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One of Kathy Golik’s first memories of Laura Branigan was in 1982, when the 30-year-old singer of the new hit song “Gloria” performed at the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York City.

The 14-year-old Golik was glued to her TV in Pennsylvania, about 35 miles east of Pittsburgh.

“My story is a rather unique one,” Golik said. “I actually grew up being a fan of Laura’s. I was 14 years old when ‘Gloria’ came out. She was a new artist, and ‘Gloria’ was all over the airwaves. I remember wanting to sit down and watch the parade because she was going to be on. She rode down the street on a rocking-horse float, and there were no CDs or anything like that, so they had a little Sony Walkman cassette player sitting on the side of her and they just kept looping ‘Gloria.’ It was really a big deal.”

“I think about sitting there watching that and then the journey my life took,” Golik said. “I went to concerts throughout the years, and pretty much anything that was Laura Branigan, any fact or anything, I just became really very knowledgeable about her career. I’m 51 years old right now, and I always tell people it’s one of those pinch-me stories because I was a fan and I ended up not only her manager but a very close friend. The very neat thing is, after her passing, I was able to acquire a lot of her memorabilia, and I actually have the purple scarf that she wore on the float. That has a lot of meaning to me because that’s pretty much where it all started.”

The roots of how Golik and fellow Branigan followers became Blues fans, why “Gloria” blares at Enterprise Center and inside the team’s locker room after wins at home and on the road, and why shelves are stocked with T-shirts featuring the song’s title is an equally organic romance.

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By now you’ve heard about the five players — Joel Edmundson, Alexander Steen, Jaden Schwartz, Robby Fabbri and Robert Bortuzzo — who, the night before the Blues faced the Philadelphia Flyers on Jan. 7, went to The Jacks NYB, a private bar in the city, to watch the Eagles-Bears NFC wild-card game.

“We have a buddy, he’s a Philly boy, and he texted us, ‘Hey, come over to my place and we’ll watch the game,’” Edmundson recalled. “We thought we were going over to his apartment, so when we pull up to this corner place, we texted him, ‘We don’t think we’re here.’ But he comes out, and he’s like, ‘Guys, don’t be scared — it will be a good time.’ So we go in there, and there’s like 30 guys straight out of Philly, some of them might have been in the mob, I don’t know, but when we walked in, they give us a standing ovation.

“We watched the game with them, and every commercial break a DJ would play music, and he played ‘Gloria’ a couple of times. This one guy who had a few too many drinks just kept yelling, ‘Play Gloria!’ They kept playing it and everyone would get up and start dancing and they just kept saying, ‘Play “Gloria”! Play “Gloria”!’ Steener just thought, ‘Hey, we’ve got to take this song for us.’ Then (Jordan Binnington) gets a shutout the next day, we played ‘Gloria,’ and ever since we’ve been on a roll.”

The Blues were in the midst of climbing out of last place in the NHL standings and were looking for a glue to bond them, and they found it in a place they least expected.

“Throughout the season you try to find something to grow the group,” Steen said. “Sometimes things like that just arise. After that first day, it’s become a part of who we are.”

“I heard the song growing up, and it’s a catchy tune, so that’s probably part of it too,” Bortuzzo added. “It’s something that caught on and we just ran with.”

As Blues victories added up, the “Gloria” craze grew in St. Louis, and about a month after the team reintroduced the song to the city, a fan tweeted to Branigan’s official Twitter account, suggesting it should post some videos, which could be shared after wins. You can see in that tweet the fan says, “It’s the team’s rally song.”

That’s awesome!!🙂🎶👍 ~ Other Half Entertainment, Legacy Management

— Laura Branigan (@laurabranigan) February 10, 2019

The recipient of that message was Golik.

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“I became aware of it back in February when I saw it on Twitter,” she said. “Somebody said, ‘They’re using “Gloria.”’ At first, I didn’t really delve into it. I thought, ‘Well, maybe just that night they played it.’ I didn’t know the background of the story with the bar in Philadelphia. Then, not too long after that, a story came out about it. I’m like, ‘OK, well somebody’s writing an article — this is probably a little more than I thought it was.’

