Village People

In the sweet spot between Stonewall and AIDS, New York gay culture dominated and influenced the "night life" with the pounding beat of disco,the energy of cocaine and a plethora of gay sex clubs. New York City was like a different country, where straights, gays and everyone in between could cavort together. In the rest of the country "safe spaces" were often not safe, if you could find one at all.

And then, in an amazing cultural "sleight of hand," the Village People leapt from the downtown discos onto Middle-America's record players. Little did the straight population know that they were dancing to songs about gay hook-ups, ("In the Navy" and "YMCA" are practically 'how-tos'), performed by a group of men, each representing a different fetishized gay icons: police, leather daddies, construction workers, cowboys and others.

Shockingly, even to this day, you might find some ignorant enemy of the LGBTQ+ community dancing terribly to one of their songs, completely oblivious.

Live & Sleazy In Store Promo – 1979 – David Bieber Archives

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