Let’s talk about Laura Branigan

I love Laura too OP, and she has been discussed here quite a bit—but I'm always down for more. She recorded some great songs, but a lot of them are dated and I think the main appeal among younger people for her is the nostalgia factor. I was raised in the late '90s/2000s and both my parents are big music fans. We always had music playing in the house, whether it was on radio, CD, or VH1, so I absorbed a little bit of everything growing up, especially '70s and '80s pop and rock because that was what they were raised with. Branigan was in that mix. I vividly remember watching the music video for "Self Control" when I was a kid and finding the visuals fascinating (same with the video for "Total Eclipse of the Heart" by Bonnie Tyler, which freaked me out).

I came across the version of Laura singing "Gloria" on CHiPs a few years back and revisit that video often. It's one of the rare instances of her singing "live"—well, not truly "live", but you can tell the vocal track is different from the one on the album version. It was probably re-recorded for the show, but there are different textures in that rendition that are great—I think I almost prefer it to the official album cut.

Branigan's voice is one of those that I simply find sublime to listen to, irrespective of the lyrics she's singing, which is rare for me because I am very much a "words" person and tend to pay more attention to them. Her voice is spellbinding, and I don't know exactly why. It's very emotive, with a touch of raspiness and so much power. There was something special about her. It's sad that she died so young, and especially so because it could have been prevented if she'd sought proper medical attention.

I love her, OP. Laura was also a good person. She spent uears taking.care of her sick husband before he died.at the expense of her career.

[quote] Branigan's voice is one of those that I simply find sublime to listen to, irrespective of the lyrics she's singing,

Yes. And a very sexy lady besides

Michael Bolton and Celine Dion spent years cannibalizing her legacy.

She lacked a unique image.

She was by no means ugly or anything, but she wasn't super gorgeous, she didn't have a distinct fashion style, and she came along in the early MTV era when looks and image started to REALLY matter.

She tried to make it on her voice alone, and it worked...for a few years. But it wasn't enough to generate any real excitement over her in the public's mind. Nobody was holding their breath, waiting for the next Laura Branigan album.

If she'd gone all slutty like her contemporary Sheena Easton, she might have hung in there for a few additional years.

Laura Branigan should've gone the adult contemporary route and had an even bigger career in the 90s but a flat-chested Canadian clydesdale had other plans.

She was one of those singers who was only ever as good as her last hit single. She didn’t have the persona, looks, image, stage presence etc to capture the public’s imagination and become iconic and indelible, ala Madonna or even Cyndi. An arresting voice (and a few catchy tunes) to be sure, but not much beyond that.

Pat Benatar once said Laura Branigan was a closet homophobe.

Here she is trying to stage a comeback towards the end of her life (with an Abba cover, no less). It didn’t pan out and she died in relative obscurity.

It’s too bad Branigan came onto the scene a few years after the death of disco, as her voice (powerful, excellent projection, a touch of grit) would have been perfect for it. I can easily imagine her as the white Donna Summer. By that same token, I would have loved to have heard Donna’s take on a cut like “Gloria.”

She had moderate success in the 80s, zero success in the 90s, attempted a comeback in 2002 playing casinos and county fairs, and then died - unexpectedly and without fanfare. It’s a wonder she’s as well remembered as she is.

What would she have done without Italian Pop Music.

Is she the one who sang about her sugar walls?

Madonna, Cyndi, Diana, Stevie, Tina, Tiffany, Debbie Harry, Belinda Carlisle, Kim Wilde, Sam Fox, Jody Watley, Taylor Dayne, Aretha Franklin, Cher, Donna, ONJ… the bitch had a LOT of competition, and if we’re honest wasn’t half as memorable as most of these ladies.

Generic 80s music. Meh.

[quote] The Lucy One

I've had sufficient

“Gloria” is one of my top ten 80s tunes.

I guess no one wants to talk about her.

Laura had some kooky videos. Self Control is creepy, and Spanish Eddie is your run of the mill pop song romanticizing a murder.

She was wonderful. One of the few artists of that era that I enjoy listening to their covers of other’s hits. And her flops are inexplicable against what actually managed to chart. But, all in all, her pop career is nothing to poo poo. As for being a homophone, as I recall she lost a brother to the gay cancer in the earliest days of the disease, only to find her greatest fan base once Atlantic records planted her in what was derisively known as “the AIDS circuit”.

Her songs sound dated and she wasn't really memorable. It could have been anyone singing them.

