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Alex Briley | |
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 Briley in 2006 | |
| Born | Alexander Briley April 12, 1947 Harlem, New York, U.S. |
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| Years active | 1977–2017 |
Alexander Briley (born April 12, 1947) [1] is an American singer who was the original "G.I." in the disco recording act Village People. [2]
Briley was born in Harlem, New York City, in 1947 [3] , the son of a Christian minister. [4] Raised in Harlem and later Mount Vernon, New York, Briley sang in church from an early age and studied voice at the University of Hartford. Briley had two brothers, Timothy and Jonathan.
Briley was introduced to producer/composer Jacques Morali by Village People member Victor Willis. He originally performed in jeans and a T-shirt, but he took the role of a soldier for the album Cruisin' in 1978, and appeared as a sailor when the group recorded In the Navy in 1979.
Briley's younger brother, Jonathan (1958–2001), worked as an audio engineer at Windows on the World on the 106th floor of the North Tower of the World Trade Center and perished in the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. In 2005, Jonathan was speculated by several people to be The Falling Man – the figure depicted in an iconic photo of a man falling to his death from the North Tower. [5] He was one of an estimated 100–200 people who died on 9/11 either by jumping from, falling from, or being pushed out of the upper stories of the Twin Towers.
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 piano, synthesizers, and electric rhythm guitars.
"Y.M.C.A." is a song by American disco group Village People, written by Jacques Morali and singer Victor Willis and released in October 1978 as the only single from their third studio album, Cruisin' (1978). A medley with "Hot Cop" reached No. 2 on Billboard's Dance Music/Club Play Singles chart, while the song reached No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 charts in early 1979, placing behind both "Le Freak" by Chic and "Da Ya Think I'm Sexy?" by Rod Stewart. Outside the US, "Y.M.C.A." reached No. 1 on the UK Singles Chart around the same time, becoming the group's biggest hit. It has sold 12 million copies worldwide.
Jacques Morali was a French disco and dance music record producer and songwriter, known for creating acts like The Ritchie Family and Village People.
Windows on the World was a complex of dining, meeting, and entertainment venues on the top floors of the North Tower of the original World Trade Center complex in Lower Manhattan.
Can't Stop the Music is a 1980 American musical comedy film directed by Nancy Walker. Written by Allan Carr and Bronté Woodard, the film is a pseudo-biography of the 1970s disco group the Village People loosely based on the actual story of how the group formed. Valerie Perrine, Caitlyn Jenner and Steve Guttenberg co-star.
Patrick Peter Owen Adams was an American music arranger and record producer. He earned 32 gold and platinum records.
The Falling Man is a photograph taken by Associated Press photographer Richard Drew of a man falling from the World Trade Center during the September 11 attacks in New York City. The unidentified man in the image was trapped on the upper floors of the North Tower, and it is unclear whether he fell while searching for safety or he jumped to escape the fire and smoke. The photograph was taken at 9:41:15 A.M.
Macho Man is the second studio album by Village People, released on February 27, 1978. The album gained success due to its hit singles, "Macho Man" and "Key West". Rolling Stone said of the album, "It seems certain to become the first out-and-out disco album without John Travolta on its cover ever to be certified platinum".
Cruisin' is the third studio album by the American disco group Village People, released on September 25, 1978. Its title is a double entendre, referring to either simply driving around or gay cruising. The album features the hits "Hot Cop" and "Y.M.C.A.", which peaked at number two on the Billboard Hot 100.
Briley may refer to:
Ralph Anthony MacDonald was an American percussionist, steelpan virtuoso, songwriter, musical arranger, and record producer.
"What a Fool Believes" is a song written by Michael McDonald and Kenny Loggins. The best-known version was recorded by the Doobie Brothers for their 1978 album Minute by Minute. Debuting at number 73 on January 20, 1979, the single reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100 on April 14, 1979, for one week. The song received Grammy Awards in 1980 for both Song of the Year and Record of the Year. In 2024 the song was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame.
Live and Sleazy is the first live album and fifth studio album by the Village People and features a mixture of live and studio recordings. It was released as a double LP. The album featured numerous lead singers: original cop Victor Willis on the entire "Live" disk; on the "Sleazy" disk, construction worker David Hodo on track 1, Ray Simpson on tracks 2, 3, and 5, and G.I. Alex Briley on track 4. Horace Ott is credited as the arranger and conductor of the string and horn sections. The musicians were credited as Bittersweet.
"San Francisco (You've Got Me)" is the debut single by the American disco group Village People. It was released in 1977 as the lead single from their self-titled debut studio album. The song reached number fifteen on the Australian Kent Music Report and peaked at number two on the U.S. Billboard Bubbling Under Hot 100 chart.
The Best of Village People is a compilation album by American disco group Village People, released by Casablanca Records in 1994. AllMusic critic Steve Huey calls it "the clear-cut choice for disco and camp fanatics who want a detailed portrait of the group's career."
James David Manning is an American pastor at the ATLAH World Missionary Church. Manning grew up in Red Springs, North Carolina, and has been with ATLAH since 1981. ATLAH stands for All The Land Anointed Holy, which is Manning's name for Harlem.
Village People are an American disco group known for its on-stage costumes and suggestive lyrics in their music. The group was originally formed by French producers Jacques Morali, Henri Belolo and lead singer Victor Willis following the release of the debut album Village People, which targeted disco's large gay audience. The group's name refers to Manhattan's Greenwich Village, with its reputation as a gay village. The characters were a symbolic group of American masculinity and macho gay-fantasy personas. To date, Willis is the only original member still remaining with the group.
Suzanne Fiol, "an impresario of avant-garde culture in New York", founded the performance space ISSUE Project Room in 2003 and oversaw its growth from the fringes of the New York new music scene into what The Village Voice, The Brooklyn Borough President, and Fiol herself predicted would become the "Carnegie Hall for the avant-garde" when it opened its Downtown Brooklyn location in 2011. Fiol's goal in life "was to create a dynamic environment for music, performance, readings, and the development of new work, and she succeeded; the organization has become a reference for experimental art in New York City….(S)he devoted her life to the promotion of experimental culture."
Elia Alba (1962) was born in Brooklyn, New York. She is a multidisciplinary artist who lives and works in Queens, New York. Alba's ongoing project The Supper Club depicts contemporary artists of color in portraits, and presents dinners where a diverse array of artists, curators, historians and collectors address topics related to people of color and to women.
Phil Hurtt is a musician, singer, songwriter and arranger who has written hits for The Detroit Spinners, The Ritchie Family and many others. His compositions have been recorded by many artists and he has worked as an arranger on recordings by well-known artists in the Soul genre.
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