SPEAKER_03 0:00

For five decades, Gloria Stefan's music has moved the world. This is Let It Loose, a Gloria Estefan podcast. The first fan-led show dedicated to her life, legacy, and impact. Lifelong Estefans, Carlos, Rob, and Wes explore the songs, moments, and stories that make Gloria an icon. If her music changed your life, then welcome home.

SPEAKER_04 0:26

Welcome back to another episode of Let It Loose. My name is Rob. I'm Wes. And I'm Carlos. And on today's show, this week we're chatting with music journalist Quentin Harrison all about the Gloria Sons, or as he calls it, Glorious Imperial Era of the 1990s.

SPEAKER_02 0:45

I am so excited. Wes, I know that you're excited because I know that you've actually met Quentin in person. I've only known him on online. So uh based off of our conversations, based off of the articles that he's written, I'm I I feel like I'm gonna fangirl today.

SPEAKER_01 1:06

Yep, yeah. Quentin's a fellow Ohio boy, he's from the Dayton area. So um, yeah, me and Quentin have met a couple of times and he's um over Chili. Um, no, actually, no, no over Chili, but oh no, not yet. Oh, that's a question we'll have to ask him if he likes Cincinnati Chili. It's not really a Dayton thing, but uh um, but yeah, we met over coffee and had some great chats about Gloria.

SPEAKER_02 1:28

That's cool. Well, I'm excited. I know that we're gonna spend a lot of time uh speaking with him, so I think we should get into this week in Gloria history, but before we do, can I just mention one thing to you guys? What are you gonna say? So we're about two months into this, right? Wow, that's crazy to think two months. Two months. So two months have gone by, and I still haven't received an invite from Gloria to come over for pancakes.

SPEAKER_01 1:59

Oh my god, she's a busy lady right now.

SPEAKER_04 2:02

One motive, one reason to be doing this podcast, and it's for the pancakes.

SPEAKER_01 2:08

It'll happen, it's gonna happen.

SPEAKER_02 2:10

So can you imagine? So we had Jonathan, uh super fan a couple weeks ago, and he got to go to Star Island, he got to be at Gloria's house. Can you imagine if it would have been me? I would have been insufferable asking her every five minutes, are you gonna make me pancakes? Are you gonna make me pancakes?

SPEAKER_04 2:27

There's a giant bella, but you were like, I want breakfast for dinner instead.

SPEAKER_01 2:31

And I can see me and Rob sitting on the couch just sitting there like this, not not being able to move or talk.

SPEAKER_02 2:39

All right, so let's let's move over to a history lesson.

SPEAKER_01 2:45

This week in Gloria History, we're going back to March 13th, 1988, the last day of Carnival, Miami. Gloria and Emilio direct the creation of the world's largest conga line of 119,986 people. This earns the festival a recognition by the Guinness Book of World Records. Every March, the streets of Little Havana come alive with the sounds of salsa, the smell of Rob's favorite, fresh croquette dust, and the energy of more than one million people celebrating Latin culture in one of the most vibrant neighborhoods in the country. The Calle Ocho Music Festival is the beating heart of Carnival, Miami. Gloria and the Miami Sound Machine have performed on multiple occasions alongside some of the biggest names in Latin music. Video of the 1988 Calle Ocho concert and historic Conga line are available on YouTube. Check out the YouTube channel Songs Music Canto.

SPEAKER_02 3:44

Alright, so today I am really excited to welcome someone who's writing and perspective on music and especially on Gloria, so many fans have connected with over the years. If you have ever found yourself going down the rabbit hole of discographies, eras and the stories behind the music, there's a good there's a good chance you have come across his work. Wes has actually known him for years, and as for me, yes, I have slid into his DMs. And listeners, go ahead and get your minds out of the gutter, relax. This was strictly to talk, all things Gloria, music and fandom. I'm really looking forward to diving into his decade piece, talking through some of the albums he has written about, getting into raíces, and just letting the conversation go wherever Gloria's legacy takes us. Please help me welcome Quentin to Let It Loose. Welcome, Quentin.

SPEAKER_04 4:35

Thank you so much for being here.

SPEAKER_00 4:37

Well, thank you for having me. It's such a pleasure.

SPEAKER_01 4:41

So looking forward to you coming on. It's been fun listening in.

SPEAKER_02 4:46

Oh, thank you for listening. Quentin, I already told you uh and I made a joke about how I would slide into your DMs, but it was just to strictly talk about Gloria. Um, but I mentioned to you recently that yeah, it I am. I'm a married man, okay? So calm down, Rob. But um, you know, I I mentioned that I would be fangirling, uh fangirling just because I am such a fan of the way that you write, what you have written, and we're gonna dive into that. But before we do, I um you've talked about Gloria being a staple on your mom's car radio growing up. So do you remember specific songs that instantly take you back to that time?

SPEAKER_00 5:29

Oh gosh. Uh yeah, I mean, Gloria is kind of um foundational. Um, I mean, I will be 41 in what, five weeks. And so I remember, so I think the first song of hers that I knew. Was it it might be actually one, two, three, uh, was the first one I which I think is like one of the most pitch-perfect pop songs ever, like in every good, in every sense of the word, lyrically, compositionally and vocally, it's just a it's just a great pop song. Um, probably that might actually be my favorite Gloria Stefan song if I had to pick like what was number one. And I normally it's mostly like deep cuts and stuff I go for, but that's just a great song. But anyway, um so as she was like kind of reaching that sort of peak of just visibility and then obviously the accent and everything, which happened not far from my birthday, March 9th, is my birthday. So I remember knowing that something had happened to her, but not really understanding what that meant at the time. But obviously, her music was a big staple on Z93. I'm from Dayton, Ohio originally, and so but I remember hearing, you know, coming out of the dark, you know, all the stuff from the Into the Light album, to say nothing of the previous record cuts both ways, which my mother was a big fan of. But I remember having a very specific memory of going up, uh, I believe it's uh Main Street Pass, but are now no longer the Montgomery County Fairgrounds, but they're right across from the Miami Valley Hospital in Dayton. West probably knows where I'm him being an Ohio native um in Cincinnati might know where I'm talking about. But I remember going past there a lot due to my mother and father's respective jobs and listening to Live for Loving You on the radio. And so I have very like specific memories of being in the backseat of my parents' Buick and uh hearing that and just loving it. So pretty much all of that stuff that you know she was doing from that point onward up through the 90s, like she was the first uh her versions of Turn the Beat Around and Everlasting Love were the first versions I heard, um, with no disrespect to uh the late great Vicky C. Robison or Carl Carleton, but those were the first versions I knew.

SPEAKER_02 7:38

Yeah, same. That was the same for me. Yeah, I didn't know the the original versions until after that.

