Young man, come meet the freshly reupholstered Village People.
Original vocalist Victor Willis has corralled a brand new line-up for the band after years of being wrapped in red tape and various lawsuits over rights to the iconic band’s hit songs. Those lawsuits are all settled now, but Willis is not: He’s ready to take the Village People on the road again.
One notable new addition to the colossally camp antics: James Kwong, a 6’2″ Chinese model and actor, will be stepping into the construction worker’s work boots to save the world with stirring renditions of “YMCA” and “Go West.”
The new incarnation of the Village People will tour the world next year.
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Related: The Village People’s Cop Aims To Bust Music Company In Pivotal Copyright Case
Willis fled from the band in 1979 and says he’s watched in abject horror as a so-called “karaoke” version of The Village People toured the universe, occasionally singing over prerecorded backing tapes and leaving a trail of disappointment and abandoned feathers in their wake.
“I felt the former touring version of the group … looked old and tired,” he says.
“A revamp or repositioning of the group was required to bring it back into the mainstream. The addition of an Asian American for the first time in the group’s history is part of that reposition.”
Kwong announced the news on Instagram, saying:
“Hi! My name is James Kwong and for those of you who don’t know me I’m an actor here in Los Angeles, California and I have officially just been announced as the new hot asian construction worker in The Village People by TMZ. I am the first Asian-American who has ever been in The Village People so this should be exciting. Our first show will be September 26 at the Streamy Awards here in Los Angeles, California followed by another show in October in Vegas. We will be starting our tour in Australia in December and I will be documenting a lot of this stuff. I hope you join me for the ride.”
The latest lineup is a hodgepodge of gay and straight members, and Willis says that’s “always been the case with the Village People.”
This freshly cobbled-together iteration of the band includes Willis as lead singer (cop/admiral), Josh Cartier as the spunky leatherman, Edward Lopes as “GI,” Chad Freeman as “The Cowboy,” Angel Morales as “The Native American,” and Kwong as “The Construction Worker.”
Let’s go ahead and get acquainted with Kwong immediately:
Brian
So this version of the Village People is going to be 5 young hot guys and their grandpa?
Doug
No, they’ll be rapping “”YMCA.”
MikeE
So the only straight guy in the original Village People, who was (according to many witness accounts) homophobic, actually owns the rights to the songs written by someone else? He may have added a verse of lyric here or there, but that shouldn’t give him 100% of the rights.
Watch this. My prediction is that within another year the “Village People” will be touring women-only places, doing a sort of camp version of Chippendales, and denying any involvement whatsoever with the LGBT community who made the group what it was.
Ummmm Yeah
Either that or they will replace them all with women.
paul dorian lord fredine
meh, but can he sing?
Stephen
James what a really terrifically interesting face. Great body, of course. Welcome to the 1970’s update to 2017! It is so exciting to see new faces in the group. You are a great reason I will be looking for places you will be performing.
Jack Meoff
Wow can’t they just leave things where they belong. The VP are a nostalgic part of the 70’s and 80’s trying to revive them now is just tacky and will ruin all those nostalgic memories. All these old groups from previous decades that try to regroup and cash in on their past fame only end up become a parody of themselves.
He BGB
Now I need to Google what happened to the original members since it isn’t included in the article. And I do remember the original “cop” not liking it that the group was considered gay and he wasnt. So he walked away.