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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, 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 gay neighborhood. The characters were a symbolic group of American masculinity and macho gay-fantasy personas. As of 2022, Victor Willis is the only original member of the group. 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 recordin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Alex Briley
Alexander Briley (born April 12, 1951) is an American singer who was the original "G.I." in the disco recording act Village People. Biography Alex Briley was born in Harlem, New York City, in 1951, the son of a Christian minister. Raised in Harlem and later Mount Vernon, New York, Briley sang in church from an early age and studied voice at the University of Hartford. Briley had two brothers, Timothy and Jonathan. Briley was introduced to producer/composer Jacques Morali by Village People member Victor Willis. He originally performed in jeans and a T-shirt, but he took the role of a soldier for the album '' Cruisin''' in 1978, and appeared as a sailor when the group recorded ''In the Navy'' in 1979. Jonathan Briley Alex Briley's younger brother, Jonathan (1958–2001), worked as an audio engineer at Windows on the World on the 106th floor of the North Tower of the World Trade Center and perished in the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. In 2005, Jonathan was specul ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Henri Belolo
Henri Belolo (; 27 November 1936 – 3 August 2019) was a French music producer and songwriter active during the disco era. Born in Morocco, he started his career as a club DJ and A&R man. In the 1970s, with his friend, composer Jacques Morali, he worked in the United States, creating The Ritchie Family as well as their most successful group, Village People. Life and career Belolo was born in Casablanca, Morocco, and grew up there listening to music introduced by US troops as well as that of African musicians. He studied business in Casablanca, before traveling in 1956 to Paris, France, where he met record company owner and producer Eddie Barclay. Belolo worked with Barclay, importing and promoting records, and started working as a club DJ, work which he continued after returning to Casablanca. [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ariola Records
Ariola (also known as Ariola Records, Ariola-Eurodisc and BMG Ariola) is a German record label. In the late 1980s, it was a subsidiary label of the Bertelsmann Music Group, which in turn has become a part of the international media conglomerate Sony Music Entertainment. Profile Ariola Eurodisc GmbH was founded in 1958 as a music outlet of Bertelsmann. It set up several foreign subsidiaries. Ariola America was founded in 1975 in Los Angeles, and achieved ''Billboard'' magazine number one singles with Mary MacGregor's "Torn Between Two Lovers" (1976) and Amii Stewart's cover version of the 1966 Eddie Floyd hit " Knock on Wood" (1979). Other artists on the Ariola America roster during the late 1970s included Gene Cotton, The Three Degrees, Chanson, and the Canadian band Prism among others. After its pop success dried up, Ariola America found success in the Spanish language market including José José and Rocío Dúrcal from the late 1970s onward and Mexican artist Marisela star ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jacques Morali
Jacques Morali (4 July 1947 – 15 November 1991) was a French disco and dance music record producer and songwriter, known for creating acts like The Ritchie Family and Village People. Early life Morali was born in Casablanca, Morocco. He may have had Jewish ancestry. Career Beginning in France He made his start in the music business at the end of the 1960s, writing music for orchestras in Paris, for the Crazy Horse, for himself as a solo artist (he played in 1967 show "Elle aime, elle n'aime pas" and released a single of the same title) but also for performers like Peter Fersen. Viva Zapata (Venus VS-71451), one of his first French productions, was sung by "Clint Farwood" - a pseudonym for a member of King Harvest. In the early 1970s, he met French music producer Henri Belolo. But he thought quickly that his success in France was not as high as expected and started to try his luck in North America. Through meeting José Eber, Elizabeth Taylor and Cher's hairdresser, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Disco
Disco is a genre of dance music and a subculture that emerged in the 1970s from the United States' urban nightlife scene. Its sound is typified by four-on-the-floor beats, syncopated basslines, string sections, brass and horns, electric piano, synthesizers, and electric rhythm guitars. Disco started as a mixture of music from venues popular with Italian Americans, Hispanic and Latino Americans and Black Americans "'Broadly speaking, the typical New York discothèque DJ is young (between 18 and 30) and Italian,' journalist Vince Lettie declared in 1975. ..Remarkably, almost all of the important early DJs were of Italian extraction .. Italian Americans have played a significant role in America's dance music culture .. While Italian Americans mostly from Brooklyn largely created disco from scratch .." in Philadelphia and New York City during the late 1960s and early 1970s. Disco can be seen as a reaction by the 1960s counterculture to both the dominance of rock music ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Eric Anzalone
James Eric Anzalone (born October 6, 1965) is an American singer who was the Leatherman/Biker of the disco supergroup Village People from 1995 to 2017, replacing original member Glenn Hughes. Early life and education Anzalone was born in Dayton, Ohio, but grew up in Watertown, New York, and Santa Barbara, California, graduating from San Marcos High School in 1983. He studied theater and music at the University of Miami and graduated ''summa cum laude'' in May 2012 from Arizona State University with a Bachelor's degree in Film and Media, and in 2018 he received a Master's degree in American Media and Popular Culture also from Arizona State. Career Anzalone has performed in various stage productions around the world, including Berger in the European tour of ''HAIR'' and as a singer for Princess Cruises. He starred as Donatello in the world tour of the ''Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles'' ''Coming Out of Our Shells'' and later as Raphael in the films ''A Turtles' Christmas'' and ' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ray Simpson
