Why Do the Village People Dress Like That?
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In this video:
The creation of the Village People is directly attributed to French composer and producer Jacques Morali, a gay man who wanted to create disco music gay men would appreciate.
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Sources:
www.theguardian.com/music/201...
mentalfloss.com/article/61754/...
www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/...
www.villagevoice.com/2015/10/...
www.popmatters.com/182364-und...
www.spin.com/2008/05/ymca-ora...
www.konbini.com/en/entertainme...
www.c-ville.com/interview-feli...
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/In_the_...
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Village...
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Y.M.C.A...)
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henri_B...
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victor_...
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Randy_J...)
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Now that you know why the Village People wear those costumes on stage check out this video and find out about The Bum Brigade:
th-cam.com/video/L8QfX5nD1oo/w-d-xo.html
In case you didn't know the true meaning of "God bless his heart" is a polite way to call someone stupid all over Dixieland....
@@immastarrgalento7850 Same in Britain. "Bless him/her" usually means "stupid old them" pretty much.
Tone and context make words either an underhanded slap or a compliment lol
*Y-M-C-A* @@ashleymurray9279
Loved this video. I grew up in the 90s and always knew that the Village People were verh much a "gay group", but I never knew the story behind their outfits.
The fact that they were able to put out that much music and influence the culture so much amazes me.
I was 13 in 1977. As a young hetero male I was under no illusions that the band weren't representing the gay community. I don't know anyone who thought they were straight at the time.
Rob Burgess I was -10 in 1977 and you don't know what you're talking about. Everyone was fooled.
I was 13 in '77 as well. We all knew about the gay references and costuming and name. While I was a "disco sucks" guy, The Village People have always been a guilty pleasure.
Steven Contreras: Maybe you were...
It wasn't that people didn't know it, it's plausible deniability.
Harpoon, I agree. I was born in 71 and remember a few acts that it was commonly known they were gay around the end of the 70s even though it was never discussed in open company (Village People, Queen, etc). There was a reason for the expression "The love that dare not speak it's name".
They "topped" the charts...
you're fired
ba dum tss
That joke is tops
Just like my brothers ex lmao
Well half of them did.
LastEarBender I should be ashamed of myself that I read comments like this and only think "Hawt..."
Straight, gay, other it doesn't matter. The village people made great music and put on a hell of show. It was a great idea and I am happy they found prosperity in there endeavor.
ghostofkrows I want you to know that as your picture is of Sebastián (thank you, phone, for adding that fancy flare to his name!), your line of "put on a hell of a show" made me giggle. One hell of a band to be liked by one hell of a butler :)
Fluffymiyster Funniest thing is I'm straight! I actually Like Sebastian because of work ethnic and cool under pressure demeanor. I do respect things if they are well done. This would include The Village People and Black Butler.
They have one "good" song and it's more of a meme than anything. Lmfao
Phillip Ech Compared to other Disco (ABBA not invluded) they have fresher and better tunes than 90% if there contemporaries.
They had numerous good tunes. They were anthemic and some of them are strangely moving (Go West).
I'll be honest. I was more shocked to learn there was only one person singing than I was to learn about their costumes.
"Dripping with double entendres" lol.
"Planting a seed in him"
....
Hmmmmm....
I don't think that's how it works...
If this gig does not work out for Simon he can be the new leather man for Village People.
I would pay money to see that.
@@regularfather4708 ...me too. Just now catching up on Simon during covid. I'd up the ante and pay double... But only if he keeps the beard!!
"those visits with me planted a seed in him"...poor choice of words my guy
More like GREAT choice of words!
I also noticed when he said, “they *topped* the charts.”
I totally thought the same thing. I think the word choices were intentional.
They certainly never bottomed out.
Pikaia Gracilens they can top my charts
EXACTLY WHAT I WAS THINKING!
Bonus bonus fact: The original Village Person, Victor Willis, was married to Phylicia Rashad just before she was cast as Bill Cosby's TV wife on The Cosby Show.
Isnt he also the brother of another famous singer?
k9dogtraining, That would be Willis's replacement in the group, Ray Simpson, the brother of Valerie Simpson (of Ashford & Simpson)
+TheWacoKid1963 That is very interesting. Did not know. 👍
+Mark Grant O'Reilly formerly of Fox New? I just looked up. O'Reilly went to HS in NYC; Willis in San Francisco. 🤔
+Mark Grant You said Bill O'Reilly went to high school with Victor Willis the original lead singer of the Village People. Then you wrote Bill O'Reilly's bio and reiterated your assertion. Well, I just did a Google search and it took 15 seconds to find out that Bill O'Reilly went to high school with Glenn Hughes...another member of Village People. So...
