Saturday, June 16, 2012
Friday, June 15, 2012
Gonna Get Along Without You Now - Glenn Rivera ReStructure Mix - Viola W...
Viola Wills' cover of Teresa Brewer's 1952 recording of "Gonna Get Along Without You Now" is a disco classic. Viola recorded her dance version in 1979 and was produced by Francis Day and Jerry McCabe (who produced most of Viola's early material).
"Gonna Get Along Without You Now" is a swirling and melodic experience with the torch-like vocal of the late Miss Wills guiding it. One of of the big singles from 1979 and a lead for Viola who later took discotheques by storm with her big disco hits, "If You Could Read My Mind" and "Stormy Weather".
This ReStructure Mix takes the 12" from Sugarhill Records and gives an alternative experience using those lovely strings and the bass arrangement a step further!
FULL XXX VERSION - Boys Town Gang - Cruisin' The Streets
The Boys Town Gang were a San Francisco based disco and hi-NRG band. Their popularity peaked in the 1980s, when the group reached number 5 on Billboard's Hot Dance Club Play chart with the single "Cruisin' the Streets", and number 4 in the UK Singles chart and number 1 in the Netherlands with their cover version of "Can't Take My Eyes Off You"
History
In 1980 DJ Bill Motley saw an opportunity to form a group that catered to San Francisco's large gay clientele. In his search to form a group he auditioned hundreds of vocalists, both male and female. Local cabaret singer Cynthia Manley captured the lead spot.
The idea was originally for one 12" single with two tracks of high energy music. Motley, a Diana Ross fan, picked two Ashford & Simpson songs to form a medley for the A-side. For the B-side he wrote a disco drama in four acts. A record label was founded to release the two songs.
When "Remember Me" / "Ain't No Mountain High Enough" was released the song took off, with Manley's vocals propelling the song into the top of the club charts. The four-act explicit "Cruisin' The Streets" was a snapshot of Castro and Market Streets at sundown.
Manley departed after the release of these two records and Jackson Moore took over lead vocal responsibilities in 1981.
Band members
On the records "Remember Me" / "Ain't No Mountain High Enough" and "Cruisin' The Streets" Cynthia Manley provided lead vocals with Robin Charin, Don Wood, Phill Manganello, Tom Morley and Keith Stewart providing back-up.
From the 1981 album Disc Charge and onwards Jackson Moore was lead singer with Tom Morley and Bruce Carlton as back-up.
Wednesday, June 13, 2012
GRACE JONES 1977 INTERVIEW
"Jamaican-born Grace began as an actress and model in New York and Paris. Now she's fast building a reputation as Disco Queen..."
PERHAPS one of the more unusual success stories of 1977 revolves around a young lady, born in Jamaica, raised in the U.S.A., who became a top model in Europe and is currently the rage of the disco scene, as well as having made inroads into the pop charts in close to a dozen countries.
The lady we're referring to is Ms. Grace Jones who has been tabbed variously – as the "New Disco Diva", "Amazing Grace" (hardly the most original!) – and who's been flooring audiences with what can only be termed a showstopping revue in major U.S. cities.
Drawing on her extensive experience as a model, utilizing her knowledge of make-up and what to wear, Ms. Jones has put together a show that has literally had everyone screaming for more – and she herself admits that although singing has been a basic desire and ambition for as long as she can remember, she's only really been performing on a professional level for a relatively short time.
In fact, the lady first entered the recording studios in 1974 and completed her first album in Philadelphia earlier this year. But firstly, the roots: "I was born in Jamaica and my family – on my father's side – are heavily into politics, banking, those kind of things. On my mother's side, they're quite a good deal more religious!
"Anyway, I left the island when I was around 12 and came to live in Syracuse, in New York – and I loved it. It was something totally different from what I was used to and I dug it."
It would seem that Ms. Jones always nurtured a desire "to be different" and recalls a period of one year which she spent "as a glamorous hippie! Which was fine, because it prepared me for a lot of things''.
Her initial entry into the entertainment and creative sector came when she began studying drama. But prior to that, "I was an athlete at school – I held the record at high school for the long jump," explains this six-foot statuesque lady, "and I would probably have gone off into that if I hadn't gotten into acting and modelling." Her very first professional stage appearance was in Philadelphia and for Grace, that was "my ticket to freedom. Once I left Syracuse, I didn't want to go back! I did this musical comedy there – it was real strange, crazy. But I loved it and once I did the play, I was hooked."
The teacher with whom Grace had been studying drama felt somewhat responsible for Grace being in Philly (since he too was from Syracuse) and accordingly suggested that she might consider a career in modelling when the play finished its run.
"I'd never thought about it, honestly! But we took some pictures and next thing, I was off to New York." But not before Grace had done a stint as "a nudist in Philadelphia. Which was good because it helped me to accept myself, accept my body – I used to think I had horrible legs – and accept people, the world". In New York, in 1971, Grace immediately began contacting various modelling agencies and although she had some success, she encountered considerable frustrations.
"At the time, people wanted black women who looked average – they weren't looking for people who looked different. And I did! I had strong features, I looked exotic. And then, whereas I loved to wear my hair short, they would want me to be wearing wigs and all of that! And I didn't want to conform, I wanted to be myself, develop my own look."
In addition to the frustrations Grace was meeting as a model, she also experienced trying times when auditioning for parts in different movies. Finally, she landed a part in Gordon's War, after she was asked to act as though she was angry.
"Believe me, that was no problem because by then, I really was fed up with not getting accepted for parts so it came real easy! And I got the part." This was 1973 and Grace notes: "There were other parts offered but they had such little depth. Most of the good parts were going to men," she concludes.
Grace found something of an outlet for her career frustrations by "going out practically every night and having a good time! But I'd wear really way out things, I wanted to be unique, different and I'd experiment with a lot of clothes.
"It's like I do play with everything, you know," Grace says teasingly, "but I play good". And there isn't much you can add to such a statement!
By this time, several people had suggested to Grace that she might find greater acceptances in Europe and after waiting for another movie part that didn't materialize, Grace decided to just up and go.
"I went the cheapest way possible which was on Icelandic Airlines via Luxembourg. When I got there, I decided to hitch hike to Paris. I didn't know a world of French and I only had about $200 with me but I guess I was brave. I probably looked really weird, like Greta Garbo or something!
"Anyway, I started trying to get a ride to Paris only to find out I was trying to go in the wrong direction!" Abandoning the idea of hitching a lift, Grace opted for the train and on arrival in Paris headed for a hotel recommended to her by a friend in New York.
"I found Paris to be completely different from anything I'd experienced. Straight away, I went over to an agency I'd been told about but they told me that they didn't really need any black models." Not to be stopped in her tracks – Ms. Jones is hardly the kind of lady that anyone would stop in her tracks! – our heroine started hanging out in the right places, being seen on the right streets at the right time and it wasn't too long before some of the top fashion magazines became aware of her.
"I used to go out there with Bryan Ferry's girlfriend, who's also a model – and we'd really get made up and we'd look really different. We'd literally stop the traffic because we just didn't look like anyone else people had ever seen!"
After securing the front cover of Elle magazine, Grace found herself in constant demand as a model, noting "that the timing was perfect. There hadn't been a big black model in Europe since Danielle Luna".
Although she didn't speak a word of French at the time, Grace says she spent a lot of time communicating "by laughing! That always did the trick!" and before long, she found herself on the front cover on several fashion journals in both France and Italy.
It was during her first year in France that Grace became seriously involved with music. She relates: "I was at a brithday party for a photographer and I heard the record 'Dirty Ol' Man' by The Three Degrees. Well, at the time, I wasn't really hearing any music because I was staying in a hotel. When I heard it, I just freaked out and jumped up on the table and started singing!"
Fortunately for Grace, the girlfriend of a record company employee was present, heard Grace and told her boyfriend about the lady. That was the lady's first entry into the recording studios and she recalls: "We did a demo of 'Imagine', the John Lennon song and 'Dirty Ol' Man' but we just had a piano player working with me and he really couldn't get the 3 Degrees' song at all! But anyway, 'Imagine' seemed to really work and I took some vocal lessons to smooth out the rough edges."
Following the audition, Grace recorded 'I Need A Man' on her first session in Paris but she recalls: "It was really difficult because there was a problem: although I'd learned to speak some French by this time, it was tough trying to explain what I wanted to the musicians. In fact, it took us over six sessions to get it right and then, when we did, I had a fever of 104 degrees! I guess I was just desperate by that point!"
When the record was released in France, it did very well and Grace notes that "television really helped that because combining my modelling activities and the record, they had a ready made story and we got a lot of exposure on TV."
In addition, the record started to take off in other European countries as well as resulting in a visit to Japan where Grace made her professional singing debut in front of an audience of 20,000 people. "I went there at the request of one of Japan's top designers and it was really a combination of singing and modelling some of his clothes".
Grace recalls that she cancelled a date as second bill to sing with Raquel Welch in Paris to do the Japanese performance "because I was top billed on that one!" Deciding adamantly that she wouldn't record again in France Ms. Jones took a weekend trip to London in late '75 and worked with a gentleman by the name of Pip Williams. "It took us just two days to do two sides – 'That's The Trouble' and 'Sorry' and, originally, 'Sorry' was supposed to be the topside."
Notably, Grace also contributed musically to both songs as a co-writer. Upon release, both sides did well again in France and Grace insisted that if the company she was recording for wanted more product, they would have to do a deal in the States so that her records would be released there.
"The company just felt that the competition was so strong here that they didn't want to deal with it. But in the end, they sent a representative over and they met with Si and Eileen Berlin who were just starting their Bean Junction label."
Fortunately for Grace, the company hired the services of mixing master, Tom Moulton, who re-mixed both sides for release in October of 1976. "After Tom had worked on them, we really had two "A" sides," Ms. Jones comments. "And the next thing I knew, I got a call asking me to come in to do some promotion because the record was taking off." Major radio station WBLS in New York had immediately started playing the record and with the disco movement giving strong support, Ms. Jones found herself with a hit record.
