RIP-ping Yarns

RIP The Duke of York's Theatre, soon to be renamed the Tom Stoppard Theatre after the great playwright

It's another snippets post today, dear reader:

• RIP: the Halifax Building Society, as its parent Lloyds Banking Group announced it plans to scrap the 173-year-old brand, and either rename its branches as Lloyds or else merge standalone outlets into one. Shame.
• RIP: The World Tonight, one of my favourite news programmes on BBC Radio 4 at 10pm every weekday - which is being axed (after 56 years!) as part of sweeping cuts by Auntie's new Director General Matt Brittin, to be replaced by Newshour, currently only available on the World Service. Why not the other way around, I say? Let "Johnny Foreigner" listen to the kind of quality journalism that has made TWT the yardstick by which other news outlets should be judged, and is aimed at a British audience! Hint to Mr Brittin: "British" is in the name of your organisation, in case you didn't notice when you arrived in post fresh from fucking Google...
• RIP: Humphrey Smith, patriarch of the Sam Smith brewery and pub chain - who ran the organisation in an eccentric, borderline draconian manner. No music, no TV, no dogs, no kids, no mobile phones, no swearing, coal fires, lots of dark wood, only "own-brand" drinks on sale - all this, and more, made any Sam Smith pub instantly recognisable. However, by all accounts, working for the man must have been a nightmare - he lost several tribunals on the grounds of unfair dismissal; he would often pay a visit to one of his many pubs and if he experienced anything not to his satisfaction, close it down then-and-there, with the result that his estate has many pubs that remain shuttered today. Let's see what happens to all this "Victorian values" stuff now Yorkshire's answer to "Mr Burns" is dead.

• And, finally, RIP: Victor Willis, founder-member, lead singer and songwriter of The Village People, who has strutted off to the glitter-ball strewn eternal discotheques of Fabulon, just ahead of our own Gay Xmas (Gay Pride) in London this weekend. He made his name as part of an iconic camp band, yet he was such a paranoid weirdo that - regardless of the group's obvious references to 1970s gay stereotypes/Tom of Finland erotic fantasies, despite their name being a tribute to the then gay heartland of New York Greenwich Village where the recruitment of the band took place, despite the flamboyant gayness of their performances, despite the innuendo-filled song titles such as Cruisin’, Macho Man and so on - he threatened legal action against any media outlet that dared to call his and the group's biggest hit Y.M.C.A. a "gay anthem"! He even allowed that Tangerine Twat in the White House to shake his wizened senile carcass to the song at his rallies. Mr Willis, you were responsible for some memorable choons, but let's face it - nobody in the world could ever think any of your songs were actually about "straight black male solidarity" at all. I rest my case with this:

Village People - In the Navy

And the weather? Proper summer sunshine. I love it.

Tell the sun don't shine, stop Old Father Time, 'cause that's easier to do

Notorious for being the first actress to bare her boobs on American telly, the showgirl-turned-Playboy model-turned-actress Valerie Perrine, who has sadly departed for Fabulon, confounded all expectations when she was nominated for an Oscar in 1974 for her portrayal of the sassy wife in the biopic Lenny (Bruce).

In her estimable career, Miss Perrine worked with such greats as Dustin Hoffman, Jack Nicholson, Robert Redford, Gene Hackman, Mel Gibson, Alan Arkin and Rod Steiger.

Shame then, that the only film I (and many millions of others, no doubt) remember her being in is Can't Stop The Music with The Village People...

All together, now!

Can't Stop The Music trailer

RIP, Valerie Ritchie Perrine (3rd September 1943 - 23rd March 2026)

There's no need to be unhappy

It's a mini-"timeslip moment", dear reader...

We've been dropped off by The Doctor, Romana and K9 at a pivotal juncture for the UK - January 1979. For this was indeed the notorious "Winter of Discontent" - with strikes at the ports, hauliers, railways, hospitals and public services, and snowstorms that brought the country to a virtual standstill - and Prime Minister Jim Callaghan's quote "Crisis? What Crisis?" (as above, the banner headline on the front page of The Sun) made such a lasting impact that Maggie Thatcher swept to power a few months later, and Labour failed to regain government for the next eighteen years. Also in the news headlines: Pol Pot and his murderous Khmer Rouge regime were deposed in Cambodia by Vietnamese forces; The Bee Gees, Abba, Andy Gibb, Earth Wind & Fire, Olivia Newton John, Rod Stewart, Donna Summer and more all sang at the "Music for UNICEF" concert and donated the royalties from all the songs they performed to the cause; and the deposed Shah of Iran fled his country. In our cinemas: Superman; Jaws 2; Capricorn One. On telly: Blankety Blank, Life on Earth, Give Us a Clue and Danger UXB.

