Gloria Gaynor

Gloria Gaynor (real name Gloria Fowles) was born on September 7, 1949, in Newark, New Jersey. Her family lived in poverty, but the seven children were always surrounded by care and love. Gloria's first performance was in a school choir; she was very afraid to go on stage, and only the encouraging words of her teacher helped her overcome her fear. Gloria's singing career began by chance. One evening, she and her brother Arthur went to the local Cadillac Club after a movie screening. The Pacesetters band was performing at the club. The club manager, who knew Gloria well, arranged for her to perform an impromptu number, during which she sang Nancy Wilson's "Save Your Love For Me" and was rewarded with a storm of applause. That evening, Gloria received an offer to join The Pacesetters. The next day she came to her first rehearsal with a list of 200 songs she had learned from the radio. The rehearsal lasted all day, and in the evening Gloria Fowles debuted as a professional singer. After Clive Nickerson left Soul Satisfiers, the group existed for some time under the name The Unsilent Minority & Miss G.G., and then Gloria Gaynor and guitarist Billy McLellan performed a few shows with the famous musician Johnny Hammond Smith. Subsequently, Gloria sang in the New York club Wagon Wheel, where topless dancers performed, later with the Radio House ensemble, and around the end of 1971 or the beginning of 1972, she met Benny. Benny became her first manager and introduced her to Paul Lek, who later offered her a contract with Columbia Records. Benny also introduced Gloria to Norby Walters, who became her agent and introduced her to the group City Life, which began performing as "City Life & G.G. Chinese Sisters." The Sondra, Cynthia, and Terra sisters worked as a trio under their brother Linwood Simon's leadership. They agreed to accompany Gloria as backing vocalists under the name Simon Said. This project provided Gloria with work for several years. Between 1972 and 1975, Gloria, Simon Said, and City Life toured extensively and made a name for themselves on the dance scene. Paul Lek introduced Gloria to Clive Davis, president of Columbia Records. At Clive's suggestion, Gloria made her first recording for Columbia as a solo artist, which was the single "Honey Bee," which became a big club hit. Gloria performed "Honey Bee" every night with City Life, and they also made a new version of Michael Jackson's hit "Never Can Say Goodbye," which sounded more cheerful and energetic than the original. When Bruce Greenberg from MGM Records heard "Honey Bee," he decided to acquire both the song and the singer. He contacted Columbia, and after 30 minutes of negotiations, Gloria Gaynor became an MGM artist. At the end of 1974, MGM released the album "Never Can Say Goodbye." It became gold instantly and entered disco history as the first non-stop dance program (Honeybee-Never Can Say Goodbye-Reach Out, I'll Be There). What is now quite commonplace made a bombshell effect back in 1974. New York DJs seemed to go crazy, tirelessly spinning the continuous disco suite performed by Gaynor. In preparing the second album "Experience Gloria Gaynor" (1975), the same techniques as in the first album were used. The first side is a dance non-stop mix by Tom Moulton of three songs, lasting about 19 minutes, while the second side features songs recorded as usual with pauses between them. It is no surprise that DJs preferred the first side of the record, which starts with "Casanova Brown," then transitions to the hit "If You Want It (Do It Yourself)" and Gloria Gaynor's interpretation of the standard "How High The Moon." Gaynor breathed new life into standards and demonstrated that old melodies can be very good disco hits. The second side of the record is more meant for listening than dancing, with slower songs that could be called ballads: "What'll I Do," "I'm Still Yours," and the song "Walk On By" (Burt Bacharach/Hal David), known from Dionne Warwick's recording. In 1976, the third album by Gaynor, "I've Got You," was being prepared for release, which was made in the disco-soul style. Again, the first side featured a non-stop mix of three dance songs, while less club-oriented songs were on the second side. In clubs, recordings from the first side "Let's Make A Deal," "Be Mine," and Cole Porter's standard "I've Got You Under My Skin" were heard. By 1976, this standard had been recorded multiple times by different artists, but Gaynor made this song interesting again, and "I've Got You Under My Skin" turned out to be the most memorable number on the album. The second side of the record was recorded together with Gaynor's old colleagues, the group Simon Said. For the album "I've Got You," the New York Disc Jockeys Association honored Gloria with the title of Disco Queen. 