I feel like Whitney Houston struck her down a few pegs and then Celine came along and finished her off. Amazing talent but was overshadowed by more flashy and better managed performers who stole her thunder.

I loved the volume she brought to songs that were already crying out for bombast.

Mo Rocca’s Mobituaries podcast did a really nice episode on her.

She took care of her husband while he was dying and then moved in with her mother when she developed Alzheimer’s.

"Gloria" is a masterpiece, her Magnum Opus. "Self Control" is so underrated and seems tragically forgotten for the 80s classic that it actually is, while her version of "The Power of Love" still holds the crown for me.

Gone far too soon.

Have none of you seen her SNL performance? She either had no vocal endurance or they did a lot in the studio to make her songs come together. Pass.

R23 you do realise both Gloria and Self Control are songs by Italian popstars that she basically covered

She shaved 5 years off of her age. She was listed as 25 when Gloria came out but was 30. I can’t blame her though for taking a few years off her age. Pop music is a young woman’s game and it’s easier to break into it at 25 than 30.

She was sick R24 and tried to power through it.

Remember when she performed live at the first Queens Pride festival? 1995? Was anyone else there?

I was surprised Imagination from flashdance was never released as a single. A good song used in a memorable sequence of the film.

R25, I do. Do you realize this is a thread about Laura Branigan and that those are two of her biggest songs? Cover songs are still songs worthy of the topic, doll. We're not discussing songwriters.

Her song “When” makes me cry buckets. It’s gorgeous but very sad.

Too bad she didn’t get to sing a James Bond-theme song. That might have boosted her career a bit.

R29 you can't really call a cover of a song someone's Magnum Opus. There isn't much of the opus part

She always came across really dykey to me.

[quote][R29] you can't really call a cover of a song someone's Magnum Opus. There isn't much of the opus part

What about Whitney and “I Will Always Love You”?

Shattered Glass, her collaboration with pop schlockmeisters Stock-Aitken-Waterman, did okay but didn’t hit the same heights as their other hits. I think I read they didn’t like working with her because she wanted to record each chorus and verse independently/uniquely and they were all about cutting and pasting vocals to fit their formula. I notice that track doesn’t have a slew of remixes like their other hits, maybe because of that.

R8 While Brannigan wasn’t necessarily homophobic to me I did encounter her at Sardi’s once and she was the rudest meanest drunk I ever met. She screamed and yelled at me until I started hyperventilating and I actually left my dinner and went home she was so awful. Why? Because I had the nerve to sing a few lines of “Gloria” to her in an effort to share with her how much I enjoyed her music. She reeked of cigarettes and cheap chardonnay and berated me for daring to interrupt her smoke break. Vile woman.

And the hostess who came and comforted me told me straight up that it wasn’t me it was her and that she was known for being an absolute jerk.

As a 44 year old- She was AMAZING to me as a little kid. I remember Gloria playing in our car and my house when I was 4!!???? My parents loved her and I dug her too..

I think that Solitaire and Ti Amo are her best songs-

But she has about 3-4 other beauties later on- like Broken Glass and her version of Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow-

I think that Solitaire is my favorite-

Ahmet Etgurn's side piece that they tried to make into Donna Summer (who would have crushed Imagination btw), liked a bunch of the Italo-rewrites, her version of The Power of Love, she got cringey by the time of that awful Sex On The Beach record that also had a meh version of Dim All The Lights bringing it back to Donna Summer. Her brother Billy also had a record out mid-80s if I recall, also deceased - him, and the album I suppose.

No more love for La Branigan?

She seems pretty garden variety Irish-American first generation suburban. Good tunes, tho.

Stand in place, mic up to mouth, shift right leg, shift left leg, put your hand in your hair and sing!

She had a fabulous voice but no star quality or real presence. As above posters said, you needed a distinctive look to make it big in the MTV era. Madonna, of course, was the master of this.

The first time I saw Laura Branigan was on the Merv Griffin show performing Gloria. You can just imagine Merv's over the top introduction. "Please welcome a magnificent new signing sensation...."

Who is the pretty boy in this video?

R36 Mary!

[quote] I can easily imagine her as the white Donna Summer. By that same token, I would have loved to have heard Donna’s take on a cut like “Gloria.”

Not just you. Her agents, producers and her record label imagined her that way as well. Many remarked on the obvious Donna Summer influence in her vocal performance of "Gloria."

