Sunday Diva / Three From The Hip: Alicia Bridges

Sunday Diva / Three From The Hip

Alicia Bridges

In my own personal big gay church, there is a wing festooned with disco balls, strobes and a pulsing dancefloor. Here reign the Divas of the Dancefloor; a rare cultural phenomena somewhat confined to the clubs. Their siren calls beckon you forth, bewitching you with soulful sounds and inspirational words, causing your body to gyrate as if taken by a spirit. Theirs is the world of house - and by house, I mean, these ladies know how to take you to church, son. With their voices we soar and are liberated from gravity's and reality's pull.

One such soulful singer?

Alicia Bridges.

A southern belle with a rock n' roll attitude. 

One look at Elvis Presley and this diva knew what she wanted to do for life. 

And what a life!

Sometimes one song is all you need. And when it comes to songs, this rockbird lucked out and won the lottery. 

Sure, she may have been yoked with the twin labels 'disco diva' and 'one-hit wonder' for the remainder of her career, but not bad work, if you can get it! That one song has allowed her to live out her rock n' roll dreams.

And since she also co-wrote it? Ka-ching! Ka-ching! It is the gift that keeps on giving.

On it's initial release, I Love The Nightlife (Disco 'Round) hit the Top 10 in the US, Australia, Belgium, Canada, the Netherlands and South Africa, while making the Top 30 in the UK. Then, when it was re-released in 1994, as part of Priscilla Queen Of The Desert, it went Top 10 in New Zealand and Iceland! 

But you would be a fool to sell this smart, savvy, woman short.

Armed with talent, moxie, and a soulful, full-blooded sneer, the lady would go on to get real with herself and the world... and to work with Oliva Records.

As gay icons go? This one is a genuine treasure... and as out and proud as they come! 

The gospel according to her?

Well, here are three from the hip, dropping from her lips.

The topic? Coming Out.

"Well, first of all I was on the stage at five years old, tap dancing, that's my mother putting me there, and it was fun, I liked it, so I was on the stage at five years old, that doesn't count. But I sang all over North Carolina..."

"My mother told me when I was 13 years old that she was not going to have a homosexual live in her house. I didn't know what that was. I didn't know what that meant, but she was extremely angry, and she had pegged me as gay. And I didn't know, I grew up in the country and we didn't know what that was. I knew that... I always liked little girls better than I ever liked little boys. And that always, throughout my whole life, I've always been gay. I guess that's how that is." 

"I didn't know what homosexual meant. And then my mother proceeded to tell everybody that we were related to that her daughter was a queer or a homosexual. And it was hard for me to find any books about this and what it was, too. I tried to go into the library and I guess I was about 13 years old, 12-13 years old. I couldn't find any information, but I knew she was angry."

"So, really, it's never been a secret, and I've always been out no matter where I've been, and I guess it was a shock to me one time when someone said to me, 'why don't you come out and tell people you're gay?' And I looked at her and said, 'Well, everybody knows it, don't they?' And I guess everybody didn't know it. I guess... I have always been very open and I didn't know that I needed to make a dramatic statement." 

"All my bands have always known I'm a lesbian. Everybody I've always known (has) always known this. Because, you know what? I really don't think I could live any other way. It's not always the easy thing to do, but it's the only way I know how - because I can't be something else. I am what I am. 

"But anyway, I guess I came out in The Advocate back in the 90's, but I also I always marched in gay pride parades and had been quite out and open in the 80's, publicly. But I don't know if caught onto that. I was in the gay pride in Long Beach and also San Francisco and have been doing that for a long time, and I guess I just thought people knew. And maybe they didn't. It really wasn't (an issue), not with any of my people that I worked with. The Lowery group always knew that I was gay and accepted it completely."

I Love The Night Life (Disco 'Round) - Alicia Bridges

Body Heat - Alicia Bridges

Undercover Of Darkness - Alicia Bridges

And one last parting shot...

 "You know, it doesn't seem to make any difference where I am, I usually am the oddball in the room. It's always been like that. And it's not necessarily a good thing or a bad thing, it's just the way it is."

"When I was out in California, you know, you would wear your makeup for your shows and - David Bowie taught me that - you wear your makeup for your shows and you do these things, and I really think that some of the women that were there looked at me like 'what is this?' What is this, a gay woman wearing a lot of makeup and costuming?"

"And you know I hung out with drag queens for years and drag queens are a lot about putting on a big show, and I'm glad I did. But I think when I got out to California, and some of the lesbians around the company looked at me like - nobody out there was wearing any makeup. It was a show, and I think that it's hard sometimes for people to separate the person from the show. I don't know. But I really had a great time with Cris Williamson and Tret Fure (of Olivia Records.) We had fun. Cris Williamson's got one of the best senses of humor that I've ever run into. She's great. So, it wasn't everybody but I think I kind of put some of those gals off a little bit."

I Love The Nightlife (Disco 'Round) - Alicia Bridges

w/ Hugo Weaving from 

Priscilla Queen of The Desert

(1994)