He loves to be a macho man

As you’d expect from a man who’s spent his adult life performing disco classics like YMCA and Can’t Stop The Music, Felipe Rose, resident Native American for the Village People, has an infectious enthusiasm when discussing his 33-odd years as a member of the group.

The 56-year-old Rose spoke to Sydney Star Observer ahead of the Village People’s umpteenth Australian tour (Rose estimated they’d visit our shores “35 times”), which stops off in Melbourne and Sydney next month.

“It’s all the hits plus one or two awesome covers. No two audiences are ever the same, so the show is always a little different,” Rose said.

“My favourite song of the night is always Macho Man. It celebrates the inner male and your masculinity, your macho-ness. We all need that!  If you come home feeling whipped from whatever shit the day brings, put on Macho Man and you’ll feel strong again.”

For a group that was all but written off when the disco era died, the Village People have had remarkable longevity.

And contrary to myth, they’ve not been replaced by a bunch of stand-ins — of the six members, half have been in the group since its 1977 inception, while the other three joined in 1979, 1980 and 1995 respectively.

Rose was the very first member, having been found by group creator Jacques Morali dancing in his Indian costume in a crowd in New York’s Greenwich Village.

“I guess you could say I was the seed that the group grew around. It’s an honour and a privilege to still be performing. It’s still awesome … and I still look awesome!” he laughed.

“You’ve got to own it and bring it — after all, when you walk out on stage, they’re coming to see you.”

In 2010, disco is, yet again, in fashion. And not just disco music, but the hedonistic, pre-AIDS era of gay life it emanated from. Scissor Sisters frontman Jake Shears has spoken about the fact that their new album, Night Work, was a musical response to the question: what if AIDS had never happened?

As someone who didn’t just live through this time but soundtracked it, was the disco era as wild as we hear?

“It was an amazing time. It was a much more safe and fun time on the scene, so I can understand why a lot of gay and lesbian people would have a yearning for that music again. You can live vicariously through the music.

“But disco was killed off because of excess. Too many parties, too many drugs, too much sex … in the end, it killed disco for a while.”

info: Village People play the Enmore Theatre on October 16. Visit www.cantstopthemusic.com.au