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Disco is alive at the MACC

The Village People and A Taste of Honey pump up the dance jams ’80s-style

The Village People (above) with original lead singer Victor Willis (policeman, center) perform at 7:30 p.m. Saturday in Maui Arts & Cultural Center’s Castle Theater in Kahului. A Taste of Honey will open the show. Tickets are $45, $65, $85 and $125 (plus applicable fees). The latter includes a preshow meet-and-greet and photo with the Village People. For tickets or more information, visit the box office, call 242-7469 or go online to www.mauiarts.org. Photo courtesy the artists

The founding lead singer of the Village People and co-writer of their hits, Victor Willis is amazed that the group’s most popular song, “Y.M.C.A.,” still delights audiences around the world.

“It still brings joy to the world,” says Willis. “Everywhere we perform, people love the Village People.”

First released in 1978, the iconic disco anthem has sold more than 10 million copies. With its signature dance moves, it became a cultural phenomenon, a staple at parties, weddings, bar mitzvahs, and sporting events (especially baseball).

Willis was first on board with the Village People, after producer Jacques Morali hired him to sing on an album by the Ritchie Family. At the time, Willis was performing in the Broadway musical “The Wiz.” Morali told him about a new musical project, which became the Village People.

“The concept was developed by Jacques Morali and myself,” Willis says. “It was his idea, and it was developed around me doing the lead vocals.”

Vince Esquire and his band return to the stage after five years with an appearance at Mulligans on the Blue in Wailea on Friday. John Henry photo

The group’s self-titled debut album quickly climbed to the top of the dance charts. Problem was, there was no actual group to head out on tour, just hired singers with Willis out front.

So a lineup was assembled of various characters such as a construction worker, cowboy, soldier, Native American, etc. An ad in a trade paper for new members read: “Macho Types Wanted for World-Famous Disco Group — Must Dance and Have a Moustache.”  

Willis became the cop because, “the policeman is somebody who is in charge, they keep order. I felt I had to keep everyone in line. My character would supersede any of the other characters.”

Initially targeted to a disco’s gay audience, Willis (married to actress Phylicia Rashad at the time) didn’t mind that he was sometimes viewed as a member of a gay group.

“There were reviews that read the all-gay group, except for me,” he says. “I had no problem. Our producer was openly gay. The other guys were openly gay. People have a right to be who they are.”

“Macho Man” from their second album helped catapult the Village People into the mainstream. Then their third album, the five-time-platinum-selling “Cruisin’,” featuring the blockbuster hit “Y.M.C.A.,” made them global stars.

“It was like a dream come true,” says Willis. “It went international and we got the front cover of Rolling Stone.”

A popular follow-up single, “In the Navy,” almost became part of a recruiting campaign for the United States Navy. As part of the deal, the band was allowed to shoot a video on deck of the USS Reasoner at the Naval Base San Diego.

“They were going to use it as their recruiting song but something went awry,” he recalls. “It didn’t go through.”

The enduring popularity of disco irked some diehard rock fans, and it fueled a Disco Demolition Night in Chicago after a White Sox game where disco records were blown up, which prompted Nile Rodgers of Chic fame to liken it to Nazi book burning.

“I wasn’t in the group at that time,” Wallis explains. “They wanted to burn all the records. It was insanity — but everyone has a right to their own opinions.”

Willis left the band in 1979. He finally returned last year.

“I wanted to get back to pursuing what was my initial dream and what I helped create,” he says. “They were my songs, hits that I wrote, and I was tired of watching somebody else try to perform them. I felt it was my place to come back.”

Part of the band’s ongoing appeal involves the audience participation to “Y.M.C.A.,” where everyone performs the dance and arm movements.

“The whole audience gets involved,” he says. “One of the guys even gives them a demonstration. It’s usually the last song.”

The Village People show at 7:30 p.m. Saturday in the Castle Theater at Maui Arts & Cultural Center in Kahului will feature a live band and the disco-soul group A Taste of Honey, with founding lead singer/bassist Janice Marie Johnson.

The female group’s debut single “Boogie Oogie Oogie,” topped the American pop, soul and disco charts, and eventually sold more than two million copies. One of the disco era’s major anthems, with its famous bass intro, it encouraged dancers to — “Get on up, on the floor, ‘Cause we’re gonna boogie oogie oogie, Till you just can’t boogie no more.”

