Rob Frydlewicz: Coming Out With the Help of The Village People, April 11, 1978

Even though I hadn't heard any of the tracks I bought the Village People's eponymous first album anyway. I did so because I noticed that for weeks their San Francisco/Hollywood medley had been high on Billboard's dance chart so I had a hunch I'd enjoy their music. I was in my junior year at Penn State and I bought the LP at the record store in State College.

The late 70's were my formative coming-out years and the songs on this album, e.g. the title track, Fire Island and Key West, provided me with somewhat of an education about gay life. I'd get a frisson of excitement listening to these songs' lyrics about decadent places I'd yet to experience.

Delighted with this first album I bought their new one, Macho Man two weeks later. The title track became the group's first charting song on Billboard's Hot 100.

Despite the fact that the Village People were embraced by gay men and their song lyrics were filled with gay double entendres, they managed to cross over to the general market, which seemed to get a kick out of the group's "camp pop". For instance, The dorm complex I lived at in University Park was also where most members of the football team lived, and on a number of occasions some who lived on my floor asked to borrow these LPs for parties.

After their second album the Village People's next album, Go West, was released in the winter of 1979 and produced the ubiquitous YMCA, which spent 3 weeks at #2 in the winter of '79. The next single In the Navy went to #3 in the Spring. Rolling Stone Magazine even put them on its cover.

However, overexposure soon ensued and the group "jumped the shark" in 1980 with their embarassingly bad movie Can't Stop the Music.

Still, I'll always have a warm spot in my heart for them.