And in our charts in the post-Xmas period, this week forty-two years ago? Just evicted from the top slot [to a collective sigh of relief from discerning music lovers] was Boney M Mary's Boy Child, and also present and correct were Chic, the Bee Gees, Racey, The Barron Knights, Elton John, Ian Dury and the Blockheads, Barbra Streisand & Neil Diamond and Hot Gossip. But the year opened with a new Number 1 - and possibly the campest, gayest one Britain had ever had! All together, now...

Village People - YMCA

There's no need to be unhappy

It's the last day in the office for two weeks, dear reader - and time for a party!!

Xmas is the season for...

• Surviving mainly on a diet of chocolate-based foodstuffs.
• Drinking with people who you don't really give a shit about and, if you didn't work with them, would probably never speak to in your entire life.
• Gritting your teeth at the utter shit you have to endure in every shop you enter: vast queues of halfwits, seasonal staff who couldn't tie their own shoelaces without a diagram, crap produce at twice normal price because it's in a box with some holly on it, and endless banal "festive" muzak like Wings, Shaky, Mariah. And knowing that once the Boxing Day sales start, everything you've bought will be half price.
• Boring people not getting any more interesting because they have an "amusing" jumper with reindeer on it.
• Dogs - even tramp dogs - with pullovers and reindeer antlers on.
• Annual reunion parties at which everyone spends the first hour talking about their latest ailments.
• Utter bollocks "stocking filler" gifts like inflatable hipster beards, "poo-ing reindeer" jellybean dispensers, retro games ("Jacks", Mah-Jong, Rubik's cubes, etc) that nobody understands or can be bothered to read the instructions, or comedy socks or mugs.
• Observing that everyone you speak to has a little twinkly bit of glitter somewhere on their face/hand/frock from opening a cheap card.
• Trying to find an intelligent television programme amongst the "Christmas Specials".
• Trying to find a radio station that isn't playing carols, Slade or any kind of Xmas music at all.
• And...

...doing the hand movements to YMCA!

Village People - YMCA

Thank Disco It's (Festive) Friday!

Together this is what we'll do

A g'wan then...

Even though it always seems somewhat contrary for a citizen of the British Empire to join in the victory parade of its rebellious colonies, over the pond (due West, indeed) the bunting is out for this year's Fourth of July celebrations.

As it is also the middle of our countdown to Gay Pride in London this weekend, let's combine the two parties by way of one of the US of A's most fab-u-lous exports - the Village People and Go West!

Village People - Go West

Together we will go our way, together we will leave some day.
Together your hand in my hand, together we will make the plans.
Together we will fly so high, together tell our friends goodbye.
Together we will start life new, together this is what we'll do.

Go west, life is peaceful there.
Go west, lots of open air.
Go west to begin life new.
Go west, this is what we'll do!
Go west, sun in winter time.
Go west, we will do just fine.
Go west where the skies are blue.
Go west, this and more we'll do.

Together we will love the beach, together we will learn and teach.
Together change our pace of life, together we will work and strive.
I love you, I know you love me; I want you happy and carefree.
So that's why I have no protest when you say you want to go west.

Go west, life is peaceful there.
Go west, lots of open air.
Go west to begin life new.
Go west, this is what we'll do!
Go west, sun in winter time.
Go west, we will do just fine.
Go west where the skies are blue.
Go west, this and more we'll do.

I know that there are many ways to live there in the sun or shade.
Together we will find a place to settle down and live with the space
without the busy pace back east, the hustling, rustling of the feet,
I know I'm ready to leave too, so this is what we're going to do

Go west, life is peaceful there.
Go west, lots of open air.
Go west to begin life new.
Go west, this is what we'll do!
Go west, sun in winter time.
Go west, we will do just fine.
Go west where the skies are blue.
Go west, this and more we'll do.

I bet they're all singing along at Mar-a-Lago!

You can tell a macho, he has a funky walk

Whew. What a week! Suddenly finding myself in a different role at work, being thrown in at the deep end by being put on a panel to interview a new candidate for another vacancy, and with all the extra stuff I now need to do, I am more relieved than ever that the weekend is looming...

Tomorrow would also have been the 65th birthday of the man with the most celebrated "mouth-muff" of modern times, Mr Glenn Hughes of the "not-gay-at-all" Village People - so all the more reason to don your favourite "gay cliché" outfit [mine's more Hermione Gingold than Hulk Hogan, actually] and start the line dance party with a rousing chorus of their classic Macho Man!

