Maps of Music

Go West (1979)

Where the lyrics of Go West take you, and where it was really made.

The album's title track was later covered by Pet Shop Boys, who made it a hit in 1993, while the album's own lead single 'In the Navy' reached No. 3 on the US Hot 100.

Key places

Recorded and mixed at Sigma Sound Studios, New York (1979)

Recording site Record Plant Studios — Go West was recorded and mixed at Sigma Sound Studios in New York City, according to the Discogs credits. The point is placed at city-center level, so the exact building is not shown. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Album story

Overview

• Go West: fourth studio album by Village People
• Released 26 March 1979 on Casablanca
• Lead singles: In the Navy (No. 3 on the US Billboard Hot 100, No. 2 in the UK Top 40) and Go West
• Go West was covered successfully by Pet Shop Boys in 1993
• Track list: In the Navy, Go West, Citizens of the World, I Wanna Shake Your Hand, Get Away Holiday, Manhattan Woman
• All songs written by Henri Belolo, Jacques Morali and Victor Willis
• Composed and produced for Can't Stop Productions

Background

• Last complete album of all-new material the band made for Casablanca
• Last album to feature Victor Willis
• Fourth studio album of the group

Recording

• Recorded and mixed at Sigma Sound Studios, New York City
• Engineer credit: Michael Hutchinson
• CD reissue in 1996 (the English article gives this date; the Spanish and Portuguese articles give 1999)

Sources: en.wikipedia.org · es.wikipedia.org · www.discogs.com

Tracklist

Sources: musicbrainz.org

Artist

Formation

• Village People is an American disco group known for on-stage costumes and suggestive lyrics.
• The group was formed by French producers Jacques Morali and Henri Belolo and lead singer Victor Willis after the debut album Village People, which targeted disco's large gay audience.
• The name refers to Manhattan's Greenwich Village, long associated with a gay neighborhood reputation.
• The characters symbolized American masculinity and macho gay-fantasy personas.

Members

• The classic six-member lineup of 1978 featured Victor Willis (policeman/naval officer), Felipe Rose (native American), Alex Briley (soldier), Glenn Hughes (leatherman/biker), David Hodo (construction worker) and Randy Jones (cowboy).
• Membership changed many times over the decades, and Victor Willis later returned as lead singer with a new group of background singers.

Career

• The group scored international disco and dance hits including "Macho Man", "In the Navy", "Go West", and "Y.M.C.A.", their biggest hit.
• Their 1979 peak included a North American tour, appearances on The Merv Griffin Show and American Bandstand, and a Rolling Stone cover.
• The 1980 film Can't Stop the Music was a box office failure outside Australia.
• In March 2020 the Library of Congress added "Y.M.C.A." to the National Recording Registry.
• In 2017 Victor Willis regained the Village People name and characters after legal disputes.
• Victor Willis died on June 30, 2026, at age 74.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Reception

At release

• Billboard: the album contains some of the most irresistible rhythm in today's pop/disco genre
• Billboard: I Wanna Shake Your Hand was an appropriately non-romantic twist on the Beatles, with a mock urge to walk up and say hello
• New York Times: the album is set to a pounding disco beat, overlaid with glutinously symphonic arrangements and Victor Willis's hoarse, sweaty vocals
• Chart debut in the US: 25th place on the Billboard album chart in the week of 14 April 1979 (French article)

Reappraisal

• AllMusic critic Amy Hanson: aside from the two singles and Manhattan Woman, the remaining songs sound like a rehash of the band's already released finest
• Hanson: Manhattan Woman contained interesting, James Brown-inflected vocalizations

Records

• US Billboard album chart: peaked at No. 8 for three weeks in May and June 1979 (French article)
• Hit singles: In the Navy at No. 3 on the US Hot 100
• UK: In the Navy at No. 2 in the UK Top 40

Sources: en.wikipedia.org · fr.wikipedia.org

Trivia

• Manhattan Woman drew praise from AllMusic for its James Brown-inflected vocals.
• In the Navy runs 5:39 and Go West runs 4:10 on the album.
• Go West was the last complete all-new album made for Casablanca and the last album with Victor Willis.
• The album peaked at No. 8 on the US Billboard chart for three weeks in May and June 1979.
• Pet Shop Boys' 1993 cover of Go West is the best-known later version of the title track.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

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