<TEXTFORMAT LEADING="2"><P ALIGN="LEFT"><FONT FACE="Verdana" SIZE="10" COLOR="#0B333C" LETTERSPACING="0" KERNING="0">Village People is a concept disco group formed in the late 1970s. The group is as well known for their on-stage costumes as for their catchy tunes and suggestive lyrics. Original members were: police officer (Victor Willis), American Indian chief (Felipe Rose), cowboy (Randy Jones), construction worker (David Hodo), leatherman (Glenn Hughes) and military man (Alex Briley). For the release of &quot;In the Navy&quot;, both Willis and Briley appeared temporarily as sailors.</FONT></P></TEXTFORMAT><TEXTFORMAT LEADING="2"><P ALIGN="LEFT"><FONT FACE="Verdana" SIZE="10" COLOR="#0B333C" LETTERSPACING="0" KERNING="0"></FONT></P></TEXTFORMAT><TEXTFORMAT LEADING="2"><P ALIGN="LEFT"><FONT FACE="Verdana" SIZE="10" COLOR="#0B333C" LETTERSPACING="0" KERNING="0">Village People scored a number of disco and dance hits, including their trademark &quot;Macho Man&quot;, &quot;Go West&quot;, the classic club medley of &quot;San Francisco (You&apos;ve Got Me) / In Hollywood (Everybody is a Star)&quot;, &quot;In the Navy&quot;, &quot;Can&apos;t Stop the Music&quot;, &quot;Sex Over the Phone&quot; and their biggest hit, &quot;Y.M.C.A.&quot;.</FONT></P></TEXTFORMAT><TEXTFORMAT LEADING="2"><P ALIGN="LEFT"><FONT FACE="Verdana" SIZE="10" COLOR="#0B333C" LETTERSPACING="0" KERNING="0"></FONT></P></TEXTFORMAT><TEXTFORMAT LEADING="2"><P ALIGN="LEFT"><FONT FACE="Verdana" SIZE="10" COLOR="#0B333C" LETTERSPACING="0" KERNING="0">Collectively, the Village People have sold 85 million albums and singles. The group also recorded new materials under the name &quot;The Amazing Veepers&quot;.</FONT></P></TEXTFORMAT><TEXTFORMAT LEADING="2"><P ALIGN="LEFT"><FONT FACE="Verdana" SIZE="10" COLOR="#0B333C" LETTERSPACING="0" KERNING="0"></FONT></P></TEXTFORMAT><TEXTFORMAT LEADING="2"><P ALIGN="LEFT"><FONT FACE="Verdana" SIZE="11" COLOR="#0B333C" LETTERSPACING="0" KERNING="0"><B>1977-1979</B></FONT></P></TEXTFORMAT><TEXTFORMAT LEADING="2"><P ALIGN="LEFT"><FONT FACE="Verdana" SIZE="10" COLOR="#0B333C" LETTERSPACING="0" KERNING="0"></FONT></P></TEXTFORMAT><TEXTFORMAT LEADING="2"><P ALIGN="LEFT"><FONT FACE="Verdana" SIZE="10" COLOR="#0B333C" LETTERSPACING="0" KERNING="0">The famous group was created by Jacques Morali, who was a French musical composer. He had written a few songs when he heard Victor Willis singing background vocals in a studio. Morali approached Willis and told him, &quot;I had a dream that you sang lead on my album and it went very, very big.&quot; Willis agreed to sing on the first album, &quot;Village People.&quot;</FONT></P></TEXTFORMAT><TEXTFORMAT LEADING="2"><P ALIGN="LEFT"><FONT FACE="Verdana" SIZE="10" COLOR="#0B333C" LETTERSPACING="0" KERNING="0"></FONT></P></TEXTFORMAT><TEXTFORMAT LEADING="2"><P ALIGN="LEFT"><FONT FACE="Verdana" SIZE="10" COLOR="#0B333C" LETTERSPACING="0" KERNING="0">It was a success, so Morali and his business partner, Henri Belolo, (under the collaboration Can&apos;t Stop Productions), decided to build a real group around Willis for a stage act to showcase and perform their disco music creations. They took out an ad in a trade magazine band which read: &quot;Macho Types Wanted: Must Have Moustache.&quot; Leatherman Hughes was a toll collector at the Brooklyn Battery Tunnel. Cowboy Jones and construction worker Hodo were both actors/singers/dancers. Soldierman Briley was a friend of Willis&apos; and Morali literally bumped into Indian Rose on the streets of Greenwich Village.