"YMCA" Singer Wants to Check In...to Rehab

Just like at the YMCA, in rehab you can get yourself clean.

And that's what Victor Willis, who suited up as the original cop for disco hitmakers the Village People, plans to do after he's finally sentenced on a drug charge he pleaded no contest to in July.

Willis' publicist, Alice Wolf, said Thursday that her client planned to enter a 90-day treatment program at the Betty Ford Center in Rancho Mirage, and then move to another facility for six months or longer, once a San Mateo Superior Court judge rules on whether he can work on getting better in a live-in rehab facility or should serve up to two years in state prison.

A sentencing hearing was set for Friday but, because of the presiding judge's vacation schedule, it's looking as if Willis will be cooling his heels behind bars for another week or two, the San Mateo Daily Journal reported.

"I look forward to being released soon to a residential treatment program that will assure my continued sobriety which I'm fully committed to," Willis, who has been in custody since March, said in a statement on his Website. "Simply put, by the grace of god, I made it out of this thing alive and still physically fit and healthy. I look forward to enjoying the second half of my life, drug free."

The 55-year-old cowriter of the '70s-era classics "YMCA" and "Macho Man" and a female companion were picked up in South San Francisco Mar. 26 after police found bags of cocaine in their car during a routine traffic stop. A warrant was already out for Willis' arrest at the time for skipping out on a hearing in October, during which he had been planning to cop a plea ensuring him no more than 16 months in jail, stemming from a July 2005 drug bust. His no contest plea July 19 encompassed all of the charges he was facing from both arrests.

"I'd like to let you know that I'm recovering from a journey that lasted more than 25 years. A journey brought on by substance abuse that I wouldn't recommend to anyone," Willis said. "I'm sober now for the first time in all those years, and I'm finally able to think clearly without the haze of addiction influencing my choices in life."

Willis' attorney, Mark Geragos, received some good news Wednesday from the San Mateo County Probation Department, however, in the form of a report recommending that Willis receive supervised probation and enter a residential treatment program.

The report astutely stated that Willis' recent unlawful conduct "appears directly related to his addiction to cocaine," Wolf said.

According to his lawyer and statements on his Website, Willis has been utilizing his time wisely in jail these past five months, undergoing substance abuse counseling and planning his return to the stage, which he's hoping to do sometime next year. He's also looking to release a memoir in January and wants to dispel any rumors that he has lost his voice and is unable to sing.

But the party hasn't stopped for some, namely the group that Willis made his name with back in the day. And the founding member's camp isn't too happy about the Village People's recent itinerary.

"The very idea that the Village People would come to town while Victor's in custody and that the San Mateo County Fair would host them under the circumstances, is outrageous and in extremely bad taste," Wolf wrote in an email to San Jose Mercury News entertainment blogger Sal Pizarro. The Village People partied like it was 1979 at the fair Aug. 16.

"This is the very type of condescending attitude those so-called Village People have exhibited toward Victor for years and not once have any of them reached out to him or asked, how are you doing Victor, or to at least say they're concerned about him?I'm sure they hoped he'd never sober up because a sober and performing Victor Willis would have stopped their gravy train."

A rep for the Village People could not be reached for comment at press time, but one can assume that no one will agree with that last bit there.

"I'm grateful that fans continue to enjoy the classic Village People hits I wrote and sung," Willis said.