Village People



Village People is an American disco group well known for their on-stage costumes depicting American masculine cultural stereotypes as well as their catchy tunes and suggestive lyrics. Originally created by Jacques Morali and Henri Belolo to target disco's gay audience by featuring popular gay fantasy personae, the band quickly became popular and moved into the mainstream. The group scored a number of disco and dance hits, including "Macho Man", "Go West", the classic club medley of "San Francisco (You've Got Me) / In Hollywood", "In the Navy", and their greatest hit, "Y.M.C.A."

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 eponymous debut album, Village People.

It became a hit, and demand for live appearances soon followed. Under the collaboration Can't Stop Productions, Morali and his business partner Henri Belolo hastily built a group of dancers around Willis to perform in clubs and on Dick Clark's American Bandstand. The band's name refers to New York City's Greenwich Village, at the time known for its large gay population. Morali and Belolo created a group of stereotypes based on the fantasy attire often worn by gay men of Greenwich Village when socializing. As the 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."

Morali met the first recruit, Felipe Rose (who dressed as a Native American), on the streets of Greenwich Village. Rose was a bartender who wore jingle bells on his boots, and was invited to take part in the sessions for the first album. Alex Briley (who started portraying an athlete but eventually took on the soldier persona) was hand-picked by Willis to be in the group. The others were Mark Mussler (construction worker), Dave Forrest (cowboy), Glenn Hughes (leatherman), and Peter Whitehead (one of the group's early songwriters), who appeared on American Bandstand and in the video for the group's first hit, "San Francisco (You Got Me)". Later replacements were David Hodo (construction worker) and Randy Jones (cowboy). Willis himself portrayed a police officer.

Songwriters Phil Hurtt and Peter Whitehead were brought in to write lyrics for the first group album. Willis took over writing duties for the group's biggest albums (Macho Man, Cruisin' and Go West), scoring their biggest hits, including "Y.M.C.A.", "Macho Man", "Go West", and "In the Navy". He also wrote for other Can't Stop Productions acts, such as The Ritchie Family and Patrick Juvet. Gypsy Lane (Village People band), and their conductor Horace Ott provided much of the musical arrangements for Morali, who did not play any instruments.

The 1978 single "Macho Man" brought them mainstream attention, and their follow-up single "Y.M.C.A." became one of the most popular hits of the 1970s.

In 1979, the United States Navy considered using "In the Navy" in a television and radio recruiting campaign. Belolo offered them permission if the Navy would help film a music video for it. The Navy provided them access to the San Diego Navy base, where the USS Reasoner (FF-1063), several aircraft, and the crew of the ship would be used. This song was also performed on the TV series The Love Boat, and in the 1995 Navy comedy movie Down Periscope.

The group's fame peaked in 1979, when they made several appearances on The Merv Griffin Show and traveled with Bob Hope to entertain U.S. troops. They were 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 a decline in popularity followed.

1980–1985
Ray Simpson, the brother of Valerie Simpson (of Ashford & Simpson), replaced Willis for the group's highly anticipated 1980 feature film Can't Stop the Music. The film was directed by Nancy Walker, written by Allan Carr and Bronte Woodard, music and lyrics by Jacques Morali (except Willis penned the lyrics to "Milkshake" and "Magic Night") and starring Steve Guttenberg, Valerie Perrine, Jean-Claude Billmaer, and then-Bruce Jenner. By the time it was released, however, disco's popularity had waned, and at the March 1981 Golden Raspberry Awards, the movie was named Worst Picture and Worst Screenplay, and was nominated in almost all the other categories. Although the title song became a club play chart success and moderate radio hit, it was nominated for Worst Original Song "Razzy" and did not live up to sales expectations, never obtaining gold status as a single or album. The soundtrack also featured the talents of David London, who under his real name Dennis "Fergie" Frederiksen became the future lead singer of Toto and one of the main contributors to Village People's next album. The movie itself has since become a cult favorite.

