Who remembers the Donna Summer TV special that aired in January 1980? Here's the performance of "Bad Girls"....

VinnyM27 said:

I remember a few months before this album was released,Donna was quoted as saying that she wants to add more R&B to her music.She felt that she had been neglecting her R&B side,and so this album was an attempt to get back to that.Nothing wrong with that,but I wish she had actually worked with a real R&B producer if it was her intention to make R&B music.The music on 'Mistaken Identity' is a carbon copy of the (much better) R&B that was being made by producers like Jam and Lewis at the time.The album has a few bright spots ("Fred Astaire" is the "Last Dance" of the 90s and really should have been a single) but alot of it is just plain embarassing,such as "Body Talk",which Donna begins by talking in street slang: Kickin! In your face! and the ridiculous "What Is It You Want",a filler dance track that goes absolutely nowhere.

I remember her being thrown in the back of that police car. It was such an inspiration to me. I wanted to be a whore just like her.

vainandy said:

She was my favorite artist until I discovered Prince. I just traded in one whore for another one.

vainandy said:

After "Bad Girls",I was convinced that Donna was obsessed with prostitution I would hear a new song by her and assume that she was talking about hookers.The first time I heard "Love Is In Control",I thought she was singing...

I guess I missed the target, caught up in a different nine to five


and then of course,the next year when I first heard "She Works Hard For The Money",I thought "damn,here we go again"

[quote]

SoulAlive said:

I didn't think pay attention to that line too much. I was too busy listening to....

I've got my finger on the trigger

As in having her hand wrapped around a big black hard steel gun that's ready to shoot.




I immediately thought of that one as a whoring song. It goes great behind "Bad Girls".

SoulAlive said:

I can never listen to She Works Hard For The Money the same way again after what you just said.

"and she's looking real pretty
just waiting for her clientale"

Y'all crazy.

SoulAlive said:

I assume that was her best seller of the decade (it easily featured her biggest hit of the eighties).

Wonder if it was just luck. Wonder how the making of that one worked out....did she find Michael...doubt the label really pushed her to make a hit, but it's possible. Maybe I should look into my book that talks about all of Donna's music (It was written around the time of Donna's autobiography but it much more interested in talking about the history of her music while hers heavily focused on her life).

SoulAlive said:

You never know. As much as I like "I'm A Rainbow", it really did need a lot of work. I mean, if she was on another label, who is to say that they wouldn't have accepted IAR with open arms. It could have flopped hard but it also might have been a bigger hit than "Donna Summer". I think the problem that was starting to happen for Donna was that she was not as into the music although if you ask me, something like "All Systems Go", which was a huge bomb and many fans dismiss for the most part, seems to be a more passionate Donna in comparison to "Donna Summer" and "I'm A Rainbow".

It seems like when I think of Geffen as a label, I never give much thought to his early superstar rooster included John Lennon (for obvious reasons since tragically John was killed after one album, although it was a blockbuster). It does seem interesting that other seventies superstars like Elton John and most famously Neil Young similarly had issues with Geffen. Although maybe with Elton it wasn't until the end and maybe his issue was more about drugs. Whenever I think of Geffen as a label, I think of rock acts or the queen of eighties faux metal, Cher.

VinnyM27 said:

Are you referring to this book?



That book is a MUST-READ,if you're a Donna Summer fan.It tells the complete story!! Donna's own autobiography is lame by comparison.She skips over some major events and leaves out so many important details.Josiah's book also includes in-depth analysis of each of her albums,which is a big deal for me when I read these types of books.

abandoned her punk roots to be famous...
then again i don't blame her...
women just get respect in the punk world

EmbattledWarrior said:

Don't you mean her rock roots?

VinnyM27 said:

There's a rumor that the album is actually unfinished.Supposedly,Giorgio was gonna go back and continue working on the songs but those plans were cancelled when David Geffen rejected the project.Many of the songs do sound demo-ish....like they need that "extra something".One of the things that Giorgio was gonna do is create an "electronic side",similiar to Side Four of the 'Bad Girls' album.The songs would have segued into each other.Presumably,this suite would have included "Melanie","Romeo","Runner With The Pack" and "People Talk".




The 80s was a tough era for so many artists who scored big in the 70s.Donna spent the entire decade trying to fit into a changing landscape.She initially tried to position as a rock singer but let's face it,rock fans were listening to Pat Benatar around that time.They weren't interested in hearing rock music from a former disco queen.For their part,dance music fans moved on to artists like Madonna and Shannon,and the R&B audience wasn't checking for Donna,either.This left her in a weird position.




When Donna signed with Geffen,she didn't know what she was getting into.In retrospect,she really should have signed with an already established label.Just imagine what Clive Davis might have done with Donna,if she had signed with Arista.He had alot of success in the early 80s with legendary female artists like Dionne Warwick and Aretha Franklin.He rejuvenated their careers.

Timmy84 said:

well she was specifically Punk rock,
early punk, pre sex pistols...

SoulAlive said:

Thanks again for your info ! ... this post slipped my attention.

EmbattledWarrior said:

Well she was in a "pre-punk" rock group at one time, lol. And her first album did have some rock music in it that was only released in Europe. I don't think there's never been a point where Donna was an "R&B singer", she was always a singer in the pop/rock genre to me, much like Dionne Warwick and the Fifth Dimension.

Timmy84 said:

Are you referring to this album,released in Europe in 1974?


I consider it more like a folk/pop album...very similar to the stuff that Cher was doing at that time.It's amazing how many early singles Donna released before her big American debut hit "Love To Love You Baby".

SoulAlive said:

"Kickin! In Your Face!"....that was some pretty funny shit!

Jam and Lewis were fine but what about Babyface and La Ried (or a young Dallas Austin?).

Donna wasn't a spring chicken at the point and while "Mistaken Identity" is a bit laughable, I also consider it to sort of light hearted in it's approach. It's a fun album ("What is It You Want" and "Fred Astaire" among the more fun and dumb tracks). It packed a bit of an emotional punch to with "Let There Be Peace", "Friends Unknown" and"Cry Of A Waking Heart". I like it even though initially I didn't. Filler and all.
[Edited 3/13/09 9:45am]

Donna Love Rock N roll, I read she really wanted to do it but the odds against her was that she was black. But it doesn't matter cause i always condiser her a Soul rock n roll singer.

SoulAlive said:

On "Cats Without Claws", I always thought that the title track and to a lesser extent"Suzanna" (turns out it was about a PR person she worked with that swore all the time) where also about "Ladies of the Night".

SoulAlive said:

Yep.

it's interesting that,even in those early days,she was doing songs about prostitutes ("Lady Of The Night") It became a recurring theme in her work.

SoulAlive said:

Donna's earlier songs raised controversy. I heard "The Hostage" was banned in several countries.

She also released a rare single as "Donna Gaines"



Side A: Sally Go Round The Roses
Side B: So Said The Man

Label : MCA
Label # : MK 5060 UK

" This is one of the ultimate and rarest Donna Summer collectables. This is her very first release from 1971.
It was only issued in the UK on MCA and it has got a funk tune on the a-side, and a ballad on the b-side. Extremely hard to find."

http://www.popsike.com/ph...0232211589

Shango said:

Thanks for that. I didn't think the audio existed. This was before she married Helmut Sommer (she got the name from the changing of her first husband's last name from 'o' to 'u').

Timmy84 said:

"The Hostage" is a scary song.It gave me nightmares when I first heard it as a child.

Timmy84 said:

cool trivia