One of the first records I ever owned was the disco era classic Y.M.C.A. It took the world by storm in the late Seventies but now I suppose it's cheesy pop at its horrifying best! Weirdly, I see this record on children's party albums all the time. Strange; if you consider the song is about men hooking up with men in the showers of the local Y.M.C.A. (And Jesus wept.)As a kid, I never identified The Village People as gay. (And since it was my mother who bought me the record, I'm guessing she didn't figure that one either!). The "I'm a little teapot" dance moves and the "what do you want to be when you grow up?" costumes clearly worked well as a smokescreen!
Looking at the men now, they seem strangely assexual. Like H from Steps or that children's TV presenter from Rainbow, I wouldn't wanna "do" them. I certainly didn't want to "be" any of them. I guess that's why I didn't end up becoming a construction worker when I grew up. Or a Policeman. Or a Cowboy. (Now, Wonderwoman.... she was aspirational!)
You can hang out with all the The Village People when they play Tripod on Sunday 21 September.
