SPEAKER_02 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 Estefan, 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_03 0:27

Welcome back, everybody, to another episode of Let It Loose. My name is Rob. I'm Wes, and I'm Carlos. And today's episode, we've got people from all over the world. We are basically Mr. Worldwide today on the show. We're honoring Gloria's unique gift of being a bilingual artist. A really kind of interesting idea of people who learned either English or Spanish because of Gloria's music. So I'm really excited to get our guests on the show today.

SPEAKER_04 0:53

Absolutely. And we have friends from different corners of the world. So this is exciting to get to hear everyone's perspective and um, you know, how they they started in into this fandom or what got them started, you know. Um so it's gonna be exciting to meet with them.

SPEAKER_03 1:14

Yeah, this was a little bit of me geeking out um as like the teacher or the linguist or the like the education nerd. Like, how did you learn English? How did you learn Spanish? So this was kind of my idea that you let me run with. So I'm excited.

SPEAKER_01 1:29

Yeah, I'm excited. Um, one of the guys we're having on, Rafael from Brazil, I've known for years, and finally we met for the first time in Chile about a month ago, and um, yeah, it it's it was great meeting him after knowing him for 20 plus years online. Such a sweetheart.

SPEAKER_04 1:47

Yeah, I got to meet him for the first time. I got to meet him for the first time at that concert in in Madrid. Um, we also have Owen that's uh joining us, and I got to meet him at that same concert uh as well, as well as Austin. So, yes, today's gonna be jam-packed because we do have quite a few guests. So we're gonna wrap up this segment, uh, go into our this week in Gloria History because we're gonna have plenty to talk about with our guests today.

SPEAKER_01 2:18

All right. Ready for a quiz? I'm gonna see if you guys know. Oh no. Here we go. Um, what was the second single from Into the Light? Which song? I think it was Seal R Fate. It must have been Seal Our Fate. Yes, it was. Yes, it was. And Seal R Fate was released in the US this week on April 16th. Um funny enough, it we have international fans. Internationally, it was released like a month before. Um, back in the day, things weren't released all on the same day like they are now. Um, and Seal R Fate, I feel, is a fan favorite, one of my favorites. The music video was a great music video directed by Kenny Ortega. And as you all know, international or Pepsi was one of the sponsors of the tour, so there was a CLR Fate music well commercial with using the song CLR Fate. I don't know if it was broadcast worldwide, but definitely in the US. So I'm sure you all remember that.

SPEAKER_04 3:18

I remember that one, yeah, for sure. And that video was was hot. It was it was unfortunate that it wasn't as big as we would have loved, especially to see Gloria um do some choreography. Yeah. Uh that was fun to to see.

SPEAKER_01 3:34

Yeah. Yeah, that and that's a lot of com there's a lot of comments that I get that they're surprised that the song. Some people will say they were surprised that it was a single, some people were surprised that it, you know, it didn't perform as well as it should have. So I get a little bit of both of that. But I I feel it was probably because it was such a different type of song for her than what people were used to.

SPEAKER_04 3:56

Oh, it was a complete departure, yeah, yeah, from what we were used to. Absolutely.

SPEAKER_03 4:01

Yeah, I think very like rock and roll almost, a little pop, like, and didn't have necessarily too much of that Latin sound that people associated with her at the time. At all.

SPEAKER_01 4:10

Exactly. Exactly. It performed very well in Europe. It was like peaked at number 24 in the UK.

SPEAKER_03 4:17

I feel like Europe is more forgiving for like letting artists explore their artistry. Like the US, this is a rabbit hole, but I feel like the US is more you're one thing, you're pigeonholed, and this is what we expect from you. Gonga Gonga Gonga. Um, other countries uh are a little bit more accepting of like wherever the artist is at, whatever the story they want to tell, tell it, and we'll are along for the ride.

SPEAKER_04 4:47

I feel like people outside of the US, and I mean, it's not fair to everyone that lives here in the US, but if kind of you know, piggybacking off of what you're saying, I feel people are outside um or internationally are willing to explore different sounds, yeah, um different languages, different languages for sure.

SPEAKER_01 5:09

We could use that example for me theta, the single. It didn't chart in the hot 100 in the US, but look how well it performed, and it was like number 10 in the UK. How you know it was the album was peaked at number 10, as we all know, because it was just Bad Bunny just broke her record.

SPEAKER_04 5:29

Gloria's Music has built bridges across languages and cultures, and today we are meeting three fans who have made those bridges just a little bit smaller. We're chatting with three fans from different parts of the world who tell us that they were inspired to either learn English or Spanish, all because of Gloria's music. Joining us today, we've got Owen from Ireland, Austin from Spain, and Rafael from Brazil. This might be our most international episode yet. Hello, guys. Welcome, everybody.

SPEAKER_00 6:00

Hi Hola, hi everyone.

SPEAKER_04 6:02

I'm gonna try my Portuguese right now. Como vai você? Tudo bem, tudo bem. I know that one.

SPEAKER_03 6:11

You're good.

SPEAKER_04 6:13

I actually studied uh uh Portuguese for quite some time, so but it's one of those things where if you don't use it, you lose it. So you know I learned very little at the Apple store.

SPEAKER_03 6:23

I know how to say you have to go wait in line.

SPEAKER_04 6:26

Right now, the one that I'm focused on, I I've actually been learning Japanese for the past year. So wow, yeah, maybe Japanese is easier than Portuguese. Well, no, Portuguese for me was much easier because it's so similar to Spanish.

SPEAKER_08 6:42

Yeah, kind of, but uh even the Brazilians don't know how to speak Portuguese correctly, so it's a difficult language. Wow.

SPEAKER_01 6:50

Me and you were chatting about that in Chile. I asked you that question. Remember, as it is it it would uh Spanish would obviously be easier for for you to understand than me. Be in the white person.

SPEAKER_08 7:00

There are so many tricks because yeah, because some words uh you think that means something, but it's the opposite, but uh they are similar words.

SPEAKER_01 7:09

Thanks again, guys, for coming on. We really appreciate it. All right, so can you tell us where you are from and your original language?

