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Friday, May 18, 2012

QUEEN OF DISCO DONNA SUMMER PASSED AWAY AT 63

DONNA SUMMER, BORN  LADONNA ADRIAN GAINES 1948 (SUMMER IS THE ENGLISH VERSION OF THE NAME OF HER FIRST HUSBAND HELMUTH SOMMER, DIVORCED IN 1975 BECAUSE SHE HAD AN EXTRAMARITAL AFFAIR) , PASSED AWAY TODAY IN FLORIDA AT THE AGE OF 63 AFTER BATTLING WITH CANCER. SHE IS SURVIVED BY HER HUSBAND , MUSICIAN BRUCE SUDANO, THREE DAUGHTERS (BROOKLYN, AMANDA AND MIMI FROM HER FIRST MARRIAGE) AND FOUR GRANDCHILDREN.

DONNA WAS BORN IN DORCHESTER , BOSTON, 1948 IN A CHRISTIAN HOUSEHOLD. EVEN THOUGH SHE SANG IN CHURCH AT A VERY YOUNG AGE, HER FAMILY DIDN'T THINK SHE HAD THE VOICE AND LOOKS FOR THE MUSIC BUSINESS BUT DONNA THOUGHT MUSIC WAS HER TICKET OUT OF BOSTON.

IN THE 1970'S , SHE FOUND SOME SUCCESS IN EUROPE (NOT IN AMERICA YET) BUT BY 1976, THE SONG "LOVE YOU LOVE YOU BABY" HAD REACHED NUMBER TWO ON THE US BILLBOARD HOT 100. OTHER SONGS SUCH AS "TRY ME, I KNOW WE CAN MAKE IT " AND "COULD IT BE MAGIC" WERE ALSO WELL RECEIVED. INCIDENTALLY, "COULD IT BE MAGIC" IS ALSO SUNG BY BARRY MANILOW. IN 1977, "I FEEL LOVE" (FROM ALBUM "I REMEMBER YESTERDAY" ) REACHED NUMBER 6 ON THE U.S. CHART AND NUMBER 1 ON THE UK CHART; AND "MACARTHUR PARK" WAS HER FIRST U.S. NUMBER ONE HIT. THE 1970'S WAS REALLY DONNA'S DISCO YEARS (ASK YOUR PARENTS ABOUT PLATFORM SHOES AND PARACHUTE-SIZED TROUSERS),
HER MUSIC DOMINATED THE DISCO FLOOR IN THE 70'S, THUS THE NAME THE DISCO QUEEN,. "BAD GIRLS" MARKED THE END OF HER DISCO ERA.SOME OF THE FOLLOWING VIDEOS CAN ONLY BE VIEWED ON YOUTUBE, JUST CLICK THE LINK IN THE VIDEO.

BAD GIRLS , LIVE 





I REMEMBER YESTERDAY




MACARTHUR PARK , 2006 LIVE IN HOLLAND





COULD IT BE MAGIC, LIVE 1976







ONCE UPON A TIME , 1978





I FEEL LOVE





LAST DANCE




BAD GIRLS





I PERSONALLY LIKE HER SONGS IN THE 80'S THE MOST. THIS IS THE TIME WHEN I MOSTLY LISTENED TO WESTERN MUSIC. THE WANDERER WENT GOLD IN THE U.S. AND MARKED THE BEGINNING OF THE POP ERA FOR DONNA. 1981, THE ALBUM "I'M A RAINBOW" CAME OUT; ITS FIRST SINGLE "LOVE IS IN CONTROL" BECAME A TOP 10 HIT. IN 1983, "SHE WORKS HARD FOR THE MONEY" , MY PERSONAL FAVOURITE , WAS RELEASED AND IT WAS THE LAST CONTRACTUAL OBLIGATION FROM DONNA TO POLYGRAM RECORDS (AT THIS TIME , DONNA WAS UNDER ANOTHER RECORD COMPANY - GEFFEN RECORDS). "SHE WORKS HARD FOR THE MONEY" GAVE DONNA THE FIRST GRAMMY NOMINATION. THIS ALBUM ALSO RECORDED A REGGAE-STYLED SONG - "UNCONDITIONAL LOVE" WHICH FEATURED THE THEN U.K. REGGAE GROUP MUSICAL YOUTH (IF ANYONE STILL REMEMBERS THEM).


UNCONDITIONAL LOVE , LIVE WITH MUSICAL YOUTH




THIS TIME I KNOW IT'S FOR REAL





SHE WORKS HARD FOR THE MONEY




IN THE 90'S , MOST RELEASED ALBUMS WERE 
RE-COMPILATIONS OF HER EARLIER WORKS WITH THE EXCEPTION OF "MISTAKEN IDENTITY", A SWING STYLE ALBUM WHICH DID NOT SELL TOO WELL. 

IN 2008, DONNA RELEASED HER FIRST ALBUM WITH COMPLETE ORIGINAL SONGS IN 17 YEARS, CRAYONS PEAKED AT NUMBER 17 ON THE U.S. CHART. SONGS LIKE "I'M A FIRE" ; "STAMP YOUR FEET" AND "FAME" REACHED NUMBER 1 ON THE U.S. DANCE CHART.

IN 2009, SHE WAS SINGING BEFORE THE U.S. PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA WHEN HE WAS RECEIVING HIS NOBEL PRIZE IN OSLO, NORWAY.

CRAYONS





I'M A FIRE






STAMP YOUR FEET





FAME

IN 2010, "TO PARIS WITH LOVE" WAS RELEASED. THIS IS THE LAST RELEASED SINGLE . AT THE TIME OF HER DEATH, DONNA WAS STILL WORKING ON A NEW ALBUM.


TO PARIS WITH LOVE





DURING THE 70'S , DONNA'S LIFE HAD BEEN THE MOST TROUBLESOME; FROM DIVORCE WITH HER FIRST HUSBAND TO ANXIETY ATTACKS DUE TO HER SUCCESS.

DISCO QUEEN , R.I.P. @>>--- 




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