"What was really strange too was that the record didn't cross from disco to r&b and then to pop, it just went straight to the pop charts and that's pretty unusual." After returning to Europe – where she had, in the meantime, appeared in two movies and sung the theme song for another in which she appeared as herself – Grace found herself with a hit record there and since she hadn't been back into the studios ("we were supposed to finish an album last year but you know how it is when people keep changing the ideas and so on") Bean Junction, working as an independent in the States, decided to release 'I Need A Man' which subsequently took off almost immediately.
"That record was released in April of this year and the company again asked me to come in to do some promotion. By this time, we realized that Bean Junction had been doing everything themselves, which had been fine, but we'd kind of outgrown the situation. In other words, we need major distribution for our future products.
"Well, although we had other offers, none of us wanted to just go with whatever came along. We wanted the right deal and we wanted the freedom that the right deal would give us." It seems that at about the same time as Grace had been advised Island Records might well be the right place for her, the company itself was getting ready to approach her with an offer. "And it seemed like it was just supposed to come together like that! "I knew we needed something special – because I regard myself as a special kind of artist, I know a lot of people probably got upset and even jealous when 'I Need A Man' happened because they might have felt that the first record, 'That's The Trouble' was a fluke. And especially if they've been out here for years, paying their dues as singers.
"But they don't realize that I paid my dues way back when I first struggled, trying to get into modelling and acting. And I realize that by a lot of other standards, I'm still maybe an amateur. I'm no Loleatta Holloway or Melba Moore. But I feel that given time, I can work at it. "You know, it doesn't take a few minutes to get your vocal chords used to singing constantly – it's something that can takes years of hard work, and it's wrong for people to expect me to be totally there already.
"But what I've been trying to do through my shows is present excitement and entertainment and I think that more than makes up for the experience I haven't yet had as a vocalist."
Certainly, any vocal flaws that Ms. Jones feels she may have to overcome haven't prevented her debut Island album, Portfolio from taking off instantly. "We recorded the balance of the album in Philadelphia and I felt that since Tom (Moulton) had done such a good job on re-mixing the other songs, he should produce the rest of the album, and it was his idea that we do both 'La Vie En Rose' and the medley of Broadway tunes on the album.
"In addition, he did what you might call major surgery on 'I Need A Man' by re-recording the rhythm and transplanting one of the vocal takes that I'd done in France originally on it – not the one that was originally issued, either."
Anyone who's either witnessed Grace's live performances or seen some of the more daring press photographs she's taken would naturally get the impression that the lady has created something of a sexy image for herself!
"Of course, my dear! Yes, I do feel I'm sexy. I'm basic, I'm natural, I'm a woman and I love my body! I'm aware of myself – that's something that comes from things like athletics that I got into when I was at school.
"But sure, that's definitely one of the things that comes off – that sex image!"
FREDA PAYNE 2011 SOUL MUSIC.COM INTERVIEW
In a conversation that spans her start with Pearl Bailey at 17 years old, to her current concert schedule, Freda Payne’s consistent message is about the importance of being an overall performer, as she explains to Darnell Meyers-Johnson…
Darnell Meyers-Johnson: Good day, this is Darnell Meyers-Johnson for SoulMusic.com. Today I’m speaking with a woman who is a living legend in this business of soul music. Every time she’s on the stage or sings a note, she is exemplifying style, grace, sophistication, class and of course, talent. You know her best from her huge hits from back in the day—“Band of Gold” and “Bring The Boys Home”—but she has always been a part of the business and she has never left it. SoulMusic.com Records is about to re-release her 1977 album STARES AND WHISPERS. Today I’m speaking with Miss Freda Payne. Miss Payne, how are you?
Freda Payne: I am fine, how are you? Thank you.
DMJ: I am great. Thank you very much for taking time out to speak with us; we do appreciate it. You’ve been performing on stages all around the world for many years. When the show is over or when the event is done, who is Freda Payne at the end of the day?
FP: Well, I’m a person who sometimes likes to see how the audience feels about the show, when people come backstage, or especially when I go out and meet and greet. I like to see the faces and feel some of the love, other than just being onstage. I just like to relax, and sometimes I like to watch a good movie or something like that. Is that what you’re talking about?
DMJ: Yeah; just how you would describe yourself as a person. Whenever we’re talking about an entertainer, we have an idea of who we think they are because we hear the songs and we see them onstage, but we often don’t know who they are as people. So I was just trying to get a feeling for how you would describe yourself as a person.
FP: Well, I’m quiet. See, when I’m onstage I’m an extrovert and I’m all-out—I’m performing and doing my thing. But then when I’m offstage I turn into a different person: I’m quiet, I’m a little bit shy. When I’m finished I don’t like to hang out and party and go nightclubbing; I’m ready to go back to the hotel or go home and just relax and kick back; take my makeup off, put my feet up on the couch and watch television [laughs].
DMJ: And just relax; I can understand that.
FP: Yeah, and have a glass of wine or champagne.
DMJ: That always helps [laughs]. As a somewhat shy girl growing up in Detroit, was it always your dream to become a singer?
FP: I didn’t even know I could sing until I was twelve. I hadn’t really discovered any artistic talent until that time. And then by the time I was thirteen I came to the conclusion, after being prompted by several friends and family members and some strangers, that I should start seriously thinking about being a singer on a professional level.
DMJ: And I heard somewhere that back around that age you were very much also into dance and at one point maybe you were considering becoming a dancer of some sort?
FP: Yeah, I did. I loved dancing because both my sister and I, Scherrie, we took ballet—I think I was twelve when we started, and she was ten. We started taking ballet, and we studied Russian ballet for about two years, and then we stopped taking it because our mother really didn’t want me to be a dancer. Being an old-fashioned person, she thought that wasn’t the way to go. But then when I was in high school, from thirteen until I was sixteen—I graduated when I was sixteen—in the 10th, 11th and 12th Grade, they gave dance courses in school, and you could take modern dancing. And I took modern dancing for the three-year period I was in high school. And I loved to dance, I really got into the dance thing, but then I also discovered that I was starting to do more with my singing as well, and I auditioned for a radio show that was called “Make Way for Youth”. What it was was a choral group and we sang all kinds of material, like pop material, Broadway standards, spiritual standards—all kinds of material as well—and also, occasionally, the head of the show—his name was Don Large and the show was called “Don Large’s Make Way for Youth”—and occasionally he would give me a solo, and I would have a solo to sing. So that’s how it kind of started for me.
DMJ: Your mom wasn’t too keen on the dancing thing for a career. What was her opinion about singing, once you started doing the choral stuff? What was her thoughts about that?
FP: She supported it, because we had rehearsals three times a week, Tuesdays and Thursdays, and of course she would drive me to the Fisher Building—this is in Detroit, this is where I’m from—the Fisher Building was located directly across the street from the General Motors office buildings, and it’s still there and it’s a very prestigious building—old building, but very prestigious. And the radio station was WJR, located atop of the Fisher Building. And she would drive me, and we would have our rehearsals, and then she’d drop me off and then she’d pick me up—and that was Tuesdays and Thursdays—and then the broadcast was every Saturday afternoon at two o’clock, so we’d have to get there about two hours earlier to rehearse again for the show. And that gave me some of my basic training—which was invaluable, that kind of training. And then of course I had music courses in school as well—that’s why I hate to see them dismiss music courses in school, because a lot of kids got their music training from public school.
DMJ: Right, I can remember back even when I was in school. We had a music program there. We had actually a very good teacher, and I was studying violin and I was very much into it, and the following year they completely got rid of the program, including the violins. And I always think back to what if I had pursued that? If it was available to me to practice some more, what could have become of it?
FP: I know. I also studied violin; I think I was in the 6th Grade. I took violin for about a year and then I just dropped it off; I just stopped doing it because I guess I went on to something else. And then I was taking piano lessons—my mother gave my sister and I both, we had piano lessons, and this lady would come to the house once a week. So my mother paid for that. In addition to the school music, the choral training, we had private piano lessons at home.
DMJ: Now I read that you got your professional start with the late, great Pearl Bailey when you were only seventeen years old. How did you meet her?
FP: That’s right. Well, her show was in Detroit and she was playing at a theatre in Detroit—she had a revue, The Pearl Bailey Revue, and a friend of the family had heard that she needed another singer for her background chorus and they said, “Freda should audition.” So I didn’t even think I would really get it, because I had just graduated from high school. And I auditioned, and they hired me. Other people who were auditioning were grown women and were professional singers, and they hired me. So I went on the road, and I think I was on the road for about two months with Pearl Bailey. That was my first professional job, and I turned seventeen,
DMJ: And a lot of people still don’t know that you kind of started out as one of Quincy Jones’s first protégés, I guess you could say, and you were singing in his big band, and I think you were only maybe eighteen at that point, right?
FP: Yeah, I was about eighteen, nineteen years old when that happened.
DMJ: And how did you meet him?
FP: Well, I was eighteen when I went to New York, and I was in a restaurant, and he had come to the restaurant, and the guy that owned the restaurant—this was in the ’40s—introduced me to him because he knew I was a singer and he said, “I think you need to meet this guy ’cause he’s Quincy Jones and he’s got a big band and he’s working at Basin Street East over on the East Side and he’s going places.” And so I met him, and we wound up leaving that restaurant and going to a little club, and there was a trio playing and he said, “Why don’t you get up and sing?” So I sang. And next thing I know, the next day he called me and said, “I’m going to the Apollo with Billy Eckstine and Redd Foxx and Coles & Atkins, and I’d like to hire you as the band singer. Would you like to do that?” And I said, “Yes!” Of course I was like, yes! And so that’s how I would up working with him. We did the Apollo and then we traveled on to Chicago and did the Regal Theatre.