Village People - Macho Man

Body, wanna feel my body,
body, baby, such a thrill, my body
Body, wanna touch my body,
body, baby, it's too much, my body
Body, check it out, my body, body,
baby, don't you doubt, my body
Body, talking about my body, body,
baby, checking out my body

Listen here

Every man wants to be a macho man
To have the kind of body always in demand
Joggin' in the mornings, go man go
Workouts in the health spa, muscles grow
You can best believe me
He's a macho man
Glad he took you down with anyone you can
Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey

Macho, macho man
I gotta be a macho man
Macho macho man
I gotta be a macho

Body, its so hot, my body,
Body, love to pop my body,
Body, love to please my body,
Body, don't you tease my body,
Body, you'll adore my body,
Body, come explore my body,
Body, made by God, my body,
Body, it's so good, my body

You can tell a macho, he has a funky walk
his western shirts and leather, always look so boss
Funky with his body, he's a king
call him Mister Ego, dig his chains
You can best believe that, he's a macho man
likes to be the leader, he never dresses grand

Hey! Hey! Hey, hey, hey!
Macho, macho man
I've got to be, a macho man
Macho, macho man
I've got to be a macho! (all right)

Body, my body, body, wanna feel my body
Body, baby, body, body, come and thrill my body
Body, baby, body, body, love to funk, my body
Body, baby, body, body, it's so hot, my body

So hot, yeah my body
All right

Every man ought to be a macho, macho man
To live a life of freedom, machos make a stand
Have your own lifestyles and ideals
Possess the strength of confidence, that's the skill
You can best believe that he's a macho man
He's the special god son in anybody's land
hey, hey, hey, hey, hey

Macho, macho man
I gotta be a macho man
Macho macho man
I gotta be a macho

I gotta be a macho man
I gotta be a mucho mucho, macho macho man
I gotta be a macho

And he was. Apparently Mr Hughes was even buried in his leather outfit...

Glenn Martin Hughes (18th July 1950 – 4th March 2001) - but Thank Disco It's Friday!!!

Village voices

Happy Gay Xmas Eve!

Lest we forget, the reason why Gay Pride is celebrated in the US and the UK (and in many other countries) on this weekend every year is due to the events that took place 44 years ago today. The Stonewall riots are widely described as a series of spontaneous, violent demonstrations against a police raid that took place in the early morning hours of June 28, 1969 at the Stonewall Inn, in the Greenwich Village neighbourhood of New York City.

They are frequently cited as the first instance in American history when gays and lesbians fought back against a government-sponsored system that persecuted homosexuals, and they have become the defining event that marked the start of the gay rights movement in the United States and around the world.

• Read my article about the Stonewall riots on the 40th anniversary in 2009
• Read about the Stonewall: 40 event we attended that July

I raise a glass to our brave brothers and sisters (many of whom feature in the photos above, no doubt), who began the long, hard struggle that culminated in the legal situation in which many of us in the West exist today - where anti-gay legislation is now seen as an anachronism.

I also recognise that for us, tomorrow's Gay Pride is a celebration, a sparkling outpouring of our visibility and defiance - and a perfect excuse for a party!

Here is the gayest of gay bands to help us along - the appropriately-named Village People, with an appropriate song: New York City!

Village People - New York City

Thank Disco It's Friday - happy Pride!

Gay Pride in London 2013

People know the part I'm playing

At last, another weekend is almost upon us, and it's time to let our hair down once again.

It was also Randy Jones' ("The Cowboy") 60th birthday yesterday, so what better way to kick off the weekend than with a bit of high campery in the company of the Village People?!

Just a Gigolo? You don't fool us, boys..!

Village People - Just a Gigolo

Thank Disco It's Friday!

Do the sha-a-ake

Eternal gratitude once again today to Thom over at Chateau Thombeau for introducing me to this magnificent slice of campery...

Village People - Do The Milkshake

You can get yourself clean, you can have a good meal, you can do whatever you feel...

Can it really be thirty years since this slice of the cheesiest pop EVER was number 1 in the charts?

It is scary how the time flies...

Village People - YMCA

You can’t stop the music, unfortunately

A slightly dubious excuse for a post - it is THIRTY YEARS since the Village People were created by the late Jacques Morali, and launched a string of mega-hits that form the staple of hen parties and chav wedding receptions to this day.

I cringe every time I hear YMCA, and see people still doing "those" hand movements. However to be fair, their silliness and parody did (in some shape or form) bring gay men into the spotlight long before the likes of Boy George and Pete Burns...

To celebrate the tacky phenomenon that was the Village People, here is a tribute to their feature film You Can't Stop The Music, directed (unbelievably!) by the brilliant Nancy Walker (Broadway diva and TV favourite in shows such as Rhoda and MacMillan & Wife). 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. Enjoy...

Village People - Can't Stop The Music

Official Village People website