JANICE'S BLUES ALLEY PRESENTS
Donna Summer
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Donna Summer's title as the "Queen of Disco" wasn't mere hype -- she was one of the very few disco performers to enjoy a measure of career longevity, and her consistent chart success was rivaled in the disco world only by the Bee Gees. Summer was certainly a talented vocalist, trained as a powerful gospel belter, but then again, so were many of her contemporaries. Of major importance in setting Summer apart were her songwriting abilities and her choice of talented collaborators in producers/songwriters Giorgio Moroder and Pete Bellotte, which resulted in a steady supply of high-quality (and, often, high-concept) material. But what was more, few vocalists could match the sultry, unfettered eroticism Summer brought to many of her best recordings, which seemed to embody the spirit of the disco era perfectly. The total package made Summer the ultimate disco diva, one of the few whose star power was even bigger than the music.
Summer was born LaDonna Andre Gaines on December 31, 1948, and grew up in Boston's Mission Hill section. Part of a religious family, she first sang in her church's gospel choir, and as a teenager performed with a rock group called the Crow. After high school, she moved to New York to sing and act in stage productions, and soon landed a role in a German production of Hair. She moved to Europe around 1968-1969, and spent a year in the German cast, after which she became part of the Hair company in Vienna. She joined the Viennese Folk Opera, and later returned to Germany, where she settled in Munich and met and married Helmut Sommer, adopting an Anglicized version of his last name. Summer performed in various stage musicals and worked as a studio vocalist in Munich, recording demos and background vocals. Her first solo recording was 1971's "Sally Go 'Round the Roses," but success would not come until 1974, when she met producers/songwriters Giorgio Moroder and Pete Bellotte while working on a Three Dog Night record. The three teamed up for the single "The Hostage," which became a hit around Western Europe, and Summer released her first album, Lady of the Night, in Europe only. In 1975, the trio recorded "Love to Love You Baby," a disco-fied reimagining of Serge Gainsbourg and Jane Birkin's lush, heavy-breathing opus "Je T'aime...Moi Non Plus." Powered by Summer's graphic moans, "Love to Love You Baby" became a massive hit in Europe, and drew the attention of Casablanca Records, which put the track out in America. It climbed to number two on the singles charts, and became a dance club sensation when Moroder remixed the track into a 17-minute, side-long epic on the LP of the same name.
In the wake of "Love to Love You Baby," albums (as opposed to just singles) became an important forum for Summer and her producers. The 1976 follow-up Love Trilogy contained another side-long suite in "Try Me (I Know We Can Make It Work)," and demonstrated Moroder and Bellotte's growing sophistication as arrangers with its lush, sweeping strings. Four Seasons of Love, released later in the year, was a concept album with one track dedicated to each season, and 1977's I Remember Yesterday featured a variety of genre exercises. Despite the album's title, it produced the most forward-looking single in Summer and Moroder's catalog, the monumental "I Feel Love." Eschewing the strings and typical disco excess, "I Feel Love" was the first major pop hit recorded with an entirely synthesized backing track; its lean, sleek arrangement and driving, hypnotic pulse laid the groundwork not only for countless Euro-dance imitators, but also for the techno revolution of the '80s and '90s. It became Summer's second Top Ten hit in the U.S., and she followed it with Once Upon a Time, another concept album, this one retelling the story of Cinderella for the disco era.
Summer's albums were selling well, bolstered by her popularity in the dance clubs, and she was poised to become a major pop hitmaker as well. Her acting turn in the 1978 disco-themed comedy Thank God It's Friday produced another hit in "Last Dance," which won her a Grammy for Best Female R&B Vocal (as well as an Oscar for songwriter Paul Jabara). Doubtlessly benefiting from the added exposure, the double-LP set Live and More became Summer's first number one album later that year. It featured one side of new studio material, including a disco cover of the psychedelic pop epic "MacArthur Park" that became her first number one pop single early the next year. Her 1979 double-LP Bad Girls featured more of her songwriting contributions than ever, and went straight to number one, as did the lusty singles "Bad Girls" and the rock-oriented "Hot Stuff," which made Summer the first female artist ever to score three number one singles in the same calendar year. Her greatest-hits package On the Radio also topped the charts, the first time any artist had ever hit number one with three consecutive double LPs; the newly recorded title track became another hit, and Summer's duet with Barbra Streisand, "No More Tears (Enough Is Enough)," became her fourth number one single.
