Village People

American band

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disco

  • Disco queen Donna Summer, c. 1976
    In disco: Queer culture and political themes

    …the gay anthem, including the Village People’s “Y.M.C.A.” (1978), Gloria Gaynor’s “I Will Survive” (1978), and Diana Ross’s “I’m Coming Out” (1980). Other disco songs proclaimed Black pride, such as McFadden and Whitehead’s “Ain’t No Stopping Us Now” and Sister Sledge’s “We Are Family” (both 1979), and feminism—in

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Studio 54

  • Studio 54
    In Studio 54: Studio 54 in pop culture

    ” by the Village People, “Shake Your Groove Thing” by Peaches and Herb, and “I Love the Nightlife” by Alicia Bridges. One of the album’s songs, Chic’s “Le Freak,” was inspired by the club’s notorious velvet-rope policy. After the group’s Nile Rodgers and Bernard Edwards were refused entry…

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“Y.M.C.A.”

  • The Village People, c. 1978
    In Y.M.C.A.

    …the American disco group the Village People, released on the album Cruisin’ in 1978 and written by the group’s lead singer Victor Willis and producer Jacques Morali. Since its debut, the song has been embraced as an anthem of the LGBTQ community and has remained popular, becoming a party staple,…

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