Today in rock history: On this date in 1977, the disco singing group Village People released its very first album. The group was the brainchild of French songwriters and composers Jacques Morali and Henri Belolo who envisioned a group of singers who were also skilled dancers and who’d willingly dress in the typical garb worn by men at gay bars in the 1970s. Singers were hand-picked if they fit the stereotypical personas that were to be represented in the group. A leather daddy, a cowboy, a construction worker, a police officer and others made up the visually diverse group which sang about overt homosexuality and well-known gay locales around the country. This self-titled album included songs with titles like “San Francisco (You’ve Got Me),” “Fire Island” and “Village People,” the song that represented the group modeled after real-life inhabitants of gay clubs around the Greenwich Village area of New York City. The album was a moderate success; it peaked at No.54 on Billboard’s pop albums chart, but massive success would find its way to the group within the next few years. By 1978, the group would see its next two albums sell millions of copies and would score massive dance-club hits in songs like “Macho Man” and “Y.M.C.A.” which is still regularly played at weddings, sporting events and parties.

Today in rock history: On this date in 1980, British new wave band Ultravox released its fourth studio album, the new romantic classic, Vienna. Featuring a revamped lineup, Vienna was the first release to include new lead singer Midge Ure (a past member of pop-punk band The Rich Kids who also served a brief stint with Irish hard-rock band Thin Lizzy). A departure from the band’s quirky punk-inspired new wave sound, former lead singer John Foxx had left the band for a solo career and left the vocalist spot empty which allowed Ure to rise to the occasion and lead Ultravox to the most commercially successful period of its existence. The album featured sophisticated dance numbers like “Passing Strangers” and “All Stood Still” as well as the gorgeous, lush title track which remains one of the very best singles of the 1980s and one of Ultravox’s best-known songs. A huge success in England, Vienna peaked at No. 3 on British sales charts and the band benefitted from being one of the first to be featured in heavy rotation on the brand new music video channel, MTV, a year after the release of this superb album.

PAPA GOTH COMETH
Review: Peter Murphy revisits the Bauhaus catalog at Orpheum, Ybor City

Today in rock history: On this date in 1957, Peter Murphy was born in Northampton, Northamptonshire, England. The wiry, lanky lead singer of goth pioneers Bauhaus has often been referred to as the “Godfather of Goth” thanks to the presence and image he presented during his tenure in a band that would often be duplicated and imitated by many of his contemporaries. Releasing a string of essential albums with Bauhaus, Murphy departed the band in the mid-1980s in search of a solo career that would prove to be highly successful for him. Solo albums like 1988’s Love Hysteria and Deep from 1989 would help establish Murphy as a bona fide solo artist and would become huge alternative dance-club records. Murphy has participated in a handful of Bauhaus reunion tours in recent years, but is more focused on remaining a solo act.

Today in rock history: On this date in 1977, as punk rock was all the rage in England and more venues were catering to the wildly popular punk sound and style, a new club had its grand opening. The Vortex would soon become one of the premiere venues that would regularly feature punk acts like The Damned and Buzzcocks, but its grand opening occurred on this date 41 years ago. The bill on the club’s opening night consisted of Siouxsie and the Banshees, The Slits, Sham 69 and Adam and the Ants. The Vortex quickly earned a reputation for attracting a very violent crowd, which didn’t fare well for the club. The troublesome venue was referenced in The Jam’s 1978 single “'A' Bomb in Wardour Street” and painted in a less-than-flattering manner. The club would only stay open until March of 1978 but, during its short tenure, it hosted some of the most legendary and influential punk acts of all time.