I Love The Nightlife (Disco 'Round)

Album: Alicia Bridges (1978)
Charted: 32 5
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • This disco classic is about a woman who has better things to do than listen to her man's empty platitudes. She tells him to kiss off, and that she's going to get some "action" at the disco, where she can boogie all night.
  • Bridges wrote this with her songwriting partner Susan Hutcheson. The pair met in Atlanta in 1976 and signed a publishing deal with Bill Lowrey, owner of Southern Music. He financed Bridges' solo album, which contained songs written by the pair. It was picked up by Polydor Records, which released "I Love The Nightlife (Disco 'Round)" as a single. The song was a huge hit in dance clubs and charted not just in America but throughout Europe - it reached the top of the charts in France and Germany.
  • The song wasn't written as a disco tune; Bridges and Susan Hutcheson wrote it as an R&B song, but it was discofied to meet the prevailing trend. Hutcheson explained in a 1979 interview with Sounds: "That wasn't cut at all with disco in mind. Disco was just where I was gonna go after I'd told this man to leave me alone, it wasn't meant to be the theme of the song. We do love the nightlife in the sense that we love to be awake at night when its quiet and we can do some bizarre and productive thinking. But actually I don't care for discos at all."
  • Bridges, a white singer born and raised in North Carolina, detested disco and refused to record a full album of disco songs. Her follow-up single "Body Heat" was more in the rock/R&B vein, and topped out at #86 in the US. Her non-disco output never found a wide audience, and after one more album with Polydor she left the label, releasing material independently from time to time.

    Just how little did Bridges think of disco? Here's what she told Sounds: "I will never do a disco album. I'd prefer to do deodorant commercials. I didn't sing since I was ten years old so I could stand up like a moron and go 'Getfunkynow, getfunkynow, getboogie-woogie, getfunkynow'"
  • This features in the films Love at First Bite (1979), The Adventures of Priscilla: Queen of the Desert (1994) and The Last Days Of Disco (1998). >>
    Suggestion credit:
    Dale - Santa Fe, NM
  • A 12" remix by Jim Burgess was the version most dance clubs played. Burgess, who died in 1993, did many of the dance mixes heard in the clubs in the late '70s, including "What A Fool Believes" by the Doobie Brothers and "I Was Made For Lovin' You" by Kiss.
  • This song was a Top 10 hit in Australia in early 1979, reaching #3 and spending 17 weeks in the Top 40 chart. When the movie Priscilla Queen of the Desert was released in 1994, the song made the Top 40 charts again, peaking at #8 and spending another 18 weeks in the Top 40 chart. >>
    Suggestion credit:
    Graham - Windsor, Australia

Comments: 5

  • Moosehead from Scthis was my grandmother's favorite song. she was atypical at the time and went do discos when she was in her 60s. rocking the blue top (hair and vodka!)
  • Barry from Sauquoit, NyOn December 17th 1978 "I Love The Nightlife" by Alicia Bridges peaked at #5 (for 3 weeks) on Billboard's Hot Top 100 chart; it had entered the chart of July 2nd and spent over a half-year on the Top 100 (31 weeks)...
    On the strength of being on the Top 100 for 31 weeks it was ranked #88 on 'Billboard Year-End Hot 100 Singles of 1978' chart and then was #64 on 'Billboard Year-End Hot 100 Singles of 1979' charts...
    She had only one other Top 100 record, "Body Heat", it stayed on the Top 100 for a two week stay, reaching position #86...
    Ms. Bridges will celebrate her 61st birthday come next July 15th.
  • Jennifer Harris from Grand Blanc, MiI always loved this song! I love the video,too.
  • James from Findlay, Oh"For Bridges, this was her only hit." Maybe, based on radio play, but I find "City Rhythm" by Alicia at least equally enjoyable.
  • Ched - from La Union, Philippineswhenever a band play this song... i usually go upstage to sing with the band... my husband just love watching on stage
see more comments

Editor's Picks

John Waite

John WaiteSongwriter Interviews

"Missing You" was a spontaneous outpouring of emotion triggered by a phone call. John tells that story and explains what MTV meant to his career.

Laura Nyro

Laura NyroSongwriting Legends

Laura Nyro talks about her complex, emotionally rich songwriting and how she supports women's culture through her art.

Rufus Wainwright

Rufus WainwrightSongwriter Interviews

Rufus Wainwright on "Hallelujah," his album Unfollow The Rules, and getting into his "lyric trance" on 12-hour walks.

Song Cities

Song CitiesMusic Quiz

Nirvana, Billy Joel and Bruce Springsteen are among those who wrote songs with cities that show up in this quiz.

Chris Frantz - "Genius of Love"

Chris Frantz - "Genius of Love"They're Playing My Song

Chris and his wife Tina were the rhythm section for Talking Heads when they formed The Tom Tom Club. "Genius of Love" was their blockbuster, but David Byrne only mentioned it once.

Glen Burtnik

Glen BurtnikSongwriter Interviews

On Glen's résumé: hit songwriter, Facebook dominator, and member of Styx.