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Victor Willis
Victor Edward Willis (born July 1, 1951) is an American singer, songwriter, and actor. He is the founding member of the disco group Village People. He performed as their lead singer and was co-songwriter for all of their most successful singles. In the group, he performed costumed as a policeman or a naval officer. The son of a Baptist preacher, Willis developed his singing skills in his father's church. With training in acting and dance, he went to New York and joined the prestigious Negro Ensemble Company. He appeared in many musicals and plays, including the original Broadway production of ''The Wiz'' in 1976 and subsequently, the Australian production. Willis also had written and recorded several albums in the mid-1970s for independent labels and was eventually introduced to French disco producer Jacques Morali. Morali, who dubbed him the "young man with the big voice", approached Willis and said, "I had a dream that you sang lead vocals on my album and it went very, very bi ...
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Dallas
Dallas () is the List of municipalities in Texas, third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of metropolitan statistical areas, fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 million people. It is the largest city in and County seat, seat of Dallas County, Texas, Dallas County with portions extending into Collin County, Texas, Collin, Denton County, Texas, Denton, Kaufman County, Texas, Kaufman and Rockwall County, Texas, Rockwall counties. With a 2020 United States census, 2020 census population of 1,304,379, it is the List of United States cities by population, ninth most-populous city in the U.S. and the List of cities in Texas by population, third-largest in Texas after Houston and San Antonio. Located in the North Texas region, the city of Dallas is the main core of the largest metropolitan area in the Southern United States and the largest inland metropolitan area in the U.S. that lacks any navigable link ...
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Macho Man (song)
"Macho Man" is a song by American disco group Village People, released as the second single and title song of their eponymous album (1978). The song entered the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 on June 24, 1978 (when the album had already been charting since March) before picking up more airplay that August. It became the Village People's first charting hit in the United States, peaking on the Hot 100 at number 25 on the week of September 2. A medley with " I Am What I Am" and "Key West" reached number four on the ''Billboard'' Dance Music/Club Play Singles chart. On the survey of Chicago radio superstation WLS-AM, "Macho Man" spent two weeks at number three. Background Martin Aston writes, in his book ''Breaking Down the Walls of Heartache: A History of How Music Came Out'', that Jacques Morali, already having a lead singer with Victor Willis, and after what he calls the "more comical than sexy: unrehearsed" promo video for the song "San Francisco (You've Got Me)", placed the advert "Ma ...
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Chicago Tribune
The ''Chicago Tribune'' is a daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States, owned by Tribune Publishing. Founded in 1847, and formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" (a slogan for which WGN radio and television are named), it remains the most-read daily newspaper in the Chicago metropolitan area and the Great Lakes region. It had the sixth-highest circulation for American newspapers in 2017. In the 1850s, under Joseph Medill, the ''Chicago Tribune'' became closely associated with the Illinois politician Abraham Lincoln, and the Republican Party's progressive wing. In the 20th century under Medill's grandson, Robert R. McCormick, it achieved a reputation as a crusading paper with a decidedly more American-conservative anti-New Deal outlook, and its writing reached other markets through family and corporate relationships at the ''New York Daily News'' and the ''Washington Times-Herald.'' The 1960s saw its corporate parent owner, Tribune Company, rea ...
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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.
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San Diego Union-Tribune
''The San Diego Union-Tribune'' is a metropolitan daily newspaper published in San Diego, California, that has run since 1868. Its name derives from a 1992 merger between the two major daily newspapers at the time, ''The San Diego Union'' and the ''San Diego Evening Tribune''. The name changed to ''U-T San Diego'' in 2012 but was changed again to ''The San Diego Union-Tribune'' in 2015. In 2015, it was acquired by Tribune Publishing. In February 2018 it was announced to be sold, along with the ''Los Angeles Times'', to Patrick Soon-Shiong's investment firm Nant Capital LLC for $500 million plus $90 million in pension liabilities. The sale was completed on June 18, 2018. History Predecessors The predecessor newspapers of the ''Union-Tribune'' were: * ''San Diego Herald'', founded 1851 and closed April 7, 1860; John Judson Ames was its first editor and proprietor. * ''San Diego Sun'', founded 1861 and merged with the ''Evening Tribune'' in 1939. * ''San Diego Union'', fou ...
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Solo Man (album)
''Solo Man'' is the debut studio album by Victor Willis, original lead singer of the disco group Village People. It was recorded in 1979 shortly after Willis' departure from the Village People, but not released until 2015, 36 years later. The album is a mixture of traditional R&B, gospel and soul styles. Background After five hit albums with Village People, Willis left the group in 1979 to record a solo album. The group's label at the time, Casablanca Records, anticipated releasing the album and announced it to the media. After Willis' departure, Village People album sales plummeted causing Casablanca to drop the band from the label. Willis was still under contract with the Village People production company and the album was caught up in the turmoil.Solo Man CD liner notes In 1981, rights to the solo album were returned to Willis but soon after, the master tapes went missing. The tapes were finally located in 2007. For six of the nine tracks, Willis utilized the Village Pe ...
