Introduced by the dreamy and big bulged 80’s star Rex Smith, La Diva herself Donna Summer performs one of, if not the most outstanding covers of the Christmas classic “O Holy Night” ever.
Tag Archives: Donna Summer
BROADWAY: Donna Summer: The Musical Hopes For 2018 B’way Opening
Donna Summer’s husband Bruce Sudano has big Broadway plans as he prepares to launch his new stage show SUMMER at La Jolla Playhouse in November. The show, based on the life of his late wife, will feature all of the disco queen’s greatest hits, with hopes taking the show the Broadway in 2018.
According to WENN, the show, directed by Jersey Boys’ Des McAnuff, will chronicle Summer’s life story using not only her most famous songs, but also some obscure ones. Most importantly, Sudano told WENN that he hopes for it to inspire and encourage young girls.
He said, “It’s a lesson for people going through struggle and who stumble and make mistakes,” he adds. “It’s gonna give them hope to overcome and succeed and carry on with their lives. It’s not about imitating Donna – Broadway World
No casting has yet to be announced, but it has been revealed that there will be a search for three Donnas’ to play the role portraying different segments of her career.
I for one, hope this production finally answers the enduring mystery of why someone left their cake out in the rain.
![#FlashbackFriday Disco Classic! - Donna Summer Performs "McArthur Park" [1978]](https://i0.wp.com/www.back2stonewall.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/Donna-Summer-OPAT.png?resize=450%2C270&ssl=1)
Back2Stonewall Disco Flashback – Donna Summer’s “Once Upon A Time” (1977) – Suite Remix
Once Upon a Time is the sixth studio album by Donna Summer and was released on October 25, 1977.
OUAT hit No. 26 on the US Billboard 200, number thirteen on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart[1] and No. 24 on the UK Albums Chart. The entire album charted as one entry at No. 1 on the Hot Dance/Discochart. Once Upon a Time includes the singles “I Love You”, “Fairy Tale High”, “Once Upon a Time” and “Rumour Has It”. Originally the album was not as successful as Summer’s previous album I Remember Yesterday’; but now occupies a special place in music history despite the fact that it did not produce a single stand alone hit.
The concept album was Summer’s first double album, telling a modern-day Cinderella-themed story through means of disco music. The album’s story concept was conceived by Joyce Bogart, Susan Munao and Donna Summer based on an idea by Al Bogatz. The songs were written in collaboration between Summer, Giorgio Moroder and Pete Bellotte.
Throughout the album and as described in the liner notes storyline, the songs tell the story of a young woman who lives in a fantasy world of make-believe in which she is seemingly trapped, but thanks to her belief in her dreams she embarks on an adventure that ends with the man she loves entering her life. The “rags to riches” story is brought into the modern day via the use of the electronic disco sound.
Once upon a time, we were all that gitl….
Below is the 35 minute Once Upon A Time Suite” mixed by the very talented leftatalbuquerque on Youtube
CLICK HERE to buy the Full Album of Once Upon a Time
Act one
1. “Once Upon a Time” 4:02
2. “Faster And Faster To Nowhere” 3:34
3. “Fairy Tale High” 4:25
4. “Say Something Nice” 4:44
Act two
5. “Now I Need You” 6:09
6. “Working the Midnight Shift” 5:07
7. “Queen for a Day” 5:59
Act three
8. “If You Got It Flaunt It” 4:43
9. “A Man Like You” 3:34
10. “Sweet Romance” 4:31
11. “(Theme) Once Upon a Time” 0:48
12. “Dance Into My Life” 4:10
Act four
13. “Rumour Has It” 4:57
14. “I Love You” 4:43
15. “Happily Ever After” 3:51
16. “(Theme) Once Upon a Time”
Back2Stonewall Sunday Tea Dance 1978: “Mac Arthur Park Suite” by Donna Summer – 17mins, 51 sec.
The multi-million selling vinyl single disco version of “Mac Arthur Park” by Donna Summer was number one on the American pop music sales charts for three weeks during 1978, and was nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance. Summer’s recording, which was included as part of the “Mac Arthur Park Suite” on her double album Live and More, was eight minutes and forty seconds long on the album. The shorter seven-inch vinyl single version of the Mac Arthur Park was Summer’s first single to reach number one on the Billboard Hot 100.
