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The Best Of Village People
''The Best of Village People'' is a compilation album by American disco group Village People, released by Casablanca Records in 1994. AllMusic critic Steve Huey calls it "the clear-cut choice for disco and camp fanatics who want a detailed portrait of the group's career." Track listing Personnel ;Village People *Victor Willis – cop, lead vocals *Ray Simpson – cop, lead vocals (tracks 3, 6) *Alex Briley – military man *David Hodo – construction worker * Glenn M. Hughes – biker * Randy Jones – cowboy * Felipe Rose – Indian chief ;Technical *Jacques Morali – producer *Henri Belolo – executive producer * Horace Ott – string and horn arranger and conductor *Michael Hutchinson – assistant producer, engineer *Harry Weinger – compilation producer *Bill Levenson – compilation executive producer *Richard Bauer – project director *Terri Tierney – project coordinator *Catherine Ladis – project assistant *Wayne Edwards – essay *Mark Weinberg – package ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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] |
Ready For The 80's
"Ready for the 80's" is a song recorded by American disco group the Village People. It was released in 1979 as the lead single from the group's fifth album '' Live and Sleazy''. It peaked at #52 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 pop singles chart. On the US disco chart, along with the track, "Sleazy", "Ready for the 80's" peaked at #26. The song featured the debut of Ray Simpson as lead singer of the group, replacing Victor Willis (who appears on earlier tracks on the album). '' Billboard Magazine'' described "Ready for the 80's" as a "timely, upbeat and irresistible tip-of the hat to the upcoming decade" which "doesn't have the tongue in cheek humor of the group's three gold hits." ''Billboard'' specifically praised Simpson's lead vocals. ''Cash Box ''Cashbox'', also known as ''Cash Box'', was an American music industry trade magazine, originally published weekly from July 1942 to November 1996. Ten years after its dissolution, it was revived and continues as ''Cashbox Magazi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Horace Ott
Horace Ott (born April 15, 1933) is an American jazz and R&B composer, arranger, record producer, conductor and pianist, noted for his work since the late 1950s with a wide variety of artists including The Shirelles, Don Covay, Nina Simone, Houston Person, and the Village People. Biography Born in St. Matthews, South Carolina, he learned piano and attended Wilkinson High School in Orangeburg, where he played in the school band and started performing in, and writing for, a local jazz band. He studied music at South Carolina State University, graduating in 1955, and spent two years in the US Army from 1956 to 1958, playing in a marching band. Horace Ott, ''South Carolina African American Calendar'' . Retrieved 3 April 2017 In 1958 he moved to New York, working in a factory while p ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Felipe Rose
Felipe Rose (born 12 January 1954) is an American musician who was an original member of the disco group the Village People. While in the group, he performed as a Native American character - usually wearing a costume consisting of an imitation war bonnet, loincloth and theatrical face paint. Rose was a member of the group from 1977 until 2017, when the name of the group was turned over to original lead singer Victor Willis. Rose subsequently launched a solo career and released the single "Going Back to My Roots" in 2018. Early years Felipe Ortiz Rose was born in Manhattan to a Puerto Rican mother. He currently claims Lakota/ Taino descent, but at other times has said he is Apache. He was raised in Brooklyn, where he displayed an interest in the arts during his childhood. His mother was his main inspiration as she herself had been a dancer for the Copacabana during the 1940s and 1950s. Village People Rose began as a nightclub dancer. He describes being encouraged by an aunt t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Randy Jones (singer)
Randy Jones (born September 13, 1952) is an American disco and pop singer and best known as the cowboy from Village People from 1977 to 1980, and again from 1987 until 1990. Early life Jones attended William G. Enloe High School in Raleigh, North Carolina and graduated in 1970. While there, he was a founder of Enloe's Drama Club, which was then called Amicus Scaena, Latin for "friend of scene" or "friend of theatre". He then studied at North Carolina School of the Arts before moving to New York. Personal life and career Jones had a marriage ceremony with his boyfriend of 20 years, Will Grega, at a New York City club on May 7, 2004. Although the marriage was not legally binding at the time, as gay marriage was not yet recognized in New York State, Jones commented, "It's only a matter of time before the courts rule in favor of what's morally right and humanly decent." The pair had published a book together in 1996, titled ''Out Sounds: The Gay and Lesbian Music Alternative''. I ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Glenn Hughes (American Singer)
