Village People, Fire Island | LGBTQ Bopz 🌈🎶

In the 33^rd edition of LGBTQ Bopz 🌈🎶 (2022), we highlight the song, “Fire Island” performed by Village People.  

Bring on the B-O-P-Z, like #SLAYYY! LGBTQ Bopz 🌈🎶 is a column t that embraces, highlights, and celebrates singles and tracks by LGBTQIA musicians.  On LGBTQ Bopz 🌈🎶we provide background info and insight into the respective musician(s), as well as analyze + go gaga over the bops being served up.  Furthermore, when the music dictates deeper, more transcendent discussion, we ensure the point is articulated to the fullest.  All styles of music are welcome and the BOPZ can be classics or brand-spanking new. So, without further ado, in the 33^rd edition of LGBTQ Bopz 🌈🎶 (2022), we highlight 🎵 “Fire Island” performed by 🎙 Village People.

Theme & Lyrics ✍ 

“Fire Island – it’s a funky weekend, a funky, funky weekend.”  Well, that seems to be the case, 🎙 Village People. The iconic disco collective was created by music producers Jacques Morali and Henri Belolo to target the gay disco scene. Village People, designed as a niche group, exemplified gay vibes, while also earning success with heterosexual audiences – 🎵 “Y.M.C.A.” and 🎵 “In The Navy” both peaked in the top 5 of the Billboard Hot 100. 🎵 “Fire Island”, which appears on 💿 Village People (EP) from 1977, didn’t chart but holds significance as a gay gem, nonetheless.

First, some background, of course. Fire Island, which is indeed an island located in New York, is described by ✍ Jack Parlett as A gay paradise of sex and liberation. Parlett would know, considering he authored the book, 📚 Fire Island: A Century in the Life of an American Paradise in 2022.  Even if you haven’t read his book yet, or know little about the destination, there was an enjoyable Hulu film, starring 🎭 Joel Kim Booster, also released in 2022.  Considering the background regarding Village People and Fire Island itself, it should come as no surprise that Morali and Belolo went full-on gay for “Fire Island” (the song).  Still, unless you’re hip to all of the lingo, you just might’ve missed the queerness of this joint.

Lyrically, there are a number of moments that embrace gay fun and joy without being explicitly gay. Lead vocalist 🎙 Victor Willis, who is NOT gay, sings, “You never know just who you meet, maybe someone out of your wildest fantasies.”  That’s on brand with depictions of Fire Island, which is also key in the 11^th season of American Horror Story (NYC), the gayest season to date.  Willis cites specific venues at one point on this bright, ornately produced number:

“Groove at the Ice Palace (get on down at the Monster)

Been there, been there (been there at the Blue Whale)

Peckin’, I’m peckin’ (peckin’ at the Sandpiper)

Pumpin’, I’m pumpin’ (pumpin’ at the Botel).”

So, let’s decode some of those lyrics. 📍 Ice Palace is an LGBTQ nightclub that’s been around since the mid-1950s. 📍 The Sandpiper eventually became a disco. Pumpin’ can mean multiple things, but there are several homosexual contexts that would fit the time and place – we’ll leave it at that.  Can you reference Fire Island sans gayness? Doubtful.

Final Thoughts 💭

With 🎵 “Fire Island”, we get another awesome addition to the LGBTQ+ collection.  No, it’s not explicitly gay but there’s enough background (the collective itself) and gay references to quality it as a surefire LGBTQ Bop 🌈🎶. 🎵 “Y.M.C.A.” gets more love, rightfully, but “Fire Island” deserves attention too.

🎙 Village People • 💿 Village People (EP) • 🏷 The Island Def Jam Music Group • 🗓 1977

Village People, “Fire Island”: LGBTQ Bopz 🌈🎶 No. 33 (2022) [📷: Alexandra_Koch, Anna Shvets, Brent Faulkner, The Island Def Jam Music Group, Kurious, The Musical Hype, Pixabay, Pexels]