What a great movie. Lots of inside jokes, a good "time capsule"



of disco culture, and a great lesson on the music business.

The movie wasn't entirely true, but the Village People has

been a business from Day One and there is plenty to learn

from these guys.

For one, they started with a market and then put the band

together. The first album, a self-titled EP, was recorded

by studio musicians and made specifically for the gay

audience and featured songs like "San Francisco" and

"Fire Island."

When that took off, the "band" was put together...

And even though the Village People went on to mainstream

success, they didn't forget who had given them their original

break. You don't have to go too far to see plenty of gay

references throughout their songs, album covers, image, or

anything else the group is involved with.

The very first album I owned was 1978's Crusin'. I played it

hundreds of times.

Years later, I asked my mother if she knew they were gay...

"Of course," she said.

Good to see Mom was on top of things. I'd hate to think

she would miss that with songs like "I'm a Cruiser" and

"My Roomate."

People did miss it though... The Daily Association used

"Milk Shake" in its ad campaign and the US Navy used

"In the Navy." At least for a little while...

From Wikipedia:

The United States Navy considered using the Village People

hit "In the Navy" 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, The

Village People arrived at the San Diego Naval base. The Navy

provided them with a war ship, several airplanes, and hundreds

of Navy men. When the video started showing and the Navy

started the planned ad campaign, some newspapers protested

using taxpayer money to fund music videos (especially for a

group considered by some to be "morally dubious"). The Navy

quickly cancelled the campaign. The scandal tremendously

boosted the popularity of the song.