SPEAKER_05 7:18

Well, I'm Austin and I'm from Spain. Of course, my main language is Spanish. And I'm so happy to be here with you guys.

SPEAKER_03 7:26

I was really looking forward. Oh, we're so happy to have you. We're happy to have you. Yes, definitely.

SPEAKER_00 7:33

Well, I'm Owen from uh Dublin, Ireland, and my native language is uh English, and I'm delighted to be part of this podcast too. Awesome. Thank you, Owen, for being here.

SPEAKER_08 7:46

Hi, my name is Rafael, I'm from Brazil, the south of Brazil. Um, my language is is Portuguese, and um a little bit of Spanish and English because of Gloria.

SPEAKER_04 8:01

Awesome, and just notice how Rafael was not happy to be here because he didn't mention that, so we could kick him out right now. No, I'm super happy, I'm just nervous. No, don't be nervous.

SPEAKER_03 8:14

Um, don't be happy, just be nervous.

SPEAKER_01 8:17

Okay, I'm totally nervous and extremely happy. Okay, don't be nervous. Me and you have met known each other for probably 20 years, 20 plus years.

SPEAKER_08 8:28

23 years, yeah. It all started with uh on the Conga mailing list. Yeah, uh I started uh hearing Gloria in the early 2000, and we don't have we didn't have uh Instagram or YouTube at the time, so all all the information that that I was able to get from Gloria was this mailing list, and that's uh where I found uh Wesley and we started chatting chatting and talking in the um Microsoft uh Messenger.

SPEAKER_01 9:08

Me and Rob were just chatting about MSN Messenger just a couple of weeks ago. Yeah, I I hadn't heard that in a long time.

SPEAKER_03 9:16

Rafa, you're a natural because you're a natural because we were just about to ask how your fandom began to the three of you. So at what age did you discover Gloria's music or what song was it? What album was it? Rafa, we can start with you.

SPEAKER_08 9:33

It was uh 2001. We the DVD players were uh were getting popular in Brazil. I was 15 and I and I got this diva's live DVD, and I had no idea who Gloria Stefan was because hearing that name, I I thought it was like an opera singer or something lyric. I don't know. Wow, I had no idea who was Gloria Stefan, and when she took the stage, uh singing turned a bit around, it was love at first sight, and then I started to collect uh her her DVDs. The next was uh the Don't Stop DVD, and by that time I was completely uh addicted to her and listening to her uh day and night, and my mother was getting crazy with me because she she was saying again this music, again, Glory Stephan and I go, Yes, again. Wow, we have the same mom. Yeah, same here.

SPEAKER_04 10:30

I think all of us maybe sound familiar again. Same here. Um just just so you know, uh, and I'm gonna segue off too, but since we're talking about moms, this is now Rob, correct me if I'm wrong. This is episode 12, right? Yes, 12 episodes in, and my mom still has not acknowledged the fact that I have a podcast about Gloria Stephon. Oh, yeah. Because I'm sure in her mind, she's thinking, why hasn't he created a podcast about me? Where's a podcast about your mother? So yeah. Um that uh so so you started off with Diva's Lives. That was your introduction. You you purchase the the Don't Stop, which was an amazing collection of music videos, and I'm assuming at that point you just go down this rabbit hole of just collecting everything, Gloria Stefan. And at that point, did did uh did the music that she was releasing at that point what interested you, or were you equally as interested with the older music uh as well? Like let's say her music from the 80s?

SPEAKER_08 11:46

No, I I already was uh a fan of 80s music. Okay, because I was born in 86, and uh I I got a really good memory. I remember songs from I from my childhood, and of course, mainly from the the 90s, but I was born in '86. So that the sound was familiar to me. That kind of drums, the kind of uh uh of uh arrangements, and I was uh I I I I did know some songs of her, but I didn't know it was her. They used to play a lot bad boy in Brazil, they played uh Words Get in the Way on the radios. Uh but I I never um made a relation of the song with the person who was singing it until I got those DVDs. That's a very common thing.

SPEAKER_03 12:36

We hear a lot of people say that actually.

SPEAKER_04 12:38

Yeah, so yes, Austin, for how about for you? Like, at what point did you become a fan?

SPEAKER_05 12:44

Well, I have two stories about this because with the conscience, it was when Gloria album came out. I was nine, and it was like my first album that I bought with my money, mom, please. I need this album, I need it, and then Don't Stop DVD came out, so it was all like Rafael said, it was like all that the Diva Gloria thing, you know. I was nine, it helped a lot to build my own music taste, even my identity, you know, guys, what I'm talking about. Yeah, yeah. But that was when I was nine. But when I was one year old, my parents bought like the first BHS player with like the tape ones, and they recorded accidentally homecoming concert. So oh my god, they played over and over and over again, and then I came out from the bedroom with a little towel, like she did with like rhythms calling again. Oh, that's great. The audience they chill for me, and all that. That was the first time I connected with Gloria. But then when I was nine, Gloria came up, and then I started listening to the previous autos and all that, and I loved every single song.

SPEAKER_04 13:55

That's amazing. And correct me if I'm wrong, but I think the Gloria album in Spain was a huge album. It was a huge album.

SPEAKER_05 14:03

I remember I remember it was summer, and we went on vacation always to our flat in the beach. And I remember waking up every day, and you put TV and Gloria is in every single uh program and channel and everything. I remember the TV, official TV from Spain, took the I Just Wanna Be Happy song. So it was like the summer song from every single thing. So I was like Gloria, glorified at that time.

SPEAKER_04 14:30

That's a fan favorite. In Spain, there were there were three, was it three hits? Was was Corazón Prohibido a hit in in Spain?

SPEAKER_05 14:39

Uh-huh. Yeah. Corazon Prohibido, Cuba Libre, oye.

SPEAKER_04 14:43

That amazes me that Cuba Libre was was a hit over there. I I love the fact that Cuba Libre was a hit.

SPEAKER_05 14:50

A huge hit, in fact. It was like everywhere.