1977 brought changes. The Polydor record company acquired MGM, which led to a change of producers. The first three albums for Gloria Gaynor were produced by the team of Meco Monardo/Tony Bongiovi/Jay Ellis, while the fourth album "Glorious" was recorded under the direction of disco ace Gregg Diamond and guitarist Joe Beck. Despite the fact that Diamond and Beck realized several successful music projects, they did not create anything particularly interesting for Gaynor. They abandoned the dance mix on the first side of the album, and the program of the disc was compiled as a collection of various tempo dance and lyrical compositions. "Glorious" is a decent album, but it is weaker than Gaynor's previous records. Only one song, "Most Of All," truly rivals Gaynor's earlier works such as "Casanova Brown" and "Honey Bee." That same year, Gloria signed a contract with her new manager Linwood Simon. Linwood's office was located on Park Avenue, and Gloria, whose relationship with Linwood shifted beyond strictly work, named her 1978 album "Gloria Gaynor's Park Avenue Sound." The album was influenced by Philadelphia R&B. One of the best tracks is the classic standard Marvin Gaye/Tammi Terrell "You're All I Need To Get By," recorded at the intersection of disco and Motown sound. The City Life band participated in the recording, but overall the album turned out to be less successful than expected. On March 12, 1978, during a concert at the Beacon Theatre, Gloria fell and seriously injured her back. She spent two weeks in the hospital but found herself back in the hospital on April 15. Surgery was required, and Gloria was discharged only on July 3. It was on this day that the grand show the International Billboard Disco Convention took place. Gloria Gaynor was brought to the concert hall in a wheelchair. That evening was triumphant for Donna Summer, who was recognized as the Disco Queen that year. Donna interrupted her performance to address the audience, saying that Gloria Gaynor was in the hall - the First Lady of Disco! The entire audience stood up and awarded Gloria and Donna with applause. It was Donna's victory, but her gesture showed how much she appreciates and respects Gloria Gaynor's contribution to disco music. The album "Love Tracks," released in 1979, turned out to be Gloria Gaynor's strongest record since "Never Can Say Goodbye." "I Will Survive," one of the most famous disco-era anthems, made this disc a leader in 1979, selling about 14 million copies. The album also featured several excellent tracks: from the club hit "Anybody Wanna Party?" to the soul ballad "Please Be There" and the memorable cover of Little Anthony & the Imperials' hit "Goin' Out Of My Head." The album "Love Tracks" earned Gloria Gaynor a Grammy award for Best Disco Recording. 25 years later, "I Will Survive" is still a hit; it has been recorded many times by various artists, primarily by Gloria Gaynor herself. In 2000, experts from the influential music channel VH1 ranked "I Will Survive" as the number one dance song of the 20th century. In 1979, to consolidate her success, another album "I Have A Right" was released with the hit "Let Me Know I Have A Right," including several other great songs: "Midnight Rocker," "Don't Stop Us," and a remake of Stephen Sondheim/Leonard Bernstein's "Tonight" from the musical Westside Story, which Gaynor turned into a true disco masterpiece. At the end of the year, Gloria Gaynor held six sold-out concerts in the prestigious London Palladium. Huge success brought Gloria Gaynor very significant money, and she became the most sought-after performer of dance music in the late 70s. But there was a flip side to it - she was consumed by the frivolous atmosphere of disco clubs: marijuana, cocaine, alcohol - all of this jeopardized her career and even her life as a disco diva. In 1980, the album "Stories" was released, which yielded the one successful single "Ain't No Bigger Fool." The same happened with the next album "I Kinda Like Me" (1991) - a more or less successful 12" single "Let's Mend What's Been Broken." Club music was evolving, but Gaynor was not keeping up with trends, and she faced serious personal problems. According to Gaynor herself, between 1979 and 1982, she balanced between drugs and her faith in God, but she cleaned herself of any filth and walked on the Divine path, and since then she has not stopped reminding her listeners that there is always a way to salvation through the Lord... The 1982 album "Gloria Gaynor" became Gloria Gaynor's last work for Polydor; the record almost failed in the States, not even saving the patriotic anthem "America," released as a single. America in the early 80s was already listening to different music and had new heroes. Gloria Gaynor has repeatedly proved that she masterfully performs songs by other artists, finding new colors in them and often giving them new life. The next album "The Power Of Gloria Gaynor" (1986) consisted only of remakes of well-known hits, including songs by Phil Collins and Sting. Gaynor showed herself from an unexpected side, proving that she could comfortably fit into rock styles. The album became one of the most reissued albums of Gloria Gaynor throughout her career and formed the basis for numerous compilations released in different countries in the 80s and 90s (one of the latest being the BMG compilation "I Am What I Am," which was released in Russia in 2003). In 1987, in collaboration with the famous production team Stock, Aitken and Waterman, Gaynor recorded the single "Be Soft With Me Tonight," which achieved great success in the UK and European countries. They continued their collaboration and in 1992 released another single: "Wild Boys." After the success of "The Power," Gloria Gaynor began recording an album of new versions of her hits in Italy, which also included new versions of the standards "Can't Take My Eyes Off You" and "Feelings." The result exceeded all expectations; Gaynor recorded perhaps her best dance album. The arrangements on the album were made in the style of dance house, styled like classic disco. The Black Box team - superstars of Italian dance music - participated in the album's recording. The first release of the album took