UK release date: February 6th 1988
UK chart peak: #1
US chart peak: #6
Buy Anything For You here (Amazon UK)
Read my Gloria Estefan album anniversary posts here
Although a young teen me was aware of Gloria Estefan before 1987 (mainly thanks to my mum's love of Conga), her 1987 album with the Miami Sound Machine, Anything For You (Let It Loose in the USA), began a serious appreciation of her music that has lasted 3 decades. I'm super excited to see the UK premiere of her musical, On Your Feet, debut at Leicester Curve next year so it seems an apt time to revisit Anything For You. It was released 31 years ago today (June 2 2018)in the US and 30 years ago in the UK. It spawned a plethora of hit singles that remain indelibly ingrained in my brain today. Here is a look back at some of the highlights...
- Betcha Say That ~ I'll confess that it took me a while to fully appreciate Betcha Say That as a single. To my less mature, teen ears it didn't have the immediacy of songs like Dr. Beat and Conga. Over the years, however, I've fallen hard for this shimmering, mid-tempo gem. Gloria calling out a guy for his cheesy pick up lines with a radiant, sing along chorus is pop manna from heaven. It may not have had much impact on the singles charts but I get a shiver of delight each time I hear it on the album or Spotify playlist. It doesn't feature on any greatest hits but if you can track down a 12" version as I did in the early 90s at a record fair, you'll be super satisfied...
- Anything For You ~ the US chart topper launched Gloria as a bonafide star in the UK. This song was all over radio and it is easy to see why. An elegant, stripped back ballad saw Gloria's expressive voice lead the enchanting melody with mellifluous grace. Her ode to unrequited love struck a chord with the hopeless romantic in me and I would listen with rapt attention. I fell in love on a weekly basis with guys who didn't know I existed so this was the perfect outlet for my fleeting feelings. As I got older, I recognised the depth of the lyrics and now it elicits memories of loves that just weren't meant to be.
- 1-2-3 ~ Just six weeks after AFY hit the UK top ten, the record company were eager to show the uptempo side of Gloria (Ms. Estefan uf you funky). Hence, this remix of the popular album track. What a giddy treat it was/is. Firstly, I love a song with counting in it and I was becoming increasingly addicted to the Miami Freestyle sound which was made popular by Gloria, Expose, Sweet Sensation and Pet Shop Boys (well at Domino Dancing). It provided radio here in the UK from the array of Stock Aitken and Waterman hits that dominated airwaves. Because of this, it felt fresh and exciting, a new way the rhythm is gonna get you. Plus Gloria's imploring of a guy to step up was intoxicatingly delicious. Remixes galore took the song to evocative new places that slayed in the clubs (and on my sony walkman foam earphones). Say you love me? I blooming adore you.
- Rhythm Is Gonna Get You ~ the rhythm had truly got a grip on England by the time this song had sashayed into the British charts. Flamenco vibes and a salsa aura compelled the listener's feet to move to the beat. Everything about the song worked in symbiotic partnership to give mesmerising, swirling magic. It may not have gone top ten in Blighty but it made me smile from ear to ear, transporting me away from unhappy experiences at school (meaning the song always has a special place in my memory)
- Can't Stay Away From You ~ the album's final single in the UK was a track that reached top ten on both sides of the Atlantic. The song is a pensive ballad sung from the perspective of a woman who is in love with someone who doesn't feel the same, but she is unwilling to walk away from their relationship because she does not want it to end. Gloria sings with such pathos that you feel every ounce of emotion. I, and the rest if the world was smitten. Note - the UK got a remix of Surrender on the b-side which kept me bopping around the bedroom for days.
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