In 1982 I was 20 years old and Gloria was the top hit for nearly than half of that year. Imagine that today. It just doesn't happen anymore. That’s not an aging pop fan’s lament for the old days either, it’s simply fact. Branigan was as huge as a domestic pop star could get, and she was even fortunate enough (Talented enough? Well-managed enough?) to follow up her massive debut hit with several top selling albums that pushed 3 more songs into the top 20.
But there’s something almost surreal about the way the story of her death came out. Her website had it but news media were slow to catch on and no one seemed to be very surprised that she would die so suddenly, so young. There was more outrage over Ronald Reagan's passing at 93 and let's face it, the man had been a pomegranate for a decade already. While I'm not saying she deserved the coverage warranted by the passing of a former President, Branigan's death was needless. It just seems to me that her Gloria was right up there with Rick James’ Superfreak. Why isn’t her death getting the attention given to Rick James’? Is it because she eventually had the class and good grace to drop out of sight? Perhaps it’s because she didn’t keep her name in the headlines by becoming a drug addict and admitting to wasting millions on shooting up heroin. Maybe she was just another in a long line of chick singers who came and went. I don’t know, but back when I was at that clubbing age and dancing all night was a big part of the fun, Gloria was one of the staples you had to have thumping away for the night to be complete. Nothing against RJ, because Superfreak was certainly another. All I can say is, the guys from J. Geils band and the Human League had better be taking good care of themselves.