</FONT></P></TEXTFORMAT><TEXTFORMAT LEADING="2"><P ALIGN="LEFT"><FONT FACE="Verdana" SIZE="10" COLOR="#0B333C" LETTERSPACING="0" KERNING="0"></FONT></P></TEXTFORMAT><TEXTFORMAT LEADING="2"><P ALIGN="LEFT"><FONT FACE="Verdana" SIZE="10" COLOR="#0B333C" LETTERSPACING="0" KERNING="0">Much like Frank Farian&apos;s Boney M or The Spice Girls, the group was manufactured. Despite the French songwriters, the songs lyrics were all in English as Morali and Belolo used American lyricists. On the first album, they brought in songwriting legends Phil Hurtt and Peter Whitehead. For the next three albums (and on other Can&apos;t Stop Productions such as Ritchie Family and Patrick Juvet) lead singer Willis was the lyricist.</FONT></P></TEXTFORMAT><TEXTFORMAT LEADING="2"><P ALIGN="LEFT"><FONT FACE="Verdana" SIZE="10" COLOR="#0B333C" LETTERSPACING="0" KERNING="0"></FONT></P></TEXTFORMAT><TEXTFORMAT LEADING="2"><P ALIGN="LEFT"><FONT FACE="Verdana" SIZE="10" COLOR="#0B333C" LETTERSPACING="0" KERNING="0">The band&apos;s name references New York City&apos;s Greenwich Village neighborhood, at the time known for having a substantial gay population. Morali and Belolo got the inspiration for creating an assembly of American man archetypes based on the gay men of The Village who frequently dressed in various fantasy attire.</FONT></P></TEXTFORMAT><TEXTFORMAT LEADING="2"><P ALIGN="LEFT"><FONT FACE="Verdana" SIZE="10" COLOR="#0B333C" LETTERSPACING="0" KERNING="0"></FONT></P></TEXTFORMAT><TEXTFORMAT LEADING="2"><P ALIGN="LEFT"><FONT FACE="Verdana" SIZE="10" COLOR="#0B333C" LETTERSPACING="0" KERNING="0">While the song &quot;Macho Man&quot; put them on the map, their 1978 anthem &quot;Y.M.C.A.&quot; made them one of the most successful disco groups.</FONT></P></TEXTFORMAT><TEXTFORMAT LEADING="2"><P ALIGN="LEFT"><FONT FACE="Verdana" SIZE="10" COLOR="#0B333C" LETTERSPACING="0" KERNING="0"></FONT></P></TEXTFORMAT><TEXTFORMAT LEADING="2"><P ALIGN="LEFT"><FONT FACE="Verdana" SIZE="10" COLOR="#0B333C" LETTERSPACING="0" KERNING="0">In 1979, the United States Navy considered using &quot;In the Navy,&quot; another Village People hit, in a recruiting advertising campaign on television and radio. They contacted Belolo, who decided to give the rights for free on the condition that the Navy help them shoot the music video. Less than a month later, Village People arrived at the San Diego Naval base. The Navy provided them with a warship, several aircraft, and hundreds of Navy men. When the video started showing and the Navy started the planned ad campaign, some newspapers protested using taxpayers&apos; money to fund music videos (especially for a group considered by some to be &quot;morally dubious&quot;). The Navy quickly cancelled the campaign. The scandal tremendously boosted the popularity of the song.</FONT></P></TEXTFORMAT><TEXTFORMAT LEADING="2"><P ALIGN="LEFT"><FONT FACE="Verdana" SIZE="10" COLOR="#0B333C" LETTERSPACING="0" KERNING="0"></FONT></P></TEXTFORMAT><TEXTFORMAT LEADING="2"><P ALIGN="LEFT"><FONT FACE="Verdana" SIZE="10" COLOR="#0B333C" LETTERSPACING="0" KERNING="0">Their fame reached its peak in 1979. The Village People were featured on the cover of Rolling Stone, Vol. 289, April 19, 1979.