Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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TheV By Lehman Stiles Asst. Entertainment Editor Let's face it; when Rolling Stone devotes 54 pages to disco ? and puts the Village People on the cover ? it's time for all the diehard Grateful Dead fans to turn in their "Disco Sucks" tee-shirts. A Un a m nn An hif nuu iiiu pn^iiuiii^uv/ii iiiv Columbia full blast on May 4, as the Village People and Gloria Gaynor appeared in the Carolina Coliseum. As one might 'In their little suits, resembled nothing so / imodino Ihoro uric oc mnoh H*1 'I'11 n ilivi V/ *? uo MO 11IUV.II UdiililV' and glitter surrounding the event as there was in the performances themselves. Many in the audience came dressed as their favorite People; construction hats and sailor suits were in abundance. One fellow strode through the gates in top hat and tails. This was no simple concert; it was a Happening. But what actually happened is rafhor* Uo r?/-J t r\ coir ^o irnrvr* i ainui iicii vi iu oaj , uiui ta uajrnui opened the show with her latest single, "Anybody Wanna Party," which quickly established the tone of the evening by being energetic, crowd-pleasing and terribly performed. Gaynor's backup band, which she wisely chose not to introduce, mi M l a ti ji M 1 illage F supplied the all-encompassing disco beat and nothing more. They seemed to be playing in a world ? and sometimes a key ? of their own. An inexcusably shoddy sound system was part of the problem, but the band itself had a lot to do wifh th#? nnmina frnm thf? speakers. Gaynor's performance was not much better. Trying desparately to live up to her "official" title as "Queen of the Discos," she looked waving their little flag nuch as a Saturday mor anything but the part, garbed in a loose-fitting dress that made her look more like the Queen of the Candy Shops, even from the far reaches of the coliseum. Even Gaynor's monster hit 44I Will Survive" was delivered in a pretentiously serious, breathlessly off-key style. She held out until the encore before doing it, thereby assuring herself of one, but, as with the rest of her show, the song was just a loud buzz with a beat. And as far as the way things CAimHoH ic (innnornoH tho \?illorto VJV/U&IVIW4 IO WlAVVt klV/V4f VI1V Y IIIU^V People didn't do a much better job. But they took the stage most effectively : caught in stop-action by strobe lights, they came on in styles befitting their costumes. The construction man came out of I f <*? nl ih731 1 1111 -J m eHb w a g m s g I 'eonle < A a Port-o-let. The Indian emerge from a tee-pee. The cowboy cam inrougn swinging saioon uoors firing six-guns left and right. Th soldier brought the leather ma out in a jeep. And lead singe Victor Willis, the policeman, rolle onstage astride a police motoi cycie. The Village People dutifull performed all of their hits, bi they, too, saved the biggie "YMCA" and "In the Navy" fc 'S, the Village People ning cartoon. , encores. "In the Navy" was th highlight of the evening; Will began the hand-clapping ii troduction, the curtain closed an the music continued, the crow happily joining in. When th curtain reopened, the stage ha been transformed into a battleshi J l. 1 tu: 11 1 i i uecK, anu wniis nau cnangeu 11110 captain's uniform. But the group proceeded to c "In the Navy" in the same melod; less, wall-of-sound style that mac it indistinguishable from any oth< song of the evening. But the crov, had not come to HEAR the Villas People; they had come to SE them. The least important elemei of disco is the music itself. And in their little suits, wavir their little flags, the Village Peop sink the d resembled nothing so much as a e Saturday morning cartoon. ?, Perhaps that explains the C uvciduuuuaiiLC ui c-auuicov.cnio n in the audience. In this atr mosphere, it was hard to take d Willis' plea to listen to "YMCA" r- with "a clean mind" very seriously. These guys know y exactly what they're doing, and it they doit with tongue in cheek, is But, come to think of it, "tongue >r in cheek" could have homosexual The top 10 singles this week, accordii 1. Love you Inside Out ie 2. Hot Stuff is 3. We Are Family 1. 4. Reunited id 5. Just When I Needed You Most .. d 6. Ring My Bell ie 7. The Logical Song j R C!hiir?lr FVe In I /iup IU ? " " ? [p 9. Shake Your Body a 10. She Believes In Me The top ten albums this week, accorc 1? l. Breakfast In America y- 2. 2-Hot te 3. Bad Girls *r 4. We Are Family 'd 5. Rickie Lee Jones le 6. Minute By Minute E 7. Van Halen II 8. Cheap Trick At Budokan 9. Desolation Angels 10. Spirits Having Flown le Navy connotations, couldn't it? Maybe that's the Village People's secret: they materialize the epitome of riisrn culture for us. childlike. visual and frightfully short of meaning, in a form that's both cute and daring at the same time. Their show at the coliseum was lovely to look at, but fo are Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck. The Village People a??r\ firm qc 1 An rf o C 01*0 nnf ciI c A nit ao 1W115 00 uivj a* v nvi taken seriously ? and that's true of disco in general, isn't it? ig to Billboard Magazine, are: Bee Gees Donna Summer Sister Sledge Peaches & Herb Randy Vanwarmer Anita Ward Supertramp Rickie Lee Jones Jacksons Kenny Rogers ling to Billboard Magazine are: Supertramp Peaches & Herb Donna Summer aisier Meage Rickie Lee Jones Doobie Brothers Van Halen Cheap Trick Bad Company Bee Gees : m 131 [j ?|H^ I Q TUf* |? V^yy I I