Alicia Bridges
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Alicia Bridges | |
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| Background information | |
| Birth name | Alicia Bridges |
| Born | July 15, 1948 |
| Origin | Lawndale, North Carolina, United States |
| Genre(s) | Disco Music |
| Occupation(s) | Singer, songwriter |
| Years active | 1977–present (singer) |
| Website | Alicia Bridges—the official site |
Alicia Bridges (born July 15, 1948, in Lawndale, North Carolina) is an American singer who had an international hit in 1978 with the song “I Love the Nightlife (Disco 'Round).”
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[edit] Early years
Alicia Bridges was born near Charlotte, North Carolina and was raised in Lawndale, a small town in Cleveland County. Bridges had her own radio program on station WADA in Shelby, North Carolina at the age of 12. Her program, The Alicia Bridges Show was broadcast every Saturday. Occasionally, Bridges would sing on the show, but has said that 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.”[citation needed] Bridges sang from a very young age and learned to play guitar at the age of 10.
[edit] Discovery and fame
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 100 chart and also appeared on Billboard's “Hits of the World” chart. The song was in the #5 position on the Record World and Cash Box charts consecutively. This song was a “crossover” hit, which means that it primarily appeared on the dance charts, but was also a hitting high numbers in the other various record charts and even received play on country music stations.
In 1978, Bridges was a Grammy Nominee and was the opening act, performing “I Love the Nightlife.” Bridges’ 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, and “I Love the Nightlife” reached the top of the charts in France and Germany with notable chart numbers in the UK, UK singles chart, Spain and other European countries. Bridges’ music was especially popular in Japan as well. She received an 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.
Contrary to the impression created by her success with “I Love the Nightlife,” Alicia was primarily a singer of rock, blues and love songs. “I Love the Nightlife” has a definite back beat and organ similar to early 1970s R&B; the original intention for “I Love the Nightlife” to be an R&B song. But it was publishing mogul Bill Lowery who first heard the song and envisioned it as a disco dance tune. Soon thereafter, Jim Burgess created a 12" single remix. Ultimately this mix became a worldwide hit. The song has been featured in several movies, such as, Love at First Bite, The Last Days of Disco and The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert.
Bridges’ second single, “Body Heat,” was a rock song with strong electric guitar rhythms. 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. Bridges’ song “Body Heat” was a “rock/dance” song, released at a time when there was some rivalry between disco fans and rock fans; this time period began to see more songs which mixed the genres of rock and disco to create 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, is also a favorite of many of Bridges' fans.
[edit] Later years
In November, 2006, Bridges released a remixed and remastered compilation of her songs entitled, This Girl Don’t Care. The remixes and remastering give an edge to the compilation which had not been present in previous mixes. It is an aggressive compilation; the CD jacket has three pink triangles as part of the design graphics, as well as a pink triangle on the vest Alicia is shown wearing. She has been openly lesbian since 1998.[1]
Bridges is a vegetarian, uses totally organic products which do not harm the environment, and is a strong supporter of animal issues. All the pets she shares with her partner are “rescues,” either from animal shelters or from people who have abandoned their care. Contrary to rumor, she does not have a dog named “Fifi,” but she and her partner do have a red Chow mix named Pumpkin Bridges.
[edit] References
- ^ Walters, Barry (1998-07-21), “Where are they now?”, The Advocate, <http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1589/is_n764/ai_20944425>. Retrieved on 6 September 2007.
