Gloria

♫ Get On Your Feet! ♫  This is Big!!

I always picture Gloria in the ♫ Reach ♫ music video.

I have a big thing for Gloria Estefan.  Well, her music, at least.  She is the queen of my music collection.  Though, she might be tied with Whitney for most number of CDs that I own.  Co-queen, I guess.  (Yes, I still purchase CDs.  I like them.  Eat me.)  (I think I've technically owned more Weird Al Yankovic CDs throughout my life, but not now, and he was hip in middle school, so lay off.)  [Wow, I feel surprisingly defensive about my music all of a sudden.  Lord knows I take enough heat for the music I listen to.]

Own it. ♫ One, Two, Three ♫

Anyway, when I mention her name, all I can think of is another regret of mine from almost a decade ago.  I can't even believe that I remember it.  I was driving around in Monroe either before college or the summer between my freshman and sophomore year at Michigan.  There was one of those 'caller number 9 gets tickets to the concert' callouts on the radio.  Probably Tower 98.  It was for Gloria Estefan tickets.  Her last tour, since she was retiring from performing.

Own it. ♫ Turn the Beat Around ♫

I remember thinking that I should do it.  If, for no other reason, because I had this feeling that not many other people where I'm from would be calling in for that particular venue.  I had this gut feeling that I was going to win if I just called.  I didn't.  I don't know if it was laziness.  I had never been to a concert before, so maybe I was a little apprehensive.  Maybe I was nervous that I wouldn't be able to convince anybody to come with me.  Maybe it forced me to consider rather or not I was gay.  I couldn't tell you why, but I didn't call in.

♫ Come on, shake your body, baby, do the Conga! ♫

Gloria came.  Gloria went.  And I would never see her perform live.  That realization hit me a few months later.

...

And now she's back.  She better get her Latin ass on tour.

She's back, and I'm not missing her this time.

Three songs you should check out that never made it big:

• ♫ Hoy ♫  Entirely in Spanish, and I don't know what she's saying, but I love it.
• ♫ You Can't Walk Away from Love ♫  Annie hates this one, but it feels so exotic and cool to me.
• ♫ Heaven's What I Feel ♫  A dance mix that would probably be big now as a throwback... 13 years later.  (This music video is embarrassing, otherwise I would have included it.)

♫ Rhythm is Gonna Get You ♫,
~RoB