Maps of Music

Renaissance (1981)

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

The album that moved Village People away from disco also became the last one to feature David Hodo and Ray Simpson.

Key places

Record Plant, Los Angeles (1981)

Recording site Record Plant (Los Angeles) — Listed as the studio linked to this album's recording. The point sits on the building's exact coordinates. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Album story

Overview

• Renaissance is the seventh studio album by American disco group Village People
• Released in 1981 by RCA Records
• The album marked a departure for the group, with a more new wave-influenced sound and less emphasis on disco
• It was also the last album to feature David Hodo and Ray Simpson

Background

• In 1980 the group starred in the film Can't Stop the Music, which came out after disco's peak and flopped at the box office, winning the first Razzie Award for Worst Picture
• The group was signed to Casablanca Records; when that label went out of business, RCA signed the group in 1981
• RCA planned to rebrand the group as a new wave band
• David Hodo recalled that RCA executives were passing around ideas for restyling the group
• One idea was colorful, monochromatic fringed leather bodysuits, which Hodo considered awful
• The look the group agreed to was a New Romantic style, which Hodo said was like Adam Ant and Spandau Ballet
• Former lead singer Victor Willis had left two years earlier, and lead vocals were now shared by alternating members
• Renaissance was co-written by producer Jacques Morali and the VP Band
• VP Band musicians included Dan Schmidt (keyboardist for Oingo Boingo), Howie Epstein (bassist for Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers), and Dennis 'Fergie' Frederiksen (singer for Toto)

Recording

• The studio linked to this album is Record Plant in Los Angeles (see map point)
• All tracks are credited to Jacques Morali, V.P. Band, Henri Belolo and Dennis Frederiksen
• Eight tracks in total, from 'Do You Wanna Spend the Night' to 'Food Fight'

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

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

• In its review for Billboard magazine, the editors praised the album's 'mellifluous harmonies'
• Billboard also called the lead single '5 O'Clock in the Morning' an ethereal piece of work
• Billboard criticized the album as not edifying

Reappraisal

• Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic gave the album one star out of five
• Erlewine called the album an embarrassment that should never have been released, but picked '5 O'Clock in the Morning' as a highlight
• Christopher Bickel of Dangerous Minds called 'Food Fight' a stupefying punk rock masterpiece
• Bickel compared 'Food Fight' to Devo and Weird Al Yankovic

Records

• On the US Billboard album chart, the album debuted at number 149 in the week of 1 August 1981
• It reached number 138 for the following two weeks (8 and 15 August 1981)
• '5 O'Clock in the Morning' became the group's first hit single in Italy

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

Trivia

• 5 O'Clock in the Morning became the group's first hit single in Italy
• The track listing differs on original US and Canadian pressings, where 5 O'Clock in the Morning came before Do You Wanna Spend the Night
• David Hodo described one of RCA's proposed looks, a colorful monochromatic fringed leather bodysuit, as awful
• Current versions of the album replace the full-length Spend the Night with its radio edit, 3:32 long
• Dangerous Minds' Christopher Bickel said that a Food Fight-style album could have made Village People the greatest fake punk band of all time

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

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