Village People: Difference between revisions

| current_members = {{ubl|[[Victor Willis]] |James Kwong|Jeffrey James Lippold|James Lee|Nicholas Manelick|Javier Perez}}

| past_members = {{ubl|| |Dave Forrest|Lee Mouton|Peter Whitehead | [[Miles Jaye]] | [[Ray Stephens (singer)|Ray Stephens]] | Mark Lee | [[Randy Jones (singer)|Randy Jones]] | [[Glenn Hughes (American singer)|Glenn Hughes]]| G. Jeff Olson | [[David Hodo]] | [[Felipe Rose]] | [[Alex Briley]] | [[Ray Simpson]] | [[Eric Anzalone]] |Bill Whitefield| Jim Newman| Sonny Earl| Angel Morales| Chad Freeman | Isaac Lopez}}

The album became an international hit, and demand for live appearances soon followed. Morali hastily built a group of dancers around Willis to perform in clubs and videos. Morali met the first recruit, [[Felipe Rose]] (who claims [[Native Americans in the United States|Indigenous American Indian]] descent and dressed in costume as [[Stereotypes of indigenous peoples of Canada and the United States|"an Indian"]]<ref name=Bloomberg>{{cite news |last1=Dilday |first1=K. A. |title=A Gay Icon Remembers Life in the Village, and in the Village People |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-06-26/the-village-people-s-indian-remembers-stonewall |access-date=June 4, 2023 |work=Bloomberg |issue=June 26, 2019}}</ref>) in a New York gay bar called [[The Anvil (gay club)|The Anvil]]. Willis hand-picked [[Alex Briley]] (who initially appeared in nondescript costumes before switching to [[G.I.]] uniforms). The others were Mark Mussler (construction worker), Dave Forrest (cowboy), Lee Mouton (leatherman/biker), 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)".

In August 2013, Village People released a new song, "Let's Go Back to the Dance Floor", written by Harry W. Casey of [[K.C. and the Sunshine Band]]. Jim Newman joined the group as the Cowboy,<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://officialvillagepeople.com/ |title=ArchivedUnknown}}{{Dead copylink |access- date=OctoberAugust 13, 20132024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20030320071821/http://www.officialvillagepeople.com/#page_jim/ |archivefix-dateattempted=March 20, 2003 |url-status=dead yes}}</ref> and in October 2013, Bill Whitefield joined as the Construction Worker, a role he had filled in for the group over the years (for David Hodo, who had retired).<ref name="officialvillagepeople.com">{{Cite web |url=http://officialvillagepeople.com/ |title=ArchivedUnknown copy}}{{Dead |access-date=October 13, 2013link |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20030320071821/http://www.officialvillagepeople.com/#page_bill/ |archive-date=MarchAugust 20,2024 2003| |urlfix-statusattempted=dead yes}}</ref> Continuing his legal quest, Willis reclaimed ownership of "Y.M.C.A." and other songs written with Jacques Morali with the removal of Henri Belolo, previously credited as a third writer.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/thr-esq/jury-decides-village-people-ymca-779420 |title=Jury Decides Village People 'Y.M.C.A.' Songwriter Has 50 Percent Song Share |author=Eriq Gardner |date=March 5, 2015 |work=The Hollywood Reporter}}</ref> In 2015, Victor Willis would release ''[[Solo Man (album)|Solo Man]]'', an album he recorded in 1979 featuring the Village People band. Willis appeared as himself on the game show ''[[To Tell the Truth]]'' and performed "Y.M.C.A." the following year.

In [[AllMusic]]'s entry on the group, Ron Wynn summarized them as "part clever concept, part exaggerated [[camp (style)|camp]] act" who were "worldwide sensations during disco's heyday and keep reviving like the [[Phoenix (mythology)|phoenix]]."<ref>{{cite web|last=Wynn|first=Ron|date=n.d.|url=https://www.allmusic.com/artist/the-village-people-mn0000808201/biography|title=The Village People|publisher=[[AllMusic]]|access-date=March 19, 2019}}</ref> ''[[Village Voice]]'' critic [[Robert Christgau]] originally found the group to be a humorous annoyance,<ref>{{cite news|last=Christgau|first=Robert|author-link=Robert Christgau|date=July 31, 1978|url=https://www.robertchristgau.com/xg/cg/cgv7-78.php|title=Christgau's Consumer Guide|access-date=March 19, 2019|website=Robertchristgau.com}}</ref> but warmed to their music after listening to the 1978 album ''[[Cruisin' (Village People album)|Cruisin']]''; he wrote in ''[[Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies]]'' (1981): "I give up—I've never been capable of resisting music this silly. At least this time they're not singing the praises of '[[macho]],' a term whose backlash resurgence is no laughing matter, and the [[gay stereotyping]]—right down to 'The Women,' every one a camp heroine of [[film|screen]] or [[Phonograph record|disc]]—is so cartoonish that I can't imagine anyone taking it seriously. As for all the straights who think 'Y.M.C.A.' is about playing basketball, well, that's pretty funny too."<ref name="CG">{{cite book|last=Christgau|first=Robert|year=1981|title=[[Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies]]|publisher=[[Ticknor & Fields]]|isbn=089919026X|chapter=Consumer Guide '70s: V|chapter-url=https://www.robertchristgau.com/get_chap.php?k=V&bk=70|access-date=March 17, 2019|website=Robertchristgau.com}}</ref>

The importance of Village People to the history of disco music is explored in Episode 3 of the 2024 [[PBS]] series ''Disco: Soundtrack of a Revolution''.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.pbs.org/video/stayin-alive-wvvwry/|title=Disco: Soundtrack of a Revolution &#124; Stayin’ Alive &#124; Episode 3 &#124; PBS|via=www.pbs.org}}</ref>

=== Since 2021 to 2023 ===

bar:Isaac from:01/01/2020 till:end 07/20/2023 color:Native_American