My older sister and I had no idea but would have enjoyed it no matter what. However, it adds all kind of hilarity to remember my very straightlaced father dancing to YMCA with us. He would have gone into shock had he known.
BLAIR M Schirmer, - "Long understood," is kind of hard when you're boogieing down with dad to a song that's been on the radio less than a week since it aired for the first time. :-D
Yeah, a lot of people just weren't obsessed about sexuality back then either. To us as kids it was just a catchy and kind of goofy pop song. They'd play it at school games and things like that even. It was only a big deal for people who thought it was a big deal.
jaspr1999, Mate, I have to tell you that I appreciate your comments on T.I.F.O. videos, and look forward to reading them. You are always respectful, honest, insightful and often funny. It's rare on YT to see responses as pleasant as yours.
I would guess we are close in age, so I don't always comment. I have the same thoughts, but you have a better way with words than I do sir.
Thank you and have a great day!
How did your dad not know? Lol YMCA is like a gay anthem....
the subtext in YMCA is about as subtle as the subtext in rammstein's mann gegen mann.
The Biker was the inspiration for Rob Halford of Judas Priest to start dressing in leather and chains outfits on stage, which in turn inspired the more general Heavy Metal fashion sense.
As a 62-year-old gay man, who once enjoyed the Village People in concert at the Hollywood Bowl back in the day, it amazes me the group is now considered a cultural oddity. Now, the idea of these stereotypes is offensive. Kitsch but offensive.
I'm a pretty socially conservative straight guy who was in the military back in the "don't ask, don't tell" days. I have to admit I literally laughed out loud at the Navy description of a lesbian sailor!
I wish I could have been in that briefing... "So basically your plan is to drum out the best female sailors in the Navy then...?"
The Navy recruitment part of the story is just hilarious. I can only wonder how much Morali and the band members laughed about it in private. I wonder if today it's even possible to create a high profile band with such double entente in their lyrics that will be missed by most people
The gay pogrom of the 70's and 80's was amazingly disruptive to our military effectiveness. I had my life saved by several gay Navy medics, BOTB, and it killed moral when some of them were found and put out of the service to be replaced by inept hetero medics. My brother was a medic in the Navy back in the early 60's and was put out with a bad conduct discharge for touching another officer on the hip. He would have served proudly, as have many of our family, and never brought dishonor on the uniform. I'm so glad that these people can now serve freely.
Medics are in the Army. Corpsmen are the medical professionals in the Navy and they are enlisted not officers so your brother could not have touched "another officer" on the hip. And a BCD for touching another man on the hip? Either you're not telling the whole story or your brother didn't tell you the whole story.
Dave in MD Sorry I wrote this quickly but, I really didn't think that anyone would care. When you get injured in the field, you don't yell corpsmen, you yell medic. As I was in the Air Force and the corpsman assigned to our joint unit didn't care, we actually just referred to them as Doc, I figured it would no skin off anyone's nose .... guess I was wrong.
As far as my brother, could be but, he was married at the time and didn't have sex with anyone but her. He said he was being "good" at the time. There were, according to him, rumors about him in our hometown and that may have come up in his background check. IDK
It doesn't change the fact that anyone who's been in the field with a gay medic and is secure in their manhood doesn't give a f**k about it.
I joined the Navy back in 1987 and spent 20 years on active duty and can say that attitudes were different back then, not saying they were right but just saying I know what the attitudes were. I have come to feel that I don't care what someone orientation is, what you do and with who just doesn't matter to me. I currently work with a few homosexuals that I count as friends.
As for the rest, I am just a picky person when I comes to military terminology , so many people get it wrong. Not saying anything negative about your brother.
Mark Grant That would be the "Sacred Band of Thebes" who were famous for their bravery in Greek history. Fought a number of battles with incredible odds against them. Their exploits were recorded by Herotodus, Plutarch, and others. Defeated the Spartans in a famous battle. Finally defeated and wiped out by Phillip of Macedonia, who was Alexander the Greats father.
Brian Garrow And let's not forget the gay guy who helped break the Enigma codes: Alan Turing. If it weren't for him, we wouldn't have computers and smartphones. We'd also be speaking German and goose-stepping everywhere right now.
My mom likes to remind me that I was a huge Village People fan when I was a toddler. . .
Nick Voelker and you're not anymore?
Um...well I'm technically an Indian, I've been a construction worker and a soldier. So, I guess I need to buy a motorcycle and got to the police academy.
Nick Voelker Young man there's no need to feel down I said young man pick yourself off the ground.
That's because babies are ignorant about most sht .
You were a toddler. You couldn’t possibly be a huge fan or a huge anything.
...so, a stereotypical lesbian in the navy is the exact definition of a good soldier basically? Sounds more like that statement should be an endorsement of homosexuality, rather than a condemnation of it.