SPEAKER_00 7:43

Yeah, new turn I knew Turn the Beat Around, but everlasting love I didn't yeah, and um I'd say by the time we got to uh VH1 divas, I pretty much by that point was uh a fan, though I wouldn't, and so I think but I wouldn't buy or get my first Gloria and Stefan album until or or or uh not that I don't consider uh greatest hits compilations albums, but my first sort of record of hers until I was about 15. In 2001, I was a sophomore in high school when I picked up her first greatest hits, and from that point onward, um I pretty much just had to get my hands on everything that she had uh put out. So I've just always loved her. And you'll love this, her and my father are uh, I believe, just um 12 days apart. Um, she was born on September 1st, 1957. My father was born on September 13th, 1957. That's yes. So they're her, my father and Gloria are about the same age.

SPEAKER_01 8:38

Yeah, my mom is too. My mom and dad were the same age, yeah.

SPEAKER_04 8:43

So crazy that too, she had a greatest hits release like seven years into her career. Like that seems pretty unprecedented.

SPEAKER_00 8:52

Um I'd say yes, and it just depends. I mean, I think usually when an artist has gotten like a I think such a like her rise was unprecedented, considering I think up to that point that we hadn't had like um a Latina sort of enter into that space. Though what's interesting is when you look back at that time, all of those different Latina women were hitting at the same time. You had Lisa Velez of Lisa Lisa and Colt Jam bringing in the freestyle elements, you had Sheila Escovita, who had been doing work with her father Pete for years, up until uh she got to her own solo work working with alongside Prince in '84. And then you had sort of Angela Beaufield, who was the first RB Latina, who was breaking ground uh in 78 with the Angie album, and then she would go on to do um what is the name of that album? Angel of the Night, and then Something About You in 79, no, 80 and 81, respectively. And so Gloria kind of came in right toward the tail end. And so all of these Latino women from different backgrounds are sort of hitting both here domestically at home and abroad. It was a really amazing time. And I don't, I've not seen a lot of historians, uh, music historians talk about that in the way that they were sort of bringing in dance and pop and freestyle and some of the traditional Latin elements into that space. But I think Gloria would go on to sort of have this unprecedented rise to sort of uh forgive me for trying to get my brain together, but to sort of act sort of as almost like a nexus point for all of these different things and sort of be everything for everyone without losing touch of her roots or her or her footing. And I think that's what made it for me more sort of like in that way. But the but the greatest hits was just incredible, just in general, just the fact that she just managed to amass so many songs, um, both like I said, domestically and internationally. I know I'm like turning into a music geek, I'm so sorry. No, that's what I'm saying.

SPEAKER_02 10:50

But it it brings me to something that I've been thinking about um a lot lately, because I saw an article recently about this. And if you ask us, if you ask Rob West and I, uh, we feel actually let me, I feel, I'm not gonna speak on your behalf, Rob, or whatever Wes, but I feel that Gloria was that artist that opened the doors to so many other Latino artists, um, domestically, internationally. However, there was an article recently where there was no mention of Gloria, and they mentioned Lisa Lisa being that artist that opened the doors for so many other Latino artists. How do you guys feel about that?

SPEAKER_01 11:37

Well well, let me see. I I mean I've remember the name Lisa Lisa, but I don't know if it's just coming from me. You you know, on the radio, when you hear stuff on you know, growing up like on the radio, VH1, I mean it was Gloria. I don't know. Uh I mean Lisa did Lisa, I don't think had the commercial success. I don't know, I could be wrong, Quentin. You gotta help me out here.

SPEAKER_04 12:00

He's this I mean I know the songs, I know her music, but I I would not really credit her for the worldwide massive global success that Gloria had. Um, as far as like opening doors and leaving a legacy, she she certainly has uh a foundational uh impact, but not to the same magnitude, in my opinion.

SPEAKER_01 12:27

Yeah, she didn't have the global success. Well, I can't say that for 100% certainty. I mean, I know Lisa Lisa, and honestly, until we discussed it recently, I didn't know she was Latino. I I didn't know that.

SPEAKER_04 12:39

Oh, see, I knew that because she has salsa versions of some of her songs. Um she sings with, but like regardless, uh yeah, I think the the careers were vastly different. What say you, Quentin?

SPEAKER_00 12:52

Um, well, I think one I think what we always have to remember, and I say this respectfully, is that there is always an inherent level of um sexism and to a certain degree racism that is coded into the music, sort of historical, like how we discuss it. And you know, just in the same way, I think that people didn't always appreciate who were not who were not Latino or didn't respect Hector Laveau or they didn't respect Celia Cruz, um, Jose Feliciano, there were people who preceded Gloria. But I think what Gloria did, and very much, and I would probably draw sort of as a uh comparison to Dion Warwick, Diana Ross. So Dion Warwick to me sort of epitomized one of what I would call her sort of the first proto-black crossover artist, especially as a woman. You know, Dion was phenomenal. You know, she worked with you know Bert Bacarak and just was amazing. And then here comes Diana, along with you know, Mary Wilson and Florence Ballard as the Supremes, and you know, they they brought in a different dynamic as a group and were probably the only act to stand eye level with the Beatles in the 60s in terms of the level of commercial success and just cultural pop cultural permanence, both at home and abroad. But Diana, when she went solo, she took it to a different place. And I think Gloria was the same way, and I think it's important that when we talk about Gloria, one, we have to make sure that we talk about the fact that she did begin her career in the Spanish-speaking realm at a time when it wasn't accessible to the English popular music speaking realm. You know, we were still living in a time where um Eurovision was the thing. That's why ABBA was such a big deal, because the Western seat of power in relation to pop music sits in two places, America and United Kingdom. That's why Eurovision was a big deal, because it was a way for acts to compete outside of those spaces, and then ABBA went on to become this huge international act. But bringing it back to Gloria, I think Gloria started at a time when Latin music was almost on the periphery or was used in an ornamental way. It hadn't been able to sort of cross over in that way. But I mentioned her with those other women because all of those women, from major to minor, and there's different levels of impact, were all contributing something to the space. But Gloria would take it to a different area. One because Gloria was a songwriter, Gloria was operating both would sort of do a two-pronged approach, both with dance music and with adult contemporary pop music. And as a result of that, I think that allowed her to go even farther along the pike. And then once she sort of used the, especially the dance pop element as a wedge to get her foot in there to sort of build up that sort of um commercial sort of cloud, kind of in the same way I feel that a lot of her pop genre peers, like uh Madonna would do, and even uh their foremother, once they got that space with dancers and getting them their platform, they began to go off and do other things. So I think like Gloria would go on to do some of her most amazing cutting-edge work through the 90s. But in relation to people leaving, um, Lisa Velez's impact is important, just to be clear, because she brought the freestyle element in, which is a sort of a offshoot, it's sort of a combination of hip-hop music and RB and dance.

