Disco Diva: 2012-05-27

Thursday, May 31, 2012

Donna Summer Discography Studio Albums

The discography of American pop singer Donna Summer includes 20 singles which have reached the Top 40 of the United States Billboard Hot 100 chart. 14 of those reached the top ten, and four of them reached number-one.
Summer's first ever single, "Wassermann", a German version of the song "Aquarius" from the musical Hair, was released in Europe in 1968 under her maiden name, Donna Gaines. She would become known as Donna Summer from 1974 onwards.

"Love to Love You Baby" was her first single in the US; it was recorded on Oasis Records, which would join with Casablanca Records to release it in the US. Casablanca would assume responsibility for recording and distributing Summer's albums during the 1970s and also become one of the premier labels of that decade. Later, in 1977, PolyGram Records acquired a 50% ownership of Casablanca from owner Neil Bogart. Bogart was considered a good music executive in the industry, and had a "whatever it takes" approach to selling product. However, Casablanca routinely spent enormous sums of money, unbeknownst at the time to half-owner PolyGram, which was headquartered in Europe. In 1980, Summer informed Casablanca that she wanted to release other genres of music; but she and Casablanca could not find common ground on this issue. That same year Summer signed with the newly-formed Geffen Records.
Also in 1980, PolyGram began noticing the huge amount of revenue that was being spent at Casablanca, money spent as fast as it came in. In addition, Casablanca had allowed Summer to depart; she being one of the label's few acts that, if handled properly, could evolve into a successful post-disco artist in the new decade. Aside from Summer's releases, Casablanca had not been scoring as many hits as it had in the past and was now in debt. PolyGram purchased the remaining 50% of Casablanca and then it promptly fired Bogart. Casablanca continued to struggle for hits in the early 1980s, but only found sporadic success. Meanwhile, Summer had released her first two albums on Geffen Records, The Wanderer (1980) and Donna Summer (1982), scoring one top ten hit on each. She was subsequently notified by PolyGram Records that she owed them another album, per her agreement with Casablanca. She delivered the album "She Works Hard for the Money" (1983) which PolyGram chose to release on its Mercury Records imprint as opposed to Casablanca, Summer's former label. The Mercury album became Summer's most successful album of the entire 1980s, and the title song was her most successful single of the decade. After this release Summer went back to recording for Geffen Records up until her final Geffen release in 1987 (she subsequently signed with Atlantic Records). PolyGram, which had been pouring money into Casablanca for years in an effort to save it, had decided to shut down the fading label in 1984.
In 1990, Geffen Records was sold to MCA Records, which was owned by alcoholic beverage-maker Seagram; although Summer was no longer an artist on Geffen Records.
In 1998, PolyGram and its imprints were purchased by Seagram, which merged the company with its MCA Records label and imprints to create the gigantic Universal Music Group. This had the result of Summer's MCA, Oasis, Casablanca, Geffen, and Mercury releases now being owned by one conglomerate, Universal Music. This catalgoue of Summer's material stretches from 1971 to 1987 for Universal Music Group.
Post 1987, Warner Music Group owns her Atlantic Records material, and Sony BMG owns her Epic Records material.

Albums

All albums were released internationally unless otherwise stated. The record labels given are those used to release the records in the US (unless of course they were not released in that country). As explained in the previous paragraph other labels were sometimes used to distribute Summer's work in other countries (most notably for the Casablanca/Geffen/Atlantic albums). From Once Upon a Time through to the end of the Casablanca albums, this label was used to distribute Summer's work in most nations.

Donna Summer,Crayons Album 2008

Crayons is the seventeenth and final studio album by American singer Donna Summer. Released on May 20, 2008 through Sony Burgundy in the United States, it was her lone album of original material since 1991's Mistaken Identity and would be her last before her death on May 17, 2012.

Recorded over a period of two years since signing with the Sony Music label Burgundy Records label in 2006, Crayons marks Summer's first full-length studio album in fourteen years since 1994's Christmas Spirit, and her first album of original material since 1991's Mistaken Identity. She worked on the album with a number of different producers and songwriters including Greg Kurstin, Danielle Brisebois, J. R. Rotem, Wayne Hector, Toby Gad, Lester Mendez and Evan Bogart, the son of Summer's former record label boss at Casablanca Records, Neil Bogart.
The album debuted at #17 on the US Billboard 200 albums chart, which was also its peak. The title track is a duet with her and reggae artist Ziggy Marley. The album's first official single, "Stamp Your Feet", was released to radio on April 15, 2008. A follow-up, "I'm a Fire", reached number-one on the Billboard dance/club chart, giving Summer her 13th number-one hit on that chart. Summer recorded four music videos: "Stamp Your Feet", "Mr. Music", "The Queen is Back", and "Fame (The Game)".
When commenting on the album, Summer explains, "I wanted this album to have a lot of different directions on it," says Donna. "I did not want it to be any one baby. I just wanted it to be a sampler of flavors and influences from all over the world. There's a touch of this, a little smidgeon of that, a dash of something else...like when you're cooking."

