Alain Morisod (born 23 June 1949) is a Swiss musician and television producer, known for forming Sweet People who had a UK number 4 hit in 1980 with "Et Les Oiseaux Chantaient (And the Birds Were Singing)".[1]
Early life
Morisod grew up with an older brother, Maurice, born 3 April 1946. He did also have another brother, Jean-Claude, born 23 October 1947, but he died only 4 days after being born.[2] At the age of 9, Morisod lost his father, Jean, who was a butcher in the Geneva district, Saint-Gervais. Following the encouragement of his mother, Maguerite, he then learned to play the piano. He studied at the Institut Florimont between 1958 and 1968 and then went on to study in the Faculty of Law at the University of Geneva, from 1968 to 1970. He then went on to study at the Conservatoire de Musique and the Conservatoire Populaire, both in Geneva.[3]
Music career
From 1967, Morisod was a piano accompanist for artists such as Arlette Zola, Henri Dès and Fernand Raynaud.[3] His first single, "Concerto pour un été", was released in Switzerland on 27 April 1971, which Morisod also composed and produced.[4][5] Then, soon after, producer Henri Belolo called Morisod saying that he wanted to release the song in France. The only problem was that the name Morisod sounded too 'Swiss', so Belolo proposed replacing it with Alain Patrick, which Morisod accepted. The single was then released in France in June.[6] The song was a hit, selling over 2 million copies, becoming a Top 40 hit in France and also reaching number 46 in Wallonia. The following year, it once again reached the Top 40 in France.[7][8] However, the song became a bigger hit in 1973 in Brazil where it was number 1 for 9 weeks.[9] The album of the same name also reached at least number 10 in France.[7] A remix of song, with seagull cries and the noise of waves, was also released at the request of radio station RTL, as it sounded more 'new age'.[6]
In 1977, Morisod formed Sweet People to participate in the 1978 Eurovision Song Contest. Their song "Hey, le musicien" came second in the national finals, losing out to "Vivre" by Carole Vinci, which Morisod had also composed.[10][11][12] In February 1978, "Le Lac de Côme" was released and was a number 1 in Canada and the album of the same name was certified platinum.[3][13] The song had originally been released as the B-side to "Crystal Tears" the previous year, but to his astonishment, Morisod got a call from Quebecois producer Gerry Plamondon [fr], to say that the song could work in Canada and so it was then released there.[14]
After its success, Morisod's brother, Maurice, came up with the idea of removing the piano part from the song and adding in birdsong. This became "Et Les Oiseaux Chantaient", which was quickly included on their album Percé.[15] The song was released in the UK in 1980 with the parenthesised "And the Birds Were Singing", where it peaked at number 4 in the charts.[16][1] It was also a Top Ten hit in Flanders and the Netherlands and a Top 40 hit in Germany.[17] The song charted again in the UK in 1987, reaching number 73.[1] Sweet People achieved further success with "Adieu et Bonne Chance", which reached number 25 in France in 1985.[18]
For the 1982 Eurovision Song Contest, Morisod composed the Swiss entry "Amour on t'aime", sung by Arlette Zola, and also provided backing vocals as part of Sweet People.[19]
Morisod has lived in Canada since around 1980[20] and over the years has achieved great success there with Sweet People; numerous albums have been certified platinum and gold by the CRIA, including Le petit garcon au piano, Nos plus belles melodies, Noël sans toi, Prend le temps and Madawaska in the 1980s and many more in the 1990s.[21][22][23][24]
Other work
In 1979, he took over the Casino-Théâtre Revue in Geneva and managed to revive its success.[25] He had previously accompanied Ferdinand Raynaud on piano there in 1971.[26] The Casino-Théâtre was then closed in 1987 due to renovation work and once reopened in 1990, management was entrusted to Pierre Naftule.[25]
After being engaged for 31 years, Morisod married fellow Sweet People singer Mady Rudaz in 2001.[3]
For the 2003, 2004 and 2006 Eurovision Song Contests, Morisod was the co-commentator with Jean-Marc Richard for the French-language Swiss television station RTS.
In 2011, he was the ambassador for the 24th telethon in Switzerland (Téléthon Action Suisse) for French-speaking Switzerland, alongside journalist Malick Touré-Reinhard.[29]
Discography
Albums
Studio albums
As Alain Patrick / Alain Morisod and His Orchestra
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