I can't see Smiff getting this one, so I may have to pull the trigger if the price is right.

Update: Added the packshot and tracklist to the first post.

Looks great. I've never heard the post-1979 albums, so this will be a treat.

Kinda of disappointed they didn't throw in some of the original 12" versions as bonus tracks, but still a pretty cool set.

Yep, a shame they didn't include a disc of those, but for another £5.00, Disc 3 of the recent "Gold" collection from the UK solves that problem:
1. Y.M.C.A. [12"" Version]
2. America [12"" Version Vocal Mix]
3. Go West [Full Remix '97]
4. In The Navy [12"" Version]
5. Macho Man (12"" Version]
6. Megamix [Extended Version] Y. M.C.A. / In The Navy / San Francisco (You've Got Me) / Macho Man / Can't Stop The Music
7. 5 O'Clock In The Morning [Club Edit Remix]
8. Sex Over The Phone [12" Dub Remix]
9. Get Away Holiday [Disco Mix]
10. San Francisco (You've Got Me) [From San Francisco To Disco Vocal Remix]
11. Everybody Loves The Funk
12. Y.M.C.A. [Millennium Mix]

Here's our thread for the Gold 3CD compilation that David suggests:

viewtopic.php?f=17&t=110588

When this becomes available in the US, I will get it.

Tried ordering from Amazon UK, but I got locked out after too many login attempts.

Just received both the box set and Gold today. Gold also includes the track "America" which was on the US version of Fox on the Box (re-titled In The Street). Since the box set features the original album track listing, that song is not included. So, in addition to the remixes, Gold also fills that gap. Definitely a worthwhile supplement to the box.

how do you guys (and gal) know so much about the village people?

I learned about them at the YMCA back when I was a macho man in the Navy.

I'm here all week, folks!

Were you the Action Man in Key West?

You should have seen Jimbo singing along to Macho Man!

I never saw that, but I did hear him singing along to a Stones tune on on my NY Jimbo Lunches.

I ended up getting this for around $53.

And the price is right considering that some of the early albums are more like EPs. The first album is 20 minutes long. In fact, they don't break the 40 minute mark until the first album from the Live And Sleazy double LP.

Sound quality is good. The booklet reproduces the original liner notes from the LPs, but some details are omitted.

For example, the Fox On The Box liners state that Victor Willis is back on lead vocals, but they fail to mention that Ray Simpson sings on one track.

In fact, once Victor leaves the band in 1979, the role of the Cop seems to be downplayed. Rather than being the lead vocalist, he's one of the vocalists, as David Hodo and Alex Briley sing some songs.

And the liners for the box are a generic overview of the band's career and end by noting that Victor Willis returned in 2017 and took back the name with a new group of People. They list who's in the new VP, but some of the replacement members' names from various lineups in the 80s onward are omitted

You'd get more information on the history of the band by going on Wikipedia and/or doing some research.

But like I said, the sound quality is good and you do get their entire classic catalogue in one box. And they use the original cover art (when some of the later albums came out briefly in the late 90s on CD, the artwork was changed).


.

That may be deliberate. Since Victor now owns the rights to the music, it's possible that he had final approval over the liner notes. On Facebook, he has not had nice things to say about the pre-2017 lineup - if memory serves me right, he's referred to them as a "karaoke" band.

Yes, to the Victor go the spoils.

It would appear Victor is not immune to Lead Singer's Disease. I'm not going to say Ray Simpson was a better singer or Cop, but for the better part of nearly 30 years, he along with the others, kept the group going.

Oh well, at least we're not having to deal with Bobby Blotzer's Village People.