The group was originally formed by French producers Jacques Morali, Henri Belolo and lead singer Victor Willis. Their name refers to Manhattan’s Greenwich Village, with its reputation as a gay village. They quickly became popular and moved into the mainstream, scoring several disco and dance hits internationally. The band’s fame peaked in 1979 with a three-month North American tour, several appearances on The Merv Griffin Show and American Bandstand, and performing with Bob Hope to entertain U.S. troops.
About Village People in brief
Village People is an American disco group known for its on-stage costumes, catchy tunes, and suggestive lyrics. The group was originally formed by French producers Jacques Morali, Henri Belolo and lead singer Victor Willis following the release of the debut album Village People. Their name refers to Manhattan’s Greenwich Village, with its reputation as a gay village. The characters were a symbolic group of American masculinity and macho gay-fantasy personas. They quickly became popular and moved into the mainstream, scoring several disco and dance hits internationally. Their biggest hit, \”Y. M. C. A. \” was added to the National Recording Registry, which preserves audio recordings considered to be ‘culturally, historically or aesthetically significant’ in March 2020. In March 2020, the US Library of Congress described the latter as ‘an American phenomenon’ and added the song to the Recording Registry. The band’s fame peaked in 1979 with a three-month North American tour, several appearances on The Merv Griffin Show and American Bandstand, and performing with Bob Hope to entertain U.S. troops. At the time it was released in March 1981, disco’s popularity had waned. The film Can’t Stop the Music was directed by Nancy Walker, written by Allan Carr and Bronte Woodard, and starring Steve Guttenberg, Valerie Perrine, Jean-Claude Van Damme, Bruce Jenner, and Bruce Jenner’s brother Bill.
In June 1980, the group released Live and Sleazy, a double album featuring Victor Willis on lead vocals on the album “Sleazy” and Valerie Simpson on the double disc “Live & Sleazy’. The album became an international hit, and demand for live appearances soon followed. In August 1979, during production of the upcoming musical movie tentatively titled Discoland: Where the Never Ends, Willis left the group. He was replaced by Ray Simpson, the brother of Valerie Simpson who had previously sung background vocals with the group on their 1979 album ‘Live &sleazy.’ The group’s popularity waned in 1981 when the film ‘Can’t Stop The Music’ was released and saw the group’s popularity wane. The single ‘In the Navy’ became one of the most popular hits of the 1970s. This song was also performed on the TV series’ The Love Boat and Married… with Children, and in the 1995 Navy comedy film Down Periscope. In 1979, the United States Navy considered using their single “In the navy’ in a television and radio recruiting campaign. The Navy provided them access to the San Diego Navy base, where the USS Reasoner, several aircraft, and the crew of the ship would be used. The first hit single, “San Francisco’, was released on the cover of Rolling Stone, Vol. 289, April 19, 1979. The second hit single was “Go West”.
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This page is based on the article Village People published in Wikipedia (as of Nov. 28, 2020) and was automatically summarized using artificial intelligence.