SPEAKER_03 14:53

Yes, but you can tell because like you watch the when you watch the Madrid concert back because it aired on TV here, you see every person in the audience, even people who I don't know because there are a lot of familiar faces, obviously, from being a fan for so long, but people who are just madrileños who came to the show hanging on to every single lyric of every single song, even songs that I'm like, there's no way they know that song. They all knew every word. It's incredible to see her impact resonating through all of Spain.

SPEAKER_04 15:21

Yeah, that that concert was wild. I've never I've never experienced anything like that. And all three of you were were there. And I mean, you guys in Spain know how to party. You guys know how to throw a party, that's for sure. I I would say the only downside of the concert was the fact that it was outside in the middle of the day. Was it hot as hell? Or what? It was it was it was so hot, but I mean, and then it didn't help that you know Gloria was playing and we're all dancing, jumping around like you know, lunatics, but it was it was fun. It was so hot.

SPEAKER_08 16:00

I was trying to not faint because my my my heart beating was so fast, and I was thirsty and I didn't want to drink water because I didn't want to go to the bathroom. It was like uh like a war to me, but it was it was great, a great concert. The last time I had seen her in concert was in 2009 on Buenos Aires. That was the first concert that I saw. And then 16 years, uh yeah, 16 years later, uh, and to me, she was even better. She was so so powerful. Uh, I was I was blunt.

SPEAKER_04 16:34

And that says a lot because I know that that concert in Buenos Aires, that was a that was a show. I think it ended up being like three hours long. It was like two hours and 40 45 minutes.

SPEAKER_08 16:47

Wow, people wouldn't let her go.

SPEAKER_04 16:51

Yeah, that's that's awesome. Uh oh and how about for you? When did it all start for you?

SPEAKER_00 16:57

Okay, well, compared to the last two guys, I feel really, really old. The year that I discovered the uh Gloria gifts away, uh but in my age, it was 1988, right? So I was 12 years old the time, and I remember the day, clear as a bell. Uh it's funny enough, it's just we've been like me and my family, we've just been watching Dirty Dancing movies, right? And you know Jennifer Gray, she had that perm hair similar to Gloria and that kind of thing, and same kind of hype. And when that movie ended, we switched over to the music channels, right? And there was anything for you. And if you want to say, Jennifer Gray released a music video or something, you know, for the first few seconds episode video. But anyway, from then that point, it got my attention there, and I thought, wow, beautiful woman, great song, you know. I it kind of raised uh my awareness of who she is, and I followed the next few singles that came out, and then what really feel the deal for me was when she had a huge hip, we can't stay away from you and then that was what almost 40 years ago, and here we are.

SPEAKER_04 18:03

Oh wow. So so your the exposure was that music video, anything for for you. Had you heard uh anything, uh any of her songs, uh you know, once you started exploring her catalogue, were there any songs that you were familiar with that you said, oh wow, I didn't know it was her.

SPEAKER_00 18:23

It's funny you mentioned that because um when I got the long form video for evolution, one with all her uh hit some uh let it lose anything from you, right? I'm watching it, right? And then when Bad Boy came up, we said, Hey, we thought we've seen this video before, the one with the cat. Uh we didn't really associate lawyer with that, and then all the people also said, Oh, she was the one that did Dr. Beat. Which was a huge hit uh in the UK. Yeah, but you see, that's the funny thing is I didn't really get into music because the uh I was born deaf, right? So, you know, limited hearing and all that kind of thing. But I learned to appreciate music as I got older, you know. That's when I really got into it with 87. So Dr. Beat and Bad Boy to Dog and Bean hissed back then.

SPEAKER_03 19:07

Bad boy, it's funny that you bring up that video. I don't know if I've ever mentioned it, but that video with the cats used to give me such nightmares. Because growing up in like the New York City area, there there were commercials every five minutes for the musical cats, the Andrew Lloyd Weber musical cats would air that commercial of the cats like crawling through the audience and touching people in the in the seats, and it would give me a full body panic. And then all of a sudden, my safe space, Gloria Stefan, decides I'm gonna do a music video with all these cats, and I would be up all night just like terrified that those cats were gonna come get me.

SPEAKER_04 19:47

Rob, thank God that the music video was about cats and not birds because fun fact, Rob is deathly afraid of birds, and the whole world belongs to them.

SPEAKER_01 19:58

And now you have cats.

SPEAKER_08 20:00

You're right, they used to be dinosaurs, you're right.

SPEAKER_04 20:04

They used to be dinosaur dinosaurs. That's funny. So, Austin, so you know, the the the reason for this episode is not only you know for us to um uh bring everyone together, you know, all these international fans, because we're from every part of the world, but one of the things that you guys have in common is the fact that Glory are glorious music inspired you to learn another language. So, Austin, in your case, you were inspired to learn English. Is that correct?

SPEAKER_05 20:37

Is that so correct? Because you know, I grew up in the south of in a small city and I didn't speak any English like at all, but I was completely obsessed with her music. I didn't understand the words, but you know, I could feel like something in that pushed me to listen to her songs like over and over again and try to imitate the songs before even knowing what they meant. And then suddenly I started looking for the lyrics when the internet came out and translating them word by word, and without realizing I was like learning English, like by through emotion, not through rules or lessons or something like that, which I think it's the key for education, like I agree emotional, and so I think basically Gloria was my first first first English teacher ever, and she doesn't even know it. So she was my first one.

SPEAKER_03 21:34

Is there a song that like made you want to like pull the trigger and start teaching yourself? Like, I need to know every meaning behind this one song. Yeah, of course.

SPEAKER_05 21:45

When Gloria came out, I I like translated all those songs, but when I listened to Conga, I was like, What the what what what and it was like okay, I need to know what this what this means. So I started with Conga, I can remember that. Like Conga.

SPEAKER_03 22:00

You're like, wait, what am I shaking? Oh, okay, my body, that's fine.

SPEAKER_04 22:05

And then, and then years later, then she decides to come out with the Spanish version.

SPEAKER_05 22:11

Yeah. Well, but that helped me like to learn most of the English that I have. My English is not very good looking.

SPEAKER_04 22:21

No, it is perfect.