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The Star-Spangled Banner
"The Star-Spangled Banner" is the national anthem of the United States. The lyrics come from the "Defence of Fort M'Henry", a poem written on September 14, 1814, by 35-year-old lawyer and amateur poet Francis Scott Key after witnessing the bombardment of Fort McHenry by British ships of the Royal Navy in Outer Baltimore Harbor in the Patapsco River during the Battle of Baltimore in the War of 1812. Key was inspired by the large U.S. flag, with 15 stars and 15 stripes, known as the Star-Spangled Banner, flying triumphantly above the fort during the U.S. victory. The poem was set to the tune of a popular British song written by John Stafford Smith for the Anacreontic Society, a men's social club in London. "To Anacreon in Heaven" (or "The Anacreontic Song"), with various lyrics, was already popular in the United States. This setting, renamed "The Star-Spangled Banner", soon became a well-known U.S. patriotic song. With a range of 19 semitones, it is known for being very diffi ...
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Victor Willis In Concert 2008
The name Victor or Viktor may refer to: * Victor (name), including a list of people with the given name, mononym, or surname Arts and entertainment Film * ''Victor'' (1951 film), a French drama film * ''Victor'' (1993 film), a French short film * ''Victor'' (2008 film), a 2008 TV film about Canadian swimmer Victor Davis * ''Victor'' (2009 film), a French comedy * ''Victor'', a 2017 film about Victor Torres by Brandon Dickerson * ''Viktor'' (film), a 2014 Franco/Russian film Music * ''Victor'' (album), a 1996 album by Alex Lifeson * "Victor", a song from the 1979 album ''Eat to the Beat'' by Blondie Businesses * Victor Talking Machine Company, early 20th century American recording company, forerunner of RCA Records * Victor Company of Japan, usually known as JVC, a Japanese electronics corporation originally a subsidiary of the Victor Talking Machine Company ** Victor Entertainment, or JVCKenwood Victor Entertainment, a Japanese record label ** Victor Interactive S ...
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Unsung (TV Series)
''Unsung'' is an hour-long music documentary program that airs on TV One which premiered on November 27, 2008. It uncovers the stories behind well-known R&B and hip-hop music artists, bands, or groups which ranked onto the ''Billboard'' music charts with a string of hits, only to have their career derailed by a major crisis that caused them to be essentially unappreciated by later generations of contemporary R&B and soul music listeners. The series is produced by production company A. Smith & Co. Productions. Format Each episode usually begins with an artist's upbringing and family, painting a picture of the issues driving them in their music career. Themes of "escaping the hard life of the streets" and "experiencing physical abuse", as well as "signs of musical genius", can be found in many of the lives of ''Unsungs subjects. Those interviewed in this segment of the show typically are relatives and friends, although some celebrities may be interviewed depending on their rel ...
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TV One (US TV Network)
TV One is an American basic cable television channel owned by Urban One, having acquired Comcast's stake in the TV channel in 2015. Headquartered in Silver Spring, Maryland, TV One's programming targets African American adults with a broad mixture of original lifestyle and entertainment-oriented series, documentaries, films, music performances and reruns of sitcoms from the 1970s through the 2000s. As of February 2015, TV One is available to approximately 57 million pay television households (48.9% of households with at least one television set) in the United States. History TV One launched on January 19, 2004, on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, as a competitor to the longer-established BET.Felicia R. Lee"A Network for Blacks With Sense of Mission,"''The New York Times'', December 11, 2007. At the time of its launch, the channel was in approximately 2.2 million homes in 16 markets. On July 7, 2008, the channel's president and CEO Johnathan Rodgers announced that TV One would pr ...
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Fox On The Box
''Fox on the Box'' is the eighth studio album by Village People, released in 1982. It is the group's only album to not be released in the US, the UK or France. It was released in Australia on RCA Records, in South America, and in Germany, Scandinavia and Spain. In Japan, the album was released by Casablanca Records. The album sold poorly and failed to chart anywhere. The album is most notable for the return of original lead singer Victor Willis, who once again also co-wrote the songs. Ray Simpson (who had replaced Willis) is featured on two tracks, "Everybody Loves the Funk" and "Radio Freak" and the G.I., Alex Briley sings lead on the ballad "Lonely Lady". Willis sang lead on all the other songs, which had an edgy funk-oriented feel (and included an early hip hop track, "Play Bach"). Another change of members was Mark Lee replacing construction worker David Hodo David Hodo (born Richard Davis Hodo; July 7, 1947) is an American dancer/singer. He is most well known as a me ...
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