Patrick Hernandez had only one hit, but it made him immortal. "Born To Be Alive" was the song that anticipated the attitude to life of the next decade in 1979. No other hymn celebrated life as unmistakably as the song of the son of a Spanish father and an Italian mother. In 1963 Hernandez, who was born in 1949 in the Paris suburb of Le Blanc-Mesnil, went to London. As a teenager he experienced how beat and rock changed an entire generation. Back in France he joined a rock band. For "Born To Be Alive" he opened himself up to the upcoming disco wave without forgetting his musical roots. The single reached the top position of several international charts, including five weeks in Germany, and was one of the most successful songs of the year. His debut album with the same title, released in the summer of 1979, was recorded last year in Waterloo, Belgium. It reached number 20 in Germany, number 1 in Sweden, number 9 in Norway, two more albums followed until 1981, but its success remained unique.