place in Italy at the end of 1990; the record was called "Gloria Gaynor '90," then the CD was reissued by the German branch of Polydor: "Gloria Gaynor 91," and later was reissued multiple times in various countries as "Ten Best" and even "Ten Best Millenium Versions." Many songs from the album successfully sold as singles. Work on the next album "Love Affair" was also carried out in conjunction with Italian musicians. The album was produced by Pippo Landro and Linwood Simon, with Gloria Gaynor being the author of five out of ten songs. There was also another version of "I Will Survive," but with new religious lyrics written by Gloria Gaynor. The album was fully recorded at Il Cortile Studio in Italy and was released in 1992 on vinyl and CD. The title track "Love Affair" was released as the first single, and on the flip side was the track "First Be A Woman." Once again, history repeated itself - a super hit became the song on the B-side of the single - "First Be A Woman" by French composer Michael Lama, and moreover, it was referred to as a continuation of "I Will Survive!" If the album "Love Affair" as a whole did not achieve special success, then "First Be A Woman" became Gloria Gaynor's biggest triumph after "I Am What I Am." In 1995, Gloria Gaynor's autobiographical book "Soul Survivor" was published in the UK, which was reissued in the US in 1997 under the title "Gloria Gaynor - I Will Survive," which became a bestseller. It seemed that everything was going well, but fate prepared new trials for Gloria: in 1995, her younger sister Irma was killed; she was brutally beaten by unknown assailants and laid in a coma for several days before her death. Gloria Gaynor, supported by her faith in God, bravely endured the grief, and a year later her faith was tested again - two of her brothers died almost simultaneously: Ronald in March and Ralph in May 1997. However, life went on, and Gloria continued to tour, recording new songs. In July 1997, she came to Moscow for the second time for the opening of one of the nightclubs on Novy Arbat (she had first visited Moscow in 1990 and performed at the Metelitsa club). During this visit, Gloria Gaynor recorded a brilliant duet with Larisa Dolina for the New Year's program on ORT channel called "I Will Survive." In 1998, a new disc "What A Life" was released in Italy, and in the US, Polydor released a compilation of Gloria Gaynor's 70s recordings titled "I Will Survive - The Anthology." The value of this compilation lies in the fact that it features all three famous non-stop programs from the first three albums of the singer and the most famous songs from Gloria Gaynor's period with Polydor, while to this day only two of Gloria Gaynor's 70s albums, "Love Tracks" and "I Kinda Like Me," have been reissued on CD, and even those in Japan. In the same year, the French national football team chose "I Will Survive" as their anthem, and Gloria Gaynor became an honorary member of the team under number 24. In France, a collection of the singer's songs was released called "It's My Time." In 2000, Gloria Gaynor participated in the project "Tribute To Giorgio Moroder" and recorded the single "Last Night," which topped European charts. In March 2001, Gloria Gaynor's new single "Just Keep Thinkin' About You" topped Billboard's dance chart. President of BMG/Logic Records Kelly Schweinsberg proposed that Gloria Gaynor begin preparations for a new album. The pilot single of the new album was the song "I Newer Knew," which quickly became number one on Billboard's dance chart. Finally, in October 2002, Gloria Gaynor's new disc "I Wish You Love" was released in the US. "I Wish You Love," in Gloria Gaynor's words, is an album about "the greatest gift that God gave to all mankind - love." Well, disco, which in the late 70s seemed an abyss of musical hell, reminded everyone one more time in the person of Gloria that it is indeed real music for adults, who have fully experienced the bloom of feelings (and sometimes their collapse) in real life. This CD is also a reminder that classic disco can only be achieved by true veterans of the genre, who know from personal experience which songs should have been sung in 1978 to become a worldwide star. The arrangements of the compositions made here on computers are masked under the rich orchestral-analog sound of that era, and almost half of the tracks are canonical disco hits with a beat of 120 bpm. All the rest are slow evening funk and beautiful pop ballads. In 2002, Gloria Gaynor also became a sensation on Broadway, participating in the production of the musical Smokey Joe's Cafe. At the beginning of 2003, Gaynor spent her time on tour around the world; incidentally, she has performed in more than 80 countries throughout her singing career. At the end of March, the singer held two concerts at the Moscow concert hall "Russia." The Moscow performances were part of a promo tour dedicated to the release of the album "I Wish You Love" on April 7, 2003. Gloria Gaynor's voice does not lose its charm with the years, and regarding her "non-model" figure, she has never felt complex about it. Gloria still lives in her hometown of Newark with her husband, loves tending to her own garden, and regularly injures her fingers with a sharp knife while trying to cook dishes from her favorite recipes, which she includes as a bonus in her last album. And most importantly, she has the Main Song that helps thousands of her listeners and fans around the world cope with difficulties - "I Will Survive!"