YMCA by The Village People
Ranked #1,652 in Music, #47,585 overall
The Village People and YMCA
YMCA was the first big hit for The Village People, and one that has become a classic to be played at parties and karaoke events all over the world ever since.
The YMCA lyrics are easy to learn, and together with the YMCA dance, are guaranteed to get everyone onto the dance floor.
The Village People are a concept disco group formed in the late 1970s. The group is well known for their on-stage costumes as for their catchy tunes and suggestive lyrics. Original members were: police officer (Victor Willis), American Indian chief (Felipe Rose), cowboy (Randy Jones), construction worker (David Hodo), leatherman (Glenn Hughes) and Military man (Alex Briley). For the release of "In the Navy", both Willis and Briley appeared temporarily as sailors. Originally created to target disco's primarily gay fan base by featuring stereotypical gay personas, the band's popularity quickly brought them into mainstream. The group is seen by some music critics as less serious for their camp style, appearance and musical choices.
Village People scored a number of disco and dance hits, including their trademark "Macho Man", "Go West", the classic club medley of "San Francisco (You've Got Me) / In Hollywood (Everybody is a Star)", "In the Navy", "Can't Stop the Music", "Sex Over the Phone" and their biggest hit, "Y.M.C.A.".
Collectively, the Village People have sold 85 million albums and singles. The group also recorded new materials under the name "The Amazing Veepers".
Don't forget to watch the hilarious video clips of people dancing the YMCA (or trying to) and please vote for your favorite, and feel free to add one too.
1977-1979
The group was created by Jacques Morali, who was a French musical composer. He had written a few songs when he heard Victor Willis singing background vocals in a studio. Morali approached Willis and told him, "I had a dream that you sang lead on my album and it went very, very big." Willis agreed to sing on the first album, Village People.
It was a success, so Morali and his business partner, Henri Belolo, (under the collaboration Can't Stop Productions), decided to build a real group around Willis for a stage act to showcase and perform their disco music creations. They took out an ad in a trade magazine band which read: "Macho Types Wanted: Must Have Moustache." The first recruit, Indian Rose, Morali literally bumped into on the streets of Greenwich Village. Rose was a bartender who wore jingle bells on his boots. He was invited along to take part in the sessions for the first album. Alex Briley (who eventually took on the soldierman persona) was a friend of Willis'. The other three, Mark Mussler (construction worker), Dave Forrest (cowboy) and the original leatherman, were quickly replaced, respectively, by Dave Hodo, Randy Jones and Glenn Hughes, who all had more experience as actors/singers/dancers. Leatherman Hughes had first been been spotted as a toll collector at the Brooklyn Battery Tunnel. Early on, one of the group's songwriters, Peter Whitehead, even performed with the group for a brief time.
Despite the French songwriters, the songs lyrics were all in English as Morali and Belolo used American lyricists. On the first album, they brought in songwriting legends Phil Hurtt and the aforementioned Peter Whitehead. For the next three albums (and on other Can't Stop Productions such as Ritchie Family and Patrick Juvet) lead singer Willis was the lyricist.
The band's name references New York City's Greenwich Village neighborhood, at the time known for having a substantial gay population. Morali and Belolo got the inspiration for creating an assembly of American man archetypes based on the gay men of The Village who frequently dressed in various fantasy attire.[citation needed]
While the song "Macho Man" put them on the map, their 1978 anthem "Y.M.C.A." made them one of the most successful disco groups.
In 1979, the United States Navy considered using "In the Navy", another Village People hit, in a recruiting advertising campaign on television and radio. They contacted Belolo, who decided to give the rights for free on the condition that the Navy help them shoot the music video. Less than a month later, Village People arrived at the San Diego Naval base. The Navy provided them with a warship, several aircraft, and hundreds of Navy men. The Navy later canceled the campaign.
Their fame reached its peak in 1979. The Village People were featured on the cover of Rolling Stone, Vol. 289, April 19, 1979.
Willis left the group at the end of 1979, and the group's downfall began.
1980-1985
Ray Simpson, brother of Valerie Simpson (of Ashford & Simpson), stepped into Willis' shoes in time for the group's highly anticipated 1980 feature film Can't Stop the Music, directed by Nancy Walker, written by Allan Carr and Bronte Woodard, music and lyrics by Jacques Morali (although Willis penned the lyrics to "Milkshake" and "Magic Night") and starring Steve Guttenberg, Valerie Perrine, Jean-Claude Billmaer, Bruce Jenner, and the Village People. By the time it was released, however, disco had waned and the movie "won" the Worst Picture and Worst Screenplay prizes at the 1980 Golden Raspberry Awards in March 1981 and was nominated in almost all the other categories. Despite that, the song, "Can't Stop the Music" became a Club Play chart hit and moderate radio hit. The soundtrack also featured the talents of "David London", who under his real name Dennis "Fergie" Frederiksen went on to become the future lead singer of Toto and one of the main contributors to the Village People's next album.
