Jacques Morali and Henri Belolo
France, 1974–1991
Two French producers, both raised in Morocco, who went to Philadelphia because of the records coming out of Sigma Sound and stayed to make their own. The Ritchie Family first, then Village People, which they assembled out of an idea about American archetypes rather than a band that existed. Morali died in 1991; the Eurodisco they built from the Philadelphia sound outlasted both of them.
MusicRoots documents 2 artists who influenced Jacques Morali and Henri Belolo and 1 artist Jacques Morali and Henri Belolo influenced in turn. Every connection cites a published source.
Who influenced Jacques Morali and Henri Belolo?
- Gamble and Huff — Belolo went to Philadelphia for the Gamble and Huff sound and financed Morali's residency at Sigma Sound to be inside it; the Eurodisco they then built is that sound taken to Europe.
- MFSB — What Belolo names about Philadelphia is specifically the playing - lush strings over Earl Young's drumming, which is MFSB, the house band on those records.
Which artists did Jacques Morali and Henri Belolo influence?
- Village People — The group did not exist before they invented it: Village People began in 1977 as a studio project of Morali, Belolo and Victor Willis, and the costumes, the songs and the records are theirs.