DMJ: And how long did you stay as a part of the band?
FP: We did it that year, and then the following year we did it again.
DMJ: And how much longer thereafter did you start your recording career?
FP: My recording career started in 1963, so it was right about that same time I got a deal with ABC Paramount. Then I put a single out, and then they decided to do an album on their jazz label that was their subsidiary called Impulse. Impulse was like Blue Note. So my first album was a jazz album. I had people on it like Zoot Sims, Hank Jones and all those kind of guys.
DMJ: Were you still doing jazz-inspired material on the second album? I know on the second album you did a couple of Beatles covers and some pop stuff like that.
FP: That was on MGM?
DMJ: I don’t remember which label, but it was the HOW DO I SAY I DON’T LOVE YOU ANYMORE album.
FP: HOW DO I SAY I DON’T LOVE YOU ANYMORE—that was MGM. It was more middle of the road: I did “Yesterday” and I did Everly Brothers “You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feelin” [Editorial Note: Miss Payne was referring to The Righteous Brothers.] and a song called “Feeling Good” which a few artists have recently covered, like Michael Bublé, Oleta Adams…
DMJ: Yeah, the Nina Simone song.
FP: Nina Simone, right. But that song was a hit from the Broadway musical “Smell of the Greasepaint, Roar of the Crowd”—no, I got it wrong. “The Roar of the…” Something of the Something… oh well, forget it. You’ll get it right in your editing.
DMJ: [Laughs] Exactly, I’ll look it up and see what it is. [Editorial Note: Miss Payne was referring to the 1965 musical “The Roar of the Greasepaint – The Smell of the Crowd”.] Was it your desire to be more of a jazz singer, or did it just work out that way in the beginning?
FP: It was my desire. That’s what I did; that’s what was happening back then. And plus, I sang in supper clubs—I never worked in any juke joints or anything like that—I worked supper clubs, and it was like I was a nightclub chanteuse: I was a nightclub chanteuse, where I worked nightclubs and small supper clubs and jazz clubs. And basically, that’s what it was.
DMJ: In 1970 your third album BAND OF GOLD came out, and of course that’s the album that garnered your biggest hit, the title track. Rolling Stone magazine called that song one of the greatest songs of all time. Tell me what you remember about making it?
FP: Rolling Stone?
DMJ: Yeah, Rolling Stone magazine. In ’04, I think it was, they did a list of the greatest songs of all time; and I don’t remember where “Band of Gold” ranked on their list but it was on the list. [Editorial Note: “Band of Gold” ranked #391 in Rolling Stone magazine’s December 9, 2004 issue, “The 500 Greatest Songs Of All Time”.] Tell me what you remember about making that song?
FP: Well, I remember the day I first heard it, and a guy by the name of Ronald Dunbar, who worked with Eddie and Brian and Lamont—when I say Eddie, Brian and Lamont that’s Holland-Dozier-Holland—and he brought the song to me and played the track, showed me the lyrics and I said, “That song is for a fifteen-year-old. This is so immature.” And he said, “You don’t have to like it, just sing it.” I wasn’t that crazy about it at first. I thought the music was great and the track was out of sight, but I was thinking, “What did he mean, ‘But that night on our honeymoon we stayed in separate rooms’? What is that all about?”
DMJ: I was going to ask you what that was about.
FP: Then when we went into the studio we did about forty-eight takes over a period of two days, and they wound up going back and taking the earlier takes.
DMJ: And why was it taking so long to get it together?
FP: Well, that’s how they did it—you would do it until you got it just the way they wanted it. Because I wasn’t used to singing in that style, I had to adjust and do it exactly the way the producers wanted it sung.
DMJ: The next album you did after that was called CONTACT. That album would eventually have your hit “Bring the Boys Home” on it, but when that album first came out that song wasn’t on the album.
FP: Not the first pressing.
DMJ: Right. Do you remember why that was?
FP: I don’t know; I think it wasn’t ready yet.
DMJ: Now that song, “Bring the Boys Home”, everybody knows it as an anti-war—
FP: And I was nominated for a Grammy for that album.
DMJ: For the CONTACT album?
FP: Yep.
DMJ: And do you remember who ended up winning?
FP: I do not remember.
DMJ: You’re like, “I know it wasn’t me, so who cares?”
FP: I’ve been nominated twice: I was nominated for Best Female R&B Singer for “Band of Gold”, I know that, and I think I lost out to Aretha or something. And I think the album thing, I may have lost out to Roberta Flack or somebody like that.
[Editorial Note: Freda Payne’s CONTACT album was nominated for a 1972 Grammy Award for Best R&B Vocal Performance, Female. She lost to Aretha Franklin’s cover of Simon & Garfunkel’s “Bridge Over Troubled Waters”. The other nominees were Diana Ross, Jean Knight and Janis Joplin.]
DMJ: The song “Bring the Boys Home” garnered some controversy at the time: it was an anti-war song and it was around the Vietnam era. Tell me what you remember about making that song and the impact that it had.
FP: The song was… at the time, that was the height of the Vietnam War, and Richard Nixon was the President of the Republican party, and I remember first hearing it play and listening to it I was like, wow. It brought tears to my eyes. It touched my heart. And so we went into the studio and did it, and it reached gold status quicker than “Band of Gold”.
DMJ: And when you hear the song today, is the sentiment still as strong as it was all those years ago?
FP: Oh, yeah. Back then, shortly after the song was released, the record company got a telegram from D.C. from the U.S. government saying that my song would not be played in South Vietnam because it would be giving aid and comfort to the enemy.
DMJ: And was there some sort of effort here in the U.S. to not have stations play it? Was there that kind of motion going on at the time?
FP: If there was, I have no idea of that. I don’t know about that; there may have been. But people liked the song; they picked up on it. And the song still got heard over in Vietnam, because I run into people who were over there who said they heard it over there, and they said the song was encouraging to them and helped them.
DMJ: So the controversy of the song did not have an impact necessarily on you as a performer, meaning you weren’t being blacklisted from clubs or anything like that, right?
FP: No, no, that never happened.
DMJ: I want to skip ahead a few albums to the one that SoulMusic.com Records is going to be re-releasing—that’s your 1977 debut on Capitol Records, STARES AND WHISPERS. Before we go into talking about the album, first tell me how you got together with Capitol.
FP: Larkin Arnold was the A&R person at Capitol. He got together with my people, and he signed me to Capitol, and that’s how that happened.
DMJ: I understand that also at that time you had the chance to join Gamble and Huff’s Philly International Records.
FP: I did; I got an offer from Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff and at the same time I got an offer from Capitol. The Capitol offer was more lucrative, and at the time my attorney/manager advised me to go with Capitol because he said, “No contest—they’re offering you much more.” And if I could go back in time I should have gone with Philly International, because even though their offer was a smaller offer, I think I would have got more mileage career-wise, material-wise and airplay-wise from them.
DMJ: What do you think they would have done for you that Capitol did not?
FP: It was just an artistic thing. Now my management, they were thinking about the dollars, the advances, and also Capitol’s distribution and the name: Capitol Records was a much bigger record organization than Philly International. But you never know. I just felt that maybe I should have gone with Philly International because they may have had the magic touch to find the right material for me. Not that I didn’t do good material with Capitol.
DMJ: No, you absolutely did, because STARES AND WHISPERS is a great album. It was released during a particularly exciting time in your life, personally speaking. Can you share what was going on at the time?
FP: When I did it I was pregnant with my son. As a matter of fact, my picture on the cover wearing this white gown, I was eight months’ pregnant. And I had a dedication—I’d just lost my mother that same year, 1977; she died in March of ’77—and the dedication on the album reads: “This album is dedicated to the memory of my dearly departed mother, Mrs. Charcilia Farley, 1977, and to the birth of our first child, October 1977. God bless both.” Now, my son happened to come a little earlier than October, so he was born on my birthday, September the nineteenth.
DMJ: Oh, okay. Mine is September 12th.
FP: Oh, wow—Virgo!
DMJ: Exactly, exactly. I want to talk about a few other songs on the album specifically. The song “I Get High (On Your Memory)” was written by the team that did the Diana Ross song, “Love Hangover”. A lot of people know it from being part of that hip-hop song “Good Times” by Styles P, because they ended up sampling it and putting it on their song. When did you realize that your song was being sampled as a part of that song?
FP: I was told. Different people started telling me, “You know that this rapper sampled your song?” And then I got a hold of the song and I listened to it and I actually heard it on BET or one of those programs they were playing it and I said, “Well, wow, they sped up my voice. I sound like Minnie Mouse.” [sings sped up] “I get high on your memory/ high on your memory/sweet, sweet memory…” And I said, “You can’t even tell it’s me, but it’s my song.” So I got my lawyer and we wound up taking it to court… it never did go to court; we kind of settled. Because they made the song refer to getting high, like smoking dope or whatever, rather than… the song was about getting high on your love, so it was like a besmirchment of character and using my song to do it. Rosa Parks did the same thing: she sued a rapper.
DMJ: Right. And did you ever get an apology from anybody who was behind that song, in terms of using your song without getting anybody’s permission? Did anybody even apologise for that?
FP: Well, they got permission from Capitol, because Capitol owns the master, but they still should have got permission from me.
DMJ: Right, because they were going to use your voice even though they sped it up.
FP: Because I’m the artist they still should have gotten, ultimately, permission from me as well.
DMJ: Right. And when you expressed concern that the song was being used as part of this drug reference, did anyone associated with this song apologize to you for that?
FP: No.
DMJ: Wow; wow.
FP: Well, I’ll put it this way: not verbally. There was a settlement. All I can say is that it was just swept under the rug.
DMJ: Another one of my favourites from the album is a song called “I Wanna See You Soon” with Tavares. How did you get together with them?
FP: That’s not on that album.
DMJ: That’s not on that one?
FP: No, that’s on Tavares’ album.
