Gloria Gaynor › The Best of Gloria Gaynor [PolyGram Special Market]

Because Gloria Gaynor is best known for "I Will Survive," some listeners might have a hard time imagining that an album titled The Best of Gloria Gaynor could lack that disco-soul classic. But when this German LP came out in 1977, "I Will Survive" was still two years away, and Gaynor was best known for her work with the Meco Monardo/Tony Bongiovi/Jay Ellis team. Full of gems, this LP boasts some of the strongest tracks from Gaynor's first four albums, including "Never Can Say Goodbye" and "Honey Bee" from 1975's Never Can Say Goodbye; "Casanova Brown," "If You Want It (Do It Yourself)," and "How High the Moon" from 1975's Experience Gloria Gaynor; "Let's Make a Deal" and "I've Got You Under My Skin" from 1976's I've Got You; and "We Can Start All Over Again" and the haunting "Most of All" from 1977's Glorious. Of the four albums, Glorious is the least memorable; but to its credit, Polydor's German division picks two of the stronger tracks from that competent though unremarkable release. In 1977, dance club DJs didn't find this album terribly useful because Polydor favors the shorter versions of Gaynor's hits over the extended dance versions. But then, The Best of Gloria Gaynor wasn't aimed at club DJs, and Polydor wouldn't have been able to squeeze 12 songs onto the LP if it had gone with the longer mixes. If you needed a concise overview of Gaynor's career in 1977, The Best of Gloria Gaynor was a logical choice. ~ Alex Henderson