What is your favorite Donna Summer album?

I really like Another Place And Time from 1989. The SAW production sound fit Donna like a glove.

I think Bad Girls is the most consistently fun. Actually her last hit album, produced by Stock Aitken Waterman, is pretty close. This Time, I Don't Wanna Get Hurt, Whatever Your Heart Desires and If It Makes You Feel Good are all great tracks. A real shame she didn't record a follow-up album with them, they had written another hit for her "Happening All Over Again," which ended up being recorded by Lonnie Gordon. Huge club hit and Top 3 in the UK, Donna could've gotten it into the Top 10 US too.

They're releasing a box set of cd singles on Oct. 2nd. Most of the material was already remastered for last year's albums box set, but looking forward to a bonus disk with Hot Tracks remixes mostly from her SAW album.

i bought her remastered 80's album box set last year. will the new cd singles box set include different tracks?

I just discovered this demo of Bad Girls, which I'm enjoying immensely. I wish they'd unearth more demo versions of her stuff, especially of the Donna Summer album that Quincy Jones overproduced.

r3, it's mostly repeats except for about 8 tracks. I pretty much want them all though. The single remix of Supernatural Love is one of them, also the Capricorn remix of Work That Magic, but still not the single edit. I'll have to make one myself, I don't like the longer versions of that remix. Then the rest are all from the bonus disk with mostly Hot Tracks remixes, the 4 SAW album tracks I mentioned, plus "Love's About To Change My Heart" and" Work That Magic," and the Disconet remix of Highway Runner.

I don't like any of your choices OP. My favorite was "All Systems Go". Very underrated.

My favorite changes alot. At the moment it's "Four Seasons of Love." "Spring Affair" segueing into "Summer Fever" is the soundtrack of my fantasy of the 70s as the most glamorous and liberated and luxurious decade ever.

r6, i love that album too.

The only LP I ever had was On the Radio. I now like the Deluxe Edition of Bad Girls best, as it has the 12" version "I Feel Love" on it.

OP here. I meant to include Four Seasons of Love, r7, and I am listening to it right now. I wish there were more than ten available slots in the poll.

Confession: I didn't include the SAW collaboration because all their songs are almost indistinguishable to me, and I don't think Donna Summer really added much to them.

Second confession: r6 and r8, I hate that album. It strikes me as one mediocre title track and a mountain of drivel.

Still, I am open to changing my mind.

r4, Donna and Giorgio didn't record demos in the 70s. The Bad Girls demo was produced by someone else in 1977. Neil Bogart thought it sounded too rock and wanted her to give to it Cher. Donna refused and the song was forgotten about, until a studio technician found the tape, looking for blank tape to record on, and talked her into recording it. The only demos Giorgio recorded with her were for movie soundtracks, there are demo versions of Last Dance and On The Radio heard in their respective movies.

Apparently they changed their modus operandi in the 80s. Ive never heard of demos for the Wanderer, but "I'm A Rainbow," shelved in 1981, released in '96, is supposed to be mostly unfinished demos.

Thanks, r11. I have been listening to Fleetwood Mac demos all weekend and wish there were more treasures to find.

I got the I'm a Rainbow disc when it finally got an official release in '96, and sad to say, I am not a fan. I had high hopes as I really liked the rock direction that Donna Summer was heading with The Wanderer, but I'm a Rainbow is too long, too unfocused, and too packed with filler. The best songs had already been released on the Flashdance and Fast Times at Ridgemont High soundtracks, and the rest was mostly a disappointment. I have read numerous times that it's a mystery why Geffen shelved the record, but it's quite clear to me. I actually liked the Quincy Jones record that came out in its place considerably more.

Here's one track from I'm a Rainbow that I kinda like, but it's rather unremarkable like the rest of the album.

The early records had a lush, hypnotic quality, but they weren't terribly varied.

Note in this video, Wasted from A Love Trilogy, the bubble blowers. Amazing. The whole thing looks like an artifact now, sort of like those old Scopitones videos feel now.

