SPEAKER_02 0:00

For five decades, Gloria Stefan's music has moved the world. This is Let It Loose, a Gloria Esther Fan 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_05 0:26

Hey everybody, welcome back to another episode of Let It Loose. My name is Rob. I'm Wes. And I'm Carlos. And we're back. We're back for another one. And this one's special. It is a pride party today on Let It Loose. And we're very excited because we have a lot of guests. It is a packed house.

SPEAKER_07 0:43

It's a packed house.

SPEAKER_06 0:44

And Rob, all I keep on thinking about is oomts, mm-hmm, and I know how much you love that.

SPEAKER_05 0:51

Literally, that's what it's going to be like today on the show. But before we get into this huge long conversation with everybody, wait, how do you know?

SPEAKER_07 1:00

How do you know it's going to be long?

SPEAKER_05 1:02

I have a feeling, but the number of guests that you invited, because you don't know how to say no, because you no no no no no no no.

SPEAKER_06 1:09

Do not blame me. Do not blame me. I sent out keeping hello and they're keeping goodbye.

SPEAKER_07 1:14

I sent out invites and half of them said no. They couldn't. They came on. And then the other half said yes.

SPEAKER_06 1:21

And then the other half that said no, at the last minute said, Oh, hey, are we still on for Saturday? And I'm like, uh, sure. Like, it's gonna be one big old party. Hey, you know what? Why not? That's right.

SPEAKER_05 1:33

But before that, we do have to get schooled a little bit with this week in Gloria History.

SPEAKER_04 1:38

All right, and now I'll warn you, this is a quiz one. Quiz time.

SPEAKER_05 1:42

Uh uh.

SPEAKER_04 1:42

All right, so in honor of Pride Week, we have to mention the Glory album in some way or another. So this week in 1998, as you all know, the Glory album debuted on multiple European charts. Now, listeners out there, if I missed any countries, please hit me up. But over the years of my research, I've only had solid data on seven countries in Europe. So now quiz time. Out of these seven countries, Belgium, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Spain, Switzerland, and the UK, give me three countries that you think the album charted the highest. And what and one of the countries the album peaked at number one.

SPEAKER_05 2:25

So we know one, which we know one because guess what, Wes? Wesito Jr. My This Week in Glory History was the same thing in Spanish. So Spain.

SPEAKER_04 2:37

Well that just messed up on a whole shit thing.

SPEAKER_07 2:40

No, but it didn't mess up because we know one, but we don't know. I I don't know the other two. I know Spain, it was number one in Spain for 13 weeks.

SPEAKER_04 2:49

I learned that how long was it on how long was it on the chart? You don't know that. That's not important. I don't even know my children's. Oh, that is important now. That wasn't part of my quiz. It was on the chart for 42 weeks. That's pretty advanced a lot.

SPEAKER_07 3:04

That's that's amazing.

SPEAKER_04 3:06

Yeah. All right. Spain, we already know about. All right, so give me the three other countries that you I'm gonna go with Netherlands.

SPEAKER_07 3:14

France. No, I don't think it charted in it.

SPEAKER_05 3:20

In in France?

SPEAKER_04 3:21

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 3:22

That's because she did the French version of Heaven's Winter.

SPEAKER_04 3:24

Yeah, but the album didn't chart as high as you th you would think. But the Oye single was charte very high. But that was released much l you know, a few months later. But no. Surprisingly, the Netherlands.

SPEAKER_07 3:39

And wait, surprisingly, the Netherlands like it didn't chart?

SPEAKER_04 3:43

Oh, it charted, but it it didn't it didn't chart as high as what you think it would.

SPEAKER_07 3:48

Oh, that's interesting.

SPEAKER_04 3:49

That's not in the top three. Well, now four, but Spain is number one, right? Uh-huh. Spain's number one. So now give me three others. And France and Germany or France and the Netherlands are not.

SPEAKER_05 4:01

So Germany, because you said it was.

SPEAKER_04 4:03

No, and the German Germany is not either.

SPEAKER_07 4:05

I don't remember the other countries.

SPEAKER_04 4:07

I know that's what I was gonna say. Do you remember which ones we already talked about? All right. So since Rob screwed this one up with his Spanish episode.

SPEAKER_05 4:16

Rob's episode recorded first.

SPEAKER_04 4:17

So I'm just gonna I'm just gonna give it to you guys. All right, because I don't think you're gonna get to surprise. We wanna we want to get to the guests. So this could go on and on.

SPEAKER_06 4:28

Um go ahead, give it to us.

SPEAKER_04 4:33

Switzerland, number 12 for 14 weeks, and then the UK, number 16 for five weeks. That was where number two and three. But yeah, surprisingly, the Netherlands it only peaked at like 47. And then France was number 56.

SPEAKER_07 4:50

That's crazy, especially that uh in the Netherlands, 9's peaked at number one.

SPEAKER_04 4:56

Yeah, yeah. So I don't know why. It's interesting when you look through all the chart data of these albums. It's like your mind goes in so many different ways. It's like, why did it was a promotion? Was it this? You know what we'll blame Sony.

SPEAKER_05 5:08

Yeah, maybe they don't oom ounts like me.

SPEAKER_07 5:10

I've gone to a concert out there and they ounts ounts. Okay. They just missed the memo. That was it.

SPEAKER_05 5:19

Which a lot can be said about that album. How uh a lot of people missed the memo on that album, and it should have been more than what it was.

SPEAKER_04 5:26

And I feel if she would have toured for that album, it would have been up there with Destiny and chart chart number wise.

SPEAKER_07 5:32

Absolutely. All right.

SPEAKER_04 5:33

Well, thank you, Wes. Thank you for that. That's right.

SPEAKER_05 5:40

Anytime. Learn Spanish and then you can do the do it on our show.

SPEAKER_04 5:44

Well, let's not get too excited. Well, then there you go. Wes is downloading Dubai.

