James Michael Burgess (July 21, 1953 – January 18, 1993) was a disco record producer and

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

DJ of the 1970s.Jim Burgess Bio
www.disco-disco.com, accessed 2008-07-20. He was openly

gay ''Gay'' is a term that primarily refers to a homosexual person or the trait of being homosexual. The term originally meant 'carefree', 'cheerful', or 'bright and showy'. While scant usage referring to male homosexuality dates to the late 1 ...

.Death notice
NYTIMES, 25 January 1993, accessed 2008-07-20. He remixed and produced numerous disco versions of popular songs, with a number of them being million sellers. His most successful and best known production was

Alicia Bridges Alicia Bridges (born July 15, 1953) is an American singer and songwriter who co-wrote and performed her international hit "I Love the Nightlife (Disco 'Round)" in 1978. Early years Born in Charlotte, North Carolina and raised in the small Cleve ...

' ''

I Love the Nightlife "I Love the Nightlife (Disco 'Round)" is a popular disco song recorded by American singer Alicia Bridges in 1978. It went to number two on the US ''Billboard (magazine), Billboard'' Dance Club Songs, National Disco Action Top 30 (now the Dance Clu ...

'', which has become a "Disco standard". First released in 1978, it went to number five on the

Billboard charts The ''Billboard'' charts tabulate the relative weekly popularity of songs and albums in the United States and elsewhere. The results are published in '' Billboard'' magazine. ''Billboard'' biz, the online extension of the ''Billboard'' charts, p ...

, and was given a new lease of life with its use in the 1994 film

The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert ''The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert'' is a 1994 Australian road comedy film written and directed by Stephan Elliott. The plot follows two drag queens, played by Hugo Weaving and Guy Pearce, and a transgender woman, played by Tere ...

. Other successful productions included: :*

Rod Stewart Sir Roderick David Stewart (born 10 January 1945) is a British rock and pop singer and songwriter. Born and raised in London, he is of Scottish and English ancestry. With his distinctive raspy singing voice, Stewart is among the best-selling ...

's ''

Da Ya Think I'm Sexy? "Da Ya Think I'm Sexy?", also written "Da' Ya' Think I'm Sexy", is a song by British singer Rod Stewart from his ninth studio album, ''Blondes Have More Fun'' (1978). It was written by Stewart, Carmine Appice and Duane Hitchings, though it inc ...

'' :*

The Doobie Brothers The Doobie Brothers are an American rock band formed in 1970 in San Jose, California, known for their flexibility in performing across numerous genres and their vocal harmonies. Active for five decades, with their greatest success in the 1970s, ...

' '' What a Fool Believes'' (12" disco remix version) and :*

Madleen Kane Madleen Kane (born Madeleine Flerkell 4 March 1958 in Malmö, Sweden), is a Swedish model and singer. A former Elite fashion model (height 180 cm / 5'11" - weight 47 kg / 103 lbs), she worked since age 17 for the German fashion maga ...

's ''Fire In My Heart'' and ''Secret Love Affair'' He was also a popular DJ at several New York clubs (including

The Saint The Saint may refer to: Fiction * Simon Templar, also known as "The Saint", the protagonist of a book series by Leslie Charteris and subsequent adaptations: ** ''The Saint'' (film series) (1938–43), starring Louis Hayward, George Sanders an ...

) and was "one of the most influential

remix A remix (or reorchestration) is a piece of media which has been altered or contorted from its original state by adding, removing, or changing pieces of the item. A song, piece of artwork, book, video, poem, or photograph can all be remixes. The o ...

ers for the

disco Disco is a genre of dance music and a subculture that emerged in the 1970s from the United States' urban nightlife scene. Its sound is typified by four-on-the-floor beats, syncopated basslines, string sections, brass and horns, electric pia ...

era".

Early years

Burgess was born on July 21, 1953 in

Okeechobee, Florida Okeechobee ( ) is a city in south-central Florida and is the county seat of Okeechobee County, Florida, United States. As of the 2020 United States Census, the city's population was 5,254. It is the county seat of Okeechobee County. The Lake Okee ...

. He trained as a classical tenor and opera singer, and was described as having "an amazing ear". He began his career as a DJ in Florida in the early-mid 1970s and then moved onto Limelight, a gay club in

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

, Georgia, where he was "discovered" by Tony Martino and Alan Harris, the owners of the New York club 12 West.

New York

Burgess subsequently returned to New York where he played at "all the hottest clubs like 12 West, Infinity,

the Saint The Saint may refer to: Fiction * Simon Templar, also known as "The Saint", the protagonist of a book series by Leslie Charteris and subsequent adaptations: ** ''The Saint'' (film series) (1938–43), starring Louis Hayward, George Sanders an ...

, Underground,

Studio 54 Studio 54 is a Broadway theater and a former disco nightclub at 254 West 54th Street in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City. Operated by the Roundabout Theatre Company, Studio 54 has 1,006 seats on two levels. The theater was ...

Paradise Garage Paradise Garage, also known as "the Garage" or the "Gay-rage", was a New York City discotheque notable in the history of dance and pop music, as well as LGBT and nightclub cultures. The club was founded by sole proprietor Michael Brody, and o ...