SPEAKER_05 16:04

Totally.

SPEAKER_00 16:04

And you wouldn't actually have a Jennifer Lopez without Lisa Velez. And they had they were commercially successful in the sense that they those first three records were were huge. You know, I wonder if I take you home, which is a big uh international record at the same time that Dr. Beat was, um, head to toe. And so you could see that sort of way that in the way how Jennifer Lopez combines, you know, the more traditional African-American urban elements as well as the um Latin American urban elements and pop elements was from Lisa. But again, they both owe a debt to Gloria because Gloria would go on to become the most visible, the most versatile. And just amount just due to her amount of time, her commercial presence and such, you know, in regards to her not being mentioned, I think that's just unfortunately, as I was sort of alluding to and I kind of got away from the music critical space, could still be much uh a space where we're subject to the bias or biases, if I'm saying this correctly, for plural form, of whatever the respective writer is. So if they don't see Gloria as someone who's important or her ubiquity because of her presence, her omnipresence, they're like, oh, well, she's everywhere. We don't need to focus on her. You can make a case for focusing on Lisa Velez, but you don't have to undercut Gloria, which is why I see it as a space of sharing. But Gloria, very much like Diana Ross, you can't deny her impact. It's everywhere. And as I've said to Wes many times, um, they need to run her her rock haul nominations in the same way that she received, she got to the songwriters hall of fame, first Latina to do so. There would be the modern Latin crossover format would not exist without Gloria. The record that Bad Bunny took from her that 60 plus weeks on top of the U.S. Latin album charge, which was inaugurated with the Meteor album, that was a Gloria Estefan record. The first Latin artist who headline the Super Bowl twice, Gloria Estefan, it all comes back to her and the groundwork that she laid, as well as her husband Emilio. And when you look at almost every major Latin artist um that has found success, in some way or another, has touched what the Estefans has built. You know, so I didn't mean to go on a whole tangent, but there's room for everybody. But that particular writer, they don't have to lay Gloria low to live Lisa up. I think there's room for both, but you can also be realistic in terms of um recognizing not so much a pecking order, but that each person has their own sort of constellation in the sky. There's room for everybody, totally. And um, you know, because you guys know I'm a huge Lopez fan. I love her. That's my lady. But there would be no Chinfa Lopez without Gloria. It that's just a fact, and so yeah, so that was my whole thing. Sorry for the tangent.

SPEAKER_02 18:43

No, you're listening. I can listen to you gold on and on all day. So do not apologize. And the fact that a lot of this information that you just shared is just readily available, like off the top of your head, it's just amazing. It it amazes me. So I'm I'm gonna quote you. You mentioned in one of your articles what kept me coming back to Estefan's albums through the years is her unflinching at uh oh I'm sorry, attention to detail. When you talk about Gloria's attention to detail, what are some moments or songs where you really hear that come through?

SPEAKER_00 19:15

So I don't know if you guys have ever noticed. This is kind of a maybe a weird thing. And I don't I don't know if it's the late great George Cassis. I'd have to look in the sleeve notes for my records to see, but they have a very specific, there's a picking style in the guitar and her guitar that dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun, you know, just like the way they play the guitar, you hear it in like um that one, the rhythm is gonna get you, you hear it at the end of our real woman on Gloria. These little hallmarks that if you're into her work and her production sort of hallmarks or flourishes, you'll you'll notice that. But and I it's it's those little things that I love, the way um uh they do their string charts. I think the way that Gloria's voice is mic'd and how whether she's in English or Spanish, there's a specific uh tone and richness and resonance in what she does. Um, I think the collaborations that she's done. I just think that if you're someone who has an ear for music, how can you not appreciate what she does? To me, uh it just it's just it's it's it's it's a no-brainer. It's a sort of quote um Rose Verne from Bridesmaids, Bridesmaids, excuse me, the movie. It's a Fritz Bernay. Like it's it's you know, it's like it's a Fritz Brene. Like, I mean, it's Gloria, man. Like, come on, like it just I the records are so immaculately produced, not overproduced, they're they're they're produced, they're they're well done, they're tailored. Um, everything is where it needs to be, but it doesn't feel so overly fussy that it's not good. So I I just I love that. Like, as someone when I was starting to really buy her records in my teens at 15 and 16, I just loved how her music sounded, like coming off of my speakers in my bedroom on my little Iowa boom box or in my headset on my portable CD player. I just think her records are phenomenal. They're very just and again, it's it's it's it's a village. You have all these different people who've worked with her, joining her husband, um, Pablo Flores, you know, I've mentioned the late great George Cassis, like all these different people um who have worked with her, and it's just yeah, I love her.

SPEAKER_01 21:19

Eric Schilling, he was he he's uh uh uh a key to mastering um and recording Gloria. So he you gotta give it give a nod to him as well. Yeah, absolutely.

SPEAKER_00 21:30

Absolutely, yep, absolutely.

SPEAKER_01 21:32

And she's the guys that make some that those are the guys that make the music sound good, as you very well.

SPEAKER_00 21:38

Absolutely, and she's kept a lot of these people in her orbit. Like when you look at her sleeve notes, a lot of these people that you know, like when people are like, Oh, she sold the Miami sound machine out. That's not true. Actually, they're pretty much all over her, they're all over all of her records. I I love that shout out. And um no me my Spanish is terrible. Nome decede, when she calls out uh Tony uh Tony Mulette.

SPEAKER_05 22:01

That's right.

SPEAKER_00 22:01

And he's played, you know, I just I just, you know, that's actually one of my favorite in terms of her singles, one of her best vocal performances.

SPEAKER_02 22:09

And we love Teddy. Teddy, Teddy's.

SPEAKER_00 22:12

Oh, Teddy, Lord, not Tony, Teddy, Teddy. Teddy Teddy. Teddy's amazing.

SPEAKER_02 22:16

Actually, I we've I've seen him perform, you know, so many times, but I actually got to meet him in person and and spoke with him for a bit when I was in uh Madrid when I went to go see her in Madrid for the concert that she gave last year. And he's just not only him, the the everyone in the band so incredibly kind and generous with their time. So you besides being amazing musicians, they're just the the the kindest people in the industry.

SPEAKER_00 22:46

Yeah, absolutely.

SPEAKER_01 22:48

And you can always tell something about an artist about how awesome they are. Um to have the same crew, the same people that's followed them for decades.

SPEAKER_00 22:58

I agree, absolutely 110%.

SPEAKER_01 23:00

Because me and Carlos were at Good Morning America, and I couldn't believe I'm standing next to um Mike Scaglione, Teddy Moulette. I mean, they were all there. You know, that that just blew me away.