SPEAKER_05 22:22

It's better than mine. I don't think so. But you know, I'm a singer, so that kind of learning her songs helped me a lot to learn my own songs and my the songs I have to sing. So, teacher in many ways, like musical and language teacher. So thank you, Claudia.

SPEAKER_04 22:40

Awesome. And Rafael, how about for you? Was there a specific song um that you listened to that you were like, I need to know exactly what what the meaning is?

SPEAKER_08 22:51

Uh there is there is one song. Um, because uh I had uh English classes in the school, but the basic English, just to to get familiar with the with the language. And uh some and the the teacher came to us and said, you have to bring one song to the class with the lyrics, and we're going to translate with all the with everybody here. We're gonna is going to translate the song together. So uh so they were bringing CDs with uh the songs they had choose, and I and I took my DVD from from Diva's Live because I wanted to everybody to see her singing and performing. So we we showed the class uh Haven't What I Feel and then translated. And the curious thing about this those div those musical DVDs in Brazil is that the subtitles uh were never in Portuguese. We just had the English subtitles and Spanish subtitles. So uh that that uh forced me to to know what the the song was was saying to me. And it was like an exercise to listen what she was singing and reading at the same time. So that's uh the first song I remembered to translate and to share with with my with my class.

SPEAKER_04 24:14

Interesting. And so we know that Gloria, throughout many years, has recorded uh some of her songs in Portuguese. How do you feel when she you know uh when she interprets a song um like don't want to lose you in Portuguese or um your love is bad for me?

SPEAKER_08 24:36

Well, I I love those versions. Uh the interesting for me is that when you change the the the language, uh even if you're talking or or singing, your voice changes completely. She has a completely different voice in Portuguese to me. Uh it's like a sweeter voice, I don't know, like more soft, more I don't know how to say, it's different. And she she sings with the with uh the accent from Rio de Janeiro, with a different accent from from where I live and from the other parts of Brazil. So I like to hear her in Portuguese, especially when she made that the live version from of Toda para Você in Center Stage in '93. That was so perfect. I wish that was included on the Brazil 305 album. I was hoping so, but uh it didn't happen. She made this new version in Spanish instead. But I like to know that uh decades ago she was already singing in Portuguese, and that's a big tribute for us.

SPEAKER_01 25:43

That was actually the first time that I um heard her sing in Portuguese was the center stage, and then um then I got the Exitos album that had the Portuguese version on it, and yeah, that was that was great.

SPEAKER_04 25:57

Rafael, I don't know if you've noticed, but for you, I have the the Rio album in the background. Absolutely, absolutely. So Owen for oh, wait a second. Actually, before we go on to Owen, I have to say, Rafael, you guys in in Brazil can't complain because you guys had not only Rio, but then you have Brazil 305 that was dedicated to your country as well. Like you guys, you guys are a little spoiled out there, yeah.

SPEAKER_08 26:26

But uh there is something weird happening to the promoting or the selling of the I don't know, but I can't find Brazil 305 in our stores. Oh, what there is no store selling Brazil 305 in Brazil.

SPEAKER_03 26:40

Oh, that's funny. It was also hard to find in the United States. I had to go to Barnes Noble en Casa Carajo to get the Brazil 305 album.

SPEAKER_01 26:47

It may have not even been pressed in Brazil, it was only pressed in, I think, Argentina. Yeah, because CDs aren't like the CDs we have here came were were pressed in Germany because there aren't CD pressing plants anymore, which is sad. So I think that's another reason why they're hard to find.

SPEAKER_04 27:06

We may end up having um uh dedicating an entire episode to our thoughts and feelings about sewage.

SPEAKER_08 27:12

Oh god, yeah. Count me in, please.

SPEAKER_04 27:16

That'll be that'll be an intelligent.

SPEAKER_01 27:18

I need a lot of editing on that one.

SPEAKER_08 27:20

If right, Owen, we can call it go away. When they released Unwrapped in Brazil, uh I went to the store and bought my my copy, and I was happy because I was getting home and watched the famous DVD. So when I opened the the case, there was only the CD inside.

SPEAKER_03 27:40

Oh, that's what I'm saying.

SPEAKER_08 27:42

I was going to have a copy with DVD the years later. By I don't I don't remember. I I I imported a copy.

SPEAKER_01 27:50

You sent you sent me a copy. Oh, I remember. You you sent me that.

SPEAKER_08 27:54

Yeah, I sent a copy only the CD to Asley, yeah, back in the day.

SPEAKER_05 27:59

Here in Spain we have both, like the CD and the DVD thing.

SPEAKER_04 28:03

There were both things are different. I think I think in the in the US and in Spain, I think we're a little spoiled. It's true. Um with you know, uh, as far as that. I think everywhere uh everywhere else, I think it's a little bit more of a mission to try to get a hold of certain items.

SPEAKER_03 28:20

Owen, um, we would like to know from you now what was the song in a different language, maybe Spanish or Portuguese, that resonated with you and kind of made you want to learn that language.

