Jacques Morali

Who was Jacques Morali?

Jacques Morali was a French music author and creator of disco music and novelty acts like Village People.

He began in music at the end of the 1960s by writing music in Paris for orchestra, for the Crazy Horse, for himself but also for performers like Peter Fersen. Viva Zapata, one of his first French productions, was sung by "Clint Farwood" - a pseudonym for a member of King Harvest. In the early 1970s, he met Henri Belolo. But he thought that his success in France was not as high as expected. Through meeting José Eber, Elizabeth Taylor and Cher's hairdresser, he became familiar with Philadelphia International Records. Morali proposed several projects to Henri Belolo without convincing him. One day he proposed to adapt the Brazilian song "Brazil" from a musical starring Carmen Miranda. The idea was to make a record for the clubs. Seduced by the idea, Belolo and Morali went to the "Sigma Sound" Studio in Philadelphia. They found three girls and named the band The Ritchie Family. "Brazil" was a success, the first of many that made them forever partners, one as a creator and author, and the other one as a writer and editor.