Donna Summer
For far too long disco was derided as a subpar form of musical expression. Since the genre was tainted as a whole, so was its biggest star: Donna Summer.
Summer struggled to get her propers as a splendid singer-songwriter, who just so happened to make the world wanna boogie with her music. Not every great singer-songwriter has to play acoustic guitar or be an emotional wreck.
Raised in Boston, but cutting her musical chops in Germany, this woman of the world co-wrote nearly every major hit she had and she had tons of hits. According to Wikipedia, “She claimed a top-40 hit every year between 1975 and 1984, and from her first top-ten hit in 1976, to the end of 1982, she had 12 top-ten hits (10 were top-five hits), more than any other act during that time period.”
Those hits, largely produced and written with Giorgio Moroder and Pete Bellotte, helped redefine pop music in the US and Europe. We’re talking jams like “Bad Girls”, “Love to Love You Baby”, “Hot Stuff”, “On the Radio”, “She Works Hard for the Money”, “Last Dance”, and most influential of all “I Feel Love”.
(There’s also plenty of lesser cuts that would make other stars jealous: “I Love You”, “Dinner With Gershwin”, “Cold Love”, “Spring Affair”, etc.)
What I’ve always found fascinating about Summer is that her voice was a unique tool. An instrument unto itself.
Her singing style was never easily restricted to a particular genre. She could have soulful songs, but wasn’t a soul singer. She could be poppy, yet the richness of her voice could put to shame the ladies who followed in her wake like Paula Abdul or Madonna. A stage performer before her pop stardom, she could wail like an operatic singer, but also tone her voice all the way down to a hushed whisper that still spoke volumes.
That she became the Queen of Disco might be a bit surprising at first glance, but her ability to morph gave her a power few other dance floor singers could harness. That means she could capture the various moods of a night on the town, which ran the full gamit of agony to ecstasy.
On “Last Dance” Summer gave a dramatic ballad opening before thundering the floor-stomping portions of the song. On the electronic groundbreaker “I Feel Love”, she operated as a hypnotic angel. On “Love to Love You Baby” she was a cooing sex kitten eager to please a lover. On the rocking “Hot Stuff” she assertively demanded sex flipping the tables on testosterone filled meatheads. On “She Works Hard for the Money” again she was aggressive but this time telling society it’d better treat working-class women right.
And those are just the hit singles. Her album tracks, particularly on the Cinderalla inspired album Once Upon A Time…, often injected moods upon moods just as much as the radio staples.
As you’ll see from my album reviews, Summer put out not just credible albums, but good and great albums during her disco peak. And that’s without the benefit of the following songs being released on her regular studio albums.
Theme from the Deep—a 6.5/10 song. It reached #3 in the UK and was on the soundtrack for the movie The Deep.
Last Dance— a 10/10 song. It reached #5 R&B, #3 pop, and #1 disco on the charts and won an Academy Award appearing on the soundtrack to the movie Thank God It’s Friday.
MacArthur Park—an 8/10 song. It reached #8 R&B, #1 pop, #1 disco, and #5 UK. It was released on the mostly live double album Live and More.
Heaven Knows—a 9/10. It reached #10 R&B, #4 pop, #1 disco. Same story as “MacArthur Park” when it comes to an album release.
No More Tears (Enough Is Enough)—an 8/10. It reached #20 R&B, #1 pop, #1 disco, and #3 UK. It appeared on duet partner Barbra Streisand’s Wet album.
On The Radio—an 8/10. It reached #9 R&B, #5 pop, #8 disco. Only appeared on her greatest album from 1980.
Summer was able to weather the disco backlash well enough, at least through 1983. But in 1984 her career finally began to relatively crumble as she put out an LP that didn’t go gold or platinum for the first time in nearly a decade. She continued consistently putting out new material through 1991. Thereafter she released just one album (in 2008). She continued performing live for the rest of her life and that amazing voice never lost its luster. In fact, I think it actually got better over time, which is wild.
A titan of pop music, Summer died of cancer in 2012. Since she and the genre she represented typically didn’t get the respect they deserved, of course the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame finally decided to induct her in 2013. But I’ve appreciated Donna Summer all my musical life. She’s right up there with Barry White and the Isley Brothers in my personal Pantheon of musical idols.
Hope y’all enjoy my reviews and even more so the playlists.
PLAYLISTS
ALBUM GRADES and REVIEWS
Live and More: C+
Bad Girls: A-
The Wanderer: B
I’m A Rainbow: B-
Donna Summer: C-
All Systems Go: C+
Crayons: C