The lead-in track "Stamp Your Feet", written by Summer, Greg Kurstin, and Danielle Brisebois, was originally called, according to Summer, "The Player's Anthem". "It's the whole concept of being a player in life, coupled with the idea of being a player on an actual field, the whole thing, dealing with the pain and doing things even though you are afraid. Even though you're afraid of something and your knees are knocking, you get up and do it because a lot depends on it. Players get taken off to the sidelines and bandaged and thrown back in the game because it depends on them to win the game. We're all 'players.' It goes back to Shakespeare: 'All the world's a stage, and all the men and women merely players.'"

About the song "Crayons", Summer says, "It encompasses a lot of what the album is about," she says. "Every song is a different color. Since I'm also a visual artist, that title ties a lot of the loose ends of my life together. The song wrote itself pretty quickly. Taking it to the next level, we influence each other in life. You may have an Arab friend or an Israeli friend or an Indian friend and so you go and eat a little Indian food (or have a little pita bread), or something you've never experienced, and as we immerse ourselves in each other's cultural experiences, it's like taking a crayon and coloring over the lines and the lines become blurred between what's that and what's the other. You take two colors and create other colors and you add a third color and there's another color too. That's how we are in life and that, to me, is a good indication for this album: feeling free to draw between the lines. Everybody gets crayons at some point in their lives, everybody can relate to the basics. It comes down to that child in us, I think there's a commonality in the concept of crayons."

On "The Queen Is Back", Summer reveals her wry and witty self-awareness of her musical legacy and her public persona. "I'm making fun of myself," she admits. "There's irony, it's poking fun at the idea of being called a queen. That's a title that has followed me, followed me, and followed me. We were sitting and writing and that title kept popping up in my mind and I'm thinking, 'Am I supposed to write this? Is this too arrogant to write?' But people call me 'the queen,' so I guess it's ok to refer to myself as what everybody else refers to me as. We started writing the song and thought it was kind of cute and funny."

Summer wrote "The Queen Is Back" and "Mr. Music" with Jonathan "J.R." Rotem and Evan Bogart, whose father, Columbia Records boss Neil Bogart died from cancer at the age of 39. He signed Summer to his Casblanca Records in 1975 and released some of her biggest albums and singles during the 1970s. "I adored him and would have given up everything for him to be alive," says Summer, remembering a time in the 70s "when the nail person didn't show up and Neil got on his knees and did my toenails. In many ways he was my mentor and I didn't get to say goodbye to him." When Summer met Evan Bogart, she was struck by his uncanny resemblance to his label executive father. "It's almost like they chiseled him out of his father," Summer observed. "I'm in the studio looking at him and I get tears in my eyes, he has no idea why. I just wanted to hug him because it's like I'm seeing someone I haven't seen since his father passed away. It's almost like Neil is looking at me through him. Evan and I hit it off immediately; there was a synergy that happened really quickly." "The Queen is Back" samples "Lose Control" by Kevin Federline. Both songs are produced by J. R. Rotem.

Track listing

#	Title	Length	Songwriters	Producer
1	"Stamp Your Feet"	3:52	Danielle Brisebois, Greg Kurstin, Donna Summer	Kurstin^[10]
2	"Mr. Music"	3:14	Evan Bogart, J. R. Rotem, Summer, Meredith Willson	Rotem
3	"Crayons" (featuring Ziggy Marley)	3:21	Brisebois, Kurstin, Marley, Summer	Kurstin
4	"The Queen Is Back"	3:27	Bogart, Rotem, Summer	Rotem
5	"Fame (The Game)"	4:03	Toby Gad, Summer	Gad
6	"Sand on My Feet"	3:51	Gad, Summer	Gad
7	"Drivin' Down Brazil"	4:43	Brisebois, Kurstin, Summer	Kurstin
8	"I'm a Fire"	7:11	Al Kasha, Sebastian Arocha Morton, Summer	Morton
9	"Slide Over Backwards"	4:10	Nathan DiGesare, Jakob Petren, Summer	DiGesare
10	"Science of Love"	3:48	Gad, Summer	Gad
11	"Be Myself Again"	4:19	Wayne Hector, Lester Mendez, Summer	Mendez
12	"Bring Down the Reign"	4:33	Jamie Houston, Fred Kron, Summer	Houston
International edition bonus track
13	"It's Only Love"	6:58	Kasha, Morton, Summer	Morton

Donna Summer,Christmas Spirit Album 1994

Christmas Spirit is a Christmas-themed album by Donna Summer, released in 1994. Summer's Gospel music background is very evident on this album which consists of traditional and well-known Christmas songs and carols, as well as new original songs and a cover of Amy Grant's "Breath of Heaven (Mary's Song)".
Christmas Spirit was produced by Michael Omartian, who had collaborated with Summer on the albums She Works Hard for the Money and Cats Without Claws in the early 1980s, both as a producer and composer. On this album Omartian also co-wrote the tracks "Christmas Is Here" and "Lamb of God" with Summer, and the title track alongside Summer and her husband Bruce Sudano. Traditional carols "O Come All Ye Faithful," "What Child Is This," "Do You Hear What I Hear?," "Joy To The World" and "O Holy Night" are featured alongside "White Christmas", "The Christmas Song" and "I'll Be Home for Christmas," all of which are famous Christmas songs.
Christmas Spirit was re-issued by Universal Music on the Mercury label in 2005 under the title 20th Century Masters: The Best of Donna Summer: The Christmas Collection.

