Ok, so the new Donna Summer Gold 2-disc collection came out on Tuesday. It was about 12 bucks at my local Best Buy, so I thought, why the hell not, even though I own pretty much everything Donna's recorded.

First of all, the remastering is exceptional. The Donna Summer Anthology sounds washed-out by comparison. This is bright, vivacious, and I found myself hearing new elements in the instrumentals.

Now for the tracklisting.

Disc One:

1. FINALLY, the seminal 4:58 7'' mix of Love To Love You Baby is on CD. They didn't fuck it up - I compared it with the 7'' to make sure. No edits or dropouts - it's all there. Including those wonderful backing vocals and the piano section that are always deleted from the mix. You won't listen to another version of the track after hearing this. "Love to love you, baby baby, Love to love you, baby baby, love to love you, baby love to love...."

You also get:

Single edits of Could It Be Magic, Try Me, I Know We Can Make It and Spring Affair - all previously available on the Anthology, but presented here in remastered form.

Many of these are also available on the anthology (*)

5. Love's Unkind (4:26 - album version)(the cascading instrumental is really beautiful here)
6. I Feel Love (5:58 - album version) - this suffered a horrible edit for The Journey
7. I Love You (4:42 - album version) - another horrible edit for The Journey
8. Last Dance (4:58 - album version) - another horrible edit for The Journey; the intro is almost a minute on its own but they cut the song down to 3:23?
9. MacArthur Park (6:28 - promotional 12'') - same version as on The Anthology
10. Heaven Knows (3:39 - 7'' version) - like the original 7'', this has an early fadeout; the version on The Anthology inexplicably extended it another 10 seconds
11. Hot Stuff (6:46 - 12'' version) - same version as on The Anthology; the best choice for this track
12. Bad Girls (4:57 - album version)
13. Dim All The Lights (4:36 - album version) - same version as on The Anthology
14. Sunset People (6:29 - album version) - same version as on The Anthology
15. No More Tears (Enough Is Enough) (4:48 - album version) - same version as on The Anthology
16. On The Radio (4:05 - album version) - same version as on The Anthology

Disc Two:

1. The Wanderer (3:47 - album version) - same version as on The Anthology
2. Love Is In Control (Finger On The Trigger) (4:20 - album version) - same version as on The Anthology
3. State Of Independence (5:56 - album version) - the 7'' edit which is inferior was used on The Journey
4. She Works Hard For The Money (5:21 - album version) - same version as on The Anthology, and another crappy edit on The Journey
5. Unconditional Love (4:43 - album version) - same version as on The Anthology
6. There Goes My Baby (4:07 - album version) - same version as on The Anthology
7. Supernatural Love (3:36 - album version) - same version as on The Anthology
8. Dinner With Gershwin (4:39 - album version) - first appearance on a US collection
9. All Systems Go (4:13 - album version) - same version as on The Anthology
10. This Time I Know It's For Real (3:37 - album version) - same version as on The Anthology
11. I Don't Wanna Get Hurt (3:27 - album version) - same version as on The Anthology
12. Love's About To Change My Heart (3:47 - PWL 7'' Mix) - unreleased commercially on CD up to now, this is a superior mix to the album version
13. When Love Cries (4:31 - 7'' Mix) - this song is much better in edited form; truly an unheralded great
14. Carry On (3:41 - album version) - same version as on The Anthology
15. Melody Of Love (Wanna Be Loved) (4:15 - album version) - also available on Endless Summer
16. I Will Go With You (Con Te Partiro) (4:09 - album version)
17. Dream A Lot's Theme (I Will Live For Love) (4:52 - album version) - also released on The Journey
18. You're So Beautiful (4:05 - Tony Moran Radio Edit) - definitely preferable to the 12'' mix available on The Journey; her vocals are brought to the forefront here

So, overall, if you want the best DS collection, this is it. If you already have everything, this is probably worth it just for the LTLYB mix or the edit of You're So Beautiful.
[Edited 1/12/05 13:33pm]

I know it's crazy but I would really like to see Forgive Me on a compilation. Besides Spring Affair, it's my faovrite DS song.

This may indeed be the definitive collection. I passed on the Anthology because it didn't have Dinner With Gershwin and settled for a Japanese import which hardly did her justice.

TheOrgerFormerlyKnownAs said:

i love that song...i am not a donna fan but someone brought to my attention that Susannah Mevloin sings backup on the album that this song comes from....i could only stomach three of the songs and this is my favorite..beautiful song...she won a grammy for it.