SPEAKER_00 28:32

Well, I'd like to give uh a bit of context and uh the background before I start to learn Spanish. As you know, a fa a fan in Ireland, I'd been exposed to Spanish music to Gloria and the cutboat with the album, you know, uh Ceboya Pardete, oye me canto, and then we had the Exquito's album, and then coming out of the dark, uh the Spanish version, right? I kind of enjoyed these songs, they were good, but I was happy with the majority of the English catalogue at this point there. And it wasn't only till I learned Spanish that I realized I made a big, huge mistake thinking that these songs were actually direct translations of the English version, which was actually a huge mistake that I later learned on. But what the catalyst was for me was that when the album Meteor came out, and that was a that was a big risk for me, uh you know, uh uh a young white Irish gay boy in Ireland, uh getting this big tropical uh album head to toe in Spanish, right? And I thought it was gonna be very hard to get into because I was kind of expecting a little bit more mainstream pop, just like the Spanish language version we had in the past, and then meet hero what kind of oh, this is quite hardcore, very uh heavy tropical rhythms and things like that. But I persisted with it, you know, even though I could not understand the word. The only words I knew at this point were like hola, adios, uh yes, that's the chico, whatever. That was the end of my understanding of Spanish. And then after I persisted with listening to uh Metiara, oh, that was that was just a day where I was just absolutely blown away. I thought I knew what uh your music was after that album came along. You know, you didn't need to understand the lyrics, but it's just the music was amazing there. You could feel the emotion and the up temple rhythm, and it kind of inspired me to a point I have to know what the hell is she singing about. So glad you knew that some of the ballads were obviously ballads, right? But then when you had songs like Me Tira, the I'd only seen a two-minute video of Me Tierra, and you see her dancing around there, and I think, oh, this is just about some Cuban rhythm. The video doesn't really offer much context at all as to what it really is all about. So I just completed the first year in university, and when we get a summer break, we get three months off. Plenty of time. So I just headed to the university library, grab the book, and this would be boring. Anything was available on the internet. You just couldn't translate anything online, and there was no Spanish taught in schools here. You had to do it entirely by yourself. So it starts there with uh a Spanish book there, and obviously I was only starting to learn the patent hands and things like that, and I wanted to focus on uh two songs, which was like Conyo Staniu's game, which is quite very straightforward. I I like the fact that the ballads are very simple and straightforward, they're all about expressing emotions and feelings, and you can really get to the point. Meteor was a little bit more complicated, but when you get to the chorus, you understand the essence of the song. And it's just it just took a life of its own from there, and got to the point where now I can completely understand most of the lyric. You know, I have a question for for each of you.

SPEAKER_04 31:49

So she has sung in English, she's sung in Spanish, Portuguese, French. Do you guys have a preference which language she sings in?

SPEAKER_08 32:01

Uh I don't know how I don't know. It depends on the song, I think. Because because as I as I said uh earlier, I think her voice changes uh according to the the language he's sing she's singing. So I don't know.

SPEAKER_04 32:15

How about you, Austin?

SPEAKER_05 32:18

I have to agree with Rafael because I can feel it myself when I sing Spanish or English songs, like the voice changes a lot. The the position of the musculature and all that is quite different. I love Gloria when it's a Spanish love song, love it, but you know, also she's great at ballad at in English, so but I love like Latin Spanish Gloria Cuban Queen. That's I I'm really for it. But uh I have to say that some of the maybe Destiny album or unwrapped, you know, English songs from there, but they're so experimental, so and I love that kind of Gloria English song. So I couldn't decide, but I think it's different in Spanish, more sweet to me, in English, like more deep and profound, maybe.

SPEAKER_00 33:16

Okay, I agree.

SPEAKER_04 33:17

Owen, do you agree?

SPEAKER_00 33:19

I would my problem is when Gloria thinks in Spanish is when you bring out the best in her, you know, and like um, as Austin mentioned, it's kind of more sweeter, but it's all in a way that it just feels more natural. I think it just really brings out some quality into her that supersedes uh certain uh but like for example, if you listen to Color Daniel's Big Kimmy Kid and what an amazing song, and then you listen to the English version, it's just not the same at all. Uh the feeling is not there at all. I know, I mean, give credit to Gloria, she does the best and she writes a song that it's that play for some more thing about, but it's the difference, it's just like night and day between those two songs. I just think the Spanish language brings out something extra in her.

SPEAKER_01 34:03

Yeah, I agree. I think it's probably and another reason too, I think it's because Con Los Angeles que me quedan was the one we heard first. So to me, knowing only English, um, when I hear if we were lovers, it just it doesn't it I prefer Con Los Años que me quedan because it that's the original, you know. And that's why we call that's why we call you Wesita.

SPEAKER_05 34:27

Yeah. And that's one more thing that I can feel when she writes a song originally in English or Spanish. She said that herself that if she uh writes an English song, then when she put it in Spanish, they rewrite the song like with another purpose, not the same words, maybe not even the same message, because you know, language changes the the the vibe of the song. So there's something I really admire.

SPEAKER_03 34:59

You're leading us all into a segment that we're gonna do in a few more minutes. Um, yeah, all about Gloria as a translator. But I think Wes has one more question um for you all.

SPEAKER_01 35:11

Was there any specific lyric or song that made everything click for you? Oh, it's a tough one. There's so many.

SPEAKER_08 35:17

I may start. Uh about 22 years uh ago, I lost my grandmom. And uh it was the first uh person of the family that I that I that I had lost. And I started to listen to Always Tomorrow, and there's this specific part of the song that she said uh though people come and they go, but if you brought some love to their lives, you got something to show. And that uh that that line was stick to me. Uh every time I I thought about my my grandma.

SPEAKER_04 35:54

Like, oh you just read that lyric and I I got goosebumps.

SPEAKER_05 35:56

Yeah, me too. I would say something similar, but with I see your smile, that was something I could feel so intensely in me, that song that was like, oh my god, yeah, so beautiful. Owen, what about you?

SPEAKER_00 36:14

I think I'm gonna sound like a broken record at this point. I'm gonna go back to Cognosanial Kimicade because I mean, even if you don't understand the lyrics, you feel the heartfelt, sincere passion that she's conveying in the song, and you create it even more when you see how beautiful the lyrics are. You'd never get that in English, no way. You it's just perfect in Spanish, you know. I do wish we could hear something like that in English, but I'm happy, I'm content with it. You just remain in Spanish only.

SPEAKER_04 36:45

So, Owen, would you say, and this is hard for any of us to to answer, and I mean it's impossible, but would you say your your go-to album is Mitierra?

SPEAKER_00 36:55

It's definitely up there, yeah, it's right up there. It was the one that really changed everything for me, you know, in terms of enjoying heavily infused tropical Latin music.

SPEAKER_04 37:05

I love that. I love how she has just like crossed every border, and we have this man from Ireland listening to Con Los Ángeles que me queda.

SPEAKER_07 37:16

Yeah, Irish Me Boy.

SPEAKER_01 37:18

I love how I was just thinking of this. You guys were lucky over there. Um, they released so many different formats of those singles. We we only got Meet Ya in the US, and I I I know because I'm a collector. I how was that like going to the record stores and finding her her music? Was it pretty easy to find?