SPEAKER_04 23:13

So, Quentin, uh your medium article was really a love letter to um what I call like the Glorious Sons, which is a different um name than you gave it. In reading it, it it something occurred to me, and I want to see if you agree with me on this little journey or not. But after Into the Light was released, then you started talking about Mitierra, and then we start looking at the albums from the 90s that Gloria released, and none of the albums were even remotely similar to one another. They were all very, very different sonically, very different lyrically, um, melodically, everything, even from the visuals of the album, like even the packages, yeah. Exactly. Nothing felt like you know, the 80s were the 80s, and you had let it lose primitive love, all those albums that sort of could be married to one another or lead into one another. And then you have Mitiera starting something that, in my opinion, and tell me if you agree or disagree, was a series of concept albums from Gloria.

SPEAKER_00 24:15

Uh, definitely. I mean, I think because it's funny, like I said, I her that run runs parallel. Like two of my other major female recording artists have a similar run, like in that same sort of corridor, uh, Madonna and Kylie Minogue. But as it relates to Gloria, I think, because with with respect to Into the Light, I always felt like that was a transitional record because Cuts Both Ways was such a moment. That was such, you know, it was her first record of the new decade. Um, well, no, wait, because that cuts both ways is 1989, excuse me. But the record stretched into 1990. Um, but cuts both ways was such a moment, and we got to end into the light, and there's some great moments on that record, but I always felt like she was kind of holding her best back, which of course we would find that she was working on Meteera in the background. You know, she had been working on that record for a few years before she even got it out, you know, up off the ground. Um, and so by the time we got to Meetier, I just think there was a confidence, there was a sense of awareness of strength. And then from there, I think that permeated everything she would do after that. As you said, I think some of the records have more of a conceptual charge. And then, like I'd say, um, Aberindo Portez kind of feels that way to me. And maybe even Homie, Hold Me Throw Me, Kiss Me in the sense that I think like that was her love letter to English pop and popular music in the way that Meteor was her love letter to traditional Spanish music. And they're just just phenomenal records. And you said, and even though, like, you know, each one is is unique and singular in its way, I think the connective tissue that joins them is just quality, that attention to detail. And um, even if the commercial success would begin to slide primarily mostly with the English uh records, which is a shame because I think she was just doing some of her best work, she never she never lost her footing in terms of what she wanted to do. And she and she really did her own thing. And that's again, that's not to say that the records that came before Meteor were not good or the records that came after Unwrapped weren't good. I think um 90 Millas is a phenomenal record. I think that pocket, in terms of just, you know, bam, bam, bam, bam, bam, she was she was hitting it. There was a reason why they picked her for the first VH1 Vivas class because I think she just was able to stand next to all of those women and do her thing. And she also, which I love, she got the longest set of that show, which some people don't know, but she did, and it was deserved, of course. Um, so we love that for her. We love a humble but aware queen, humble but aware.

SPEAKER_04 26:52

I like that. No one's ever described her that way before, and that that really resonates with me.

SPEAKER_02 26:56

What what I loved, I'm gonna be petty for just a second, if you guys don't mind. Let's see. What I love about VH1 Divas is, and I'm I am a bit of a lamb, more so before than I am uh than now. Well, as far as Mariah's music, but I thought it was interesting how when she came out, um, she had to ask the audience to to stand and to dance. Whereas when Gloria comes out singing turn the beat around, everyone was on their feet. So, and just the the level of excitement during her performances, because even when she came back and sang, You've got a friend, when she hits that high note, when she belts out that one, you know, that one section of the song, everyone goes wild. And I just I love that for her. And Quentin, I I gotta go back to this piece, you know, the your decade piece, 90 uh 1993 to two 2003. When I read it, I didn't understand at first why you chose that decade. But as I'm reading it, as I was reading it, I just it it brought back so many memories of where I was during those times and the the level of excitement. And not to say that there weren't exciting times that I experienced after that decade, but that is such a special time. That those 10 years um when she came out with Mi Guerra, Hold Me Through me, kiss me, especially with Destiny and Gloria and Unwrapped, there's so many memories attached to those albums that I hold dear to my heart. So that's why, as I've mentioned already, I go back to that piece uh probably a couple times a year, just you know, uh just to to relive it. And you just you you spoke so eloquently, or the way that you wrote that piece, um, just as an FYI. Um, I didn't send it to Gloria today. Oh, she she's thank you.

SPEAKER_00 29:05

She's seen it, she shared it on Twitter at the time.

SPEAKER_02 29:08

She did, she did. So I uh it and I resend it to her uh today, and she um her words when she read uh uh imperial phase, the one word that she wrote back to me was fancy. I'm like I know, but it describes it, it really describes you you worded it perfectly because it was this imperial phase. So yeah, I'm sorry, I went off on a tangent now, but I just had to share that with you.

SPEAKER_00 29:39

Well, thank you. I mean, I I it's it's great to hear um that the piece moved you guys because I and I managed to tie two of my other standalone pieces I did for the Mitiera and Gloria albums in there as uh hyperlinks and um what else have I reviewed? I know I did Brazil 305 at the time uh for albumism and I did a catalog thing for her for them as well. But um I mean, I the thing about Gloria that comes to mind to me is that true power doesn't have to announce itself, it just is. And I think that when the proof is in the pudding, that's why last year felt like such a moment with three S's and just it being her 50th anniversary. And um, I don't get into like awards in that way, but I was so, so, so very happy that she got she's continued her Grammy streak with her Latin albums as all of her Latin records have won, either um a Latin Grammy or an or an English Grammy. But that that commitment to quality, sales can come and go, but it's what you leave behind on the wax, and that cannot be contested. And then I and I and I think that really is gonna be her legacy. I mean, she's got the numbers, that's a given. But numbers after a while, records can be broken, you know. But I just think like the body of work that she's left behind is just so amassed, it's just so amazing, and just I really do hope she knows and understands the way her music has been able to reach across and touch people. I mean, for me, she was the first artist that I listened to that didn't that got me to listen to music outside of English. Like, and I learned about because I didn't know this is being African-American, that the music of Cuba is different than the music of Spain, it's different than the music of um Mexico. Like there's different types. And I I remember like reading the sleeve notes for stuff like you know, Mitiara and learning about San and all the and you know, bolero and all these different things and cumbia, and all Gloria is the reason I became curious about music outside of English context. And now I listen to stuff in Japanese and German and French and Korean, and all of that comes from her. She really was, you know, the one to push me in that way. And we both had the same major in college, we're both communication majors, and um, which I love. But um, yeah, so I could go on and on about her. I just think she's the knees bees, and I'm waiting for the rock call to run for her nomination as of yesterday.

SPEAKER_02 31:59

From your mouth to God's ears.