</FONT></P></TEXTFORMAT><TEXTFORMAT LEADING="2"><P ALIGN="LEFT"><FONT FACE="Verdana" SIZE="10" COLOR="#0B333C" LETTERSPACING="0" KERNING="0"></FONT></P></TEXTFORMAT><TEXTFORMAT LEADING="2"><P ALIGN="LEFT"><FONT FACE="Verdana" SIZE="10" COLOR="#0B333C" LETTERSPACING="0" KERNING="0">Willis left the group at the end of 1979, and the group&apos;s downfall began. It is debated why he left the group (though his drug use at that time was well known). However, in a recent interview for Willis&apos; forthcoming autobiography, Belolo insists that Willis was not fired. Rather, he and Morali had big plans for Willis to go solo and that Willis did not care to participate in the movie, Can&apos;t Stop the Music. They convinced Willis to at least write a few songs for the movie, which he did before officially leaving the group. Willis&apos; website concurs with Henri Belolo&apos;s recollection.</FONT></P></TEXTFORMAT><TEXTFORMAT LEADING="2"><P ALIGN="LEFT"><FONT FACE="Verdana" SIZE="10" COLOR="#0B333C" LETTERSPACING="0" KERNING="0"></FONT></P></TEXTFORMAT><TEXTFORMAT LEADING="2"><P ALIGN="LEFT"><FONT FACE="Verdana" SIZE="11" COLOR="#0B333C" LETTERSPACING="0" KERNING="0"><B>1980-1985</B></FONT></P></TEXTFORMAT><TEXTFORMAT LEADING="2"><P ALIGN="LEFT"><FONT FACE="Verdana" SIZE="10" COLOR="#0B333C" LETTERSPACING="0" KERNING="0"></FONT></P></TEXTFORMAT><TEXTFORMAT LEADING="2"><P ALIGN="LEFT"><FONT FACE="Verdana" SIZE="10" COLOR="#0B333C" LETTERSPACING="0" KERNING="0">Ray Simpson, brother of Valerie Simpson (of Ashford &amp; Simpson}, stepped into Willis&apos; shoes in time for the group&apos;s highly anticipated 1980 feature film Can&apos;t Stop the Music, directed by Nancy Walker, written by Allan Carr and Bronte Woodard, music and lyrics by Jacques Morali (altho Willis penned the lyrics to &quot;Milk Shake&quot; and &quot;Magic Night&quot;) and starring Steve Guttenberg, Valerie Perrine, Jean-Claude Billmaer, Bruce Jenner, and the Village People. By the time it was released, however, disco was waning and the movie &quot;won&quot; the Worst Picture and Worst Screenplay prizes at the 1980 Golden Raspberry Awards in March 1981 and was nominated in almost all the other categories. Despite that, the song, &quot;Can&apos;t Stop The Music&quot; became a Club Play chart hit and moderate radio hit. The soundtrack also featured the talents of &quot;David London,&quot; who under his real name Dennis &quot;Fergie&quot; Frederiksen went on to become the future lead singer of Toto and one of the main contributors to the Village People&apos;s next album.</FONT></P></TEXTFORMAT><TEXTFORMAT LEADING="2"><P ALIGN="LEFT"><FONT FACE="Verdana" SIZE="10" COLOR="#0B333C" LETTERSPACING="0" KERNING="0"></FONT></P></TEXTFORMAT><TEXTFORMAT LEADING="2"><P ALIGN="LEFT"><FONT FACE="Verdana" SIZE="10" COLOR="#0B333C" LETTERSPACING="0" KERNING="0">In 1981, with the popularity of disco gone and New Wave music on the rise, Village People replaced its on-stage costumes with a new look inspired by the New Romantic movement, and released the New Wave album Renaissance; it was a minor success.</FONT></P></TEXTFORMAT><TEXTFORMAT LEADING="2"><P ALIGN="LEFT"><FONT FACE="Verdana" SIZE="10" COLOR="#0B333C" LETTERSPACING="0" KERNING="0"></FONT></P></TEXTFORMAT><TEXTFORMAT LEADING="2"><P ALIGN="LEFT"><FONT FACE="Verdana" SIZE="10" COLOR="#0B333C" LETTERSPACING="0" KERNING="0">Victor Willis returned to the group in late 1981 to record the albums Fox on the Box and In the Street.</FONT></P></TEXTFORMAT><TEXTFORMAT LEADING="2"><P ALIGN="LEFT"><FONT FACE="Verdana" SIZE="10" COLOR="#0B333C" LETTERSPACING="0" KERNING="0"></FONT></P></TEXTFORMAT><TEXTFORMAT LEADING="2"><P ALIGN="LEFT"><FONT FACE="Verdana" SIZE="10" COLOR="#0B333C" LETTERSPACING="0" KERNING="0">Although their last album containing new material, the 1985 dance/Hi-NRG release Sex Over The Phone, was not a huge commercial success, it fared better in sales and club play than their &quot;Renaissance&quot; album. The &quot;Sex Over The Phone&quot; music video, due to the rise of video on the Internet, has become a viral video phenomenon.