Ryan Jackson My thought exactly, at first, then I thought what a great way to railroad out the great women in service. Either women can't do the job, or they're gay, according to this brilliant idiot (and he was an idiot, with a brilliant tactic).
Those perfidious lesbians and their commendable work ethic! They'll stop at nothing in their cunning plot to make the navy operate like a well-oiled machine.
Did the military also seriously forget that Alan Turing, one of the guys who broke the Enigma codes, was gay?
Wrong Military.
Not surprising. I was a book lover and was almost suspended from my private Christian secondary school because they thought being bookish and wearing a tie made me a lesbian... not joking. I had to take the tie off and avoid the library for a bit to put the headmaster's mind at rest.
I know a good drinking game: Take a shot every time Simon says "gay"
Sandro H R.I.P. ☠
or every time he sounds gay... you will pass out
I was wondering that, seeing from how he seemingly glows when talking about it, could Simon be gay?
@@bernardtsuddens8336 "i'm not gay i'm just british"
If you drink a lot very quickly, you're much more likely to simply vomit everywhere long before death, and then simply pass out. Usually dying-type problems arise from treating the event like a marathon, whereas most of these games would be more akin to a sprint.
"The gayest album ever" Yes, yes it was and it was AWESOME! :-)
Don't you mean "FABULOUS"? :-)
Wow, that last quote was shockingly prophetic...
How could you listen to YMCA and not think "Yeah, Gay."?
Ernest Walker
That's not how I remember it.
Because most people only know the lyrics “YMCA” and don’t really pay attention to anything else
Unless they knew the composer and his purpose, only a man insecure in his manhood would think it a gay song.
what's so gay in the lyrics?
Jim Fortune they sucked dick at the Y!!
Not going to lie I didn't think this topic would be that interesting but I was surprised
This, I think, is an accurate description of our entire channel. ;-)
tyler anderson and he still missed the point! Village People represent 1in 6 people from every walk of life are gay!
The VIllage People were quite the cultural phenomenon. To this day many still seem quite aware of them. 1977 is a long time ago now too.
@@michaelshultz2540 Not sure about the statistics although *GOOD POINT* . 👨💻🦘🎆👮♂️👷♂️🦹♂️👨✈️
@@TodayIFoundOut My Mum { a psychologist in Australia , where i'm watching this video from} strongly disbelieves what's quoted in description of the group at this video timeline of 4:43 and at 6:51 / 6:52 area. She insists that the group *IS* full of homosexual men *AND INTENTIONALLY* full of homosexual based lyrics. 🤣🤣🤭 👨💻🏖🏊♂️
The two best [Today I found Out] videos have to be #1. Mister Rogers and #2. Friends of Dorothy.
The entire Friends of Dorothy segment I kept saying... are you shiting me? This cannot be real.
"legendary disco beat-smith" is now one of my favorite strings of adjectives
My mom used to have a small rainbow flag outisde her rv at the rv park. Why? Because it was pretty. I never told her. 😊
Schwert_2015 But rainbows are symbolic of so many things, Rainbow Coalition, Rainbow Tribe, spring storms, new beginnings, full spectrum, LGBTQ+, life, and they are pretty. So much prettier than black and white and shades of gray.
Yes one more thing hijacked by homosexuals. The rainbow 🌈 was a symbol in the Bible way before it symbolized being homosexual. Why haven’t I used the word gay? Because that word too had a meaning totally unrelated to being homosexual before it was simply redefined. Amazing.
When I was growing up it was a symbol of the hippy movement, because hippys (supposedly) accepted everyone.
Shellina Musa. It still does. It's always been for everyone.
Kathryn Geeslin it has NOT always meant that. It was a sign from God to Noah in the Bible.
I've seen the Village People in concert a few times including once at Universal Orlando Resort and once at Epcot. It's so funny to watch the kids in the crowds go crazy when they do "YMCA".
Funny fact for viewers. Here in the U.S. the song Y.M.C.A is still played during church events by many churches. The churches mistakenly thinking the song is a christian song.
Meanwhile, there are many churches, such as Fundamentalist Baptist, that believe the Y.M.C.A. song is about pedophilia, especially with the line that his something like "there's many little/young boys that you can play with..." At least that's my experience from arguing with them about their sick minded perceptions
you gotta be kidding ! TODAY ???
David Dean I'm serious. I attended Victory Fundamentalist Baptist Church in Londonderry, NH, for about 3 months just a few years ago. I befriended one of the gentleman and his family. While we were driving to something, he informed me that the Village People are pedophiles and explained the Y M C.A. is about sexually playing with young boys. On another occasion, as I don't believe it was the same trip, we were listening to a popular Bible teacher and preacher from California discussing very same information.