Track listing

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"White Christmas"	Irving Berlin	2:55
2.	"The Christmas Song"	Mel Tormé, Bob Wells	4:20
3.	"O Come All Ye Faithful"	Frederick Oakeley, John Francis Wade	4:40
4.	"Christmas is Here"	Donna Summer, Michael Omartian, Bruce Sudano	3:22
5.	"Christmas Medley: What Child Is This?" / "Do You Hear What I Hear?" / "Joy to the World"	Dix, Handel, Regney, Shayne	5:20
6.	"I'll Be Home for Christmas"	Buck Ram, Kim Gannon, Walter Kent	3:30
7.	"Christmas Spirit"	Donna Summer, Michael Omartian, Bruce Sudano	4:53
8.	"Breath of Heaven"	Amy Grant, Chris Eaton	6:04
9.	"O Holy Night"	Adolphe Adam, John Sullivan Dwight	4:12
10.	"Lamb of God"	Omartian, Summer	7:24

Personnel

Michael Omartian – Producer
Donna Summer – Vocals

Donna Summer,Mistaken Identity Album 1991

Mistaken Identity is the fifteenth album by Donna Summer, released in 1991.
Since making her name as the biggest female star of the disco era in the 1970s, Summer had experimented with different musical genres throughout the 1980s with varying degrees of success. For Mistaken Identity, Summer adopted a more Urban style.
The album was not a commercial success, and failed to chart on the US Billboard Top 200 Album Chart or in the UK Album Chart, and peaked at #97 on the US Billboard R&B Chart.

Track listing

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Get Ethnic"	Donna Summer, Keith Diamond, Paul Chiten, Anthony Smith, Larry Henley	5:21
2.	"Body Talk"	Summer, Diamond, Chiten, Smith, Henley	4:48
3.	"Work That Magic*"	Summer, Diamond, Chiten, Smith, Henley	5:00
4.	"When Love Cries"	Summer, Diamond, Chiten, Smith, Henley	5:15
5.	"Heaven's Just A Whisper Away"	Diamond, Henley, Smith	4:06
6.	"Cry Of A Waking Heart"	Betsy Cook, Bruce Woolley	4:36
7.	"Friends Unknown"	Summer, Diamond, Smith, Vanessa Smith	3:44
8.	"Fred Astaire"	Summer, Diamond, Smith, Donna Wyant	4:40
9.	"Say A Little Prayer"	Summer, Diamond, Smith, Wyant	4:07
10.	"Mistaken Identity"	Summer, Diamond, Smith, Wyant	4:08
11.	"What Is It You Want"	Summer, Diamond, Wyant, Smith, Vince Lawrence, Dave Resnik	4:40
12.	"Let There Be Peace"	Summer, Diamond	3:59

(*) The UK edition of this album contained the "ISA full-length remix" of this track

Personnel

Donna Summer - vocals, rap vocals, composer
Kaydee - rap vocals, drums, percussion, assorted funkiness, "Intro Madness" on "Mistaken Identity"
Carl James - rap vocals, bass
Neil Thomas - rap vocals
"Wrong Way" Smith - "Intro Madness" on "Mistaken Identity"
Keith Diamond- keyboards
Eve Nelson - keyboards, piano
Anthony Smith - keyboards
Vince Lawrence - keyboards
Dave Resnik "vibe" on "What Is It You Want"
Joe Taylor - guitars
Vicki Genfan - guitars
Rafe van Hoy - guitars
Skip McDonald - guitars
Paul Pesco - guitars, acoustic guitars
Ira Siegel - guitars
Joe Hornoff - drums
J.T. Lewis - drums
O.C. Rodriguez - drums
Bob "Mr Shaker" Conti - percussion
Steven McLoughlin - "on a Harley D" on "Body Talk"
Danny Wilensky - saxophone
The 'Heart' Strings (Suzie Schumway, Sally Schumway, Suzanne Ornstein, Ann Labin and Cathy Metz) - strings
Background vocals: Donna Summer; The New York crew: Craig Derry, Yogi Lee, Cliff Dawson, Biti Straughn, Lauren Kinham, Tracy Amos, 'Sabelle'; The Los Angeles crew: Marry Ellen Bernard, Gene Miller, Susan Macke

Album art concept: Donna Summer
Album cover coordination: Tracy Nicholas Bledsoe
Design: Bill Smith Studio, London
Photography: Harry Langdon, L.A.
Stylist: Gina Delgado