SPEAKER_00 32:02

It's going to happen. There's no there's no other choice, it has to. I mean, it's it's a fact. There would be none of what we're enjoying today with Bat Bunny or any of these wonderful artists without Gloria, Edmundrosa, Fiardo, or Stephon. It's a fact. So they have to. They just have they have to do it. I mean, what you know, like I said, run it yesterday. I'm waiting.

SPEAKER_01 32:20

And you know, they they don't pay homage to uh the females like they should. And me and you have talked about that many times.

SPEAKER_00 32:27

Yeah, they don't. It's very hard for women of any genre or period to get in there.

SPEAKER_01 32:33

So now let's go back to um you mentioned in 2022 that one of your favorite albums of all time of Gloria's was the Gloria album. Oh, yes, and then Mitieta, and then Unwrapped. Do those albums still remain your favorites?

SPEAKER_00 32:50

So to be Gloria will always be that girl. That's in my top 20 favorite albums of all time, period. That record is everything. That record just I'll put that on at minimum three times a year and just blows my scallop back as like hearing it for the first time.

SPEAKER_02 33:05

Can you can you believe that we we played a game of Kiss Mary Kill and there were a few people? I'm not gonna name, I'm not I'm not gonna say who, but it's on the air that you can name it. A few people killed Gloria exclamation point.

SPEAKER_00 33:19

Uh that is that it that was a tragedy. I love the title too, and it again that goes this epigrammatic way, and again, it's very it's again, true power doesn't have to announce itself, it's just Gloria. And you know, I just you know, yes, that is you know, and let's also, like I said, as I you know, I love Shakira, but I had to one time let a Shakira fan have it when they tried it, and they're like, oh, something, something, and hips don't lie. I'm like, well, you do realize that she worked with Y Club Jean like a whole like what seven years before she did. So I'm like, let's let's not and say that we did. Um, no, I'm just you know, I love Shakira, but um yeah, Gloria is still my number one album from her, and that's in the top 20 of all time. Me Tierra is still in there, obviously. And Unwrapped is still in third place, but I have to say, in the last maybe two years, Alma Carabena is really beginning to pick up steam. I think vocally, that might be my favorite Gloria album. I think there's just the particular tone on that record, and there's a real kind of an energy. All of her Spanish records have a very specific kind of tonality. But Alma Carabena, and I'm just obsessed with that Dolce Angabana dress and that um what is the director? I cannot think of his name. David uh La Chappelle La Chapelle, yes, who shot that, and just my goodness.

SPEAKER_02 34:42

So many people have been giving that album so much love recently. It's like all of a sudden, that album's having like this renaissance. Yeah, um, because even we we had, yeah, no, that's great because we we we had a vinyl episode recently, and we we were asked, you know, when are they gonna release the Alma Caribeña vinyl? And that would be lovely.

SPEAKER_01 35:05

I get that question a lot on on my Instagram account. Everybody loves that that's one unwrapped and almacaribena is is they're up there, they would love a vinyl release. As we all know, they have never been issued on vinyl, so that those those two I hear quite frequently.

SPEAKER_00 35:23

But I will say about Unwrapped, one of my all-time top 10 favorite Gloria Stefan songs is on that album, which is in the meantime. That is one of my all like just as a songwriter, what she does on that particular track and the way she reads the lyric is absolutely devastating in the best way. It is just, and then and Time Waits is another one that I'm also a big fan of from that particular record.

SPEAKER_02 35:46

It's just I'm I'm a huge fan of Time Waits. Me too. That song gets me every single time, and I have to say, yeah, so in the meantime, was her writing or you know, the translation of Mientras Tanto. And I I love Gloria as a songwriter, but I also respect the way that she translates songs, like she could get a song from uh Gianmarco, uh Kiki Santander with uh No Pretendo, um, which she translated into I still um to Steal Your Heart, which for me, Steal Your Heart will always be my all-time favorite song.

SPEAKER_00 36:30

I mean, Destiny is gosh, that record. Everyone kind of like the thing is I think because Reach is so ubiquitous, but I actually find that song to be very emotional and very moving. Um, I just there's something about that particular track that I just love. Um I loved it as a kid. Um, and now of course I'm I'm in it back in Atlanta, which is where you know the Atlanta Olympics. Great video. Oh gosh, destiny. Oh, destiny, destiny. There's so much about destiny I could say. The heart never learns. Uh-huh.

SPEAKER_02 37:01

Um that's Diane Warren, right?

SPEAKER_00 37:03

No, Diane Warren.

SPEAKER_02 37:05

Oh no, no. Um The Heart Never Learns with George.

SPEAKER_00 37:08

Yep, you're right. That second verse um is my favorite on that one. Just it, and that's what I'm saying. Like, she just has so many different things that you can pick out. And I, you know, um, and there's there's certain some of Gloria's stuff, it's not, and I I'm not saying this is a bad thing, like can be heavy. So I have to be careful because some of her stuff makes me, I'm a very I'm Pisces, I'm very sensitive. So like certain things that I can't do always tomorrow because that one always um upsets it makes me very emotional when I hear it. I cry. Um here we are is another. There's certain ones that just with my own life experience. So, like, but I I think that speaks to like, and I've always, if I've ever had a chance, if I ever had a chance to ask her, because she's always had this. I'm not saying that she and Amelia probably haven't had their things, as they've been together a long time, but she seems like she has this really solid foundation, but then she'll write these songs that pull from such a painful place, you know, like they're they're coming from somewhere. She's pulling this clearly from somewhere inside of her or people around her, and obviously she's the woman who's lived a lot of life and had her ups and her downs. But um, I just often wonder, like, because she presents so you know, positive, like, where does she pull that beautiful dark matter from for some of those songs that are a bit heavier? I always wonder where that comes from. Um, because she's got some great ones in there that are just like, oh my god, they're just oh, they're devastating.

SPEAKER_02 38:29

They're just like, oh god, like yeah, it's interesting that you say that because Steal Your Heart is my, I would probably say is my favorite song. Um, competing with Destiny, the the title track. But one of my favorite verses or lyrics is from I'm Not Giving You Up when she says, Screaming in the silence, the promises we've spoken come back to haunt me, false and broken, quiet desperation to see we're lost forever, searching for water in this desert. That gets me every freaking time.

SPEAKER_04 38:59

And she says she can't be dramatic in English.

SPEAKER_01 39:00

Hello, that is that's some drama.

SPEAKER_04 39:04

That is some drama right there.

SPEAKER_01 39:06

I I gotta take it back to the heart never learns because I don't want to um miss this guy because he was a huge of their career. Larry Dermer also was a writer. Oh, yeah. And Larry Dermer goes all the way back to primitive love era. Like Larry Dermer, he he's all over Glorious Career. If you you know you look at the Linux the the uh credits. Um Larry Dermer was a was a special part of that.

