Village People

Village People

Village People in 1978
Background information
Origin New York City, United States
Genres Disco
Years active 1977–present
Labels Casablanca Records
Black Scorpio
RCA
Polygram
Website www.OfficialVillagePeople.com
Members
Felipe Rose
Alex Briley
David "Scar" Hodo
G. Jeff Olson
Eric Anzalone
Ray Simpson
Past members
Victor Willis
Randy Jones
Glenn Hughes
Ray Stephens
Mark Lee
Miles Jaye Davis
Py Douglas
Bill Whitefield
Alex Timmerman
Angel

Village People is a concept disco group formed in the United States in 1977, well known for their on-stage costumes depicting American cultural stereotypes, as well as their catchy tunes and suggestive lyrics.

Original members were: Victor Willis (the police officer character), Felipe Rose (the Native American), Randy Jones (the cowboy), Glenn Hughes (the biker), David Hodo (the construction worker) and Alex Briley (the G.I.). For the release of "In the Navy", Willis and Briley appeared as an admiral and a sailor, respectively. Originally created to target disco's primarily gay audience by featuring popular gay fantasy personas,[1] the band's popularity quickly brought them into mainstream.

Village People scored a number of disco and dance hits, including their trademark "Macho Man", "Go West", the classic club medley of "San Francisco (You've Got Me) / In Hollywood (Everybody is a Star)", "In the Navy", "Can't Stop the Music", and their biggest hit, "Y.M.C.A.".

In September 2008, the group received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.[2] They have sold upwards of 100 million records world-wide.[3]

Contents

History

1977–1979

The group was the creation of Jacques Morali, a French musical composer. He had written a few dance tunes when he was given a demo tape recorded by singer/actor Victor Willis. Morali approached Willis and told him, "I had a dream that you sang lead on my album and it went very, very big". Willis agreed to sing on the first album, Village People.[4]

It was a success, and demand for live appearances soon followed. Morali and his business partner, Henri Belolo (under the collaboration Can't Stop Productions), hastily built a group of dancers around Willis to perform in clubs and on Dick Clark's American Bandstand. As Village People's popularity grew, Morali, Belolo and Willis saw the need for a permanent "group." They took out an ad in a music trade magazine which read: "Macho Types Wanted: Must Dance And Have A Moustache."[4]

Morali literally bumped into the first recruit, Felipe Rose (Native American), on the streets of Greenwich Village. Rose was a bartender who wore jingle bells on his boots. He was invited to take part in the sessions for the first album. Alex Briley (who started as an athlete, but eventually took on the soldier persona) was Willis' friend. The others, Mark Mussler (construction worker), Dave Forrest (cowboy), Lee Mouton (leatherman) and Peter Whitehead (one of the group's early songwriters) appeared on American Bandstand and in the video for the group's first hit, "San Francisco (You Got Me)". They were later replaced by David Hodo, Randy Jones and Glenn Hughes, who all had more experience as actors/singers/dancers. Hughes had first been spotted as a toll collector at the Brooklyn Battery Tunnel.

Because Morali could not speak English, songwriting legends Phil Hurtt and the aforementioned Whitehead were brought in for the lyrics on the first album. For the next three albums (and on other Can't Stop Productions hit acts such as Ritchie Family and Patrick Juvet) Willis was the lyricist.[5] Likewise, Gypsy Lane (the Village People band) and their conductor, Horace Ott, provided much of the musical arrangements for Morali, who did not play any instruments.[6]

The band's name references New York City's Greenwich Village neighborhood, at the time known for having a substantial gay population.[7] Morali and Belolo got the inspiration for creating an assembly of American man archetypes based on the gay men of The Village who frequently dressed in various fantasy attire.

While the song "Macho Man" put them on the map, their 1978 anthem "Y.M.C.A." made them one of the most successful musical groups of the disco era.

In 1979, the United States Navy considered using "In the Navy" in a recruiting advertising campaign on television and radio. They contacted Belolo, who decided to give the rights for free on the condition that the Navy help them shoot the music video. Less than a month later, Village People arrived at the San Diego Naval base. The Navy provided them with a warship (USS Reasoner (FF-1063)), several aircraft, and the crew of the ship. The Navy later canceled the campaign.[8]

Their fame reached its peak in 1979 when Village People made several appearances on The Merv Griffin Show and appeared with Bob Hope to entertain the U.S. troops. The group was also featured on the cover of Rolling Stone, Vol. 289, April 19, 1979. Willis left the group at the end of an international tour in 1979, and the group's decline began.