Production

Produced and arranged by Keith Diamond
Strings on "Friends Unknown" arranged by Keith Diamond and Eve Nelson
Engineered by George Karras
Additional engineers: Bob Rosa, Acer Key, Peter Robbins, J.C. Convertino
Assistant engineers: Steven McLoughlin, Shawn 'Fido' Berman, Andy Udoff, Adam Yellin, Carl Glanville, Jeff Lippay, Danny & Steve, Welcome, Darien Sahanaja, Joe Seta
Recorded at Unique Studios, NY; Hit Factory, NY; Electric Lady, NY; Rumbo Studios, LA; Encore Studios, LA; Track Record Studios, LA; American Studios, LA; Presence Studios, CT; R.P.M. Studios, NY; Interface Studios, NY; My Blue Heaven Studios, NY
Studio managers: Tony Drootin - Unique, NY; Vicki Camblin - Rumbo, LA; Troy Germano - Hit Factory, NY; Bob Mason - R.P.M., NY; Daryl - Encore, LA; John Russell - Presence, CT
Mastered at The Hit Factory by Herb Powers

Donna Summer,Another Place and Time Album 1989

Another Place and Time is the fourteenth album by American singer Donna Summer, released in 1989. The album was produced by Stock Aitken Waterman and featured the hit "This Time I Know It's for Real".

Background

After enjoying immense stardom during the disco era in the 1970s, Summer had experimented with different styles of music during the 1980s and had released several albums with Geffen Records with varied results; Geffen had refused to release much of her material including her biggest post-1970s success: the 1983 She Works Hard for the Money album which had only been released by virtue of being given to another label - Mercury Records - to satisfy a legal dispute between Summer and her 1970s label Casablanca Records. Summer's final Geffen release was her 1987 album All Systems Go.
Summer actually cut her 1989 album: Another Place and Time, for Geffen, the pairing of the singer with the Stock/Aitken/Waterman team being the idea of label owner David Geffen. Since 1987, Stock/Aiken/Watermen had dominated the UK charts with acts like Bananarama, Dead or Alive, Hazell Dean, Kylie Minogue and Rick Astley scoring countless hits worldwide. "S/A/W" were famous for their unique "hit factory" sound, which was basically their own brand of 1980s synthpop/dance. The S/A/W team wrote all ten of the tracks for their collaboration with Summer, with the singer having co-writing and co-producing credit on three. The resultant album contained the typical "hit factory" sound for which S/A/W were famous, as well as a couple of ballads.
Upon hearing the completed album in March 1989 David Geffen and/or his executive board opted to drop Summer from the label roster without issuing the album. However Warner Bros, Summer's label of release in the UK and Europe since 1982, elected to issue the Another Place and Time album in those territories with the track "This Time I Know It's For Real" becoming a hit in the UK, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway and Sweden; "This Time I Know..." also had an especially strong impact in the UK with a spring 1989 peak of #3 affording Summer her best UK chart showing since 1977 when "Love's Unkind" had peaked at #3 (Summer's only higher UK charting single is "I Feel Love" also from 1977). In April 1989 Atlantic Records, Warner Bros affiliate in the WEA conglomerate, acquired the Another Place and Time album for release in the US where boosted by the Top Ten showing of "This Time I Know...".The parent album reached #53.
A second album was planned with S/A/W, however Summer had a falling out with them and the tracks were later recorded by singer Lonnie Gordon.^[3]

Track listing

All tracks written & produced by Stock, Aitken, Waterman except where noted

Side one
No.	Title	Length
1.	"I Don't Wanna Get Hurt"	3:28
2.	"When Love Takes Over You"	4:13
3.	"This Time I Know It's for Real" (Written by Stock, Aitken, Waterman, Summer)	3:38
4.	"The Only One"	3:55
5.	"In Another Place And Time"	3:22

Side two
No.	Title	Length
6.	"Sentimental" (Written by Stock, Aitken, Waterman, Summer)	3:11
7.	"Whatever Your Heart Desires" (Written by Stock, Aitken, Waterman, Summer)	3:52
8.	"Breakaway"	4:04
9.	"If It Makes You Feel Good"	3:45
10.	"Love's About to Change My Heart"	4:03

Donna Summer,All Systems Go Album 1987

All Systems Go is the thirteenth album by Donna Summer, released in 1987; it would be her final release on Geffen Records where Summer had a mostly rocky tenure since 1980.

Background

After establishing herself as the top-ranked American female recording artist of the 1970s, Summer had broken out of her contract with Casablanca Records in 1980 to sign with the newly established Geffen Records, the label founded by David Geffen. But her album The Wanderer - Geffen's inaugural release - had disappointed David Geffen by falling somewhat short of the success level of Summer's previous Casablanca releases.
Geffen had elected to shelve the I'm a Rainbow double album Summer had recorded with her longtime collaborators Giorgio Moroder and Pete Bellotte, an album Summer had expected to be her next release in 1981. Summer instead was assigned to work with Quincy Jones and the resultant Donna Summer album was released in 1982; also to fall short of Summer's '70s success level.
Geffen was unpleased to learn that Summer legally owed her previous label Casablanca another album. Polygram Records had already owned 50% of Casablanca and it had previously purchased the other 50%, owning the company outright. Polygram notified Geffen Records and Summer that she still owed them another album per her contract with Casablanca. The Michael Omartian produced She Works Hard for the Money album was given to Polygram to satisfy the agreement and Polygram released it on its Mercury Records label in 1983. Ironically, Summer's return to the Polygram fold netted what would become her biggest album of the entire 1980s. The title song garnered her a Grammy nomination.
Owing no more albums to Polygram, Summer's next release was on her current label Geffen. Cats Without Claws, also produced by Omartian, was released in 1984, but failed to go gold and it did not repeat the success of its predecessor. Three years would pass without the release of any new material from Summer.

