S.O.D. "In the Navy" by Village People

3/12/2016     This disco hit came one year after the very commercially successful 1978 release "YMCA" which also became a powerful advertising tool for the YMCA.  The group's manager Henry Belolo was contacted by the United States Navy in order to use the song in an advertising campaign for recruiting.  The Navy then provided the Village People with the frigate USS Reasoner, ample aircraft and the crew of the ship to shoot a video, with the agreement that the crew didn't dance.  After protests erupted over taxpayer money being used for the controversial group, the Navy canceled the campaign.  

     The song charted well in 10 countries, peaking at #1 on the Canadian and Dutch single charts, #2 on the UK, Norwegian and Irish singles charts and #3 on the Swedish and US charts.  For the Village People it was their last top 10 hit in the United States.  In 1977 the group originated mainly to target the gay disco audience by featuring popular gay personae.  The band moved into the mainstream quickly however with a number of disco and dance hits. They have sold more than 100 million records worldwide. Throughout the years they took some breaks but are now actively performing.