Donna Summer (album)

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Donna Summer
Donna Summer cover
Studio album by Donna Summer
Released July 19, 1982
Recorded 1982
Genre R&B, soul, rock
Length 41:09
Label Geffen
Producer Quincy Jones
Professional reviews

All Music Guide 3/5 stars[1]
Donna Summer chronology
I'm a Rainbow
(1981)		 Donna Summer
(1982)		 She Works Hard for the Money
(1983)

Donna Summer is the self-titled album released by the American singer in 1982. Having left Casablanca Records, with whom she had had some of the biggest selling and most popular hits of the disco era in the 1970s, Summer had signed to Geffen Records in 1980 and had continued working with Giorgio Moroder and Pete Bellotte, with whom she had written the vast majority of her hits. However, Geffen were unhappy with the second album she made for them and decided to shelve it. Instead she was paired up with Quincy Jones and made this self-titled album. It was the first time she had worked with a producer other than Moroder and Bellotte since 1974.

Contents

[edit] Album information

Since the disco era, Summer's work had covered a variety of musical genres and this album was no exception. It had quite a strong soul and R&B influence, and featured a couple of gospel-styled tracks, namely "(If It) Hurts Just A Little" and a version of Vangelis' "State of Independence", which featured an all-star choir. Rock music was also found in the form of the Bruce Springsteen-penned "Protection", which would gain Summer a Grammy nomination for Best Female Rock Vocal Performance. She was also nominated for Best Female R&B Vocal Performance for "Love Is in Control (Finger on the Trigger)". The album finished on a Billy Strayhorn number entitled "Lush Life".

Several very popular songwriters were used on this album. As well as the aforementioned Springsteen and Vangelis, Quincy Jones himself contributed to the writing, as did other names such as Rod Temperton, Merria Ross, John Lang, Richard Page, Bill Meyers, Michael Clark, John Bettis, Jon Anderson, David Foster, Steve Lukather, Michael Sembello, Dan Sembello and David Batteau. This made it the largest number of songwriters ever to contribute to a Donna Summer album.

Summer has stated that this was one of the hardest albums ever to record - some of the songs were quite challenging, plus she was pregnant with her daughter Amanda Grace at the time. It has also been reported that she found producer Quincy Jones to be rather boistrous and controlling. Nevertheless, the album sold well and went Top 20 in both the U.S. and the UK. The single "Love Is in Control (Finger on the Trigger)" went Top 10 in the U.S. and Top 20 in the UK, and was followed by another UK. Top 20 in the form of "State of Independence", which reached Number One in the Netherlands. Both cuts were also released in the resurgent 12" Disco Single format, though the word "disco" soon disappeared in the discophobic early 80's. The third and final single from this album was the soulful ballad "The Woman in Me".

[edit] Track listing

[edit] Side one

  1. "Love Is in Control (Finger on the Trigger)" (Quincy Jones, Merria Ross, Rod Temperton) – 4:18
  2. "Mystery of Love" (John Lang, Bill Meyers, Richard Page) – 4:25
  3. "The Woman in Me" (John Bettis, Michael Clark) – 3:55
  4. "State of Independence" (Jon Anderson, Evangelos Papathanassiou) – 5:50

[edit] Side two

  1. "Livin' in America" (David Foster, Jones, Steve Lukather, Donna Summer, Temperton) – 4:41
  2. "Protection" (Bruce Springsteen) – 3:35
  3. "(If It) Hurts Just a Little" (David Batteau, Dan Sembello, Michael Sembello) – 3:52
  4. "Love Is Just a Breath Away" (Foster, Summer, Temperton) – 3:55
  5. "Lush Life" (Billy Strayhorn) – 6:26

[edit] Charts

Album

Year Chart Position
1982 US album chart 20
1982 UK Album chart 13
1982 Norway 3
Single
Year Single Chart Position
1982 "Love is in control (Finger on the trigger)" UK's single chart 18
1982 "Love is in control (Finger on the trigger)" USA Billboard pop chart 10
1982 "Love is in control (Finger on the trigger)" Norway's single chart 3
1982 "State of independence" UK's single chart 14
1983 "The Woman in me" UK's single chart 62
1983 "The Woman in me" USA Billboard pop chart 33

[edit] References

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