The album alternated four energetic up-tempo songs with five ballads, including one of the few songs written solely by Branigan, “I Wish We Could Be Alone”. 69 on the Billboard charts in early 1982. The first single from the album was “All Night With Me”, which reached No. (Other bonus cuts include the 12″ extended single versions of “Gloria” and “Looking Out For Number One”, as well as a previously unreleased song intended as a B-side.) But by then the music fans were tiring of disco and wanted a new sound.īranigan’s 9-track debut album, Branigan, was released in March 1982. None of these three singles (or the B-side, “When”) were included on her first album, but all four songs were eventually released on CD over 30 years later in 2014 as bonus cuts on a U.S. Two other early Atlantic singles, “Tell Him” and “Fool’s Affair”, followed. The strength and range of her voice actually impeded her career for several years while the label went through the process of categorizing her as a pop singer, and her 1981 single “Looking Out for Number One”, from her unreleased album Silver Dreams, made a brief appearance on the U.S. In 1979, after a chance meeting with manager Sid Bernstein on her return from Europe, Branigan was signed by Ahmet Ertegun to Atlantic Records. In December 1978 after meeting him at a party in Manhattan, New York, earlier in the year, Branigan married Larry Ross Kruteck (1936-1996), a lawyer 16 years her senior he died of colon cancer on June 15, 1996. Branigan preferred not to discuss her involvement with Meadow publicly.ĭuring the years after Meadow broke up, Branigan had various jobs, including a stint as one of Leonard Cohen’s backup singers for his European tour in April–August 1976. The band broke up, after which Walker Daniels committed suicide. The record was not properly promoted and never re-released. Working as a waitress until in 1972 she met acoustic guitarist Walker Daniels and his future wife Sharon Storm and acoustic guitarist Chris Van Cleave, forming the folk-rock band Meadow (named as a good place for Paul McCartney’s band Wings to land in) with bass player Stephen Trees (Replaced by Bob Valdez 1973), which in 1973 released their debut album The Friend Ship, featuring the singles When You Were Young, and Cane and Able, which featured the hook line “Throw away your cane and you are able”. Laura grew up and lived in Armonk, New York, where she attended Byram Hills High School in 1966-1970, starring in the high school musical The Pajama Game in her senior year. In 1970-1972 she attended the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York City. Life and career Early yearsīranigan was born in Mount Kisco, New York, 4th of five children of Kathleen O’Hare-Branigan (1921-2006) and James H. Billboard Hot 100 for 36 weeks, at the time a record for a female artist the song holds a place in the top-100 singles of both 19.īranigan died at her home in 2004 from a previously undiagnosed cerebral aneurysm. Her signature song “Gloria” by Umberto Tozzi stayed on the U.S. top-40 songs.īranigan also contributed songs to notable motion picture and television soundtracks, including the Grammy and Academy Award-winning Flashdance soundtrack (1983), the Ghostbusters soundtrack (1984), and the Baywatch soundtrack (1994). 1 Adult Contemporary (AC) hit “How Am I Supposed to Live Without You”, as well as several other U.S. Branigan is also remembered for the top-10 song “Solitaire”, and for the No. Laura Ann Branigan (J– August 26, 2004) was an American singer, songwriter, and actress best known for her 1982 platinum-certified hit “Gloria” and for the top-5 single “Self Control”.