This article has multiple issues. Please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page. It may be confusing or unclear to readers. Tagged since July 2008. Its factual accuracy is disputed. Tagged since May 2008.

Districts of Andhra Pradesh.

Medak District (Telugu: మెదక్ జిల్లా) is located in the state of Andhra Pradesh, India. Sangareddy is the district headquarters of Medak. The district had a population of 2,670,097, of which 14.36% were urban as of 2001. [1]

History[link]

Post-independence[link]

Recently the district launched a grievance redressal model powered by ICT. The district's social development achievements & issues are available in real time.

The district is currently a part of the Red Corridor.^[1]

Geography[link]

Medak district occupies an area of approximately 9,700 square kilometres (3,700 sq mi),^[2] comparatively equivalent to Canada's Prince Charles Island.^[3] It is located at 18.03° N 78.27° E.[1] It has an average elevation of 442 metres (1450 feet).

Other big towns in the Medak district include Medak, Siddipet, Dubbaka, Narsapur, Ramayampet, Gajwel, Narayankhed, Zaheerabad, Jogipet, Patancheru, Sadasivpet, Sangareddy, Ramachandrapuram, and Gummadidala. IIT Hyderabad is also located in this district.^[4]

Economy[link]

In 2006 the Indian government named Medak one of the country's 250 most backward districts (out of a total of 640).^[5] It is one of the thirteen districts in Andhra Pradesh currently receiving funds from the Backward Regions Grant Fund Programme (BRGF).^[5]

Household indicators[link]

In 2007–2008 the International Institute for Population Sciences interviewed 1169 households in 43 villages across the district.^[6] They found that 89.6% had access to electricity, 96.2% had drinking water, 34.5% toilet facilities, and 27.5% lived in a pucca (permanent) home.^[6] 28.9% of girls wed before the legal age of 18^[7] and 87.4% of interviewees carried a BPL card.^[6]

Divisions[link]

Mandals[link]

There are 45 mandals in Medak district.^[8]

Demographics[link]

According to the 2011 census Medak district has a population of 3,031,877 ,^[9] roughly equal to the nation of Oman^[10] or the US state of Iowa.^[11] This gives it a ranking of 121st in India (out of a total of 640).^[9] The district has a population density of 313 inhabitants per square kilometre (810 /sq mi) .^[9] Its population growth rate over the decade 2001-2011 was 13.55 %.^[9] Medak has a sex ratio of 989 females for every 1000 males,^[9] and a literacy rate of 62.53 %.^[9]

Flora and fauna[link]

Narsapur Forest, located 35 km from Hyderabad, is spread between Gummadidala and Narsapur. This forest covers 30 km². This has variety of trees, many lakes and supports wildlife. Lately, this has become a hotspot for Telugu film shootings.

Manjira Forest, located 75 km from Medak and 5 km from Sangareddy, is spread over 20 km². The average width of the sanctuary is 500 to 800 m. Nestling between Manjeera and Singoor barrages, the Manjira wild life sanctuary comprises nine small islands which are home to a number of resident and migratory birds in addition to marsh crocodiles and muggar.

Madyaragam which is quiet old with Gandhi statue inside, with 30 metres (98 ft) height which is located in the center of the city

Manjira River,The Devnoor, the village of Regode Mandal is very beautiful village over the medak dist. the river of manjeera is flows through the Devnoor.

Temples[link]

A new temple has been constructed in the village of Kodur, Pulkal mandal, Medak District and has been named as Sri Uma Naga Lingeshwara Devalayam. The temple was inaugurated on Wednesday, Feb 16th 2011

Sri Uma Naga Lingeshwara Temple, Kodur Village, Pulkal Mandal

Also another Temple Sri Durga Bhavani aalayam which is constructed in 2001 made of a single stone in Ismailkhanpet (also known as EESHWARAPURAM),sangareddy mandal surrounded by the fort and this temple has been becoming more popular with hundreds of devotees in and around the village. go to http://www.ismailkhanpet.blogspot.com/ for more details about this village and temple.

