Jacques Morali

Born: July 4, 1947 in Casablanca, Morocco French Record Producer & Composer. Formerly a salesman at record shop in Orly Airport, he started out in the music industry as a composer for the Parisian variety/burlesque club Crazy Horse, and also as a solo act. He was then hired at age 24 as an A&R for Polydor. In 1975, he met future business partner Henri Belolo (then an independent label owner and music publisher) whilst searching for a song to produce. It was on the East Coast (after Morali pitched the idea of releasing "Brazil" as a disco record) of the United States that Belolo agreed to sponsor a long-lasting residency for Morali at Sigma Sound Studios. Working together and with American lyricists & conductors Horace Ott, Phil Hurtt, and Beauris Whitehead (and later Producer/Arranger Fred Zarr & Lyricist Bruce Vilanch), they left an indelible mark on American & worldwide culture with their work creating & producing acts such as the Village People, The Ritchie Family, Eartha Kitt, Patrick Juvet, Régine, Dalida, Eric Russell, Cher, Patricia Norton, Julius Brown, Starlight, Diva, Dennis Parker (whom Morali dated), David London, Wayne Scott, Lova Moor and Pia Zadora. Jacques was one half of Can't Stop Productions, Inc., alongside Belolo, and at some point claimed to have made US$8,000,000 a year in the 70s. Between 1974 and 1982, he recorded at least 65 releases, and currently possesses around 400 credits with ASCAP, BMI, and SACEM. Nonetheless, following the "disco backlash" of the early-80s, he would eventually find success elusive. He was diagnosed with HIV in the mid-80s and died of AIDS in Paris on November 15, 1991. He is the brother of Serge Morali, who has managed his copyrights since 1991.