I love everything about "Self Control." It is an 80s masterpiece.

I think she had a pretty good run. Madonna’s staying power is unmatched, so not a true comparison. But Laura Brannigan was huge in the 80’s, with many radio hits. She cared for her sick husband and it seems in no time at all she was dead herself. She could’ve managed every song Celine Dion made famous (obviously, see the aforementioned Power of Love.)

She had a powerhouse voice, but I agree that she was not very charismatic. She often came across as stiff onstage and a bit awkward. She also looked very much "Irish Catholic girl next-door", which didn't make her particularly marketable in the pop culture landscape she came up in. Still, her voice stood out. I've read posts on DL before where people claim she was not a good singer, which I can't wrap my head around.

The way she died is a really sad cautionary tale. She'd been experiencing chronic headaches for weeks, which were the result of an undiagnosed brain aneurysm. She never saw a doctor, and it cost her her life. It could have been prevented and she may still be here had she sought help.

When I think of Laura, I laugh, I don’t cry. I think she’d want it that way.

[quote] I love everything about "Self Control." It is an 80s masterpiece.

Now I think about it, I believe MTV would only play that video late in the evening.. Too sexual.

[quote] "I love her, OP. Laura was also a good person. She spent uears taking.care of her sick husband before he died.at the expense of her career."

Wow. And then she died early, herself. I can't not admire that. The helping, not the death.

It seemed like she could never decide whether she wanted to be an MTV pop star or an adult contemporary artist relegated to VH1. "Self Control" seemed to suggest the former with its slick production and controversial video. But then you watch the cheesy video for "Shattered Glass" at R35 and you wonder if she was even trying to get MTV airplay.

[quote] A string of top 10 hits. The Lucy One, Self Control, How Am I…, and of course Gloria and Solitaire. Spanish Eddie.

Only three of those -- Self Control, Gloria, and Solitaire -- were actually top 10 hits in the U.S.

I always heard she was a secret clam diver and that she’d hit the dyke bars on the DL and go bumper to bumper with the plaid-clad whales. I was told she liked ‘em REAL butch.

R56 It would make sense. I've always found Laura to be completely sexless.

She was a real frump in the early years. They tried like hell to glam her up around Self Control etc, but no matter how much money they threw at her hair, wardrobe and makeup, she still always looked like a dumpy frau.

Barbra Streisand called Laura Branigan her favorite contemporary singer in the mid-80s.

I've noticed that watching Branigan performances for too long gets me wet through my panties; I feel a little guilty, a little scandalized, then I have to shamelessly admit to myself it's delicious. She's delicious, small and cute and beautiful, feminine, but with a masculine energy, her pretty curves underneath her simple clothes, and I just want to spread my legs and have her ravage me, and then I want to spread hers and do the same to her.

There's no way a non-lesbian would provoke all that in me. She was one, all right.

[Quote}she still always looked like a dumpy frau.

r57 is a chucklefuck.

Self Control is still a great song and it still holds up. And I think the video is great.

Laura Branigan rose to fame when music was becoming hypersexualized thanks to people like Madonna, George Michael and Duran Duran; grittier, darker and edgier with Michael Jackson, Bruce Springsteen, Pat Benatar and Eurythmics, or daring and innovative with Prince and Cyndi Lauper, just to add a few examples. She, on the other hand, was wholesome through and through and while her voice lent itself wonderfully well to most genres, the people who say that her image was not a right fit for the time are right.

Also, when Whitney Houston exploded into the scene and it became fashionable to add every embellishment imaginable to songs and always chase the highest note, Laura couldn't compete - she was a low mezzo and Eb5 was already a challenging note for her, but people started to expect divas to go up to F5, add sustained head voice notes and all sorts of ornaments that she couldn't comfortably do. Her singing style became a thing of the past in a matter of two years, and while others had the range, agility and uniqueness to adapt (Cyndi Lauper comes to mind), she was left in pop music limbo for the rest of her career. She tried to become a rock singer in '85 with Hold Me, but for some reason the public didn't like the change and she was forced to go back to pop, with ever diminishing results.

Also, Atlantic obviously lost faith in her and her last two proper albums with them were filled with sub-standard material that had clearly been rejected by bigger stars. This obviously accelerated the decline of her fame, and then she involuntarily semi-retired for the reasons we all know.

