Go West Dreamworld dispute

[TallThinMan]

I note from Wikipedia that Karen Huff-Willis, who actually brought the lawsuit, is a lawyer and entertainment executive. It would appear that she's owned the copyright to 'Go West' since 2013, which is probably either a tax dodge or she's swindling Victor Willis.

This specific filing (which has been thrown out of court) concerns the specific allegedly unauthorised use of "Go West" in the Dreamworld film. I should imagine that Pet Shop Boys' legal team have advised them not to perform the song again until this is all settled to avoid any risk of future litigation.

The whole thing reeks of desperate extortion.

[Sandy Shaw]

A slightly off-topic but interesting reading. As far as I see, PSB owns the song culturally.
https://off-the-records.com/go-west-pet-shop-boys/

"The original plan was ‘Fool On The Hill’, but Lowe decided he’d rather do ‘Go West’ by The Village People. Neil Tennant was against it as he HATED The Village People and he’d never even heard ‘Go West’, which wasn’t one of the band’s bigger hits."

I think it's more accurate to say that Neil hated the VP's recording of Go West. Some of this is getting distorted the more it's reported!
https://www.vanityfair.com/culture/2012 ... -RDWcG44Kd

[PSBForTheMasses]

A slightly off-topic but interesting reading. As far as I see, PSB owns the song culturally.
https://off-the-records.com/go-west-pet-shop-boys/

"The original plan was ‘Fool On The Hill’, but Lowe decided he’d rather do ‘Go West’ by The Village People. Neil Tennant was against it as he HATED The Village People and he’d never even heard ‘Go West’, which wasn’t one of the band’s bigger hits."

I think it's more accurate to say that Neil hated the VP's recording of Go West. Some of this is getting distorted the more it's reported!
https://www.vanityfair.com/culture/2012 ... -RDWcG44Kd

Subscription needed. Could you copy and paste it here?
The article that I posted is from September 2023, that is, before the lawsuit. The author was probably not aware of the present dispute when he said "Neil hated..."...

[PSBForTheMasses]

I note from Wikipedia that Karen Huff-Willis, who actually brought the lawsuit, is a lawyer and entertainment executive. It would appear that she's owned the copyright to 'Go West' since 2013, which is probably either a tax dodge or she's swindling Victor Willis.

This specific filing (which has been thrown out of court) concerns the specific allegedly unauthorised use of "Go West" in the Dreamworld film. I should imagine that Pet Shop Boys' legal team have advised them not to perform the song again until this is all settled to avoid any risk of future litigation.

The whole thing reeks of desperate extortion.

Agreed. Seeking 30 million $ just for some sentimental crap for "your's better mine's better" rope of tug is atrocious and hope Willis loses big. It appears they have a long-time habit of squeezing money from this kind of copyright disputes.

[MikeyC]

Yes, I can't imagine how people mistakenly thought of it that way when it was being performed by the Village People.

Just like YMCA was clearly all about the virtues of staying there and In the Navy about signing up. No subtext, nothing to see here.

It was also pure coincidence that the group comprised a cowboy, construction worker, police officer, biker, Native American and a sailor.

And as we all know most construction workers, cowboys, Native Americans, police officers and bikers are not gay, so fully agree that it is totally unclear where that idea came from. Most people in the navy or sleeping in YMCAs are also straight.

It is not totally unclear at all and has been documented for decades. The original creator of The Village People, Morali (not Willis) was a frequent patron of the notorious Anvil club in the meat packing district and saw Felipe, the popular go-go dancer, dressed in full Native American regalia. Other hyper-masculine stereotypes were patrons, as well, looking like cowboys, construction workers, leather men, etc.

[markus]

I don't see they even need legal assistance. All they have to do is report this to the mainstream media and have Willis and his team crawl back to anti-gay utopia. Or is it that they want to handle this delicately for some other undisclosed reason, like that he's ill?