I mean, in their defense, it IS the Young Men's Christian Association. Christian is right there in the name.
ccggenius12 the YMCA was started by leaders of the United Methodist Church
I had a Best of Village People cd when I was a kid. I had no clue they were gay, but it's so obvious as an adult. I just thought they were cool characters. I don't know what happened to that cd though. I would like to add it back into my collection.
And that quote at the end totally represents the world we live in today. It's pretty funny, and also quite sad how he nailed it.
Lol, you said "he nailed it!"
You really were naive weren't you?
Yeah well it was rumored if you played the album backwards its told you to go buy KISS albums ....... lololol ....
@@drinkthekoolaidkids and if you played the kiss albums backwards it told you to buy kansas albums, and if you played THOSE backwards you would get a secret message from lucifer.
@@tuseroni6085 ..... Damm I knew I missed a step ...
The Dorothy video was awesome too.
Friends of Dorothy...
Sheep Ewe I'm a lazy typist.
The last quote was so accurate and way ahead of its time everyone gets so offended by everything now if you just accidentally glance at someone or they walk past your sight line they'll get offended there are things to actually be offended by but not everything if it's not hurting animals the planet or other people don't be offended
The YMCA song was popular (I honestly don't think it will ever be unpopular regardless of the age group) when was in elementary school we had an award ceremony and the male teachers dressed up as them and danced to the song.
they were probably gay XD
Belphegor Infinite I think only the librarian was and he wasn't involved at all loool
There will always be insecure guys who like the song but won't admit it for fear of looking gay.
Michael Parker I only do the YMCA part lol
This was probably my most favorite "Today I Found Out". Always liked the Village people. And I always had my suspicions back in the 80's when listening to it. This has done nothing to smother my appreciation for their music. I love the mustaches. I love the costumes. And I love that it is fun music.
Episode suggestion: Are passenger planes (or any plane for that matter) allowed to fly as fast as they want (in case they are running late or in a hurry). Or are there speed limits in the air?
It’s all directed by air traffic control. There’s an invisible highway in the sky that directs plane traffic in different altitudes. Planes can definitely go faster. But most the time they have to slow down and circle around waiting for their turn to land into an airport.
IdeesVolVrees ATC handles most of that, and planes go as fast as they need too. In fact, some passenger planes used to have their throttle capable of going to 110%, which if left on for more than a couple minutes would tear the engine apart. This was only used in emergencies, say you had to abort a landing at the last minute, or you are running out of runway on takeoff. As to if pilots change speed depending on their schedule, no, they don’t, or at least they aren’t supposed to. Speed can make things dangerous, and encourages shortcuts. Whatever time they arrive is whatever time they arrive, pilots don’t get punished for arriving late or raises for arriving early, because most of what determines how late you are is the ATC, sometimes there might be heavy traffic or you may need to avoid some weather. The aviation industry and the FAA prioritize quality and caution over speed, because as soon as we start trying to cut corners and go faster, that one inspection that they skipped or shortened could have saved the plane. That’s also why mechanics are paid by the hour, not by the job, so mechanics are actually incentivized to take their time, cuz the slower and more meticulous they are, the more they get paid. Is it ensuring maximum bang-for-buck? No, but it’s encouraging mechanics to double check that part, or do one more test on it, or make sure everything is disconnected and supported before you start to take something apart. So long story short, no, there is no speed limit.
Are there speed limits in the air? Generally speaking, no, but as Matthew and Chris have already said, ATC tends to impose speeds to keep everyone safe while in the air - intrusions of any kind on a plane's path are dangerous, and in crowded airspaces (like the US) it can get very problematic very quickly.
If, however, there is an emergency on board an airplane, the pilot will request whatever he needs to make the plane land safely (new destination airport, new altitude, new speed, etc.), and it's up to ATC to coordinate the surrounding traffic to accommodate the emergency the best they can, while keeping everyone safe. I remember watching a transcript of a flight diversion here on TH-cam of a plane that had to divert mid-flight because the pilot became non-responsive, and so the co-pilot was in essence telling ATC what he wanted, including stopping on the runway and having emergency vehicles meet the plane there (as opposed to vacating the runway and taxiing somewhere, which is what you usually do), to cut the time needed for EMS to check up on the pilot.
Of course if the pilot's request is unfeasible, they figure something out. After all, you can't expect to say you need to descend to somewhere where a plane is already flying and have the ATC say "sure, just go ahead, crash into someone else".
That being said, these days airplanes are designed with a target speed in mind, a speed that maximizes fuel efficiency and thus range, and that speed is nowhere near the fastest the plane can go. Which means planes will tend to stick close to that most efficient speed for as long as they can, instead of trying to book it to the destination.