The group was one of the featured guests on a November 22nd, 1980 episode of Love Boat, (7th episode of season 4), entitled "Secretary to the Stars/Julie's Decision/The Horse Lover/Gopher and Isaac Buy a Horse". At the end of 1980 Randy Jones left the group to be replaced by Jeff Olson.
In 1981, with the popularity of disco long gone and New Wave music on the rise, Village People replaced its on-stage costumes with a new look inspired by the New Romantic movement, and released the New Wave album Renaissance; It only attracted minor attention and produced no hits.
Victor Willis returned to the group briefly in late 1981 to help out on the album Fox on the Box which was released in 1982 only in Europe but did have limited release in the U.S. in 1983 under the title In the Street. Miles Jaye had taken over for Ray Simpson as lead singer by 1983 and contributed an extra track to In the Street. Mark Lee replaced Hodo in 1982.
Although their last album containing new material, the 1985 dance/Hi-NRG release Sex Over the Phone, was not a huge commercial success, it fared better in sales and club play than their Renaissance album. The "Sex Over the Phone" music video, due to the rise of video on the Internet, has become a viral video phenomenon. The Sex album featured yet another new lead singer, Ray Stephens. Py Douglas came in to sub for Stephens for some of the group's appearances in 1985.
Some information extracted from Wikipedia
Song Lyrics: Y-M-C-A
Y-M-C-A - The Village People from the album "Cruisin" 1978
Young man, there's no need to feel down.
I said, young man, pick yourself off the ground.
I said, young man, 'cause you're in a new town
There's no need to be unhappy.
Young man, there's a place you can go.
I said, young man, when you're short on your dough.
You can stay there, and I'm sure you will find
Many ways to have a good time.
It's fun to stay at the Y-M-C-A.
It's fun to stay at the Y-M-C-A.
They have everything for you men to enjoy,
You can hang out with all the boys ...
It's fun to stay at the Y-M-C-A.
It's fun to stay at the Y-M-C-A.
You can get yourself cleaned, you can have a good meal,
You can do whatever you feel ...
Young man, are you listening to me?
I said, young man, what do you want to be?
I said, young man, you can make real your dreams.
But you got to know this one thing!
No man does it all by himself.
I said, young man, put your pride on the shelf,
And just go there, to the y.m.c.a.
I'm sure they can help you today.
It's fun to stay at the Y-M-C-A.
It's fun to stay at the Y-M-C-A.
They have everything for you men to enjoy,
You can hang out with all the boys ...
It's fun to stay at the Y-M-C-A.
It's fun to stay at the Y-M-C-A.
You can get yourself cleaned, you can have a good meal,
You can do whatever you feel ...
Young man, I was once in your shoes.
I said, I was down and out with the blues.
I felt no man cared if I were alive.
I felt the whole world was so tight ...
That's when someone came up to me,
And said, young man, take a walk up the street.
There's a place there called the y.m.c.a.
They can start you back on your way.
It's fun to stay at the Y-M-C-A.
It's fun to stay at the Y-M-C-A.
They have everything for you men to enjoy,
You can hang out with all the boys ...
Y-M-C-A ... you'll find it at the Y-M-C-A.
Young man, young man, there's no need to feel down.
Young man, young man, get yourself off the ground.
Y-M-C-A ... you'll find it at the Y-M-C-A.
Young man, young man, there's no need to feel down.
Young man, young man, get yourself off the ground.
Y-M-C-A ... just go to the Y-M-C-A.
Young man, young man, are you listening to me?
Young man, young man, what do you wanna be?
Village People CD's on Amazon
If you like The Village People, why not grab yourself one of their CD's or a Party Song CD and be ready for the next party.

Great Party Song MP3 Downloads
YMCA is a great party song. If you like this, then you might also enjoy some of these other popular party songs.
If you loved Y.M.C.A., you might also enjoy:
The Village People In The News
- Racy, vulgar texts hurt Justice Department's largest sting operation targeting ...
- In text message after text message, FBI agents and their key informant joked about sex, booty calls, prostitutes, cigars, the Village People, the informant's wives and an agent's girlfriend. They even pondered who might play their roles in a movie ...
- Study: French National Anthem is a Singalong Hit
- Pawley and Mullensiefen last year unveiled research indicating British rock group Queen's 1977 classic rock ballad ?We are the Champions? was the most sing-along-able song, according to their statistical model, followed by The Village People's 1970s ...
- Flog It! star to host charity auction in Seend
- George's mum Anna Hutchings said: ?We know a lot of the village people here and they know of me and George and so it made sense to do it here. My mother knows Paul through the village network and he said yes he can come, but he has to be off to ...
- Village People to Perform at Superbowl Halftime Show 2013
- The NFL selection committee has booked The Village People to perform at the halftime show in 2013's Superbowl. Some people have been debating the sanity of the people booking the halftime show in recent years saying their acts don't represent the macho ...
Village People Items on eBay
There are a whole lot more items about The Village People and YMCA than the CD's and Videos. Take a look on eBay and see what other interesting and rare items you can find.
