Y.M.C.A. (song)

"Y.M.C.A."
Single by Village People
from the album Cruisin'
Released	1978 (1978)
Format	7", 12"
Recorded	Sigma Sound Studios, New York City; 1978
Genre	Disco
Length	4:48 (Album Version) 3:46 (Single Version)
Label	Casablanca Records
Writer(s)	Henri Belolo, Jacques Morali, Victor Willis
Producer	Jacques Morali
Village People singles chronology
"Macho Man" (1978) "Y.M.C.A." (1978) "Go West" (1979)

"Y.M.C.A." is a 1978 song by the Village People which became a hit in January 1979. The song reached #2 on the U.S. charts in early 1979 and reached No.1 in the UK around the same time, becoming the group's biggest hit ever. It is one of the fewer than thirty all-time singles to have sold 10 million (or more) copies worldwide.

Taken at face value, its lyrics extol the virtues of the Young Men's Christian Association. In gay culture from which the group sprang, the song was implicitly understood as celebrating the YMCA's reputation as a popular cruising and hookup spot, particularly for the younger gay men to whom it was addressed.^[1] However, Victor Willis, Village People lead singer and writer of the lyrics, insists that he did not write YMCA as a gay anthem (Willis is heterosexual). Rather, Willis said he wrote the song as a reflection of young urban black youth fun at the YMCA such as basketball and swimming, etc. That said, Willis has often acknowledged his fondness for double entendre. Willis also revealed that he wrote the song in Vancouver, British Columbia.^[2]

The song continues to remain popular and is played at many sporting events in the USA and Europe. It is frequently played during breaks in the action at sporting events with crowds using the dance as an opportunity to stretch. Moreover, the song also remains particularly popular due to its status as a disco classic and gay anthem, even among listeners who are otherwise uninvolved in disco or gay culture. It is also known to be a favorite in school dances. A popular dance in which the arms are used to spell out the four letters of the song's title may have much to do with this. YMCA appeared as Space Shuttle Wakeup call on mission STS-106, on day 11.^[3] In 2009, YMCA was entered into the Guinness World Book of Records when over 44,000 people danced to the song with Village People singing live at the Sun Bowl game in Texas. "Y.M.C.A." is number 7 on VH1's list of The 100 Greatest Dance Songs of the 20th Century.

A special one-sided vinyl single was released in 1978. It includes a Disco Mix by Michael Hutchinson, and the album version of Macho Man.

Song structure

The song, played in the key of F-sharp major, begins with a brass riff, backed by the constant pulse that typified disco. Many different instruments are used throughout for an overall orchestral feel, another disco convention, but it is brass that stands out.

As with other Village People hits, the lead vocals are handled by Willis and the background vocals are supplied by Willis and professional background singers. The distinctive vocal line features the repeated "Young man!" ecphonesis followed by Willis singing the verse lines. The background vocals join in throughout the song.

History

Contrary to popular belief, the song wasn't produced as YMCA radio commercial (even though lyrics sounds like one to certain degree). Executive producer Henri Belolo recalls that he saw the YMCA sign while walking down the street with composer Jacques Morali, who seemed to know the institution fairly well: "Henri, let me tell you something. This is a place where a lot of people go when they are in town. And they get good friends and they go out." And Henri got the idea: "Why don't we write a song about it?" However, Willis (the writer) recalls it was actually Jacques Morali who, while in the studio, asked him, "What exactly is the YMCA?" Willis then quickly wrote the famous lyrics and melody and it was the last track created for the album Cruisin'.

Initially during the single's release, the YMCA threatened to sue the band over trademark infringement and concerns about the song's double entendres. They ultimately dropped the lawsuit when they noticed that membership significantly increased in the wake of the song's popularity. Today, the organization is happy to be associated with the song and sees it as a positive public representation.

The song became a number one hit throughout the world (although not in the United States where it lost to Rod Stewart's "Da Ya Think I'm Sexy?"). It has remained popular at parties, sporting events, weddings and functions ever since.

In 2011, Willis filed a notice of copyright termination to the song as lyricist under the 1976 copyright act which allows recording artists and writers to reclaim their master recordings and publishing rights initially granted to record companies and publishers. The 1976 copyright act allows for termination of copyright grants after 35 years.^[4] The grant of copyright must have been signed after January 1, 1978. 2013 marks the year the publishing rights to Y.M.C.A. would revert back to Willis pursuant to the notice of termination, subject to litigation already filed by the publisher seeking to prevent such reversion. ^[5]

Origin of hand movement and dance

The YMCA dance demonstrated in a photomontage. In this rendition, the M (second from left) is done in a popular variant.

