Village People is a concept disco group formed in the late 1970s. The group is as well known for its outrageous on-stage costumes as for its catchy tunes and suggestive lyrics. The members each dress as a police officer, an American Indian chief, a construction worker, a member of the military, a leatherman (biker), and a cowboy; after the release of In the Navy, both Victor Willis and Alex Briley appeared temporarily as sailors. Each of the members were basically dressed as forms of masculinity to emphasize their song lyrics that hid homosexually-charged innuendo. Many of the gay stereotypes originally appear in erotic art by Tom of Finland.
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", "Sex Over The Phone" and their biggest hit, "Y.M.C.A.". Almost thirty years later, a dance that involves forming the latter four letters with the dancer's arms is still popular at summer camps, office functions, wedding receptions, school dances, sporting events and B'nai Mitzvah. At the end of the fifth inning of each baseball game at Yankee Stadium, the grounds crew take an on-field break from grooming the infield to dance as "YMCA" is played, typically to enthusiastic cheers from the fans of all ages, seemingly oblivious to the possibly homosexual context of the song.
Collectively the Village People have sold 85 million albums and singles.
[edit] 1977-1979
The band was assembled in 1977 by two French musicians, Jacques Morali and Henri Belolo (see picture), specifically to showcase and perform their disco music creations. The original ad for recruiting the group was "Macho Types Wanted: Must Have Moustache" and was placed by Jacques Morali in 1976. Much like Frank Farian's Boney M or The Spice Girls, the group was manufactured. Despite the French songwriters, the songs were all in English.
The band's name references New York City's Greenwich Village neighborhood, at the time known for having a substantial gay population. Jacques Morali and Henri 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 ways.
Their 1978 song Y.M.C.A. made them one of the most successful disco groups.
In 1979, the United States Navy considered using In the Navy, another Village People hit, 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 war ship, several aircraft, and hundreds of Navy men. When the video started showing and the Navy started the planned ad campaign, some newspapers protested using taxpayers' money to fund music videos (especially for a group considered by some to be "morally dubious"). The Navy quickly cancelled the campaign. The scandal tremendously boosted the popularity of the song.
Their fame reached its peak in spring 1979, shortly before disco's death. The Village People was featured on the cover of The Rolling Stone, Vol. 289, April 19, 1979.
Victor Willis left the group at the end of 1979, and the group's downfall began. It is debated why he left, but officially he was fired because of his drug addiction.
1980-1989
Village People attempting their transition to New Wave musicThe group also appeared in its 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 and starring Steve Guttenberg, Valerie Perrine, Bruce Jenner, and the Village People. 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.
In 1981, with the popularity of disco waning 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 was a minor success.
Victor Willis returned to the group again in late 1981 for the albums Fox On The Box and In the Street.
Althought their 1985 dance/Hi-NRG release, "Sex Over The Phone" was not a huge commercial success, it fared better in sales and club play than their "Renaissance" album. A now rare remix album of their 1970's & early 1980's hits followed in 1989.
[edit] 1990 to present
In 1994, Village People joined the German national football team to sing its official World Cup '94 theme, "Far Away in America."
From July 18 to July 20, 2004, Village People performed in Berlin for three shows as an opening act for the German punk band Die Ärzte.
Starting in 2004, Village People performed as the opening act for Cher on her Farewell Tour until it ended in April 2005. It was a highly successful tour for both artists.
On June 6, 2006 Village People were scheduled to be the headline act at Asbury Park's famous Gay Pride parade and festival.
On June 20, 2006, Victor Willis, original lead singer, makes his first direct statement to the media in over 25 years indicating that the "nightmare of drug abuse" is being lifted from his life and that he looked forward to being released into a residential drug treatment program. Moreover, he apologized to Village People fans for refusing to perform live concerts since leaving Village People. In that same press statement, Victor Willis revealed that a book based on his life as lead singer of Village People is due for release in 2007 and that he plans to return to the stage in the summer of 2007. On September 5, 2006, Victor Willis was ordered released from custody and into the Betty Ford Center. He was given 3 years probation and ordered to abstain from further use of drugs. The sentence was part of a plea bargain struck in July of 2006. This officially resolved all of Victor's legal troubles, as long as he does not violate the terms of his probation.
On July 4, 2006 Village People opened for Los Lonely Boys at the Chevy Freedom Over Texas Fourth of July extravaganza.
On September 04, 2006, Village People performed at The 2006 Jerry Lewis MDA Telethon.
On September 30, 2006, Village People performed at Hard Rock Cafe in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic.
2007-01-05 16:20:58
·
answer #1
·
answered by croc hunter fan 4
·
1⤊
1⤋
1
2017-01-19 08:07:35
·
answer #2
·
answered by ? 4
·
0⤊
0⤋
This Site Might Help You.
RE:
What happened to the group the village people?
2015-08-13 09:59:33
·
answer #3
·
answered by Anonymous
·
1⤊
0⤋
The Second Decade:
Village People regroup under the banner of Sixuvus ("six of us") Ltd. Finally, their own bosses and with the help of a new management team, Village People has built an amazing success story of live performances worldwide, new young audiences, television and video appearances, and industry respect.
Of the originating and long-term members, Ray, David, Felipe, Jeff and Alex continued on. In 1995 Eric Anzalone replaced original member Glenn Hughes as the Biker/Leatherman. And for the record- NO, The Greaseman was never a member! End of discussion.