“The New York Daily News and Fox News got a hold of it, and my tweets were appearing in the articles, and then I even saw it on some French website. Then, as the Blues were progressing, some people were putting up their fan-made videos at the arena and I was starting to see a little more buzz on Twitter. It was like a little snowball rolling down a hill, and it got really big.”

It’s not uncommon for a publicist to handle the accounts of artists and entertainers, but in the case of Branigan, who died in 2004 before Twitter existed, there’s a special significance as to why Golik started and has maintained the singer’s social media presence 15 years after her passing.

After that Thanksgiving Day parade, Golik began tracing the career of Branigan, who was born in Brewster, N.Y., in 1952.

“Her background story: She was very shy growing up, and they used to sing at the family dinner table,” Golik said. “Her mother would comment to her, ‘Laura, you have a beautiful voice,’ and Laura would just kind of push that aside. She could barely raise her head up in class, so she never considered being a singer or entertainer or anything like that.

“But her senior year of high school, the drama teacher at her high school encouraged her to audition, and she got the lead role in a musical, and once she got on the stage, that’s where she found her voice. She found an outlet to release her emotions, and she got very interested in pursuing something in the entertainment world.”

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Branigan graduated in 1970 and then attended the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York City, after which she hit the streets, singing in bars and clubs. She eventually got noticed by Leonard Cohen, the Canadian artist famous for the song “Hallelujah,” who took her on his European tour as a backup singer in the late ’70s.

“Laura told the story that she enjoyed being a backup singer, but she wanted to be the act,” Golik said. “So she was playing all these little places and caught the attention of all people Sid Bernstein, who became her first manager. Sid Bernstein was well-known because he managed the Beatles when they were brought over to the U.S. He was taking her to different places, and Ahmet Ertegun, the founder of Atlantic Records, came to see her perform, and he was impressed. He said, ‘Laura’s going to be a star!’”

She was signed by Atlantic, the album “Branigan” was released in March 1982, and the second single was “Gloria.” A little-known fact: Branigan’s song was a cover of an originally recorded track by Italian artist Umberto Tozzi in 1979. It was a big hit in Europe, and that’s how Branigan’s German producer, Jack White, became familiar with it.

“Jack White said, ‘I think that’s an excellent song, and we should try to get that for you, Laura,’” Golik said. “So they got the song — they bought the licensing. As Laura would say, they gave it an ‘American kick.’ (Tozzi’s) version was a romantic ballad; it was slowed down. But they rewrote the lyrics, and as you can tell, it’s certainly not a ballad anymore. It was turned into this energetic type of vibe.”

That vibe took “Gloria” near the top of the charts, spending 36 weeks on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100, where it reached No. 2. Branigan also received a Grammy nomination for best pop female vocalist in 1982, but the award went to Melissa Manchester for “You Should Hear How She Talks About You.” Branigan was part of the Album of the Year nomination for the song “Imagination,” which appeared on the original soundtrack of the movie “Flashdance.”

The meaning of the song “Gloria,” according to Golik, was “about a girl that was running too fast for her own steps. It’s about a girl that was mixed up, listening to a lot of people, the voices in her head, and was kind of on the wrong side of the tracks. She was a little confused; that’s who Gloria was. But even though the message is about a girl that doesn’t exactly have it all together, it’s one of those ‘feel-good’-type songs. When you heard Laura sing, the power of her voice, the range, she just had that ability to put the listener right in the middle of that song, and that’s not something that all artists can achieve. There are many good artists, but she had the whole package.”

“Gloria” did reach No. 1 in Canada and Germany, and Branigan would go on to more worldwide success with the album “Self Control,” and her popularity continued into the 1990s. But after seven studio albums, she stopped performing in the mid-’90s because her husband, Larry Kruteck, had been diagnosed with colon cancer and died in 1996. After a few years away from the stage, however, she returned and started playing concerts again.

