On December 16th, a cult disco band from Lithuania will perform for the first time in Lithuania at the Švyturys Arena in Klaipėda and on December 18th, at the Twinsbet Arena in Vilnius. JAV – The Village People. Earlier this year, The Village People, who have millions of fans in various corners of the world, also performed at the ceremonial banquet to inaugurate Donald Trump as President of the United States.
The French wanted to "conquer" America
The still popular Village People, despite their changed lineup, were founded in 1977 by Frenchmen who had come to New York to "conquer" America: manager Jacques Morali and his business partner Henri Belolo, as well as Victor Willis, the singer of their extremely popular debut album Village People.
The name of the group "Village People" comes from the name of the Manhattan district of New York - Greenwich Village.
The band's six vocalists corresponded to the main archetypes of American masculinity of that era - a policeman, a Native American, a cowboy, a construction worker, a leather-clad biker, and a naval officer.
Initially, the French founded the group to participate in fun gay parties, but thanks to hardworking and intelligent French managers, "The Village People" soon became popular all over the world.
Sexy male archetypes
Phil Hurt and Peter Whitehead worked on the debut album of Village People, but the main hits that became the band's calling cards were written by Victor Willis.
YMCA, "Go West", "In the Navy", "Macho Man" - became superhits that "conquered" not only America, but also the hearts of disco music fans on other continents.
But at first, the Village People collaborated with the Gypsy Lane Orchestra, led by Horace Otto. The debut album was a real "breakthrough" in the disco style. Fans wanted to see their idols live. Morali took up the organization of concerts.
During this period, new members joined the team: Felipe Rose, followed by Alex Briley. The first received the image of an Indian, and the second - a military uniform. Soon the group was joined by Mark Massler (later David Hodo), Dave Forrest, Lee Mouton. The musicians had to wear costumes of construction workers, cowboys and bikers.
It was in this composition that the team appeared before the fans. Their colorful production did not go unnoticed, as costumed performances only became more popular. During this period, they shot a video clip for the song San Francisco.
Their clever manager, J.Morali, soon realized that his project was very interesting to the public, so he wanted to find permanent members of the group and select real machos who know how to move perfectly on stage. Therefore, Glen Hughes, David Hodo, Randy Jones joined the team.
In this composition, the musicians went on a photo shoot. A sexy photo adorned the cover of the finished album "Macho Man". Thanks to the composition of the same name, included in the collection, the musicians gained popularity throughout the country.
Filmed in the Navy
In the late 1970s, the Village People toured North America with great success. The musicians also performed for military personnel. The band's popularity grew especially after their photos graced the cover of the prestigious Rolling Stone magazine.
The song "In the Navy" was used for a recruitment campaign for the Navy. Interestingly, the video was filmed at a military base in San Diego. The musicians were even allowed to use the ship's equipment. The bright work significantly increased the number of fans.
Victor Willis told the "fans" that he was leaving the project and began working on "Discoland: Where the Music Never Ends". He was soon replaced by new member Ray Simpson, but both singers participated in the recordings of the new "Live & Sleazy". This period is interesting in that the popularity of discos began to decline rapidly. The managers had to decide in which direction they should work if they wanted to keep the ranks of fans.
Blacklisted by the USSR
In the early 1980s, Morali and Belolo changed and improved the style of the group. At the same time, the group's discography was replenished with a new album. Unfortunately, the changes were coldly received by both fans and music critics. Then Jeff Olson joined the team, who received the image of a cowboy.
Asked to return and record a new song, Victor Willis joined, and in 1982 the musicians released the album "Foxon the Box". The disc was presented to the band's European and Chinese fans, and the US album was released under the name "In the Street". At the same time, two members - David Hodo and Ray Simpson - left the team. The musicians were replaced by Mark Lee and Miles Jay.
In 1985, two months before Mikhail Gorbachev became leader of the USSR, their songs were blacklisted by the Soviet Union as ideologically harmful.
In the mid-1980s, the band released another album, "Sex Over the Phone." Unfortunately, the high hopes of their managers for this work were met with commercial failure.
Library of Congress, MTV, Trump and Lithuania
In the early 1990s, after a break of several years, the group's popularity "returned". In XNUMX, the musicians performed in Sydney, Australia, after which the Village People were invited to perform the best of their repertoire at the MTV Movie Awards ceremony.
A few months later, Village People's manager Jacques Morali, aged 44, died. However, this did not affect the group's popularity: in the mid-XNUMXs, Village People performed the World Cup anthem with the participation of the German national football team.
And despite the changes in the band members, Village People is still "on the crest of a wave." In 2020, the US National Library of Congress in Washington, D.C., named their superhit "YMCA" an "American Phenomenon" and even entered the song into the National Sound Recording Registry, which preserves works of "cultural, historical, and aesthetic value."
The group participates in various projects, starred in the musical film "Music Can't Stop", TV programs, and performs in various countries. They are talked about, gossiped about, parodied, and they are still popular. And even their songs were used by US President Donald Trump during his election campaign.
And although the Village People supported his opponent Kamala Harris in the US presidential election, they agreed to perform at Trump's gala.
"Music brings people together," say the members of Village People, who will be performing in Lithuania for the first time in their history.
YMCA, "Go West", "In the Navy", "Macho Man" and other superhits of "Village People" will be performed on December 16 at the "Švyturys" arena in Klaipėda and on December 18 at the "Twinsbet" arena in Vilnius.
