Charl Blignaut
ANYBODY out there love the Village People? Anybody, in those heady days, when disco inferno met queer lib, regard them as fabulous, fluffy-slut pop role models?
Well darlings, shock and horror: not only did the Village People never sing their own songs, but only one of the six was even gay.
In an investigation published in London’s The Observer last Sunday, journalist Peter Silverton has written the story behind the disco phenomenon that was all just a very clever piece of marketing.
Created, owned and managed by (straight) Frenchman Henri Belolo along with his (gay) songwriting partner, Jacques Morali, the Village People never even existed when their first hit YMCA was written. By 1978 Belolo and Morali had a hit tune, all they needed was a group to synch it. In a dazzling display of market suss, according to Silverton, “they formed the notion of mixing two marginal but sweepingly successful cultures – gay and disco. They came up with the Village People. The name was a nod to the gay enclave around Christopher Street in Greenwich Village, New York.”
The six icons – cowboy, Indian (Felipe, the only gay member), construction worker, leather man, soldier and cop – had responded to an advert placed by the Frenchmen in newspapers reading: “Macho types wanted. Must have moustache.”
A recipe for the “clone” look, popularised by Freddie Mercury. As their chart reign continued, members were replaced if the originals grew tired of the job.
Roger Scott of London’s Capital Radio, the first DJ to play YMCA on air, was heard to utter: “I! Don’t! Believe what I’ve just heard!” before he played it again. Today YMCA is probably most commonly heard at weddings, at the Rand Show, on Radio Jacaranda or as the theme tune for bad TV promos.
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