CAMPER THAN A weekend at Butlins with Julian Clary, the Village People became a defining image of happy-clappy 1970s disco, selling a distinctly alternative take on macho America. But although the lyrics and imagery are now so obvious, back then it wasn't quite so clear.
The band were put together by French musicians Jacques Morali and Henri Belolo, who got the idea of using the bold stereotypes of the New York gay scene to showcase their disco tunes. Singers were hired, and the Village People were born.
Despite the intentions, plenty of people were oblivious to the gay imagery and double entendres. Just how clueless were we? YMCA lyrics include: 'They have everything for you men to enjoy/ You can hang out with all the boys'. And from In the Navy: 'Where can you find pleasure/ Search the world for treasure.'
It apparently went over the heads of the US Navy. Not known for having a liberal cultural tradition, it wanted to use the song in a recruitment campaign, going so far as to provide the band with a ship and hundreds of sailors to shoot the video. A public outcry forced the cancellation of the shoot.
The incongruity wasn't lost on the band members. 'It was always a double-edged joke,' says David Hodo, the original construction worker. 'It was never meant to be a joke, but a lot of people didn't understand the camp part of it.'
That was then, of course, and now we're all far more sophisticated and aware. This presumably has something to do with why we just can't get enough cheesy sounds of the 70s. Hong Kong may never hear Public Enemy or U2, but there's always a Boney M or the Stylistics coming to town. Next weekend will be the turn of the Village People, along with fellow disco stars Kool and the Gang and Gloria Gaynor.
Bands and sounds come and go, but the Village People have endured - albeit with various personnel changes over the years. Hodo has been a constant in the line-up (apart from a hiatus in the mid-1980s) and says the continuing appeal comes down to 'fun, basically'.