BB & Q Band - Genie (The Expanded Edition) BB & Q Band

BB & Q Band, also known as The Brooklyn, Bronx & Queens Band, was the creation of musical masterminds Jacques Fred Petrus and Mauro Malavasi. Petrus, born in Guadeloupe in the French West Indies, travelled from Paris to Milan, Italy, where he met Italian music student Malavasi. Together they founded a disco-focused production company and launched a series of studio projects, including Macho, Revanche, and others deeply inspired by the early disco scene.

Their greatest success emerged when they brought together Italian musicians Davide Romani and Paolo Gianolio with American vocalists such as Luther Vandross and Jocelyn Brown for the group Change. Their follow-up project, BB & Q Band, released four albums between 1981 and 1986.

Genie, released in 1986, was co-produced by Petrus and written and produced by multi-instrumentalist Kae Williams II, a member of the funk-soul group Breakwater. The album features lead vocals by Curtis Hairston, with backing vocals by Ullanda McCullough, guitar by Mike Campbell, and bass by Timmy Allen. Hairston’s smooth vocal style, often compared to Luther Vandross and Peabo Bryson, later led to solo success with his self-titled 1986 album.

Genie includes the singles Genie, Minutes Away, (I’m A) Dreamer, Main Attraction, On The Shelf, and Riccochet. Genie is a mid-tempo boogie track with that signature ’80s 808 sound and became a dancefloor classic that inspired many releases of the era. (I’m A) Dreamer, titled simply Dreamer on European editions, became the album’s biggest single, thanks in part to the extended vocal remix by Shep Pettibone, whose work with artists like Madonna shaped the sound of modern dance music.

Now, BB & Q Band’s Genie is reissued for the first time, celebrating its 40th anniversary as an expanded 2LP edition. The original 1986 album is included in full, alongside a rich selection of bonus material. The bonus tracks include nu-disco house remixes of Genie and Dreamer by Michael Gray, and Ricochet by Michael Gray & Dr Packer. Also included are the original US 12” version of Dreamer by Shep Pettibone, Ben Liebrand’s Dutch The Finest Remix of Main Attraction, and Dancin’ Danny D’s UK remix of Riccochet.

BB & Q Band – Genie: The Expanded Edition is available as a limited edition of 1,000 individually numbered copies on blue coloured vinyl, with all tracks mastered by Ben Liebrand.