Alicia Bridges, I Love The Nightlife | Throwback Vibez 🕶️🎶

In the 60^th edition of Throwback Vibez (2023), we recollect and reflect on “I Love The Nightlife” by Alicia Bridges.

The vibes, the vibes, those Throwback Vibez 🕶️🎶! Throwback Vibez 🕶️🎶 is a column that celebrates awesome songs from the past.  The records that grace this column are older, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that they’re ancient – no fossils 🦴! All genres of music are welcome. In the 60^th edition of Throwback Vibez 🕶️🎶 (2023), we recollect and reflect on 🎵 “I Love The Nightlife (Disco ‘Round)”, performed by 🎙 Alicia Bridges. 

via GIPHY

One hit can solidify your musical legacy, period.  For 🎙 Alicia Bridges it all comes down to one gem in her catalog: 🎵 “I Love The Nightlife (Disco ‘Round)”.  “I Love The Nightlife” appears on her 1978 album, fittingly titled – wait for it –  💿 I Love The Nightlife [Note: originally, I Love The Nighlife was released as Alicia Bridges]! “I Love The Nightlife” spent 31 weeks on the Billboard Hot 100, ultimately peaking at no. 5.  Bridges would earn her sole RIAA certification (gold) for this beloved, nightlife loving bop. She penned the record alongside 🎼 ✍ Susan Hutcheson.  Obviously, it is the chorus is where her money was made – one of the more memorable to come out of the disco era: “I love the nightlife, I got to boogie / On the disco ‘round, oh, yeah.”

Of course, there’s more to “I Love The Nightlife” than just the chorus. Still focusing on the lyrics, Bridges keeps it sassy in the verses.  “Please don’t talk about all the plans we had / For fixing this broken romance,” she sings in the first verse, adding, “I want to go where the people dance / I want some action, I wanna live.”  Notably, the way she says ACTION is a vibe in its own right.  Bridges possesses a distinct, incredibly expressive and playful voice – she was made for this joint! Similarly, in the second verse, she wants no drama, just some – wait for it – ACTION!  Besides the fun songwriting and performance by Bridges, the production (🎛️ Steven Buckingham) and sound of the record is EVERYTHING.  The groove is idiomatic of the disco era. The song gets the full shebang as far as the arrangement: tight rhythm section (including organ), a mean saxophone solo (🎷 Jay Scott), and those glorious, soaring strings.  Honestly, it is sort of surprising “I Love The Nightlife” didn’t chart higher than no. 5 🤔. Also, interesting fact: Bridges is a member of the LGBTQ community 🌈.

via GIPHY

🎙 Alicia Bridges • 💿 I Love The Nightlife • 🏷 UMG Recordings, Inc. • 🗓 1978

Alicia Bridges, “I Love The Nightlife (Disco ‘Round)”: Throwback Vibez 🕶️🎶 No. 60 (2023) [📷: Brent Faulkner / The Musical Hype; UMG Recordings, Inc.; John Alan Sperry, PIRO via  Pixabay]