B. B. & Q. Band

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B. B. & Q. Band (which stands for the Brooklyn, Bronx, and Queens Band), American disco/funk group, created 1981, disbanded 1986.

1 The background
2 The succssful debut
3 Wine and water
4 One final push for the top
5 Reference
6 External link

[edit] The background

The Brooklyn, Bronx and Queens band, or B. B. & Q. band as they were called, was a studio concept created 1981 by businessman Jacques Fred Petrus. After the success with Change in 1980 but also with Macho and Peter Jacques band in the late 70s Petrus and his close co-worker, Italian Mauro Malavasi decided to launch a new project named after the three boroughs in NYC that the band "members" came from. One of the key figures was Pee Wee Ford (aka Paris Ford) that was appointed by Petrus to assemble a band. The band was more of an informal nature giving the album a face and loosely kept together under Petrus firm command with his inner core of Italian musicians and hired American musicians and vocalists playing the main role.

[edit] The succssful debut

The self-titled debut on Capitol produced several catchy melodies of which Malavasi wrote all except one. The biggest hit when it comes to the charts was the hypnotic "On the Beat" that reached the #8 spot on Billboards Black Single chart. Also the majestic "Time for Love" (#72 on Billboards Black Singe chart) mixed an infectious melody with a sensitive vocals by the excellent singer Ike Floyd.

After the success Paris Ford left for other engagements and Petrus appointed Kevin Robinson, an ex. Kinky Foxx member to lead the band that from now on had a more band like status.

[edit] Wine and water

The successful sound from 1981 lived on and was re-used with a good result on the second release in 1982 "All Night Long" (#32 on Billboard's Black Albums list) including several irresistible melodies like "All night long (she's got the moves I like)" (#32 on Billboard's Club Play Singles list), "Imagination" (#21 on Billboard's Black Singles list) and "Children of the night" (uncharted).

In 1983 "Six Million Times" hit the market with clear influences from The Time and Prince. Petrus faced serious economical problems in 1983 affecting everything around him including "Six Million Times" that was produced with a tiny budget and during five hasty weeks in Bologna. The album didn't become a commercial success either and Capitol dropped the band.

[edit] One final push for the top

Petrus decided to put B. B. & Q. band aside in 1984 after the miserable 1983 album and put all his efforts and money on the new album by Change. But in 1985 Petrus had fixed a contract with Elekra and B. B. & Q. band was back on track with their last album "Genie", including minor hits like the title track and "Dreamer". Kae Williams that was a former Breakwater member hired by Petrus wrote all (!) tracks and co-produced the LP in conjunction with Petrus. The album also showed examples of Curtis Hairston's brilliant and way to early silenced voice when Petrus invited him to be the lead singer. The album sold rather well, especially in Europe, but not enough and in 1986 B. B. & Q. band dissapeared due to the fact that Petrus was murdered. That eventually not only became the end for all his musicial projects but also of the production company he and Malavasi had build together in the mid 70s and that had produced so many god acts.