The album

All Systems Go was a composite of tracks recorded at various points between 1983 and 1987. The release of the album was spearheaded by Summer's 1987 recording of a track which Geffen felt had hit potential: "Dinner With Gershwin" whose producer Richard Perry had provided the Pointer Sisters with a string of Pop/Soul hits; the track was co-produced by its writer Brenda Russell.
The album is a fusion of typical 1980s synth-style pop/dance with soul and R&B elements, including both upbeat songs and ballads.
Four tracks were produced by Giorgio Moroder associate Harold Faltermeyer, although Peter Bunetta, Rick Chudacoff, Richard Perry, Keith D. Nelson, Jeffrey Lams and Summer herself were also given production credits on certain songs.
Summer was credited as co-writer on seven of the nine tracks.

Release and aftermath

In the US "Dinner With Gershwin" became Summer's last Top Ten R&B hit at #10; its Pop impact was more muted at #48 and All Systems Go became the first album by Donna Summer to fall short of Billboard's Top 100 album charts peaking at #122.
"Only The Fool Survives" with Mickey Thomas was the second single released from the album.The cover of the 45' featured Donna in a buckskin jacket. The only impact the song made was the lower rung of the Hot 100 and the top 40 of the AC chart.
"Dinner with Gershwin" gave Summer her highest UK chart placing (#13) since the '70s also reaching #13 in Ireland and charting in the Netherlands at #43.
The UK success of "Dinner With Gershwin" failed to translate into success for the All Systems Go album which became Summer's first UK album release to fall short of the Top 75.
The "All Systems Go" track reached #54 UK.
David Geffen's response to the commercial disappointment of All Systems Go was to assign Summer to work with the Stock, Aitken and Waterman production team whose dance pop singles were dominating the UK charts and who had had US success with Bananarama and Rick Astley. Ultimately Geffen dropped Summer from the roster rather than release the resultant Another Place and Time. The album was picked up for release in the US by Atlantic Records in 1989. Ironically, the album would be a bigger success than her previous Geffen Records release All Systems Go." Another Place and Time had provided Summer with one final solid commercial success and her last top ten US single, fourteen years after the release of her first top ten hit "Love to Love You Baby" had hit the charts.

Track listing

Side one
No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"All Systems Go"	Harold Faltermeyer, Donna Summer	4:13
2.	"Bad Reputation"	Peter Bunetta, Joe Erickson, Summer	4:14
3.	"Love Shock"	Faltermeyer, Bruce Sudano, Summer	4:16
4.	"Jeremy"	Faltermeyer, Pit Floss, Andy Slovic, Summer, Hannes Treibe	4:40
5.	"Only the Fool Survives"	John Bettis, Michael Omartian, Sudano, Summer, Virgil Weber	4:42

Side two
No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
6.	"Dinner with Gershwin"	Brenda Russell	4:39
7.	"Fascination"	Eddie Schwartz, David Tyson	4:30
8.	"Voices Cryin' Out"	Faltermeyer, Summer	5:20
9.	"Thinkin' Bout My Baby"	Jeffrey Lams, Keith D. Nelson, Summer	6:20

Donna Summer,Cats Without Claws Album 1984

Cats Without Claws is the twelfth album released by Donna Summer. Summer had achieved monumental fame during the disco era of the 1970s, and by now was signed to Geffen Records. She had had some degree of success with them, though her previous album had been released on another label.
That previous album, She Works Hard for the Money, had been her most successful since the disco era, and as a result, its producer Michael Omartian was asked to produce the new album as well. Again the majority of tracks were written by Summer and Omartian, though a couple of other writers were credited including Summer's husband Bruce Sudano. As with the previous album, Cats Without Claws was pop/dance oriented but included soulful ballads. The album also contained a cover of "There Goes My Baby", originally made popular by The Drifters, which became the first single. A gospel song written by Reba Rambo-McGuire and Dony McGuire entitled "Forgive Me" would win Summer a Grammy award for Best Inspirational Performance.
Cats Without Claws did not follow the success of its predecessor, reaching only Number 40 on the U.S. album chart. It produced four singles - the aforementioned "There Goes My Baby", "Supernatural Love" (also released as a 12" Disco Single), the title track and "Eyes". Of these, only the first had reasonable success, just missing the U.S. Top 20. Further 12" dance remixes included "Eyes" and "I'm Free".

