YMCA rebrands itself as The "Y"
Ed Pilkington in New York
guardian.co.uk, Monday
12 July 2010 19.38 BST
It was perhaps the most joyfully proclaimed acronym in the history of popular music. Four letters, four actions, one exuberant hit record that came to be seen as a symbol of gay culture in the 1970s, on a par with moustaches and wide lapels.
But on Monday, the YMCA was laid to rest in the US, marking the end of its 166-year history. Or to be more accurate, MCA was laid to rest, leaving the Y standing tall and proud as the sole surviving letter of the Youth Men's Christian Association, the original Bible study group founded in London in 1844. The board of the organisation's American branch announced that it will henceforth call itself by its common street name, "The Y", unveiling a new logo as part of a major "brand revitalisation".
The logo comes in five different colour combinations and depicts the letter Y in a design that lends itself to a number of possible interpretations. The creators presumably wanted to suggest a forward-looking, energetic youngster, as befits the group's founding principles of helping young people to become healthy in spirit, mind and body. Equally, though, you could see it as a penguin flapping its obsolete wings.
Neil Nicoll, president of the YMCA of the USA, said the change was necessary to communicate "our story, bringing more people to the place where they can realise the benefits we bring".
Audrey Haynes, the group's vice president, said it was a "momentous event in the history of the Y". She said the new logo was a symbol that "honours our past and represents our future".
But for many, that was precisely the problem: honouring the past. Specifically, what on Earth now happens to the famous Village People pop hit that took the US and the UK by storm in January 1979?
What will thousands of teenagers at coming-of-age parties and barmitzvahs now dance to at the end of the evening, and what becomes of the choreographed hand movements with which they spell out Y-M-C-A in time to the legendary chorus? "It's fun to stay at the Y-Y-Y-Y" doesn't quite cut it.