Most passenger planes are already flying very close to their speed limit. For example the Airbus A380 has a maximum speed of Mach 0.86 but in normal flight it is will be traveling at Mach 0.85. Also going faster than the plane was designed for is not a good idea.
Civilian aircraft are assigned altitude "bands" (for example, 36,000 to 41,000 ft for large commercial airliners) that correspond to an allowable cruising speed. The higher the altitude, the lower the drag is generally, so higher altitude bands are coveted by planes that can reach them (piston props can't climb up to jet cruising altitudes). Because planes in the higher altitude bands climb up there to get less drag, they also naturally want to achieve optimal speed there. This optimal speed is dictated by the plane's design limit, so the top speed of planes flying in that band is controlled mostly by the pilots. Airliners can go from Mach 0.8 to 0.95, falling within what is called transonic range (below that is subsonic). What ATC primarily controls is not the top speed of planes flying in a particular altitude band, but its minimum speed. If all planes in that band fly at roughly the same speed, then the slowest plane creates a traffic hazard because it may fall behind and allow the plane behind it to catch up, creating collision risk.
This is why certain altitude bands are prohibited for certain planes. Fast military turboprops like the A400M with its Mach 0.72 design limit and 37,000 ft max cruising altitude are already very close to turbofan planes, but they're still not allowed to fly in airliner bands even though they could reach it, yet the Japanese Kawasaki C2 military cargo plane, which is almost exactly the same weight and has the same cargo capacity as the A400M, is allowed to because it is a Mach 0.8 jet.
It's also not as simple as piston vs turboprop vs jet. For example, the C-17 Globemaster military cargo transport is not allowed to enter airliner cruising bands because its airframe is limited to Mach 0.79 (making it subsonic), but the Kawasaki C2 (again) is allowed to because it can reach 0.8. So even among jets there are regulatory limitations, and these can be very thin at times.
For smaller and slower planes flying irregular routes away from the "highways in the sky", those flying above 10,000 ft must submit their flight plans for ATC approval before takeoff and they cannot deviate from the plans outside of emergencies. When "cannot deviate" is mentioned, people tend to think this means going off course, but that's not all it means. The flight plan includes flight speeds between waypoints set on the route, and the planes are also not allowed to deviate from those speeds, no going faster or slower. So smaller planes are generally self-regulating when they're in the air but they base that self-regulation on an approved plan reviewed and modified as needed by ATC. For planes flying below 10,000 ft, basically there are "anything goes" zones they can enter into and within those zones the pilot has freedom to fly (SAFELY) at their discretion. This is where you find barnstormers and aerobats. Outside these designated zones, there are speed limits and flight plans just like for every other plane.
* YMCA INTENSIFIES *
I was a little youngster when this group came out. I had my first crush on the construction guy, Indian, and the biker dude. They all were outstanding performers. Even to this day, I still love them! Love y'all!
I'd love to see Rob Halford cameo with them, just once.
Wonderful!🙌❤🤗 Love the group! The origin story is cheeky and funny. THANK YOU for this video!💚✌
Today we can say who the hell cares but back in the late 70's it was a huge issue. You couldn't be openly gay but you could be overtly gay by playing up on the stereotypes what gay was. Elton John and Freddie Mercury certainly got away with this one. The Village People just took it a notch higher. It was the birth of the we're queer, we're here movement. Which gave way to the LGTB movement. So these guys were well ahead of their time. And the music wasn't all that bad either. I'd rather listen to disco to any of the dance crap music today.
tag1462 and the one thing never mentioned is that the Village People represent 1in 6 people from every walk of life are gay ! Thus 6 members in the group and all from different walks of life ! Should have been the lead point of this vlog ! Just saying !
@@michaelshultz2540 dude...your spam is showing
Ah, I lived in a suburb of NYC close enough I could see Manhattan and gays had no problems that I was aware of. Granted it was a cosmopolitan part of the world. But what I'm saying is it wasn't nearly the Dark Ages you're trying to paint it as.
They went from the fun and unique "we're queer and we're here" to the stuffy, repressive "LGBT." Way to ruin a good thing.
The origin of the YMCA song totally different than I thought
When I saw YMCA I thought it was about all types of men from different subcultures being part of the primary culture as equals.
And yes I did sing "In the Navy" during my stint in the US Navy during kareoke nights no less along with Gangsta's Paradise by Coolio.
Bob MiLaplace wes the point of the Village People being 6 members with different professions or costumes is to show that 1in 6 people from every walk of life are gay ! Not all the other stuff this vlog reports on. Main point of how and why of Village People is to represent 1in 6 people from every walk of life are gay !
