Mauro Malavasi

Mauro Malavasi (born in 1957) is an Italian pianist, songwriter and producer.

Malavasi had during the early 70s educated himself at the conservatory of Bologna, Italy in the composition, choir and orchestral disciplines. During those years he also developed his piano to become a masterly piano player. After a crucial meeting in Bologna, Italy, with businessman Jacques Fred Petrus in the mid 70s the pair created a production company called Goody Music Productions (GMP) in 1978. After their first project release that year called Macho (including the top ten track "I'm A Man") the followed up that success with new projects like Peter Jacques band and Revanche. All these projects were to be considered more or less studio projects that toured successfully both in Europe and in the US with several different line-ups during the late 70s. Malavasi, that was Petrus' right hand and closest co-worker, wrote most of the tracks on the earliest projects before he got more competition from other by Petrus used Italians like Davide Romani and Paolo Gianolio and later on even from American songwriters like Kashif, Timmy Allen and Kevin Robinson.

New York

New York is a state in the Northeastern United States and is the United States' 27th-most extensive, fourth-most populous, and seventh-most densely populated state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south and Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Vermont to the east. The state has a maritime border in the Atlantic Ocean with Rhode Island, east of Long Island, as well as an international border with the Canadian provinces of Quebec to the north and Ontario to the west and north. The state of New York, with an estimated 19.8 million residents in 2015, is often referred to as New York State to distinguish it from New York City, the state's most populous city and its economic hub.

With an estimated population of nearly 8.5 million in 2014, New York City is the most populous city in the United States and the premier gateway for legal immigration to the United States. The New York City Metropolitan Area is one of the most populous urban agglomerations in the world. New York City is a global city, exerting a significant impact upon commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and entertainment, its fast pace defining the term New York minute. The home of the United Nations Headquarters, New York City is an important center for international diplomacy and has been described as the cultural and financial capital of the world, as well as the world's most economically powerful city. New York City makes up over 40% of the population of New York State. Two-thirds of the state's population lives in the New York City Metropolitan Area, and nearly 40% live on Long Island. Both the state and New York City were named for the 17th century Duke of York, future King James II of England. The next four most populous cities in the state are Buffalo, Rochester, Yonkers, and Syracuse, while the state capital is Albany.

Luther Vandross

Luther Ronzoni Vandross, Jr. (April 20, 1951 – July 1, 2005) was an American singer, songwriter and record producer. Throughout his career, Vandross was an in demand background vocalist for several different artists including Judy Collins, Chaka Khan, Bette Midler, Diana Ross, David Bowie, Barbra Streisand, Ben E. King, and Donna Summer. He later became the lead singer of the group Change, which released its certified gold debut album, The Glow of Love, in 1980 on Warner Bros. Records. After Vandross left the group, he was signed to Epic Records as a solo artist and released his debut solo album, Never Too Much, in 1981.

His hit songs include "Never Too Much", "Here and Now", "Any Love", "Power of Love/Love Power", "I Can Make It Better" and "For You to Love". Many of his songs were covers of original music by other artists such as "If This World Were Mine" (duet with Cheryl Lynn), "Since I Lost My Baby", "Superstar" and "Always and Forever". Duets such as "The Closer I Get to You" with Beyoncé, "Endless Love" with Mariah Carey and "The Best Things in Life Are Free" with Janet Jackson were all hits in his career.

Jacques Fred Petrus

Jacques Fred Petrus (French pronunciation: ​[ʒak fʁɛd pɛtrys]; born February 22, 1948 in Guadeloupe, French West Indies - June 8, 1987 in Saint-Felix, Guadeloupe, French West Indies) was a French-Italian businessman and a pioneer of Italian Disco music.

Early years

He worked as a diesel-engine mechanic on a cargo ship aged only 15 before his early interest for R&B and Soul music brought him to Paris where he worked as a DJ at different clubs, including the legendary jet-set nightclub "Club Saint-Hilaire".

In the early 70s, he moved to Milan, Italy and continued his career as a DJ for several famous local clubs like "Good Mood". After a crucial meeting with music student Mauro Malavasi (°1958) in Bologna, who became his working partner and main song writer and producer, they formed a disco production company called Goody Music Productions (GMP), invested in a recording studio at Bologna and created the Goody Music record label.

In 1978 the associates released their first studio project called Macho which was followed by more or less commercially successful disco productions like Revanche and Peter Jacques band. But it wasn't until 1980, when their latest creation called Change was revealed, that Petrus and Malavasi established their own signature sound and reached their goal of world wide success. In 1979 Fred Petrus gathered his international music activities under the company name Little Macho Music.

New York City

New York—often called New York City or the City of New York to distinguish it from the State of New York, of which it is a part—is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York metropolitan area, the premier gateway for legal immigration to the United States and one of the most populous urban agglomerations in the world. A global power city, New York exerts a significant impact upon commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and entertainment, its fast pace defining the term New York minute. Home to the headquarters of the United Nations, New York is an important center for international diplomacy and has been described as the cultural and financial capital of the world.

Situated on one of the world's largest natural harbors, New York City consists of five boroughs, each of which is a separate county of New York State. The five boroughs – Brooklyn, Queens, Manhattan, the Bronx, and Staten Island – were consolidated into a single city in 1898. With a census-estimated 2014 population of 8,491,079 distributed over a land area of just 305 square miles (790 km²), New York is the most densely populated major city in the United States. As many as 800 languages are spoken in New York, making it the most linguistically diverse city in the world. By 2014 census estimates, the New York City metropolitan region remains by a significant margin the most populous in the United States, as defined by both the Metropolitan Statistical Area (20.1 million residents) and the Combined Statistical Area (23.6 million residents). In 2013, the MSA produced a gross metropolitan product (GMP) of nearly US$1.39 trillion, while in 2012, the CSA generated a GMP of over US$1.55 trillion, both ranking first nationally by a wide margin and behind the GDP of only twelve and eleven countries, respectively.