Song:Born To Be Alive
Album:Hard to Find 45s on CD Vol. 18: 70s Essentials
Born To Be Alive was a global dance hit in 1979. It was the only chart hit for French singer songwriter Patrick Hernandez. I think most music fans remember the song but know nothing about Hernandez. He was born Apr. 8, 1949 in Le Blanc-Mesnil, Seine-Saint-Denis, France which is a Paris suburb. His father was a big band guitarist from Spain. His mother was a singer from Italy. Hernandez played Paris clubs with his group Paris Palace Hotel (PPH). They recorded three singles in the mid 70s. PPH split up but Hernandez continued to work with bandmate Herve Tholance and Aquarius Records. After the two released a couple of singles, they went to Belgium to work with producer Jean Vanloo who had worked with PPH. These are the guys behind Born To Be Alive. After the song was a hit in Europe, it was brought to the US by dance music label A-Tom-Mik and he sold it to Columbia and it reached #16 on the Billboard Hot 100. Madonna was one of Hernandez' dancers when he toured the US. His trademark was he always carried a cane. Unfortunately Hernandez was unable to repeat the success of Born To Be Alive. Columbia dropped him after three albums. The 1979 album Born To Be Alive is available and it has the complete seven minute version of the song. But I think most folks heard the three minute radio edit which you can get on this Eric Records various artists CD. Though Hernandez recorded occasionally in the 80s and 90s, for the most part he lives off of the Born To Be Alive royalties. In 2013 he told a reporter the song makes him 1,000 euros a day. He also appears on French TV a lot. Here's the video for Born To Be Alive by Patrick Hernandez.
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