In 1990 on CBS Records(Australia) they recorded the top-ten hit Living in the Wildlife and in 1995 sang with the German Soccer Team on the BMG Records (Germany) number one hit Far Away in America. Village People wrote and now perform in their show a new classic entitled Trash Disco, a tribute to the many artists and dance hits which are now a memorable part of the disco era. Besides Trash Disco their live show also features new material like Take My Breath Away by David Hodo.
2007-01-05 16:14:54
·
answer #4
·
answered by richard_beckham2001 7
·
1⤊
1⤋
Located in Southern California, maybe not not even close to the Mexico border, San Diego is the oldest town in California, created in 1769 and if you wish to know a city with a wonderful organic beauty and a pleasing climate, with moderate conditions and lots of sun with hotelbye you ought to start. In San Diego you are able to visit: museums, gardens, Spanish Colonial design architecture present in Balboa Park, the entire world famous San Diego Zoo, and the Midway Aircraft Carrier Museum. SeaWorld San Diego is one of the city's principal attractions, especially for families. It is found along the waterfront in Mission Bay. For several American's SeaWorld has been a long time household custom, having existed because the 1960s. Among the highlights will be the variety of shows offering killer whales, sea lions, dolphins, and different sea life. You can find all kinds of tours from roller coasters crashing in to water, to more sedate carnival form tours for tots. SeaWorld is definitely an aquarium that allows for up close discusses sharks and other sea creatures which can be seen through an acrylic tube, alongside feel tanks, and shut encounters with dolphins and inhabitants of tidal pools.
2016-12-20 00:35:46
·
answer #5
·
answered by Anonymous
·
0⤊
0⤋
Be treated to an wonderful San Francisco experience and find why you ought to visit this town with hotelbye . In San Francisco you are able to go to the famous Golden Gate Bridge how was after called "the bridge that could not be built" and how is nowadays one the seven wonders of the current world. This magnificent bridge is San Francisco's many famous landmark. In San Francisco you may also visit the Lombard Street. Usually named the “crookedest” road on the planet, that scenic street on Russian Hill features tight turns, aromatic gardens and lovely views of the bay and Alcatraz. San Francisco is surely a town which will amaze you and where you can have the perfect holyday.
2016-12-19 00:05:57
·
answer #6
·
answered by Anonymous
·
0⤊
0⤋
There are steps you can take to actually build a strong, stable marriage and avoid divorce. Read here https://tr.im/htIzj
Here are some key steps to apply to your marriage:
- Start by understanding and being informed.
You can never be too informed about tools, methods and studies about building successful marriages. Understand the risk factors like your age and maturity at marriage can determine how successful it will be, the anatomy of an affair and what you can do after infidelity. Understand the success factors like the personal and psychological circumstances that will influence your marriage, what are the tools and approaches available to you in dealing with conflict, and numerous other relevant data. All this information is readily available to you whether through self-help material, through a counselor, support group or other venues. In fact, we have made it our commitment to provide these to you in different formats to help you make the best marriage you can.
The thing is, remember, this is information is not available for you to begin hyper-psychoanalyzing your relationship, yourself and your partner. It's not a matter of spewing trivia for the sake of conversation ' information is there for you to ponder over and internalize to help you transform yourself and your marriage. That includes maturing to such a point that you become more competent in your knowledge but more prudent in approach.
2016-04-23 06:54:11
·
answer #7
·
answered by tony 3
·
0⤊
0⤋
Santo Domingo is the capital of the Dominican Republic and the oldest European city in the Americas and if you wish to see among the UNESCO World Heritage List then, that hotelbye could be the place. Santo Domingo is a collection of cultures and neighborhoods. It's where in actuality the sounds of living, domino pieces slapped on platforms, backfiring mufflers and horns from chaotic traffic. In the center of the city is the Zona Colonial, where you will discover among the oldest churches and the oldest remaining European. Also, in the Zona Colonial you will discover Gazcue, one of many city's oldest neighborhoods, full of previous Victorian houses and tree-lined streets.
2016-12-16 10:56:49
·
answer #8
·
answered by Anonymous
·
0⤊
0⤋
The group The Village People still perform throughout the world.
Some of the original cast members still remain .
In 2001 Original member Glen Hughes succumbed to lung cancer after a long fight. He was buried in his leathers.
Go to www.officialvillagepeople.com for more information
2007-01-05 16:26:37
·
answer #9
·
answered by That_ blue_ eyed_ Irish_ lass 6
·
0⤊
1⤋
They had fun staying at the YMCA.
Here's a great article: http://observer.guardian.co.uk/omm/story/0,,1942189,00.html
Young man! Ever wondered what happened to the Village People? Ed Vulliamy traces the extraordinary story of the first gay superstar group, still touring after 30 years, with a trail of drugs, death and recriminations in their wake...
2007-01-05 16:14:03
·
answer #10
·
answered by Wildamberhoney 6
·
0⤊
1⤋
Singing is something that everybody can learn and improve. Of course, some are more naturally skilled than others, but even a poor voice can be overcome by dedication, practice, and more practice. Even if you're content to sing in the shower, there are some things you can do to improve your voice. This is probably the best online course to improve your singing skills https://tr.im/0bdt8
Your golden voice will be ringing out in no time!
2015-01-28 17:18:53
·
answer #11
·
answered by Anonymous
·
0⤊
0⤋