

Kent from Greensburg, PaI have a different and personal interpretation of this song.A documentary of the birth and production of this song was done and I have excerpts of the video on my webpage at this link. The original writer of this song was Dino Fekaris who co-produced this song with Freddie Perren. Scott from Los Angeles, CaI am Scott Edwards, the bass player on the original version of "I Will Survive" sang by Gloria Gaynor.

So much so, that I'm surprised it's not mentioned more often, or that there wasn't some sort of 'plagerizing' rumors. Dan from Newton, KsI can't believe no one has posted this!! The musical bridge (orchestra) part of this song sounds ALMOST EXACTLY like the musical bridge in 'Gonna Fly Now (Theme from Rocky)'.Wonder if anyone ever mixed the 2 song into a monster inspirational song Dannyy64 from Texas To Dan from Newton KS, I’ve been saying the same thing for years.Golfwang47 from Death Valleythe mixing on this song is amazing, so many instruments and her beautiful voice all being put into one is awesome."Substitute" peaked at #107 in October 1978, but club DJs started playing started playing the B-side, and soon radio stations were also playing "I Will Survive." Polydor finally released the single with the sides flipped, and "Survive" peaked at #1 in the US in March 1979. Everyone involved in the recording knew that "I Will Survive" was the superior track, but the president of Gaynor's record company specifically ordered "Substitute," and released it as the A-side as planned. Gaynor leaned the song from a demo Perren and Fekaris made for her, and both songs were recorded in the session. They took the gig, and Gaynor agreed to record "I Will Survive" as the B-side. That diva was Gloria Gaynor, whose record company called Perren looking for production work on a song called "Substitute," which was originally recorded by the Righteous Brothers. The pair agreed that the next diva that came their way would get the song. When they wrote "I Will Survive," they had nobody to sing it.

When Perren and Fekaris left Motown, they formed their own production duo and scored big with Peaches & Herb, taking " Reunited" to #1. Perren was a co-writer on three #1 Jackson 5 hits: " I Want You Back," " The Love You Save" and " ABC." Fekaris' biggest co-write with Motown was " I Just Want to Celebrate" by Rare Earth, but he also placed tracks with The Temptations and The Four Tops. This song was written by the former Motown producers Freddie Perren and Dino Fekaris.
