Jacques Morali as remembered by Villager Mark Lee

[remicks]

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Wish every story in the land of disco was glittery and gracious and smelled like tuber rose ... Scary how many probably aren't and don't .

This new article in which Mark Lee reflects over his time with the Village People and his experiences with Jacques Morali sure taints things. Want the man behind so many successfully adventurous disco projects to be regarded as a disco saint.

(((Well real is real ....)))

Here's the entire article . (thanks to member Cory Ander)
Quite a read :

Love and war: Mark Lee on his years with the Village People :: EDGE Boston

In it Mark Lee describes meeting Morali this way :

After high school, Lee left Sacramento, his childhood home, to study architecture at UCLA At a private party in 1980, Lee’s employer suggested he play the piano and sing. Then "this little, tiny French guy, about 5’3", sitting across the room perked up when I started singing."

The man was Jacques Morali, the French songwriter and producer who created the Village People. Morali suggested Mark should join the group and replace the original construction worker, David Hodo. It took two years and several missed connections before the two met again, and Morali made good on his offer. It was not without strings.

What 's curious for me is that Morali , the terror, was around 5'-3" . That's pretty tiny. Now in this photo Morali is identified as the man on the right with Henri Belolo being on the left .




But this photo is a blend from of this group picture :

Now in this shot doesn't Morali look as big , if not even bigger, than the rest ...where Belolo in the center seems comparatively tiny ? (So if Morali was 5'3" ...was Belolo 4'10" ... & what about Victor ?????)

Just got me curious ....does anyone know for sure which one is which ??
I wasn't successful at finding other photos ........


He sure looks friendly ......

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[Graham_Start]

Morali is the one on the right in the first photo (the second is blocked from my office). There's also a picture of him on the back of the "Macho Man" LP cover. And then there was that TV special on the Village People which actually focused a lot on him (kudos to the program's producers for pointing out that he was the real force behind the group and not the performers).

He was well-known for being *very* demanding and controlling of his performers. I don't know where anyone would get the idea that he was a saint... this is the same guy who fired the entire Ritchie Family and replaced them with sexier-looking women.

As for Belolo, I don't think he had much, if anything, to do with the actual music. My understanding is that he handled the business side of things, and got songwriting/production credits and royalties as part of the arrangement. Deals like that are not uncommon in the music business...

[markydefad]

It looks like Lil' Jacques is standing on a stool ...he seems to pop up over the folks on either side of him--especially Victor Willis...oops, Ray Simpson!!!---who gets reduced to Emmanuel Lewis size!!!!

[remicks]

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....he's also so bright in that photo!

Thanks for the clarification Graham!

Originally Posted by Graham_Start

I don't know where anyone would get the idea that he was a saint... this is the same guy who fired the entire Ritchie Family and replaced them with sexier-looking women.

True.
Still , I want all the big players in the land of disco to be eligible for disco sainthood ...the Jacques Moralis ... the Neil Bogarts the Simon Saussons .....all of them . Keep the myth that disco was all one big happy family alive ....


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[SandraDee]

Remmy & Marky, I think you'll find that the cop is actually Ray Simpson & not Victor Willis; this must be a photo from after Victor's era.

[remicks]

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No wonder I've got Morali and Belolo confused....I can't even tell the cops apart !!

So that's LIL' Ray!


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[Dayna]

Not SCAT~!!!
Reminds me of the 2 Live Crew song
Doo Doo Brown
Thats just NASTY~!!
A Good read though.

[STEPHEN L FREEMAN]

The only 2 items I know for sure about Ms. Morali are that:

1) The Village People were supposed to be signed to TK Records, as the brother (sister) group to The Ritchie Family. But Morali and Ray Caviano got into an all-out bitch-fight. Then Marc Paul Simon jumped on the situation and talked Morali into bringing the group to Casablanca. Which, of course, he did with the Ritchie Family, a couple years later.

2) Randy Jones (the Village Peoples' original Cowboy) said, in a late 80's interview, that Jacques Morali was a nasty, bitchy queen who surrounded himself with all the Men he could never have. (OUCH!)

Naaahhh!!! He was not well liked.

[remicks]

*****

and now,

the rest of the story :


PART TWO

of :

The boys in the band
Mark Lee on the road with the Village People
Published 03/20/2008

by Robert Julian



the teaser highlight

: "Well, Felipe was getting really, really fat, () and he and Glenn are bickering just before I walk out. Glenn says something like, 'If you don't lose some weight, you're going to be the dancing whale, not the Indian.' The second he says that, Felipe picks up this glass pitcher full of water that is sitting backstage and cracks it over Glenn's head. The two of them start going at each other, fists and fingernails, and feathers are literally flying. Glenn ended up with a broken eardrum and a black eye.

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[STEPHEN L FREEMAN]

Originally Posted by Graham_Start

this is the same guy who fired the entire Ritchie Family and replaced them with sexier-looking women.

