Jo Marcel

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.

(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.

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.