SPEAKER_07 5:49

Wes is downloading Duolingo right now. Thank you, Wes. No problem. For decades, Gloria Stefan has been a steadfast ally and advocate for the LGBTQ Plus community. From supporting marriage equality and participating in the It Gets Better campaign to serving as Grand Marshal of Miami Beach Pride and receiving the National LGBTQ Task Force's National Leadership Award, Gloria has consistently used her platform to champion love, acceptance, and inclusion. As we celebrate Pride Month and reflect on Gloria's impact on so many lives, we wanted to hear directly from members of the community whose stories have been touched by her music and message. To help us with this conversation, we've invited fans from across the globe who are proud members of the LGBTQ community. Please join us in welcoming Vero, Michael, Steven, and Sean to let it loose. Hello, guys. Hey everyone. Welcome.

SPEAKER_04 6:51

Hey, hello.

SPEAKER_07 6:53

Thanks for coming on house today.

SPEAKER_04 6:55

Yes.

SPEAKER_07 6:56

Thanks for having us. This is going to be an interesting episode because I know each one of you, and I know that this may get a little chaotic, which is a May. It will, and that is fine. We want the chaos.

SPEAKER_05 7:10

Exactly.

SPEAKER_07 7:11

So yeah, so we wanted to know from each of you what does Pride Month mean to each of you personally?

SPEAKER_00 7:20

So we'll start with Steve. Um, I'm gonna be really controversial and say it actually doesn't mean that much to me. Okay. Um, just more in terms of I believe it or not, I've actually never never been to a pride in my 53 years. Um, it's just something I I'm gay, but it's not it's not I don't feel the need to be involved in pride. It's just worked its way into my life. But that being said, I think it's so important that people have the opportunity to represent themselves and showcase to the world that love is love, um, shouldn't be afraid of difference, and that people, you know, should be able to stand proud and be who they are. So I think in that regard, it's absolutely wonderful. I watch it joyfully from a distance, but I don't actively throw myself into it either. But that that's not to say I would run away from it, but it's just not something that I go out looking for. But yeah, it's a wonderful month, and you know, even my workplace and stuff, you know, I've spoken about Gloria before. I was asked in one job to to talk about, you know, what it meant, what pride meant to meant to me. And I did I did reference Gloria and what she did for the community. So yeah, maybe I'm more involved in it than I realize, but I I don't go to Pride.

SPEAKER_07 8:42

I appreciate the honesty because it, you know, uh just because you um appreciate it and understand it um doesn't necessarily mean that you have to go to every single parade or you know, participate in that way. You participate in other ways, you know. Um so I do appreciate that that answer. Um, how about for you, Vero?

SPEAKER_01 9:04

Um, hi everybody. Um, you know, Pride, I actually didn't grow up um going to events like that, as I'm sure a lot of us didn't. Um so I I wasn't really involved, and so I was an adult. And um, you know, nowadays I've taken my kids to Pride, I see other kids there. Um it's great, it's like intergenerational now. Um, but um my first pride was with my now wife, um, and we just you know ran around being happy little lesbians.

SPEAKER_08 9:34

Wait, you're a lesbian?

SPEAKER_01 9:37

I think so. I'm almost I'm almost sure.

SPEAKER_05 9:39

I'm pretty sure.

SPEAKER_01 9:42

But it was really fun, and you know, it was like the first, you know, as as two women who go out, you always have like that straight male gaze um and G-A-Z-E.

SPEAKER_05 9:58

The gaze, not the gaze.

SPEAKER_01 10:00

Yeah, and um, you know, it was just fun to be at a a place for the first time where you know everybody was just being themselves. Um, I didn't march enough pride until I worked at an LGBT center. So that was, you know, a different experience and it was for work, and but it was a lot of fun. You know, my family was there and I worked at a senior center. So I was also marching with people who had a lot of different experiences with pride from all over the country, and you know, some of that wasn't very positive for them. So kind of processing that with them. Um, but yeah, I mean, I think we also have to remember what did they say, pride is our was a riot, right? So I like to point that out, even though like I personally have had fun and enjoyed pride in a different way. Like pride didn't start out as a party.

SPEAKER_07 10:46

Yeah, absolutely. And um, speaking of of parties, I know that Michael does not like to party, does not like pride events at all. At all.

SPEAKER_03 11:00

Kidding. I'm kidding. Uh yeah, I've been to like 78 Prides, working them, going to them, kind of I'm really involved in the community out here. Um, but Pride for me really is is a kind of a journey and really authentically having your body, mind, and soul just out there and being comfortable in your own skin, whether it's in your whether so that everything matches your sexuality, your being with your family, your theology, all of that just at the core of who you are and sharing that with people and being proud of who you are, because when you're trying to hold on to one thing and be um in the closet about another thing, it drains different parts of you. And so when you water every part of you, you're able to be out there and help other people and be a better part of your community. So for me, pride is really just authentically matching every aspect of body, mind, and soul and who you are and sharing it. That's beautiful. Very nice. And to wrap up, how about you, Sean?

SPEAKER_07 12:03

And parties.

SPEAKER_02 12:04

Uh, I'm in New York City, and so it feels like the most magical time of the year here. Um, it really is a kickoff to our summer season, and it really starts, you know, it's the last weekend of the month, but it really starts June 1st and goes like throughout, and it just feels like a non-stop party. I've been invited to by friends in other cities to their prides, and I won't I have to turn it down because I can't leave New York to really pride. Yeah, I I that that specific weekend too of pride. I I it feels like being, you know, this is like your chosen family, especially when you're not from New York and you move here, you create a chosen family because it's living in this city is brutal at times. Um, and so the people around you become like your extended family. And so leaving New York on Pride to me would be like not being with my real family on Christmas or something. Like it's like you need to be there. It's it's that magical to me. That's awesome.

SPEAKER_07 13:02

You know, I I was never one to actually go to um the pride parades just because I get overwhelmed with the the crowds, um, especially being in South Florida. South Florida doesn't have as big of a pride as New York, but you know, it's pretty, pretty big. Um, however, ever since I moved out here to Colorado, they Colorado Springs has a small little pride festival and it's just perfect. It's the perfect amount of people. It's not, you know, uh it's nothing too crazy. And what I love most about it is like Veto, um, we I think Veto and I are in competition to see who has the most kids. I think right now I'm I'm beating her by one. Um but it's nice because it's it's very family oriented, and you know, you could just take your your kiddos there and and have a good time, you know. So um, but uh I do need to experience at least once in my life one of these pride, you know, pride festivals in either New York or in California. So I might be hitting you guys up at some point. I don't know. Listen, I'm still trying to the ongoing joke is I'm still trying to recover from the Noventa Millas tour that Gloria did a million years ago financially. So and we just went to Atlanta. Oh, Veto and I went to Puerto Rico and saw her over there. Got lost. We actually Veto and I got it uh we were so lost that the governor, no, not the the mayor of some city ended up escorting us personally to Gloria's concert. That's funny.

