Gloria Gaynor Wishes Fans 'Love'



By Michael Paoletta



After numerous European releases throughout the '90s, Gloria Gaynor's new album, "I Wish You Love," due Sept. 10 via Logic/BMG, is the artist's first worldwide release in 15 years. To reinforce this point, especially for her U.S. fans, Gaynor begins the album with the bubbly "Gotta Be Forever," which is home to these opening lines: "I know you're wondering where I've been/Sweet songs of love got me coming in."

In a way, Gaynor notes, "those two lines bring me back home." To paraphrase her most classic recording, Gaynor has, unlike most artists from the disco era, survived.

"It was truly wonderful to enter the studio to record all new and original material," Gaynor says of the new disc, obviously referring to past European releases like 1997's "Careless Whisper" that often included cover versions. (The new album includes one cover: "Just Keep Thinking About You.")

Gaynor says the bulk of the songs on "I Wish You Love" were written expressly for her. "These are not random songs taken from somebody's catalog," she explains. "I knew from day one that I wanted a love concept -- I'm all about that. I also wanted to keep the lyrics uplifting, offering words of encouragement."

In signature Gaynor fashion, the album boasts a variety of sounds, encompassing upbeat dance-pop ("No One Can Love You More"), power ballads ("I Never Knew"), midtempo R&B (the title track), and classic-sounding soul ("I'm Here for You," which was co-penned by the singer). Also included are live English and Spanglish versions of Gaynor's golden classic, the Grammy winning "I Will Survive."

According to Logic, Gaynor will be seen quite a bit on television and through other media outlets around the time of the album's release. She's also got a handful of tour dates on her itinerary through the end of the year, including a show tonight (Sept. 3) in Berlin, and a Dec. 19 New York appearance as part of a WKTU-sponsored concert. For updates, visit her official Web site.

Here are Gloria Gaynor's upcoming tour dates:

Sept. 03: Berlin (I.C.C.)
Sept. 07: New York (The Roxy)
Sept. 14: Aurora, Ill. (Paramount Arts Center)
Oct. 13: Los Angeles (Shrine Auditorium)
Nov. 09: Trenton, N.J. (Sovereign Bank Arena)
Nov. 16: Minneapolis (Convention Center)
Dec. 19: New York (WKTU-sponsored show)


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Excerpted from the Sept. 7, 2002, issue of Billboard. The full original text of the article is available in the Billboard.com members section.

very Talented&Short-changed as only a Disco Artist IMHO.

There's a house remix of "I Never Knew" that gets played on XM Channel 81 all the time. I really don't like it, actually.

Everytime I get ready to hit the nightclubs,I ALWAYS play her 1979 hit "Anybody Wanna Party?".That is the ultimate party song,imo.

It's great that she's attempting a comeback.Now if only Donna Summer could get her next CD finished!