Summary
Live and Sleazy is the first live album and fifth studio album by the Village People and features a mixture of live and studio recordings. It was released as a double LP. The album featured numerous lead singers: original cop Victor Willis on the entire "Live" disk; on the "Sleazy" disk, construction worker David Hodo on track 1, Ray Simpson (who replaced Willis as the cop) on tracks 2, 3, and 5, and G.I. Alex Briley on track 4. Horace Ott is credited as the arranger and conductor of the string and horn sections. The musicians were credited as Bittersweet.
| Live and Sleazy | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Live album / Studio album by | ||||
| Released | September 1979 | |||
| Genre | Disco | |||
| Length | 70:14 | |||
| Label | Casablanca | |||
| Producer | Jacques Morali | |||
| Village People chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Singles from Live and Sleazy | ||||
| ||||
Victor Willis had announced plans for the live portion of this album be remastered and reissued as a stand alone live album titled “Village People Live At The Greek Theatre” in 2018. Other songs left off the original release though performed on the 1979 tour include "Key West", "Go West", "Village People", and "I Wanna Shake Your Hand".
Critical reception edit
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [1] |
Cash Box called the song "Sleazy" "an amusing self-parody which, vocally, relies more than ever on the group's zealous choral work."[2] Record World called it "great dance music."[3]
Track listing edit
All music composed by Jacques Morali
Live edit
| No. | Title | Songwriter | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Fire Island" | J. Morali, H. Belolo, B. Whitehead, P. Hurtt | 4:01 |
| 2. | "Hot Cop" | J. Morali, H. Belolo, V. Willis | 6:00 |
| 3. | "Medley: San Francisco (You've Got Me) / In Hollywood (Everybody is a Star)" | J. Morali, H. Belolo, B. Whitehead, P. Hurtt | 11:07 |
| 4. | "Macho Man" | J. Morali, H. Belolo, V. Willis, B. Whitehead | 6:00 |
| 5. | "In the Navy" | J. Morali, H. Belolo, V. Willis | 6:25 |
| 6. | "Y.M.C.A." | J. Morali, V. Willis[4] | 8:00 |
Sleazy edit
All songs written by J. Morali, H. Belolo, B. Whitehead, P. Hurtt
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Sleazy" | 6:10 |
| 2. | "Rock and Roll Is Back Again" | 7:00 |
| 3. | "Ready for the 80's" | 6:38 |
| 4. | "Save Me" (Ballad) | 4:00 |
| 5. | "Save Me" (Uptempo Version) | 5:07 |
Note: The Rebound Records CD release placed the studio tracks before the live tracks.
Personnel edit
Village People edit
Production edit
|
Bittersweet edit
Additional percussion and background vocals
|
Charts edit
| Chart (1979) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Australian Albums (Kent Music Report)[5] | 69 |
| Canadian Albums (RPM)[6] | 23 |
| Japanese Albums (Oricon)[7] | 80 |
| Norwegian Albums (VG-lista)[8] | 13 |
| Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[9] | 25 |
| US Billboard 200[10] | 32 |
Certifications and sales edit
| Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
|---|---|---|
| Canada (Music Canada)[11] | Platinum | 100,000^ |
| United States (RIAA)[13] | Gold | 800,000[12] |
| Summaries | ||
| Wotldwide | — | 2,000,000[12] |
|
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone. | ||
References edit
- ^ "Live and Sleazy Review by Stephen Thomas Erlewine". AllMusic. Retrieved 11 January 2024.
- ^ "CashBox Singles Reviews" (PDF). Cash Box. October 6, 1979. p. 20. Retrieved 2022-01-01.
- ^ "Hits of the Week" (PDF). Record World. September 29, 1979. p. 1. Retrieved 2023-02-11.
- ^ "Jury Decides Village People 'Y.M.C.A.' Songwriter Has 50 Percent Song Share". The Hollywood Reporter. 5 March 2015.
- ^ Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (illustrated ed.). St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. p. 330. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
- ^ "RPM: Village People (albums)". RPM Magazine. Archived from the original on October 14, 2017. Retrieved April 7, 2017.
- ^ "Oricon Archive - Village People". Oricon. Retrieved April 6, 2017.
- ^ "Norwegiancharts.com – Village People – Live and Sleazy". Hung Medien. Retrieved April 6, 2017.
- ^ "Swedishcharts.com – Village People – Live and Sleazy". Hung Medien. Retrieved April 6, 2017.
- ^ "The Village People – Awards". AllMusic. All Media Network. Archived from the original on October 5, 2012. Retrieved April 6, 2017.
- ^ "Canadian album certifications – Village People – Live and Sleazy". Music Canada.
- ^ a b Murrells, Joseph. Million selling records from the 1900s to the 1980s : an illustrated directory. Arco Pub. p. 483. ISBN 0668064595.
This album sold over two million globally (800,000 of these in the U.S.A.)
- ^ "American album certifications – Village People – Live and Sleazy". Recording Industry Association of America.