Track listing

Side one
No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Supernatural Love"	Michael Omartian, Bruce Sudano, Donna Summer	3:33
2.	"It's Not the Way"	Omartian, Summer	4:22
3.	"There Goes My Baby"	Benjamin Nelson, Lover Patterson, George Treadwell	4:05
4.	"Suzanna"	Omartian, Summer	4:29
5.	"Cats Without Claws"	Omartian, Summer	4:20

Side two
No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
6.	"Oh Billy Please"	Omartian, Summer	4:55
7.	"Eyes"	Omartian, Summer	4:45
8.	"Maybe It's Over"	Summer	4:43
9.	"I'm Free"	Omartian, Sudano, Summer	4:29
10.	"Forgive Me"	Dony McGuire, Reba Rambo	4:30

Personnel

Donna Summer – vocals, composer
Michael Omartian – composer, producer, keyboards, additional drums & percussion
Bruce Sudano – composer
Michael Baird – drums
Nathan East – bass
Michael Landau – guitars
Paul Jackson, Jr. – guitars
Paulinho da Costa – percussion
Gary Herbig – sax solos
Erich Bulling – synthesizer programs
Ronnie Puccinelli – production coordinator

Background vocals – Dara Bernard, Mary Ellen Bernard, Gene Van Buren, Cydney Davis, Siedah Garrett, Kahliq Glover, Portia Griffin, Susannah Melvoin, Bruce Sudano, Charles Vassy, Terry Williams

Management – Susan Munao Management Co. Inc.

Photography – Harry Langdon
LP Art Direction – Chris Whorf for Art Hotel
Design – Jeffrey Fey for Art Hotel

Production

Produced and arranged by Michael Omartian
Engineered and mixed by John Guess. "It's Not The Way," "Suzanna" and "Oh Billy Please" mixed by Juergen Koppers
2nd engineers: Larry Fergusson, Dave Ahlert, Tom Fouce, Ross Palone
Recorded at Lion Share Studios, Los Angeles; United Western Studios, Hollywood; Rhema Studio, Los Angeles
LP mastered by Steve Hall at Future Disc Systems, Hollywood

Donna Summer,She Works Hard for the Money Album 1983

She Works Hard for the Money is the eleventh studio album by Donna Summer, released in 1983. This album became her biggest hit of the decade and produced a US top three single with the title track.

Background

After emerging on Casablanca Records as the foremost female star of the disco era of the 1970s, Summer in 1980 had sued for release from Casablanca to sign with David Geffen as the inaugural artist for his Geffen label where her recordings were a comparatively modest success: also Summer and David Geffen developed a contentious relationship evidenced by Summer's 1981 album I'm a Rainbow being shelved and the singer being forced by Geffen to leave her longtime producer Giorgio Moroder to record the 1982 album Donna Summer with Quincy Jones. Geffen then refused to release the album Summer recorded in 1983 with producer Michael Omartian: however recent litigation had determined that Summer still owed Casablanca Records an album and Geffen allowed Summer to pass the tracks she'd recorded with Omartian to PolyGram Records who'd since absorbed Casablanca. PolyGram issued these tracks on the Mercury label as She Works Hard For the Money with the title cut issued as advance single May 27, 1983: the "She Works Hard For the Money" single became Summer's biggest hit since 1979 with a #3 peak on the Hot 100 in Billboard where it also spent three weeks at #1 on the R&B chart with this success impelling its parent album, released June 13, 1983, to #9.
She Works Hard For The Money was more pop/dance oriented than the two precedent Donna Summer albums, but also contained some soulful ballads, including "Love Has a Mind of Its Own", a duet with gospel singer Matthew Ward. It also contained a reggae-styled song called "Unconditional Love" which featured vocals by young black British group Musical Youth. Lyrically, the album dealt with subjects such as social injustice ("Stop, Look and Listen"), Jesus Christ ("He's a Rebel") and missing children ("People, People"). Many fans saw the album as a "return to form" for Summer - she was once again presented as a strong, powerful woman very much in control. During the 1970s, Summer's management had worked hard to portray her as a powerful, sexual fantasy figure to the point where they had become too involved in her personal life (which led to a period of depression for Summer before becoming a born-again Christian and filing a lawsuit against her record label). Since the disco era, Summer had experimented with different genres including New Wave and rock, and some felt she had got a little "lost" in trying to find her musical place in the new decade. She Works Hard for the Money had helped establish her place as a 1980s pop/dance diva, but it wouldn't last as Summer's next release on Geffen Records failed to live up to its predecessor.
Summer was credited with writing or co-writing every track on the album, mostly alongside Michael Omartian, who was also the album's producer. It became her first Top 10 album in the U.S. since 1979 and produced a massively successful hit single in the form of the title track. The sleeve of the single and album pictured Summer as a waitress who "works hard for the money" and the song was a tribute to "the working woman." It was accompanied by a high-profile music video which became heavily promoted on MTV, soon after the breakthrough of Michael Jackson's success on the channel, leading the way for other black artists to be played. The song shot to Number 3 on the Hot 100 American singles chart, making it her biggest hit there since "The Wanderer" three years previously. The song was also given a Grammy nomination for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance.
Several more singles were released from the album, including the aforementioned "Unconditional Love" which gave Summer her fourteenth U.K. Top 20 hit (and also a #9 placing on the U.S. R&B chart), followed by the more moderate hits including "Stop, Look and Listen" and the soulful duet "Love Has A Mind Of Its Own" (#35 R&B)with Matthew Ward.
The song "He's A Rebel" gained Summer the Grammy award for Best Inspirational Performance, her first win since 1979.