At the peak of her success, Summer decided to leave Casablanca, and became the first artist signed to the new Geffen label. Sensing that the disco era was coming to a close, Summer attempted to modify her style to include more R&B and pop/rock on her first Geffen album, 1980's The Wanderer; the album and its title track were both hits. Not wanting to alienate her core audience, Summer returned to pure dance music on an attempted follow-up; however, Geffen deemed I'm a Rainbow not worthy of release (it was finally issued in 1996). Instead, Summer ended her collaboration with Moroder and Bellotte and teamed up with Quincy Jones for 1982's Donna Summer. "Love Is in Control (Finger on the Trigger)" was a significant hit, but none of its follow-ups did very well. With producer Michael Omartian, Summer moved back into post-disco dance music and urban R&B with 1983's She Works Hard for the Money; its title track was a smash and became a feminist anthem of sorts.
However, with her career momentum slowing, it also marked the end of Summer's prime. Despite winning a gospel Grammy for "Forgive Me," Summer's 1984 follow-up Cats Without Claws flopped, as did the 1987 comeback effort All Systems Go. Hiring the British production team of Stock, Aitken & Waterman, Summer scored her last major success with the 1989 Top Ten single "This Time I Know It's for Real," from the album Another Place & Time; around the same time, she began denouncing her earlier, "sinful" disco material. Released in 1991, the lackluster, urban-styled Mistaken Identity effectively killed her career momentum, and none of her new '90s albums produced that elusive hit. However, she did make some noise on the dance charts with "Melody of Love," from the excellent 1994 retrospective Endless Summer, and reunited with Moroder for the 1997 non-LP single "Carry On," which won the inaugural Grammy for Best Dance Recording. Summer subsequently signed a deal with Sony, which primed her for re-establishment with the 1999 greatest-hits live album VH1 Presents: Live and More Encore!; it featured the new song "I Will Go With You (Con Te Partiro)," which had some success on the dance charts. The energetic and eclectic Crayons, her first proper studio album since Mistaken Identity, was released on the Burgundy label in 2008. She remained intermittently active with concert and TV appearances during the next several years, and released the "To Paris with Love" single in August 2010. After battling breast cancer, Donna Summer died at her home in Naples, Florida on May 17, 2012; she was 63 years old.
-- Steve Huey of All Music Guide.
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01. Lady Of The Night 02. Born To Die 03. Friends 04. Domino 05. The Hostage |
06. Wounded 07. Little Miss Fit 08. Let's Work Together Now 09. Sing Along(sad song) |
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01. Love To Love You Baby 02. Full Of Emptiness 03. Need-A-Man Blues |
04. Whispering Waves 05. Pandora's Box 06. Full Of Emptiness(reprise) |
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01. Try Me, I Know We Can Make It 02. Intro: Prelude To Love 03. Could It Be Magic |
04. Wasted 05. Come With Me |
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01. Spring Affair 02. Summer Fever 03. Autumn Changes |
04. Winter Melody 05. Spring Reprise |
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01. I Remember Yesterday 02. Love's Unkind 03. Back In Love Again 04. I Remember Yesterday(reprise) |
05. Black Lady 06. Take Me 07. Can't We Just Sit Down And Talk It Over 08. I Feel Love |
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01. Once Upon A Time 02. Faster And Faster To Nowhere 03. Fairy Tale High 04. Say Something Nice 05. Now I Need You 06. Working The Midnight Shift 07. Queen For A Day 08. If You Got It Flaunt It |
09. A Man Like You 10. Sweet Romance 11. Once Upon A Time(theme) 12. Dance Into My Life 13. Rumour Has It 14. I Love You 15. Happily Ever After |