[Sandy Shaw]

https://popular-number1s.com/2008/08/18 ... ople-ymca/

Screenshot_20251028_213721_Chrome.jpg

A slightly off-topic but interesting reading. As far as I see, PSB owns the song culturally.
https://off-the-records.com/go-west-pet-shop-boys/

"The original plan was ‘Fool On The Hill’, but Lowe decided he’d rather do ‘Go West’ by The Village People. Neil Tennant was against it as he HATED The Village People and he’d never even heard ‘Go West’, which wasn’t one of the band’s bigger hits."

I think it's more accurate to say that Neil hated the VP's recording of Go West. Some of this is getting distorted the more it's reported!
https://www.vanityfair.com/culture/2012 ... -RDWcG44Kd

Subscription needed. Could you copy and paste it here?
The article that I posted is from September 2023, that is, before the lawsuit. The author was probably not aware of the present dispute when he said "Neil hated..."...

Now it wants me to subscribe. It's from 2012 and is primary source for the quote about Neil hating the track, he didn't say he hated the Village People!

See my screenshot above for interesting stuff on Neil's thoughts on YMCA!

[petshopgrrl]

I think it's more accurate to say that Neil hated the VP's recording of Go West. Some of this is getting distorted the more it's reported!
https://www.vanityfair.com/culture/2012 ... -RDWcG44Kd

Subscription needed. Could you copy and paste it here?
The article that I posted is from September 2023, that is, before the lawsuit. The author was probably not aware of the present dispute when he said "Neil hated..."...

Now it wants me to subscribe. It's from 2012 and is primary source for the quote about Neil hating the track, he didn't say he hated the Village People!

Allow me. It likes me for some reason. Doesn't really say much more than we already know about Neil hating the song on first listen (which I bolded) and bases its clickbait title on the almost throwaway final sentence.

Pet Shop Boys’ Neil Tennant Talks About American Homophobia
By Marc Spitz
August 29, 2012

For more than a quarter-century, Pet Shop Boys Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe have brought wit and edge to electronic dance music without abandoning the pop smarts that made them the biggest duo in British recording history. Now, fresh from a performance at the London Summer Olympics closing ceremony and coming up on the release of their new album, *Elysium,*out September 10, VF Daily caught up with Tennant, who told us about the pair’s hits and misses, their scandalous peers, and American homophobia. Highlights from our chat:

__VF Daily:__Now that it’s behind you, what was it like to be part of the Olympics closing ceremony?

*Neil Tennant:*Very exciting. They asked us to do it about four months ago and showed us the plan. They wanted to have this section about London, a traffic jam that turns into a street party—and they had a little model of us wearing the pointy hats.

I was going to ask about the pointy hats.

They’re from a video for a song called “Can You Forgive Her.” The designer of the closing ceremony thought this was the right image so we went with it. It’s quite interesting. We did something with pointy hats years and years ago, almost 20 years ago, and people still remember that image of us.

You performed your first hit, “West End Girls.” Do you still consider that to be your signature song?

There was no discussion of the song choice. They wanted it because it’s a song inspired by London. It was already worked out going into One Direction and then “Waterloo Sunset” with Ray Davies. It seemed an appropriate song to do. There aren’t that many famous songs about London. It’s not like New York. Obviously we’d rather have done the new single [laughs] like someartists did.

You’re talking about George Michael? He also did “Freedom ’90.”

Would you had rather he done “Careless Whisper”? I, of course, would rather hear the new single.

There’s a great song on Elysium called “Your Early Stuff,” which seems to repeat people’s criticisms about your band.

It’s things London taxi drivers have said. I live in London and I don’t drive, so I get a lot of taxis. Black cabs, as we call them. Every line in the song has been said to me by a taxi driver. “I suppose you’re more or less retired now?”—a taxi driver said that to me. It was a few years ago when Top of the Popswas still on. I said, “No, actually you’re driving me to the BBC to record Top of the Pops.”

