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'''NAME: Jim Burgess

Biography:'''

Published: January 25, 1993 (NYTIMES)

Jim Burgess, a tenor and former disk jockey, died last Monday at his home in Philadelphia. He was 39.

He died of AIDS, said his companion, Martin Dillon.

Mr. Burgess studied voice at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia. He sang with the Opera Company of Philadelphia and the Rittenhouse Opera Society, and appeared as Florestan in Beethoven's "Fidelio" at the Lake George Opera Festival in New York and as Siegfried and Parsifal with the Liederkranz Society of New York, which awarded him first prize in its Wagner Competition.

Before turning to opera as a career, Mr. Burgess was a disk jockey at Infinity, Studio 54, the Underground, the Saint and other Manhattan nightclubs.

In addition to his companion, he is survived by a sister, Dawn Krop of Gainesville, Fla., and a brother, Jonathan, of Asheville, N.C.

Picture: (Insert picture if available)

Date of Birth:

Date of Death (delete if non-applicable): 1/18/1993

Age at Death (delete if non-applicable): 39

Employment:

Social/Political Groups he attends/attended:

Bars/Clubs he attends/attended:

His friends include: (type your name here, or names of others)

Testimonials to him (add a space before a new testimonial):
[[Category:age 39]]
[[Category:1993 deaths]]
[[Category:curtis institute]]
[[Category:opera company of philadelphia]]
[[Category:studio 54]]
[[Category:the saint]]

