Song:On The Beat
Album:Disco Hits: We Are Family
On The Line was a big dance hit for B.B. & Q. Band in 1981. They started out as a studio band that turned into a real band after On The Line was a hit. Though B.B. & Q. stands for Brooklyn, Bronx & Queens, the guys behind B. B. & Q. were Italian producers Jacques Fred Petrus and Mauro Malavasi. Their studio band Change topped the dance charts in 1980. When that was successful, they decided to launch a second band. The concept was the same. Malavasi wrote and arranged the songs with Italian musicians. Then they brought over New York studio musicians like bassist Paris "Pee Wee" Ford, guitarist Doc Powell and drummer Terry Silverlight to give the backing tracks a more New York sound. They brought in Brit Paul Slade to write English lyrics. He also worked for the same producers on Change. he recorded as a solo artist in the early 70s. Then they auditioned singers in New York to lay down the vocal tracks. The lead singer of On The Line was Ike Floyd who was usually a background singer. Other singers included Bobby Douglas, Gordon Grody, Diva Gray, Fonzi Thornton, Luther Vandross and Robin Clark. The 1981 album The Brooklyn, Bronx & Queens Band was released on Capitol Records. On The line reached #3 on the Dance Music chart. What Petrus did differently from Change is he tried to turn B.B. & Q. Band into a real band. Kevin Robinson of Kinky Fox replaced Floyd as lead singer and Kevin Nance and Tony Bridges were among those hired to make them a real band. B.B. & Q. Band recorded three albums for Capitol and one for Elektra after Petrus and Malavasi split up. But they were unable to follow the success of On The Line and B.B. & Q. Band disbanded in 1986. You can get On The Line on this Rhino various artists budget comp. B.B. & Q. Band reunites occasionally mostly to tour Europe. The IRS came after Petrus in 1986 for tax evasion. Then he was mysteriously murdered in 1987. Here's B.B. & Q. Band performing On The Line in France 2003.
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