It's a pity that her career didn't go anywhere, because she was a dynamic singer with a powerful voice and a very peculiar and impeccably clean tone. She also knew how to sell a song and perform it with gusto, even if her stage presence wasn't the most animated there was. However, she was leaps and bounds ahead of other more successful artists (Madonna and her disastrous live voice come to mind), and it's a pity that Atlantic and her management team didn't know how to properly promote her.

By the way, for those who want to know more about her vocal range, you can find some valuable information in the link below.

She had lots of management issues all through her career. After her litigious relationship with Sid Bernstein from the start, later her husband butted his nose into everything and she hired/fired managers several times in the 80s-90s.

^^Btw her husband was a lot older and was NY lawyer.

When I was about 9 years old I told my cousin, who was 13, that I really liked Laura Branigan. She said, 'I don't! She sings songs about playing with yourself.' I think she met Self Control...I was gobsmacked...

R65 I used to finger fuck myself silly to that song.

OP, she was my first concert, too! I was 15, and in that same month I also saw The Go-Go’s with opening act INXS. God, I loved the 80s.

I was always more into New Wave/“Alternative” music, but I couldn’t help but love Laura. I just loved her voice, and she should have had way more hits. Her version of “I Found Someone” is superior to Cher’s later hit version.

That Mo Rocca podcast tribute posted upthread here is really great.

It boggles my mind that “Imagination” wasn’t released as a single—my local radio station played it a lot, I guess because Laura and “Flashdance” were both “hot” that summer.

One of my favorite should-have-been-a-hit singles from Laura:

They’re spending their lives on Rodeo Drive!!!

Johnny liked her:

R66 was that before you were fingering yourself to Kim Carnes.

Let’s not, OP.

R71 get bent

I've always liked The Lucky One.

And Self Control is SO 80s, in a really fun way. Great song.

Imagination had an almost zero chance as a single probably because Flashdance was Casablanca/Polygram, and Laura was Ahmet's main girl at Atlantic, and back then label bosses never liked any of their female guesting on outside label projects, and on top of that, Phil Ramone!

True story. Laura's was the only version I ever knew of Whatever I Do Wherever I Go until I first heard Hazel Dean's Jesus-this-totally-jacks-Blue-Monday's-bass-line original version on an 80s compilation somewhere late 90s. Why Laura's never was a single always puzzled me.

And I was today years young when I learned of the existence of a 12" version that screams Phil Harding or Pete Hammond (PWL Remixers) . Sure she OVERsings it, but that's what the assignment was. Giddy at the moment.

Love a few of her songs. Totally respect her as an artist. And since she's no longer with us and unable to read this--

She was like a black hole of charisma. Her talent is in vocal interpretation but there is something completely off about watching her perform, whether it be on video or in live tv performances.

And the one time a record company really put big money up for a music video, they hired William Friedkin (The Exorcist, French Connection) to do Self Control and it was too risque for MTV, which banned it in the U.S. I loved that song as a kid and never saw the video until recently. Glad I didn't. The song exists in my brain totally separate from the video, which is cool i guess, but the song is unlike anything else out there. Italio disco meets early 80s heavy metal? Love the original italo disco one too.

[quote] they hired William Friedkin (The Exorcist, French Connection) to do Self Control and it was too risque for MTV, which banned it in the U.S. I loved that song as a kid and never saw the video until recently.

MTV requested edits to the video, and eventually it was edited and allowed to air. And it aired on other music video programs. I remember seeing the video quite a bit during the '80s.

Was she really into muff? It would make sense considering she was so reluctant to sell sex the way all the other 80s divas did.

She died, OP.

She came into my family’s ice cream shop circa 92 or so, with her boyfriend/husband. She was aloof, but polite enough. Seemed real shy. Not much to look at, with an awful cowl neck sweater in some revolting shade of puke green. I’ll never forget the sweater. But I recognized her straight away as I was glued to MTV as a baby gayling.

I had her number (number!)

That she was living under! (Under!)

Fun fact: In the mid 70s, Branigan and her friends Ali Ryerson (who grew up to become a renowned jazz flutist) and Lisa Podell accidentally sailed to Southampton, England, after missing the "all ashore" whistle on an ocean liner while bidding a friend bon voyage. They were stuck onboard going back and forth for over two weeks.

She was 5′ 8″ tall

[quote] Not much to look at, with an awful cowl neck sweater in some revolting shade of puke green. I’ll never forget the sweater.

Are you sure you're not confusing her with Bonnie Franklin?