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Medak district

• Official site
• Medak (district) travel guide from Wikitravel
• Grievance redressal solution-Public grievance redressal solution

		Nizamabad district	Karimnagar district
	Bidar district, Karnataka		Warangal district
		Medak district    East
	Gulbarga district, Karnataka	Rangareddy district	Nalgonda district

v t e State of Andhra Pradesh Capital: Hyderabad Topics History Politics Telugu people Districts Adilabad Anantapur Chittoor East Godavari Guntur Hyderabad Karimnagar Khammam Krishna Kurnool Mahabubnagar Medak Nalgonda Nellore Nizamabad Prakasam Ranga Reddy Srikakulam Visakhapatnam Vizianagaram Warangal West Godavari YSR Major cities Hyderabad Visakhapatnam Vijayawada Tirupati Warangal Hanamakonda Guntur Rajahmundry Kakinada Nellore Kurnool Anantapur Ramagundam Eluru Machilipatnam Bhimavaram Karimnagar Mancherial Kadapa Khammam Bhadrachalam Nizamabad Portal: Andhra Pradesh

v t e Districts of States of India States Andhra Pradesh Arunachal Pradesh Assam Bihar Chhattisgarh Goa Gujarat Haryana Himachal Pradesh Jammu and Kashmir Jharkhand Karnataka Kerala Madhya Pradesh Maharashtra Manipur Meghalaya Mizoram Nagaland Orissa Punjab Rajasthan Sikkim Tamil Nadu Tripura Uttar Pradesh Uttarakhand West Bengal Union Territories Andaman and Nicobar Islands Chandigarh Dadra and Nagar Haveli National Capital Territory of Delhi Daman and Diu Lakshadweep Puducherry Related topics List of states and territories of India District collector Sub-Divisional Magistrate Community Development Block Block Development Officer Gram panchayat

v t e Godavari basin Rivers Godavari Pranhita Wardha Wainganga Painganga Indravati Sabari Manjira Dams, barrages Jayakwadi Dam Sriram Sagar Project Nizam Sagar Upper Wardha Dam Singur Reservoir Neher water system Dowleswaram Barrage Balimela Reservoir Devadula lift irrigation scheme Upper Dudhana Dam Godavari River Basin Irrigation Projects Geographical features/ regions Marathwada Vidarbha Telangana Coastal Andhra Hyderabad State Konaseema Deccan Plateau Western Ghats Eastern Ghats Riparian districts Maharashtra Nashik Ahmednagar Aurangabad Parbhani Nanded Gadchiroli Beed Amravati Bhandara Gondia Chandrapur Wardha Nagpur Yavatmal Washim Buldhana Hingoli Madhya Pradesh Balaghat Seoni Betul Chhindwara Orissa Kalahandi Koraput Malkangiri Chhattisgarh Bastar Bijapur Karnataka Bidar Andhra Pradesh Medak Nizamabad Adilabad Karimnagar Warangal Khammam West Godavari East Godavari Languages/ people Indo-Aryan languages Marathi Bhili Khandeshi Andh Banjari Oriya Bhunjia Hindi Dravidian languages Kolami Goni Telegu Kannadiga Duruwa Multani Urdu Coalfields Godavari Valley Coalfield Wardha Valley Coalfield Kamptee Coalfield Pench Kanhan Coalfield Oil/ gas fields Krishna Godavari Basin Industries Koradi Thermal Power Station Parli Thermal Power Station NTPC Ramagundam Ramagundam B Thermal Power Station Waluj MIDC Shendra MIDC Shendra – Bidkin Industrial Park Ballarpur Industries Limited HAL Sunabeda NALCO Damanjodi Transport NH 5 NH6 NH7 Godavari Bridge Old Godavari Bridge Godavari Arch Bridge Hyderabad-Godavari Valley Railways Related topics Paithani Himroo Other basins Mahanadi-Brahmani-Baitarani Damodar Kosi Son

Village People
from left: Randy Jones, Glenn Hughes, Felipe Rose, Victor Willis, David "Scar" Hodo, Alex Briley in 1978
Background information
Origin	New York City, United States
Genres	Disco
Years active	1977 – Present
Labels	Casablanca Records Black Scorpio RCA Polygram
Website	www.OfficialVillagePeople.com
Members
Felipe Rose Alex Briley David "Scar" Hodo G. Jeff Olson Eric Anzalone Ray Simpson
Past members
Victor Willis Randy Jones Glenn Hughes Ray Stephens Mark Lee Miles Jaye

Village People is a concept disco group that formed in the United States in 1977, well known for their on-stage costumes depicting American cultural stereotypes, as well as their catchy tunes and suggestive lyrics.