I mean, that is still partially true
When you mentioned about only one signer originating "The Villiage People" it reminded me of "The Tijuana Brass". Originally Herb Alpert did the first album --- The Lonely Bull" -- by himself, playing all the instruments. Again, after demands for the "group" to tour, Alpert had to "create" the group and from then on it was a group and not just Alpert.
I enjoy Herb Alpert, and the albums are so easy to find. Literally every thrift store that has vinyl will have at least one Herb Alpert record.
@@sethchapman8001 Dude in the 1970s my Dad had them ALL!
I loved how they took in what the audience was giving back from the music. 💕 this song is genuinely brought people with a guaranteed moment of happiness when listening it with others. I hope that the YMCA gives you a sponsorship for reminding people this song is a bop.
The fact this was played multiple times at the super-religious homeschool dances I attended as a teen makes me grin with smugness.
This is one of your best! I learned so much about this iconic group from the 70s. Thanks!
When I was in the Navy, for some reason they had that song on the Juke Box in our on Base Bowling Alley. I would drop a quarter in, and select 3 songs, 2 were ones I like, the last one was always In The Navy. I would make sure I was no where near the Juke Box when the song came on, so they never knew it was me. I would laugh as people were swearing violently and leave.
Dorothy doesn't snitch!
Okurrrrrrrrrrrr
Ooh... Topping the charts....
Love your and your crews work Simon, please keep it up on all your channels
Awesome. I really liked the explanations and points of view that I hadn't noticed until then. Congratulations
Wait The Village People was a group directed at the gays? Omg..
Now you're gay by association. Welcome to the club!
This is very strange and new, but I guess I have to accept my new lifestyle
Jamie White Oh poor niave one. It's okay.
Jamie White Wait, you didn't know?! My dear, how old are you? I don't know specifically when I found out (I'm 29...as of today of writing this comment, lol. But I mention that as I wasn't born in the 70's and didn't pay much attention to the backgrounds of bands I enjoyed until maybe the early 2000's), but somehow I've just...known they were gay. The outfits are a dead giveaway, especially the "biker" that looks more like every cliche gay cop ever, lol.
I told the story here in the comments of a gay waiter wanting my field trip group of high school girls (and the female parent chaperones...it wasn't a female exclusive trip, it just worked out that way) to dance with him to YMCA. I was maybe 16 then and knew that song was a gay anthem before seeing him swish his hips to it, lol. But indeed, I too must congratulate you on your naivete, XD!
Edit: Actually, I might have found out back when MTV actually gave more credence to music as their segments would often have little info blips pop up on the music videos. I used to be addicted to MTV's music video block so that could've been where I saw the info.
Fluffymiyster I loved The Village People! But I was a little kid back in the 70’s too and didn’t get what they were really all about until at least the mid-80’s. Now I see kids today still dancing to “YMCA” and laugh to myself that they, just like me, have no freaking clue what that song’s really about. 😂
Episode suggestion: "How/when did the terms "latter" and "former" come into use to describe... the latter and the former....?" Lol :P
busi magen I totally share your wish that those kinds of words were still common. I actually do still occasionally use "yonder" but usually it's in a sarcastic, whimsical, or even just random way. Lol :P
So, I actually do think I understand how "former" ended up being used, as it means; 'that which came before". I have no idea how "latter" could end up coming to be used with the meaning of "in reference to the previous".... lol :P
To distinguish the Mormons from Christian saints ¶:
Professionally and succinctly presented, research on point. Fab. Gold elephant stamp worthy!
Really well crafted content; old enough to know the story I nevertheless took a look and don't regret it for a moment.
This IS great. Have never heard the research. Thanks so much for sharing your research! CHEERS!
There couldn’t have been anyone under 70 years old that didn’t know the Village People were gay and sang about their gay lifestyle
You'd be surprised.
Kenney Chappuis I wouldn't be too sure about that. My parents were laced up people and had no clue on a lot of things...
How about a high school student who was in the Midwest, had few friends, & was sheltered because no one her family knew was openly gay?
It took me a long time to understand what homosexuality was because there were literally NO resources I could turn to, except for what I could glean off the TV.
I remember when gay was hijacked. I used it in my writing in grade school. I stopped when TV coverage showed so much hatred of the word.
my parents didnt know
a lot of middle America were clueless
I always thought the YMCA (the organisation, not the song) was an institution for homeless people.
Not in my city it wasn't. We didn't allow homeless people. My Mom sent me to summer camp with the Y every year though. It was something to do.
YMCA was an organization for men and it was church oriented. Young Men's Christian Association. It was later changed to The Family Y so families could go there and be together. It was NOT a gay place. Salvation Army was for the homeless. It was NOT for gay men. It is a church oriented place.
