The Village People - The Best of Playgirl - January 1980

 Village People is an American disco group that formed in the United States in 1977, well known for their on-stage costumes depicting American cultural stereotypes, as well as their catchy tunes and suggestive lyrics. Originally created by Jacques Morali and Henri Belolo to target disco's gay audience by featuring popular gay fantasy personas, the band's popularity quickly brought them into the mainstream. Village People scored a number of disco and dance hits, including their trademark "Macho Man", "Go West", the classic club medley of "San Francisco (You've Got Me) / In Hollywood (Everybody is a Star)", "In the Navy", and their biggest hit, "Y.M.C.A.". They have sold upwards of 100 million records world-wide.

 

 Victor Edward Willis (born July 1, 1951) is an American singer, songwriter, actor; and most known as the original lead singer of the disco group Village People. His persona was the Cop and 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 demos of music in the mid-1970s 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 big".

Willis agreed to sing lead and background vocals under the auspices of Village People, a non-existent concept group which included the hits "San Francisco (You've Got Me)" and "In Hollywood (Everybody is a Star)". The album became a huge hit in the burgeoning disco market. After an offer from Dick Clark for the group to perform on American Bandstand, Morali and Willis were pressed to develop a "real" group around Willis to perform live. They did so by placing an ad in music trade papers for "macho" singers who "could also dance" and "must have a mustache".

Willis was soon writing hit after hit produced by and co-written with Morali. Village People quickly rose to the top of the charts with Willis at the helm scoring numerous chart busters such as "Macho Man", "Y.M.C.A.", "In the Navy", and "Go West".

In 1980, as preparations for a Village People feature film Can't Stop the Music were under way, Willis left the group. Although he does not appear in the movie, he wrote the lyrics for two of the film's songs, "Magic Nights" and "Milkshake". Can't Stop the Music became one of the biggest Hollywood movie flops of all time.

After Willis departed, Village People never had another hit. In an attempt to "recapture the magic", Morali and Belolo convinced him to return to the group in 1982 for the album Fox on the Box. Despite the fact that album had a more urban rock feel, and also included one of the earlier hip-hop tracks, it was not a commercial success. In 1983, Willis left the group for good.

 Randy Jones (born on 13 September 1952 in Raleigh, North Carolina, United States) is an American disco and pop singer and was the original cowboy from Village People.

He attended 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 theater". He then studied at North Carolina School of the Arts before moving to New York.

Jones had a marriage ceremony with his boyfriend of 20 years, Will Grega, at a New York club on May 7, 2004. Although the marriage is not legally binding, as gay marriage was still illegal in New York state, Jones commented that: "It's only a matter of time before the courts rule in favor of what's morally right and humanly decent." The pair published a book together in 1996, titled Out Sounds: The Gay and Lesbian Music Alternative.

He released in 2007 a disco and pop solo album Ticket to the World. In 2009, he appeared on Flight of the Conchords in their music video for "Too Many Dicks".

Randy Jones appears as himself in the 2011 video game Postal III.

 

 David "Scar" Hodo (born July 7, 1947, Palo Alto, California) is the construction worker character in the group, The Village People. He is one of three original members still performing with the group (the other two being Felipe Rose (the Native American) and Alex Briley (the sailor).

Hodo graduated from California State University, Sacramento in 1969 where he majored in Speech and acted in several campus productions, including Oh What a Lovely War, Carnival and Richard II. In 1972, he moved to New York, appearing as a chorus member in numerous Broadway musicals, including Funny Girl.

 Felipe Rose (born January 12, 1954) is a founding member of the disco group the Village People, in which he is the Red Indian. His mother is Puerto Rican and his father is Lakota Sioux.

Rose was born in New York City as Felipé Ortiz Rose and 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. In 1970, when Rose was 16-years-old, he won a scholarship to study dance with the Ballet de Puerto Rico under the guidance of Pascual Guzman. He participated in a dance-drama recital of Julia de Burgos at the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts with the Ballet Company. The New York Post called his performance "poignant and compelling"

Soon, Rose started to venture into the nightclub scene and at the same time his aunt introduced him to other influences in dance and recommended that he honor his father's heritage by dressing in his tribal regalia - this led to the "Red Indian" attire. Rose was working as a dancer and a bartender in a gay New York Go-Go club, dressed as an Indian when he was discovered by French producer Jacques Morali and executive producer Henri Belolo and so became the first recruit for Village People.

Both Jacques and Henri were fascinated by Rose's Red Indian attire and saw the potential in organizing a singing group where each individual would wear a different costume and have a particular identity. While the producers were busy recruiting and preparing the other members of the group, Rose was sent to Paris where he choreographed a native dance number for the Crazy Horse Saloon. When he returned to the United States, he suggested that the other members of the group wear uniforms representing different "manly" occupations in New York's Greenwich Village.

In 1977, Village People had their first hit with "San Francisco", although this song became a hit only in the United Kingdom. Then in 1978 they had their first hits in the U.S. with "Macho Man" followed by "Y.M.C.A.".

In the 1980s, Rose sang and danced for the Latin music maestro Tito Puente and he also starred in a regional theater production of West Side Story. In 1996, Rose started the Tomahawk Group, an entertainment and recording company. The company handles Village People's releases and songs. The company is also in charge of the group's many engagements. Rose has been the producer of various artists.

 Alexander "Alex" Briley (born April 12, 1947) performs the "G.I." role in the disco era music group, Village People. Briley was born and raised in Harlem, New York and later Mount Vernon, New York. A minister's son, he sang in church from an early age and studied voice at the University of Hartford.

Briley was introduced to producer/composer Jacques Morali by Village People member Victor Willis.  Briley arranged most of the vocals and harmonies used by Village People. He originally performed in jeans and a t-shirt but he took the role of a soldier for the album Cruisin' in 1978 and when the group recorded "In The Navy" in 1979 he appeared as a sailor.

Glenn M. Hughes (July 18, 1950 – March 4, 2001) was the original "Biker" character in the disco group Village People from 1977 to 1996. He graduated Class of 1968 from Chaminade High School, then attending 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.

Glenn's powerful bass voice played an important part in the background lyrics of almost all Village People's most known hits, such as In The Navy. He sported an extravagant horseshoe mustache and wore his trademark leather outfit on stage and off. As he was the band's "biker" and a real life fanatic, he kept his motorcycle parked inside his home. With Village People gaining fame, Hughes became one of the icons of the disco era, even appearing in a special television broadcast in Playboy Mansion with Hugh Hefner.

In 1996, he retired from dancing and launched his own successful New York cabaret act, which kept him busy until he was diagnosed with lung cancer. He was replaced by Eric Anzalone as the Biker character. However, Hughes continued with management of the band. During his later years, he was known for storming the streets of New York with his Custom Harley-Davidson motorcycle. Hughes, who was also referred to by the masses as "Leatherman", was named on People Magazine's 1979 list of most beautiful people.

Hughes died in March 2001, aged 50, at his Manhattan apartment from lung cancer. He was subsequently interred (wearing his leatherman outfit) at Saint Charles Cemetery (Section 43, Row M, Plot 63) in Farmingdale, Long Island, New York.