As soon as I am well enough, I am going to get this. I was the be the first in line for it, but flu kept me from that. Thanks for the report, VC.

sosgemini said:

Did she, SOS? I didn't know that.

Best Buy! I called and they said they didn't have it! I want it!

VinnyM27 said:

I got the last copy at mine.

VoicesCarry said:

Something tells me you got the only copy. They ain't stocking that section much these days.

RipHer2Shreds said:

Actually it was prominently displayed in the new release section. The cashier told me they had 10 yesterday, but they were discounted to $12.99 (Canadian!) so that's probably why it was selling so well.

VoicesCarry said:

Wowzers. Canada must have some special Donna connection. BB is based here in MN, and not a single store in my area is carrying it!

RipHer2Shreds said:

Lol, they had it at Future Shop, too, but it was $18.99 there.

I'm gonna pick it up as soon as I can. Till then, this is still my fave DS collection:



I got it in 1993, and I the 12" promo single of Walk Away.

you all just sold a copy cause im gonna go buy this tonight..

RipHer2Shreds said:

Good luck! I haven't found it anywhere! I called a bunch of stores yesterday and even went to most of them just in case they screwed up. I haven't seen it anywhere and I know the used stores in Ann Arbor aren't going to be selling it (if they carry new stuff, it tends to be college or younger music).

VoicesCarry said:

The last copy? It just came out! Are people really buying this thing up that fast? Where are you?

VoicesCarry said:

$12.99 Canadian is like....$5 here! They must have all the copies there! I can't think of one store left where they would have it! I called Circuit City, which is usually pretty good about that and nothing! Canada has cheap prescricption drugs and all of the copies of "Donna Summer Gold"! Damn it.

A sort of sidenote, if you look at the other releases in the recent "Gold" series, none of htem is even close to as comprhensive as Donna's. Aerosmith is mostly Geffen stuff (it's almost the full albums from their run with the label) while Kiss appears to be only the early makeup years and Tom Jones lacks anything realtively recent (I don't even think "Sexbomb" was on there)!
[Edited 1/12/05 18:20pm]

VinnyM27 said:

Probably around $9.99...our dollar is very strong right now.

VinnyM27 said:

Southern Ontario. Hey - I can't explain it!
[Edited 1/12/05 18:14pm]

VoicesCarry said:

How dare they! If they did carry it at Best Buy, I doubt there would be any surprise sale (it wasn't in the paper here, was it in yours?). I'm just going to have to get it online?

VinnyM27 said:

Probably - our Best Buy is unusually big and well-stocked. They usually carry all the new GH collections the first week out. But CDs in Canada are cheaper than CD's in the US. There wasn't an ad in the paper.
[Edited 1/12/05 18:19pm]

DINNER WITH GERSHWIN...FINALLY!!! Someone has gotten it right!

At that price, I might actually pick up this collection.

I have this on cassette:


and this on compact disc:


So, is this compilation for me?

CinisterCee said:

My favorite song on this album is "Take Me".I think it really should have been the first single.It's a sexy,intoxicating disco track that would have ruled the dancefloors back in '77.

sosgemini said:

I thought you said that you weren't a Donna fan?

VC,thanks for the info.This seems like a wonderful compilation,but I'm not gonna buy it.I already have everything on it except the radio edit of "You're So Beautiful".I'll try to download that song elsewhere,lol.I really don't plan to spend another dime on yet another Donna Summer compilation,lol...I have all the other ones.I even have that 3-CD "Ultimate Collection" set.But if I ever find a vinyl copy of the 1980 'Walk Away' compilation,I'll buy that,if only for completion purposes.

speaking of Donna Summer compilations....I recently found a rare vinyl copy of her 1977 "Greatest Hits" album.As far as I know,it wasn't released in America,which makes it extremely rare and hard to find.It contains the 1975 song "Virgin Mary",an early single that was never released in America.

RipHer2Shreds said:

I have this CD too.It's one of the few places where you will find the long extended version of "With Your Love".

DavidEye said:

nope...never, ever ever ever ever posted anything of the kind....

sosgemini said:

DavidEye said:

sorry, just woke up.....i thought u were asking me if i hated her....no, im not really a fan..but she has some good music... hence me buying her greatest hits and *not* individual albums..

cha know?