Change is one of my absolute favourites in the 80s soul, funk and R&B music and I have really studied and writing about them in every way since the debut album “The Glow of Love” in 1980. Change is surely disco but also so much soul.The man behind this studio project was the notorious French-Italian businessman Jacques Fred Petrus. In the late 70s he scored a great deal of success around the world with studio creations like Macho and Peter Jacques band. He delivered Italian produced disco performed by US vocalists. He was really hot in 1980 when he launched Change backed up by his brilliant staff of Italian songwriters, especially Davide Romani and Mauro Malavasi. Their music combined with Luther Vandross voice, THE soul icon in the 80s and 90s, but still unknown at the time exploded in a rarely seen firework resulting in five Grammies and eternal hits.
The six-track album hits you hard right from the start with a dream dance tune, the pure masterpiece “A Lover’s Holiday”. That one is followed by two other disco focused soul gems “It’s a Girl’s Affair” and “Angel In My Pocket” featuring some nice vocals by high end singers like Jocelyn Brown and Diva Gray. When Vandross showed at the second half he really owns the scene entirely. The title track is so well performed and getting goose bumps is an understatement. Vandross REALLY liked the song. In an interview for Vibe Magazine in September 2001 Vandross said "---this is the most beautiful song I've ever sung in my life....". His second high light is “Searching” that is heart aching and irresistible soul performed with a sensitivity few can reach and even fewer can beat.
The debut of Change is a soul gem in disco clothes and a must have if you have missed it, not because it was Vandross brilliant breakthrough but because the entire album is a true pleasure.
Patrik Andersson
Patriks Soul Funk Special
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