More TV performances abound: Donna Summer doing Cold Love from The Wanderer on Tom Snyder in 1980. I think she was credible as a rock singer, though she's no Tina Turner on the stage.

"I'm A Rainbow" grew on me. I got it when first released back in 90s and was unimpressed. But I have come to really like it over the years. It's unlike anything else in her catalog, in a good way. "You to Me", "Brooklyn" and "Sweet Emotion" are my favorites but also like "Melanie", "True Love Survives" and "I Need Time."

It does sound unfinished though. I don't think it would have been a hit if released but I would have LOVED it back in 81/82.

"The Wanderer" has not grown on me. I only listen to one track "Grand Illusion" but I didn't like any of the singles from that LP.

I still like The Wanderer. It has an energy that she never recaptured.

I recall liking the LP She Works Hard for the Money when it came out (and I was excited to see her popular again, however fleetingly), but listening to it today leaves me a bit cold. Notable exceptions: the title track and I Do Believe I Fell in Love, which she sings the fuck out of.

r12, that's my favorite from it too. And I agree it still isn't all that, a solid second tier song anyway, but can't hang with her best. I also like Romeo (from Flashdance) and Highway Runner (from Fast Times.) I'm not sure Romeo, the presumed lead single, could've been hit though, not in the US. Synth-pop hadn't caught on yet, aside from Pop Muzik and Cars. The Human League's "Don't You Want Me" was still a year away. And I don't think Romeo was as strong as any of those. "Melanie" was also a synth-pop single possibility, but sounds too dated today. It's begging for a remix. The Disconet remix of Highway Runner has been remastered and will be released next month in a cd singles box set. That might end up being my favorite track from Rainbow, the remix is extended and slightly sped up to make it more danceable.

Faltermeyer said Donna wasn't showing up to recording sessions for the album. He said they spent days on end in the studio waiting for her. They didn't even know where she was, but tracked her down at her NYC apartment, she promised to show up, and then didn't again. She was flaking out just like Giorgio says she was.

A Love Trilogy is slight but fun, especially her version of Barry Manilow's Could It Be Magic.

I had forgotten that the orgasmic moaning from Love to Love You Baby carried over into A Love Trilogy.

In this video, she looks quite uncomfortable with the moaning segment and chooses to bypass it in her lipsyncing.

Here she does Could It Be Magic truly live, but without the excessive moaning, just a sensuous spoken bridge.

She looks beautiful here and sounds fantastic.

In 2011 (so it says in a comment), she performed Could It Be Magic live with Manilow. (Check out how his unabashed fruitiness at 1:20.)

No moaning, but they really ride off the rails after about the 3:30 mark.

I love Donna but find her albums so dated at this point.

Once the disco craze ended, she was lost, trying desperately to find a sound that would excite fans again. She did r&b, rock, adult contemporary-- but nothing really fit.

A huge problem with most of her stuff is that the lyrics of nearly everything were just dreadful .

What a great voice though.

her 'bad girls' era recordings are right in style in today's indie/dance world. r22 probably doesn't subscribe to that sort of music of today.

I think some of the datedness is fantastic and don't mind it a bit.

Classic Motown sounds dated as well, and I love it for that. It's a period with a sonic signature. Giorgio Moroder's work with Donna Summer is quite similar in that respect.

I do think that she got stuck after she went to Geffen. She really needed a producer to show off her voice. I'm not into gospel, but that's where she seemed committed, and some of her religious-themed tracks are her best from the post-Casablanca period.

He's a Rebel from She Works Hard for the Money.

And better, the more straightforward I Believe in Jesus from The Wanderer.

I never thought I would be posting Jesus songs on a gay site, but it's pretty fucking good.

Exactly r24, great disco is no more dated than Motown. Giorgio and Donna were the 70s Motown.

Another point for The Wanderer, which I know a lot of fans hate:

She really extended the promise of rock that she began with Bad Girls.

Night Life.