The Pet Shop Boys’ popularity is surprising. You’ve always been a part of my record collection, but I was shocked by how many records you’ve sold.

It’s because we’re a pop group. There’s always been this ancient war between pop and rock. Rock is meant to be significant, therefore people write about it in terms of significance. Pop is meant to be throwaway.

You weren’t exactly writing pop lyrics in the 80s. “It’s a Sin” and “Opportunities” seem prophetic now.

A lot of them [were] about what was going on at the time—but we do it through the idiom of pop. People don’t even necessarily have to realize it’s about that. That’s how we operate. The Pet Shop Boys are a kind of cult, really.

You’ve always had such great taste in covers. They’re unpredictable and you totally make them your own, from Elvis to U2 to the Village People.

The new one is__ __a Bee Gees cover: “I Started a Joke.” We did it as a tribute to Robin Gibb. Such a beautiful song. We’ve always liked that one. Normally the cover versions are Chris’s idea. With “Go West,” Chris said, ‘There’s this Village People record—it’s really great for us.” I said, “That’s really horrible. I hate it.” He ignored me and said, “No, you’re going to love it. It’s got the same chord changes as Pachelbel’s Canon.”

You two have navigated 25 years of pop stardom without a single scandal. Stars like George Michael or Madonna, not so much.

George likes a good scandal. Scandal is Madonna’s vocabulary, really. I guess we operate under the radar. Madonna and George Michael at their very base sell sex. When you sell sex, there’s going to be an incredible focus on who you’re having sex with, to put it at its most brutal. A huge focus on your private life.

The Pet Shop Boys have a tremendous gay following. Brandon Flowers of the Killers has said that this might have ultimately damaged the run of hit singles you had in America.

Something happened to us in America. The theory is it was the video for “Domino Dancing.” I never really believed it. America is quite homophobic, but it’s also totally gay. It’s really weird. America is traditionally a country of extremes living side by side.

[PSBForTheMasses]

Well, Go West is not the only track that Willis is having some problems.

"Victor Willis of Village People says YMCA is an anthem to Black male friendship – and his wife threatens to sue those who say otherwise. If you thought that YMCA by Village People was a gay anthem, think again. According to Victor Willis, who wrote the lyrics, the famous song is entirely heterosexual – and anyone suggesting something to the contrary should “get their minds out of the gutter”.

Come January 2025,” Willis added on Facebook, “my wife will start suing each and every news organisation that falsely refers to YMCA, either in their headlines or alluded to in the base of the story, that YMCA is somehow a gay anthem because such notion is based solely on the song’s lyrics alluding to elicit [sic] activity for which it does not.”

[petshopgrrl]

https://popular-number1s.com/2008/08/18 ... ople-ymca/

See my screenshot above for interesting stuff on Neil's thoughts on YMCA!

Oh for goodness sakes, I don't think that's going to help matters!!!

I'd love to know where THAT quote came from!

[markus]

YMCA's like Village People's image from a hedonistic time when gay culture blended with the normal crowd at Studio 54. The disco-era. To get inside the club it was a good idea to look like a guy from Village People. Of course no person straight or gay lived under those extreme conditions other then on a friday night. Victor Willis back then a smart business man capitalized on that whole package for years, and now has some saying in how history should be written? Trying to wash his hands clean from cultural appropriation and instead extrorts money from lawsuits. Just testing victim after another to see if someone falls for his trick. And Neil's the one who should be apologizin?

[Future Lover]

It seems they've decided to remove it from the film and album permanently.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0DV89KF4H/

[leesmapman]

The prices of the early leaked blurays are going to skyrocket...

[joepsb]

The prices of the early leaked blurays are going to skyrocket...

Did it just leak in Europe ?

[leesmapman]

The prices of the early leaked blurays are going to skyrocket...

Did it just leak in Europe ?

Months ago the bluray was sold on a Dutch recordfair. User Ype here has it.