DMJ: I thought that was on your album. It’s being included in this reissue, so I thought—
FP: Oh, I’m sorry, I beg your pardon. That’s not on the original album but they’ve included it as an extra cut.
DMJ: Oh, okay, so that’s an extra addition that’s being put on the reissue. How did you get together with them for that song?
FP: Their producer—who was it, Freddie Perren?
DMJ: I don’t have it in front of me, but yeah, I think so.
FP: Yeah, he was their producer. He approached me and Capitol approached Larkin, and Larkin said that they’d called and would like to do a duet with me. And I said, “Yeah, I would love to,” because they were a great group and they were hot on Capitol.
DMJ: Right. And pairing up a female singer with a male group was inspired by what Dionne Warwick had done with The Spinners when they had their big hit “Then Came You”?
FP: Wasn’t that before them, or was it after them? I don’t remember.
DMJ: I don’t quite remember either.
FP: I think they came after.
DMJ: After? Okay. So they were inspired by you then, I guess you could say.
FP: I don’t know… and nowadays, so many people duet together. It’s like a very common thing—a very common thing. [Editorial Note: “Then Came You” by Dionne Warwick and The Spinners was released in 1974. “I Wanna See You Soon” by Tavares with Freda Payne, which was originally only available on Tavares’ LOVE STORM album, was released in 1977.]
DMJ: The song “Love Magnet” was clearly geared toward the disco crowd, and it was the disco era, after all. Did it end up helping you expand your fanbase among the club-goers and disco fans?
FP: “Love Magnet” was a great song, but I don’t think it ever became a massive hit—but my God, it was a great disco number and it was disco-inspired. Because at the time if there’s a fad going on, a musical fad—like disco was the king then: you had the Village People, you had Gloria Gaynor and all these different acts—Donna Summer—and everybody was doing it, so the record company wanted me to do something in the disco frame.
DMJ: So the record company was intentionally trying to get you to reach some of that audience?
FP: Yeah, absolutely.
DMJ: One of the songs that’s one of my favourites—I don’t think it was ever a single, though—was the title song, “Stares and Whispers”.
FP: Oh, yeah. I think they did release that as a single.
DMJ: Oh, really? Okay, because that’s a great song. And even though the album has some disco touches to it, a lot of the songs aren’t really disco—they’re really just nice ballads like that one.
FP: Yeah.
DMJ: When you look back on your entire catalogue of music, how does the album STARES AND WHISPERS compare to your other albums, in your opinion?
FP: It’s just another album. You mean in terms of production, or what?
DMJ: In terms of quality—not necessarily chart-wise or sales—but in terms of quality, do you think it was one of your better albums?
FP: The quality was excellent because I was working with Frank Wilson of Motown fame, excellent producer, and then Tony Camillo did a lot of those arrangements; and a lot of other people. I think I had some of the best people: the best producer, some of the best musicians—everything was done first-class. Frank Wilson, Tony Camillo … the musicians were great. Jack Ashford, Bobby Hall, Frederick Lewis… it was good. Bruce Miller, Greg Phillinganes was on it—
DMJ: Everybody knows that name.
FP: You know what I mean? I had some good people.
DMJ: Exactly.
FP: Raymond Pounds on the drums; bass, Nathan Watts. So I had a lot of good people on this.
DMJ: Why do you think—because it sounds like you were very satisfied with it in terms of quality and who was playing on the songs and everything—but why do you think it wasn’t as big a hit commercially as maybe some of your other albums?
FP: I think it was a promotional thing—maybe they didn’t put as much into the promotion, which is the typical story that you hear.
DMJ: Well, it’s true—if people don’t know that it’s out there then they’re not going to go get it. That’s a valid point.
FP: If they don’t hear it played on the radio, how do you know it’s out there? Nowadays you can get stuff over the Internet. People can put stuff on YouTube—
DMJ: And it’s a hit by the end of the day. I want to switch gears for just a moment and ask you about your longevity in the business. What do you think are the necessary ingredients for somebody to last as long in the business as you have?
FP: First of all, you have to keep reinventing yourself in certain ways; or if not that—because sometimes if you’re a brand and people like you for certain things, you’re going to have to keep doing that. Like I can’t stop singing “Band of Gold”, because people come to see me because they want to hear “Band of Gold”.
DMJ: Right.
FP: So you have to keep finding different ways to pique the interest of the public. And also, you have to maintain a certain level of excellence in your performance—you have to continue to be good. You can’t slack. You can’t… all of sudden your voice doesn’t sound as good or… well, some entertainers, let’s say, have other personal problems. You have to deliver.
DMJ: How do you keep it interesting for yourself when, as you’ve said, you can’t really do a show without doing “Band of Gold” because that’s the main song people probably want to hear from you. How do you keep it interesting for yourself doing the same songs, basically, every show?
FP: I keep it interesting by doing jazz now: I do a tribute to Ella Fitzgerald, then recently I started doing a little tribute to Lena Horne. And I do things to show people that I’ve got talent beyond just doing pop/R&B. I’m not about just being a record artist; I’m about being an artist, period. I’m a performer.
DMJ: I would be remiss if I didn’t ask you about image, because you’ve always exuded a certain kind of sex appeal that appeals to both men and women because they consider it classy—and that’s a word that I hear a lot when people talk about you. How important has image been to you in your career?
FP: Image has been very important. I basically had a certain image based on who I am—I can’t be any other way; this is just who I am. Image is very important—look at Beyoncé, the image that she has—a very clean image: she’s very sexy, she’s very wholesome and she really performs very hard. She doesn’t slack, she gives it all—she gives it up. And she’s a beautiful woman and she’s extremely talented. She’s got a great image. You pick out somebody like an Amy Winehouse, whose image is… she’s extremely talented, but she has a drug problem, and unfortunately it’s sort of pathetic because you hate to see a young person go through this—you want them to wake up and correct themselves and get away from that kind of addiction, because people want to enjoy their talent. It’s like when we lost Marvin Gaye, you know? It’s sort of like, wow. People had their own domestic problems, and nowadays we’re more privy to these kind of things because of all this internet stuff and you have very little privacy and everybody can walk around and take their cell phone out and do a video while you’re walking down the street or something. So I think image is very important.
DMJ: You mentioned about performers who have personal problems, and I’ve seen and I’ve always wondered why it is people in their camps allow them to even go onstage—why somebody hasn’t at least pulled them aside, or somebody from the venue pulled them aside and say, “Listen, you’re not in great shape to go out onstage right now, so we can’t allow it.” Do you think people within the performer’s camp, their managers, or whoever it may be—I don’t want to say should have some responsibility, because every person has to be responsible for themselves—but at least have a responsibility to address the matter with the artist?
FP: Well, yeah, I guess that’s something they have to do to be abreast of what’s going on; let them know what’s happening.
DMJ: Before we wrap up our conversation here, let everyone know what you’re doing these days. Are you performing anywhere? Do you have any upcoming shows we can look out for?
FP: Yes, I’m performing July 17th here in Los Angeles at a club called the Catalina Bar & Grill; and then in August I’ll be in the Detroit area, the suburb Grosse Pointe: I’m working another jazz club called the Dirty Dog. And that’s going to be around mid-August—I think around the 14th, 15th, 16th, 17th of August in Grosse Pointe, Michigan—the Dirty Dog. And then I’ll be performing in Minnesota in September; I have a one-nighter. I’m going to have to probably have this posted on my website, which is www.fredapayne.com.
DMJ: Yeah, I was going to ask you if it was going to be there. Are you also on Facebook and Twitter? Do you do any of that stuff?
FP: Yeah, I’m on Facebook. I have to tell you, I am not indulgent in that—I don’t sit down and go through that and deal with that every day—I can’t do that. It’s too much. I barely have time enough to deal with my email.
DMJ: Right, exactly.
FP: So the Facebook thing, occasionally I’ll put in where I’m going to be—that I’ve got something coming up, I’ll put that on the Facebook.
DMJ: Can we expect another album? Are you doing anything studio-wise?
FP: Well, I just did a duet with a guy named Cliff Richard—his title is Sir Cliff Richard—he’s an iconic artist over in the UK and in Europe.
DMJ: Right, yes.
FP: We just did a duet, and it’s coming out on EMI in, I think, October.
DMJ: And that’s just going to be a single? It’s not part of any—
FP: It’s a whole album that he’s done with other artists. He’s done a duet with Percy Sledge, Deneice Williams, Dennis Edwards…
DMJ: Okay, on his album; and you’re one of the people.
FP: His name is Cliff Richard, and he’s been around since The Beatles.
DMJ: Yes, I’m familiar with him; he’s very good. Well, I want to thank you very much for your time. Is there anything that you want to mention that we haven’t talked about?
FP: No, I think I’ve mentioned it. Like I said, I’ve been singing jazz mostly now, and the tribute to Ella Fitzgerald has gotten me a lot of work and also, a lot of attention. But meantime, I’m still going to be doing my other stuff—keeping it real and doing a variety of material.
DMJ: Well, we will always be looking out for whatever it is you decide to do. I have a live album that you did… God, I can’t remember the year, but that’s one that I still pull out—
FP: I know; FREDA PAYNE LIVE IN CONCERT 1993.
DMJ: That was the one, yes, and I love that—I still listen to that and I still pull that out. So yeah, anytime that you’re doing anything, SoulMusic.com would love to let our readers know. Our doors are open anytime that you want to come through and share with us what you’re doing.
FP: Oh, I forgot to tell you, there’s another song that’s out, you can download it on iTunes: it’s called “Free Me From My Freedom”.
DMJ: Oh, okay.
FP: It’s produced by Artis Phillips, and you can get it right now. It’s called “Free Me From My Freedom”, and the other song is called “I’m Not Supposed To Love You Anymore”.
DMJ: And these are just solo songs by you?
FP: These are solo songs on me and they have been out for the last three or four months.
