Sexy cowboy

SYDNEY STAR OBSERVER How are you finding Australia?

RANDY JONES I love it here and it’s the first time I’ve been back since 1991. I went to Slide Bar this week and saw Mary Kiani. After the show I was walking along Oxford St and a woman came up to me asking for money. I gave her a few dollars before she asked, Do you know who you look like? And I said, Who? She said, You look like the guy from Macho Macho man. I also went and saw Priscilla as well. The show was fantastic.

SSO Why did you decide to join the Village People?

RJ The producers asked me to join the group. They liked the way I moved on stage and also the fact I looked like a cowboy. Their original perception was not about creating six different characters.

SSO Is everyone in the group gay?

RJ Everybody in the group is not gay. It’s not a gay group. We were marketed and created for a wide range of audiences. The gay, Latin and black audiences were very supportive at first. We took elements from every aspect of the 70s but we were immediately adopted by and proffered up as representatives of the gay community.

SSO Are you the only person in the group who’s gay?

RJ I can tell you I’ve been bisexual but I have been with a man for 23 years. As for any other member in the group, I don’t know because I’ve never had sex with them.

SSO Did you feel the need to become involved in the gay revolution in the 70s?

RJ Firstly it’s about the listener’s perspective. If you were gay or with gay people then perhaps you saw what we were doing as representative of being gay. If in any way we made people more comfortable around people who were homosexual, we did a service and in a small way pushed forward a little more tolerance in the wider community.

SSO You’ve been with producer Will Grega for 23 years now -“ how is that going?

RJ It’s going great. We’re together for life.

SSO Are you really married to him?

RJ It’s illegal in America. We had an official ceremony three years ago, by an interfaith minister in a DJ booth at a discoth?e in the Greenwich Village. When it becomes legal in New York state, all we have to do is fill out the paper work.

SSO How did you meet?

RJ I had written a film and was looking for different composers. He came in for an interview and never left.

SSO Not many people have been together for so long. What are your tips for having a successful relationship?

RJ You must love each other. You have to value that relationship more than everything else in your life. You must put the partner first before your career, family and ego. I believe if you make that commitment in front of God, it’s not a disposable thing.

SSO Aren’t Christians against homosexuality?

RJ What it says in the bible is that you shall not lie with a man in the way you lie with a woman. I don’t lie with a man in the same way I lie with a women. How can you? There is no way you can have sex with a man in the same way you have sex with a woman. [Laughs.] They don’t have the same equipment.

SSO Where did the cowboy look come from?

RJ I have family in North Carolina with a farm. I’ve been wearing jeans and boots my whole life. I’ve had the moustache since 1974 when I played King Arthur in Camelot. I’ve never shaved it off.

SSO After selling millions of albums, are you amazed the songs are still popular today?

RJ I’m so impressed, delighted and astounded. When I saw Priscilla and they did our song Go West, it was such a wonderful experience seeing it on stage.

SSO About your new solo album Ticket To The World -¦

RJ It’s got covers on it from Kylie Minogue, the Bee Gees and the Monkees. I wanted to do a pop dance CD. It will be released in Australia later this year but you can get it from my website and from iTunes.

SSO What are your plans for the future?

RJ I’m campaigning to play Bob the mechanic in Priscilla. I have a book and a few films being released this year. I also would love to perform at the Australian Mardi Gras. Bring me out here because I can do every Kylie song and more.

See www.myspace.com/randyjonesworld.