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

' '' I Love the Nightlife'', 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's '' Da Ya Think I'm Sexy?'' :* The Doobie Brothers' '' 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) and was "one of the most influential remixers for the disco era".

Early years

Burgess was born on July 21, 1953 in Okeechobee, Florida. 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, Underground, Studio 54,

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 ...

, as well as playing the Ice Palace in Fire Island".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, wi ...

" at the Lake George Opera Festival in New York and as Siegfried 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, 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, an AIDS-related opportunistic infection 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