DMJ: Because I haven’t heard either song, what kind of music are we talking about on those?
FP: “Free Me From My Freedom” is something that was originally done by Bonnie Pointer in the ’80s, and so you should take a listen to it. There’s two versions—there’s a regular version and a house mix.
DMJ: Okay, a house mix, I’ll look forward to that—I love house music. What about the other one?
FP: The other song is a ballad.
DMJ: Okay, so we’ll definitely have people looking out for that. And they’re both available on iTunes, you said, right?
FP: Yeah, yeah.
DMJ: All right. Well, it’s been a pleasure speaking to you, thank you so much for your time and enjoy your day. Thank you.
FP: Okay, thank you, Darnell.
DIANA ROSS: DIANA ROSS 1976 EXPANDED EDITION (HIP-O SELECT)
Diana Ross: Expanded Edition is a 2-CD set that features the newly remastered original album, single-only mixes, non-LP singles, the super-rare promotional single "Coming Home," and new alternate mixes of nearly the entire album. There's even more: three never-before-heard performances from the sessions - "Harmony," a cover of the Elton John classic; and "Go Where Your Mind Is" and "Le Lo Li," produced by Jeffrey Bowen with help Sly Stone. Rounding out the collection is an excerpt from a Diana Ross interview that hasn't been heard in 36 years.
The gorgeous package - a digi-pak like previous Diana Ross Expanded Editions - contains a deluxe 24 page booklet with detailed song annotations and the story of the album by compilation producers Andrew Skurow and George Solomon, and features spectacular photos from the renowned cover photo shoot.
DONNA SUMMER 2003 SOULMUSIC.COM INTERVIEW
My first in-person experience of Donna had been during my L.A. stay when Casablanca Records held a truly lavish party for her on Sunset strip and I can remember - as if it were yesterday - when she walked into the star-studded function to a rousing round of applause. “Love To Love You Baby” had already become a staple on radio after gaining tremendous airplay in the clubs and no one knew quite what to expect from this girl from Boston who had spent years in Germany in shows like “Hair” and was returning in a new incarnation as the singer of a pretty explicitly erotic musical piece. Glammed up to the max, Donna made her entrance and before we knew it, she had become a staple fixture on the music scene thanks to massive hits like “I Feel Love,” “Last Dance,” “MacArthur Park,” “Hot Stuff” and “Bad Girls.”
I’ve only met Donna couple of times and we did just one major interview back in 1987 around the time of the release of the Brenda Russell-penned hit “Dinner With Gershwin.” We had a pretty extensive conversation backstage at Harrah’s in Lake Tahoe, talking about her then-new album, her ’image’ as a disco diva and sex goddess, her commitment to her faith and that rumor, the one in which she supposedly had made a derogatory comment about gay men with AIDS. She explained how a statement she made in a conversation had been misconstrued and next thing she knew, the rumor mill was churning with folks apparently burning their Summer records! My impression was that Donna was an intelligent, sensitive and well-rounded woman and I left our interview happy that I had gotten a chance to dismantle my own preconceptions of who she was and what she was about…
Fast forward to a couple of years ago when Donna was appearing at the Universal Amphitheater in L.A. and I was thoroughly taken by just what a good performer and singer she was. It was an excellent show and afterwards, thanks to my good friend Rudy Calvo, I got a chance to say hello to her and once again was struck by her charming disposition and manner. Naturally feeling good after such a great performance, Donna smiled and chatted in an easy comfortable manner…
Our next encounter was in late September in conjunction with the publication of her autobiography, “Ordinary Girl: The Journey” and the release of “The Journey: The Very Best Of Donna Summer,” a twenty-track 2-CD set that features two new songs, “That’s The Way” and “Dream-a-Lot’s Theme (I Will Live For Love)” produced by Giorgio Moroder - who masterminded all of Donna’s ‘70s hits, many with then-partner Pete Bellotte – reuniting with her for the first time in some twenty-two years.
Donna’s book is frank and honest detailing two near-death experiences, a suicide attempt and ultimately a spiritual awakening that has impacted her life ever since. Talking about what it took to write “Ordinary Girl,” Donna says, “I just felt I needed to go somewhere else creatively so although it took a while, I said, ‘let me just do this.’ I felt that writing my own story might help someone else, that I could be like a mirror. So many diverse things have happened in my life and what I know is that we are all similar in our essence [as human beings]. I thought that when people read the book, they could relate and be empathetic especially if they may feel there’s no hope, no future, that they’ve come to the end of their proverbial road. I want people to read the book and say, ‘she did it so I can do it.’ I’d like to think I can offer some kind of encouragement. People think because you are a public person, you have a charmed life. Yes, you may sit with kings and dine with presidents but when you pay all that stuff aside, life is still life..”
Donna admits that the writing process itself was sometimes difficult: “I wanted to be honest about things that were very personal. It was cathartic for me to speak about the fears and circumstances I had. There were so many things I could have held back…so writing was way more painful than I thought it would be. There was a lot of crying and some physical pain. There were some things I never grieved about like the death of my brother-in-law and having to go onstage and do four shows in Las Vegas. That experience just about broke me. In civilian life, you may get the chance to take some time out to grieve. When you’re on the road, you have to put the pain on hold…”
Reading “Ordinary Girl: The Journey,” it quickly becomes apparent that Donna did not expect the kind of enduring fame she has had. There’s the glory of being the reigning ‘queen of disco’ in the ‘70s while being at odds with an image as a sexy siren and confronting issues of self-esteem that had roots in a series of childhood traumas (including, she reveals, a serious problem with bedwetting that continued into her teens). Donna is honest in her appraisal of the ups and downs of her career, her eventual separation from Casablanca Records and a less-than-productive period with Geffen Records. On a personal level, we learn of a relationship marked by domestic violence followed by Donna’s enduring marriage to Bruce Sudano who she met when he was of the group Brooklyn Dreams and her role as mother to children Mimi, Amanda and Brooklyn.
As described in the book, Donna says she came to the realization that “it is possible to go through the fire and not be consumed. I had to have faith in God and that’s the one thing that carried me through everything that happened, that gave me the kind of instant wisdom for things that brought me through and the ultimate perseverance and ability to overcome…”
Coincident with the publication of the Random House book comes the UMG CD compilation which includes a bonus disc with special mixes and an extra new song, “You’re So Beautiful.” Says Donna, “The disc works as a great backdrop to the book. Some of the new songs were finished within the last month or so – “Beautiful” was done a while ago. In fact, I probably have about forty or fifty new songs that I’ve worked on. I was with Sony for a couple of years but I felt I was floundering over there…but I kept writing anyway. Right now, I’m talking to a few companies including UMG and I’m hoping we can work something out. I don’t want to close the door with possible record deals…”
While she has been active over the years as a performer, Donna – who has called Nashville home for several years now - says she took “a good four months off, sitting still and moving through the process of writing this book. I have a gew projects in the pipeline: “The Dreamway Express” which is a children’s fairytale that I’d like to see as a musical then an interactive video; a new recording project; and turning “Ordinary Girl” into a musical. That would be scintillatingly hot!” Donna concludes.
Donna’s story is certainly one of endurance and transformation and indeed, hearkening back to those ‘70s nights on the disco floor, I would not have expected that nearly thirty years later, she would indeed have made it through the madness of the music biz to be a first class entertainer, legitimate recording artist and a painter of renown whose artwork has earned considerable praise through the years. Her book may be entitled “Ordinary Girl” but Donna Summer has clearly had an extraordinary life!
About the Writer
David Nathan is the founder and CEO of SoulMusic.com and began his writing career in 1965; beginning in 1967, he was a regular contributor to Blues & Soul magazine in London before relocating to the U.S. in 1975 where he served as U.S. editor for the publication for several decades and began being known as 'The British Ambassador Of Soul.' From 1988 to 2004, he wrote prolifically for Billboard, has penned bios, produced and written liner notes for box sets and reissue CDs for over a thousand projects. He returned to London in 2009 where he has helped create SoulMusic.com Records as a leading reissue label.
DONNA SUMMER - EXPRESS YOURSELF
The most underrated quality about Donna Summer is her musical
versatility. It is the strength of her artistry and the hidden key to
her longevity. How many singers can attest to winning five Grammy Awards
in four different musical categories? How many black singers own a
Grammy for Best Rock Vocal Performance? Indeed, Donna was the first
African- American - ever - to achieve this honor at the 1980 ceremony.
Only a year before, she earned her first Grammy win in the R&B
category and would later receive nods for her Inspirational and Dance
performances. Her nominations for this prestigious award stretch even
further into the pop, disco, and jazz categories, not to mention “Album
of the Year” (Bad Girls).
Donna Summer defies categorization. Though she helped ignite the feverish disco craze of the 1970’s, her talent transcends trends. During her meteoric rise to stardom in the 1970’s, she and producers Giorgio Moroder and Pete Bellotte experimented with a colorful palette of soundscapes that belied the rock contingency’s popular perception about disco being faceless, monotonous dreck. On the 1977 gem I Remember Yesterday, Donna’s voice effortlessly wrapped around the quintessential sounds of the 1940’s (the title track), the 1950’s (“Love’s Unkind”), the 1960’s (the Supremes tribute “Back in Love Again”), the 1970’ s (“Black Lady”), and the then-future (the pulsating, groundbreaking, “I Feel Love”). Donna’ s 1979 masterpiece, Bad Girls, ushered in a fresh mutation of dance music, melding contagious disco beats with sizzling guitar solos and husky vocal stylings on “One Night in a Lifetime” and “Hot Stuff.” Yet on the same album, Donna’s songwriting reflected an intuitive knack for delicate country melodies, with songs like “On My Honor” and “All Through the Night.” The double album Live & More (1978) showcased her ability to entertain beyond the 4/4 disco beat as she vamped her way through a torch song medley, sang an emotionally-charged version of “The Way We Were,” and dedicated a lullaby to her daughter, Mimi. “Queen of Disco”? Yes, but there’s more to Donna Summer than “Love to Love You Baby” and “Last Dance.”