Originally created to target disco's gay audience by featuring popular gay fantasy personas,^[1] the band's popularity quickly brought them into the mainstream. Village People scored a number of disco and dance hits, including their trademark "Macho Man", "Go West", the classic club medley of "San Francisco (You've Got Me) / In Hollywood (Everybody is a Star)", "In the Navy", "Can't Stop the Music", and their biggest hit, "Y.M.C.A.".

They have sold upwards of 100 million records world-wide.^[2]

History[link]

1977–1979[link]

The group was the creation of Jacques Morali, a French musical composer. He had written a few dance tunes when he was given a demo tape recorded by singer/actor Victor Willis. Morali approached Willis and told him, "I had a dream that you sang lead on my album and it went very, very big". Willis agreed to sing on the first album, Village People.^[3]

It was a success, and demand for live appearances soon followed. Morali and his business partner, Henri Belolo (under the collaboration Can't Stop Productions) hastily built a group of dancers around Willis to perform in clubs and on Dick Clark's American Bandstand. As Village People's popularity grew, Morali, Belolo and Willis saw the need for a permanent "group." They took out an ad in a music trade magazine which read: "Macho Types Wanted: Must Dance And Have A Moustache."^[3]

Morali met the first recruit, Felipe Rose (Native American), on the streets of Greenwich Village. Rose was a bartender who wore jingle bells on his boots. He was invited to take part in the sessions for the first album. Alex Briley (who started as an athlete, but eventually took on the soldier persona) was Willis' friend. The others, Mark Mussler (construction worker), Dave Forrest (cowboy), Lee Mouton (leatherman) and Peter Whitehead (one of the group's early songwriters) appeared on American Bandstand and in the video for the group's first hit, "San Francisco (You Got Me)". They were later replaced by David Hodo, Randy Jones and Glenn Hughes, who all had more experience as actors/singers/dancers. Hughes had first been spotted as a toll collector at the Brooklyn Battery Tunnel.^[3]

Because Morali could not speak English, songwriters Phil Hurtt and Peter Whitehead were brought in to write the lyrics for the first album. However, Willis wrote the lyrics to the group's biggest hits, including "Y.M.C.A.", "Macho Man," "Go West" and "In the Navy," and for other Can't Stop Productions acts such as Ritchie Family and Patrick Juvet.^[4] Likewise, Gypsy Lane (the Village People band) and their conductor, Horace Ott, provided much of the musical arrangements for Morali, who did not play any instruments.^[5]

The band's name refers to New York City's Greenwich Village, at the time known for its large gay population.^[6] Morali and Belolo decided to create a group of stereotypes based on the gay men of Greenwich Village, who often dressed in fantasy attire.

"Macho Man" brought them mainstream attention, and their 1978 recording "Y.M.C.A." became one of the most popular hits of the 1970s.

In 1979, the United States Navy decided to use "In the Navy" in a television and radio recruiting campaign. Belolo offered them the rights for free if the Navy would help them film the music video. The Navy provided them access to the San Diego Navy base, where the USS Reasoner (FF-1063), several aircraft, and the crew of the ship would be used. The Navy canceled the campaign after a short time.^[7]

The group's fame peaked in 1979, when Village People made several appearances on The Merv Griffin Show and traveled with Bob Hope to entertain U.S. troops. They were also featured on the cover of Rolling Stone, Vol. 289, April 19, 1979. Willis left the group at the end of an international tour in 1979, and a decline in popularity followed.

