhythms coming from America. Under the name "Macho," Marzio inadvertently gave rise to Disco Made in Italy. The single that lit the fuse, arranged by Malavasi, was titled "I'm a man." From that moment on, Italian Disco Music production began to exist and produce its first works. If we then consider that during that period the Italian songwriting was suffering the strongest crisis in its history, Disco seemed (also for overseas producers) like manna from heaven. It appealed to everyone, made people dance and enjoy themselves, had a unique affinity with radio, pleased producers (because it was economical—but this is a common stereotype) as well as the public.

The critics, along with rock enthusiasts (and communists, much more numerous at the time than today) sneered at it and looked down on it. Sometimes rightly, many times wrongly. Faced with this niche opposition, Disco music producers certainly didn't tremble, but when the genre met its end, betrayed by its own audience, the very foundations of the music industry began to creak, so managers had to quickly find alternatives to capture new markets (which for a while would be in New wave) before someone else did. This contributed to closing the "Disco" chapter even faster before anyone else could add anything more. Fortunately, only in America. In Europe, however, the genre moved forward pleasantly. The single that opened Italian Disco to foreign markets was one by a Roman group, named after a popular gay club ("Easy Going"), titled "Baby I love you." Another Italian artist, based in Munich, Giorgio Moroder, advanced Italy's name in the Disco world, creating an avant-garde genre called Eurodisco (today evolved into Hi-NRG). From there, Italian Disco (born in a period when singing in English was cool) would be increasingly followed.

Malavasi, the real architect of the genre, soon met Italo-American producer Jacques Fred Petrus with whom he would create their first experiment, "Revanche." They achieved moderate success with the single "You get high in N.Y.C" in 1979. Petrus was a producer who looked to the horizon while keeping an eye on the market. This means he did his job, but he enjoyed doing it with more refined and exclusive methods. His production "elite" consisted of professionals who knew their craft but somehow stood apart from the crowd. This led to very sophisticated projects but at the same time manageable and versatile, like the music, the real purpose of a music producer (not always respected, consider techno...). So, after setting aside the "Revanche," Petrus pursued his ideal of "Disco music to listen to and not just to dance to," satisfied initially with his new project, "Peter Jacques Band," born in 1979, who signed, with Malavasi's help, classics like "Walking on music" and "Is it it?." Nevertheless, the effect did not entirely satisfy the ambitious producer, who still sensed the smell of ultra-commercial Disco in the air. So, he changed things and started over. With a group aptly named "Change." Along with the already well-proven Mauro Malavasi, Jacques Fred Petrus chose as company for the latter the bassist Davide Romani and guitarist Paolo Gianolio. Along with these instrumentalists, he joined an ensemble of black voices and a then-unknown and young Luther Vandross.

With the album "The Glow of Love" in 1980, Change debuted. Just when (at least on paper) Disco music in America was decaying, in Italy the REAL Italian Disco music officially emerged, which greatly influenced all pop music produced in Europe and, thanks to the English vocal performances by Vandross and co., also overseas. "The Glow of Love" made quite a stir and reigned in clubs and on radio throughout Europe. The style was dry, precise, light, well-thought-out, elegant, meticulously crafted and, musically speaking, a little gem. There were six tracks in total, a bit few considering the current standards of 9/12. But they were full of substance. They were the perfect compromise between disco and jazz club, between radio and rarity, between cult and commercial. Surely, this formula astonished everywhere and surprised with its precision and rigor. Davide Romani, the bassist who would give the band its unique bass musical timbre, would later say that Americans were surprised, because while they had the tone, we had the groove and precision. All to the advantage of Italy, music, the band, and, naturally, Petrus's pockets. The present and pumped bass, the "funky" and plucked guitar, the pioneering use of early synthesizers and drum machines, the black vocal sensibilities, and an omnipresent groove were the typical ingredients of "Change." All combined with the classic secret ingredient that every artist (in this case, group of artists) has. The tracks, as I mentioned earlier, are six, and they are:

1. A LOVER'S HOLIDAY: one of the most beautiful moments of "Change" was also the first. A bass line interwoven with a funky guitar pluck, combined with a binary drum rhythm, forms the groove of this song, which makes you move and dance. The musical carpet on which everything moves is made of a sinuous synthesizer, while accents are highlighted by piano chords. Horns at a certain point fill a bridge between chorus and verse. Subtle but indispensable percussions keep the 4/4 and perfectly synchronized voices lift the soloist's voice high on the melody singing "Holliddayyyyyy...." A perfect piece from every point of view, even that of the rock fanatic, the critic or the communist. Arranged by Malavasi and Romani, it doesn't show its age.
2. IT'S A GIRL'S AFFAIR: Change returns to Disco music less influenced by Jazz and more rockish with this single. Bass slaps carry the rhythm over the bass drum in 4, while the guitar in flanger serves the function of the synthesizer in "A lover's holiday." The lead vocalist instead carries the melody. The sounds vaguely recall Chic by Nile Rodgers and Bernie Edwards. It's a single that couldn't be missing in an era where Disco was an omnipresence in Europe. The beginning is engaging and the development is satisfying. Indispensable.
3. ANGEL IN MY POCKET: but tell me, above a groove like this, who wouldn't start dancing immediately? The bass line seems to be the drums themselves. Nothing is left to chance, classic strings meet for one of the first times with experimental and bionic synthesizers of the early '80s. This alone makes this hit a real cult.
4. THE GLOW OF LOVE: it was a hit of that year and still sends shivers today. It was the real launchpad for Luther Vandross, who became known for those magnificent falsettos he gifted us in this knockout single. Loop bass line used as a carpet, plucked guitar in the background, pumped and useful drums for the groove, sublime strings that envelop the listening, along with shy synthesizers at the end. The least danceable and most remembered single of the entire album. An absolute masterpiece.
5. SEARCHIN': pioneering piece with the same purpose as "The glow of love" but more danceable and experimental. The bass line for the first time is synthetic, moreover in a loop. The contrast that Vandross's voice creates with the shrill percussions, hyper-pumped and dry drums (very fashionable at the time) and classic instruments like strings is unique. A truly thought-out piece, even in the lyrics (always in English, I remind you) and forward-looking. The most remembered single after "The glow of love."
6. THE END: to conclude such an album, a track titled "the end" was just right! The beauty is that it doesn't resemble any of the previous ones. If "Searchin'" anticipated its timbres a bit, the panorama completely changes on listening. The piece consists of six minutes of futuristic and avant-garde electronic evolutions à la Giorgio Moroder. Guitars, strings, voices, and basses have all been replaced by the synthesizer, which carries the listener into its futuristic dimension. This piece is perhaps the most "cult" of the entire album. A more than worthy finale for a most worthy album, reaching forward, hidden under a blanket of rigorous, clean and precise music. None of those "Parental control" labels on albums should ever be released. They should never publish rubbish labeled "explicit content." Artists worldwide should take an example from this album. And not argue.