Well it all started in 1977. I was working as a toll collector at the Brooklyn Battery Tunnel. A co worker/friend had come across an ad in a trade publication advertising for 'macho singers with moustaches.' I had to laugh.
My friend kept prodding me to try out. I had no real desire to become any sort of entertainer, but working the tunnel wasn't exciting work either. I will go back and give you a bit of history about the group and then we'll get back to me.Here is the 25 cent tour:French composer Jacques Morali and his business partner, Moroccan born Henri Belolo came to the US to try their hand at the music industry. Henri had more music industry expertise and with Jacques fresh new ideas, they went to Philadelphia and recruited three young ladies and formed the disco group the Ritchie Family. 'Brazil' was their first major smash hit. After that Henri moved to New York City and started doing business there. Jacques came to visit. One day while walking in Greenwich Village they passed a young man dressed in full Native American attire. They were fascinated with his persona down to the bells he wore around his ankles. They followed him into a bar called the Anvil. They took a seat and watched him start working. He was a bartender who also performed impromptu dances on the bar! As Henri and Jacques observed the room, they noticed a man dressed as a cowboy dancing and watching the Indian as he danced. Suddenly both Jacques and Henri had the same idea!They both started to fantasize about a macho group of American stereotypical males singing and dancing as a group. They had in mind a group that would bely the gay community with double entendre song lyrics and suggestive moves, yet appeal to the masses. And since these 'characters' were spotted in the Village, hence the name and group 'Village People' were born!When the first album was recorded Jacques and Henri only had one singer signed up, front man Victor Willis who had been on Broadway starring in 'The Wiz'. They brought Victor in for a recording session and they also invited the Indian from the Anvil Bar to come to the session as a 'mascot'. That Indian was Felipe Rose, soon to be another Village person! Jacques and Henri had also ran an ad seeking macho male types. They took some selected people and had them pose in front of a club on the West side of the Hudson river. They took some photos and one of them ended up being the album cover of the very first Village People record!The record met with moderate success in the UK with the song San Francisco. Soon after Henri and Jacques flew to Los Angeles to meet with Neil Bogart of Casablanca Records. They arrived a day early and decided to visit an LA nightclub. Henri happened to be an acquaintance of the DJ and wrangled him into playing one of the tracks from the 'first' album, just to get a 'crowd' rating. At 2AM the DJ spun out San Francisco. At first the dance floor was empty. 30 seconds later it erupted into a frenzy of dancers. People loved the song and at that moment Henri and Jacques new they were onto something! The next day they met with Neil Bogart and armed with confidence convinced him to sign Village People to a record deal in less than one hour!Henri and Jacques went back to New York and ran that fateful ad in the local entertainment trade paper seeking macho singers with moustaches- they then hired me, Alex Briley, David Hodo and Randy Jones and a new star was born. At first we played 'underground' in clubs and such as no one was sure how much we would be welcome on the top 40 scene. But then after some radio exposure thanks to WBLS in NYC and their DJ Frankie Crocker, the Village People started to climb the charts with Macho Man and San Francisco. Disco was born and we were on our way!