Very interesting indeed! Thanks for one of the best chanels on the YT.
What a story, and a very powerful message at the end. Thank you
Neil Cicierega made a fantastic remix of the YMCA song.
Pickles fuck yeah “T.I.ME.” was one of my fav tracks of 2017. Amazing how well that Zimmer orchestral piece went with the vocals of YMCA. The best mashup I’ve ever heard, by far. ✌🏼
Heyyyyy Thaylor!
Great video! I really enjoyed this!
So...I was laughing about the Navy involvement had me, literally, laughing out loud before you start explaining the joke at 9:01
I take it the Navy officials were not friends of Dorothy then.
Not openly, at least...
And yet they had no problem with a gay British guy breaking the Enigma codes.
AirCooledMan2006 Well, if I recall correctly they had no problem with it until they discovered that he was, in fact, gay.
Also, that was the British military, not the American.
Patrik Hjorth Britain was still allied with the U.S., USSR, China, and the Free French government, though. And why the duck did the past retards have such a problem with LBGTQ people existing? WHY? Fuck that retarded era and everything it stood for! Fucking Four Olds bullshit!
i thought village people meant people who lived in villages lol
Great video! I have been also blessed to work with my good friend Felipe Rose in his upcoming solo muzik projects.
On that plane trip where they worked on choreography (7:42), there was premium class, 1st class, business class and.....
Dance class! 😁
Soooo, how did you meet Dorothy?
Marc Mangi 😁😂
Oddly enough, a straight (?) friend kinda helped me figure it out. It was my first inkling that I wasn't as straight as I thought I was. He, however, decided it was too gay for him, and therefore I was. Hey, we were only kids. I knew just about zero and he didn't know as much as he thought he did, and, well, I kinda got the idea I liked it more than he did. But I had no idea what to make of that, and he was no help after that. Just goes to show you, growing up is tougher than it seems. But I was always called names, growing up. I just thought it was because I had really bad eyesight and was bad at sports. I started figuring it out though. So hey, I sorta met Dorothy the complicated way.
Actually, Simon has never met Dorothy. Even if he did, his girlfriend of several years would probably just find it cute.
When I grew up in the 80s, I had no idea and one day I thought I spotted a gay double entendre in one of their songs... then the penny dropped
That was sort of my experience growing up in the '70s and '80s - my parents were "disco sucks!" ex-hippie rockers, I'm a straight metal fan, and I wouldn't have really given the Village People the time of day, but one day my friends and I heard the song in the background of a movie we were watching or something, caught a double-entendre, noticed the costumes, and slooooooowly started putting 2+2 together... "you know what? I think this band might be kinda gay? A gay band... a gay disco group!"
It became sort of an in-joke for us, in about the same way the word "gay" was used a few years ago as a generic way of saying something was bad or just a random insult to hurl at your friends: if something seemed kinda gay, we'd just mention the Village People, or chant "YMCA", and crack up, and then one day my best friend bought me a "greatest hits" cassette for my birthday, saying "dude, I think you'll like this more than me!", to take the piss out of me and all, and I'd gotten him something equally "awful" because that was just how we rolled.
And damned if I didn't play the tape for laughs, only to end up having to admit that the Village People are some pretty damned good entertainers, with some really catchy and fun songs... next thing you know, when my friends are hanging out together playing music, instead of the usual death metal or hardcore or acid rock or whatever, I got to take the piss outta them by saying "here's a song you guys might like more than me", and play "Macho Man" or "In the Navy" or whatever - it was good for getting some laughs, but hell, we all ended up enjoying the Village People's music and hilarious lyrics....
So, yeah: kudos to the Village People for making gay disco songs so catchy and entertaining that a bunch of straight metal heads and punk rockers could agree that the band was onto something. And, my friends and I were apparently kind of slow on the uptake in realizing the lyrics were kind of suspicious, but once we noticed something was kinda "off"...!
This was very interesting. Thanks!
Fun story: my husband is retired USN. He was stationed on-board a destroyer whose captain insisted on playing "In the Navy" every time they left port for deployments or work-ups. He did this for years until someone finally told him it was basically a gay anthem. He wasn't happy.
thanks karl
I have a request for a video why do different country's size their shoes differently
OneWay DJDay This could be a good video~
Just assuming, like how we had different languages form, we had different lengths of measurements.
In the navy," all the men are busy hoisting up landlubbers and battoning down hatches ,and doing things like all good sailors do when their far away at sea" ! Giggles (the legend of the uss titanic ) by Jamie Brockett 1968 !
Awesome video!!❤ I was a child when they were popular never knew anything about them but I remember there music
Still love these guys their music has always made me smile even when I didn't have any thing to smile about.
