on September 26, 1975, cutting her lead vocal in a single take after recording her own multi-tracked chorale vocals. Like the other cuts on Robinson's debut album Never Gonna Let You Go, "Turn the Beat Around" was recorded at RCA Studios with producer Warren Schatz who recalls the basic master of the song was recorded "on a Friday after a very depressing week of rain [and] I hated [the track]! I listened to it in my office and I just couldn't get it. It had been such a bad week that I just couldn't hear anything with an open mind. Then David Todd, the head of disco promotion at RCA, came into my office and he went crazy over the track! He convinced me to finish it as soon as possible." Issued as a single in February 1976 "Turn the Beat Around" became a club smash subsequently breaking on Top 40 radio in Boston - where it would reach #1 that June - to make a gradual ascent on the national Pop chart: the Billboard Hot 100 to reach a #10 peak in August 1976. Charts Weekly charts Year-end charts Laura Branigan version American singer-songwriter and actress Laura Branigan covered the song in 1990, becoming the first major artist to do so. It was released as the third and final single from her self-titled sixth studio album (1990), however only to radio and clubs. The song was co-produced by Branigan and Steve Lindsey for the album, with several remix versions following garnering significant play in Hi-NRG clubs. Critical reception Bill Coleman from Billboard wrote, "Trend-conscious rendition of Vicki Sue Robinson's disco classic lacks the spark needed to ignite widespread action, though Branigan's sonic vocal attack is always a treat." Track listings Gloria Estefan version In 1994 (see 1994 in music), the song was recorded by Cuban-American singer and songwriter Gloria Estefan for the soundtrack to the film The Specialist, starring Sylvester Stallone and Sharon Stone. It is also featured on Estefan's fourth solo album, Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me (1994). Released as a single, it became a hit reaching number 13 on the Billboard Hot 100. Estefan also took the song to the top spot on Billboard's Hot Dance Club Play chart, making it her first number-one song on that chart in English. In Australia and New Zealand the song charted at number 8 and 18. In Europe, the