Born LaDonna Adrian Gaines on New Year’s Eve, 1948, in Boston, MA, Donna knew she was going to be famous. With influences ranging from Mahalia Jackson and Barbra Streisand to The Supremes and Janis Joplin, her vast repertoire reflected a singer willing and able to perform in nearly any musical milieu. During high school, Donna sang with the Boston-based band The Crow. The group’s live performances were an intoxicating melange of rock, jazz, and soul dipped in psychedelia.
With remarkable talent and ambition to match, Donna Gaines fled the United States and landed in Germany with a featured role in the German stage production of Hair. Having brought church congregations to tears in her childhood, Donna’s evocative voice was well suited to theater and more roles followed in Porgy and Bess, Godspell, and The Me Nobody Knows. In addition to her theatrical pursuits, Donna completed session work with producers Giorgio Moroder and Pete Bellotte in Munich. The marriage of Donna’s voice, Bellotte’s songwriting, and the innovative production skills of Moroder, signified the beginning of a dynamic artistic union, akin to another indomitable trio of talent, that of Dionne Warwick, Hal David, and Burt Bacharach.
Donna Gaines became Donna Summer (her anglicized surname courtesy of former husband Helmut Sommer) and enchanted European audiences with her first full-length album, Lady of the Night. Released in Holland on the Groovy label in 1974, Lady of the Night predates Summer’s foray into disco and thus, is not what casual listeners would expect to hear on a 1970’s Donna Summer album. The songs are mini-dramatic vignettes emblazoned within a pop-folk-rock context. “The Hostage” is a frantic tale about a woman whose husband is kidnapped and she’s ordered to pay a ransom while “Domino” features Donna telling a story about meeting a mysterious man at a masquerade ball (the latter tune bears a passing resemblance to Olivia Newton-John’s “Please Mr. Please”). The title track is the definitive highlight on Lady of the Night. It salutes Phil Spector’s “wall of sound” arrangement on The Ronettes’ “Be My Baby,” with Donna’s rich and full-bodied voice carrying the melody. An accordion even makes a cameo appearance to emphasize the lyrics’ Parisian setting.
Lady of the Night – both the song and the album –indicate the direction Donna might have taken had it not been for the explosion of “Love to Love You Baby.” In an interview for VH-1’ s celebration of the 1970’s, Donna remarked that without disco, she would have become a rock and roll singer “which would have been difficult, because there aren’t many black female rock and roll singers.” However, disco proved to be the vehicle that catapulted the expatriate to global stardom.
Between 1975 and 1980 Donna Summer released eight albums on Neil Bogart’s Casablanca label. Love to Love You Baby, of course, brought her into the public eye while A Love Trilogy and Four Seasons of Love, both released in 1976, proved she was no one-hit wonder. She reworked Barry Manilow’s “Could it Be Magic” and it became a dance floor staple and was also featured in the Diane Keaton film Looking For Mr. Goodbar. 1977 was the first of many banner years for Donna: she co-wrote and performed the theme song to The Deep, scored another Top 10 pop hit with “I Feel Love,” and released the epic double album Once Upon a Time…
Conceived as a musical on record with a Cinderella-based storyline, Once Upon a Time… displayed Donna’s songwriting chops as she co-wrote each of the set’s sixteen songs. Her ability to utilize the different qualities of her singing voice gave the album a wholeness that made it the center of critical acclaim at the time of its release. Each song builds on one another to dramatic effect. The opening track, “Once Upon a Time,” segues abruptly into the nightmarish “Faster and Faster,” painting a claustrophobic portrait of urban life underscored by loneliness. “Now I Need You” and “Working the Midnight Shift” elaborate on this theme with haunting synthesizer tracks cradling Donna’s fragile delivery. If side one and side two depict despair threaded with a hint of hope, sides three and four illustrate a happy ending to the Cinderella story. The lead character gains confidence in the campy “If You Got It, Flaunt It,” finds a man in “I Love You,” and indeed lives “Happily Ever After.” Disco never got as convincingly theatrical as Once Upon A Time… and audiences were treated to fully orchestrated renderings of the album’s highlights during the supporting tour, captured on Live & More.
1978 and 1979 were watershed years for Donna. She made her film debut in Thank God It’s Friday, sang its theme song (the now classic “Last Dance”), and was rewarded with her first Grammy. The song’s composer, Paul Jabara, also won the Oscar for “Best Original Song.” Both Live and More and an edited version of “MacArthur Park Suite” held the top spot on the Billboard charts. A new studio album, Bad Girls, yielded two number one singles in 1979 while “Heaven Knows” (from Live & More) and “Dim All the Lights” were top five hits. At the close of 1979, Donna teamed up with Barbra Streisand for another Paul Jabara-penned tune called “No More Tears (Enough Is Enough)” and earned a fourth number one single. A “greatest hits” package, On the Radio, shot to the top of Billboard’s Top 200 album chart. By decade’s end, Donna accomplished what no solo artist had done before: chart three consecutive number one double albums.
The dawn of the 1980’s witnessed shifts in Donna’s career and mainstream musical tastes. Disco was supposedly “dead” and its reigning queen severed ties with the record label that made her a star. David Geffen brought Donna aboard his new label in the company of John Lennon and Elton John. Her first album for Geffen Records proved that she could remain true to her artistry without conforming to anyone’s expectations. The Wanderer is a pastiche of rock, pop, and new wave. At the time of its release it was an anomaly for a black female artist to venture beyond pop, soul, or dance music. Donna’s first effort for Geffen Records, while critically lauded, received little radio play because it lacked a receptive audience. Rock radio programmers resisted playing a song by Donna Summer, even with renowned guitarists Jeff “Skunk” Baxter and Steve Lukather on the album, while disco fans found little on The Wanderer to dance to and thus, little reason to buy the album. The Wanderer remains, however, one of Summer’s most compelling and honest records. Each track showcases a different facet of Donna’s mutable singing voice to reflect the imagery of the lyrics. Songs like “Looking Up” and “Running for Cover” document the singer’s rediscovery of faith after nearly dying in the blinding limelight of fame. Though not as commercially successful as Bad Girls, The Wanderer still earned Summer one Top 5 and two Top 40 hits. (Casablanca released one more single off of Bad Girls to coincide with the release of the Geffen project. An edited version of “Walk Away” also reached the Top 40 in late 1980.)
Giorgio Moroder and Pete Bellotte worked with Donna on The Wanderer and produced the follow-up, a double album called I’m A Rainbow. Regrettably, the album was shelved by Geffen and remained in the vaults until seeing the light of day on a 1996 CD release. A couple of tunes from the aborted album leaked out onto the Fast Times at Ridgemont High and Flashdance soundtracks (“Highway Runner” and “Romeo,” respectively). At Geffen’s insistence, Donna switched producers and worked with Quincy Jones on the 1982, self- titled album, Donna Summer. Though not the million-seller Geffen might have hoped for, the record includes a few memorable moments, featuring a diverse array of musical styles. Bruce Springsteen offered a blistering, guitar-inflected composition with “Protection,” Jones stretched Donna’s voice to new heights on the jazz standard “Lush Life,” and an all- star choir joined the singer for the reggae-tinged “State of Independence.” With such artists as Lionel Richie, Dionne Warwick, Michael Jackson, and Stevie Wonder in the chorus, Jones has often characterized “State of Independence” as laying the foundation for another group effort: “We Are the World.”
Donna Summer fared moderately well with the record-buying public, but 1983’s She Works Hard For the Money brought Donna back near the top of the pop charts. Produced by Michael Omartian, the album firmly planted its feet in dance-pop with a sprinkling of ballads. “He’s A Rebel” earned Donna her first win for “Best Inspirational Performance” at the Grammy’s. The reggae-tinged “Unconditional Love,” a duet with Musical Youth, was a trans- continental hit and became quite the showpiece on the tour supporting the album, replete with faux-island décor. The title song became nothing short of an anthem and the accompanying music video aired on MTV at a time when videos by black artists were virtually ignored by the station. Coupled with “Last Dance,” it is arguably one of Summer’s most enduring hits.
Donna channeled her energy into family life after the release of a second Omartian- produced album, Cats Without Claws (1984), and took a well-deserved, three-year hiatus. Though not the guaranteed hit-maker she had been in the previous decade, some of Summer’s strongest recordings were made post-1983. “Oh Billy Please” (from Cats Without Claws) features Donna emoting to hair-raising effect, particularly in the improvised “hey’s” and “ahh’s” towards the song’s conclusion. On the same album, Donna gave one of her most heartfelt gospel performances with “Forgive Me” (another Grammy winner) and experimented with synthesizers on the title cut, accentuating the lyrics’ Gotham-esque motif.
Harold Faltermeyer contributed his production skills to Donna’s last release on the Geffen label, All Systems Go (1987). Songwriter Brenda Russell volunteered “Dinner With Gershwin” for the project, one of the album’s few highlights. “Thinkin’ About My Baby” is a hidden gem from the Summer catalog. A self-penned tune, it situates Donna in a loose and jazzy atmosphere, not unlike Sade. Her voice floats over a stop-and-go rhythm with a refrain exemplifying her vocal prowess, which is unfortunately lacking elsewhere on the album. Since All Systems Go is currently not available on CD, hopefully “Thinkin’ About My Baby’ will someday be revisited. It’s a Summer classic.
