📀 Forgotten Disco Anthem: Zulema’s “Change” and the Missed Revolution of 1977

The Twelve Inch 166 : Change (Zulema)

Chances are, you’ve never heard of Zulema, or her song “Change.” I hadn’t either, not until a school trip to London in the early ’80s. We had a bit of free time, and, being a total music obsessive, I made a beeline for the Virgin Megastore on Oxford Street. I didn’t have much money, so I dove into the clearance bins, rows of dusty 12-inch singles at bargain prices.

That’s when I found it: “Change” by someone named Zulema. I didn’t know the name, I didn’t know the song, but something about it pulled me in. I added it to my modest stack of discoveries.

I’ve never regretted that decision. In fact, that 12-inch turned out to be the best find of the day. I played it endlessly over the years, and it’s still firmly locked in my all-time disco top ten. It’s one of those tracks that radiates joy, it lifts me up every time I hear it.

Yet “Change” was never a hit. Not in America, not anywhere. But the story behind it, and behind Zulema herself, is worth telling. It’s a snapshot of the early evolut…