Dorothra Walker true, up-beat, easy to dance too & get a pretty good work-out!☺❤👍Move-2-the-groove.
I'm just really amused the navy was hunting for that Dorothy woman. Just too funny.
This little doco made me love the Village People even more !!
When a member of an iconic gay group with deep counter-culture roots is saying we're drifting too far into political correctness, you know just how far up the creek we are.
Thanks. This video has made everything perfectly queer.
You're so brave for choosing this video to come out Simon.
Hahahaha, you straight slay me.
I still say the Navy’s definition of a lesbian sounds like an ideal soldier that you’d want in a ranked position.
And yeah, it’s never been a secret to me that the Village People represent the gay community. I don’t mind, but I can’t stand the YMCA, as a result of having gone to summer camp there for many years and them having us sing the song several times a day in a cult like fashion.
In truth, the Navy's "warning signs" of a lesbian really did sound like an ideal soldier or officer, and in my experience in the workplace, most gay employees have been overwhelmingly professional and among the best and hardest workers I've worked with... I don't know why that might be, maybe there's more at stake for someone who might lose his/her job at any moment from discrimination, or maybe these workers have a little something extra to prove, or whatever, but in general, gay and lesbian coworkers have been among the best employees I've worked with, and I say that as an almost boringly straight, conservative, and politically incorrect middle-class white American guy. (I did have one or two gay managers hit on me and other employees, which was quite off-putting and uncomfortable, but they were exceptions rather than the rule.)
I've never actually been to a YMCA... I've been told it's an OK place to go work-out by friends into fitness and so on, but I'm kind of a slob whose never been to a gym and who has never been interested in going, and your description of it as being cult-like doesn't help much :D
Most my straight friends loved YMCA and knew the lyrics (even if they missed the sexual innuendos) -- buy for me, my "coming out" song was Macho Man.... because I was so afraid of being labeled a "sissy boy" (even if I'm very beefy).
HaHa, "Private Chuckles'
That was extremely interesting. Cheers.
6:28 so they planted a seed in Jaque an then he got gay, I get it now
To keep up with culture, the village people need a furry to dance with them... The band has its own image but I think they need a furry in their ranks.
More of a joke really, but at least as a dancer it would be appreciated by more than just myself.
Who am I kidding here, I mean if they changed like that they may as well make their own band have more bass drops... Though that would be cool too.
Galloe To keep up with time, the village people are now in their 60's and 70's
No elementary school dance was complete without YMCA in the 90s
Damian P that and the macarina
Oh man, Simon is the best! You just gotta love this guy!
Cheekily mentions "Topping the charts" while discussing the gay references dripping in the lyrics of the band. 😂 Simon Whistler, you otter receive an award for consistently dropping the biggest, best & hottest loads of information on us in all of youtube! 😝
For my money, you're as versatile as you are entertaining and intelligent! 😉 keep it up stud!👍
(9:53) - "oriented", not "orientated".
"Pernickerty", not "Pedantic".
That's hilarious. A band that was created because of gay identity about being gay and sang gay inspired music made sure to keep a level of deniability about the gay aspects of the music. A band where the singer happened to be gay and didn't give a damn what people thought and nor did the band (Queen) but wasn't strictly about being gay nor was the music intended to be gay related can't be spoken about without gay and straight people insisting that the whole band was gay and all the songs were about being gay.
Simon you said the majority of people outside of the gay community didn't get the music's subtext. Straight people went to gay bars & discos too! Believe me, in the 70s it was ALL out there! Straight, gay, bi etc. etc. Awesome decade!
Still listening in 2023👍🏴
Bet the Christians didnt see that comming xD
fist
They all did that to each other probably
You are so awesome!
Jake Griffin - Isn’t there suppose to be an R in there somewhere? 😱 Too punny!
Unfortunately misspelled, hilarious considering the topic
We know what you’re thinking about.
My friends and I are straight, but got all the double entendres, and enjoyed a chuckle about them. Also, they are great to dance to. (you can imagine how many wedding receptions I have been to where YMCA gets played. It's become the new "Chicken Dance" or "Heard it through the Grapevine.")
The only "down side" their music ever had was when people found out I was in the Navy.(Both while active duty and after) Everyone had to make a joke about it, but we just shook our heads and laughed. Then the taunters(usually Army or Marines) would see it didn't phase us. We'd all laugh and we'd all go out for a beer. (I was a Navy Corpsman attached to the Marines, so they knew that I knew they were joking. First thing they teach the Marines at Boot Camp is DON'T PISS OFF DOC!)
Excellent clip. Thanks.
Why? Because cocaine is a hell of a drug.
"You look like one of the Village People." Billy Crystal in City Slickers
and here's me thinking the "Can't stop the music" film told us "Why"
Really good one, guys.