SPEAKER_02 39:33

I think I looked him up recently uh online just to see, you know, what he's doing. I think he's a rabbi now. He is. Oh Mr.

SPEAKER_00 39:40

Dermer is. I mean, and that's again just like the people who she's worked with have always been so so so so so so so so good. Like I'm just throwing this out there as kind of a bit of a non sequitur, but I don't ever hear people talking about it. So her cover, because as an she's Gloria, amazing songwriter, but she's also this amazing interpreter. And um, her version of Don't Let the Sun Catch You Crying, that's a that's a top 10 for me. For me too. What I love about that is that she uses that classical music um riff, the doo-doo doo doo doo and her voice on that song. The gym no petty's number five, which Janet Jackson would sample a few years down the line for someone to call my lover, uh alongside the America sample. But I think the way she did that, how she kind of undressed the song, she took it, she took it down like sparks. It's just and it's just really, really beautiful. Like, I think just the way she interpreted that I thought was really, really bold and um affecting in the best way. Um, I also really love her version of um Love on the Two-Way Street from that record is nice. And again, mentioning just jumping back about like we were talking about just like attention to detail, the way they do their programming and synthesizers. So, like, of course, Everlasting Love from the the album version, the way just that wall of sound, that propulsive wall of sound, and they have the classic harmony from the song, which reminds me of the same way they do their programming on uh Real Woman, and then they shift back from like that sort of veil of synthesizers to like the percussion and back. It's kind of like um like a how a camera pans back and forth, very dramatic. And um Rhythm is gonna get you is another one where again they're just between the picking on the guitar and just the synthesizers, it's just like no one, the programming, like no one does anything like in the Stefan production, like no one sounds like them. And I remember when she went to work with uh Pharrell and Missile Havana, and this I was a little worried because Pharrell and his prime with Chad Hugo, to be very clear, no disrespect to Pro, but we got to give Mr. Hugo his credit in the Neptunes. And they were doing like that cutting edge shit, excuse my language, like we're talking young, fresh knew with Khaleese, and and like, you know, when they were really, you know, you know, the track with Buster Rhymes and then Khalice as well, the Buster, what it is right now. But anyway, but by the time he got to Gloria, he was already kind of like super mainstream, but he wasn't as cutting edge. So I was like, oh god. But I remember reading an interview, and this is where I mean about power doesn't have to um announce itself, it just is. She's like, okay, I'm gonna let you produce this record. But I'm going to be the one to kind of go behind you and be like, okay, if you want to synthesize here, maybe I'll take out and put some like you know, percussion here. So when you hear like the first side of that record, because you get freestyle, you get that lease the freestyle on with the title track, and then you get I can't believe, which is great because there's no backbeat. It's literally just kind of like the spine above the groove. And then when you get to heat, oh my goodness, I love Gloria was in her bag. She was in the bag on that track, she was in her bag. I said, Come on, Gloria. And I remember thinking to myself at the time because I was so worried, because I was so disappointed. Like John Endicott had done the title track to Shakira She-Wolf and Men in this town, but then Pharrell had done the rest and was awful. I just was like, This anyone could sing this mess. This is such a letdown.

SPEAKER_04 43:11

It didn't feel like a Shakira album, but it still feels like a Gloria album.

SPEAKER_00 43:14

Right, but it felt like she was pushing some of it forward. And I just I see like the first side of that record all the way up to make me say is just great. And I just, but those first three tracks, that's what I mean. Like just that attention to detail on the production end of things was just so like it just was fantastic. I was like, oh shit.

SPEAKER_02 43:34

So this was a point. I so this was Miss Little Havana, the album was a hit was a hit for you.

SPEAKER_00 43:42

I enjoy, I mean, it's it's a record that has, how can I put this? It's Glory doesn't have bad albums. I have ones I prefer more than others. I will say can in a constructive way, there were elements of it that were I appreciated her trying to experiment in certain ways. And it didn't all work. But the what When it works, it works amazing.

SPEAKER_02 44:02

Because interestingly, in the fandom, um that album is either hit or miss. Polarizing for a lot of people.

SPEAKER_01 44:11

Yeah, for me, it's a for me it's a hit. I loved it because how different it was. I loved it.

SPEAKER_04 44:17

But I will say, like, a song like I Can't Believe To go back to what you say about Anma Caribeña, I can't believe it is a vocal highlight of her career.

SPEAKER_00 44:26

It is a good it's it's it is. It's I that whole song, like I said, just the whole way, it's just there's no beat. Like it's just it's just it's just a rim shot, a continuous rim shot. Just the whole way, and then you put her vocal on top of that and the lyric, and then just you know, hi, this isn't a scene, we can have it. So I was like, I was like, I was like, I was like, yeah, heat though, he was serious.

SPEAKER_02 44:52

It wasn't my only thing was I would have I would have liked to have seen what the album would have turned out like had it been in Spanish, all Spanish from top to bottom.

SPEAKER_00 45:05

Yeah, that would have she's never done one. Well, you know what's so funny about that, and I mentioned in my piece, there was a gap of almost a decade between her last sort of full-on dance records, like there was this huge sort of stretch. Like she had dance singles and remixes, but a lot of those other albums, she was kind of going off and doing the traditional Spanish stuff and doing adult contemporary stuff, and all different types, and you know, her her um reinventing the sort of American songbook, the contemporary version of it. And I so yeah, I mean, I I I do hope we get one more English record from her, or maybe something that if not in English, something that's uh up tempo, but Raya says has a lot of groovy, like kind of dance-ready tracks on it too. I mean, I I just love that album vocally. You well, you guys, that was my number three record of the year. Yeah, I got to talk about that on MPR um at the WAB The Atlanta arm from when I did my picks of the year, and I think that was my third album of the year. I think Rhett, what did she come? She was ahead of Susan Vega and right behind Ollie Alexander. But uh yeah, I don't know. I go on about Gloria all day. I just thought and that's why we invited you. I mean, I I mean I just I know I probably sound like not like as constructive, but I mean, it's just what's not to like. I don't I don't like if someone doesn't like her, it's like their problem. I'm sorry.

SPEAKER_02 46:27

Like I I do want to have one question going back to the you know the imperial phase, yes for uh unwrapped. Why do you feel that marked the end of the imperial phase? I know that you appreciate the albums that that came after, but that was the end of the imperial phase.

SPEAKER_00 46:46

Why would you say I think there was a certain level of activity in terms of a pace that she had been maintaining up to that point by her own admission in the documentary, they took some time away. If you don't include, you know, the greatest hits, the second volume, which is his own conversation, um uh in terms of what that represented for her at the time. I think after that, her recordings became much more infrequent, still of high quality, but much more infrequent. So, like to put that into context, she had 90 miles in 07. I moved to Atlanta in 2013, which is when the standards came out, and then we didn't have another album from her again until 2020, if I'm not Brazil 305, right?