Track listing

Side one
No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"She Works Hard for the Money"	Michael Omartian, Donna Summer	5:19
2.	"Stop, Look and Listen"	Omartian, Greg Phillinganes, Summer	5:52
3.	"He's a Rebel"	Jay Graydon, Omartian, Summer	4:22
4.	"Woman"	Graydon, Omartian, Bruce Sudano, Summer	4:19

Side two
No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
5.	"Unconditional Love"	Omartian, Summer	4:42
6.	"Love Has a Mind of Its Own"	Omartian, Sudano, Summer	4:16
7.	"Tokyo"	Omartian, Sudano, Summer	4:15
8.	"People, People"	Omartian, Sudano, Summer	3:53
9.	"I Do Believe (I Fell in Love)"	Summer	4:52

Personnel

Donna Summer - vocals
Musical Youth - vocals
Matthew Ward - vocals
Michael Omartian - piano, synthesizer, Simmons drum programming, guitars, accordion
Jay Graydon - guitars
Marty Walsh - guitars
Gary Herbig - saxophone
Mike Baird - drums
Nathan East - bass
Ray Parker, Jr. - rhythm guitars
Lenny Castro - congas
Michael Boddicker - synthesizer programming
John Gilston - Simmons drum programming
Assa Drori - concert master
Horns: Jerry Hey, Chuck Findley, Gary Grant, Dick Hyde, Charlie Loper
Background vocals: Dara Lynn Bernard, Mary E. Bernard, Roberta Kelly, Matthew Ward

Production

Arranged & Produced by Michael Omartian
Recorded & Mixed by John Guess at Lion Share Studios (Los Angeles), Hollywood Sound Recorders (Hollywood) & Rhema Studios (Beverly Hills)
Additional Recording by Larry Fergusson & Ross Pallone
Mastered By Bernie Grundman (at A&M Mastering) & Steve Hall (at Future Disc)
Art direction and design: Chris Whorf/Art Hotel
Photography: Harry Langdon
Compact disc design by: Rick Hunt

Donna Summer,Donna Summer Album 1982

Donna Summer is the tenth studio album of American singer Donna Summer, released in 1982.

Back story

Having left Casablanca Records, with whom she had had some of the biggest selling and most popular hits of the disco era in the 1970s, Summer had signed to Geffen Records in 1980 and had continued working with Giorgio Moroder and Pete Bellotte, with whom she had written the vast majority of her hits. However, label owner David Geffen had been disappointed with the chart performance of The Wanderer, Summer's debut album for Geffen and rather than release the followup; I'm a Rainbow which Summer had recorded with Moroder/Bellotte, Geffen had Summer record a new album with Quincy Jones from whom a production credit - given Jones' track record particularly his work with Michael Jackson - Geffen felt would guarantee a commercial smash. The resultant Donna Summer album was the first time the singer had worked with a producer other than Moroder and Bellotte since 1974 save for the one-off track "Down Deep Inside (Theme from "The Deep")" which was produced by John Barry for the film The Deep.

The album

Since the disco era, Summer's work had covered a variety of musical genres and this album was no exception. It had quite a strong soul and R&B influence, and featured a couple of gospel-styled tracks, namely "(If It) Hurts Just a Little" and a version of Jon and Vangelis' "State of Independence", which featured an all-star choir. Rock music was also found in the form of the Bruce Springsteen-penned "Protection"; the track had been planned as a Donna Summer/Bruce Springsteen duet but that concept was abandoned as unworkable. The album concluded with Summer's take on the Billy Strayhorn torch standard "Lush Life".
Several very popular songwriters were used on this album. As well as the aforementioned Springsteen and Vangelis, Quincy Jones himself contributed to the writing, as did other names such as Rod Temperton, Merria Ross, John Lang, Richard Page, Bill Meyers, Michael Clark, John Bettis, Jon Anderson, David Foster, Steve Lukather, Michael Sembello, Dan Sembello and David Batteau. This made it the largest number of songwriters ever to contribute to a Donna Summer album.
A period of six months elapsed between the first session for the Donna Summer album and the completion of the tracks. Summer has since stated that this was one of the hardest albums ever to record - some of the songs were quite challenging, plus she was pregnant with her daughter Amanda Grace at the time. It has also been reported that she found producer Quincy Jones to be rather boisterous and controlling and soon after the album's release she opined to the Los Angeles Times: "Sometimes I feel it's a Quincy Jones album that I sang on".