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“It was a wonderful thing,” Golik said. “I was part of a group of regulars that she would see at the shows. We’d be in the front row, and she just became familiar with me, and she would always do meet-and-greets after the show, so there were opportunities there to get to know her better. We sort of were just drawn to each other — we just hit it off.”

It was 2002 and Branigan had no official website, so Golik and her husband started Laurabraniganonline.com, which, with the cooperation of the musician’s management, became her official website two years later. By that time, Golik was helping schedule shows, which led one day to Branigan telling a mutual friend, “Kathy is doing a pretty good job of doing this stuff, so I think I’m going to ask her to be my manager.”

Golik said she and Branigan were talking several times a day and an album was in the works. There were also cookbooks coming, more shows, a lot of excitement about the future, “and all of a sudden, I get a phone call from (Branigan’s personal assistant), and I could tell she was crying. Well, Laura’s mom, Kathleen, had Alzheimer’s, and I thought perhaps something happened to Kathleen. So I couldn’t believe what I heard next — she said, ‘Kathy, Laura passed away.’ I’m like, ‘What, what?’”

Living in the Hamptons on Long Island, in a town called East Quogue, the 52-year-old Branigan passed away in her sleep from a brain aneurysm. That was a Friday, and by Monday, Golik was in New York for Branigan’s wake, at which she spoke, and funeral.

“It just happened so quickly, and it was surreal,” Golik said. “It was like I was watching something, not really going through it myself. There was so much media. It was just a really crazy time, and hard to deal with personally because we had grown close. It was a lesson for all of us to just enjoy every day because the next one is not guaranteed.”

Golik said Branigan had a directive that if anything happened to the singer, her fan-turned-manager would carry on her legacy. The name of the company is “Other Half Entertainment” because “she referred to her audience as her other half. She would say, ‘You are my other half — I love you. I wouldn’t be doing what I’m doing if I didn’t have you supporting me.’”

There’s a gathering of fans in New York every August called the “Spirit of Love Memorial,” after Branigan’s song by the same name, in which several dozen people come from as far as Australia.

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“The wonderful thing about when you’re a singer is, you know, that music lives on,” Golik said. “Your work remains and people can hear it. I don’t think it should be, ‘OK, she’s gone; let’s put her in a box and put her up on a shelf and that’s it.’ We’re not to let her be forgotten, let her music be forgotten. To her, it wasn’t about the awards, the glamour and all of that. She wanted to touch people’s lives with her artistry, and when I see things like (the Blues’ use of ‘Gloria’), I know she’s accomplished that.”

On April 20, when the Blues wrapped up a 3-2 win over the Winnipeg Jets, the fans at Enterprise Center celebrated the Western Conference quarterfinal series victory with — what else? — dancing to “Gloria” as the players congregated around Binnington.

The final seconds… #stlblues #WeAllBleedBlue pic.twitter.com/hJ4tOKs8uA

— St. Louis Blues (@StLouisBlues) April 21, 2019

Blues forward Brayden Schenn has been in the NHL for 10 seasons and has seen a lot of team-related things take on a life of their own. But nothing like “Gloria.”

“Probably not where, like, the whole city got behind just one song,” Schenn said. “It’s just one of those things where it kind of took off, and we enjoy it when we hear it because that means good things for us. It’s just those boys in South Philly there; that was their tune. They played it, and it just kind of caught on from there.”

In a world in which marketing firms attempt to manufacture slogans and advertising, Golik enjoys the fact the idea wasn’t contrived.

“Yes, yes, yes,” she said. “I was talking about that to somebody. I said, ‘This is so neat from my perspective because it’s like, I didn’t do anything.’ It just evolved from that story in the bar, and then the fans picking up on it, and to me, that’s the beauty of it. It just happened and everyone is just riding the wave now.”

The tune doesn’t stop after the game clock ticks to zero.

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On April 29, when the Blues won Game 3 4-3 on a game-winning goal by Pat Maroon, hear what played in the visiting locker room at American Airlines Center:

THAT. WAS. AWESOME.
Way to go, Big Rig!#stlblues #WeAllBleedBlue pic.twitter.com/HLKlxbvkmq

— St. Louis Blues (@StLouisBlues) April 30, 2019

“It’s cool how that brings people together and makes the fans feel like they’re in this room,” Blues center Ryan O’Reilly said. “It kind of brings us all together and gives us that connection with the fans. It’s pretty special.”