</FONT></P></TEXTFORMAT><TEXTFORMAT LEADING="2"><P ALIGN="LEFT"><FONT FACE="Verdana" SIZE="10" COLOR="#0B333C" LETTERSPACING="0" KERNING="0"></FONT></P></TEXTFORMAT><TEXTFORMAT LEADING="2"><P ALIGN="LEFT"><FONT FACE="Verdana" SIZE="11" COLOR="#0B333C" LETTERSPACING="0" KERNING="0"><B>1985 to Present</B></FONT></P></TEXTFORMAT><TEXTFORMAT LEADING="2"><P ALIGN="LEFT"><FONT FACE="Verdana" SIZE="10" COLOR="#0B333C" LETTERSPACING="0" KERNING="0"></FONT></P></TEXTFORMAT><TEXTFORMAT LEADING="2"><P ALIGN="LEFT"><FONT FACE="Verdana" SIZE="10" COLOR="#0B333C" LETTERSPACING="0" KERNING="0">The Village People took a leave of absence in 1986. They reunited the following year with the line-up of Randy Jones, David Hodo, Felipe Rose, Glenn Hughes, Alex Briley, and Ray Simpson.</FONT></P></TEXTFORMAT><TEXTFORMAT LEADING="2"><LI><FONT FACE="Verdana" SIZE="10" COLOR="#0B333C" LETTERSPACING="0" KERNING="0"></FONT></LI></TEXTFORMAT><TEXTFORMAT LEADING="2"><LI><FONT FACE="Verdana" SIZE="10" COLOR="#0B333C" LETTERSPACING="0" KERNING="0">A now rare remix album of their 1970s &amp; early 1980s hits was released in 1989.</FONT></LI></TEXTFORMAT><TEXTFORMAT LEADING="2"><LI><FONT FACE="Verdana" SIZE="10" COLOR="#0B333C" LETTERSPACING="0" KERNING="0">On November 15, 1991, Village People founder Jacques Morali succombs to AIDS in Paris, France.</FONT></LI></TEXTFORMAT><TEXTFORMAT LEADING="2"><LI><FONT FACE="Verdana" SIZE="10" COLOR="#0B333C" LETTERSPACING="0" KERNING="0">The Village People had a comeback and toured in 1993.</FONT></LI></TEXTFORMAT><TEXTFORMAT LEADING="2"><LI><FONT FACE="Verdana" SIZE="10" COLOR="#0B333C" LETTERSPACING="0" KERNING="0">In 1994, Village People joined the German national football team to sing its official World Cup &apos;94 theme Far Away In America.</FONT></LI></TEXTFORMAT><TEXTFORMAT LEADING="2"><LI><FONT FACE="Verdana" SIZE="10" COLOR="#0B333C" LETTERSPACING="0" KERNING="0">From July 18 to July 20, 2004, Village People performed in Berlin for three shows as an opening act for the German punk band Die Ärzte.</FONT></LI></TEXTFORMAT><TEXTFORMAT LEADING="2"><LI><FONT FACE="Verdana" SIZE="10" COLOR="#0B333C" LETTERSPACING="0" KERNING="0">In 1994, the indie punk rock label Go Kart Records wanted the Village People to release an all Sex Pistols cover album. The group declined. Instead, Cowboy Randy Jones sang Greg Brady&apos;s part on a punk cover of The Brady Bunch classic &apos;Time To Change&apos;.</FONT></LI></TEXTFORMAT><TEXTFORMAT LEADING="2"><LI><FONT FACE="Verdana" SIZE="10" COLOR="#0B333C" LETTERSPACING="0" KERNING="0">On March 4, 2001, original member Glenn Hughes (Leatherman) passes away from lung cancer in New York City.</FONT></LI></TEXTFORMAT><TEXTFORMAT LEADING="2"><LI><FONT FACE="Verdana" SIZE="10" COLOR="#0B333C" LETTERSPACING="0" KERNING="0">Starting in 2004, Village People performed as the opening act for Cher on her Farewell Tour until it ended in April 2005. It was a highly successful tour for both artists.</FONT></LI></TEXTFORMAT><TEXTFORMAT LEADING="2"><LI><FONT FACE="Verdana" SIZE="10" COLOR="#0B333C" LETTERSPACING="0" KERNING="0">On June 6, 2006 Village People were scheduled to be the headline act at Asbury Park&apos;s famous Gay Pride parade and festival.