1980–1985[link]

Ray Simpson, brother of Valerie Simpson (of Ashford & Simpson), replaced Willis for the group's highly anticipated 1980 feature film Can't Stop the Music, directed by Nancy Walker, written by Allan Carr and Bronte Woodard, music and lyrics by Jacques Morali (although Willis penned the lyrics to Milkshake and Magic Night) and starring Steve Guttenberg, Valerie Perrine, Jean-Claude Billmaer, Bruce Jenner, and Village People. By the time it was released, however, disco had waned and the movie won the Worst Picture and Worst Screenplay prizes at the 1980 Golden Raspberry Awards in March 1981 and was nominated in almost all the other categories. Despite that, the song Can't Stop the Music became a Club Play chart hit and moderate radio hit. However, it too (Can't Stop the Music, the song) was nominated for Worst Original Song by the 1981 Razzies, and flopped by Village People standard in that it never obtained gold status as a single or album.^[8] The soundtrack also featured the talents of "David London", who under his real name Dennis "Fergie" Frederiksen went on to become the future lead singer of Toto and one of the main contributors to the Village People's next album. The movie itself has since become a cult favorite, developing a worldwide fan base.

The group was one of the featured guests on a November 22, 1980 episode of Love Boat, (7th episode of season 4), entitled "Secretary to the Stars/Julie's Decision/The Horse Lover/Gopher and Isaac Buy a Horse". At the end of 1980, cowboy Randy Jones left the group and was replaced by Jeff Olson.

In 1981, with the popularity of disco having faded and New Wave music on the rise, Village People replaced its on-stage costumes with a new look inspired by the New Romantic movement, and released the New Wave album Renaissance. It only attracted minor, mostly negative attention and produced no hits.

Victor Willis returned to the group briefly in late 1981 for the album Fox on the Box, which was released in 1982 only in Europe but did have limited release in the United States in 1983 under the title In the Street. Miles Jaye had briefly taken over for Ray Simpson as lead singer by 1983 and contributed an extra track to In the Street. Mark Lee replaced David Hodo in 1982.

Their last album containing new material, the 1985 dance/Hi-NRG release Sex Over the Phone, was not a huge commercial success, but it fared better in sales and club play than their Renaissance album. The title track, when released as a single, was banned by the BBC because of its content - credit card dirty phone calls.^[9] In recent years, "Sex Over the Phone" has become a cult classic. Recently, an Associated Press declared "Sex Over the Phone" to be the "'Citizen Kane' of music videos." The Sex album featured yet another new lead singer, Ray Stephens (of The Great Space Coaster fame). Py Douglas came in to sub for Stephens for some of the group's live appearances in 1985.

In 1985, the group took a hiatus but reunited in 1987 with the line-up of Randy Jones, David Hodo, Felipe Rose, Glenn Hughes, Alex Briley and Ray Simpson.

Since 1988 the group has managed itself under the name Sixuvus Ltd. ^[10]

1990s to present[link]

Village People receive their star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame September 12, 2008. L to R (front row: David Hodo, Felipe Rose, Jeff Olson / back row: Ray Simpson, Alex Briley, Eric Anzalone.

• November 15, 1991: Village People founder Jacques Morali dies from AIDS in Paris, France.
• 1993: the group makes a guest appearance on the hit show Married With Children in the episode "Take My Wife, Please".
• 1994: Village People join the German national football team to sing its official World Cup '94 theme Far Away in America.
• 1994: Cowboy Randy Jones sings Greg Brady's part on a punk cover of The Brady Bunch classic Time to Change.
• 1995: Eric Anzalone replaces Glenn Hughes as the Leatherman/Biker.
• 1996: Village People appears with Kelsey Grammer, Rob Schneider, and other cast members during the end-credits sequence of the film Down Periscope.
• 2000: The group releases new material under the name Amazing Veepers.
• 2001: Felipe Rose appears as himself on the game show To Tell the Truth.
• March 4, 2001: original member Glenn Hughes (Leatherman) dies from lung cancer in New York City.^[11]
• 2004: Village People perform as the opening act for Cher on her Farewell Tour until it ends in April 2005. It was a highly successful tour for both artists.
• May 7, 2004: Original Cowboy Randy Jones marries Will Grega, his boyfriend of 20 years.^[12]
• Summer 2004: Village People perform at Lincoln Center Out Of Doors.
• September 4, 2006: Village People perform on Jerry Lewis' MDA Telethon.
• August 31, 2007: Victor Willis gives his first live concert in 28 years in Las Vegas.
• October 23, 2007: Village People perform on the NBC game show The Singing Bee.
• November 17, 2007: Victor Willis weds long-time love, Karen, a lawyer and executive.
• July 15, 2008: At the Major League Baseball All-Star Game at Yankee Stadium, Village People perform "Y.M.C.A." with the Yankees grounds crew during the 7th inning stretch.
• September 12, 2008: Village People receive star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
• September 3, 2010: Village People perform at the American Music Festival in Virginia Beach, Virginia.
• May 8, 2012, Victor Willis won a landmark ruling in the first case regarding the 1976 Copyright Act which allows recording artists and writers to reclaim their master recordings and publishing rights initially granted to record companies and publishers after 35 years.^[13]

