I really miss hearing Donna Summer music on the radio.In the late-70s,you couldn't escape her.It seemed like,every month or so,she had a new single on the airwaves.I'll never forget in the summer of '78,my mother took me and my older sister to see 'Thank God It's Friday',a disco comedy in which Donna made her official acting debut.The film is nothing to write home about,but it did feature Donna's hit song "Last Dance",which was arguably the hottest song that summer.A few months later,she was back on the charts with "MacArthur Park",then "Heaven Knows",then "Hot Stuff",then "Bad Girls",then "Dim All The Lights",then "On the Radio",then "Enough Is Enough" with Barbra Stresisand...the hits kept coming non-stop! And she's one of the few disco artists to score many hits in the 80s as well ("The Wanderer"..."Love Is In Control (Finger On The Trigger)"..."She Works Hard For The Money"...."This Time I Know It's For Real",etc).What are your favorite Donna Summer songs/memories?

Many of her non-singles are excellent.She's what I would consider an "album artist" and in many cases,her singles don't tell the whole story.These are my favorite songs by her...

"Love To Love You Baby" (1975)
"Need-A-Man Blues" (1975)
"Could It Be Magic" (1976)
"Come With Me" (1976)
"Spring Affair" (1976)
"Take Me" (1977)
"Dance Into My Life" (1977)
"Sweet Romance" (1977)
"Now I Need You" (1977)
"Last Dance" (1978)
"MacArthur Park Suite" (1978)
"Bad Girls" (1979)
"Walk Away" (1979)
"Dim All The Lights" (1979)
"One Night In A Lifetime" (1979)
"Sunset People" (1979)
"Lookin' Up" (1980)
"Breakdown" (1980)
"Who Do You Think You're Foolin" (1980)
"Love Is In Control (Finger On The Trigger)" (1982)
"The Woman In Me" (1982)
"Protection" (1982)
"She Works Hard For The Money" (1983)
"Unconditional Love" with Musical Youth (1983)
"Oh Billy Please" (1984)
"I'm Free" (1984)
"Susannah" (1984)
"Dinner With Gershwin" (1987)
"Fascination" (1987)
"This Time I Know It's For Real" (1989)
"If It Makes You Feel Good" (1989)
"Another Place and Time" (1989)
"When Love Cries" (1991)
"Fred Astaire" (1991)
"Melody Of Love" (1994)
"Love Is The Healer" (1999)
"That's The Way" (2003)

I loved and still love her music, her voice, her attitude.

Right now I have all her albums on my iPod , including Lady of the Night

I like to listen to her music randomly playing in my car . Not appropriate for work though

PANDURITO said:

'Lady Of The Night' is an interesting album,but it's not one of my favorites and I rarely listen to it.It sounds similar to the music that Cher was doing around that time (early 70s).Let's face it,Donna sounds best when she's doing disco/pop...lol...

I hate Donna Summer all her music sucks ....she was the Whitney Houston of the late 70,s IMO great voice but no substance why she last as long as she did is beyond me.

yes, of course I have my fair share of Donna albums at home I won't do a list, I trust you David that everything is on yours already

even people not into disco must admit her voice is a great one. I would have loved to do her some raunchy die-hard Soul/Funk album though somewhere in between... could've been interesting for a change

lovedad43 said:

off topic, this is an appreciation thread

Does anybody remember watching the American Music Awards in 1980,where Donna and Michael Jackson each won several awards? It was their big night.Her 'Bad Girls' album and his 'Off The Wall' album were two of the biggest albums of 1979.She later "borrowed" his producer,Quincy Jones,for an album of her own.Michael appeared on her 1982 single "State Of Independence".

DavidEye said:

I've seen pictures of Michael Jackson, and my friend--the man in that pictures is NOT Michael Jackson.

double post
[This message was edited Wed Aug 25 4:16:46 2004 by AsianBomb777]

AsianBomb777 said:

Perhaps it's an imposter?

Donna Summer has her own "black album" saga...lol...in the summer of 1981,she and her producers (Giorgio Moroder and Pete Bellotte) went into the studio,recording a 2-record set titled 'I'm A Rainbow'.It was scheduled to come out in the fall.But when they submitted the album to Geffen Records President David Geffen,he rejected it.Instead,he fired her producers and sent her right back into the studio with Quincy Jones,resulting in the 1982 self-titled album.For many years,bootleg cassettes of 'I'm A Rainbow' circulated amongst fans,until it was finally released (as a single CD) in 1996.

To those of you who have this CD,I'd like to know your thoughts.Was David Geffen smart to cancel it's release in 1981? Would it had been a hit back then? Do you like the "replacement" album produced by Quincy Jones?

I looooove me som Donna summer i was lucky enough in 74 to cop a vinyl of her debut "lady of the night" on Atlantic it was onlly released in Europe. and then her debut on Oasis with "Love to love u baby" the 45 was as close 2 the 12'' mix as u can get, ever since then, Donna is the true Queen of Disco.

TheRealFiness said:

This is a question I've wonderered about for years....how does the 45 of "Love To Love You Baby" sound? I seem to have two different versions.On one version (the more commonly known version),it's just the regular song....chorus...the three verses...and chorus repeated over and over until the fade.But there is another version that uses more of the 12" version.This is the same version that you hear on the 'On The Radio: Greatest Hits Volume 1 and 2" album.It starts like the regular version,then mid-way through,it slows down,and the rest of the song features mostly background vocals,singing the same lines over and over...."love you to love baby baby...love to love you baby baby...love to love you baby love to love"...it sounds like an "edit" of the long,full-length version,as if they're trying to squeeze all 17 minutes into a four-minute edit,lol.

