Village People

Sending generations of revellers into the body shaping Y.M.C.A. dance, the Village People are responsible for some of the campest disco classics ever made. They were created by French composer Jacques Morali, who recruited Victor Willis to sing over some dance tracks he'd made. The resulting album Village People (1977) became a surprise success and they quickly recruited dancers from Greenwich Village, New York to back-up the group. Dressed up as a Native American Indian, a cowboy, a construction worker, a leather-clad biker, a soldier and a cop, the group built up a huge gay following before hitting the big time with the 1978 hit Macho Man. Third album Cruisin' (1978) reached Number 3 in the US charts with singles In The Navy and Y.M.C.A. becoming huge disco anthems which, decades on, still ring out loud and proud across dance floors the world over. With combined record sales of over 100 million, the group has its own star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and continue to perform together despite not recording new material since 1985's Sex Over The Phone album.