Time to Change
"Time to Change" is a song recorded in 1972 by The Brady Bunch Kids, the children characters on 1970s television situation comedy The Brady Bunch. The song and another Brady Bunch Kids song, "We Can Make the World a Whole Lot Brighter", were featured in The Brady Bunch episode "Dough Re Mi", which aired on January 14, 1972.
Written by Raymond Bloodworth, Billy Meshel and Chris Welch, "Time to Change" features solos by Barry Williams and Maureen McCormick, who portrayed the Brady's eldest children Greg and Marcia, respectively, on the TV series. Some listeners might classify this as an example of a "bubblegum pop" record, while fans of such music might feel that the term is insulting.
The songs featured in this episode marked the Brady Bunch' on-screen singing debut of Marcia and Bobby (Mike Lookinland). Greg's singing debut occurred in Season 2 episode "Where There's Smoke", while Peter, Jan (Eve Plumb) and Cindy (Susan Olsen) briefly sang The Bonnie Banks o' Loch Lomond in Season 2 episode "The Drummer Boy".
The song was also featured in the first episode of the Saturday-morning cartoon series The Brady Kids, titled "Jungle Bungle, Part I."
"Time to Change" was released as The Brady Bunch's second single, with "We Can Make the World a Whole Lot Brighter" as the B-side. The song performed poorly on the pop charts, failing to reach the Billboard Hot 100.
The original recording of "Time to Change" is currently found on their greatest hits album, It's a Sunshine Day: The Best of The Brady Bunch, and a re-recorded version was released on the soundtrack to A Very Brady Sequel.
The song was also prominently featured in A Very Brady Sequel twice, the second time being the end credits music.
Episode synopsis of "Dough Re Mi"
Introductory fact of "Dough Re Mi", is Peter's first voice cracked as he answered the telephone and was later told, that he sounded like a girl, answering the telephone, when Sam, the butcher, called, trying to contact Alice. Greg is hoping to sign as a solo vocalist, a recording contract, but after executive decides that a family group is better than going solo (given the recent popularity of acts such as The Carpenters, The Jackson 5 and The Partridge Family, pointed out later), Greg invites his siblings to become part of his act. While rehearsing "We Can Make the World a Whole Lot Brighter", Peter's voice begins to crack suddenly, raising concerns about the group's viability. Greg initially wants to drop Peter from the group, but after getting advice from his parents, Mike and Carol, he decides to write a new song where Peter's cracking voice won't be so conspicuous; that song is "Time to Change". The final act features the siblings in the recording studio recording the song.
On the TV show, the refrain humorously features Peter's voice crack as the group sings the refrain lyrics "When it's time to change, you've got to rearrange". The studio version, released for retail sale, does not feature the voice crack. The cracking voice was not Christopher Knight's as Peter Brady, as some may think. It is still a secret among the Brady Bunch staff of actors, actresses, episode writers, off-screen directors and producers.