</FONT></LI></TEXTFORMAT><TEXTFORMAT LEADING="2"><LI><FONT FACE="Verdana" SIZE="10" COLOR="#0B333C" LETTERSPACING="0" KERNING="0">On June 20, 2006, Victor Willis, original lead singer, made his first direct statement to the media in over 25 years indicating that the &quot;nightmare of drug abuse&quot; is being lifted from his life and that he looked forward to being released into a residential drug treatment program. Moreover, he apologized to Village People fans for refusing to perform live concerts since leaving Village People. In that same press statement, Victor Willis revealed that a book based on his life as lead singer of Village People is due for release in 2008 and he will embark on an international tour to coincide with its release.</FONT></LI></TEXTFORMAT><TEXTFORMAT LEADING="2"><LI><FONT FACE="Verdana" SIZE="10" COLOR="#0B333C" LETTERSPACING="0" KERNING="0">On September 5, 2006, Willis was ordered released from custody and into the Betty Ford Center. He was given 3 years probation and ordered to abstain from further use of drugs.</FONT></LI></TEXTFORMAT><TEXTFORMAT LEADING="2"><LI><FONT FACE="Verdana" SIZE="10" COLOR="#0B333C" LETTERSPACING="0" KERNING="0">On July 4, 2006 Village People opened for Los Lonely Boys at the Chevy Freedom Over Texas Fourth of July extravaganza.</FONT></LI></TEXTFORMAT><TEXTFORMAT LEADING="2"><LI><FONT FACE="Verdana" SIZE="10" COLOR="#0B333C" LETTERSPACING="0" KERNING="0">On September 4, 2006, Village People performed at The 2006 Jerry Lewis MDA Telethon.</FONT></LI></TEXTFORMAT><TEXTFORMAT LEADING="2"><LI><FONT FACE="Verdana" SIZE="10" COLOR="#0B333C" LETTERSPACING="0" KERNING="0">On September 30, 2006, Village People performed at Hard Rock Cafe in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic.</FONT></LI></TEXTFORMAT><TEXTFORMAT LEADING="2"><LI><FONT FACE="Verdana" SIZE="10" COLOR="#0B333C" LETTERSPACING="0" KERNING="0">On August 31, 2007, Victor Willis gave his first live concert in 28 years, in Las Vegas.</FONT></LI></TEXTFORMAT><TEXTFORMAT LEADING="2"><LI><FONT FACE="Verdana" SIZE="10" COLOR="#0B333C" LETTERSPACING="0" KERNING="0">On October 8, 2007, Village People performed at Toyota in Torrance, CA.</FONT></LI></TEXTFORMAT><TEXTFORMAT LEADING="2"><LI><FONT FACE="Verdana" SIZE="10" COLOR="#0B333C" LETTERSPACING="0" KERNING="0">On October 23, 2007, Village People performed on the NBC game show The Singing Bee.</FONT></LI></TEXTFORMAT><TEXTFORMAT LEADING="2"><LI><FONT FACE="Verdana" SIZE="10" COLOR="#0B333C" LETTERSPACING="0" KERNING="0">On October 31, 2007, Victor Willis took the stage in Albuquerque, New Mexico.</FONT></LI></TEXTFORMAT><TEXTFORMAT LEADING="2"><LI><FONT FACE="Verdana" SIZE="10" COLOR="#0B333C" LETTERSPACING="0" KERNING="0">On November 17, 2007, Victor Willis wed his long-time love Karen, a lawyer and executive.</FONT></LI></TEXTFORMAT><TEXTFORMAT LEADING="2"><P ALIGN="LEFT"><FONT FACE="Verdana" SIZE="10" COLOR="#0B333C" LETTERSPACING="0" KERNING="0"></FONT></P></TEXTFORMAT><TEXTFORMAT LEADING="2"><P ALIGN="LEFT"><FONT FACE="Verdana" SIZE="11" COLOR="#0B333C" LETTERSPACING="0" KERNING="0"><B>Cultural References</B></FONT></P></TEXTFORMAT><TEXTFORMAT LEADING="2"><P ALIGN="LEFT"><FONT FACE="Verdana" SIZE="10" COLOR="#0B333C" LETTERSPACING="0" KERNING="0"></FONT></P></TEXTFORMAT><TEXTFORMAT LEADING="2"><P ALIGN="LEFT"><FONT FACE="Verdana" SIZE="10" COLOR="#0B333C" LETTERSPACING="0" KERNING="0">Due to their easily recognizable characters, the group have frequently been imitated or parodied in films, TV-series, video games and music. Numerous covers and homages of their songs have been recorded. The stereotypical masculine characters, particularly the leather-clad biker character with handlebar moustaches, have also become a widespread pop culture icons associated with male gay culture and YMCA has become something of an anthem of the LGBT movement.</FONT></P></TEXTFORMAT>