Members of the grounds crew of Yankee Stadium pause to do the YMCA dance.

YMCA is also the name of a group dance with cheerleader Y-M-C-A choreography invented to fit the song. One of the phases involves moving arms to form the letters Y-M-C-A as they are sung in the chorus:

Y  — arms outstretched and raised upwards

M  — made by bending the elbows from the 'Y' pose so the fingertips meet over the chest^[6]

C  — arms extended to the left

A  — hands held together above head

The dance originated on Dick Clark's American Bandstand. During the January 6, 1979 episode, which featured the Village People as guests throughout the hour, the dance was performed by audience members while the group performed "YMCA." Clark then said to Willis that he would like to show him something. Clark again played the song with the audience doing the YMCA hand gestures. Willis immediately picked up on the dance and mimicked the hand movements back at the audience as other Village People members stared at him with puzzled looks. Clark then turned to Willis and said, "Victor, think you can work this dance into your routine?" Willis responded, "I think we're gonna have to."^[7]

At the original Yankee Stadium, the grounds crew traditionally took a break from grooming the infield after the sixth inning to lead the crowd in the dance; this tradition has been carried over to the current Yankee Stadium. In July 2008, Village People performed "Y.M.C.A." with the Yankees grounds crew at the last MLB All-Star Game held at the old Yankee Stadium. Similarly at the Sapporo Dome, during Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters baseball games, "Y.M.C.A." is enthusiastically enjoyed by the crowd and ground staff during the fifth inning stretch.

Covers and parodies

• Cover version sung in Japanese titled "Young Man", was recorded by a Japanese singer Hideki Saijo and released in spring 1979. It marked the #1 on the Japanese official singles chart Oricon for 5 weeks,^[8] and finally sold more than 800,000 copies^[9] and became the most commercially successful cover version of the song. "Young Man" won the 1979 Japan Music Awards for Grand Prix.
• A famous YouTube video - Evolution of Dance - features the chorus of this single.
• KFUM is the Danish equivalent of YMCA. It was a big hit in Denmark in 1980 by the show-group Østjysk Musikforsyning with Danish lyrics by Karlo Staunskjær.
• In 1997, Pepsi launched a Super Bowl ad where five bears danced an alternate version with "P-E-P-S-I" instead of the usual "Y-M-C-A". Mr. Magoo Tv screen Leslie Nielsen
• The webcomic User Friendly spoofed the song when Dust Puppy and Erwin sang an altered version which included the lyrics "It's fun to violate the DMCA."^[10]
• On July 2, 2004, Colin Powell, then the U.S. Secretary of State, performed a modified version of "YMCA" for his fellow foreign government officials at the ASEAN security meeting in Jakarta. His lyrics includes the lines:

  President Bush, he said to me: 'Colin, I know you will agree. I need you to run the Department of State. We are between a rock and a hard place.' ^[11]

• Some colleges with four-letter abbreviations (ex. UCLA) replace "Y-M-C-A" with the abbreviation.
• George Lam recorded a Cantonese remix, still titled "YMCA". This cover version was first released in 1979 as part of album "Choice" (抉擇).^[12] It was also featured on 2001 Music is Live - George Lam & Eason Chan Karaoke
• In 2011: The Sportsgasms, a sports song parody group out of San Francisco, release Sports Nut (Y.M.C.A Song Parody) which uses double entendres to challenge the stereotype of the typical sports fan.

Use in media

• The 1980 film Can't Stop the Music, a musical pseudohistory of the Village People, features an elaborate production number to the song in the style of famous choreographer Busby Berkeley.
• The song appeared in the U.S. home version of Dance Dance Revolution Extreme.
• In Singstar with original music video and voices.
• A cover version of the song is featured in the Nintendo DS game Elite Beat Agents. While playing the song on Breezin', Cruisin', or Sweatin' mode, the Agents will perform the YMCA dance at the respective lyrics.
• In jubeat, a rhythm arcade game, YMCA is a song of intermediate difficulty.
• The song is a playable track in Band Hero.

References

External links

• Original "YMCA" music video of 1978. [1]