From one "Fluffy" to another...
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| The cover of Gloria Balsam's infamous 45. |
Gloria Balsam was the stage name used by Cynthia Frantz, an aggressively eccentric Philadelphia-born singer who became a hanger-on/peripheral presence in the San Francisco new wave scene of the late 1970s. Her discography is slim, but it does contain the indescribable 1979 single "Fluffy," which had an initial run of only 1000 copies but which found greater fame on a Rhino Records compilation The World's Worst Records in 1983. That compilation must have given Gloria's career a boost. Here is a video of the chanteuse performing the song live (singing along with a pre-taped backing) at a 1984 "new music" seminar in New York. Wonder if the audience knew what they were in for:
Gloria has not produced much in the way of new music in the last three decades, but we'll always have "Fluffy." The singer also seems to maintain a minor Internet presence these days. Under her real name, Cynthia Frantz, she works as an attorney in Vermont.
- For the truly curious, there's a nicely detailed article about Gloria's career here.