SPEAKER_04 14:37

I think we need to do an episode of just your stories and bring them in. I'm I'm dying to hear some of them, you know.

SPEAKER_01 14:43

He was worried about our safety more so than anything. He was like, You shouldn't be in this part of the town. Like, let's get you out of here.

SPEAKER_05 14:50

Speaking specifically about Gloria related to pride, um, you know, when I got the chance recently to tell Gloria how thankful I was that she was the gay icon that got assigned to me at birth. Um and what a special moment that was for me to thank her for that. And you know, um, so I want to ask all of you why was Gloria the gay icon that got assigned to you at birth and what makes her so special to you?

SPEAKER_03 15:14

I can go on that one. Um, I think for me, um, it was well, Gloria got me into my first kink, number one. Um, and that was when, well, I didn't realize it at the time, but when one, two, three came out and she wore those leather taps. I was like, oh, so now even to this day, when I go to a leather bar and I put on my chaps, I do the little side dance one, two, three, four, and I love it. That was kind of like my awakening. I didn't realize it at the time. It's kind of like you know you're gay, but you don't know what that means when you're little. It was kind of like that. I saw Gloria, I'm like, oh, she's dope with the leather, and then here we are. Uh we have leather pride in a few weeks, so there's that. But um also, too, I think um, and this sounds cliche, but sort of coming out of the dark, I think, just for a lot of folks. Yeah, for me, it was kind of like that. But definitely uh the leather kings and I was like, Oh, she's my gay spirit animal in that sense.

SPEAKER_01 16:16

Yeah, that's her favorite outfit. She just said that recently that that was one of her favorite outfits.

SPEAKER_04 16:25

Michael, I was like four or five years old, so the leather chaps didn't do that for me until much, much later.

SPEAKER_07 16:32

But but you have yours on now, right? Yeah, for you. Yeah, we can see them.

SPEAKER_06 16:38

Listen, you're a little spicy today. Yeah, I know.

SPEAKER_05 16:41

Except Les doesn't have jeans on underneath. Uh-oh. Hey now.

SPEAKER_04 16:47

So we've got to Steve does behave during this episode.

SPEAKER_07 16:50

Yeah. Steve, the same question for you, but you know, you have way too many uh icons.

SPEAKER_05 16:57

You're running over with your gay icons.

SPEAKER_00 16:59

Well, well, funny when Rob said a Dave assigned you, it's like well, I must be super gay because I must have 20 assigned to you.

SPEAKER_05 17:07

You have the gay Avengers assigned to you.

SPEAKER_07 17:10

I I know this is gonna be hard. Do you have a top five? I do. You do? I do. Is Gloria in the top five?

SPEAKER_00 17:18

Absolutely. Okay. Oh, thank god.

SPEAKER_07 17:20

Four. Top four. Okay, okay.

SPEAKER_00 17:22

Who's the top five? So Madonna, Janet, Kylie, Gloria, and then there's one other Kate Bush. I should really say six because Pat Benatar, too. So yeah. Good one. There's quite a few. Those are some really good ones.

SPEAKER_04 17:38

See a couple of those. I wouldn't, I wouldn't think that would be the case. Madonna and Janet, of course, but yeah, I never thought of the others that way.

SPEAKER_00 17:46

They're all fantastic. The chaps, similarly, I think that is what attracted me to Gloria. The first time I really consciously remember watching her was the Homecoming video. It was televised here in Britain December 10th, 1988. We'll never forget the date. And I recorded that show just instinctively because I'd heard some of Gloria's songs on like Rick D's radio show and Casey Kasom's Top 10, which were shown over here in Ireland. Um, and so yeah, that's where I really fell in love with Gloria. But then really I didn't consciously accept that I was gay until about 1994, early '95, and lo and behold, everlasting love video was released with many Glorias for Gloria, well, larger Glorias. Um, and so that kind of you know, even brought me closer to Gloria in terms of I could see that there was something safe with her. And growing up in Ireland, you know, at that at that time it wasn't it wasn't advisable to to come out. But you know, watching Gloria do that felt very reassuring. And then really what it was was in 1996, my my graduation present from my mum was uh to go to New York to see Gloria uh in concert, three shows at the garden. And I'm jealous. At that point in time, I had really just started to tell people who I trusted that I was gay, and I'd never been to a bar or anything. So I thought, well, if I'm gonna be in New York, I'm going to go do it up, make sure that this is for me and it's what I want. And then so seeing Gloria in the garden and bringing on the two uh drag queens, for me that was kind of like a solidifying moment just in terms of my connection with Gloria, not only going to New York to see Gloria because I wanted to see her, I couldn't wait till she came to Dublin. Um having that and being in a city that was so full of acceptance, even back in the mid-90s, you know, for you know, for drag, you know, the power of it and the gay community. And I still remember Gloria just really celebrating, you know, drag queens. And she she says similar in the evolution video, you know, about they don't call them queens for nothing. And she was absolutely right. So I've, you know, I knew at that point that Gloria was more than just a singer, she she was politicizing some things, whether she realized it or not. Everything's political, but in terms of growing up in a very conservative country, it made me really Gloria's voice was instrumental in helping me accept who I was and be confident then, subsequently in coming out to more and more people. And that that's the the honest truth. Because I think at that point, really, well, obviously, Madonna Dun Vogue and Cindy Lopper had done some stuff, but even you know, the likes of Janet and all, they they still weren't, you know, celebrating, you know, gay culture, the gay community, the way that Gloria did. So yeah, that's kind of my story. So from chaps to drag queen, she's done it all. She's done it all. Sean, what about you?