Atlantic Records signed Donna in 1989 and released Another Place and Time. Heralded as Donna’s return to the dance floor, the project was produced by Stock, Aitken, and Waterman (SAW), the team who brought Rick Astley and Kylie Minogue to the top of the charts. SAW didn’t fail Donna as “This Time I Know It’s For Real,” co-written by the singer, made the Top 10 in the U.S. However, most of SAW’s contributions to the record are variations on one theme, with Donna’s voice adding the needed spice to a predictable meal. Wisely, Mistaken Identity, which followed two years later, spotlighted Summer’s unique, character-driven approach to singing. “Cry of a Waking Heart” remains a fan favorite. Both Donna’s falsetto and lower-register intertwine to create one of the most unconventional, but thoroughly satisfying, songs of her career. “Friends Unknown” is a tender ballad dedicated to Donna Summer fans featuring the signature, no-holds-barred Donna “belt.” “Get Ethnic,” “Mistaken Identity,” and “Let There Be Peace,” while not the most memorable songs, are bold, astute social commentaries. With scarce promotion and little support from the record company in promoting the album or its singles, Mistaken Identity stands as Donna’s poorest seller.
That was thirteen years ago. Donna Summer hasn’t released a new full-length studio album since, yet she retained a devoted audience throughout the 1990’s. On the numerous compilations of her hits (at least five have been released domestically in the past ten years), a handful of “new” tracks routinely appear and dominate the dance floor. The Grammy- winning “Carry On,” “Melody of Love,” “I Will Go With You,” and, most recently, “You’re So Beautiful” sit comfortably alongside “I Feel Love” and “Sunset People” in the canon of Donna’s dance floor classics. Her numerous soundtrack appearances are also telling of an artist in demand. She sang the themes to Daylight, Pokemon 3, and Naturally Native while her ‘70’s hits made their way to The Full Monty and Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle soundtracks
At the dawn of the 21st century, new legions of fans are discovering a woman who rightfully deserves the sorely overused “diva” crown. With her much-anticipated musical, “Ordinary Girl,” still in the works, Donna’s artistic sensibilities also find an outlet in her artwork. As a singer, songwriter, painter, and author, Donna Summer knows no limits to her talent. She is a woman of and for all seasons.
DONNA SUMMER BY CHRISTIAN JOHN WIKANE, (C) 2008, SOUL MUSIC.COM, LLC
Donna Summer defies categorization. Though she helped ignite the feverish disco craze of the 1970’s, her talent transcends trends. During her meteoric rise to stardom in the 1970’s, she and producers Giorgio Moroder and Pete Bellotte experimented with a colorful palette of soundscapes that belied the rock contingency’s popular perception about disco being faceless, monotonous dreck. On the 1977 gem I Remember Yesterday, Donna’s voice effortlessly wrapped around the quintessential sounds of the 1940’s (the title track), the 1950’s (“Love’s Unkind”), the 1960’s (the Supremes tribute “Back in Love Again”), the 1970’ s (“Black Lady”), and the then-future (the pulsating, groundbreaking, “I Feel Love”). Donna’ s 1979 masterpiece, Bad Girls, ushered in a fresh mutation of dance music, melding contagious disco beats with sizzling guitar solos and husky vocal stylings on “One Night in a Lifetime” and “Hot Stuff.” Yet on the same album, Donna’s songwriting reflected an intuitive knack for delicate country melodies, with songs like “On My Honor” and “All Through the Night.” The double album Live & More (1978) showcased her ability to entertain beyond the 4/4 disco beat as she vamped her way through a torch song medley, sang an emotionally-charged version of “The Way We Were,” and dedicated a lullaby to her daughter, Mimi. “Queen of Disco”? Yes, but there’s more to Donna Summer than “Love to Love You Baby” and “Last Dance.”
Born LaDonna Adrian Gaines on New Year’s Eve, 1948, in Boston, MA, Donna knew she was going to be famous. With influences ranging from Mahalia Jackson and Barbra Streisand to The Supremes and Janis Joplin, her vast repertoire reflected a singer willing and able to perform in nearly any musical milieu. During high school, Donna sang with the Boston-based band The Crow. The group’s live performances were an intoxicating melange of rock, jazz, and soul dipped in psychedelia.
With remarkable talent and ambition to match, Donna Gaines fled the United States and landed in Germany with a featured role in the German stage production of Hair. Having brought church congregations to tears in her childhood, Donna’s evocative voice was well suited to theater and more roles followed in Porgy and Bess, Godspell, and The Me Nobody Knows. In addition to her theatrical pursuits, Donna completed session work with producers Giorgio Moroder and Pete Bellotte in Munich. The marriage of Donna’s voice, Bellotte’s songwriting, and the innovative production skills of Moroder, signified the beginning of a dynamic artistic union, akin to another indomitable trio of talent, that of Dionne Warwick, Hal David, and Burt Bacharach.
Donna Gaines became Donna Summer (her anglicized surname courtesy of former husband Helmut Sommer) and enchanted European audiences with her first full-length album, Lady of the Night. Released in Holland on the Groovy label in 1974, Lady of the Night predates Summer’s foray into disco and thus, is not what casual listeners would expect to hear on a 1970’s Donna Summer album. The songs are mini-dramatic vignettes emblazoned within a pop-folk-rock context. “The Hostage” is a frantic tale about a woman whose husband is kidnapped and she’s ordered to pay a ransom while “Domino” features Donna telling a story about meeting a mysterious man at a masquerade ball (the latter tune bears a passing resemblance to Olivia Newton-John’s “Please Mr. Please”). The title track is the definitive highlight on Lady of the Night. It salutes Phil Spector’s “wall of sound” arrangement on The Ronettes’ “Be My Baby,” with Donna’s rich and full-bodied voice carrying the melody. An accordion even makes a cameo appearance to emphasize the lyrics’ Parisian setting.
Lady of the Night – both the song and the album –indicate the direction Donna might have taken had it not been for the explosion of “Love to Love You Baby.” In an interview for VH-1’ s celebration of the 1970’s, Donna remarked that without disco, she would have become a rock and roll singer “which would have been difficult, because there aren’t many black female rock and roll singers.” However, disco proved to be the vehicle that catapulted the expatriate to global stardom.
Between 1975 and 1980 Donna Summer released eight albums on Neil Bogart’s Casablanca label. Love to Love You Baby, of course, brought her into the public eye while A Love Trilogy and Four Seasons of Love, both released in 1976, proved she was no one-hit wonder. She reworked Barry Manilow’s “Could it Be Magic” and it became a dance floor staple and was also featured in the Diane Keaton film Looking For Mr. Goodbar. 1977 was the first of many banner years for Donna: she co-wrote and performed the theme song to The Deep, scored another Top 10 pop hit with “I Feel Love,” and released the epic double album Once Upon a Time…
Conceived as a musical on record with a Cinderella-based storyline, Once Upon a Time… displayed Donna’s songwriting chops as she co-wrote each of the set’s sixteen songs. Her ability to utilize the different qualities of her singing voice gave the album a wholeness that made it the center of critical acclaim at the time of its release. Each song builds on one another to dramatic effect. The opening track, “Once Upon a Time,” segues abruptly into the nightmarish “Faster and Faster,” painting a claustrophobic portrait of urban life underscored by loneliness. “Now I Need You” and “Working the Midnight Shift” elaborate on this theme with haunting synthesizer tracks cradling Donna’s fragile delivery. If side one and side two depict despair threaded with a hint of hope, sides three and four illustrate a happy ending to the Cinderella story. The lead character gains confidence in the campy “If You Got It, Flaunt It,” finds a man in “I Love You,” and indeed lives “Happily Ever After.” Disco never got as convincingly theatrical as Once Upon A Time… and audiences were treated to fully orchestrated renderings of the album’s highlights during the supporting tour, captured on Live & More.
1978 and 1979 were watershed years for Donna. She made her film debut in Thank God It’s Friday, sang its theme song (the now classic “Last Dance”), and was rewarded with her first Grammy. The song’s composer, Paul Jabara, also won the Oscar for “Best Original Song.” Both Live and More and an edited version of “MacArthur Park Suite” held the top spot on the Billboard charts. A new studio album, Bad Girls, yielded two number one singles in 1979 while “Heaven Knows” (from Live & More) and “Dim All the Lights” were top five hits. At the close of 1979, Donna teamed up with Barbra Streisand for another Paul Jabara-penned tune called “No More Tears (Enough Is Enough)” and earned a fourth number one single. A “greatest hits” package, On the Radio, shot to the top of Billboard’s Top 200 album chart. By decade’s end, Donna accomplished what no solo artist had done before: chart three consecutive number one double albums.
The dawn of the 1980’s witnessed shifts in Donna’s career and mainstream musical tastes. Disco was supposedly “dead” and its reigning queen severed ties with the record label that made her a star. David Geffen brought Donna aboard his new label in the company of John Lennon and Elton John. Her first album for Geffen Records proved that she could remain true to her artistry without conforming to anyone’s expectations. The Wanderer is a pastiche of rock, pop, and new wave. At the time of its release it was an anomaly for a black female artist to venture beyond pop, soul, or dance music. Donna’s first effort for Geffen Records, while critically lauded, received little radio play because it lacked a receptive audience. Rock radio programmers resisted playing a song by Donna Summer, even with renowned guitarists Jeff “Skunk” Baxter and Steve Lukather on the album, while disco fans found little on The Wanderer to dance to and thus, little reason to buy the album. The Wanderer remains, however, one of Summer’s most compelling and honest records. Each track showcases a different facet of Donna’s mutable singing voice to reflect the imagery of the lyrics. Songs like “Looking Up” and “Running for Cover” document the singer’s rediscovery of faith after nearly dying in the blinding limelight of fame. Though not as commercially successful as Bad Girls, The Wanderer still earned Summer one Top 5 and two Top 40 hits. (Casablanca released one more single off of Bad Girls to coincide with the release of the Geffen project. An edited version of “Walk Away” also reached the Top 40 in late 1980.)