My Collection Of Song Lyrics Lenses
You are welcome to grab this list to use on your lenses
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Off The Record With Debbie And Tony
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Tipi
Feb 17, 2012 @ 10:41 am | delete
- YMCA sure was a popular song at one time. I remember hearing on the radio just about every time I turned it on. Well, you know what that can do to a good song. ")
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favored1
Jan 21, 2012 @ 10:38 pm | delete
- The groups success came from their being able to make everyone feel a part of their show. Enjoyable lens.
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Mistel
Jan 20, 2012 @ 1:08 am | delete
- Once of the best songs to get a party started! :)
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girlfriendfactory
Jan 15, 2012 @ 8:05 pm | delete
- What a fun & nostalgic lens! I totally remember roller skating to this song and now the only time I hear it is at my son's school pep assemblies. I learned a lot from reading your lens though; you put a tremendous amount of effort into it! Well done! Consider this a flyby winging! :) Happy 2012, ~Ren
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WriterJanis
Jan 11, 2012 @ 4:44 am | delete
- Village People Rock!
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TrentAdamsCA
Nov 30, 2011 @ 2:36 pm | delete
- Fun to find this here. I've always enjoyed this song -- great job on the background of the group and the highlights of their career. Thanks for the nostalgia fix.
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SheWritesaLot
Nov 25, 2011 @ 12:06 pm | delete
- Such an iconic song and it's one of those tunes that sticks in your head. But I've never heard the words. I had no idea this song was actually promoting the YMCA in such a big way. Very interesting.
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darciefrench
Oct 31, 2011 @ 3:03 pm | delete
- I can hear LadyMermaid singing along beside me :) Had to fly by and swoop in with a treat blessing for the Village People, the 'original singing optimists' :)
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Ladymermaid
Oct 31, 2011 @ 8:56 am | delete
- I can hear YMCA ringing in my ears as I type this. The song definitely became a classic quickly.
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Retro_Loco
Oct 4, 2011 @ 11:00 pm | delete
- I grew up listening to The Village People and danced and roller-skated to a lot of their songs, too! I saw The Village People perform at a music festival in Atlanta several years ago. I got brave and pushed myself through the crowd all the way to the stage! I couldn't help it, I wanted to see the Indian up close!! Hee-hee!! ;-) I thoroughly enjoyed your lens on The Village People's song lyrics. Great work!
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phoenix-arizona-friends
Jun 5, 2011 @ 12:12 pm | delete
- I think it's hilarious to watch people dancing to this song, especially when they are 3 sheets to the wind at a wedding.
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LisaAuch Jun 3, 2011 @ 2:50 pm | delete
- Well guess what I am singing the rest of the night, ooohhh! Yo man!
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HSSchulte
Apr 12, 2011 @ 12:18 pm | delete
- My oh my, the village people. That brings back memories of skating rinks and trying to look cool as we motioned the letters with our arms. Well done lens.
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cinstress
Apr 1, 2011 @ 4:44 pm | delete
- The Village People didn't realize what they started..... a song that will forever be played at kid's dances and wedding receptions... ha ha great lens
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radioconstant
Feb 13, 2011 @ 9:46 am | delete
- Haha great lens, I love The Village People. I'm afraid that both the YMCA song and dance can't ever be forgotten.
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Waxing-Lyrical
Feb 11, 2011 @ 9:33 pm | delete
- Got to admit that I bought the record, learnt the movements and made a complete fool of myself in public LOL! Blessed :)
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kougar
Jan 18, 2011 @ 6:44 pm | delete
- I absolutely love this lens. Big Village People fan here! It brings back some fun memories. The only problem...I can't stop singing Y.M.C.A. ;)
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Serenia
Jan 13, 2011 @ 5:18 pm | delete
- I love the movie - Cant stop the music. I have been looking for info on David London for many years with no luck. No wonder I cant find him. It isn't even his real name,. Thanks for the info on dennis frederikson and Toto. The song New york, new york in the opening credit is a fantastic song, IMO. Thank you.
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Squidoolinepro
Jan 13, 2011 @ 4:22 pm | delete
- *Blessed* by a Squid Angel who loves the Village People!!! Any Village People fan would love this page. (Hiya, would you check and make sure your points showed up?---I'm trying to see if there's a bug or not like we're talking about on the forum.Thanks so much!)
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Tipi
Dec 17, 2010 @ 8:49 pm | delete
- I must really like you a lot! I'm taking the risk of this song going through my mind for a week!
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Margo_Arrowsmith
Dec 9, 2010 @ 5:27 am | delete
- I had no idea this old group had such auspicious beginnings
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Sylvestermouse
Dec 8, 2010 @ 8:37 am | delete
- A great reminder of some really fun times! We used to really enjoy playing along with this song!
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sandyspider
Oct 18, 2010 @ 9:42 am | delete
- I love the YMCA song. Nice bit of history here.
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CastleRoy
Jul 10, 2010 @ 8:03 am | delete
- Wow this lens brings back memories, we used to roller skate to this song as kids I swear they would play it 3 or 4 times and we always did the dance fun lens!! lens rolling to my (me and mom 50s and 60 music.)
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JoanneOtt
Jun 22, 2010 @ 2:45 pm | delete
- I always really liked the Village People, and YMCA is such a fun song.
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