Biography
Jacques Cardona, born on 25 June 1946 in Toulouse (Haute-Garonne) and died on 1 December 2008 in Aussonne, was a French singer-songwriter and music producer.
Originally from Haute-Garonne, Jacques Cardona studied economics and social sciences in Toulouse before starting out in music with a band called Apollo.
In 1971, at 36 Rue Condorcet in Toulouse, in a small garage originally used to store cars, he set up the “studio Condorcet” with Roger Loubet — who would go on to become Michel Sardou’s conductor and arranger for 25 years — and the brothers Jean-Michel and François Porterie, with whom he co-managed the studio. In 1975, the studio moved to 48 Rue Matabiau in Toulouse.
All these musician friends, with their highly complementary skills, went on to create a unique sound thanks to Roger Loubet, the ‘“magicien orchestrateur”’; François Porterie, regarded as one of France’s finest sound engineers; and Jacques Cardona,… a “touche à tout de génie”; they were later joined by other top-class musicians from Toulouse, such as Pierre Téodori, Patrice Locci, Jean-Louis Pujade (later of Émile et Images), and others.
The Condorcet studio quickly became famous for its ‘“à la californienne”’ sound, known to all professionals as the ‘“son Condorcet”’, which rivalled that of the Parisian studios, even though it had initially been set up solely to work on the music of this group of musician friends, including Pierre Groscolas, who recorded his first compositions there, such as ‘Fille du vent’.
Together with his three colleagues, Jacques Cardona went on to form the band The Sweepers, of which he was the lead singer. The band achieved European success with the track ‘Harlem song’, which, however, enjoyed only critical acclaim in France.
For years, the studio was constantly busy, and numerous artists recorded there: Johnny Hallyday, Francis Cabrel, Adamo, Gloria Gaynor, Jimmy Cliff, Dick Rivers, Gérard Lenorman, Hugues Aufray, Serge Guirao, Lara Fabian, Richard Cocciante, Mike Brant, Michel Sardou, Gold, Bernard Demichelis, Pierre Grocolas, etc.
The producer Haim Saban, co-founder of Saban Entertainment alongside Shuki Levy, contacted Jacques Cardona in the late 1970s and offered him the chance to perform theme tunes for animated series such as Ulysse 31 (1981), Les Mystérieuses Cités d'or (1983), Inspecteur Gadget (1983) and Lucky Luke (1984). The songs with French lyrics were recorded at the Condorcet studio.
From 1981 onwards, Jacques Cardona produced and developed the career of the band Gold, and sold the studio to Bernard Laville in 1985.
After selling the studio, he devoted himself solely to composing music.
Jacques Cardona has written numerous songs for artists such as Claude François, Johnny Hallyday, Francis Cabrel, Adamo, Gloria Gaynor, Jimmy Cliff, Dick Rivers, Hugues Aufray, Lara Fabian, Richard Cocciante, Marie Myriam (‘Tout est pardonné’), Mike Brant, Michel Sardou (‘Tous les bateaux s'envolent’), Gold (‘Capitaine abandonné’, ‘Plus près des étoiles’, ‘Ville de lumière’), and he co-produced Johnny Hallyday’s album *Cadillac* with Étienne Roda-Gil (1989), Pierre Groscolas, and others.
Jacques Cardona died of a stroke on 1 December 2008 in Beauzelle, aged 62. He was buried at the cemetery in Aussonne (Haute-Garonne).
Based on Wikipedia (in French), translation DeepL (CC BY-SA licence)
1Songs
| Song | Year | Records |
|---|---|---|
| Inspecteur Gadget | 1996 |
|