Giorgio Moroder and Pete Bellotte worked with Donna on The Wanderer and produced the follow-up, a double album called I’m A Rainbow. Regrettably, the album was shelved by Geffen and remained in the vaults until seeing the light of day on a 1996 CD release. A couple of tunes from the aborted album leaked out onto the Fast Times at Ridgemont High and Flashdance soundtracks (“Highway Runner” and “Romeo,” respectively). At Geffen’s insistence, Donna switched producers and worked with Quincy Jones on the 1982, self- titled album, Donna Summer. Though not the million-seller Geffen might have hoped for, the record includes a few memorable moments, featuring a diverse array of musical styles. Bruce Springsteen offered a blistering, guitar-inflected composition with “Protection,” Jones stretched Donna’s voice to new heights on the jazz standard “Lush Life,” and an all- star choir joined the singer for the reggae-tinged “State of Independence.” With such artists as Lionel Richie, Dionne Warwick, Michael Jackson, and Stevie Wonder in the chorus, Jones has often characterized “State of Independence” as laying the foundation for another group effort: “We Are the World.”
Donna Summer fared moderately well with the record-buying public, but 1983’s She Works Hard For the Money brought Donna back near the top of the pop charts. Produced by Michael Omartian, the album firmly planted its feet in dance-pop with a sprinkling of ballads. “He’s A Rebel” earned Donna her first win for “Best Inspirational Performance” at the Grammy’s. The reggae-tinged “Unconditional Love,” a duet with Musical Youth, was a trans- continental hit and became quite the showpiece on the tour supporting the album, replete with faux-island décor. The title song became nothing short of an anthem and the accompanying music video aired on MTV at a time when videos by black artists were virtually ignored by the station. Coupled with “Last Dance,” it is arguably one of Summer’s most enduring hits.
Donna channeled her energy into family life after the release of a second Omartian- produced album, Cats Without Claws (1984), and took a well-deserved, three-year hiatus. Though not the guaranteed hit-maker she had been in the previous decade, some of Summer’s strongest recordings were made post-1983. “Oh Billy Please” (from Cats Without Claws) features Donna emoting to hair-raising effect, particularly in the improvised “hey’s” and “ahh’s” towards the song’s conclusion. On the same album, Donna gave one of her most heartfelt gospel performances with “Forgive Me” (another Grammy winner) and experimented with synthesizers on the title cut, accentuating the lyrics’ Gotham-esque motif.
Harold Faltermeyer contributed his production skills to Donna’s last release on the Geffen label, All Systems Go (1987). Songwriter Brenda Russell volunteered “Dinner With Gershwin” for the project, one of the album’s few highlights. “Thinkin’ About My Baby” is a hidden gem from the Summer catalog. A self-penned tune, it situates Donna in a loose and jazzy atmosphere, not unlike Sade. Her voice floats over a stop-and-go rhythm with a refrain exemplifying her vocal prowess, which is unfortunately lacking elsewhere on the album. Since All Systems Go is currently not available on CD, hopefully “Thinkin’ About My Baby’ will someday be revisited. It’s a Summer classic.
Atlantic Records signed Donna in 1989 and released Another Place and Time. Heralded as Donna’s return to the dance floor, the project was produced by Stock, Aitken, and Waterman (SAW), the team who brought Rick Astley and Kylie Minogue to the top of the charts. SAW didn’t fail Donna as “This Time I Know It’s For Real,” co-written by the singer, made the Top 10 in the U.S. However, most of SAW’s contributions to the record are variations on one theme, with Donna’s voice adding the needed spice to a predictable meal. Wisely, Mistaken Identity, which followed two years later, spotlighted Summer’s unique, character-driven approach to singing. “Cry of a Waking Heart” remains a fan favorite. Both Donna’s falsetto and lower-register intertwine to create one of the most unconventional, but thoroughly satisfying, songs of her career. “Friends Unknown” is a tender ballad dedicated to Donna Summer fans featuring the signature, no-holds-barred Donna “belt.” “Get Ethnic,” “Mistaken Identity,” and “Let There Be Peace,” while not the most memorable songs, are bold, astute social commentaries. With scarce promotion and little support from the record company in promoting the album or its singles, Mistaken Identity stands as Donna’s poorest seller.
That was thirteen years ago. Donna Summer hasn’t released a new full-length studio album since, yet she retained a devoted audience throughout the 1990’s. On the numerous compilations of her hits (at least five have been released domestically in the past ten years), a handful of “new” tracks routinely appear and dominate the dance floor. The Grammy- winning “Carry On,” “Melody of Love,” “I Will Go With You,” and, most recently, “You’re So Beautiful” sit comfortably alongside “I Feel Love” and “Sunset People” in the canon of Donna’s dance floor classics. Her numerous soundtrack appearances are also telling of an artist in demand. She sang the themes to Daylight, Pokemon 3, and Naturally Native while her ‘70’s hits made their way to The Full Monty and Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle soundtracks
At the dawn of the 21st century, new legions of fans are discovering a woman who rightfully deserves the sorely overused “diva” crown. With her much-anticipated musical, “Ordinary Girl,” still in the works, Donna’s artistic sensibilities also find an outlet in her artwork. As a singer, songwriter, painter, and author, Donna Summer knows no limits to her talent. She is a woman of and for all seasons.
DONNA SUMMER BY CHRISTIAN JOHN WIKANE, (C) 2008, SOUL MUSIC.COM, LLC
DONNA SUMMER FEBRUARY 1976 INTERVIEW
| "It's in every woman to be seductive, be she a teacher or a whore!" GETTING A record banned by the dear of BBC is as surefire a way of getting a hit as I know of and it's a route that has proven to be immensely popular over the years. However, it is fairly rare for a soul-oriented record to gain this dubious accolade! A current recipient of that back-handed compliment is the eloquent Ms. Donna Summer and she is amused by the whole thing because she really can't see what all the fuss is about. "How do I feel about it?" she answered with a smile in her voice when we finally tracked her down during her heavy schedule in sunny Los Angeles. "I'd say it's the best thing that could have happened for the record because it will get a lot more publicity than it would have otherwise done. I think you'll find people curious enough to go out now listening for the record. But I truly don't understand what the problem is unless people have got dirty minds and hear something in there that I didn't intend. "From my days in London, I remember things like the dirty strip clubs in Soho why don't these people turn their attention to that kind of thing because that's a million times more damaging than my record. Alter all. what is wrong with making love it isn't as vicious and negative as some small-minded people obviously think it is…and unless you have experienced making love, how can you talk about it on the strength of what other people say? "Sex can be beautiful but I honestly didn't think of the sex aspect when I made the record." The press reports built around the record suggested that the sultry lady was thinking of her boyfriend Pete when making the record and. though this makes for an even more dynamic press-release, it is quite a distance from the truth. "I actually found it very hard to sing," she admitted. "Basically because I sing heavier and at first I found myself singing it too loud. When we first started, there were no. words other than "Love To Love You Baby" so I made it up as it went along, in the hope that what I was saying fitted the mood of the music. It took four and a half hours in all just to put my vocal track on — and I ended up handling it the way it is. And that's just about the only way it could be put across. "It got me to such a point that I threw everybody out of the studio except my producer and he calmed me down by telling me just to sing it the way I felt it, rather than the way I felt it should be sung. Let's face it, it's in every woman to be seductive — whether she is a teacher or a whore. "Do you know something, people — have actually asked me if I was touching myself when I was singing! But to produce that sound I had to concentrate on just that and I wouldn't have been able to do it with any kind of distraction. Then I thought about it more and I now answer that I was seduced during the session that's what they want to hear — but the smile vanishes when I explain that I, was seduced by the music! Now I have got so used to it that I can sing it that way without really thinking — it comes naturally to me." Donna has a history of controversy when it comes to making records because her first European hit was entitled "The Hostage" and dealt with the sore subject of a kidnapping victim. "Actually, the song is a very interesting one," the lady enthralls. "It's completely unsoulful as you'd know it, but it was very successful in Holland, Belgium and France. "In fact, just about every song I have ever recorded has some kind of controversy surrounding it. I've always had to decide whether it was against my morals or not. To be honest. I was against recording "Love To Love" because I felt it was against my image. And I found it very difficult to sing the song as I felt it was against my singing style. "I have a hit in Germany, too. now — and it's called "Woman Of The Night". It's all about a prostitute, although the word never actually occurs in the song. It's all about the normality of the woman's life and it's really a tender song." So where do you go after "Love To Love"? Is there a subject that remains sacred? But seriously, where do you go after that? "Well, we've finished the next album already," Donna explains. "We've tried to branch out a little and to expand. There are songs there that will appeal to the discos, though because that's where my first fans came from. But I've also recorded other people's material. "The first side is all one track although it incorporates four different songs that run into each other. It's interesting because the four are called "Try Me"; "I Know", "We Can Make It" and "Try Me I Know We Can Make It". The second side has three songs plus Barry Manilow's "Could It Be Magic" and it's that last one that I feel will become the next single." Having heard the song, I had to ask whether there was anything in there that might appeal to the raincoat brigade? "Well…yes, I guess there might be!" Donna hesitantly laughed. "It all starts off with a rap about me not wanting my baby to go and leave me and as the music builds up, there's a climactic part where I moan: "Come, come, come" and then pause as the music becomes seductive. But then I sing "come into my arms" to make it all sound so innocent!" For biography freaks, Donna is the third of seven children and was born in Boston in September 1950. In 1968 she joined the original German touring company for "Hair", although she was offered identical parts in either New York or London. But she decided that she would like to travel and learn another language, so Munich seemed the answer. "The Hostage" was the lady's first international record — being released in the U.K. on the now — defunct People label. Now with her huge success in the States, she is having to work from two homes — Munich and a new one in Beverly Hills, Los Angeles. But she will continue to record in Munich where her producers are Britain's Pete Bellotte and Italian, Georgio Moroder. On speaking with the lady, I can only confess that she wasn't any thing near to what I expected — you, can make of that what you will! But she is sincere, charming and stands more than a fair chance of eventually living down "Love To Love" and developing into an international star. |
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