SPEAKER_02 21:09

I think for me, I uh I'm I'm gonna do like a little youth flex here. One, two, three, and I are the same age. So it wasn't the chaps. It wasn't the chaps for me. I didn't really understand that until later. Um, but for me, you know, I've loved Gloria longer than I've loved men. Um, and so I think back to, you know, I'm not exactly sure what it was, but I think about the ways in which we can sometimes tell on ourselves before we even know ourselves. And I just remember having the evolution tour on VHS and playing it until like the tape wore out and pretending that I was Gloria Stefan in my living room. And like even like stand, I would like stand on the couch and like pretend that I was like coming out of that thing and like. I knew the whole set list, like if that tour continued on and Gloria like took ill for a night, I probably at nine years old could go on for her if she became how many people in this chat right now did the same exact thing because I know I did.

SPEAKER_07 22:15

Of course. Absolutely.

SPEAKER_04 22:17

I could every jump what's gonna happen next. Yes, absolutely. I've watched that so much.

SPEAKER_02 22:23

Yep. I knew Alanter, the guy with the binoculars.

SPEAKER_04 22:29

I can go back to like I went through like two homecoming concert VHS tapes, like rewinding and fast-forwarding, the worst format ever created, in my opinion. And um, I remember being, you know, I was a little kid when that came out. That was my first VHS tape that I got for Christmas.

SPEAKER_05 22:47

We're gonna jump into some questions about nightlife, um, because that is a big part of the uh LGBTQ plus experience. And um Wes was gonna take that portion.

SPEAKER_04 22:58

All right. So did the Miami sound machine have qualities that naturally appealed to queer audiences? Yeah, Michael.

SPEAKER_03 23:07

Um I was gonna bring this up earlier, but um I'm letting it loose.

SPEAKER_08 23:15

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 23:15

Emilio here. Emilio Estefan's shorts in the eight in some of those music videos. I was like, and then I would see him in these in these interviews. Who oh I was like, oh, that's that that's Mr. Estefan. Okay. But when I look at those videos, I would like you got the chaps, and then there's Emilio with his shorts on the Gucci Daddy shorts.

SPEAKER_04 23:40

Like, yes. Gloria said in a uh in multiple um interviews, something about Emilio and these little short shorts or something. That's how she first saw him playing.

SPEAKER_05 23:53

Yeah, nice legs, yeah. They even made it into on your feet.

SPEAKER_00 23:59

I think even the storylines of some of the music videos, they're they're camping themselves. If you look at like Prisoner of Love, which is just you know a complete camp fest, and Dr. Beat with Gloria's you know, feet dancing on the gurney, and just that they they really and Bad Boy, they they really knew how to they played tongue-in-cheek with that stuff, and I think that definitely helped with the crossover attempt because you know, if you're if you're gonna go anywhere, you go for the gays. Once you get the gays, the rest will follow. And I do think that that was definitely part of their strategy and their mission. When I look back on it, I hadn't thought about it until now, but I I do think that there's just that sense of fun.

SPEAKER_07 24:41

Yeah, and and she's mentioned how Pablo Flores I was gonna say with that, with you know, uh, I think during that that time, Steve, that you're mentioning, that's where he started getting involved. And actually a little bit before that in the clubs in in Puerto Rico and um Dr. B at that time what he was creating, and and he's actually shared this. We've heard Gloria mention it, but he's actually shared this with us as well, where the stuff that he was coming out with was really cutting edge for that time. Um, and I think he used to DJ at a club, a gay club called Bachelor. I think it was a gay club, if I'm not mistaken. It was called Bachelor.

SPEAKER_05 25:22

So let's assume. Um, but I wonder if if anybody can give a little history lesson for our listeners who maybe not be familiar about why dance floors in particular are such an iconic, important space uh in the gay community.

SPEAKER_02 25:39

I mean, I can I can try to speak to that a little bit. I think that because you know queer people don't often they haven't historically had acceptance. And I mean, even we're seeing now politically where you know some things are being turned back and we're still fighting the fight. And so dance floors were the place where you would go and find your community, and it felt like a safe space. And so those spaces were really, really important. And um, you know, even Stonewall, that was where the riot took place. Those folks were just out for a night to find their community. Um, and our spaces were often raided back then. Um, and I've even heard folks speak about it, you know, in in the late 80s, the 90s, at Glorious Peak, it would have been, you know, during the AIDS crisis. And I think people were losing friends at a rate that is not something that I think humans are engineered to even deal with. And so, you know, I've heard people that lived in New York at that time talk about you would go to a funeral in the day and you go to the club at night and and you know, sweat out some of that angst and and sorrow. And so, yeah, the the dance floors are fun, um, but they're also very therapeutic, um, I think for our community, very important.

SPEAKER_07 27:01

Look at the youngin' giving us a history lesson. I love it. You better do it, Sean.

SPEAKER_01 27:09

Laura just mentioned she's lost a lot of friends during that time. So, you know, yeah, she was, you know, her most popular during that peak, but personally, she experienced lost. She said she lost a lot of people that they were working with as well. She never talked in detail, at least that I know of, but I've heard that statement from her because I had never that kind of stood out because she had never I had never heard her say that before.

SPEAKER_07 27:32

I think, you know, to your point, Vito, I think she mentioned it during one of the the life beat concerts for VH1. That's uh she went to sing. They brought her back on because the crowd wanted, you know, they wanted more, and she did an encore. And if I'm not mistaken, she she sang always tomorrow. And that's where she mentioned what you just finished stating. Yeah, interesting.

SPEAKER_04 27:54

Yep. So uh for me, I was younger, so so when she was in her prime, so I didn't obviously look at her music the same way you know a lot of you guys do. But do you remember hearing Gloria's music in in the clubs and the bars, pride celebrations or queer spaces? And how'd that feel?

SPEAKER_03 28:13

I feel I'm lucky because I live in Palm Springs, so it's a it's an older demographic. And to this day, every Gloria is played every day at the bars and clubs here. And we have to just play it at all the tea dances. We have a tea dance on Sunday. Um, and it's just it's packed wall-to-wall guys, and they're playing um, they play one, two, three, they play rhythm, they play, they do gonga, but they also do wepa, they'll play hotel nelson. They play a lot of her out here. So I feel like I'm lucky that back in the day I was happy if I got Oye on the dance floor. Like that was kind of it. And now living in Palm Springs, um, even Friday night, we have our fur night um out here, and it's like 200 men, and she is played every Friday at least two or three songs. So that's awesome. I feel lucky out here because I can still like I want to dance and I can like know that she's gonna be played, which is kind of rare.