SPEAKER_00 37:40

I think that Loy had already established herself as an international icon. She had built a solid fan base in the UK, a bit of Ireland, you know. So I do I do remember being able to go into the record stores in Dublin, that kind of thing, there, and be able to pick up some of the singles, even from Meteorra. And I think something they chart, although a bit low, but they were accessible enough. It was just the a testament to the power of our popularity over there.

SPEAKER_01 38:07

Over in the U. Over here in the US, we we got Meteorra. The the remixes were obviously big and she charted very well. But yeah, we didn't get the variety of singles that you guys got over there, which which which is great. You you all were lucky.

SPEAKER_05 38:23

When I was then I didn't have access like to internet, so I used to go to the CD stores, and then I found out, oh my god, me when I'm more single, what is that? I didn't even know that they existed because we didn't have like the internet to check what so I was like finding out, oh my god, what's this? And I was like discovering every single time I went to a CD store, so it was great. I remember that with so much.

SPEAKER_03 38:47

The only discovery we had was Wes's GeoCities website because we had we had no access to any of those record stores or anything like that here. We had a Sam Goody that just had whatever a major release was out. Um, our next thing we're gonna do is we're gonna talk a little bit about something that you've all brought up already, is Gloria as a translator. So we're gonna each mention one song that has an English and Spanish translation or an English, Spanish, and Portuguese translation. And we're all gonna sort of discuss uh what we think about the message behind the song, if the message changed a little bit, what we prefer, and how we how we feel about the song um being translated. And then we're gonna ask one more question. Um I'm gonna start with words get in the way and no me vuelvo a enamorar. I'm trying to remember the lyrics from No me vuelvo a enamorar.

SPEAKER_05 39:44

I think I think it's so that that's a great example, I think, because No me vuelvo a enamorar is like I will never fall in love again. Like, no. And words get in the way is just you're inside a relationship, and you know when you say something you have to prove it because words get in the way, but it's not that the other one is like I don't have a relationship and I'm never gonna fall in love again. But the other one is I'm still in the relationship, and please let's work in the way is like one argument.

SPEAKER_03 40:12

Number one is like this is that's the end.

SPEAKER_04 40:15

Yeah, that's just like um the next one, don't want to lose you, si voy a pendente. And um, I'll let Rafa, you could say the Portuguese version version, I don't want to butcher it.

SPEAKER_08 40:26

So as far as I remember, the lyrics are similar because uh in English she she says don't want to lose you in Portuguese, uh or if I had to lose you, is I as far as I remember, the the message was was pretty much the same.

SPEAKER_03 40:42

But in Spanish is very different, like I don't want to lose you, it's a little bit hopeful, or um but si voy a perderte que sea por vez final is like I'm done arguing and this is the last time we're ever gonna have this conversation. If I'm gonna lose you, this is it. I'm over your shit.

SPEAKER_01 41:01

Literally, and you know, I wonder if it too.

SPEAKER_00 41:06

Yeah, it's like don't want to lose you, it's kind of very plaintive, you know, she's kind of begging and she comes hoping I'm worth the boy part data, it's like fatalistic. Yeah, I'm done with it.

SPEAKER_01 41:21

And Rafa, you know, when you were saying about you know the Portuguese version of Don't Wanna Lose You, I wonder, you know, more it's more of a direct translation because obviously she didn't rewrite the song, so someone else you know did a direct translation on it. So I think that's probably why those songs were were different from the the English from the Spanish versions, if you know what I mean. Yeah, probably that's what happened. What about Oi and Rapped? What do you guys which one do would you prefer?

SPEAKER_05 41:49

I love oi, I have to say.

SPEAKER_04 41:51

I do too. Yeah, I I have to agree with you. But rapt is so good, too. That's a hard one. I think I'll go with rapt. That's a hard one. Yeah. I I've mentioned this, I've mentioned this previous on a previous episode, and it's just we know Gloria as the songwriter when when songs come through her, right? And she writes so beautifully, but there's a special gift that she has where she could take someone's song like Jan Marco's toy and then just recreate, you know, and just uh create something better, completely fresh, new with raped, you know? And she has that that gift because she did the same with uh uh Steal Your Heart, with Gigi San Dante's uh Kiggy San Dandade's uh no pretendo.

SPEAKER_00 42:43

Yeah, I think um in rapt, she kind of conveys the science of the song much better. You kind of understand what it's about. I find that with Oi there's a lot of metaphors and uh analogy and just not so clearly uh clear-cut at what the song's about, you know what I mean?

SPEAKER_03 43:00

Okay, so we're gonna uh play a little imaginary uh game now. If Gloria were to uh announce that she's recording an album of just translations of songs that already exist of hers in a song that's never been translated before, in either English or Spanish, like either way around, what song or songs would you want uh represented on the album? It could be a single, it could be as deep a cut as possible. What songs do you think would work as a translation or that do you wish she would try to do? Because we got Duillo decades after Here Here We Are. So anything still on the table, Gloria, if you're listening.

SPEAKER_04 43:41

Heck, we got the Spanish version of Conga recently. Right. After 40 years.

SPEAKER_03 43:45

Yeah.

SPEAKER_08 43:46

So there is one song that I always wanted to hear in Spanish because in my head I I when I listen to it, it's it is Spanish, but it's not it's English. That's uh I'm not giving you a well, well. I would love to hear that in Spanish.

SPEAKER_04 44:03

That's interesting that you say that. And uh later on this season, we are gonna do a deep dive of the Destiny album. Because this year it'll be the 30th, it's the 30th anniversary. So there are there are certain questions that we want to ask for this deep dive. And from my understanding, and I may be wrong, but the rumor was that that song was actually written in Spanish.

SPEAKER_01 44:31

Yeah, no, she she said that in an interview. Uh um with on Y100 in the fan club back in the day, we got this little cassette and it said fan club on it, and it was it was given to us, you know, as a gift for being in the fan club, and she it was it was a copy of the Y100 interview, and she was mentioning a couple of the songs. She was mentioning that Kiki Santander brought the Spanish version of I'm Not Giving You Up Tour and No Pretendo, and then she took those versions and obviously made them into what they were, what we know. Um, but yeah, what happened with I'm not giving you up? That's one we're wanting to know about. Hey, that would be a great 30th anniversary gift. Yeah, let's let's reissue this. It's never too late to re-record some songs.