Glenn Michael Hughes (July 18, 1950 – March 4, 2001) was an American singer who was the original "Leatherman" character in the disco group Village People from 1977 to 1996. Biography He graduated in 1968 from Chaminade High School, and then attended Manhattan College, where he was initiated as a member of Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia music fraternity in 1969. He was interested in motorcycles, and was working as a toll collector at the Brooklyn-Battery Tunnel when he responded to an advertisement by composer Jacques Morali seeking "macho" singers and dancers. Hughes and other members of the band were given a crash course in the synchronized dance choreography that later typified the group's live performances. Hughes sported an extravagant horseshoe moustache and wore his trademark leather outfit on and off stage and became one of the iconic figures of the disco era. According to Jack Fritscher, Jacques Morali drew his inspiration for the character from the gay BDSM leather bar and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
David Hodo
David Hodo (born Richard Davis Hodo; July 7, 1947) is an American dancer/singer. He is most well known as a member of the group Village People, in which he was the construction worker character from 1978 to 1982 and from 1987 to 2013. Hodo was born in San Andreas, California, and was raised in Sacramento. He graduated in 1969 from California State University, Sacramento, where he majored in speech and acted in several campus productions, including '' Oh What a Lovely War'', ''Carnival'' and ''Richard III''. In 1972, he moved to New York, making his Broadway debut in ''Doctor Jazz'' in 1975. Hodo appeared as a chorus member in numerous musicals, including Salvation, a touring company of '' Funny Girl'' in 1972, a Broadway revival of '' Pal Joey'' in 1976 and ''The Red BlueGrass Western Flyer Show'' at the Goodspeed Opera House in 1977.David H ... [...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] |
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] |
Hot Cop
"Hot Cop" is a song by the American disco group Village People recorded for their third studio album '' Cruisin''' (1978). It was written by Jacques Morali and Village People lead singer Victor Willis. It served as Willis' theme song with the Village People. Although not released as a single, it was a disco hit. A medley with "Y.M.C.A." reached number 2 on '' Billboard's'' Hot Disco Singles chart. Composition "Hot Cop" is a mid-tempo disco song. Its danceability is enhanced by its cyclical beat. Allmusic critic Amy Hanson describes the vocals as having a "funk style" that ranges from "righteous rolling to spoken word come-ons a la Earth, Wind & Fire." The bassline is similar to that which Spandau Ballet would use on their early songs. The lyrics are somewhat self-referential, as Willis dressed as a "Hot Cop" within the Village People concept, wearing a full policeman uniform. Reception Although Allmusic critic Amy Hanson found "Hot Cop" to be "dismally boring" she describ ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Go West (song)
"Go West" is a song by American disco group Village People, released as the lead single from their fourth studio album of the same name (1979). It was written by Jacques Morali, Henri Belolo and the group's lead singer Victor Willis. The song was successful in the disco scene during the late 1970s. "Go West" found further success when it was covered in 1993 by English synth-pop duo Pet Shop Boys. Village People version The song's title is attributed to the 19th-century quote "Go West, young man" commonly attributed to Horace Greeley, a rallying cry for the colonization of the American West, but also an invitation to pursue one's own dreams and individuality. The melody resembles that of the State Anthem of the Soviet Union (and later National anthem of Russia) composed by Alexander Alexandrov. Both the 7″ and 12″ versions of the song were subsequently collected on various greatest hits albums, including a 1997 radio remix which was made in the wake of the success of Pet S ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Go West (Village People Album)
''Go West'' is the fourth studio album by the Village People, released on March 26, 1979. It features their hit singles "In the Navy" (#3 on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100, #2 in the UK Top 40) and " Go West", which the Pet Shop Boys did a successful cover of in 1993. The album was reissued on CD in 1996. ''Go West'' would be the band's last complete album of all-new material for Casablanca, as well as the last album to feature Victor Willis. Critical reception ''Billboard Magazine'' stated that the album contains "some of the most irresistible rhythm in today's pop /disco genre." ''Billboard'' described the song "I Wanna Shake Your Hand" as "an appropriately non romantic twist on the Beatles", with its mock exhortation to "Don't be shy/ go up and say hello." AllMusic critic Amy Hanson felt that aside from the two singles and "Manhattan Woman," which she felt "contained some interesting, James Brown James Joseph Brown (May 3, 1933 – December 25, 2006) was an American si ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