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01. Once Upon A Time 02. Fairy Tale High 03. Faster And Faster To Nowhere 04. Spring Affair 05. Rumour Has It 06. I Love You 07. Only One Man 08. I Remember Yesterday 09. Love's Unkind |
10. My Man Medley 11. The Way We Were 12. Mimi's Song 13. Try Me, I Know We Can Make It 14. Love To Love You Baby 15. I Feel Love 16. Last Dance 17. Theme From The Deep |
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01. Hot Stuff 02. Bad Girls 03. Love Will Always Find You 04. Walk Away 05. Dim All The Lights 06. Journey To The Center Of Your Heart 07. One Night In A Lifetime 08. Can't Get To Sleep At Night |
09. On My Honor 10. There will Always Be A You 11. All Through The Night 12. My Baby Understands 13. Our Love 14. Lucky 15. Sunset People |
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01. On The Radio 02. Love To Love You Baby 03. Try Me, I Know We Can Make It 04. I Feel Love 05. Our Love 06. No More Tears(enough is enough) 07. On The Radio(reprise) 08. I Remember Yesterday |
09. I Love You 10. Heaven Knows 11. Last Dance 12. Mac Arthur Park 13. Hot Stuff 14. Bad Girls 15. Dim All The Lights 16. Sunset People |
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01. The Wanderer 02. Looking Up 03. Breakdown 04. Grand Illusion 05. Running For Cover |
06. Cold Love 07. Who Do You Think You're Fooling 08. Nightlife 09. Stop Me 10. I Believe In Jesus |
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01. Love Is In Control(finger on the trigger) 02. Mystery Of Love 03. The Woman In Me 04. State Of Independence 05. Livin' In America |
06. Protection 07. If It Hurts Just A Little 08. Love Is Just A Breath Away 09. Lush Life |
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01. She Works Hard For The Money 02. He's A Rebel 03. Unconditional Love 04. I Do Believe I Fell In Love 05. Stop, Look & Listen |
06. Tokyo 07. People, People 08. Love Has A Mind Of Its Own 09. Woman |
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01. Supernatural Love 02. It's Not The Way 03. There Goes My Baby 04. Suzanna 05. Cats Without Claws |
06. Oh Billy Please 07. Eyes 08. Maybe It's Over 09. I'm Free 10. Forgive Me |
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01. All Systems Go 02. Bad Reputation 03. Love Shock 04. Jeremy 05. Only The Fool Survives |
06. Dinner With Gershwin 07. Fascination 08. Voices Cryin' Out 09. Thinkin' Bout My Baby |
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01. I Don't Wanna Get Hurt 02. When Love Takes Over You 03. This Time I Know It's For Real 04. The Only One 05. In Another Place And Time |
06. Sentimental 07. Whatever Your Heart Desires 08. Breakaway 09. If It Makes You Feel Good 10. Love's About To Change My Heart |
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01. Get Ethnic 02. Body Talk 03. Work That Magic 04. When Love Cries 05. Heaven's Just A Whisper Away 06. Cry Of A Waking Heart |
07. Friends Unknown 08. Fred Astaire 09. Say A Little Prayer 10. Mistaken Identity 11. What Is It You Want 12. Let There Be Peace |
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01. White Christmas 02. The Christmas Song 03. O Come All Ye Faithful 04. Christmas Is Here 05. Christmas Medley |
06. I'll Be Home For Christmas 07. Christmas Spirit 08. Breath Of Heaven 09. O Holy Night 10. Lamb Of God |
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01. Mac Arthur Park 02. This Time I Know It's For Real 03. I Feel Love 04. On The Radio 05. No More Tears(enough is enough) 06. Dim All The Lights 07. She Works Hard For The Money |
08. Bad Girls 09. Hot Stuff 10. My Life 11. Last Dance 12. Love Is The Healer 13. I Will Go With You(con te partiro) |
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01. Stamp Your Feet 02. Mr. Music 03. Crayons 04. The Queen Is Back 05. Fame(the game) 06. Sand On My Feet |
07. Drivin' Down Brazil 08. I'm A Fire 09. Slide Over Backwards 10. Science Of Love 11. Be Myself Again 12. Bring Down The Reign |