She was friends with Phoebe Cates. Phoebe dated Laura’s brother.

Her brother Billy Branigan was cute in the 80s. I had his album which came out in 1985. It was on a major label and it was pretty good. not a commercial hit. I still have the CD due to my Laura Branigan fandom.

Here is the full-length Australian movie she starred in -BACKSTAGE. She plays Kate Lawrence a famous pop singer who wants to act. I know, what a stretch! It played like a bad tv movie. I did like the songs Laura sang - like a cover version of The Flirts "Helpless (You Took My Love). I wish that song saw the light of day on one of her albums. The movie was filmed in 1986 and was theatrically released in early 1988.

Didn't We Almost Win It All

Music video from her 1993 album - Over My Heart. Co-written with her brother, Billy. This song is an example of a good song to slit your wrist to. It's very sad.

Shattered Glass - issued in July 1987

Laura Branigan made an overnight foray to England to record at the PWL Studios in London with Stock Aitken Waterman, at the time enjoying massive chart success with releases by such acts as Rick Astley, Bananarama and Dead or Alive. The session was marked by some conflict, with Branigan challenging the producers' usual recording style, by insisting on singing the whole song through and not simply looping any repeated lyrics, and clashing with Matt Aitken over his habit of smoking in the control room.

Branigan told Record Mirror in 1987, "[Waterman] told my record company that he had a great song for me. He sent it to me, I loved it, and a week later I flew to London to record it. Working with [Stock Aitken Waterman] is very different from anyone else. They're more like a factory; it's very mechanical."Besides "Shattered Glass", the PWL session produced Branigan's recording of "Whatever I Do", a Stock Aitken Waterman original previously recorded in 1984 by English singer Hazell Dean.

The music video features sumo wrestlers - The Wild Samoans.

R78 She was. She was a known fixture at lesbian bars.

I thought she was attractive but she seemed a tad introverted. Not a crime.

A friend of a friend who briefly had a stint in Hollywood in the mid-80s dangled a piece of SHOCKING, tantalizing gossip at a dinner party I attended years ago. He was so reluctant to spit it out, but we all pushed him, waiting breathlessly for this scandalizing secret about some huge A-lister.

Said bombshell? Laura Branigan and Anne Murray had been meeting in secret, and were engaged in a torrid, passionate lesbian affair. Their managers ultimately intervened and put a stop to it, causing much heartache and distress.

R92, that's more believable to me than the whole Jodi Foster-Kelly McGillis-Whitney triangle.

R52 I heard you eat dog shit. True?

She was the nice Irish Catholic girl next door who had a lovely singing voice.

Now I’m going to have get the image of Anne Murray muff diving on Laura Branigan out of my head.

Shadows in the moonlight, indeed!

Anne Murray was rumored to be a lesbian for years. She even spoke to PEOPLE magazine about it, denying it strongly. She doth protest too much.

[quote] It's a pity that her career didn't go anywhere, because she was a dynamic singer with a powerful voice and a very peculiar and impeccably clean tone.

She had a significant career and notable success. A career that spans decades is the exception not the norm.

[quote] Imagination had an almost zero chance as a single probably because Flashdance was Casablanca/Polygram, and Laura was Ahmet's main girl at Atlantic, and back then label bosses never liked any of their female guesting on outside label projects, and on top of that, Phil Ramone!

Too bad. "Imagination" is my second favorite song of hers, after "Self Control." It would have definitely charted Top 10.

There was only room for one Imagination in 1983 and I got there first!

Anne Murray with some lady golfer friends.

She's straight as an arrow. Really, she is!

I never liked most of Laura's music but this song was fucking flawless, and so was the video.

Definitely a labia lover. If you lived in NY in the 80s, you heard the rumors.

She became a born again Christian late in life, and didn’t believe in seeking medical care. She also hated the gays. Maybe she felt deep seated shame about her own lesbian tendencies.

This thread sure is bringing out the nut jobs who are trying to top each other with crazier and crazier stories about poor Laura.

Laura Branigan fingered my mother in the checkout line at the A&P in the late 80's!

Performing just a month before her death.

From 1980s video amp to 2000s crazy cat lady down the street.

I love her 1993 cover of this Roxette song!

The Sweet Hello The Sad Goodbye

Here is her starring role in Australian 1988 movie - Backstage

Recently unearthed answering machine audio from her estate, made public for the first time.