Their self-titled debut album sold platinum, and led to their Grammy win for Best New Artist. A Taste of Honey scored another hit in 1981, with “Sukiyaki.”

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Congratulations to Willie K who was honored on Sept. 30 by the Hawaii Academy of Recording Arts with the 2018 Lifetime Achievement Award.

“I’ve accomplished everything that I wanted to do in my music,” he said.

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It’s been more than five years since the Vince Esquire Band has played in front of an audience, and on Friday they will make their return to the stage performing at Mulligans on the Blue in Wailea. The band also features Joshua Greenbaum on drums and Jason Ganis on bass.

“I’m excited to see how it goes,” Vince says. “We’ve been rehearsing and put together a decent set. If it goes well, we’ll do it again.”

Once known for his fiery electric guitar playing, Vince has spent years devoted to the ukulele with Kanekoa.

A fan of the blues-rock of guitar legend Stevie Ray Vaughan, Vince opened for Greg Allman a while back at the MACC and was subsequently invited to play with the Allman Brothers at a Beacon Theater show in New York. That led to an invite to play on Allman’s solo album, “Low Country Blues.” During the recording sessions, Allman told Esquire how his playing reminded him of his brother Duane.

For the Mulligans’ show, he will feature some originals and “favorite covers that we used to do. There are songs by The Meters, John Mayer and Stevie Ray Vaughan — songs that we used to jam on.”

Recently performing with Kanekoa at the Maui Fair, Vince adds, “I’m working on a new CD with Kaneoka.”

* The Vince Esquire Band performs on Friday at Mulligans on the Blue in Wailea. Soul Kitchen will open the show, which starts at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $20 in advance and $25 at the door. Tickets are available at Bounty Music in Kahului and at Mulligans, and online at www.eventbrite.com.

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Marty Dread will return to the ocean on Oct. 19 to play the Pacific Whale Foundation’s popular Island Rhythms Sunset Cruise.

“After a year in hiatus, I am proud to announce my return to the reggae sunset cruise that makes people happy,” says Marty. “People from all around the world get to dance and sing along as they watch the Pacific humpback whales on their annual pass through our waters. It really doesn’t get much better than that.”

Cruises take place Friday evenings from Maalaea Harbor year round, and Friday and Saturday evenings during whale season from Maalaea and Lahaina. For more information or to reserve tickets, contact www.pacificwhale .org or call 249-8811.

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Anuhea will perform as part of the festivities at the fifth annual Maui Paddle for a Cure at the Hyatt Regency Maui Resort & Spa in Kaanapali.

“I’m so excited to be a part of this annual event for the fifth time,” Anuhea says. A fundraiser for Susan G. Komen Hawaii, it’s, “an awesome community event and excuse to get in the water, have some fun in the morning sun on Ka’anapali Beach.”

She will perform at an after party following the paddle. Tickets for just the after party are $25 and are available at www.crowdrise.com/registration/event_options/35348. You must be 21 and older to attend the after party.

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You can catch Amy Hanaiali’i performing for free at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday at The Shops at Wailea.

She will also be among the many entertainers performing at the Lahaina Strong major benefit for families displaced by the recent west side fire. The fundraiser is from 1 to 8 p.m. Oct. 21 at the Lahaina Recreation Center. Tickets are $20 in advance or $25 day of event, and are available at www.eventbrite.com/e/lahaina-strong-benefit-concert-tickets-50979005578.

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Former Maui resident Lukas Nelson is getting major raves for his role in the music of the new version of “A Star is Born” starring Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper.

The Guardian praised: “The guitar shredding, meanwhile, is like Neil Young without the ragged edges — unsurprising perhaps given that a major creative force here is Lukas Nelson (son of Willie) whose band Promise of the Real currently back Young. Nelson has numerous co-writing credits across the soundtrack.”

After hearing Lukas play with Young at the Desert Trip festival, Cooper asked him to be both a musical consultant and a contributor to the soundtrack of his update on the classic love story.

“Stefani (Germanotta, a.k.a Lady Gaga) came, and we ended up writing together a bunch,” Lukas told Billboard. “I produced it, and it just kind of grew from there. It was an organic sort of happening where we all really had a great thing going together, and then the band (Promise of the Real) wound up being perfect for the movie.”

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