I can cut her some slack for the Jesus stuff, considering how she was raised, and the fact that she had such an incredible voice. She was a true believer because she believed God gifted her. She claims he spoke to her when she first soloed in church at age 10. Ok it was all hysteria, because even Donna was shocked how powerful her voice was, and everyone was crying. But I'm sure it would've made me a life-long believer too.

Another Place & Time

This is the fantastic song SAW wrote for Donna assuming she wanted to another album with them. They were all gaga about her and have always said she was best singer they worked with.

Lonnie Gordon - Happenin' All Over Again. And this bitch could belt her ass off too, not a bad Donna substitute at all. Love those wailing black dance divas.

I wonder why Donna turned down Happenin' All Over Again, it was a great song and she could've turned it into a big radio hit. Donna turned down a number of songs that were very good and suited for her and you have to wonder why.

My favorites are the Live And More album, and Once Upon A Time. I wish they'd release the footage from Live And More on DVD and "Happily Ever After" from Once Upon A Time is the most perfect disco love song ever.

I know why, because she thought herself as a songwriter even before a singer. As early as the Bad Girls album, she wanted to have writing credit on every song, but due to time constraints she wasn't able to do it. She was her primary lyricist though, on pretty much all her albums except the SAW one. She also wrote music. Giorgio was her primary music writer in the 70's, he never wrote any of the lyrics, Donna and Pete Bellotte wrote practically all of them. But Donna occasionally wrote music too, including the hit Dim All The Lights, and she said that she would actually alter some of Giorgio's music to make it catchier.

Anyway, this was one of her memes, I'm a songwriter first. It's why she never recorded a standards album, even though everyone was begging her to for years. And this is profoundly disappointing to me as a fan. Her voice deserved the greatness of standards, I'm mean come on, she should've recorded multiple standards albums. She certainly had the potential to be another Shirley Bassey, belting out standards on stage into her 70s. Donna's voice was never going to give out, and she promised to sing until she absolutely couldn't anymore.

I think Donna was best interpreting her own songs or songs written for her. I don't mind that she never recorded standards. I did think she had stylistic range though -- two of my favorite ballads by her "Fascination" and "Thinkin 'bout my Baby" were both very jazzy and she could have explored that A/C- Quiet Storm genre more deeply. Her latter day dance tracks were fine but nothing compared to her classics.

Stylistic range is exactly what she was known for. It's why she kept repeating that theme with the I'm A Rainbow and Crayons albums. Her first band Crow was a very odd band that played highly varied styles of music and that's what Donna, the Crow, was known for, stylistic diversity. And anyone who thinks she couldn't sing standards either never saw her in concert or has bad taste.

Oh sorry, for some reason I read "didn't" instead of "did." I admit I'm pretty much the Donna Summer version of Janbot, although hopefully much less obnoxious, usually.

I never realized there could be a Donna Summer-bot, but I welcome one, r36.

I have been listening to the Love to Love You Donna remix album that came out a couple of years ago. Unimpressed. It just makes me long for the original versions, dated or not. Moroder and Summer together really had a feel for dance music and tempo change!

This remix sucks the life out of Last Dance, one of my favorite Summer songs, despite its longtime use to close out horrible wedding receptions.

I love 'Happily Ever After' and 'Sweet Romance' from the Once Upon A Time album.

I also like 'Walk Away' from Bad Girls. You don't hear that one much anymore, but it was great.

Bad Girls - Bad Girls, Hot Stuff, Dim All The Lights, Walk Away, Sunset People, Our Love and the VERY underrated Lucky

[quote] I admit I'm pretty much the Donna Summer version of Janbot, although hopefully much less obnoxious, usually.

Only slightly less, darling. I guess we've been warned.

Once Upon A Time is still mt favorite album, followed by Bad Girls. But, The MacArthur Park Suite is still her very best vocally, and the arrangement is perfection!

Love "Queen for a Day"...don't ask me why. 😉

R11, are you sure that it was 'Bad Girls' that Neil Bogart wanted to give to Cher because it was too Rock oriented? I've always heard the exact same tale about 'Hot Stuff'.