SPEAKER_04 29:09

Um see that's that's awesome for me to hear that because I'm the remix guy. I love collecting remix, as probably everybody knows. Knowing that, and I'm really like pushing for Sony to release more and more remixes digitally, so people have the option to listen to those albums, and it's it's really frustrating, you know, especially for like the younger kids to hear um when I look at that, I'm sure Everlasting Love's played everywhere. Um, the remixes from Everlasting Love, Tune The Breed Around. I mean, that was her pinnacle, you know, all those dance hits in the mid-90s.

SPEAKER_07 29:43

And which speaking of remixes and dance floors, you know, uh big part of our culture are the drag queens, right? So what why do you why do drag performers gravitate towards Gloria's music? Because even to this day, you'll see drag queens lip-syncing to you know songs that are 30, 40 years old as if it just came out.

SPEAKER_01 30:18

I think it was in Chicago recently. I don't know if any of you saw that online. No, really, whole Gloria show. And I was like, I wish I was close to Chicago, I would have gone. I mean, I have several friends who are at drag queens, I'm sure all of us do, and it's just like Gloria's music. Not only is it so engaging, and you know, you dance, you put on a whole show, it's like her styles, her looks, a lot of her lyrics are positive and inspirational. So I think that all tied together that makes for a good show, right? And like everybody loves Gloria.

SPEAKER_04 30:50

And you know, I collect or I put all like chart, I'm just curious in this or interested in this stuff. And um, I have remixes or not remixes, but like chart data from everywhere. And you know, look through awards that she had won. And and I was 12 or 13 years old in the mid-90s, and um 1995 and 96, she was killing it on the Billboard dance charts. And I saw I came across something where she was the number one hot dance music club play artist of 1996, and all of those remixes are in Sony's archives, and I was like, these need to be available digitally.

SPEAKER_01 31:27

Yeah, I was a teenager still when that album came out, when the glory album came out, but in my 20s, a few years later, um, when I was going to gay clubs, they were still playing those songs in West Hollywood. Good, like the videos were popping up. I was like, and you know what that does to a little drunk lesbian. I was like DJs, I was like, you know, round for everybody.

SPEAKER_08 31:51

But then happened.

SPEAKER_01 31:52

I also went, I was married by this time when I went to like a lesbian night at some bar. They played Wepa before Wepa was released, and I was like, DJ have this.

SPEAKER_04 32:02

That's great. The Wepa and Hotel Nacional remixes. I know Rob especially loves loves those remixes. Um Rob is not in uns game, we've already established that.

SPEAKER_05 32:16

Those remixes were phenomenal. Yeah, I'm sure. I'm like, I'm happy you had fun. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 32:21

I'm happy for you. The Miss Little Havana album was the first time I was old enough to be going to clubs with Gloria's music being released. And I remember that those two songs were just played all the time. And I remember I had gone on vacation to New Orleans and was at a gay club there, and they were playing it. And I was so excited that they're playing it back here, they're playing it there. Like those songs were huge. But I still hear Gloria, I I've heard one, two, three at the club, not even remixed. Like it'll just come on in the middle of like a bunch of club songs, and they'll just throw one, two, three, and it still goes off. I've heard um uh I DJ now, and when I play, I play the 12-inch mix of Oye, and that goes off as if it came out today. Like there's you can feel the energy. It's your job to be monitoring the energy of the room and to make sure that it doesn't dip. And I typically won't play a long, like you know, an eight-minute remix almost all the way through. And that one you can because it changes throughout. There's many different levels in that uh Pablo Flores remix of Oye that is so good. Um, I did hear Don't Let This Moment End at the Eagle, um, which I thought was apropos, um, like a really deep house remix of that. Um, that I'm sure Wes wouldn't know exactly which one it was.

SPEAKER_04 33:52

I was just gonna say, give me your email after this because I didn't know you were a DJ, because I have a lot of stuff that's CD, like may have not been released on CD, you know, back then, but oh you're you're about to have every single remote.

SPEAKER_05 34:07

What I love about there being drag performers all over the world doing glorious songs is that when any of my friends are on vacation in Spain, in Miami, in LA, in Palm Springs, wherever they are in the world, I I'll get a text while I'm sleeping at like two o'clock in the morning of like this drag queen is doing no me dequered, this drag queen is doing a really cool version of Volveras, like just like the random songs that they do in their little like acts. And I always get videos sent to me by all of my friends who are witnessing drag performers doing not just the hits, not just Oye Micanto or Oye or I Just Wanna Be Happy. They're doing deep cuts um just on their little Latino nights, and uh it's always cool that first of all to be thought of that people are like, you know who's gonna love this? And like they think of me, but also to to see that her music is just being played and celebrated all over the world in these spaces is a is a big deal still.

SPEAKER_03 35:08

So I think also too, it changes um it crosses culture and and I think for a lot of Latinos it's still a tough conversation to have um in being queer, and she is kind of that bridge to a lot of people. I've seen drag queens perform glorious songs in Spanish and they'll have their abuela in the audience sing them for the first time, they'll have their mom there for the first time, and I I have a special heart in my mom's um because I didn't necessarily have that same experience. So when I see a mom with a drag queen crying and giving their drag daughter or their the drag queen a dollar or whatever, yeah, singing tradicion. I mean, that's just such a powerful statement in so many ways. So I think so I think her yeah, her she she she is part of bridging cultures together, um, she's part of bridging families together and bringing deeper conversations that maybe people wouldn't be ready to have if it wasn't like we're gonna go do something fun and listen to music and and and and you can have those deeper conversations later. She's lit the candle and sort of planted that seed for deeper conversations and acceptance. I love that.

SPEAKER_07 36:25

Do any of you have do any of you have a memorable uh Gloria Drag performance that you've seen?

SPEAKER_02 36:34

I just saw one in Miami um at Twist, and I'm blanking. Oh, I think you told me. I think you you messaged me. Yeah, I think I did. Um, but she did like a 15-minute medley. And I was just I it was fun because it had it had the hits, but it also had the ones that we love. It had I Just Wanna Be Happy, um, it had Hotel Nacional, it had like it just was it was a full-on career spanning mega mix, and the crowd was loving it. And I I just was like, is this what Miami's always like? Is it just like because it's you know, I feel so gloria when I'm down there, yeah and uh I'm like, oh my gosh, it's like this is her city.

