Victor Willis, the lead singer of Village People, died last week at age 74, more evidence that everything Trump touches dies.
“YMCA” is, as most people have seen even if they never wanted to, Trump’s favorite song for his jerking-off-two-giraffes dance. This tracks with the theory that he’s stuck in the disco era – the song was released in 1978 and hit No. 1 in January 1979. Willis quit the group later that year and fought for years to gain songwriting credit for co-writing most of the group’s hits, a fight he finally won in 2015. He rejoined the group in 2017.
Willis, who wasn’t gay, had a complicated relationship with “YMCA.” A few years ago he started threatening to sue media outlets that called it a gay anthem. He didn’t mind that it became a gay anthem, he said, but took offense to the notion that he wrote the lyrics with that in mind. You could hardly fault people for seeing a double meaning. Producer/composer Jacques Morali, who put the Village People together, was gay, and aimed his ensemble squarely at the gay market for disco. Did Willis really not notice any of that?
Willis also had mixed reactions to Donald Trump’s incongruous use of the song for political rallies. He initially approved, then changed his mind after the George Floyd protests. He thought about suing but the rights were legitimately purchased. At some point he decided Trump’s support was good for business, and he performed at the second inaugural. You can see where that got him.
As this promotional video for the song reveals, the YMCA dance wasn’t originally part of the routine. That was introduced when the group performed on “American Bandstand” in January 1979, around the time the record hit No.2. Dick Clark showed Willis a group of teenagers in the audience spelling out the letters with their arms whenever the chorus came around and asked, “Do you think you can work this dance into your routine?” Willis responded, “I think we’re gonna have to.” (That historic moment comes near the start of this episode.
