Jo Marcel (1938- ) is a famous Vietnamese singer, songwriter and music producer.
He was born in Hanoi, Vietnam in 1938 with a given birth name,
Vũ Ngọc Tòng. While studying in Hanoi, he attended Puginier French Catholic High School. In 1954, upon relocating to Saigon, South Vietnam, he continued on with his education at Lasan Taberd High School where he would graduate from two years later.
During the late 1950s, he began his professional singing career under the stage name,
Ngọc Minh, headlining for major cabarets in Saigon such as
La Galère and
Văn Cảnh. He experienced some success with his signature performances of popular Vietnamese hit songs included
Mộng Dưới Hoa written by
Phạm Đình Chương and
Ai Về Sông Tương written by
Thông Đạt. However, it was his ability to sing in French that wowed audiences at cabarets and venues which prompted his decision to change his stage name to Jo Marcel. Among his most well-received covers of popular French love songs included
Merci Chérie,
Les Neiges du Kilimandjaro,
Fais la Rire,
Capri C'est Fini and
Et Pourtant. In the 1960s, Jo Marcel teamed up with his then wife,
Như An, to
become one of the hottest pop music singing duos of South Vietnam.
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(From left to right) Jo Marcel, Tung Giang,
Truong Ky and Nam Loc |
Aside from his achievements as a pop singer in South Vietnam, Jo Marcel had also found tremendous success as a music producer and a nightclub promoter. During the late 1960s, Jo Marcel formed his own music production label simply titled as
Jo Marcel which released over 25 volumes of audio cassettes comprised of various artists such as Jo Marcel, himself,
Lệ Thu,
Khánh Ly,
Mỹ Thể,
Anh Khoa,
Giao Linh,
Thanh Lan,
Lê Uyên &
Lê Uyên Phương,
Julie Quang,
Tiny Yong,
Thái Thanh,
Quỳnh Giao,
Xuân Sơn,
Carol Kim,
Thanh Thúy and
Bạch Yến. After promoting a series of highly successful, sold-out events held at the
Queen Bee cabaret, Jo Marcel began promoting for various other nightclubs in Saigon such as the
Au Baccara and
Au Ma Cabane. In 1969, he opened
Ritz nightclub which would become one of the top nightclubs in Saigon until the closing of its doors with the Fall of Saigon in 1975. In addition, Jo Marcel had also dabbled in films with the formation of a film production company with two of his friends,
Trường Kỳ and
Nam Lộc, called the
Jo Marcel Group. He produced two noteworthy rock and roll musical films,
Thế Giới Nhạc Trẻ, which starred actors,
Minh Lý and
Đan Thành, and featured unforgettable performances from popular rock groups of South Vietnam such as
The Hammers,
The Peanuts Company,
Phượng Hoàng and
The Enterprise and
Vết Chân Hoang, a semi-biographic film based on the writings of Trường Kỳ. As a songwriter, his most popular songs included
Ngày Đó,
Áo Dài Việt Nam and
Vết Chân Hoang, the theme song of the film he had produced by the same name.
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Thanh Lan, Julie Quang and Jo Marcel (Asia Entertainment - 1996) |
In 1975, Jo Marcel left South Vietnam to resettle in the United States. For the next decade, he continued performing for overseas Vietnamese audiences all over the United States and abroad. He continued to produce and release audio cassettes under his own production company. During the mid 1980s, Jo Marcel slowed down his career in music and settled into a quiet life. He took on a job as director of the United States Catholic Charities in Los Angeles, California, a non-profit organization which assists newly arrived Vietnamese immigrants and started an automobile repair shop business. In 1989, he emceed
Thuy Nga's very first live show video production of the
Paris By Night series. In 1966, he co-hosted volume 5 of the popular video series produced by
Asia Entertainment,
Đêm Sài Gòn 4 In Montréal, with songwriter
Lê Tín Hương and performed alongside Julie Quang and Thanh Lan a medley of popular French love songs.
Jo Marcel has since retired. He currently resides in Los Angeles, California. His niece is
Lâm Thúy Vân, a popular singer signed with Asia Entertainment.
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