Gloria Estefan

Her rhythm is gonna get you!

Gloria Estefan is was perhaps the first artist to bring Latin pop music over to the UK in the 80’s and make a proper career out of it. She wasn’t a novelty act, nor did she give us a comedic holiday hit to fill the void between summers. Her first UK hit was Dr Beat as part of the Miami Sound Machine which was a massive hit in 1984. The hits continued right up until the end of the 90’s with her epic Gloria CD!

Gloria grew up in Cuba and that influence has had a lasting impact on her music, recording just as many Spanish language CD’s as English. For the most part though, its her English language material that titillates the average Pop Trash Addict, give or take the fabulous remix of Mi Tierra or Oye! 

Gloria was undoubtedly at her pop peak in the 80’s when albums like Primitive Love, Cuts Both Ways, Let It Loose and Anything For You sold millions of copies across the globe. It has hard to keep up with the demand for Gloria and her unique brand of pop. Ballads like Don’t Wanna Lose You and Anything For You were equally as popular as her danceable hits like 1-2-3 and Rhythm Is Gonna Get You! Gloria was always massive on the dancefloors as well as the wine bars and shopping malls! She was everywhere!

Tragedy!

Disaster struck just as she was enjoying her Cuts Both Ways world tour in 1990 when her spine was fractured in a horrific accident while on her tour bus. Many feared she would never walk again, never mind perform! But there was light at the end of this long dark tunnel.

Coming Out Of The Dark

Less than a year after her accident Gloria made a miraculous comeback with her next huge album Into The Light and the hit single Coming Out Of The Dark! It hit #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1991. The album also included the single Live For Loving You. After selling millions of copies Gloria toured again with her Into The Light tour in 1992.

A Greatest Hits album followed and was a big seller, it included perhaps one of Gloria’s campest singles, Go Away! A song about Cuban communist dictator Videl Castro, but could easily work for and budding drag queen! It was around this time that Gloria really started getting a reputation for her wonderful dance mixes! Another single, a megamix of her hits, The Miami Hitmix was the second single. A stunning acoustic ballad, Always Tomorrow followed showing off her diversity as a pop artist once again.

Gloria recorded a Spanish language album, Mi Tierra next. The album even seemed to be popular with the usually switched off to non-English language material, UK where the album was a solid Platinum hit with some Top 40 singles! I particularly like the Hustlers Convention mix of the title track and lead single! A Christmas CD followed.

The next phase of her career was was when I really started taking notice of Gloria and became a big fan. Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me was released in 1994, a covers album where Gloria took on cover versions of some of her favourite songs. Turn The Beat Around, the title track, and Everlasting Love (with remixes by Love To Infinity!) were big hits!

 1996’s Destiny was a departure from the slickly produced pop of her last album. It was a more acoustic affair with far too many ballads! It didn’t do as well as her previous albums but it did include the superb Olympic anthem Reach. It was around this time that her remixes became of far more interest than her album versions. The remixes of I’m Not Giving You Up (by Tony Moran) and You’ll Be Mine (Party Time) (by Love To Infinity) were big hits and are even included on her 2001 Greatest Hits vol.2 as the ‘definitive’ versions of the singles.

Disco Glo!

 Realising who her fans were Glo called up DJ/producer Tony Moran to collaborate on her next offering. The album Gloria was a celebration of the dancefloor and all things a bit gay! Well Gloria really pulled off perhaps the best CD of its kind, being miles better the Cher ’s effort. The lead single Heaven’s What I Feel wasn’t huge, despite having a video featuring Gloria in cgi-zero gravity, classy! Remixed by the Trouser Enthusiasts, Love To Infinity, Victor Calderone and many more, it was a big dance hit! Further singles included Oye! And Don’t Let This Moment End which was remixed by Hex Hector. The whole project is simply stunning and Gloria looked amazing. Needless to say it was no Cuts Both Ways in terms of sales, but who cares! Its fantastic. She even recorded a 16 minute disco medley for a b-side! Yes, Gloria loves her gays. A tacky duet with NSYNC followed.

Unraveled!!!  

The new millennium has been mean to Gloria. Greatest Hits vol. 2 bombed along with the single Out Of Nowhere (Metro Mix), her acousticy album Unwrapped did so badly it didn’t even make the UK charts and the single Wrapped was cancelled, sadly because the remixes were okay. She did manage a big hit with a mash up of Dr Beat and Mylo’s Drop The Pressure, entitled Doctor Pressure in 2005. It stayed on the charts for weeks. 2006’s The Very Best Of prompted a rare appearance on the X-Factor (a bad TV talent show over here) on which Gloria performed a couple of her signature ballads, needless to say it flopped too.

Will Gloria come back with a big hit one day and put pretenders like Shakira back in their place with a fierce dance anthem, or will she forever churn out dreary songs on her guitar and write books about her dog?  Even if she never graces the dancefloor ever again Gloria made a massive impact on pop and her lasting legacy will never be forgotten by people in the know. 2006’s US 2CD release The Essential Gloria Estefan compiles virtually all of her singles in their hit versions and is thoroughly recommended.

- Jamie

Don't Let This Moment End (1998)