"Y.M.C.A." (An Oral History)

Photo-illlustration by Sean McCabe

The song's undeniable, jinglelike hook made it a natural candidate for a single; it debuted on the Billboard Hot 100 chart on November 11, 1978, and peaked 13 weeks later at No. 2. On January 6, 1979, the Village People appeared on Dick Clark's American Bandstand, TV's biggest pop-music showcase.

Jones: We were flying up from South America for the show, and we worked on the choreography on the airplane -- handclaps, turning, marching in place...stuff like that. Well, the audience at this particular taping was a bunch of kids bused in from a cheerleader camp. The first time we got to the chorus, we were clapping our hands above our heads. And the kids thought it looked like we were making a Y. So they automatically did the letters. We saw this and started doing letters with them. It was purely audience-generated, which is probably why it's still so popular. And that's great for me, because it keeps the checks coming in every six months.

Hodo: When I saw the movements, I thought, "Wow, that is so stupid." Then everyone in America started doing it, and I thought, "Wow, that is so brilliant." It took on a life of its own. The next thing we know, Hideki Saijo has the No. 1 hit in Japan with his ver- sion of "Y.M.C.A." And we hit No. 2 [in the U.S.]. That's how it always works. Saijo claimed to have invented the dance, so as soon as we got to Japan, we straightened him out.

"Y.M.C.A." spent 26 weeks on Billboard's top 100 (during which time the actual YMCA threatened to sue the band before dropping the lawsuit), but due largely to egos and personality clashes, the Village People quickly crumbled. Willis left the band in 1979, just before they were to start work on the feature film Can't Stop the Music. He was replaced by Ray Simpson, one of the group's backup singers and the brother of Ashford & Simpson's Valerie Simpson. The movie (starring Steve Guttenberg as "Jack Morell" and ex-Olympian Bruce Jenner) bombed, as did the soundtrack album.

Three more studio albums came and went with barely a whimper; Willis returned briefly to contribute to 1982's Fox on the Box. He also recorded an unreleased solo album and struggled with substance abuse. By the end of '85, the Village People -- who eventually sold a reported 65 million albums -- gave up.