1980–1985

Ray Simpson, brother of Valerie Simpson (of Ashford & Simpson), stepped into Willis' shoes in time for the group's highly anticipated 1980 feature film Can't Stop the Music, directed by Nancy Walker, written by Allan Carr and Bronte Woodard, music and lyrics by Jacques Morali (although Willis penned the lyrics to Milkshake and Magic Night) and starring Steve Guttenberg, Valerie Perrine, Jean-Claude Billmaer, Bruce Jenner, and Village People. By the time it was released, however, disco had waned and the movie won the Worst Picture and Worst Screenplay prizes at the 1980 Golden Raspberry Awards in March 1981 and was nominated in almost all the other categories. Despite that, the song Can't Stop the Music became a Club Play chart hit and moderate radio hit. The soundtrack also featured the talents of "David London", who under his real name Dennis "Fergie" Frederiksen went on to become the future lead singer of Toto and one of the main contributors to the Village People's next album. The movie itself has since gone on to become a cult favourite, developing a worldwide fan base.

The group was one of the featured guests on a November 22, 1980 episode of Love Boat, (7th episode of season 4), entitled "Secretary to the Stars/Julie's Decision/The Horse Lover/Gopher and Isaac Buy a Horse". At the end of 1980, cowboy Randy Jones left the group and was replaced by Jeff Olson.

In 1981, with the popularity of disco fading and New Wave music on the rise, Village People replaced its on-stage costumes with a new look inspired by the New Romantic movement, and released the New Wave album Renaissance. It only attracted minor attention and produced no hits.

Victor Willis returned to the group briefly in late 1981 for the album Fox on the Box, which was released in 1982 only in Europe but did have limited release in the United States in 1983 under the title In the Street. Miles Jaye had briefly taken over for Ray Simpson as lead singer by 1983 and contributed an extra track to In the Street. Mark Lee replaced David Hodo in 1982.

Their last album containing new material, the 1985 dance/Hi-NRG release Sex Over the Phone, was not a huge commercial success, but it fared better in sales and club play than their Renaissance album. The "Sex Over the Phone" music video, due to the rise of video on the Internet, has become a viral video phenomenon. The Sex album featured yet another new lead singer, Ray Stephens. Py Douglas came in to sub for Stephens for some of the group's live appearances in 1985.

In 1985, the group took a hiatus but reunited in 1987 with the line-up of Randy Jones, David Hodo, Felipe Rose, Glenn Hughes, Alex Briley and Ray Simpson.

1990s to present

Village People receive their star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame September 12, 2008. L to R (front row: David Hodo, Felipe Rose, Jeff Olson / back row: Ray Simpson, Alex Briley, Eric Anzalone.

Cultural references

Star Wars characters, a Jawa, Greedo, Chewbacca and an Imperial Stormtrooper, take on the iconic roles of the Village People and lead the crowd in the "Y.M.C.A." dance at a Disney weekend event in 2007.

Due to their easily recognizable characters, the group have frequently been imitated or parodied in films, television series, video games and music. Numerous covers and homages of their songs have been recorded. The stereotypical masculine characters, particularly the leather-clad biker character with a horseshoe moustache, have also become a widespread pop culture icons associated with male gay culture and YMCA has become something of an anthem of the LGBT community.

Discography

Main albums

Album Title Release Year
Village People 1977
Macho Man 1978
Cruisin' 1978
Go West 1979
Live and Sleazy 1979
Can't Stop the Music 1980
Renaissance 1981
Fox on the Box 1982
In the Street 1983
Sex Over the Phone 1985

Compilations and other albums

Singles

Lineup

The Village People have had a number of lineup changes over the years.

Original "People"

Replacement "People"

See also

References

  1. ↑ Spin Magazine Online: Y.M.C.A. (An Oral History)
  2. ↑ Pool, Bob (September 13, 2008). "New star turn for the Village People". Los Angeles Times. http://articles.latimes.com/2008/sep/13/local/me-village13. Retrieved May 27, 2010. 
  3. ↑ http://www.officialvillagepeople.com/history.php.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Village People, Rolling Stone Magazine Vol. 289, April 19, 1979
  5. ↑ Village People Official Tour Program, 1979, Can't Stop Productions
  6. ↑ Straight, No Chaser by Victor Willis, 1990
  7. ↑ Review: Gay Sex in the 70s: [1], 2000
  8. ↑ Vulliamy, Ed (November 12, 2006). "Everyday people". The Guardian (London). http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2006/nov/12/popandrock8. Retrieved May 27, 2010. 
  9. ↑ http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/villagepeople/articles/story/5932983/village_peoples_hughes_dead
  10. ↑ http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1486934/20040511/village_people.jhtml
  11. ↑ Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19th ed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. p. 587. ISBN 1-904994-10-5. 

External links