Well, #MapleLeafMarch is over for another year. Guess it's time to get back to the American artists we all love.
Never mind that I'm writing this in January the same day I wrote this post. I should really be working on a Monday post. Oh well.
The reason I wanted to put this today is that my birthday is in March. And, because of what I do in March, I posted this song on my birthday. This year, as I was researching the other post, I realized that I was the same age as Laura Branigan was when she passed away in 2004. Which means I'm older than she was now.
This cover - of an Italian song - was her biggest hit by far, and at the time of its release, it spent 36 weeks on the Billboard chart, which, at the time, was longer than any song by a female artist had ever been there. It peaked at #2 in 1982, kept from the top spot by the juggernaut that was [checks notes] Toni Basil.
I mention it was an Italian cover. The original was performed by Umberto Tozzi, who also was co-writer on the song.
It should sound really familiar, but lyrically, it's very different. This is a love song. Branigan's version was about a woman out of control.
Tozzi DID record an English version of his song, with lyrics translated by Jonathan King. THIS retained the love song aspect of the lyrics.
It's not the same song exactly as the Italian version, either - it's very much an imaginary woman here.
By the way, Jonathan King recorded his version as well, and it was a minor UK hit. It's barely worth mentioning. His songwriting was good, though.
But back to Laura Branigan.
In January 2019, the St. Louis Blues were in last place in the NHL Western Conference, so they.... adopted a theme song and went on a 19-game winning streak. They ended up making the playoffs, and won the Stanley Cup in seven games that year.
So, yeah, "Play Gloria!" is a thing in St. Louis now.