Peter Jacques Band

Italian disco band

Peter Jacques Band

Origin| Bologna, Italy
Genres| Disco, hi-NRG
Years active| 1978–1986
Labels| Prelude Records, Goody Music Records, Renaissance International
Past members| Jacques Fred Petrus
Mauro Malavasi
Davide Romani
Gabriele Melotti
George Aghedo
Leroy Burgess
Rudy Trevisi
Sandro Comini

Peter Jacques Band was an Italian disco band, created by French-Italian-American businessman Jacques Fred Petrus (1949–1987) and songwriter and producer Mauro Malavasi (1958–present).

## Overview

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They released three albums all reaching minor success but most of all opened up the US market for Italian made disco. In 1979, his greatest single hit was "Walking on Music" from the "Fire Night Dance" album. All tracks from this album peaked #6 on the US disco chart.[1] Other albums were, "Welcome Back" released in 1980 and "Dancing In The Street" released in 1985. After financial problems Petrus had less means and studio time to succeed with PJB and his other projects like Change and B. B. & Q. band. In 1987, while in Guadeloupe, Petrus was assassinated and a Swiss tourist was accused of murder.[2] After which PJB vanished.

The band is considered one of the pioneers of Italian produced Disco music in the U.S. and Europe. Still, the style of the music of the band is not an Italo disco (a specific dance music genre that developed in Europe in the 80-s). It's rather a real, "traditional" (US-rooted) disco music produced in Italy. It's clearly reflected in its "cold" dance-style sound and upbeat rhythm, and in the fact that it was mainly marketed in the US, where it gained a huge popularity.

In 2007, Turbofunk (Patrick Alavi) released "Gotta Move" which was a remix of "Dancing in the Street".

## Discography

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### Albums

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* Fire Night Dance (1978)
* Welcome Back (1980)
* Dancing in the Street (1985)

### Singles

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Year  | Title

|

US Dance
[3]
1978  | "Walkin' on Music"  | —
1979  | "Fire Night Dance"  | 6
1980  | "The Louder"  | —
"One Two Three (Counting on Love)"  | —
"Is It It"  | —
"Exotically"  | —
"Welcome Back"  | 57
1985  | "Going Dancin' Down the Street"  | —
"Drives Me Crazy"  | —
"This Night"  | —
"—" denotes releases that did not chart or were not released.

### Compilations

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* The Very Best of Peter Jacques Band (2007)

## References

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1. ^ Whitburn, Joel (2004). Hot Dance/Disco: 1974-2003. Record Research. p. 133.
2. ^ Harrison, Angus (10 August 2015). "The Story of Italy's Biggest Disco Producer, His Ruthless Rise to the Top, and Eventual Assassination". Vice. Retrieved 12 November 2016.
3. ^ "Peter Jacques Band Top Songs / Chart Singles Discography". Music VF. Retrieved 30 September 2021.

## External links

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* Peter Jacques band biography
* Leroy Burgess interview by Pete Lewis, 'Blues & Soul' September 2010

Authority control databases

International|

* ISNI
* VIAF

National|

* United States

Artists|

* MusicBrainz