SPEAKER_02 47:29

Mm-hmm.

SPEAKER_00 47:30

Um was a step it was 2020, it was during the we were all at home. We were all love that album art for that though, it's great. But um, so I just think the Imperial phase marked a period of like sort of I won't say hyper productivity, but you know, Gloria was what in her mid to late 30s, early 40s. So just she was kind of she was she was touring, she was recording, she was doing all the things, and I think she just reached a point where she's like, I just need to kind of take a step back. And I think that's why Unwrapped kind of feels like the perfect cap. And it was also, I think, a specific creative peak. I do think there's a place to say that Nandi Millas or Rey S's feel like she's kind of come back to another like a creative peak again post-unwrapped, because Unwrapped really felt like this just sort of release of creative energy. I felt like there was a big statement that she made there, and where she began to sort of court an adult alternative sound, and she had the adult contemporary sound. There was some really cool um RB and soul rhythms that she was playing with, and then she still had some of the traditional Latin, or not so much traditional Latin, but some of I think more of the Latin music that she had done. Because I feel like all the records in the Imperial stretch, like when you look at them, so like Me Tierra influenced both Hold Me, Throw Me Kiss Me, and Destiny. No, wait, excuse me, Hold Me, Throw Me Kiss Me, Avriendo Poretes, and Me Tira both influenced Destiny, then as well as Gloria, and then I feel like Alma Carabena influenced Unwrapped in the sense that, and I've often posited this about about Celine Dion and her French record, which was amazing. When Gloria is doing a Spanish record, I think there's a volve inside of her that switches on, and I think she just gets really in touch with herself, and I felt like she carried that energy into her English records, so everything kind of felt balanced and sympathetical. And that doesn't always happen because, like, you know, mentioning Celine, like Celine will sometimes have this great French record and a good English record, but then sometimes she'll do a great French record and the English record might not be so great. Gloria has never really had that problem, and so I think her kind of maintaining that level of quality is really, really uh is I don't say it's unique to her, but it's something I think she does very well. I hope I articulate that okay.

SPEAKER_05 49:46

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 49:47

So one last thing I want to mention, you know, about the the phase, you know, phases in her career before we move on. I would what do you if you look at her career now? How would you define the era that she's in right now?

SPEAKER_00 50:01

Uh I actually have uh the neoclassicist era, maybe. I'm a big David Bowie fan, and um they sort of refer to that um period in his work, I'd say from his album in 2002, Heathen onward, up through Black Star, his final record, um as being very uh like he was recording infrequently, but the records he was doing were of a certain kind of caliber. They were very like strong. And so, like when you look at 90 Miller's, Missile Havana, the standards, Brazil 305, Estefan Family Christmas, and Re S's there might be these longer gaps, but her commitment to quality and what makes a glorious, what makes a glorious Stephon record a glorious Stephon record is still very much intact and in place. Um, I think some records might be stronger than others, but no one can deny that, like I said, there's a reason why she's been doing this for going on now 51 years. And it's just again, just that level of whether she's interpreting someone else's music, whether she's writing, whether she's doing it in English or Spanish, whether she's doing dance music or something more slower, just that her actual repertoire, her discography, the canon is so consistent. It's so consistent, and that that doesn't always happen. You'll have people who've been around who I've loved for years. I mentioned Diana Ross. I love Diana. Diana's got a really good catalog, but then she has these really weird moments where she'll have like two great records and one, like, oh girl, what's going on? You know, and I and I love and I love Diana Ross down. And you know, please, if if you guys have not made the jump, her catalog is worth exploring. But I mean, the only record, like I said, that you know, I I don't have records that there's not a bad Gloria Stefan album. There are ones that I prefer more than others. There are some that might be a bit more uneven. But on the whole, they're always, I think, just that that commitment to excellence. That's why she's still here. Because the music, if that's what I'm saying, the music is what continues to drive her, and I think it brings people into the camp, and I think it will always um keep her in conversation, always. That's what matters, like to me. I think I mean, not that we don't love her being in the over 100 million record solo club. I mean, actually, should be, but that's not why I love her. I love her because the music is good. That's right.

SPEAKER_02 52:22

So we were thinking about doing a lightning round. Are you up for it?

SPEAKER_00 52:27

Oh, of course I am.

SPEAKER_01 52:28

So we're gonna start the lightning round. And Quentin, just give us the first word and phrase that comes to mind Miami Sound Machine era. What do you got?

SPEAKER_00 52:37

Um feverishera era, legendary status.

SPEAKER_01 52:44

The Gloria era.

SPEAKER_00 52:46

Oh my gosh. I'm just gonna say Gloria. Like just like in that way, Gloria. Like that's Gloria.

SPEAKER_01 52:54

Yeah, me and you have talked. We I just love the title how they title that. Yeah, all right.

SPEAKER_00 52:59

Alma Caribena era Lush Unwrapped Embarrassment of Riches and the Raizis. Oh gosh. Um Queen shit. Queen shit. I love it. I love it.

SPEAKER_01 53:18

That's awesome.

SPEAKER_00 53:20

Not to swear, I'm sorry.

SPEAKER_04 53:22

No, you we love it.

SPEAKER_01 53:24

No, no problem with.

SPEAKER_04 53:25

We've spoken to Wes before. You know the words that come out of his mouth.

SPEAKER_01 53:30

I love that even more.

SPEAKER_02 53:33

So point, and we're we're gonna be wrapping up soon, but I there is there is something that I'm gonna throw out there. Okay, so you've authored your record redux series for artists like Spice Girls, Kylie Minogue, and others. Yes, is there ever a world where we could see a record redux for Gloria?

SPEAKER_00 53:53

Well, Gloria was in the run. I was there was a whole run of these, and that's a whole other separate conversation for another day, maybe where we all can have drinks off the record because I love what I do. But I'll be I've been doing my professional writing career 20 years this December.

unknown 54:08

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 54:08

Um, my first article ran in the Dayton City paper many moons ago. Gloria was on that list, and I still I feel like I'm winding down the record redox because I took a lot. The only books that are in circulation right now are the um The Spice Girls and Kylie Minogue. I'm actually ready to start work on the third edition of the Kylie Minogue book. But I still actually do the art, the one of that roster that I had picked, because Gloria was in the roster, um, that I still want to do is Gloria. I still would love to write about Gloria, or even if not doing it as a um record redux series book, I would just love to do a book on Gloria, period, on in that sort of a similar style. From that first record in 75 all the way up through Tore's. I think there's something there to be explored. And like I, you know, hearing all your stories, like, you know, I she and I have only communicated on Twitter where she's like shared some of my stuff, which is like, you know, because I never I never go into this like to meet the artist I love. I'm sort of like a conduit to express what their music means to me and to connect it to other people and sort of let their music work through me. But when I've had those moments to connect with artists that I love, just to be able to say, like, your music has touched me and and thank you. But I think it's so cool that you guys have built these really cool relationships with Gloria.