SPEAKER_04 37:17

Yeah, I know what you mean because us we're obviously not from Miami, but you know, just the idea of her in Miami, like how how famous she was, you would think that like, I wonder if this stuff was playing all the time back then. Carlos might be able to help me with that answer, but but you would hope, right? And and it's cool that you saw that. Michael, it's funny that you mentioned Tradicion. Uh her first number one hit on the Billboard Club charts was Tradition. They went to number one. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 37:49

I've seen um well, not um, I've seen April Carignon uh April Carignon do Gloria and Jessica Wilde. So and they did these big, you know, um different remixes. So that's always fun when when I see them like, oh you're from Hold on Him, you know, kind of six degrees of separation from Gloria.

SPEAKER_05 38:06

So in my mind April and I are BFFs, but you know Okay, so let's imagine that uh Sean, Michael, Steve, and Varo are creating a little playlist for us, right? And so my next question for you all is which glorious songs feel especially meaningful during Pride Month? Um and they could be meaningful for any reason from coming out to shaking your ass and everything in between. So um let's come up with a few songs together right now, and maybe we'll put a playlist out. That could be fun.

SPEAKER_07 38:45

Oh, that would be good. Let's start with Steve.

SPEAKER_00 38:49

Uh I definitely would put out of nowhere for the the fact that it's sheer euphoria. It's just one of those songs. I like that. I don't care. I just, you know, I'm gonna let it loose and have some fun. So it's it's always one of my real go-to songs, along with the album version of Oye. There's just something I love about that, it just it just raises your spirits. So very, very much the euphoria stuff would be my my thing. The the other one would be the 70s moment medley. Oof, that's a good one. Um, which I'm curious if she recorded full versions of each of the songs. I don't know if anybody knows that.

SPEAKER_02 39:30

I have always wondered that too. I've always wanted that because I heard that album was supposed to be like a follow-up to Hold Me Thrill Me, but more of a disco vibe. And so I wondered if those were the original demos and that they mashed them up. But I've I've had the same thought, Steve.

SPEAKER_00 39:45

Really? So you ever fix the Gloria next? Please ask. Um glorian. So yes, supposed to be my three.

SPEAKER_04 39:52

Tony Moran actually um commented on some uh somebody's post once, um, not all that long ago, about the Gloria album. So that would be a good one if somebody wants to try. Maybe he'll elaborate on that.

SPEAKER_07 40:05

Steve, I'm a little disappointed though. What? Uh I thought I thought you were gonna mention our our song in this place.

SPEAKER_00 40:17

I didn't want to be too greedy there.

SPEAKER_06 40:18

There's so many more I would want to be. You can be greedy. I'm used to you being greedy. I've seen you, I've seen you in action.

SPEAKER_00 40:29

Let's put Prisoner of Love in then, and then I would definitely put Primitive Love and Mutual Money in. Okay, okay. Now you're getting greedy.

SPEAKER_06 40:37

We can stop. Never doing a Steve playlist. You know, how about how about you? What's your playlist?

SPEAKER_01 40:42

Let's see. Well, you gotta have like an 80s glory in there, and I feel like a fun one would be bad boy.

SPEAKER_06 40:48

Okay, that's good.

SPEAKER_01 40:49

That would be a fun one to get like dance around to. And then kind of like another fun one that I I don't I've never obviously heard this in the club, but I just want to be happy is a just a positive, like you kind of get the energy jumps high. Like, I don't know. When you know, whenever I hear that, I'm like, it's positive lyrics, like I said before, but also like you just want to jump around.

SPEAKER_05 41:10

Absolutely. One of my favorites ever, by the way. You're not gonna be greedy.

SPEAKER_01 41:16

Another one? You're not gonna be greedy like Steve. Well, I love Hotan. I know we've mentioned the Hotana Felon a lot, but I love that video. And you know, you can have a whole wait a second.

SPEAKER_07 41:26

Are you talking about the video that I was in?

SPEAKER_01 41:29

Yeah.

SPEAKER_07 41:30

Oh my god, you were in that you didn't know that, Wes?

SPEAKER_04 41:34

No, you didn't tell me that.

SPEAKER_05 41:36

Well, Wes, do you listen to this podcast?

SPEAKER_07 41:40

Apparently not. Yeah, I was um there was there were quite a few of us that that were in that video.

SPEAKER_04 41:49

Well, you mentioned that you were there, so I didn't know if you were like in the background. I didn't know you were like in the video. Yeah, just one of the extra.

SPEAKER_07 41:56

If you blink, you will miss me. Uh it's oh but um Giovanna was in there, Barbie was there. Um, there are quite a few, quite a few of us. Yeah, I think which song is which which video is this? Uh um Hotel Nacional.

SPEAKER_02 42:14

Oh, yes. Okay, amazing.

SPEAKER_01 42:16

I love that video. I wish that was like a full movie. Yeah, we could make a whole movie because you know, Gloria was very into her character, she's got all her, you know, her style. Susan Luci was there, you know.

SPEAKER_07 42:29

Yeah, that that was a fun yet exhausting night. Because I think I think we didn't leave until like four in the morning. And that woman, the entire day, she was just, I mean, it before the extras uh came in, she was already recording with April Carrion, with um uh Susan Luci. There was a lot going on beforehand, and then she had to uh record the dance segment, and it it was a lot. So by the time that we left there, I mean, uh, that poor lady, when she took off her shoes, she was in so much pain. Um, because she was standing in those high heels all day long. So that was that was uh a pretty cool experience. Um, Michael, what's what's your playlist?