What I wanna know is,which version was the actual 45?

Has anyone read her book "Ordinary Girl"? Is it any good? The only reason I bought it was because someone on ebay was selling a brand new hard copy for 98 cents...I'm an ebay junkie and could'nt pass up a deal

aikam said:

Honestly,I was a little disappointed with her book.She leaves out ALOT of major details,and she doesn't really discuss her music as much as i would have liked.I understand that she probably didn't want to "re-live" all the sadness and disappointments of her life and career,but it would have made the book much,much more interesting.But there are some good things about the book.I like the early chapters where she's talking about her childhood and teen years and she comes across as a funny,intelligent,and very likable lady who's finally in control of her life.But if you're looking for a candid,warts-and-all look at her life and career (like Natalie Cole's excellent book),you won't find it here.

A much better book is "Donna Summer: Her Life and Career" by Josiah Howard.It was released a few years ago.It's an unauthorized,in-depth look at Donna Summer and her career,written by an objective and sensible fan.Each album is discussed and analyzed in great detail,and all the dramas,highs and lows,are discussed.A very good read!

DavidEye said:

One side of the 45 has a short (3:27) version, and the other has a long (4:57) version.
[This message was edited Wed Aug 25 5:56:33 2004 by TheRealFiness]

TheRealFiness said:

Ahhh! Thanks

DavidEye said:

no sweat

DavidEye said:

I like I'm a rainbow but to me it sounds like a step back from The wanderer like trying to maintain the succesful formula of Once upon a time.
I only discovered this album about 3 years ago and loved to hear all those unknown gems.Not sure it had hit songs for 1981.

Donna Summer (the album) has exactly the same sound as Thriller. In fact I remember back in the day recording a mix tape of both albums and songs flowed perfectly. I find this to be a rather dark but haunting album. Her last masterpiece

DavidEye said:

My apperciation for Donna Summer and her catalog is massive and she recently really wowed me with her amazing club hit "You're So Beautiful".

In response to this topic, "I'm A Rainbow", it was a brilliant album IMHO but turns some people off. For 1981, it was great. It had a very nice clean eighties pop sound and there were some great new wave sounding ("Melanie" sounded like a pop hit and unlike things she had done before). I think the album sounded like a more natural progression from her disco albums into the eighites, while "The Wanderer" was a little too much for some fans to take, which I understand even though I love that album as well. I've been getting used to the "Donna Summer" album but I think that it was a mistake for many reasons to trash the "Rainbow" album, which showed off a few good Summer songs (she didn't co-write or write many of these songs but they all felt more personal and stronger than the DS songs) not to mention some awesome vocal performances.

Loved her live album! And "State of Independence" is a favorite of mine, too.

I've mentioned my love for Donna ever since I was little on here in different topics several times. Yeah, Donna was great. From "Love To Love You", "Last Dance" which she won an Oscar for from one of my alltime fave movies "Thank God It's Friday". "McArthur's Park" "I Feel Love" even into the MTV period "She Works Hard For The Money." My peak period for her and when my crush was at it's strongest was during her "Bad Girls" album. I loved that album, and her look during that time. She was at that point, a huge superstar. Yeah, I remember that well. Living in So. Cal all my life, being in Hollywood during that period, even as a kid, was electric and Donna was such a huge part of L.A. Seeing her huge album billboards alongside Sunset Blvd was an everyday occurance.

DavidEye said:

Yes, of course. I remember when Donna won the Oscar. It was on my birthday. A friend of mine has a lot of the Ameriacan Music Awards from the 70's and early 80's. I mean, the whole shows! From each year, without commercials. He knows someone who worked for Dick Clark. I used to watch them each year when I was a kid without fail, and to see them again now is great.

blackguitaristz said:

Donna didn't win the Oscar. Paul Jabara did.

OK, why ain't nobody mention "I Feel Loveeeee" in here?

That set the precedent, IMO, for modern progressive house music. It's a dance classic.

VoicesCarry said:

Yes, he is the songwriter of the song which he won. Donna also won an Oscar for vocalists for the same song.

blackguitaristz said:

Only the songwriter(s) wins the Oscar, sorry. Check IMDB.com if you don't believe me.
[This message was edited Wed Aug 25 12:49:18 2004 by VoicesCarry]

blackguitaristz said:

People often refer to Donna winning an Oscar, but she did not. Paul Jabara would have been the Oscar winner for Last Dance and not Donna herself. That award goes to the songwriter, not the performer.

Donna is one of my absolute favorites (I have her On the Radio poster from the vinyl hanging right here in my cube!), and I hate that her career from the early 80s on had been clouded by controversy. Not only do I think she has one of the greatest voices in popular music, but I think she was one of the best pop songwriters of her era.

She is undoubtedly the queen of the concept album (the hooker album, the season album, the fairy tale album, the "decades" album, etc.), and between Love to Love You Baby and Bad Girls, I don't think she put out a disappointing album. The Wanderer was the first of hers that I didn't care for all that much (and I know a lot that really love this one). Since disco itself has such a bad name in the music industry as a whole, I think she will always be underappreciated.

VoicesCarry said:

Well, I remember them (The Academy) calling's Donna's name along with the songwriter and her going up on stage with him to accept the award. Plus, she talks about it in her book. For me, it's not about believing u or not. Right on that u have your info! I'm just stating what I SAW on television and what was printed in her book. For all I know, The Academy could have taken the award from Donna when she got backstage and threw it in the trash.