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-Published: January 25, 1993 (NYTIMES)
+=[[http://www.nytimes.com/1993/01/25/obituaries/jim-burgess-tenor-39.html?scp=1&sq=jim%20burgess%20tenor&st=cse|Jim Burgess; Tenor, 39]]=
 Jim Burgess, a tenor and former disk jockey, died last Monday at his home in Philadelphia. He was 39.
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+|
 He is the trained tenor who turned into one of the worlds
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 But this is what we do know about him...
 |}
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 [[File:http://www.disco-disco.com/images/colorbar.gif]]
 {|
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+|
 '''James Michael Burgess''', or as we know him - '''Jim Burgess''', was born on July 21, 1952 in Okeechobee, Florida.
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 Jim was a classical trained tenor and opera lover who turned into one of the hottest DJ's and Remixers of the Disco era.
 Unfortunately he left us far too early in January 18, 1993 at 5:30 am when he died of an AIDS related brain tumor, multi-focal leuko-encephalopathy.
 [[File:http://www.disco-disco.com/images/12west-logo.jpg|174x170px|left|12 West logo]] Jim's dear friend '''Kathy Flaherty''' fills me in on how Jim got his DJ career started: "Jimmy loved music, all types of music! That was the driving force behind him starting to DJ. Besides he had an amazing ear and was technically, near-flawless in his mixing of records. He started around 1974-75 in Florida and then moved on to '''Limelight''', a gay club in Atlanta."
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 The regular DJ staff at Underground included Jim, [[http://www.disco-disco.com/djs/john-c.shtml|'''John Ceglia''']], '''Roy Thode''', '''Robbie Leslie''', '''Michael Fierman''', '''Richard Viglione''', '''Sean Burke''' and '''Richie Rivera'''. They all were fortunate to have the wonderfully talented '''Eric Erickson''' as their light man.
 In the River Club (12 West) and the Saint the lightning was handled by another lighting talent - '''Richard Tucker'''.
 Most of the clubs in which Jim played in were mainly gay and the crowd in these clubs were among the best in the world, their energy and musical sophistication made them great fun to spin for. Jim himself once told famous music journalist '''Brian Chin''' the following in an interview: ''"New York is culturally and socially more advanced. We're used to better things, more intense experiences. 12 West has the most appreciative crowd. They come for a party with a very intense peak between 2 and 4 a.m. There's a unity and cohesiveness to the party when everyone knows the record and the mood of it."''
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 Two of Jim's anthems of '''12 West''' were ''"That's Where The Happy People Go"// by the '''Trammps''' and //"Hold On To My Love"'' by '''Jimmy Ruffin'''.
 Jimmy always associated [[http:''www.disco-disco.com/artists/donna.shtml|'''Donna Summer''']]'s //"MacArthur Park Suite"'' with '''the Underground'''.
 It was a hard job being a DJ back in the Disco days, there were usually just one DJ playing alone the whole "evening", an evening which usually started some time around 10 or 11pm and would last to anything between 6 to 12am (noon) the next day.
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 Jim also told his life partner Martin about this technique of his; "Jim could hear a song right away and know what to mix it with. He could go into a 96 BMP song and match it with a 112 BPM song, he would speed the first one up to around 104 BPM and slow the next one down just a notch from 112 to 104 so you wouldn't know, and then mix the songs at 104 to finally bring it up (or down) to it's original speed in a matter of seconds."
 |}
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 Anthony tells me he have got acetates of the classic Jim Burgess remixes of '''Gene Page''''s ''"Hot city"//, '''Ripple''''s //"The beat goes on"// and '''the Doobie's''' //"What a fool believes"''. He still remembers hanging out in Jim's apartment when a messenger delivered the finished remix copy of that Doobie's song.
 Jim was also involved in the remix of '''KISS'''' ''"I was made for loving you"//, the 12" single released on [[http:''www.disco-disco.com/labels/casablanca.shtml|'''Casablanca Records''']] in 1979. His not credited on the record, but KISS gave Jim a pinball machine for remixing their record.
 With his great ear for music and his schooled background it's no wonder he made such a success as a remixer as well as a DJ. Question is how to best describe Jim's way in remixing or something like a "trademark" for a Jim Burgess remix. I think John Ceglia describes it perfectly; "He had a great feel for how to extend a record with editing, very warm drum and percussion sounds. His overdubs added such a nice movement to the records and he used great session players like percussionist '''Jimmy Malen''' to do these overdubs and had a terrific engineer in '''Mike Hutchenson''' and together they would transform the track and bring it to life."
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 One of Jim's own personal favorite Disco songs was '''Bionic Boogie''''s ''"Hot butterfly"'', but he also loved opera and specially '''the Ring'''. Besides that he loved most of Boris Midney's work and he liked '''France Joli''''s songs. There are too many songs that, for different reasons, were very special to him.
 But being a DJ does not necessarily mean you can play your favorite music all the time, you have to adapt and play what your crowd wants to hear as well. So, to give you an idea of which songs were the most popular on one of Jim's dancefloors - here's Jim's Top 10 playlist from Infinity, New York of September 1978:
 |-
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 John tells us; "Jimmy was very popular and the place was mobbed for his retirement from spinning. Burgess was always very dramatic, and in a club that was open from 11pm Saturday night till noon Sunday and the crowd wore Levi's and T-shirts, he was in white tie and tails in the booth. He played his sets, did a masterful job, and at 6am, only half way through the night, he waved me up to the DJ booth. He said; 'I'm playing one more record because I've said everything I had to say, it's over!'. I said; 'You must be joking, these people want to dance and more important they paid money to send you off.' He said; 'I'm sorry, I'm finished. I'm going to catch a cab. When the record ends, grab my crates and come to my house for the after party. Please John, do it for me.' With that he left me in the booth. Some of our mutual friends knew something was up when he split. The record ended, the crowd cheered for what they thought was another encore. No music came on. The crowd began to stamp and clap. This went on for a while as I packed his things. The owner and a few of his 'closest associates' knew I was a DJ (I had only been in New York for six months) and said; 'Play something!'. I explained for them what happened and they didn't care, they still wanted me to play. I didn't. I respected my friends' wishes. ...and the rest is Disco history!
-Eventually famous female DJ  took over the booth and the first song she put on after Jim left was the '''Emotions'''' ''"Don't Want to Loose Your Love"// followed by //"Dance and Leave It All Behind You"'' by '''Sumeria''' as messages and tributes to a great DJ.
+Eventually famous female DJ took over the booth and the first song she put on after Jim left was the '''Emotions'''' ''"Don't Want to Loose Your Love"// followed by //"Dance and Leave It All Behind You"'' by '''Sumeria''' as messages and tributes to a great DJ.
 People in New York still talk about Jim walking out 21 years later. I think Jimmy knew that would be the case and boy was he ever right. Most of them don't know what really happened that night, until now."
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 - In the mid 70's Jim was driving around Atlanta with '''James Brown''', both all fucked up and they were going to a party. They did so many poppers that they almost didn't make it to the party, as they were just hysterically laughing about everything...
 - He taught '''Shep Pettibone''' how to DJ and remix...
 This was the history and career of '''Jim Burgess''', the DJ and remixer.
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 What we do know is that he was one the most influential and highly regarded DJ's and remixers of the Disco era and his works will be remembered by Disco people forever.
 Or as Alicia Bridges sings, which fits perfectly for Jim...
 ''"I love the Nightlife - Disco Round"''
 |}

Burgess, Jim - Revision history

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