Possibly, with the 2nd set of girls. (There were, at least 3) But, (according to David Campbell, who played tambourine on the 1st 3 LPs, and toured with the group), the original members left, more or less, of their own accord. Gwendolyn Jacks was pregnant when "The Best Disco In Town" hit big (hence, the big billowy caftan-capes on the cover) and by the time "African Queens" came around, she didn't want to tour anymore. Also, she, Cassandra and Gwen had a strong allegiance to Ritchie Rome, who'd been forced out of his own group by the 4th LP.

Originally Posted by Graham_Start

As for Belolo, I don't think he had much, if anything, to do with the actual music. My understanding is that he handled the business side of things, and got songwriting/production credits and royalties as part of the arrangement. Deals like that are not uncommon in the music business...

True... Just like Cerrone and Pete Waterman, a chunk of the publishing royalties were part of the deal for putting up the financing. Belolo's listed as "General Supervision", or "Executive Producer" on the LPs. Which basically means he signed the checks. Let's say he was the 'Ian Schraeger' to Morali's 'Steve Rubell'.

Originally Posted by remicks

the teaser highlight

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I know that Glenn and Alex were close from the beginning, to the end. And I knew Felipe could be a bit bitchy, but I had no idea they were at eachother's throats like that!

We had them at "On The Waterfront", in Miami, in the mid-80's and I do recall all of the employes thinking..."Girl! Ms. Felipe's got some serious jiggle goin' on to be wearin' that outfit! She did get a bit ...er....um..uh
Chunky!

By the time Glenn passed-away( my dream hubby, with the softest face-fur on the planet!) he was no longer performing. But was handling their business affairs. I'd imagine, by then, they were all behaving like adults.

[Graham_Start]

Originally Posted by STEPHEN L FREEMAN

Possibly, with the 2nd set of girls. (There were, at least 3) But, (according to David Campbell, who played tambourine on the 1st 3 LPs, and toured with the group), the original members left, more or less, of their own accord. Gwendolyn Jacks was pregnant when "The Best Disco In Town" hit big (hence, the big billowy caftan-capes on the cover) and by the time "African Queens" came around, she didn't want to tour anymore. Also, she, Cassandra and Gwen had a strong allegiance to Ritchie Rome, who'd been forced out of his own group by the 4th LP.

Oh, okay. Thanks for that bit of info. I just assumed they'd been canned since (1) they all left at once, (2) it wouldn't have been out of character for Morali to pull something like that, and (3) this happened right around the time that the Village People became huge, and VP showed how important it is to have the right image in music. They didn't sound any different from Morali's other acts, but they were the only one to crossover into mainstream popularity.

[STEPHEN L FREEMAN]

Originally Posted by Graham_Start

Oh, okay. Thanks for that bit of info. I just assumed they'd been canned since (1) they all left at once, (2) it wouldn't have been out of character for Morali to pull something like that, and (3) this happened right around the time that the Village People became huge, and VP showed how important it is to have the right image in music. They didn't sound any different from Morali's other acts, but they were the only one to crossover into mainstream popularity.

Actually, you're right. Just off by 1 LP. 1978's 'American Generation' was the last Marlin/TK LP. These were the girls that replaced the original members. 1978's 'Macho Man' was the LP that broke The VP. In '79, Morali dumped at least 2 of the girls from the group, brought them to Casablanca and recorded 'Bad Reputation' either immediately before, or immediately after the VP's 'Go West'.

And I'm fairly certain (so don't hold my feet to the fire, on this one) that it was "Dodi" who was the only girl to make it from 'American Generation', through to the RCA LP, produced by Malavasi & Taylor.

[Cdnbob]

Originally Posted by STEPHEN L FREEMAN

2) Randy Jones (the Village Peoples' original Cowboy) said, in a late 80's interview, that Jacques Morali was a nasty, bitchy queen who surrounded himself with all the Men he could never have. (OUCH!)

Naaahhh!!! He was not well liked.

Stephen do you know what the reason behind Randy leaving was? I've always been curious why he left the group.

[Cdnbob]

Originally Posted by remicks

This new article in which Mark Lee reflects over his time with the Village People and his experiences with Jacques Morali sure taints things. Want the man behind so many successfully adventurous disco projects to be regarded as a disco saint.

Remicks thanks for pointing out this article. It was really interesting to read and learn about Mark's experiences being in the VP. Its funny... but when I read things like this article, or hear about such stuff on tv, it makes me kind of glad I never made it as a performer and just became a regular everyday person.

[Graham_Start]

Originally Posted by Cdnbob

Stephen do you know what the reason behind Randy leaving was? I've always been curious why he left the group.

There's probably more than one reason, but I recall reading or seeing an interview with him where he said that he thought the "Klaus Nomi" look that the group was adopting for their reinvention with the Reniassance album would be a disaster, and he refused to have any part of it.