Alicia Bridges
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Alicia Bridges is an American singer.
Official Website: http://www.aliciabridges.com
Alicia Bridges was born in Charlotte North Carolina and was raised from birth in Lawndale, North Carolina, a small town in Cleveland County. Alicia had her own radio program on station WADA in Shelby, North Carolina at the age of 12. Her program, "The Alicia Bridges Show" was broadcasted every Saturday. Occasionally Alicia would sing on the show, but what she is most proud of is that she "ran all the dials-the turntables-cued the records-and made all the announcements live on the air." In other words, she didn't "just show up" while someone else did all the work or rather, had all the fun. Alicia was singing from a very young age and learned to play guitar at the age of 10.
In 1977 she was signed with Polydor Records. Her 1978 hit single "I Love the Nightlife (Disco Round)" reached number five on the Billboard (magazine)Hot Hundred charts and was also charting on Billboard's," Hits of the World", charts. The song was also in the #5 position on the Record World and Cash Box charts consecutively. Alicia's song was what is called a "crossover", which means that it was charting on Dance charts, but was also a hitting high numbers in the other various record charts and was even played on country music stations.
In 1978 Alicia was a Grammy Nominee and was the opening act with her International Hit. Alicia's self titled LP "Alicia Bridges" was also rising on the Billboard, Cash Box and Record World charts and the LP remained on the charts for up to 35 weeks. Both the LP and the single release were international successes for Alicia and "I Love The Nightlife" was landing at the top of the charts in France and Germany with notable chart numbers in England, Spain and other European countries. Alicia's music was especially popular in Japan as well. Alicia received a RIAA Certified Gold Record for the sale of over One Million copies of her hit single in the USA, as well as a gold record from Canada.
Alicia was a Rock singer-a Blues singer-a singer of love songs and ballads, but not everyone knows these facts. "I Love The Nightlife" has a definite back beat and organ similar to early 70s R&B. It was Alicia's intention for "I Love The Nightlife" to be an R&B song. But it was the shrewd ear of publishing mogul Bill Lowery who first heard the song as a disco dance tune. Soon thereafter, Jim Burgess did the 12" single remix. Ultimately it became a worldwide hit. The song has been featured in several movies not limited to, but including, "Love At First Bite", "The Last Days of Disco" and "The Adventures of Priscilla the Queen of the Desert".
Alicia's second single, "Body Heat", was a rock song with strong electric guitar rhythms. This style was nothing new to Alicia. Neither was it unusual for her to sing a dance tune or an R&B tune and follow it with a rock song...because Alicia had done this many times with bands she had fronted for since her early teen years. Musical variety was not only tolerated by live audiences, it was also expected that the band should have more than just "one sound" of music in their show. This had been Alicia's experience as a live performer....before her "disco hit". Alicia's song "Body Heat" was a "rock/dance" song ....and was released at a time when there was some rivalry between disco fans and rock fans. Interesting that many songs following this time period had what could be called a "rock/disco" flavor.
Although "I Love The Nightlife" was the most notable "hit" from the "Alicia Bridges" LP, it should be mentioned that "Broken Woman", a blues/rock song, in contrast to the disco hit, is also a big favorite for many of Alicia's fans.
In November, 2006, Alicia Bridges released a remixed and remastered compilation of her songs entitled, "This Girl Don't Care". With the re-mix being superior to previous mixes. The remixes and remastering give an edge to the compilation which had been previously lost in transition. Many things "Alicia", including bio and sound clips are found on her official website at http://www.aliciabridges.com. "This Girl Don't Care" is an aggressive compilation, and the CD jacket has three pink triangles as part of the design graphics...as well as a pink triangle on the vest Alicia is wearing. Being "out" to the public for many years, Alicia has always been a supporter of the Gay and Lesbian community. The new re-mixed and remastered CD is especially for her gay family and friends, although, "This Girl Don't Care" CD reaches out with a message for others as well.
