|
Village People is a novelty disco band of 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 navy officer, a leatherman (biker), and a cowboy. 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.
1970s and early 1980s 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. 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 a well-known gay area of New York City, Greenwich Village. 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. Although the group exploited gay themes, the original line-up was a mixture of gay and straight members. The United States Navy considered using the Village People hit "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 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. Other hits include their trademark "Macho Man", "Go West", and "YMCA". 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. An interesting fact about Village People recordings is that all of the background vocals for their best known recordings were provided by two session musicians who went on to front notable bands; Bill Champlin from Chicago, and Richard Page from Mr. Mister. The 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. The soundrack 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 not a commercial success. 1990s to present Discography Original People Replacement People See also | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 |
|
| |