Ray Simpson (born January 15, 1954) is an American singer best known as a former lead singer and "Cop" of the disco super-group Village People, having been in that role for over 30 years. In August 1979, he replaced original lead singer, Victor Willis as the police officer, Cop, a role he would fill until 1982, and again from 1987 until Willis' return in 2017. Simpson had been doing backup singing for Village People in its first years, which is why he was recruited (on very short notice) to join the group when Willis left. Simpson was featured in the Village People film, ''Can't Stop the Music'', released in 1980. Born and raised in the Bronx, he is a graduate of City College of New York, majoring in English and minoring in music. His sister, Ashford & Simpson, Valerie Simpson, was part of the husband-and-wife songwriting-production team and recording artists Ashford & Simpson. The duo worked with many Motown artists, most successfully with Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell and th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ray Stephens (singer)
Ray Stephens (December 14, 1954 – October 4, 1990) was an American singer and actor best known for starring in the 1980s TV series, ''The Great Space Coaster'', as Roy. In 1985, Stephens became the lead singer of Village People and toured England with the group that year. His sole recording with the group was their album, '' Sex Over the Phone''. Stephens is heard singing the tune "Cat's Eye" during the closing credits of the 1985 Stephen King film of the same title; however, he is incorrectly listed in the closing credits as "Ray Stevens." Death He died at age 35 on October 4, 1990, from AIDS Human immunodeficiency virus infection and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) is a spectrum of conditions caused by infection with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), a retrovirus. Following initial infection an individual m .... External links * 1954 births 1990 deaths African-American male singers American male pop singers Village People members 20 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Miles Jaye
Miles Jaye Davis (born November 12, 1957), known professionally as Miles Jaye, is an American R&B and jazz singer, jazz violinist, songwriter, and record producer. He had several hits on the US R&B chart in the late 1980s and early 1990s, the biggest of which was "Let's Start Love Over" in 1987. He was for a time the lead singer of Village People. Life and career He was born in Yonkers, New York, and studied music theory and classical violin for more than a decade at the Brooklyn Conservatory of Music, Saratoga School of Orchestral Studies, Indian Hill and Brooklyn College (now Brooklyn College Conservatory of Music). He also played flute, keyboards and bass while in the US Air Force, and launched his singing career while at Clarke Air Force Base in the Philippines. Jaye toured Europe with jazz guitarist Eric Gale and singers Phyllis Hyman and Jon Lucien before taking over as "Cop" in the Village People in 1982. He stayed with the band for two years before launching his solo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sony Music
Sony Music Entertainment (SME), also known as simply Sony Music, is an American multinational music company. Being owned by the parent conglomerate Sony Group Corporation, it is part of the Sony Music Group, which is owned by Sony Entertainment and managed by the American umbrella division of Sony. It was originally founded in 1929 as American Record Corporation and renamed as Columbia Recording Corporation in 1938, following its acquisition by the Columbia Broadcasting System. In 1966, the company was reorganized to become CBS Records, and Sony Corporation bought the company in 1988, renaming it under its current name in 1991. In 2004, Sony and Bertelsmann established a 50-50 joint venture known as Sony BMG, which transferred the businesses of Sony Music and Bertelsmann Music Group into one entity. However, in 2008, Sony acquired Bertelsmann's stake, and the company reverted to the Sony Music name shortly after; the buyout allowed Sony to acquire all of BMG's labels, which ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Universal Music
Universal Music Group N.V. (often abbreviated as UMG and referred to as just Universal Music) is a Netherlands, Dutch–United States, American multinational Music industry, music corporation under Law of the Netherlands, Dutch law. UMG's corporate headquarters are located in Hilversum, Netherlands and its operational headquarters are located in Santa Monica, California. The biggest music company in the world, it is one of the "Record label#3, Big Three" record labels, along with Sony Music and Warner Music Group. Tencent acquired ten percent of Universal Music Group in March 2020 for €3 billion and acquired an additional ten percent stake in January 2021. Pershing Square Holdings later acquired ten percent of UMG prior to its Initial public offering, IPO on the Euronext Amsterdam stock exchange. The company went public on September 21, 2021, at a valuation of €46 billion. In 2019, ''Fast Company'' named Universal Music Group the most innovative music company and listed UM ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
BMG Music
Bertelsmann Music Group (BMG) was a division of a German media company Bertelsmann before its completion of sale of the majority of its assets to Sony Corporation of America on 1 October 2008. Although it was established in 1987, the music company was formed as RCA/Ariola International in 1985 as a joint venture to combine the music label activities of RCA's RCA Records division and Bertelsmann's Ariola Records and its associated labels which include Arista Records. It consisted of the BMG Music Publishing company, the world's third largest music publisher and the world's largest independent music publisher, and (since August 2004) the 50% share of the joint venture with Sony Music, which established the German American Sony BMG from 2004 to 2008. Acquisition In March 1998, BMG sold its video game publisher BMG Interactive to Take-Two Interactive, with Bertelsmann taking a 16 percent stake in Take-Two. BMG Interactive published the ''Grand Theft Auto'' video game series. The ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
