blackguitaristz said:

I'm sure you did see (and read about) her going up there and holding the award, but that sort of thing often happens at awards shows (Christ, can TV producers resist bringing the whole damn cast up on stage at the Golden Globes?).
[This message was edited Wed Aug 25 13:46:37 2004 by VoicesCarry]

DavidEye said:

Pardon my pickiness...her film acting debut. She did stage work before going to film.

I forgot to mention my favorites. Let me see if I can narrow it down to a somewhat reasonable amount!

Love to Love You Baby
Need-A-Man Blues
Try Me, I Know We Can Make It (the looooong version!)
Could It Be Magic
Spring Affair
Summer Fever
I Remember Yesterday
Black Lady
I Feel Love (gets my vote for most groundbreaking dance single)
Rumour Has It
Now I Need You
I Love You
MacArthur Park Suite
Bad Girls
Dim All the Lights (just for that long-ass note she holds)
Sunset People
On the Radio
No More Tears
Love Is in Control
She Works Hard for the Money

I like a few of her 80's tracks, but none of them rank as my favorites. And since she lost the first Grammy for Best Disco Recording to the overly-praised I Will Survive, I think it was only fitting that she won the first Grammy for Best Dance Song for Carry On (even if it wasn't a terrific track).

JANFAN4L said:

True! I think one person mentioned it, but I would think it had more fans.

I absolutely love Donna Summer. Before I discovered Prince, Donna Summer was my all time favorite. Some of my favorites are:

Bad Girls
She Works Hard For The Money
Hot Stuff
I Feel Love
Sunset People
Our Love
The Wanderer
Mac Arthur's Park
Heaven Knows
Journey To The Centre Of Your Heart
Can't Get To Sleep Tonight
Finger On The Trigger (Love Is In Control)
Dim All The Lights
Love To Love You Baby
On My Honor

DavidEye said:

Thanks...I have to look into the unauthorized one as well.

RipHer2Shreds said:

That one person was me.

blackguitaristz said:

There ya go

Oooh, I was on a SERIOUS disco trip this summer...none of you guys have any footage of me shaking my ass to "On the Radio", do you?

NadiaAdare said:

mmhh... sorry, I had hot footage ONCE, but I sold it... for quite some bucks...

DavidEye said:

So glad to see this song get props. I like this better than anything else she usually gets praise for. That one and Love to Love You... (Unedited) are my shit.

You and Whitney must have been smoking together when you even mentioned her name in the same breath with Donna's. Donna's music is full of rhythm....something that Whitney has never had and never will.

Donna has lasted so long because she was the queen of disco. Disco never really died, it just went underground. It resurfaced again in the late 1980s in a more modern form called house music. House music made a few waves in the early 1990s and went back underground.

If you go in any club where they play house music, the DJ will throw a disco song in the mix every now and then because it is so simalar to house music. Some of the old disco artists will even go into the studio and make an updated house version of their disco song. Hot Tracks and Ultimix Records remixes a lot of old songs to be played in the clubs.

VoicesCarry said:

"HEY....GIMME THAT OSCAR!"

JANFAN4L said:

Indeed.It was a groundbreaking song back in 1977,and it basically paved the way for techno and modern house music.But the reason this song isn't one of my favorites is because,vocally,Donna is not at her best.In fact,on many of her early singles ("Try Me,I Know We Can Make It"...."Winter Melody"...."I Feel Love",etc),she's holding back and not using her strong,powerful voice.That's why I so glad when she released "Last Dance"....finally,the public got to hear what she's REALLY capable of.

psykosoul said:

"Dinner With Gershwin" is such an underrated song.It's an amazing composition,given to Donna by her good pal Brenda Russell,who later recorded her own version.Also,"Dinner With Gershwin" is one of the few real R&B songs that Donna has done,and it reached the Top 10 on the R&B charts.The video for this song is HOT....Donna looks sexy as hell! Did you ever see it? WOW!

PANDURITO said:

I have mixed feelings about I'm A Rainbow .It has a few really good songs ("Back Where You Belong"...."A Runner With The Pack"....."True Love Survives"...."Walk On (Keep On Walking)") but it's not the big,profound,introspective,important album that it attempts to be.It's also not a very consistent album,and several tracks are pure filler ("Romeo"..."Highway Runner"..."You To Me"..."Brooklyn").Donna and her producers are simply trying too hard to jump on the pop/New Wave bandwagon,and she all but abandons dance music,trying to appeal to an audience that was clearly more interested in Pat Benatar and Debbie Harry.Also,in the early 80s,Donna's popularity wasn't exactly what it was in the 70s,so it would have been extremely risky (from a commercial standpoint) for her to release a 2-record set in 1981.

On the other hand,I absolutely adore the Quincy Jones-produced album.For the first time,Donna is doing real R&B and even gets funky for once on the leadoff single "Love Is In Control (Finger On The Trigger)".And yes,there are MANY similarities between this album and 'Thriller' (which Quincy began producing immediately after).Quincy has often said that the song "State Of Independence" paved the way for the "We Are The World" project (the whole idea of having an "all-star choir").I never understood why the Bruce Springsteen-written "Protection" was never released as a single.With a slick video,that song would have been an MTV favorite.

Like I mentioned above,many of Donna's best songs are her non-singles.Here's some of my other favorite songs by her...


"Grand Illusion" (1980) ---a dark,bizarre,haunting song from her 'Wanderer' album.I'm surprised that a rapper hasn't sampled the beat of this song...lol...it's totally original and hypnotic.