December 24, 1982

From Corpse: “Yeah, this is Dionne. Saw you miming on Solid Gold last night. See you’re nominated for a Grammy too. Don’t plan on being around long.. There ain’t room for your uppity white ass at the top. I know Ertegun is ape shit over you but that’ll change if I get my say. You’ll be cold boogers on the end of his nose in no time. Thats’s all. Merry Christmas”.. Click ☎️

The production is a little dated now, but her version of "Forever Young" is pretty.

[quote] but no matter how much money they threw at her hair, wardrobe and makeup, she still always looked like a dumpy frau.

She would never be more than a common frump!

She did a lot of coke.

A lot.

A trouble with Branigan was that though her voice was great, her catalogue wasn't all that good, except for "Gloria." "Solitaire" just wasn't a good song.

She was a big girl. And she had the look of an Irish cop. First time I saw her I thought “Someone’s done a makeover on some NYPD girl.” She slightly resembled Robert Chambers. She was unsexy. Kind of square-shaped. In later years it’s obvious she’d gone through depression due to her husband’s illness and death, and then she had an accident that didn’t help her physical looks.

She had a big voice but she didn’t really have any passion. You can see she doesn’t feel the lyrics, she seems more interested in hitting the notes while being somewhat stodgy. There’s something about her that’s….blank.

R116 is a contrarian. Has no clue whatsoever.

The only song you’ve ever listened to by her is Gloria. You stupid chucklefuck r116. Just say you don’t like her.and go back to your one-track Madonna obsession.

Who says I like Madonna?

Are you Laura’s mother?

I'm sorry, r188: this isn't the anger management class you seem to be looking for.

We wish you good luck.

I says! You should be tied down and forced to listen to Barbara Fairchild shit from1967 on loop for 48 hrs.

R120 you said “we” meaning you represent what exactly? Multiple personalities??

I pisses me off to see fucktards try to make it seem like they’re the goddess of what is good or not good when they have zero knowledge of what they speak of. Oh she only had one good song when you’ve never listened to any of her music. Oh she had zero charisma. I know because I’ve watched a 10 second clip on YouTube and read a DL thread! Just sit down and shut the fuck up. You’re convincing NO ONE!

Very poor troll thread. Goodbye.

I think she finally got the alias that she was living under!

She had a once in a lifetime voice, but suffered from picking some really bad songs—or had bad ones given to her. She did do the best version of several songs that others later covered and had bigger hits. Her version of I Found Someone is so much better than Cher’s, but Laura’s version flopped. I was surprised that Shattered Glass wasn’t a bigger hit—but by that time video and MTV was king, and the cheesy video and her awkward presence in it wasn’t exactly going to be in rotation with the likes of George Micheal, Madonna, and Prince. I do still enjoy the song, though.

I met Laura at a Burger King in LA circa 1999 or so, and was terrified to ask for an autograph (I only had a napkin for her to sign), but did so anyway. She agreed very sternly, on the firm condition that I hold the sauces for her chicken nuggets, and so I awkwardly did while she signed my napkin, all while she was absolutely cackling with laughter. She then broke the facade, put her arms around me, said she loved pranking people like that, and proceeded to ask me all about my life for 5-10 minutes. She also shared some fairly intimate details of her own life. A strange and beautiful woman, gone too soon.

Laura Branigan the chicken nugget sauce prankster.

R127 I met her at a mall right after Touch came out and she seemed like she seriously couldn’t believe people recognized her. Which was funny to me. She talked to people and signed some autographs. Good shit. Seemed like a super cool lady. Her friend/assisted was with her but honestly looked more like a girlfriend or partner? Very butch. That was a cool day.

Assistant*

R127 this is so weird

Any updates?

r132 Yep, she's still dead.

Yes Teri, She ate chicken nuggets, then she died.

When "Gloria" debuted everyone mistook her for Donna Summer (Brannigan admitted Summer was her favorite female singer, and was 'inspired' by her). She eclipsed Summer in the 80s as far as chart success was concerned, and finally came into her own. But then she did that awful cover version of Summer's "Dim All The Lights" and fans turned away.

I never once thought “Gloria” was sung by Donna Summer.

r136 Same. I also don't remember that anyone else thought it was Donna Summer - but, I was probably only in middle school when that song was out.

R137, I was about 12 when that song came out, and I don’t remember anyone thinking it was Donna Summer.

I have heard that a few times on DL in Branigan threads. I think the DL poster thought it was Donna and says “everyone” thought that, and posts it over and over.