No, Donna Summer originally wrote "Dim All The Lights" for Rod Stewart to perform. Later, she changed her mind, and decided to record it herself for the Bad Girls album.

She mentions the story briefly on her VH1 Live CD from '99. She sings it the the way she though Rod would, then how she recorded it.

Dim All the Lights from the VH1 show.

I like her opening "Rod-Stewartesque" to the number, but I'm glad she never gave it to him.

Four Seasons of Love

Live and More

Donna Summers voice is so underrated compared to other diva singers. Her voice was so warm and melodic she could've done any type of music genre she wanted with her voice.

I'm a Rainbow is a great song, but I didn't care for the rest of the album, because you can tell that it's not quite completed. I also like the Cats Without Claws album.

r43, there were 3 different stories about Bogart turning down songs because they were too rock. One is that Donna wrote the rock ballad "My Baby Understands" with her then boyfriend, later husband, and Bogart didn't want her to record it and take the album in a rock direction. But Donna put her foot down, and that's why the album had a rock slant. Hot Stuff was written in the studio, following that disco/rock fusion direction Donna had pushed for. Bad Girls had indeed been turned down two years earlier for being too rock. I remember Donna discussing it and saying as much as she loved Cher, she wasn't going to give her her song.

Does anyone know why Donna rejected "Flashdance, (What a Feeling)"? It could have been her signature hit.

Do any demos exist or did she ever sing it live?

She didn't r51, Donna and Giorgio had gone their separate ways by then. She turned down "It's Raining Men," written especially for her by her friend Paul Jabara, who also wrote Last Dance for her and the duet with Babs. But I don't think most fans disagree with her there, catchy, but too campy to be taken seriously. Apparently "What's Love Got To Do With It" was offered to her first, also "I've Had The Time Of My Life" from Dirty Dancing. She actually turned the latter down just because the movie title was too racy, apparently the movie isn't though, I've never seen it. Those are all hits she admitted to turning down, she said there were many others but didn't name them.

God, Donna turned down a bunch of songs that became huge hits. Her career really faltered after the early 80s, she could've really used those hits.

I'm glad she turned down "it's raining men". what a trashy song.

R52 Wow, religion really did make her an idiot. No wonder her career was basically done by 1984.

religion didn't make anyone an idiot, r55. whats your excuse for being one?

R56 = Old gay who still worships "divas" and defends everything they've ever done.

i dont defend everything she's ever done. but my opinion isn't yours. does that make you want to shit or something, r57? i'm glad i made it to 42. maybe you will too someday. till then, give it a rest.

I think she was also asked to sing, I Will Survrive.

I love "Mystery of Love"

Agree with R60 "Mystery of Love" is one of her better songs. Why wasn't it released? Could have been a big hit.

The song "Mystery of Love" used the opening material from Bach's "The Well-Tempered Clavier", Book 1: Prelude and Fugue No. 2 in C minor for the keyboard part in the introduction and verse.

"Dim All The Lights" is the only song of hers that I liked.

r62, Laura Branigan did a decent cover of "Dim All The Lights" in the mid-90's.

[quote] Agree with [R60] "Mystery of Love" is one of her better songs. Why wasn't it released? Could have been a big hit.

I heard it was because James Ingram, whose star was rising at the time, wanted "duet" billing for the single but Geffen wouldn't go for it.

I love Donna but her videos are among the worst.

Dinner with Gershwin is just laughable. She Works Hard for the Money is fun but suffers from not being particularly original.

Her songs are ripe for new versions but today's singers.

I recall as the Disco backlash was ending and radio started playing a few disco-era songs again (Chic's Good Times showed up on alot of playlists), NO ONE would play Donna Summer. My guess was she was so identified with disco that she was avoided at all costs.

Until, Bad Girls came along. It became Donna's most successful album, after disco.

Bad Girls came out in May 1979, disco was still going strong then.

Oh, should have done my homework.

I didn’t know she had a big following at DL.