Cultural references[link]

Star Wars characters, a Jawa, Greedo, Chewbacca and an Imperial Stormtrooper, take on the iconic roles of the Village People and lead the crowd in the "Y.M.C.A." dance at a Disney weekend event in 2007.

Due to their easily recognizable characters, the group have frequently been imitated or parodied in films, television series, video games and music. Numerous covers and homages of their songs have been recorded. The stereotypical masculine characters, particularly the leather-clad biker character with a horseshoe moustache, have also become a widespread pop culture icons associated with male gay culture and YMCA has become something of an anthem of the LGBT community.

The song "In the Navy" was featured in an episode of The Muppet Show and The Simpsons.

In the film Wayne's World 2, Wayne and his friends disguise themselves in order to spy on Wayne's girlfriend; Wayne dresses as a construction worker, Garth as a cop, Neil as a leather-clad biker and Terry as a sailor. They are then chased and end up on the stage of a men's club where their coincidental resemblance to the Village People becomes apparent to the DJ, who immediately puts on YMCA.

A 1993 episode of Married with Children had Peg disguising herself as the Indian, along with Kelly as the sailor, Bud as the construction worker and Jefferson as the biker in order to appease angry Halloween party guests of Marcy's, and a joke being they could only lip synch to one song, YMCA, as that was the sole Village People album Marcy owned. When the real Village People appear at the party, they start their concert with YMCA, causing the enraged women who were sick of the song to pelt them with toilet paper.

In 1995, a parody of the Village People was seen on the CGI show ReBoot with the group the Small Town Binomes singing "BSnP", a parody of YMCA They were seen in the ReBoot episode "Talent Night" and each individual was modeled after a singer from the Village People using the show's common Binome characters. Their song "BSnP" was a jab at ABC network's Broadcast Standards and Practices organization, which frequently edited content from the show which they deemed not suitable for its younger viewers (lyrics included "Oh, it's fun to play in a non-violent way").

Discography[link]

Main albums[link]

Compilations and other albums[link]

• Live: Seoul Song Festival (1984)
• Greatest Hits (1988)
• Greatest Hits '89 Remixes (1989)
• The Best of Village People (1994)
• The Very Best Of (1998)
• 20th Century Masters, The Millennium Collection ... The Best of Village People (2001)

Singles[link]

Lineup[link]

Temporary "People"[link]

• Peter Whitehead, who co-wrote the songs on the group's first record, briefly performed with the group in 1977.
• Py Douglas briefly replaced Ray Stephens in some television appearances during the group's 1985 European tour.
• Alec Timerman stood in for Alex Briley on occasion between 2001 and 2003.
• Bill Whitefield replaced David Hodo at some concerts in 2002 and 2003 and 2012.
• Richard Montoya also replaced Hodo on some 2008 dates.
• Angel Morales occasionally filled in for Felipe Rose between 2008 and 2009.

See also[link]

• List of number-one dance hits (United States)
• List of artists who reached number one on the US Dance chart
• List of artists who reached number one in Ireland

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Village People

• Official website of the Village People
• Village People at Rolling Stone