Josiah Howard, author, on the popularity of the Y.M.C.A. song: “a world anthem built on, for, and about gay life and sensibilities”
The Village People’s 1978 hit is one of the most enduring songs of the disco era. Despite its camp message, the song was “written for everyone”.
So catchy, you remember it on first hearing, the Village People’s Y.M.C.A. hit airwaves in February 1978, right at the peak of the disco craze. Of all of the clubland songs from that genre that entered the mainstream charts, Y.M.C.A. is somehow still going just as strong today as it was 47 years ago. Generations that weren’t even born when it was released know all the words and the dance moves off by heart; it’s played at sports events, in clubs, political rallies... and it has taken on a life as a gay anthem.
Victor Willis, the man who co-wrote and sang the song, did not have any of that in mind when penned the lyrics. First of all because Willis is not gay. He was happily married to Phylicia, his first wife when Y.M.C.A. raced to the top of the charts in 17 countries, becoming the third biggest selling single of the year.
“Young man!”
The camp undertones in Y.M.C.A.‘s message came from producer Jacques Morali, who was openly gay and co-wrote the song together with Willis. Morali was French and had only been in the US for a few years and had always wondered what the strange acronym he kept seeing on buildings around New York City stood for. When Willis explained that the Y.M.C.A. (Young Men’s Christian Association) was a hostel for men from rural areas who had moved to cities looking for work, Morali envisaged it as an underground meeting point for homosexuals.
Throughout the band’s heyday, Willis would insist that Y.M.C.A. was not a “gay song” but is universal - “a song for everyone.”
But the Village People’s image was overtly camp (the other members were recruited to promote the debut album which Morali produced with a group of session musicians and Willis providing vocals).
Author Josiah Howard claims that Y.M.C.A. “was more than a hit record, it was a cultural milestone: a world anthem built on, for, and about gay life and sensibilities that was, nevertheless, fully embraced by mainstream audiences. More than 40 years after its release it remains the go-to party record: the first festive stop for teenagers, grandmas, children, heads of state and, yes, even construction workers!"
Trump’s entrance song
Apart from being a gay anthem, Y.M.C.A. was also taken up by Donald Trump during his presidential run. Willis wasn’t too happy about that either, although he insists it’s nothing personal.
“I like the fact that fans of all kinds, democrat or republican, they all like Y.M.C.A. That is something that is very pleasing to me,” the 74-year-old singer said recently. “But I stay out of politics. The group doesn’t want to get tied up in any politics”.
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