SPEAKER_05 45:19

Never too late. When you asked the question, the first thing that came to my mind was, I wish like the Destiny album, the full album, uh in Spanish. Oh my god.

SPEAKER_04 45:28

Oh wow, see for me, yeah, it matches, it matches. For me, I feel that way about Miss Little Havana. I would have loved to have heard Miss Little Havana the entire album in Spanish.

SPEAKER_01 45:39

Interesting, yeah. Interesting.

SPEAKER_04 45:42

Yeah. Oh, and how about you? Is there a song that uh that you would have loved to have heard in Spanish? Or any other language?

SPEAKER_00 45:51

Yeah, there is, and there's one of my favorite songs from the Miss Little Havana album is uh Makes My Heart Go. And I love uh the Spanish rap in the middle of it, and it's just so well. I think it would be so hot if she was singing that in Spanish. It's just a great track, and I feel like the way she sings in Spanish will just give new life to that song. Yeah, I I think that song needed to have been a single. Yeah, I agree. Oh, definitely.

SPEAKER_04 46:21

I've been canning love at it for a long time. I think uh I think a lot of the fans uh agree with that. I I have a question um for each of you. What would you say, because you guys are in different parts of the world, what would you say was has been Gloria's biggest album that that she's released? That was big in your country, in your respective countries.

SPEAKER_08 46:49

In Brazil, I think there are two albums. Uh they were very popular. They're still still easy to find on the stars that is uh destiny. Uh I think because of Rich and Hold Me Through Me, Kiss Me. It's uh it's a well well-known album in Brazil.

SPEAKER_03 47:10

Two major singles from the line album, um Turn the Beat Around in Everlasting Love.

SPEAKER_08 47:15

Yeah, it's too late was a big hit in a uh a soap opera that we had here in the 90s. So uh in Brazil, the when you get a song uh into a soap opera is the biggest way to promote the that song, and that happened to It's Too Late uh in '94 or '95. Oh wow. Con los años que me quedan uh also was uh a song from a soap opera, I think in '96. It was a little uh it was after the the mitier releasing, but mitiera is also an album uh easy to find here.

SPEAKER_05 47:50

I think in Spain, uh the most known album should be Mitierra and Abriendo Puertas, but Gloria, also, because that was like a worldwide thing. But in Spain, I think when you go to the store and you always say Mitierra or Abriendo Puertas, yeah.

SPEAKER_04 48:07

And how about you, Owen? How uh what would you say in Ireland?

SPEAKER_00 48:11

Oh, uh exactly a two huge interfaction albums. Half the fact that's paralleled, what the same as in the UK as in Ireland, so that that would be cut boat wave and the anything be you album, which was renamed from Let It Lose. Yeah, that's awesome.

SPEAKER_01 48:28

That's an interesting story behind that album. Rafa was actually asking me about that in Chile. And maybe we'll we'll we'll have to turn that into an episode. But the story behind those two albums and why they did that is pretty interesting. Well, now I won't.

SPEAKER_07 48:42

What are you gonna tell us?

SPEAKER_01 48:43

Oh, yeah, oh well, you look at the chart data. If you look at the chart data when Let It Loose first came out in the singles in the UK, how I mean Let It Loose was kind of a flop, and it was a huge hit everywhere else, but it just didn't take off in the UK like it it should have. And then anything for you, I mean they they released multiple singles and still didn't perform very well under the Let It Loose title, and anything for you was released, and it was a the single and it was a huge hit. So then they turned the album into what it was with a new image, um, re-released some of the same singles, and I I don't have the chart data on top off the top of my head, but if you look at the chart data when, say, for instance, Rhythm is gonna get you first came out as compared to the reissue a year or so later, huge difference.

SPEAKER_04 49:34

So if things start heading south for us on this podcast, then the idea would be just to rename it to anything for you. There you go.

SPEAKER_03 49:43

There you go. Same episodes, same everything, just image too, you know.

SPEAKER_01 49:48

New image, you know. That new image image had to have. I mean, her her look was so different, it was more natural with anything for you. So I think that's probably you know one of the things that did it as well, and that drove people to her music.

SPEAKER_03 50:04

Laura Start Working.

SPEAKER_04 50:11

All right, so we have uh come to our favorite segment of the show. It's time to let it loose. And I think you guys at this point know that um during the segment you get to share whatever you want, whether it's something emotional or something that makes you happy, or something you just want to get off your chest, or if you want to sing, or whatever you want. So this is your time to let it loose. So who wants to go first?

SPEAKER_00 50:40

Okay, there's something I want to get off my chest, and um spent a little bit of a rant here, but I'll start. I feel that lately in this day and age, when you look around the social media and in general culture, you know, mainstream press, I just don't think the Gloria gets the flowers that she deserved, especially considering her contribution to uh the music industry. And when I think about what she had to do to get there, to be at the top, she was literally running with running with one leg compared to other artists running with two legs, you know. She had a handicap and that's then. And by what I mean is that um when I look at social media recently, though, the post thought who is the queen of Latin pop, and I thought, oh boy, it's gonna be there. And guess what? She wasn't. There were your used for contender, you know. I thought, what is up with that? So I I do think there's a certain sense of ignorance out there or whether it's snobbery or something like that. And here's the drag race reference, I promised you, Carlos, and you're going to agree with me on this. You know, she has been a big gay icon for years, and she had a great song. Why is it that not one single of her songs that's been used in the lip synth and drag race? I'm sure the queens are dying for some great Octemporal number. And again, you agree with me on this. I think this last new season the lip thing songs have been very underwhelming, and you know, the drag queens were over.

SPEAKER_04 52:03

I I have to I have to agree.

SPEAKER_00 52:04

And but it might be a licensing issue. Yes, I was wondering about that too. Yeah, but it's such a shame because you couldn't imagine uh drag queen just letting it lose to certain Octempo songs, like not even like Conga. Absolutely so uh showing a lot of emotion with the ballad, like I think we would all want to lose.

