Jacques Morali (4 July 1947 – 15 November 1991) was a French

disco Disco is a genre of dance music and a subculture that emerged in the 1970s from the United States' urban nightlife scene. Its sound is typified by four-on-the-floor beats, syncopated basslines, string sections, brass and horns, electric pi ...

and

dance music Dance music is music composed specifically to facilitate or accompany dancing. It can be either a whole musical piece or part of a larger musical arrangement. In terms of performance, the major categories are live dance music and recorded dance ...

record producer and songwriter, known for creating acts like

The Ritchie Family The Ritchie Family are an American vocal group based in Philadelphia that achieved several hits during the disco era. They have reunited and continue to perform. Their latest single "Whatcha Got" was released in 2021. Background The three ori ...

and

Village People Village People is an American disco group known for its on-stage costumes and suggestive lyrics in their music. The group was originally formed by French producers Jacques Morali, Henri Belolo and lead singer Victor Willis following the release ...

Early life

Morali was born in Casablanca, Morocco. He may have had Jewish ancestry.

Career

Beginning in France

He made his start in the music business at the end of the 1960s, writing music for orchestras in Paris, for the Crazy Horse, for himself as a solo artist (he played in 1967 show "Elle aime, elle n'aime pas" and released a single of the same title) but also for performers like Peter Fersen. Viva Zapata (Venus VS-71451), one of his first French productions, was sung by "Clint Farwood" - a pseudonym for a member of

King Harvest King Harvest was a 1970s French- American rock band who formed initially in Ithaca, New York, but broke up and reformed in Paris where they began recording their first songs. They are known for their 1972 hit single " Dancing in the Moonlig ...

. In the early 1970s, he met French music producer

Henri Belolo Henri Belolo (; 27 November 1936 – 3 August 2019) was a French music producer and songwriter active during the disco era. Born in Morocco, he started his career as a club DJ and A&R man. In the 1970s, with his friend, composer Jacques Moral ...

. But he thought quickly that his success in France was not as high as expected and started to try his luck in North America. Through meeting José Eber,

Elizabeth Taylor Dame Elizabeth Rosemond Taylor (February 27, 1932 – March 23, 2011) was a British-American actress. She began her career as a child actress in the early 1940s and was one of the most popular stars of classical Hollywood cinema in the 1950s. ...

and

Cher Cher (; born Cherilyn Sarkisian; May 20, 1946) is an American singer, actress and television personality. Often referred to by the media as the "Goddess of Pop", she has been described as embodying female autonomy in a male-dominated industr ...

's hairdresser, he became familiar with

Philadelphia International Records Philadelphia International Records (PIR) was an American record label based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was founded in 1971 by songwriting and production duo Kenneth Gamble and Leon Huff along with their longtime collaborator Thom Bell. I ...

. At the time, Morali proposed several projects to Belolo without convincing him.

International

In 1975, Morali told Belolo about his intention to adapt the Brazilian song "Brazil" from a musical starring Carmen Miranda. The idea was to make an epic record for the clubs, sung by larger-than-life female singers. Seduced by the idea, Belolo agreed to finance a long-lasting Morali residency at

Sigma Sound Studios Sigma Sound Studios was a recording studio in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.. It was founded in 1968 by recording engineer Joseph Tarsia. Located at 212 North 12th Street in Philadelphia, it was one of the first studios in the United States to ...

in Philadelphia. That was the start of their collaboration. They cast three girls ( Cheryl Jacks, Cassandra Wooten and Gwendolyn Oliver) and named the band

. "Brazil" was a solid success, the first of many that made them long-term partners ("The Best Disco In Town" (1976), "Life Is Music" (1977), "African Queens" (1977), "Quiet Village" (1977) & "American Generation" (1978)), both as creator and author, on top of also being writer and editor (Black Scorpio Publishing).

