Last Dance for Donna Summer, the Queen of Disco

Donna Summer Top 20 Songs

Donna Summer, dubbed the Queen of Disco, was born LaDonna Gaines on December 31, 1948 in Boston. Singing in church prompted her to pursue music as a career in the late 1960s. Her first single, “Sall Go ‘Round the Roses,” was released in 1971 under her birth name after she had performed in some musicals in Europe, including a production of Hair in Germany. That same year she married actor Helmuth Sommer and even after their divorce in 1975, she kept an anglicized version of the name. Her first chart hit was “the breathy, sexualized” BB #2 “Love to Love You Baby” in 1975. She charted more than 30 songs on the Billboard Hot 100 over three decades, but was at her peak in the latter half of the 1970s. “Her collaborations with producer Giorgio Moroder…broke ground for dance music and have been hugely influential on electronic music in the decades since.” RS She took four songs to #1 in 1978 and 1979. She also had three consecutive #1 albums from 1978 to 1980. Even though her career waned in the post-disco era, she still made several trips to the top ten in the 1980s. She had 14 top ten hits total and collected five Grammys over the years. Summer died on 5/17/2012 after a battle with lung cancer. She believed it came from inhaling particles following the 9/11 attacks in New York. She was survived by her husband Bruce Sudano (who she married in 1980) and their daughters Brooklyn and Amanda. She also had a daughter, Mimi, with her first husband, and had four grandchildren. Links: DMDB Encyclopedia entry for Donna Summer Dave’s Music Database: “Acts’ Profile Pages and Best-of Lists”

Awards:

Top 20 Songs Dave’s Music Database lists are determined by song’s appearances on best-of lists, appearances on compilations and live albums by the featured act, and songs’ chart success, sales, radio airplay, streaming, and awards. Songs which topped the Billboard Hot 100, R&B charts, and UK charts are noted. 1. Hot Stuff (1979) #1 2. Last Dance (1978) 3. Bad Girls (1979) #1, #1 RB 4. I Feel Love (1977) #1 UK 5. MacArthur Park (1978) #1 6. Love to Love You Baby (1975) 7. No More Tears (Enough Is Enough) (with Barbra Streisand, 1979) #1 8. On the Radio (1980) 9. She Works Hard for the Money (1983) #1 RB 10. Heaven Knows (1979) 11. Dim All the Lights (1979) 12. This Time I Know It’s for Real (1989) 13. The Wanderer (1980) 14. Love Is in Control (1982) 15. There Goes My Baby (1984) 16. Unconditional Love (with Musical Youth, 1983) 17. Cold Love (1980) 18. Winter Melody (1976) 19. The Woman in Me (1982) 20. Dinner with Gershwin (1987) Resources and Related Links: DMDB Encyclopedia entry for Donna Summer Dave’s Music Database: “Acts’ Profile Pages and Best-of Lists” BB Billboard.com Donna Summer, Queen of Disco, Dead at 63 by Billboard Staff (5/17/2012) Entertainment Weekly Donna Summer has died at 63 by Leah Greenblatt (5/17/2012) RS RollingStone.com Donna Summer Dead at 63 by Rolling Stone (5/17/2012) Spinner.com Donna Summer Dead: Disco Legend Dies After Cancer Battle at 63 by Dan Reilly (5/17/2012) First posted 5/17/2012; last updated 12/30/2023.

Donna Summer “Hot Stuff” hit #1

Hot Stuff Donna Summer

Writer(s): Pete Bellotte, Harold Faltermeyer, Keith Forsey (see lyrics here) Released: April 21, 1979 First Charted: April 20, 1979 Peak: 13 US, 14 CB, 13 GR, 15 HR, 12 RR, 3 RB, 11 UK, 12 CN, 11 AU, 7 DF (Click for codes to charts.) Sales (in millions): 2.0 US, 0.2 UK, 2.35 world (includes US + UK) Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, 82.8 video, 301.66 streaming

Awards: Click on award for more details.

About the Song: Summer’s earlier top-ten hits “Love to Love You Baby” and “I Feel Love” “introduced the world to the synthetic-psychedelic Euro-disco sound.” SG and established her as “the reigning queen of disco.” SG By 1979, she was “starting to get sick of disco” SG and “wanted to sing a rock song.” SG Neil Bogart, the head of her Casablanca label, suggested they give the resulting “Hot Stuff” to Cher, FB but Summer insisted on recording it herself “and she did it with a vengeance.” SS It was “one of the hardest-rocking singles of the 1970s” SS and even won a Grammy for best rock female vocal. Of course, “Hot Stuff” “still sounded a whole hell of a lot like a disco song” SG and ended up “a classic of the disco era.” DJ Although “Summer wasn’t an especially wild woman in real life, she could play one on record.” SG This was “one of the most salaciously sexually” SS songs of the decade. It “is a song about absolutely needing sex right now, about being so horny that you’re practically climbing the walls. Summer sells the hell out of it.” SG She’s “all feverish urgency.” SG The groove on ‘Hot Stuff’ is just a monster. The beat is a slowed-down panther-stalk version of the disco boom. The synth hook whines and nags, pushing the intensity further while also providing one more sticky hook.” SG At the end, Jeff “Skunk” Baxter of the Doobie Brothers and formerly with Steely Dan, “shows up to play a guitar solo that’s all spiky, discordant edges, growling just as hard as Summer.” SG It was the lead single from Bad Girls, the “last, biggest, and best” SG of a run of six studio albums in the last half of the ‘70s. Rolling Stone called it “the only great disco album other than Saturday Night Fever.” SG Resources: DMDB encyclopedia entry for Donna Summer DJ David Jasen (2002). A Century of American Popular Music: 2000 Best-Loved and Remembered Songs (1899-1999). Routledge: Taylor & Francis, Inc. Page 77. SG Stereogum (2/5/2020). “The Number Ones” by Tom Breihan SS Steve Sullivan (2013). Encyclopedia of Great Popular Song Recordings (Volumes I & II). Scarecrow Press: Lanham, Maryland. WK Wikipedia First posted 1/23/2023.