Best of

The Village People | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (March 22, 1994)
• Original Release Date: March 22, 1994
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Island / Mercury
• ASIN: B000001E40
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Audio Cassette
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (29 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #72,339 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Y.M.C.A.

2. Macho Man (12' Version)

3. Can't Stop The Music

4. San Francisco (You've Got Me)

5. In Hollywood (Everybody Is A Star)

6. Ready For The 80's (12' Version)

7. Key West

8. In The Navy

9. Fire Island

10. Go West (12' Version)

11. Village People

12. Hot Cop

13. In The Navy (12' Version)

14. Y.M.C.A. (12' Version)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

OK, "Macho Man," after you are "In the Navy" and you've spent the night at the "Y.M.C.A" in New York City, you should "Go West" to "San Francisco" where they "Can't Stop the Music" and then, when it gets too foggy, head out for some sun in "Key West." All the great Village People classics are in this collection. Whether you fancy yourself the Construction Worker or the Native American, you'll be happy with this raucous collection of grandly cheeky hits. These are big disco songs, with thinly veiled innuendoes; the flamboyant and triumphant lyrics will get you on your feet, arms in a "Y," in no time. --Beth Bessmer

Product Description

16 track 1993 collection on the Massive label with fourextended remixes added as bonus tracks: '93 remixes of 'InThe Navy', 'Can't Stop The Music' & 'Macho Man', plus'Y.M.C.A.' (Original Version). --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

32 of 32 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Village People... Fight For Your Right, August 18, 2002

By 

David W. Coleman "Sportside Books" (Buckeye, AZ USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Best of (Audio CD)

Producer Jacques Morali had a vision for a group that would speak out for the concerns and sensibilities of the (then) unsung Gay populace that was struggling to find a voice in the late 70s. Village People was the end product of that vision. Ads were taken out and actors were hired to play 6 arch-typical (or stereotypical) Gay male types; icons, if you will: A Soldier, A Biker, A Cop, A Construction Worker, A Cowboy, and An Indian. Four songs were constructed and made into an album: Village People. The songs celebrated four hotbeds of Gay male activity: San Francisco, Hollywood, Fire Island, and Greenwich Village. The songs were also trendsetting and funky, filling dance floors from coast to coast. This was the start of The Village People, and all four of those songs are included in this greatest hits package. That first album was really the creative zenith for the group. Lead singer Victor Willis soon took over as the lyricist for the guys, and he came up with a big, big song for the follow-up album. Macho Man gave The Village People their first crossover success, going top 10 on three charts. To me, it was their last song worth a damn, but the Macho Man album did so well, it was ripe to be cloned. And it was cloned not once, but twice, on the albums Cruisin' and Go West. Cruisin' contained the campy "Y.M.C.A.", which topped the charts and spawned the most ridiculous dance sensation since The Freddy! Go West had on it the cartoonish "In The Navy", which was picked up as a recruiting tool by the U.S. Navy, until it was explained to someone of high rank, just what it was about the Navy that The Village People were championing! After a great first album, The Village People's three follow-ups all had one big hit and a host of other songs that we'll magnanimously refer to as "filler." Nothing else they put out as a single ("Ready For The 80s" "Can't Stop The Music" etc.) was even close to being
a hit. But for what it's worth, the hits are here. And since the entire first album is, too, I give the whole thing four stars. If you didn't know that The Village People had a life before "Macho Man," then you need to check out tracks 4, 5, 9, and 11 on this CD. Knowing that this group once had a strong direction, a strong message and a strong groove, it was hard for me to see them commercialized and homogenized, and turned into (what amounts to): An all-male group of male impersonators that masquerades as itself. Can you dig it?

28 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The Twelve Inch Versions, May 29, 2002

By 

Gary F. Taylor "GFT" (Biloxi, MS USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 100 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Best of (Audio CD)

THE VILLAGE PEOPLE, of course, were not an organic band; they were deliberately created through a series of auditions and then costumed, choreographed, and unleashed in a collection of images that might have been dreamed up by gay erotic artist Tom of Finnland: muscular with theatrical costumes cut to show every possible bulge, voices that screamed with an excess of testosterone, and both unexpectedly combined with a bouncy beat. The result is a type of musical camp unlike anything heard before or since, and I'm still amazed that they got away with it.

Given the somewhat flabbergasting nature of the band, its easy to overlook the music--but strange to say, given the homoerotic slant, their recordings remain a staple of everything from highschool proms to stadium sports events: fun, and funny, and excessive, and extremely memorable. The sound is aggressive, to say the least, and determinedly so, and all the hits are here, and all of it packed with as much unsubtle innuendo as possible. There's "YMCA," and who among us can't jump up and immediately do the contortions required to spell out the letters? Not to mention, of course, speculate on the impact the Village People might have had on that venerable organization. There's the notoriously homoerotic "Macho Man" and the infamous "In The Navy," which poses the musical question 'What am I going to do on a submarine?' Many of the more popular recordings are presented in what is described here as the 12" versions--and what more can we say about that? For the most part, each recording blends over into the next, so the whole thing plays like one long leather bar dance floor mix.

THE VILLAGE PEOPLE's music will never be accused of being great art, and their albums were essentially filler collected around a couple of big-sell recordings, so don't feel you're missing out on anything by not buying the original releases--this is the way to go. The perfect recording to liven up a cocktail party, beer bust, biker rally... lots of bass-pounding, wall-shaking fun!

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars awesome disco tunes that pack a punch, January 26, 2008

By 

Matthew G. Sherwin (last seen screaming at Amazon customer service) - See all my reviews
(TOP 100 REVIEWER)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Best of (Audio CD)

This is one major Village People CD that their fans cannot afford to be without! We get great songs by the group and there are even a few 12 inch single versions of some really great dancing numbers. The Village People sound great on this album and I always enjoy listening to this one.

The CD starts with their instant classic "Y.M.C.A.;" they sing this really well and the disco flavor of the music makes me want to dance! The tune has a great beat and I think you'll like this one, too, even if you're not a major Village People fan. Listen also for the twelve inch dance music version of "Macho Man;" this number celebrates masculinity and they sing this very well. The beat is solid and this is another great tune you can dance to easily.

"San Francisco (You've Got Me)" is both an ode to San Francisco and a song about the good quality of life for gay people in San Francisco; and "In Hollywood (Everybody Is A Star)" is a campy, fun tune about a guy's dreams of becoming a major Hollywood star! Many people will be able to relate to "In Hollywood (Everybody Is A Star);" and it's very well done with good percussion and great tempo changes all along the way.

"In The Navy" continues that Village People sound with a solid underlying beat and fun, campy lyrics that actually work rather well. There's also a twelve inch dance version of their incredible "Go West;" "Go West" was always one of my very favorite Village People numbers. "Go West" sounds relentlessly optimistic and very energetic. They sing and harmonize on "Go West" to perfection.

"Hot Cop" is a cool song about the seductive nature of a cop; and the album ends strong with the twelve inch version of "Y.M.C.A." Great!

Village People fans will love this generous CD with its mixture of regular length and twelve inch dance versions of classic Village People songs. Put this on the CD player and crank up the volume!