Peter Jacques Band
Fire Night Dance

It was the era of 12" records, electronic experimentation, the pulsations of Disco Music, and the crisis of the Italian songwriter music; it was the leaden years, so to speak, and the seventies were almost over. There was an Italian label called "Goody Music," based in Milan, which was among the first (or almost) to understand the new American musical trends and repackaged them specifically for the Italian market. I'm talking about the legendary label that gave birth to fundamental black music groups like Change, the B.B.& Q. Band, and of course, the Peter Jacques Band.
Managed by a DJ from Guadeloupe named Jacques Petrus (who simply called himself Fred) and musical geniuses still active today, such as Mauro Malavasi, Davide Romani, and Paolo Gianolio, the label found itself, for a certain period of its existence, in the top 10 charts worldwide, without knowing why. Perhaps it was due to the shrewdness of their commercial choices or maybe the actual quality of the music? Why not both? Because "Fire Night Dance", the debut EP of the project "of the same name" as its producer, had all the requirements to become a great success both domestically and in Europe. Always, of course, considering the period in which it was released (1979), a time when Disco Music in our country was still primitive and not fully exploited as it should. The path was opened by the same label when two years earlier, they released an EP by a fictional Emilia-based singer, Macho, titled "I'm a Man."
It was also a period in which electronic experimentation was becoming increasingly daring and closer to what was defined as "pop" music. The void left by the Italian songwriter scene, in a full-blown crisis of ideas, served to create space for products of a different nature, which suddenly began to sell like hotcakes. Fortunately, punk never arrived in Italy as it should have, and this further favored the market oriented towards the dance floor, so much so that soon, many junk products hit the market, causing it to collapse sooner than expected. But not the independent labels, which were the true pillar of that authentic Disco Music, so far from rock yet so similar when related to its appeal for the dance floor, the "dance floor."

"Fire Night Dance" on this front was THE ideal record, a record no DJ should have missed, a record that should have moved the world (or at least Italy) to its notes. Four extended tracks, with almost the same identical verse-chorus structure, spanning various formulas to make the night unforgettable and facilitate the DJ's work, the evening's shaman. It starts with the famous "Walking on Music", a cornerstone and the true base of the record. Through complex arrangements and precise rhythms, it manages to be funky, experimental, catchy, and danceable at the same time. The keyboards and percussion come together in a truly curious and successful union, anticipating (by far) the era in which electronics and acoustics will have equal weight in a track. The eight and a half minutes of length are perfect to engage without tiring both the listener and the dancer. And this is just the beginning of an EP that is yet to finish. After a while, you reach the second track, the dark and hypnotic "Devil's Run", which completely harks back to the style of the previous song, obviously changing melody and arrangements, which here sound more electronic (a drum machine is superimposed on the acoustic drums) and the rhythm becomes more pressing (but the tempo remains the same, around 135 BPM). Particularly well-crafted, as always in a Petrus-Malavasi production, is the vocal part, which sounds perfectly synchronized and in tune.
We move to side B after another eight and a half minutes. The third track is also the title track of the album, "Fire Night Dance", a truly fiery night spent dancing. The style is the same as the previous two tracks, and little actually changes. This time, however, the arrangements are the most acoustic of the whole record. Little or nothing else to say about it, except that the piece is again eight and a half minutes long. So far, beautiful songs, a bit commercial, but perfectly enjoyable and well played, but nothing really new on the horizon. They are three very similar songs, proving very useful as effective dance floor fillers. But where's the cult piece of the entire record? As with the vast majority of Petrus-Malavasi productions, the cult piece is always the last one. Here is "Fly with the Wind", nine minutes of pure experimentation applied to the dance floor, where if it weren't for a few sprinkles of percussion here and there, it could be defined as the first example of an Italian computer-dance song. Atmospheric and with a considerable impact, "Fly with the Wind" concludes an EP with an epic touch, of definite effect and good quality (although it inevitably seems dated today), but certainly not the pinnacle of Goody Music label (which was still young at the time), which would release many better albums in its short but legendary history (it disappeared after changing its name twice, in 1986, the year Jacques Petrus, the manager and owner, was mysteriously assassinated in Guadeloupe).

The album was entirely recorded at FONOPRINT studios in Bologna and mixed in New York, using Italian musicians and American vocalists. Musicians: Guitar: Fabbri Giorgino Bass: Davide Romani Drums: Gabrielli Melotti Congas: George Aghedo Sax: Rudy Trevisi Trombone: Sandro Comini Trumpet: Mauro Malavasi Synthesizer, piano, electric piano: Mauro Malavasi Percussion: George Aghedo, Rudy Trevisi Synth assistant and sound engineer: Maurizio Biancani. Vocalists: Lead vocals: Leroy Burgess Background singers: Arthur Simms, Joe Scott, Sammy Gaha, Ann Calvert, Gloria Turner, Claudia Polley, Hilda Harris, Lavelle Duggan, Maerethia Stewart.

The record was released on "Prelude" records, and today it is very difficult to find on CD. LP prints are still available (not in large quantities) on eBay. Available on CD (as part of a compilation of the entire discography) from Fonte Records. Recently, "The Very Best of Peter Jacques Band" released by "Pull" distribution was also released. The Peter Jacques Band would release two more albums, one of these in 1980 ("Welcome Back") after only a year, with a decidedly better and more modern sound.