The group were among the weekly guest stars on the November 22, 1980, episode of Love Boat (season four, episode seven: "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 new wave music becoming more popular than disco, Village People replaced its on-stage costumes with a new look inspired by the New Romantic movement, and released the album Renaissance. It only attracted minor – mostly negative – 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 in Europe and Japan, and in 1983 in the United States under the title In the Street. Ray Simpson left the group in 1983 and was replaced by Miles Jaye. Jaye contributed an extra track to In the Street and performed numerous live shows and television appearances. 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 Renaissance. The title track, when released as a single, was banned by the BBC because of its subject matter: credit-card phone sex. The album featured yet another new lead singer, Ray Stephens (of The Great Space Coaster fame). 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. Since 1988, the group has managed itself under the name Sixuvus Ltd.

1990s–present



 * September 15, 1991: Village People perform in front of 41,815 in Sydney, Australia, as part of the pre-game entertainment for the New South Wales Rugby League Grand Final held at the Sydney Football Stadium, singing their hit "Y.M.C.A".
 * November 15, 1991: Village People founder Jacques Morali dies from complications of AIDS in Paris, France.
 * July 13, 1993: Village People perform a medley of self-parody songs at the MTV Movie Awards – "In the Movies" ("In the Navy"), "Psycho B**ch" ("Macho Man"), and "My MTV" ("Y.M.C.A.").
 * October 24, 1993: The group makes a guest appearance on the hit show Married... with Children in the episode "Take My Wife, Please".
 * 1994: Village People join the German national football team to sing its official World Cup '94 theme Far Away in America.
 * 1994: Cowboy Randy Jones sings Greg Brady's part on a punk cover of The Brady Bunch classic Time to Change.
 * 1995: Eric Anzalone replaces Glenn Hughes as the Leatherman/Biker.
 * 1996: Village People appears with Kelsey Grammer, Rob Schneider, and other cast members during the end-credits sequence of the film Down Periscope.
 * 2000: The group releases new material under the name Amazing Veepers.
 * 2001: Felipe Rose appears as himself on the game show To Tell the Truth.
 * March 4, 2001: original member Glenn Hughes (Leatherman) dies from lung cancer in New York City.
 * 2004: Village People perform as the opening act for Cher on her Farewell Tour until it ends in April 2005. It was a highly successful tour for both artists.
 * May 7, 2004: Original Cowboy Randy Jones marries Will Grega, his boyfriend of 20 years.
 * mid-2004: Village People perform at Lincoln Center Out of Doors.
 * September 4, 2006: Village People perform on Jerry Lewis's MDA Telethon.
 * August 31, 2007: Victor Willis gives his first live concert in 28 years in Las Vegas.
 * October 23, 2007: Village People perform on the NBC game show The Singing Bee.
 * November 17, 2007: Victor Willis weds long-time love, Karen, a lawyer and executive.
 * July 15, 2008: At the Major League Baseball All-Star Game at the first Yankee Stadium, Village People perform "Y.M.C.A." with the Yankees grounds crew during the 7th inning stretch.
 * September 12, 2008: Village People receive star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
 * September 3, 2010: Village People perform at the American Music Festival in Virginia Beach, Virginia.
 * May 8, 2012: Victor Willis wins a landmark ruling in the first case heard regarding the Copyright Act of 1976 which allows recording artists and writers to reclaim their master recordings and publishing rights initially granted to record companies and publishers after 35 years. Willis recaptured copyrights include "Y.M.C.A.", "Go West", "Magic Night", "Milkshake", and "In the Navy", to name a few.
 * February 20, 2013: Victor Willis and David Hodo appear on the TV One series Unsung in a two-hour special retrospective on the disco era.
 * August 1, 2013: Village People released new song "Let's Go Back to the Dance Floor" written by Harry W. Casey of K.C. and the Sunshine Band. Jim Newman replaces Jeff Olson as the Cowboy.
 * September 13, 2013: Victor Willis begins to recapture his 33% share of songs he co-wrote.
 * October 2013: Bill Whitefield replaces David Hodo as the Construction Worker.
 * New Year's Eve 2014 : Village People bring in the new year by performing at Mobile's Moonpie Drop.
 * March 4, 2015: Victor Willis reclaims ownership of Y.M.C.A. and other songs written with Jacques Morali and the removal of Henri Belolo, previously credited as a third writer.
 * August 2015: Victor Willis releases Solo Man, a solo album he recorded in 1979 featuring the Village People band.
 * December 16, 2015: Village People perform "Y.M.C.A." during halftime of the Chicago Bulls game as part of "70's Night."
 * June 28, 2016: Victor Willis appears as himself on the game show "To Tell The Truth" and performs "Y.M.C.A."
 * August 15, 2016: Village People's LetGo commercial debuts during the Rio Olympics.
 * September 15, 2016: First in a series of TV commercials in the UK for YOPA online estate agents

