Jacques Fred Petrus

Jacques Fred Petrus (February 22, 1948 – June 8, 1987) was a West Indian-born businessman and a pioneer of post-disco music.

He spent much of his career in Italy and the United States.

Born in Guadeloupe in the French West Indies, Petrus worked as a diesel-engine mechanic on a cargo ship aged 15.

He subsequently travelled to Paris following his interest for R&B and soul music, where he worked as a DJ at different clubs from 1968, including the jet-set nightclub Club Saint-Hilaire.

In the early 1970s, he moved to Milan, Italy, and continued DJing at various clubs including Good Mood.

In Bologna he met music student Mauro Malavasi, who became his working partner and main songwriter and producer, and together they formed a disco production company called Goody Music Productions (GMP), established a recording studio in Bologna, and created the Goody Music Records label.

In 1978 Petrus and Malavasi launched their first studio project called Macho.

There followed a series of releases under different names, including Elvin Shaad (1978), Peter Jacques band (1979), Revanche (1979), Rudy (an album featuring the Italian Goody Music collaborator Rudy Trevisi), Midnight Gang (1979), A.N.T.I. Rock (1980) (an Italian version of Ottawan's disco hit "D.I.S.C.O."), The Jumpers (1980), Gianni Riso (1980) and Caprice (1980).

In 1979 Petrus gathered his international music activities under the company name Little Macho Music, opening an office in New York.

In 1980, Petrus and Malavasi established their signature sound under the name Change, a blend of eurodisco and American R&B-flavoured disco inspired by Chic, releasing their debut album The Glow of Love.

Petrus used two other Italian musicians on this album, bassist Davide Romani and guitarist Paolo Gianolio.

Romani wrote the number-one hits "A Lover's Holiday" and "The Glow of Love" (with vocals by Luther Vandross and Jocelyn Brown), and also arranged and conducted the entire set with Gianolio.

"A Lover's Holiday" reached number one on Billboard's Hot Dance Club Play for nine weeks, and the album also received seven Grammy Award nominations.

In the second half of the 1980s Petrus releases further albums by the B.B.& Q. Band (1985), Peter Jacques Band (1985) and Change (1985).

After the success with Change, Petrus and Malavasi launched several new projects including The Brooklyn, Bronx and Queens band (B. B. & Q. band) in 1981, High Fashion (1982) (including the Romani/Malavasi composition "Feelin' lucky lately" which reached no.32 on Billboard's R&B chart), Silence (a pop album released in 1982) and Zinc (group) (1982).

Their self-titled 1981 debut album included "On the Beat" (written by Malavasi and Slade), a dance track that reached no.8 on the Billboard black singles charts.

Petrus and his group 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, written by Malavasi, became a club hit.

The B. B. & Q. band was the most successful Petrus project after Change.

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 tax problems in the United States, Petrus was forced to shut down Little Macho Music.

In 1985 he started a new production company and record label called Renaissance International.

Vedette International was the name of his new publishing company.

In 1986 the United States Internal Revenue Service (IRS) accused Petrus of tax evasion.

Petrus put his music industry activities on hold and fled first to Italy, then to Guadeloupe.

Petrus was murdered in the spring of 1987 in Guadeloupe at the age of 39.

French police reported that Petrus had been shot at home in the heights of Saint-Félix by a Swiss gunman, who had clashed with him earlier that night at L'Elysée Matignon club in Le Gosier, which Petrus owned.