A post shared by Alexandra Billings (@therealalexandrabillings)The Village People was the creation of French music producer Jacques Morali, business partner Henri Belolo and singer Victor Willis. Morali, who was gay, came across Willis and asked him to sing lead vocals on a 1977 dance album he was writing called Village People.The album proved a hit and Morali realized he needed to assemble a group to accompany Willis for live appearances. “Village People” was a nod toward New York City’s Greenwich Village, which enjoyed a sizeable gay population.
Morali came across Felipe Rose in the iconic cruise bar, The Anvil. He was wearing a Native American headdress. It gave Morali and idea to dress the band in typical macho outfits, such as leatherman, construction worker, etc.
He invited Rose to join the band and placed an advert to find more members. It stated, “Macho Types Wanted: Must Dance And Have A Moustache.”Once assembled, the group went on to enjoy stellar success with tracks such as “Y.M.C.A”, “Macho Man” and “In The Navy”. They even made a movie: the much-panned flop, Can’t Stop The Music.
The Village People fell out of favor when the disco boom dried up. Although Willis has remained the only original member, the group has seen over 40 other members come and go over the years. In December, Willis, who is straight, said that he never considered “Y.M.C.A” as a gay anthem.
He co-wrote the track.“There’s been a lot of talk, especially of late, that Y.M.C.A. is somehow a gay anthem,” Willis said on Facebook. “As I’ve said numerous times in the past, that is a false assumption based on the fact that my writing partner was gay, and some (not all) of Village People were gay, and that the first Village People album was totally about gay life.“This assumption is also based on the fact that the YMCA was apparently being used as some sort of gay hangout and since one of the writers was gay and some of the Village People are gay, the song must be a message to gay people.
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