In popular culture


Due to their easily recognizable characters, the group have frequently been imitated or parodied in movies, 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 mustache, have also become a widespread pop culture icons associated with male gay culture and Y.M.C.A. has become something of an anthem of the LGBT community. Examples of homages and parody include an episode of the 1990s CGI show ReBoot, a scene in the 1993 movie Wayne's World 2, a 1993 episode of Married... with Children, the 1997 video for U2's single "Discotheque", a 2000 episode of 3rd Rock From the Sun, and the 2013 movie Despicable Me 2.

In 2006, Village People themselves were featured in an episode of the television series That '70s Show titled "We Will Rock You".

The 2013 video game Scribblenauts Unmasked: A DC Comics Adventure, in which the player solves puzzles by summoning arbitrary objects, features a set of characters resembling the group that can be called upon by entering the word "Band."

Compilations and other albums

 * Live: Seoul Song Festival (1984)
 * Greatest Hits (1988)
 * Greatest Hits '89 Remixes (1989)
 * The Best of Village People (1994)
 * The Very Best Of (1998)
 * 20th Century Masters, The Millennium Collection ... The Best of Village People (2001)
 * Universal Music Icon Series: Village People (2014)

Songs which reached the Billboard Club Play Singles chart

 * "San Francisco"/"In Hollywood (Everybody is a Star)"/"Fire Island" (1977) #1
 * "Macho Man"/"Key West"/"I Am What I Am" (1978) #4
 * "Y.M.C.A."/"Hot Cop" (1978) #2
 * "In the Navy"/"Manhattan Woman"/"Go West" (1979) #14
 * "Ready for the 80's"/"Sleazy" (1980) #26
 * "Can't Stop the Music" (1980) #30

Original seven members

 * Victor Willis (Cop)
 * Felipe Rose ("Indian")
 * Alex Briley (GI)
 * Glenn Hughes (Leather Man)
 * Mark Mussler (Construction Worker)
 * David Forrest (Cowboy)
 * Peter Whitehead (nondescript)

1977 to 1979

 * Victor Willis (Cop)
 * Felipe Rose ("Indian")
 * Alex Briley (GI)
 * Glenn Hughes (Leather Man)
 * David Hodo (Construction Worker)
 * Randy Jones (Cowboy)

1979 to 1980

 * Ray Simpson (Cop)
 * Felipe Rose ("Indian")
 * Alex Briley (GI)
 * Glenn Hughes (Leather Man)
 * David Hodo (Construction Worker)
 * Jeff Olson (Cowboy)

1995 to 2013

 * Ray Simpson (Cop)
 * Felipe Rose ("Indian")
 * Alex Briley (GI)
 * Eric Anzalone (Leather Man)
 * David Hodo (Construction Worker)
 * Jeff Olson (Cowboy)

2013 to present

 * Ray Simpson (Cop
 * Felipe Rose ("Indian")
 * Alex Briley (GI)
 * Eric Anzalone (Leather Man)
 * Bill Whitefield (Construction Worker)
 * Jim Newman (Cowboy)

Temporary members

 * Peter Whitehead, who co-wrote the songs on the group's first record, was an original member of the group in 1977.
 * Py Douglas, briefly replaced Ray Stephens in some television appearances during the group's 1985 European tour.
 * Alec Timerman, stood in for Alex Briley on occasion between 2001 and 2003.
 * Richard Montoya, also replaced David Hodo on some 2008 dates.
 * Angel Morales, filled in for Felipe Rose, from 2008 through 2009.
 * Ray Rodriguez, stand-in for Felipe Rose in 2011–2013.
 * Stephen Hewitt, stood in for Felipe Rose for 12 dates of the North American leg of the 2013 tour.
 * A.J. Perrelli, stand-in for Jeff Olson in 2013. Perrelli died on October 16, 2013 caused by head injury.
 * Pacho Andrews, stand-in for Felipé Rose during 2013.