Blogocentric Formulations

Turning the beat around with Gloria Estefan

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Song: "Turn the Beat Around"
Artist: Gloria Estefan
Album: Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me

Yeah, I know that with a discography as long and successful as Gloria Estefan's it's practically heresy to choose a cover rather than an original song, but I'm going to do it anyway. "Turn the Beat Around" was originally written by Peter and Gerald Jackson and performed by Vicki Sue Robinson in 1976, and was even covered successfully by Laura Branigan in 1990. But Estefan's version is probably the most well-known, since it was recorded as a single and included in the soundtrack to The Specialist. The movie was a huge hit ($170 million worldwide box office), which drove sales of the single and prompted Estefan to include the single on her subsequent fourth studio album Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me. And by the way, if you haven't seen The Specialist yet and love 90s cheese... you need to see this one ASAP. You can see a few clips in the video below, but it's Sly Stallone versus bad James Woods and Eric Roberts as the most yolked demolitions expert you'll ever meet. Mix in a femme fatale courtesy of Sharon Stone at the height of her Basic Instinctiness and you've got a winner on your hands.

I love that this song includes a little of everything. Synthesizer, strings, flute... there's a little something for everyone in there. Her whole discography is great, though. I remember listening to her earlier stuff with my parents, who absolutely adore her music. Gloria Estefan was one of the few artists that we all looked forward to releasing a new album or listening to after dinner. My parents didn't really become fans until she got popular in the U.S. though, so I missed a lot of her work in the late seventies and early eighties. I think we caught on around the time "Conga" from the Primitive Love album charted, and then followed her through subsequent hits like "Words Get in the Way," "Rhythm is Gonna Get You," "1-2-3-4," "Get On Your Feet," "Cuts Both Ways," and "Coming Out of the Dark." She also did a great cover of "Everlasting Love."