Branigan, who was a talented swimmer, had no connection to hockey, and really neither did Golik, other than living near Pittsburgh and being a casual fan of the Penguins.

“But now that they’re out, I can give my allegiance to the Blues,” she said.

Golik watched Game 3 from the edge of her couch in Pittsburgh.

“I was like, ‘C’mon!’” she said. “That one went down to the wire, and I was like, ‘We don’t need OT on this one.’ I mean, yes, it’s not just a couple of tweets. I mean, I am very actively participating in this.”

The caretaker of Branigan’s legacy is not the only newly baptized Blues fan.

“Laura’s fans are on the bandwagon too,” Golik said. “They’re all like, ‘Let’s go, Blues!’”

Leisa Whitfield, born in Florida and a resident of Pennsylvania, is one of them.

“I have been a fan of Laura since ‘Gloria’ came out in 1982,” Whitfield, 53, wrote in an email to The Athletic. “I’m fascinated with the Blues and am thrilled they play ‘Gloria’ and hearing it all over the media and social media. When I hear it playing after they have won a game, first of all, I’m ecstatic that the Blues won, and second … it gives me goose bumps hearing it in the arena and locker room.

“I have been following the Blues games, and every time after a win I get excited because I know what is coming, and that is the celebration of ‘Gloria.’ Hearing Laura’s voice throughout the rink and the excitement of everyone there brings a big smile to my face. Laura’s song has brought so many people of all ages together, and I’m sure both Laura and the Blues have gained thousands of new fans as a result of the connection.”

Told about a new legion of fans, O’Reilly responded: “That’s awesome. That’s more special, I guess, to see that we’re creating a bigger fan base by playing someone’s music. That’s the beauty of sport and winning and music. It’s so great how everything is kind of intertwined like that.”

Bryson Hammond, 31, of Paducah, Ky., who was buying a “Gloria” T-shirt at Enterprise Center Friday, said his 13-month-old son is one of those fans “of all ages.”

“After a win, my wife and I play it at home on a little Bluetooth speaker,” Hammond said. “He’ll walk around with it, and he’ll dance with it — it’s awesome.”

Golik received a tweet recently that was a video of two small children celebrating.

“One was in diapers, and they woke up and their parents told them that the Blues had won, and the song is on in the background and they’re dancing around,” she said. “I mean, it just puts the biggest smile on my face, and Laura would just get a kick out of all that. It’s just amazing because it’s permeated so many things now. It’s just a neat thing. It just warms my heart, and I have a few tears in my eyes for Laura.”

Over the past couple of months, Golik has read and heard from many fans wondering how Branigan is doing and if she’d be willing to come to St. Louis and sing the national anthem.

“A lot of people don’t realize that she passed away, and I used to think, ‘Well, geez, that’s kind of strange,’” Golik said. “But I had somebody tell me a few years ago, ‘No, Kathy, the reason why they don’t know that Laura passed is because you have such an active presence out there, and you keep her out there.’ Then I looked at it from a different perspective and I thought, ‘Yeah, that makes sense.’

“She would be absolutely elated about all of this, and she would also be humbled at the same time. That’s kind of the really bittersweet part of it. There’s so many things that occur; I’m happy about them, but I wish I could just pick up the phone and tell her about them. She’s not here personally to see it, but I believe that she’s here in spirit. I’ve been having a fabulous time representing her, just interacting with the team, the fans. I think I have the joy that I know she would have.”

And perhaps like 37 years ago in New York, there will be a parade in St. Louis.

“I want to see the Blues in the Stanley Cup — that’s the ultimate,” Golik said. “But however far they go, I support them. This is just great, and I hope next season they continue to use the song because I think it’s brought them luck, and it’s something that’s become a really big thing.”

(Top photo of Kathy Golik, left, and Laura Branigan the first time they met, courtesy of Kathy Golik)

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