Impact

The Donna Summer album was released 19 July 1982 with the advance single: "Love Is in Control (Finger on the Trigger)" having been issued six weeks previous. "Love Is in Control..." would peak at #10 on the Billboard Hot 100 in September 1982 when the Donna Summer album would reach #20 in Billboard; the album's subsequent single releases: "State of Independence" and "The Woman in Me", which respectively peaked on the Hot 100 at #41 and #33, failed to increase the album's chart impact.
Ultimately the Donna Summer album would fall short of its goal to restore its singer to the level of stardom she'd enjoyed in the 1970s: "Love Is in Control..." would have the lowest Hot 100 peak of a lead single from an album of new material by Donna Summer since 1978 and the #20 peak of the Donna Summer album evidenced a further drop in popularity from the singer's debut album of the 1980s: The Wanderer, whose #13 peak had disappointed David Geffen to the point where he'd suppressed the I'm a Rainbow followup Summer had prepared with Giorgio Moroder and Pete Bellotte instigating the Quincy Jones-produced Donna Summer album project. Ironically Summer would have her most successful 80's hit with "She Works Hard For The Money" which with its parent album was passed over for release by David Geffen to be released on Mercury Records.
"Love Is in Control..." did represent a considerable comeback for Summer on the R&B charts with a #4 peak affording the singer her fifth Top 5 R&B hit. Summer also reached the UK Top 20 with both "Love Is in Control..." and "State of Independence" with these tracks both reaching the Top Ten in the Netherlands - at respectively #6 and #1 - where "The Woman in Me" reached #7.
The aforementioned advance single "Love is In Control..." featured a non-album track on its B-side: "Sometimes Like Butterflies", a song that Summer penned with Bruce Roberts. This song would later be covered by Dusty Springfield, and Summer's original version was included on the CD, A Different Love by Canadian singer, Mark Tara, as a benefit for CANFAR (Canadians For AIDS Research). Quincy Jones is credited as producer for this song as well, although the minimalistic approach to this song was very different from the tracks included on the Donna Summer album.

Track listing

Side one
No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Love Is in Control (Finger on the Trigger)"	Quincy Jones, Merria Ross, Rod Temperton	4:18
2.	"Mystery of Love"	John Lang, Bill Meyers, Richard Page	4:25
3.	"The Woman in Me"	John Bettis, Michael Clark	3:55
4.	"State of Independence"	Jon Anderson, Vangelis	5:50

Side two
No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
5.	"Livin' in America"	David Foster, Jones, Steve Lukather, Donna Summer, Temperton	4:41
6.	"Protection"	Bruce Springsteen	3:35
7.	"(If It) Hurts Just a Little"	David Batteau, Dan Sembello, Michael Sembello	3:52
8.	"Love Is Just a Breath Away"	Foster, Summer, Temperton	3:55
9.	"Lush Life"	Billy Strayhorn	6:26

Personnel

David Alexander – photography
Bill Barnum – supervisor
H.B. Barnum – director
Dara Lynn Bernard – chorus
Roy Bittan – piano
Michael Boddicker – programming, vocoder, vocoder programming, polymoog
Larry Bunker – drums
Bill Champlin – background vocals
Leon "Ndugu" Chancler – drums
Dennis Cosby – conductor
Steve Crimmel – assistant engineer
Christopher Cross – chorus
Patrick Gene Crotty, Jr. – chorus
Paulinho Da Costa – percussion
Michael Davis – chorus
Don Dorsey – programming, synclavier, synclavier programming
Matt Forger – assistant engineer, technical director
David Foster – synthesizer, arranger, rhythm arrangements, synthesizer arrangements
Steve George – background vocals
Gary Grant – horn
Debbie Green – chorus
Dave Grusin – synthesizer, fender rhodes, rhythm arrangements, synthesizer arrangements
Howard Hewett – background vocals
Jerry Hey – horn
James Ingram – background vocals, chorus, vocal arrangement, rhythm arrangements
Phillip Ingram – background vocals
Michael Jackson – chorus
Louis Johnson – bass
Quincy Jones – synthesizer, programming, chorus, producer, vocal arrangement, rhythm arrangements
Jeff Lancaster – art direction, design
Peggy Lipton Jones – chorus
Kenny Loggins – chorus
Steve Lukather – guitar
Johnny Mandel – string arrangements
Harvey Mason, Sr. – drums, drum arrangements
Heather Mason – chorus
Greg Mathieson – programming
Michael McDonald – chorus
Bill Meyers – synthesizer, rhythm arrangements
Michael Omartian – string arrangements
Richard Page – background vocals, vocal arrangement
David Paich – synthesizer, piano, keyboards, rhythm arrangements, synthesizer arrangements
Ken Perry – mastering
Greg Phillinganes – synthesizer, chorus, synclavier, synthesizer bass, rhythm arrangements, portasound
Jeff Porcaro – drums
Steve Porcaro – drums, programming, producer
Bill Reichenbach Jr. – horn
John "J.R." Robinson – drums
Brenda Russell – chorus
Cruz Baca Sembello – background vocals
Michael Sembello – guitar, background vocals, vocal arrangement, rhythm arrangements
Guy Spells – conductor
Bruce Springsteen – guitar
Donna Summer – vocals, background vocals, chorus
Bruce Swedien – engineer, mixing
Rod Temperton – vocal arrangement, rhythm arrangements, synthesizer arrangements
John VanNest – assistant engineer
Larraine Walton – chorus
Dionne Warwick – chorus
Ernie Watts – alto & baritone saxophone
Chris Whorf – art direction, design
Stevie Wonder – chorus
Faith D. Wong – chorus