💃 Linda Clifford’s Disco Spark: If My Friends Could See Me Now

The Twelve Inch 184 : If My Friends Could See Me Now (Linda Clifford)

When I first tuned in to my favorite disco show on Dutch radio back in 1977/78, a handful of names kept coming up again and again. Linda Clifford was one of them. Her records were on heavy rotation, and she was climbing to the top of the US dance charts. At the time, I believed disco would last forever (little did I know 😂), and I was certain we’d be hearing much more from her in the years ahead.

And in a way, we did. Clifford released several albums in quick succession and scored more Billboard dance #1s after her 1978 breakthrough. Yet she never became the household name that someone like Donna Summer or Gloria Gaynor did. So when I started this newsletter, she went straight onto my shortlist. I wanted to understand her story, and more specifically, why she didn’t get the same kind of crossover success.

So let’s rewind. We’ll use her first dance #1, “If My Friends Could See Me Now,” as a lens into the career of an artist who, depending on how you look at it, either never outgrew disc…