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Laura Branigan

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  • Laura Branigan

    All-American power-pop lassie, who made an impact upon the UK charts in the first half of the 1980s. Although she began her musical career in the early '70s, Branigan's most succesfull era was in the following decade, when she attained huge fame in the US. She is mostly remembered in the British Isles for her hits 'Gloria' and 'Self Control', both of which were actually English language versions of European songs ('Gloria' was originally German, and 'Self Control' Italian). The former reached number 7 in the Top 40 in the Christmas of '82, the latter became something of a soundtrack for the long, sultry Summer of '84. Although one of her songs ('Hot Night') featured on the soundtrack of the film 'Ghostbusters', and she attracted some interest in mid-'85 with 'Spanish Eddie', her two chart successes this side of the Atlantic were unusually atmospheric for her usual style of bland, characterless Hollywood rock. She was also a small-part actress in various American television series's, including the Californian motorcycle cop classic 'CHiPS'. Tragically, Laura died in the August of 2004 aged just 47, of an undiagnosed brain embolism. One of the kindest, most generous-hearted of women, she was a vehement anti-Apartheid campaigner who sponsored a South African orphanage, did much for AIDS research, and performed free gigs for a number of charities. A big lady in life (over 6ft tall), she was even bigger-hearted, and although she had no children she always referred to her fans as 'her other half'. Her ashes were scattered on Long Island, New York, in sight of that other big lady of the United States- the Statue of Liberty.

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  • #2
    Re: Laura Branigan

    I really liked Gloria when it first came out, & still like it now.
    The Trickster On The Roof

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    • #3
      Re: Laura Branigan

      Self Control is a great song, heard that on the radio a few weeks ago and it's stayed in my head.

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      • #4
        Re: Laura Branigan

        RIP Laura Branigan. It's sad that she died in 2004, when she was only 52 years old.

        The song "Self Control" by LB is one of my favorite songs - superb. I heard this back in the '80's - however, I had forgotten about this ...until recently when I saw the video for the first time. Excellent. I am now enjoying re-visiting the song after so many years. The video is quite creepy, disturbing, and bizarre, even by '80's standards.

        My interpretation of the song is that it's about someone (specifically a woman) who doesn't like the daytime & lives for the night-time, going out and partying, etc. And, then when the day rolls around, they go about their daily lives - i.e. work, school, etc. However, they don't enjoy their dull daytime lives & look forward to the nights/weekends when they can go out again, enjoy themselves, and be "another person" for a brief time. In the video, it begins with her waking up as the dusk/evening is coming & she then looks out the window at the lights...this goes along with the lyrics:

        "Oh, the night is my world
        City light painted girl
        In the day nothing matters
        It's the night time that flatters..."

        I used to do the club scene somewhat in the '90's (when I was in my 20's) & remember how clubbing late at night was kind of like briefly entering another world to some extent...the lights, people, etc. all looked completely different then they did during the day....I always hated waking up in the morning after I was out all night...

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        • #5
          Re: Laura Branigan

          Originally posted by Richard1978 View Post
          I really liked Gloria when it first came out, & still like it now.
          Jarvis Cocker must've liked it too, considering he "borrowed" quite a bit of the melody for Disco 2000...!
          Time flies like the wind, fruit flies like bananas - go figure!

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          • #6
            Re: Laura Branigan

            shattered glass is a favourite of mine. sad that she had to pass away.

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            • #7
              Re: Laura Branigan

              Jonathan King helped translate "Gloria" into English, I gather.

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              • #8
                Re: Laura Branigan

                Originally posted by Clare View Post
                Jonathan King helped translate "Gloria" into English, I gather.

                Such A Great Song But Johnathan King Is Not A Nice Person Unfortunately Though (he is a Nonce) .
                1997


                Best Years Of My Childhood Was Growing Up In The Late 90's and the early 2000's . before the world went Mad

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                • #9
                  Re: Laura Branigan

                  Originally posted by onthebusesfan View Post
                  Such A Great Song But Johnathan King Is Not A Nice Person Unfortunately Though (he is a Nonce) .
                  I was just checking. It appears that King's translation is different from the one Laura Branigan sang.
                  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gloria...ng)#Background

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