SPEAKER_04 52:23

And we and we see these same drag queens when they're in their respective places of work, you know, at home, they are lip-singing to Gloria songs, yeah. So uh, you know, it's it's curious. Maybe something to ask Gloria.

SPEAKER_00 52:38

Yeah, yeah, that's a thing I've noticed whenever I see on YouTube. I see, especially in Miami and Florida and certain parts of Spain, they're all covering the big gloria here.

SPEAKER_04 52:47

Yeah, well, not only the big hits, but even you know, songs that were never singles. I just recently came across a video where there was a drag queen uh in Miami uh performing I Just Want to Be Happy. Oh, really? All right, Rafa, it's your turn to let it loose.

SPEAKER_08 53:03

Oh my god. Well, I don't have much to say. I just I just I'm thankful for being a fan. I'm proud of being a fan of her. She never never disappointed me. And uh I think the fact that she has never uh performed live in Brazil um made me uh go go go after the things I wanted because when she came to to Buenos Aires, uh I was 20 21 years, I don't remember, 2022. I it was my first travel uh outside Brazil. I went to Argentina to to see her performing. And then last year in Madrid, uh I was after her. And and besides of the the thing of being a fan and and loving her, the the important thing to me is the people I have known through this this all these decades. Uh is uh when I was in Madrid, we had this party uh one night before the the concert, and uh I was thinking, oh my god, I was I I'm so far from my home. And uh I had to travel this far to get uh among the people that I that are really clicked that I that I um are like my family and hearing the same songs that I that I that I like and dancing and having fun, and so to me I I feel really blessed to have uh you guys as friends and uh that the gloria did us uh for us. And uh I just uh I'm just thankful. Uh and I feel very, very blessed.

SPEAKER_04 54:41

What a party that was. I had so much fun. I will never forget. I would never forget it in everybody.

SPEAKER_03 54:48

I have to rub it in. I didn't have fun until like the fourth time we bring it up, and now I'm like, damn it, why didn't I go?

SPEAKER_05 54:55

No, I think we should do that kind of party like once every six months in one part of the world, I'll be there. I support that.

SPEAKER_04 55:03

Yeah, I agree with you. Yeah, no, for sure. I I remember being at that party, and Austin, you and I we've known each other for quite some time now. Yeah, and I just remember being at the party, and I just kept um finding myself looking at you, and I'm like, I can't believe like I after so many years, like we're here together, you know.

SPEAKER_05 55:22

Awesome. Getting to know all of you guys is it was the best. Well, Gloria brought together that night. I will always remember that was beautiful.

SPEAKER_04 55:32

Absolutely. All right, Austin, it's your turn to let it loose.

SPEAKER_05 55:36

Well, before letting it loose, I want to thank you guys for having me here, and I want to tell you I'm your biggest fan, and you made my week every time you put uh a show on. So thank you so much for creating this space of glory fans all over the world. Muchas gracias for this passe. So again, absolutely. And I wanna I wanna, as you know, many of you know, I'm a I'm a singer, so I'm working on my own songs now that will come out soon. So maybe I will send you something in a short time, but I wanna make you a gift today, if you allow me, like singing a little part from here, please.

SPEAKER_04 56:20

Yes, absolutely, go for it. The floor is yours.

SPEAKER_05 56:25

Let's see if you if you can recognize it.

SPEAKER_06 56:29

Uh get a little tongue twist. Every time I talk to you when I see you. I'm so glad that you just missed it. The way I stand to memorize your face to kiss you in my mind. Love you all the time. It's true when I tell you I love you.

SPEAKER_01 57:36

That's great. That is my favorite. I love it. Thank you. Thank you.

SPEAKER_04 57:43

That was good. Listen, Rafa, Owen, step it up next time with your little so I want to hear you guys sing.

SPEAKER_08 57:52

I remember one thing uh I wanted to say before when uh when Austin was uh telling her story about how he learned English. There's this study that says that the the region of the brain that uh is able to learn music is the same region that uh where you learn languages. So when people yeah, that's right. So when you are your singer like Austin, is more like easier to learn a new language, and uh that's how Gloria became her biggest teacher, I think. Wow, yeah, sure.

SPEAKER_05 58:31

I read the same thing and I I just came to the same thought that everything you said, I just read it and I thought that makes sense.

SPEAKER_03 58:37

I'm gonna tell you something. We can do our party every six months or whatever, but we will never karaoke together because I will not karaoke with anybody who's good.

SPEAKER_04 58:46

I refuse. Nope.

SPEAKER_05 58:48

No, but when I when I karaoke, I used to like choose a spice girl song or something like that. Yes, that's right.

SPEAKER_03 58:54

Not something good at karaoke, please. Please don't show off a karaoke.

SPEAKER_04 58:59

See, see, my my go-to karaoke song is no scrubs by GLC.

SPEAKER_01 59:03

No scrubs, that's great.

SPEAKER_04 59:05

I love that song. I love that song, guys. This has been an amazing experience. Thank you for being such amazing representatives for each of your cun uh countries. And I mean, this has been a beautiful experience. I can't wait for Gloria to to hear this because I know that she feels the love uh worldwide, but to actually hear this firsthand from you know, Rafa from Brazil, Austin, from Spain, Owen, from Ireland, um, I know that it has to be something very meaningful for for her. Because just sitting here and listening to your stories, and I'm not even Gloria, you know. I um I'm inspired by by what you guys have all said today. Yeah, for sure. Um thank you so much. So thank you so much. I hope you guys will come back for for another episode. Yes, please. Yeah, sure. Awesome, awesome. Well, thank you so much, Rob. Do you want to take it away?

SPEAKER_03 1:00:04

Yes, absolutely. Thank you once again to our three guests today, Rafa, Austin, and Owen. If you like this episode, don't forget to rate, review, subscribe, send us an email with your thoughts and ideas at let it loosepod at gmail.com, and we will see you next time for another episode of Let It Loose. Thanks, everybody.

SPEAKER_02 1:00:26

Thank you for listening to Let It Loose, a Gloria Estefan podcast. Let It Loose was produced by Carlos, Rob, and West with graphic design by Lara. 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.