Mainstream

While in New York, Morali attended a costume ball at "Les Mouches", a gay disco in Greenwich Village. As he gazed around the room, he was impressed by all the "macho male stereotypes" portrayed by the party guests. The idea came to him to put together a group of singers and dancers, each one playing a different gay fantasy figure. At first, Belolo was not involved in this project, but when he saw that Morali had succeeded in signing a licensing deal with Casablanca Records (one of the more famous disco labels), Belolo decided to become his close sidekick on the project. The

's songs include " San Francisco (You've Got Me)" (1977), "

YMCA YMCA, sometimes regionally called the Y, is a worldwide youth organization based in Geneva, Switzerland, with more than 64 million beneficiaries in 120 countries. It was founded on 6 June 1844 by George Williams in London, originally ...

" (1978), " Macho Man" (1978), "

In the Navy "In the Navy" is a song by American disco group Village People. It was released as the first single from their fourth studio album, '' Go West'' (1979). It was a number one hit in Canada, Flanders, Japan and the Netherlands, while reaching numbe ...

" (1979), " Go West" (1980) and " Sex Over the Phone" (1985) and they became one of the more successful acts of the disco era with their flamboyant concept albums. Jacques Morali's music was characterized by simple arrangements, a unique sense of camp, simplistic lyrics and simple catchy melodies that could be remembered easily. Between 1974 and 1982, he recorded over 65 albums. He co-wrote songs for many artists including

Patrick Juvet Patrick Juvet (21 August 1950 – ca. 1 April 2021) was a Swiss model and singer-songwriter, who had a string of hit records in Europe. While his early career was focused on making pop records, he found international success as a disco music p ...

, Régine,

Dalida Iolanda Cristina Gigliotti (; 17 January 1933 – 3 May 1987), professionally known as Dalida, was an Italian-French singer and actress born in Egypt. She sang in eleven languages and sold millions of records internationally. Her best known son ...

, Eric Russell,

, Patricia Norton, Julius Brown, Starlight, Diva,

Dennis Parker Dennis Parker (born March 23, 1950) is an American football coach. He served as the head football coach at the University of North Texas from 1991 to 1993 and at Texas Lutheran University from 2007 to 2009, compiling a career college football re ...

, David London, Wayne Scott, Lova Moor and

Pia Zadora Pia Zadora (born Pia Alfreda Schipani, May 4, 1954) is an American actress and singer. After working as a child actress on Broadway, in regional theater, and in the film '' Santa Claus Conquers the Martians'' (1964), she came to national attentio ...

. After the post-1970s disco backlash, he began collaborating with Fred Zarr, precipitating work with Break Machine and 1984's

Eartha Kitt Eartha Kitt (born Eartha Mae Keith; January 17, 1927 – December 25, 2008) was an American singer and actress known for her highly distinctive singing style and her 1953 recordings of " C'est si bon" and the Christmas novelty song "Santa B ...

album '' I Love Men''. In the late 1970s, he had a sexual relationship with singer/actor/adult film star Wade Nichols/Dennis Parker.

Death

Morali contracted

HIV The human immunodeficiency viruses (HIV) are two species of ''Lentivirus'' (a subgroup of retrovirus) that infect humans. Over time, they cause acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), a condition in which progressive failure of the immune ...

in the mid-1980s. On 15 November 1991, he died of

AIDS Human immunodeficiency virus infection and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) is a spectrum of conditions caused by infection with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), a retrovirus. Following initial infection an individual ma ...

-related causes in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

at the age of 44. Morali was buried in

Saint-Paul-de-Vence Saint-Paul-de-Vence (, literally ''Saint-Paul of Vence''; oc, Sant Pau de Vença; it, San Paolo di Venza) is a commune in the Alpes-Maritimes department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region of Southeastern France. One of the oldest medie ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Morali, Jacques 1947 births 1991 deaths Gay musicians French expatriates in the United States French LGBT singers LGBT songwriters Moroccan emigrants to France French dance musicians Village People 20th-century American musicians AIDS-related deaths in France 20th-century LGBT people https://www.discogs.com/artist/89428-Jacques-Morali