"A Runner With The Pack" (1981) ---one of the few highlights from her cancelled 'I'm A Rainbow' album (the album was finally released in 1996).This is a stripped down New Wave track,and it's alot of fun.

"If It Hurts Just A Little" (1982) ---an infectious R&B gem from the Quincy Jones-produced album.It actually sounds like an outtake from his 1980 album 'The Dude'.Extremely catchy!

"Tokyo" (1983) ---in 1983,this song received some airplay on Quiet Storm/jazz/R&B radio stations.Not sure exactly what the cryptic lyrics mean...lol...but it's a pleasant,breezy track.

"Walk On (Keep On Walkin)" (1981) ---another highlight from 'I'm A Rainbow'.If that project had been released in the fall of 1981,as planned,this could have been the first or second single.

"A Man Like You" (1977) ---Donna sings this song like a true R&B diva.From her classic 'Once Upon A Time' album,which needs to be remastered asap.

DavidEye said:

Thanx, David

DavidEye said:

That song was one of my favorites along with "Hot Stuff."

blackguitaristz said:

funny picture,huh?

DavidEye said:

Donna looks serious too! Man, she was the SHIT then!

LOVE, LOVE, LOVE Donna Summer. Although she is very well known, I still consider her to be underrated. Her voice is one of the most beautiful ever.

*note* As a little kid, I remember she had a prime time special that aired and near the end of the show she brought out her daughter Mimi. As young as I was (5 or 6), I remember thinking Mimi was the most beautiful girl I had ever seen.

VelvetJ said:

I remember Donna saying: "Say goodnight, Mimi" and Mimi responding: "Goodnight." Can't remember if this was from the prime time special, or one of her albums.

Anyway, Donna and her daughter appeared on the cover of Ebony when Mimi was about 6 years old. The child was very fair, with blond hair and grey eyes.

UptownDeb said:

That was from the Live and More album. I haven't seen any recent pictures of Mimi, but here's a small pic of Brooklyn Sudano (who's also gorgeous), her daughter and one of the stars of My Wife and Kids.

RipHer2Shreds said:

Thank you! That's it! And I mentioned her live album as a favorite. D'oh! Haven't heard it in ages, though. "Four Seasons of Love" was a favorite too.

Brooklyn looks like Bruce Sudano.

Years ago I learned the word "callipygian" from Donna Summer. Well, not directly from her, but, it was about her. This guy was either photographing her or painting her picture. He refered to her butt as "callipygian." (Shapely buttocks.) Today, we would say "bootylicious."

The 'Live and More' album (1978) is sensational! With that album,Donna proved once and for all that she is a top-notch vocalist who can sing so much more than just disco (remember the Billie Holliday medley?).But they seriously need to remaster that album,and include the "MacArthur Park Suite" which is missing from the current CD (they use the 1977 movie theme song "The Deep" instead!).Hip O/Universal has announced that there are Donna Summer remasters on the way,so let's keep our fingers crossed.

DavidEye said:

Doesn't it bother you that "McArthur Park Suite" is already on the "Bad Girls" special edition (which seriously lacked "Bad Girls" specfic bonus tracks but of course, for a good reason, I suppose). It's just way too much of the same stuff on different CDs from her. I'd probably still buy the damn thing but would prefer a "Once Upon A Time..." Deluxe Edition (I assume that it what you're reffering to) with those alternate arrangements of the electronic songs on the album.

VinnyM27 said:

It bothers me that,instead of remastering her albums,they insist on releasing numerous hits compilations,over and over and over and over.Did you know that Universal is now planning to release yet another compilation,a 2-CD set called "Donna Summer Gold"?? Never mind the fact that,just last year,they released a 2-CD compilation "The Journey" and a 3-CD set called "The Ultimate Collection"!! These constant releases are useless.The only set that a fan needs is the 2-CD "Donna Summer Anthology" which was released in 1993.

DavidEye said:

Well a fan actually needs "The Journey" for the new songs. The thing that is really iratating about the collections is that most of them tend to be imports that have lousy cover pictures, no notes (apparently, "THe Ultimate Collection" comes with nothing in there) and questionable tracklistings. I assume "Donna Summer Gold" is yet anohter import.

VinnyM27 said:

That's another complaint i have.On many of these compilations,they always add one or two new tracks,in order to make fans buy them,even though they have all of the other songs already.it's an annoying marketing gimmick.For example....


The Donna Summer Anthology (1993) ---contains two previously unreleased tracks from the 'I'm A Rainbow' album (which hadn't been released at the time)---"I'm A Rainbow" and "Don't Cry For Me Argentina".

Endless Summer (1994) ---contains two new songs---"Melody Of Love" and "That's the Way"---so of course fans had to buy it,even though it was yet another hits compilation.

The Journey (2003) ---contains (you guessed it) two new songs---"That's The Way" and "I Will Live For Love"----so of course fans had to,once again,shell out money for yet another compilation of songs they've already had for years.


Because I'm such a diehard fan,I actually shelled out $30 to buy that 3-CD "Ultimate Collection" last year.This set is a mess.Several tracks fade out before the song is completely over ("Back In Love Again" ends during the instrumental segment!),there is a lousy edit of "Heaven Knows",the set includes some unforgivable omissions (only one song from 'The Wanderer' and nothing from 'Cats Without Claws'),and the so-called "liner notes" are boldly ripped off from a fansite! In addition,you have to sit through the horrendous long version of "Enough Is Enough (No More Tears)",and a few lackluster remixes on the third disc.If you're thinking of getting this set,proceed with caution.
[Edited 9/1/04 5:58am]