SPEAKER_02 55:23

You're not stalkers like us.

SPEAKER_00 55:25

Well, I wouldn't say you're stalkers. I think you're people who you are you are people who've done great things for her and for the community. And I think that not to sound like new agey, but I think you connected with her as it was meant to. But I often say if I ever had a chance to like meet her in person, one I would just be to thank her for what she's done, just putting this music into the world. But I would love, love, love, love, love to either interview her or just to be able to talk at length with her about her catalog. Because I always feel like she ends up in front of people, not all people, but some people who will ask her the same questions. I get so annoyed. And like she's only, you know, our people are only here for so long before they transition. And Glory's not going anywhere. She's a very healthy lady. But I really would love to have people ask her about destiny or about unwrapped or Gloria or these records and not just the hits, just like, you know, what what where were you in your mindset when you were creating this? What were you thinking? Because I did my best when I did my piece to sort of go in and research and try to pull in interviews and see where she was and stuff like that. And so, you know, there's just so much more to her than Conga and Get On Your Feet, which are again great songs, don't get me wrong, but she's got this whole catalog sitting right here. Let's talk about that.

SPEAKER_02 56:44

But that makes yeah, but that make that's what makes you stand out from you know, we've read Rob Wes and I, we've read every single interview, every single article, and yours always stand out from everyone else's because of that reason. Thank you. You're very kind, and it's not because I know you by any means.

SPEAKER_04 57:04

Like no, I know you're phenomenal. But um, thank you. But as we wrap up here, Quentin, stay in that mindset for just one more second. You're imagining that you're speaking to Gloria and you could ask her anything or whatever, but if you could say something to her as a fan, as a writer, what would you what would your message to her be just overall?

SPEAKER_00 57:25

Um, well, just first of all, thank you for what you do for the collective good of the world, putting art into the world that heals people, it touches people, it helps us celebrate, it helps people connect, um, and discover their own dreams. And um if I've and just as a selfish, a politely selfish aside, like Lucky Girl from Gloria is it. Yeah, that is it, baby. She was killing, you're killing it on that track. You were killing it. I was like, You you could tell Gloria was feeling her like those those pumps with the strappy things on the cover. She was feeling the strappy pumps on the cover with that track. I was I was like, and the orchid in her ass like she was feeling it, the Matthew Rolston fantasy, she was feeling it, which I'm all I'm here for.

SPEAKER_04 58:12

I love that. I love that. Thank you so much for being with us, by the way, for so long. Uh, we really appreciate your time. Uh thank you for having me. But before we say goodbye all the way, do you have uh a let it loose prepared to share with us today?

SPEAKER_00 58:27

Well, let it loose. What would I let it loose on? Like, could this just be anything?

SPEAKER_02 58:30

Just yes, just anything, whatever you want to let it loose on.

SPEAKER_00 58:44

Um, we just need more love. Like, I um I'm I'm happy for y'all vinyl folks and all, but but we CD folks, I'm a CD man. We need we need some we need some we need some loving too. Like, we need like a CD box set kind of thing going on, CD reissue thing going on, like um no, shameless foil. I'll do the least sleeve notes for free. No, I'm just kidding. No, I actually know I'm not kidding about like I would do I'll do them like for you for free for her. Um, but just I'm being silly, but yeah, just more CD more love for the CD format. But I love y'all vinyl folks. I want you, I'm glad y'all get in your absolute lives.

SPEAKER_01 59:26

I'm with you. I have way more CDs than I do vinyl. So I'm just I say a record collector and all, not necessarily just vinyl, but but yeah, I feel you, you know my thoughts on that.

SPEAKER_00 59:36

Yes, yes, we've discussed that many, many, many times.

SPEAKER_02 59:39

Yes. When you know that we could just go on for hours. Um, but thank you so much for hanging out with us today. This uh this actually meant a lot to us that you took the time to to talk, all things Gloria, and we just love your perspective.

SPEAKER_00 59:57

Well, well, thank you, and I appreciate you guys having me here. And I think that you guys are to be are doing wonderful, wonderful, wonderful things for Gloria and Emilio and just the overall community. And it's refreshing to hear a podcast that is so itself, but you're not based in the whole bunch of like catty obnoxiousness and a bunch of silliness, which would make me roll my eyes. You guys actually have something to say, and I think you guys know how to use your um platform. So please keep up the good work. And um I can't wait to see what you guys are gonna do next. And hopefully I didn't come off as too much of a um crazy rah-rahra.

SPEAKER_01 1:00:34

No, you know, not one bit at all. We're already wanting you to come back.

SPEAKER_04 1:00:40

Where where can people find you uh if they want to follow you on social media?

SPEAKER_00 1:00:44

Um, I am active on Instagram as Disco Wallflower. That's one word. And you can also follow me uh at at Disco Wallflower on Blue Sky.

SPEAKER_04 1:00:55

Fantastic. And we will be linking uh your incredible articles in our show notes for today. Um, we just thank you so much for your time.

SPEAKER_00 1:01:02

Thank you for having me. Can't wait to uh see what you guys do next. Thank you guys.

SPEAKER_04 1:01:06

Thank you, thank you so much, Quentin. That was an incredible conversation. We learned so much about Gloria's history, we learned so much about other people's perspectives. Uh, we're gonna link all of Quentin's incredible articles in our show notes so that you can give yourself a deep dive and give yourself some homework because they're beautiful reads.

SPEAKER_02 1:01:25

Um I want him to come back already. I know.

SPEAKER_04 1:01:30

You know, I was thinking um a meeting of the minds would be interesting to see him with our friend Angel Max, who always sends us incredible. Oh, that would be great. I know. All right, there we go. Yeah, the wheels are turning. So Angel Max, if you're if your ears are burning while you're listening to this, it's because we're talking about you. Uh that's gonna do it this week for Let It Loose. If you like this episode, don't forget to rate, review, subscribe, leave us five stars, follow us everywhere at Let It Loose Pod. Email us your thoughts and ideas at let it loosepod at gmail.com. So we will see you next week. See you next week. That's Little Way Wolf. Thanks everyone.

SPEAKER_03 1:02:09

See you next week. Thank you for listening to Let It Loose, a Gloria Estic fan podcast. Let It Loose is produced by Carlos, Rob, and West with graphic design by Laura. Thank you to Gloria for bringing us all together. Subscribe, rate, and share the love. And join us next week for a brand new episode.