Among the disco goddesses – the Donnas, Glorias, Evelyns, Gwens, Candis and Anitas – who serenaded the dancers of the hedonistic 1970s in such celebrated joints as New York’s Studio 54 and London’s Heaven, it seems likely that only Alfa Anderson’s destiny included leaving show business to resume her studies and eventually become a high school principal.
Anderson, who has died aged 78, had been one of the featured singers with Chic, the high-fashion disco ensemble whose chart-topping hits included Le Freak. Emerging from the ranks of backing singers in the Manhattan recording studios, she had been spotted by Luther Vandross, then a star-to-be, who introduced her in 1977 to the guitarist Nile Rodgers and the bassist Bernard Edwards, Chic’s ambitious young founders and songwriters.
