Renaissance (Village People album)

Renaissance is the seventh studio album by American disco group Village People, released in 1981. The album marked a departure for the group, with a more new wave-influenced sound and less of an emphasis on disco.

Renaissance
Studio album by
Village People
ReleasedJune 1981
RecordedRecord Plant,
Los Angeles, 1981
GenreFunk, dance-pop, new wave
Length28:46
LabelRCA, Casablanca Records (Japan)
ProducerJacques Morali, Henri Belolo (executive)
Village People chronology
Can't Stop the Music
(1980)		 Renaissance
(1981)		 Fox on the Box
(1982)
Singles from Renaissance
  1. "Do You Wanna Spend the Night"
    Released: 1981
  2. "5 O'Clock in the Morning"
    Released: 1981
  3. "Action Man"
    Released: 1982
  4. "Jungle City"
    Released: 1982
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[1]

Background
For Renaissance, the Village People abandoned their original costumes, and changed their image to model that of New Romantics, such as Adam Ant (above).

In 1980, the Village People had starred in the motion picture Can't Stop the Music, but the film was released after disco's peak and was subsequently a box office flop, even winning the first ever Razzie Award for Worst Picture.[2] The group was signed to Casablanca Records, but when the label went out of business, RCA signed the group in 1981 with plans to rebrand them as a new wave band.[1][3][4] David Hodo, the "construction worker," recalled in a 2014 interview with PopMatters that the RCA executives were "passing around ideas" for how to re-style the group. One idea was for each member to wear a colorful, monochromatic fringed leather bodysuit, which Hodo deemed "awful."[5] The second look that the label proposed, which the group agreed to, was a "New Romantic look, which was Adam Ant and Spandau Ballet. That was the better of the two choices."[5]

The group's former lead singer, Victor Willis, had departed several years before; lead vocals were now performed by alternating members of the group.[5]

Critical reception

In a review for Billboard magazine, the editors praised the album's "mellifluous harmonies" and commended the lead single, "5 O'clock in the Morning", as "an ethereal piece of work," but criticizing the album as "not edifying."[6] A retrospective AllMusic album review, written by Stephen Thomas Erlewine, gave the album one star out of five and deemed the album to be an "embarrassment that never should have seen the light of day," further opining that the album, despite its age, "lacks kitsch value" but singling out "5 O'Clock in the Morning" as a highlight of the album.[1]

Legacy

Dangerous Minds retrospectively deemed "Food Fight" a "stupefying punk rock masterpiece," comparing its style to Devo and "Weird Al" Yankovic, and opined that "had the Village People followed Renaissance with an album full of songs in the 'Food Fight' vein, they easily could have been the greatest fake punk band of all time."[3]

Commercial performance

"5 O'Clock in the Morning" became the group's first hit single in Italy.[5]

Track listing

All tracks written by Jacques Morali, Henri Belolo, and The Village People, Dennis Frederiksen, Mark Christian Maierhoffer, Howie Epstein, Jimmy Hunter, Dan Schmidt[1]

Side A

  1. "Do You Wanna Spend the Night" – 3:34
  2. "5 O'Clock in the Morning" – 5:03
  3. "Fireman" – 5:00
  4. "Jungle City" – 3:45

Side B

  1. "Action Man" – 2:35
  2. "Big Mac" – 2:26
  3. "Diet" – 3:19
  4. "Food Fight" – 2:34

Charts
Chart (1981) Peak
position
Australian Albums (Kent Music Report)[7] 12
New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[8] 34
US Billboard 200[9] 138
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References
  1. Thomas Erlewine, Stephen. "Album Review: 'Renaissance' - The Village People". AllMusic. RhythmOne. Retrieved 27 May 2018.
  2. Germain, David (Associated Press) (February 26, 2005). "25 Years of Razzing Hollywood's Stinkers". South Florida Sun-Sentinel. Sun-Sentinel Company. p. 7D.
  3. Bickel, Christopher. "'Food Fight': The Village People's Stupefying Punk Rock Masterpiece!". Dangerous Minds. Retrieved 27 May 2018.
  4. Hughes, John. "Lost in the '80s: The Village People, "Renaissance"". PopDose. Retrieved 27 May 2018.
  5. Wikane, Christian John. "Under the Hard Hat: An Interview with Village People's David Hodo". PopMatters. Retrieved 27 May 2018.
  6. "Billboard's Recommended LPs". Billboard. 93 (28): 74. 18 July 1981. Retrieved 29 May 2018.
  7. Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (doc)|format= requires |url= (help). Australian Chart Book, St Ives, NSW. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
  8. "Charts.nz – Village People – Renaissance". Hung Medien. Retrieved April 7, 2017.
  9. "Village People Renaissance Chart History". Billboard. Retrieved 27 May 2018.
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