45 Years Ago - 1978 Gloria Gaynor released her sixth album Love Tracks.
"Substitute" was the first single and peaked at #78 on the R&B chart.
BUT...Let the flip begin.
"I Will Survive" (you might have heard of it), started getting played, and the single version was quickly replaced on the albums to the 12" Disco Version (to sell more records) and became a smash! #1, #9 AC, #1 Club, #4 R&B. (hardly a B-side)
According to Robert "Boogie" Bowles who played guitar on the song, in the three-hour recording session, the session musicians spent most of their time recording the A side, "Substitute". As a result, they only had 35 minutes to record the B-side "I Will Survive". They also did not even know the song title or the melody of the song, but they were fairly relaxed recording it in the belief that the B-side would likely not be played. Based only on the chord changes and a few notes, they improvised freely much of the backing track, and Bowles filled in the bare bone of the tune with jazzy blues licks. Gaynor then recorded the vocals wearing a back brace, having just had surgery due to a fall at a concert. The injury and a recent bereavement made Gaynor identify with the sentiment of it; she said: "That's why I was able to sing the song with so much conviction".
In the Record Labels sometimes have no clue - the label refused to entertain the idea of it as a single and it was released as the B-side. Gaynor's husband took the song to Studio 54 DJ Richie Kaczor, who loved it. Gaynor gave Kaczor a stack of the records to give to his friends. Other DJs in discos and radio stations soon followed and played that side of the record instead.
"Anybody Wanna Party" was a #16 R&B hit and made the top 20 on the Club chart.
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