SPEAKER_03 43:18

Uh well, Gonga for sure, because it's just let loose, um have fun, get in the party scene and all of that, and just forget your troubles. But also, if I may get a little reflective, um, when it comes to Pride Month, one of the songs that stood out to me that I think um I I kind of embraced around this time and also too with everything going on politically is Pintame de Colores. Just the first phrase, mi cora son que estén blanco, like that kind of personifies what pride means to me and just embracing everyone and and just letting yourself absorbed all I got chills I love this oh that's so good I'll never hear the song the same again no it's a beautiful song and and and that's what I love about Gloria's lyrics is that like she could write a song and it can have 25 different meanings to people. I still want to pin her down for like rap. Hey hey hey hey hey call down there and be like who is what is this song about because rap for me is like um lovers it can be um prodigal son it could be the afterlife it could be all these things you know but um and I think that's the joy of her lyrics and her writing and so for me pintame de colores is is a special kind of moment this time of year for me and I want I want everyone's experiences and I think now more than ever we need to band together and just embrace each other and share our colors of all of us together.

SPEAKER_07 44:59

Oh I co-sign I co-sign with what you said because I will probably never hear this song I mean the the same way uh after hearing what you just said that I love that I love what you just shared Michael Sean Mr.

SPEAKER_02 45:18

DJ you have you have to have a playlist I know well I do I make a pride playlist every year I've done for like the past like eight or so years now and so for me there's certain artists that have to be on every year because they're my favorites so Gloria's in that category for me so it's always fun to decide like what's the song gonna be last year it was uh go away because you know I think Pride started as a protest and you know wow it's a bit about originally but the lyrics apply to current day and and it's also a vibe like it's such a good dance song and I got a lot of feedback from people that had not necessarily heard that song before um that they loved it and so that was really fun. But definitely Heaven's what I feel the love to infinity remix is fantastic and always still goes over so well. And then I got to shout out some of my faves from MLH to right away make my heart go on like there's so many there's so many like that just burn burn the dance floor down.

SPEAKER_01 46:25

We need the medicine remixes released car Carlos work on that yeah because there were there were remixes made for that yeah there were remix Kahill did a re those they have not been released but Kahill and Jr MX I think um but those remixes are in the wall we need those out you know I'm thinking I'm thinking like when Gloria opens in New York for the play right for Basuna Sean you've got to have a night where we just dance maybe the night before or maybe after the show not before but maybe after the show and then we just have an entire Gloria night oh my god that would be my dream but you're speaking my dream into existence I don't know we might be we might have something might have something for next year. What makes Gloria's connection with LGBTQ fans unique I mean I can go first just to start us off I mean I think you know just for a lot of reasons we already discussed like you know she she has shared her own struggle and um you know her own identity being a you know two Cuban for the Americans for Americans and Cubans and just like that idea of like struggling with your identity a lot of us can relate to that um and you know the idea that she remains positive a lot you know she she despite whatever hardships she has experienced in her life she embraces you know still being positive still you know I just want to be happy still being happy still you know um kind of uh encouraging everybody else around her to you know be um explore yourself be kind of like emphasize what we um embrace about each other you know to like community she's always like in enforcing that amongst even her fans you know like she cares about all her fans and she remembers people you know and I feel like that's that's something that I really love about her.

SPEAKER_02 48:24

I love that I I don't know if it's specific to the LGBTQ plus community but I just think Gloria's relationship to her fans in general um is very unique because I think that she's just so generous with her time um and she makes so much time for all of us and is just really really genuine um and it's it's so interesting because people are like how do you know Gloria Stefan and I'm like I really don't I I don't I guess I do know her now it's been so many years but it's like she creates access for all of us. She wants to be she wants to know us. Like it's it's genuine she wants to be part of our lives and she wants to hear our stories and I think that's incredibly special and unique and I don't know another person um you know at that level that that does that uh at the level that she does. I mean it's it's for everyone she really wants to make those connections and that's so incredibly special. It makes it makes her feel like an extended family member I think for a lot of us because we grew up with her music in our lives and now to be able to connect with her in in in these ways is unbelievable.

SPEAKER_03 49:45

Thank you Gloria she really um she had to pave her way this wasn't you know it's it's it wasn't easy back then. So her and Emilio they had to really just pursue and pursue and and and find their way and I think for a lot of LGBT people it's kind of the same way and we kind of see that about her and also all of the struggles that she's had though they're different struggles there's still struggles and I think um so many of us can relate to that because of her and I agree the the way that she makes time for fans is just it's I mean I've seen her sign to like two or three in the morning and you know I've seen her um just really take that moment eye to eye contact. I mean I remember the first time I met her it was in um I'd already I'd seen her live a few times but it was uh Konga Bash maybe oh eight or oh nine and I was trying to be cool I'm like yeah oh it's Gloria yeah it's fine it's fine and then um she comes in and I'm just like Gloria because it was such like I was keep in mind I'm not no like teenager 12 year old I'm like 38 and I'm like it's Gloria like I love you. We've known each other for years like I'm like you know and um she just she's spent that time and I think in for uh queer people in music and their divas when we talk about that their music and songs are tied to certain points of our lives whether it's good bad or indifferent and for Gloria she's had such a big catalog and she's been around for so long that so many songs can trigger a memory it can trigger trauma it can trigger first loves it can trigger a song go away forget him he's done you know it can trigger some different things but what's beautiful is that as we heal and as we develop our family of choice and as we go through our experiences and get older and wiser we can go to Gloria and I've been able to tell her this thank her for those songs that maybe were tied to trauma or maybe we're tied to a tough experience because she got me through it. Maybe we didn't know it at the time but I can tell her now thank you for that because it's made me stronger it's made me persevere and I think LGBT people that's why we're so close to our divas and our divas are so personal to us right that we're like Janet oh she's okay no don't mess with the Janet you know don't mess with love because it is such a personal journey for us and so I think to go back to the question I think that's what that meaning is to us like the music like the fandom like the memories attached to that and as we go on it's just those memories get better.

