The Village People

Village People is an American disco group known for its on-stage costumes and suggestive lyrics in their music. The group was originally formed by French producers Jacques Morali and Henri Belolo and lead singer Victor Willis following the release of the debut album Village People, which targeted disco's large gay audience. The group's name refers to Manhattan's Greenwich Village, with its reputation as a gayborhood. The characters were a symbolic group of American masculinity and macho gay-fantasy personas.The group quickly became popular and moved into the mainstream, scoring several disco and dance hits internationally, including the hit singles "Macho Man", "In the Navy", "Go West", and "Y.M.C.A.", which was their biggest hit. In March 2020, the Library of Congress described "Y.M.C.A." as "an American phenomenon", and added the song to the National Recording Registry, which preserves audio recordings considered to be "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant."French musical composer and producer Jacques Morali and his business partner, Henri Belolo, known collectively as Can't Stop Productions, were enjoying a successful string of hits in France and Europe. In 1977, they moved to New York City to attempt to break into the American market. Morali had written a few dance tunes when he was given a demo tape recorded by singer/actor Victor Willis. After hiring Willis to sing background vocals on the four tracks, Morali approached him and said, "I had a dream that you sang lead on my album and it went very, very big". Willis agreed to sing on the debut album Village People.Songwriters Phil Hurtt and Peter Whitehead wrote the lyrics for the first album (Willis would subsequently take over writing duties for the group's biggest hits). The Village People studio band was called Gypsy Lane and was conducted by Horace Ott. Ott also provided many of the musical arrangements for Morali, who did not play any instruments.The album became an international hit, and demand for live appearances soon followed. Morali and Willis hastily built a group of dancers around Willis to perform in clubs and videos. Willis hand-picked Alex Briley (who initially appeared in nondescript costumes before switching to G.I. uniforms), while Morali chose Felipe Rose (who claims Native American descent and dressed in costume as "an Indian") in a local gay BDSM after-hours sex club in Chelsea called The Anvil. 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)".

Biography summary from English Wikipedia, photograph via Wikimedia Commons.