, as well as playing the Ice Palace in

Fire Island Fire Island is the large center island of the outer barrier islands parallel to the South Shore of Long Island, in the U.S. state of New York. Occasionally, the name is used to refer collectively to not only the central island, but also Long ...

".NY Disco Clubs
www.disco-disco.com, accessed 2008-07-20. He had been one of the initial three resident DJs at the Saint along with Alan Dodd and

Roy Thode Roy is a masculine given name and a family surname with varied origin. In Anglo-Norman England, the name derived from the Norman ''roy'', meaning "king", while its Old French cognate, ''rey'' or ''roy'' (modern ''roi''), likewise gave rise to ...

, from its opening on 20 September 1980. Burgess's popularity was attributed not only to his style and technique, but a love for theatrical effects and elements, which developed from his love of opera. He would frequently create his own "sound scenes" by using the dialogue from well-known films over the break of a record - as well as accentuating the effect through long mixes and sophisticated blending. Burgess chose to end his career at age 28 with a farewell party at The Saint on 31 January 1981. During the party, he walked out at the peak of the night and let the record run out. Nevertheless, he still did continue to perform in a few infrequent gigs in New York, and started playing regularly at The Saint again in 1986. His last gig according to his partner was at The Ice Palace in 1989.

Philadelphia

After commuting back and forth from New York to Philadelphia, in 1987 he made a permanent move to pursue his first ambition, opera singing. In studied voice in Philadelphia at the Curtis Institute of Music, and sang with the Opera Company of Philadelphia and the Rittenhouse Opera Society - appearing as

Florestan Florestan (Tancrède Florestan Roger Louis Grimaldi; 10 October 1785, in Paris – 20 June 1856) was Prince of Monaco and Duke of Valentinois from 2 October 1841 until his death. He was the second son of Prince Honoré IV and Louise d'Aumont ...

in Beethoven's "

Fidelio ''Fidelio'' (; ), originally titled ' (''Leonore, or The Triumph of Marital Love''), Op. 72, is Ludwig van Beethoven's only opera. The German libretto was originally prepared by Joseph Sonnleithner from the French of Jean-Nicolas Bouilly, with ...

" at the Lake George Opera Festival in New York and as

Siegfried Siegfried is a German-language male given name, composed from the Germanic elements ''sig'' "victory" and ''frithu'' "protection, peace". The German name has the Old Norse cognate ''Sigfriðr, Sigfrøðr'', which gives rise to Swedish ''Sigfrid' ...

and

Parsifal ''Parsifal'' ( WWV 111) is an opera or a music drama in three acts by the German composer Richard Wagner and his last composition. Wagner's own libretto for the work is loosely based on the 13th-century Middle High German epic poem ''Parzival'' ...

with the Liederkranz Society of New York, which awarded him first prize in its

Wagner Wilhelm Richard Wagner ( ; ; 22 May 181313 February 1883) was a German composer, theatre director, polemicist, and conductor who is chiefly known for his operas (or, as some of his mature works were later known, "music dramas"). Unlike most op ...

Competition in 1987.

Death

Although he was never formally diagnosed with

AIDS Human immunodeficiency virus infection and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) is a spectrum of conditions caused by infection with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), a retrovirus. Following initial infection an individual m ...

, Burgess took ill soon after Labor Day in 1992. It was then that he was informed of his

HIV The human immunodeficiency viruses (HIV) are two species of ''Lentivirus'' (a subgroup of retrovirus) that infect humans. Over time, they cause acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), a condition in which progressive failure of the immune ...

status. His illness progressed very quickly and he died of

Progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy Progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy (PML) is a rare and often fatal viral disease characterized by progressive damage (''-pathy'') or inflammation of the white matter (''leuko-'') of the brain (''-encephalo-'') at multiple locations (''mu ...

, an

-related

opportunistic infection An opportunistic infection is an infection caused by pathogens (bacteria, fungi, parasites or viruses) that take advantage of an opportunity not normally available. These opportunities can stem from a variety of sources, such as a weakened immune ...

four months after taking ill, on 18 January 1993 at his home in Philadelphia. He was survived by his partner, Martin Dillon, his sister, Dawn Burgess-Krop of Gainesville, Fl, and his brother, Jonathan, of Asheville, N.C.

Discography

Remixes

Some of the more notable singles that Burgess was involved in the remixing and/or production of are:Discography
www.discogs.com, accessed 2008-07-23
www.discomuseum.com, accessed 2008-07-23

External links

* https://web.archive.org/web/20110522110211/http://www.djhistory.com/forum/showthread.php?p=273735 * http://gayhistory.wikispaces.com/Burgess,+Jim * https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9F0CE3DB103DF936A15752C0A965958260 * https://archive.today/20130122155122/http://www.discomusic.com/people-more/1556_0_11_0_C/ * http://www.discomusicpeople-more/45_0_11_0_C/ John Celiga interview

References and notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Burgess, Jim American disco musicians American DJs LGBT DJs Businesspeople from New York City American audio engineers Remixers Record producers from New York (state) American LGBT musicians 1953 births 1993 deaths 20th-century American businesspeople People from Okeechobee, Florida Engineers from New York City 20th-century American engineers 20th-century LGBT people