SPEAKER_00 52:36

Beautiful and Steve you want to wrap up oh that that's a bit of pressure uh I think it's for relatability isn't it uh kind of you know what everybody has said you know her story alone you know overcoming so much adversity and remaining a positive role model for people um I think just even just looking around this Zoom room you know we're all from different backgrounds different ages different genders uh but yet we all love Gloria she has that reach so to speak whereby I don't think no matter where you are in the world somebody knows who Gloria is and has an experience as Michael touched on you know with her music and you know for me personally you know it's how I relate to her it's just such a bonus that so many other people feel the exact same way and you know I've been very honest about you know having some very low points for example with you know my father was killed and losing my mother and so I listened to songs like Close My Eyes when I was really on the precipice I mean um you know of of doing silly things but listening to songs like that you know it's brought me back and it makes me relate to her more because there's somebody that you admire and watch on TV that they've gone through similar situations and it's kind of that reminder it's not that bad. So maybe Gloria doesn't even realize her importance to so many people and that her example really you know it gives a lot of people inspiration certainly for me and you know in my off my office actually at my computer I've got a framed uh soundposter that she did for Conga Bash 11 which had helped organize and there's a lovely inscription on it and so I look at that 50 times a day and when I'm having bad days at work that that that keeps me going. So you know I know we're talking about you know Gloria and pride but you know to me the pride is even bigger. I'm just so proud to be a fan of Gloria as irrespective of her importance as an you know as an ally for us you know she's just you know she's really reset culture in in so many ways and I'm so glad to have been influenced by that be part of it and you know to have made so many you know similar connections with people you know we're very lucky.

SPEAKER_02 55:12

Steve thank you so much for for sharing that and I think you know there's there's something I'll I'll share a little um sneak peek um you know next week we're talking to Gloria about uh destiny and one of the things that she she mentions during the episode and one of the things that she's mentioned throughout this season has been that she's had the opportunity for decades now to meet with fans like us and you know get the hugs and the thank yous and sometimes you know she'll receive letters here and there but throughout this process of the the podcast we've had people fans like you um like everyone here um in this in this chat in this meeting um share their personal stories and that has touched her you know um and it's something that she has found so special and I want to thank you for you know sharing what you just shared but thank everyone else for opening up throughout this entire season because you know some of these things um it's hard to to emote and and share and the fact that everyone gave our show a chance to sit in and even if we were just joking um but to share these personal uh memories and personal stories we um truly appreciate that and it truly you know it clearly has made an impact on her as well so thank you thank you to you guys for making this happen so yeah so we have reached the point of the show where we let it loose and I'm ready to see my friends let it loose so before I before you do I'm gonna I see Vero's already taking a drink so I'm gonna I'm gonna drink right there with you and who wants to go first I can go first my let it loose was was sort of stolen but I think I should have anticipated that my let it loose is Wes's torch for those remixes to come out uh particularly the destiny ones I think were next up on the list those incredible mixes of I'm not giving you up um the extended ones the higher remixes um I would love the even the singles like the live versions on some of those singles that came out from the Evolution tour the ballad medleys on one of those singles so my letter loose is to Sony music Latin Sony music legacy um because I think they both work on Gloria's catalog and they're different divisions um but I think having these things out is really really important because it does cement her legacy she's done so many things she's a singer songwriter and has some of the most incredible ballads that we've ever heard in adult contemporary radio but she's also a dance diva which we've talked a ton about in this podcast and so having those remixes out help to cement her legacy and cement her in people's memory and also just you know on some of those songs she's written a lot of her stuff but some of them have songwriting collaborators and the way that they make their money is through those streaming it's very little it piles up very little but the more that the more of those remixes that are out the more opportunity it is for those songwriters and collaborators too so it's so important. It's not just because I think because we really want them but it it's it's deeper than that it it's there's a lot of meaning behind it. So that's my let it loose we gotta we gotta have those things out.

SPEAKER_07 58:47

Preach Sean preach I love it.

SPEAKER_03 58:51

Vado I'm gonna pick on you know it's gonna be totally random but I want it I want to see her in more like acting roles oh you know thousand people are always approaching her people are always sending her you know script I want to see it and we have a I like when she does like her alter ego stuff like a naughty role you know or like a goofy role like you know one day at a time the sister or you know that was good um remember when she did the Chris Isaac show yeah oh my god oh my god on the VHS and I wish I still had it to re-watch I don't have a VHS layer it's on YouTube it's recently on YouTube it wasn't for Louis I love that like I want to see more of that love it mine's fun and naughty kind of but I want her um let the chaps loose auction them off for the Stephon Foundation and they won't fit me but I will get them altered I will go to the eagle and be like when I look into I'll be like just I'm wearing Gloria you know there you go.

SPEAKER_00 1:00:01

If there's anyone that deserves those chaps it's it's definitely you all right Steve it's it's your turn to let it loose well Michael kind of stole my thunder because um I was actually going to say I would love Gloria to do like Julian's auctions you know to auction off some of the memorabilia from her career.

SPEAKER_01 1:00:22

I know she's archiving it for Emily and for um for Sasha uh for the future but for or even for there to be a museum or some sort of showcase whereby her evolution can be shown to the world people will pay good money to come and see that it could go towards her foundation there's so much you know I I would love Gloria to do with her her archives and also I'd love Miss Little Havana on vinyl oh okay that's that's that's that's the big one too I like the idea of you know some type of museum or you know exhibit doubt I don't know maybe you might spark spark an idea not to bring up another diva but Dolly just opened hers at her Dollywood oh at the at yeah the hotel right didn't she just yeah or she just opened a Dolly museum where you can see all her outfits so I feel like Gloria could do the same thing.

SPEAKER_05 1:01:26

Absolutely get on it Gloria that's right or just invite all of us to the warehouse and we can see it right or we could just do that yeah okay that'd be fun thank you once again to Sean Michael Barrow and Steve for such a great conversation we celebrated we got chills we got emotional we danced we wore chaps those chaps we drank seen things I've never seen before in their lives and what a treat it was to get to know each other and to celebrate pride once um as a whole group if you like this episode don't forget to like rate review subscribe give us five stars comment on everything there's a comment feature on Spotify apparently and that's exciting um feel free to do that follow us on TikTok because Laura is making all these beautiful videos and they're living on TikTok uh specifically so take a look at all the cool things she's doing there and uh we will see you next week with um an episode I can't believe is happening.

SPEAKER_07 1:02:34

Oh it happened I know but I still can't believe it it happened so yeah check us out next week and um it's gonna be a special one it's uh we're doing a deep dive of the Destiny album which we know is very special for many of us and um you might even hear Gloria drinking a few drinks here and there and us.

SPEAKER_05 1:03:00

And us thanks everybody saved it for this episode.

SPEAKER_02 1:03:11

Yep what a treat bye everyone thank you happy bride everybody thank you for listening to Let It Loose a Gloria fan podcast let it Loose was produced by Carlos Rob and Wes 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