I suspect it’s the same poster who claims “everyone” thought “Harden My Heart” was Pat Benatar, which NO ONE did.

DD breakfast sandwich gave me explosive diarrhea, hot and cold sweats, full body tremors, stomach cramps for a solid three days. Seriously, I was so sick I thought I was going to die. Almost called an ambulance but I don’t have insurance.

How.. VIVID, r139.

r139 You're very desperate for attention. No one cares. In fact, we wish your stupid post was true, and that you suffered irreparable damage.

Sorry wrong thread.

Branigan herself said she was constantly mistaken for Donna Summer when 'Gloria' came on the radio. When she appeared on television, fans were surprised to see her. Except for 3 future DL posters.

r143 According to you - but you've shown no proof

Gloria was perfection.

If Laura was indeed a closet bisexual then it sounds like she was...

Laura did experiment with different styles on her albums but most of her singles were safe choices.

I wonder how more "offbeat attitude cuts" like this would've faired back on early 80s radio -

So is it common knowledge that she became a born again Christian before she died?

Where did this rumor come from?

Also where did Pat Benatar say she was a homophobe?

She toured with Raul Julia in Man of La Mancha in the late ‘80s/early ‘90s, I think. I remember when the tour played the Schubert in Chicago. I think she got good notices playing Aldonza. (Probably looked a lot like the Self Control video.)

Oh, I guess that was Sheena Eastman.

SO when Laura died, did Anne Murray cancel any performances or cut back in her public appearances?

r148 I think r8 made that up

Umberto Tozzi

r150 Sheena Eastman, huh? Never heard of her

So where did the Born Again Christian rumor come from?

“Solitaire” is my favorite song by her.

GLORIA is an absolute timeless masterpiece. Tell me who could have sung that song better.

If everybody WANTS you, why isn’t anybody CALLING?

Umberto Tozzi sang it better, r157.

I recently re-watched Flashdance and this scene gets to me. The actress, Sunny Johnson, died of a brain aneurysm a year after the film was released. She was 30-years-old. I always found it eerie she did her skating routine to Laura Branigan's Gloria who also died of a brain aneurysm.

r158 His version was lovely, her vocals improved it.

We just weren't into her.

Jailed British sexual abuser Jonathan King wrote/translated his English version of the lyric, releasing his cover in 1979.

Her "legacy manager" might've been the butch woman/suspected partner mentioned upthread. The two of them were like a Samantha Fox/Myra Stratton pairing.

Kathy Golik, the self-described legacy manager, was elated when "Gloria" became the anthem of the St. Louis Blues during their Stanley Cup run. She was also incensed when Trump played "Gloria" while inciting the January 6th insurrection and took pains to distance Laura's memory from his vile politics.

OP, I’ve purchased LB songs every time this subject comes up, so there have been at least FOUR threads on DL within my purchase history. And those are the ones that still have active licenses, so there are at least ten years of songs that have expired

Laura does Janis Joplin this could have been great.

And now Laura Branigan threat is a Donald Trump threat congratulations you guys can ruin anything

Laura Branigan as Janis Joplin… in 2002? Janis was 27 when she died, Laura was 50 in 2002. No wonder the play didn’t take off.

a Laura Branigan threat sounds scary, r167

r165 "Apple keeps killing my library"

I'm sure you thought your post made sense.

BUMP

If everybody wants you why isn’t anybody calling?

Laura did lots of bumps

Her main competition was Sheena Easton. Laura's music has had more longevity than Sheena's, as Laura has 4.9 million monthly listeners on Spotify, while Sheena only has 1.3 million.

Donna Summer has 5.1 million monthly listeners, so she and Laura are almost equal.

r175 What do you make of that statistic?

I always confuse her with someone I never heard of.

R176, Laura's streams are heavily focused on Self Control and Gloria, with around 286 million for Self Control and 185 million for Gloria. Most of her other songs get in the millions or even just the thousands. Donna's streams are more equally distributed, with tens of millions of streams for her best-known songs.

I'd say that means that Donna Summer's body of work as a whole is far more popular than that of Laura Branigan, who got lucky with cover versions of two Italian hits. Mind you, Donna Summer first hit the big time working with an Italian disco producer...

Does anyone have a voice like this nowadays? All I hear on the radio is squeaky weak stuff or auto tune.

Laura had such a sad life. All the light in her eyes was extinguished in those final interview clips.