Perhaps the best disco song of all time was released on June 19, 1978.
The vocals, with the strangely articulated chorus and the hot “oh woah woah woah ah!” moans make this song unlike most of the ultra-slick, overproduced songs of the era. And it’s charted in multiple decades since its release: First in 1978 (peaking at #5), when it charted both on the pop and the country charts. Yes, country! Then it rose again in the 1990s when it was featured in the movie Priscilla Queen of the Desert, and then a final time as a cover by La India and the Nuyorican Soul.
“Nightlife” was the only big hit for singer songwriter Alicia Bridges (yes, she plays guitar and cowrote the song). Perhaps because most of her other work was rock and blues, which wasn’t what her “Nightlife” fanbase was looking for. She is currently a DJ and an open and out lesbian.
“Nightlife” was also the first single ever produced by Steve Buckingham, who went on to a multiplatinum career producing hundreds of artists like The Muppets, Joan Osborne, Loretta Lynn, Dionne Warwick, Melissa Manchester, Dolly Parton, Tammy Wynette, Garth Brooks and Linda Ronstadt, and becoming a senior executive with both Columbia and Sugar Hill Records.
Let’s celebrate with some cover versions!
