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Posted: 8/1/2015 2:31:32 AM EDT
I've been terminally overworked for the last few months, to the point that I don't even enjoy listening to the music that I used to.  Unintentionally, I began listening/watching disco music videos on youtube, and I'm finding that that era's music is seemingly more optimistic and happy--I'm enjoying it a lot more than I thought I would (either that, or I'm slowly losing my mind).  Consequently, I've gone through the more popular works of the Village People, including the video for "In the Navy."  Watching it, I began to realize that it was made with a lot more Navy cooperation than I would have though--especially for a "gay" band like that.  My research on wikipedia seems to back my assessment up; wikipedia implies that the Navy thought that the song would do--for the Navy--what the song "YMCA" did for that organization, but regretted their participation afterwards (for myriad obvious factors).

So then...what did you all (and the Navy) think of the song when it came out?  Did you cringe because of the gay connotations?  Did people overtly like it?  Did people secretly like it in spite of the fact that it was kinda "gay?

(video for "In the Navy" at link)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vrdGL5lXHx4

Additionally, that blond broad from ABBA must have looked like she was some kind of ubermensch Nordic sex goddess when she was younger.  Damn she looked like she was fine.


Link Posted: 8/1/2015 5:10:55 AM EDT
[#1]
The navy liked it because it WAS gay
Link Posted: 8/1/2015 5:14:50 AM EDT
[#2]
Squids just being squids.

Semper Fi
Link Posted: 8/1/2015 5:23:36 AM EDT
[#3]
The Navy LIKED the song "In the Navy."  As I remember, they wanted to use it for recruiting or something like that--me thinks to upper personnel did not quite "get" the song.

Now the people IN the Navy, maybe not so much.
Link Posted: 8/1/2015 6:04:59 AM EDT
[#4]
The lyrics were fairly innocuous. That was the whole theme of the band. Wholesome enough for Top 40 radio, with just a wink and a nod to its Manhattan gay roots. The record company often diverted songs to other singers/groups that more obviously appealed to the gay nightclub demographic in order to protect the Village People's mainstream appeal. For a couple of years, the record company thought they would be a major money making machine, and a Hollywood movie was made....that co-starred Valerie Perrine and Bruce Jenner (hmmm...it all makes sense, now). But few people saw that disco only had a 5 year shelf life and by 1980 the kids wanted to listen to New Wave, and when the mainstream branded the Village People a "gay disco" band and the studio realized that the gay subculture had moved on to acts that were less kitschy, the return on investment wasn't worth the 4-5 album contract they had signed for.

The studio tried taking the band out of their costumes and music videos (look up the one where they sing about the new phenomena of phone sex) and marketing them to women, but by 1982, the fad was dying out. They had zero appeal to the suburban white kids that could make MTV millionaires out of new and established rock bands.  

Only half of the band was gay, the rest were bi and straight. In fact, IIRC the lead singer was married to Phylicia Rashad, the actress who played Cosby's wife on the famous sitcom.

At the time the song was a big hit, I know that some recruiting stations played the song on speakers the public could here in order to bring in traffic.

Link Posted: 8/1/2015 6:11:20 AM EDT
[#5]
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Quoted:
The navy liked it because it WAS gay
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Do you think it was the gay homosexual overtones of the song that the navy appreciated
Link Posted: 8/1/2015 6:27:33 AM EDT
[#6]
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Quoted:


Do you think it was the gay homosexual overtones of the song that the navy appreciated
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Quoted:
Quoted:
The navy liked it because it WAS gay


Do you think it was the gay homosexual overtones of the song that the navy appreciated


Its hard to tell the difference when they get all gussied up crossing the equator and Pollywogs become Shellbacks.
Link Posted: 8/1/2015 6:49:54 AM EDT
[#7]
I would bet that well over 50% of the population didn't "get" the song. Same with YMCA. It was a different time back then.
Link Posted: 8/1/2015 7:30:05 AM EDT
[#8]
"Oh my goodness. What am I gonna do in a submarine?"
Link Posted: 8/1/2015 8:16:03 AM EDT
[#9]
This sailor was not happy !
Link Posted: 8/1/2015 1:56:22 PM EDT
[#10]
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Quoted:
"Oh my goodness. What am I gonna do in a submarine?"
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"...Don't you hesitate
there is no need to wait
they're signing up new seamen fast..."
Link Posted: 8/1/2015 2:01:50 PM EDT
[#11]
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Quoted:
This sailor was not happy !
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lol
Link Posted: 8/1/2015 2:05:25 PM EDT
[#12]

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Quoted:


I would bet that well over 50% of the population didn't "get" the song. Same with YMCA. It was a different time back then.
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True.  The stereotype of a gay back then was someone who was effeminate and "lispy" and lived in San Francisco and liked to cross-dress.



Although most would deny it today, I 'm pretty sure that 90% of Judas Priest's 1980's fan base thought Rob Halford was straight.



 
Link Posted: 8/1/2015 2:09:00 PM EDT
[#13]
The Navy Adventure

Link Posted: 8/1/2015 2:12:13 PM EDT
[#14]
Alestorm covered it





Link Posted: 8/1/2015 2:17:09 PM EDT
[#15]
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