The nearly 18-minute musical medley “Mac Arthur Park Suite” incorporated the songs “One of a Kind” and “Heaven Knows”. This medley was also sold as a 12-inch (30 cm) vinyl recording, and it stayed at number one on Billboard‘s Hot Dance Club Songs chart for five weeks in 1978.
The one-of-a-kind, ultimate Donna Summer classic
Pass those poppers and let’s dance!
TRIVIA:
“MacArthur Park” was written by Jimmy Webb in 1968, originally composed as part of an intended cantata. The song was initially written for and rejected by The Association. Richard Harris was the second to be offered the song and the first to record it for his “pop music debut”; the song was subsequently covered by numerous artists. with the best-known behind Donna Summer.
The real inspiration for “MacArthur Park” was the relationship and breakup between Webb and Susan Ronstadt, a cousin of singer Linda Ronstadt. MacArthur Park was where the two occasionally met for lunch and spent their most enjoyable times together. At that time (mid-1965), Ronstadt worked for a life insurance company whose offices were located just across the street from the park. Webb and Ronstadt remained friends, even after her marriage to another man. The breakup was also the primary influence for “By the Time I Get to Phoenix,” another Webb composition.
Donna’s cover of Mac Arthur Park was Jimmy Webb’s only song to reach number one in the US.
VH1 Divas: Adam Lambert, Keli Rowland and Keli Hilson Tribute To Donna Summer – Video
It should have been an Adam Lambert solo tribute to Donna Summer. He was the only diva on on stage with the vocal range to cover her.
BRAVA ADAM!
Get More:
Kelly Rowland, VH1 Divas 2012, VH1 DIVAS, Kelly Rowland, Keri Hilson
Disco Legend and Gay Icon of the 70’s & 80’s Donna Summer Passes Away At 63
Ms Summer, an LGBT Disco icon in the 1970’s and early 1980’s was the first artist to have three consecutive double albums reach number one on the US Billboard chart, and she also charted four number-one singles in the United States within a thirteen-month period.
In 1975, Summer came up with the lyric “love to love you, baby”. To get into the mood of recording the song, she requested all the lights be turn off while she recorded the moans and groans heard on the album. Although some radio stations refused to play it due to its suggestive style, “Love to Love You” found chart success in several European countries, and made the Top 5 in the UK. and was a huge hit in gay discos in America
In 1977, Summer released album I Remember Yesterday. This album included her second top ten single, “I Feel Love”, which reached number six in the US. Also released in 1977, was Once Upon a Time, a double album would also attain gold status. In 1978, Summer released her version of the Richard Harris ballad, “MacArthur Park”, which became her first US number one hit. The song was featured on Summer’s first live album, Live and More, which also became her first album to hit number one on the US Billboard 200 chart, and went platinum selling over a million copies and included anothet Top 10 track, “Heaven Knows”
Also in 1978, Summer acted in the film, Thank God It’s Friday, playing a singer determined to perform at a hot disco club. The film met modest success, but a song from the film, entitled “Last Dance”, reached number three on the Hot 100 and resulted in Summer winning her first Grammy Award..
But in the mid -1980s, Donna became embroiled in a controversy with her gay fans. She had allegedly made anti-gay remarks regarding the then new disease AIDS, which as a result had a significantly negative impact on her career and saw thousands of her records being returned to her record company by angered fans.
Summer was at this time a born-again Christian, was alleged to have said that “AIDS was a punishment from God for the immoral lifestyles of homosexuals” However, she denied that she had ever made any such comment and, in a letter to the AIDS campaign group ACT UP in 1989, she said that it was “a terrible misunderstanding. I was unknowingly protected by those around me from the bad press and hate letters….If I have caused you pain, forgive me.” Summer told The Advocate magazine that “A couple of the people I write with are gay, and they have been ever since I met them. What people want to do with their bodies is their personal preference.”.
The gay community believed and forgave her.
Rest In Peace Donna Summer
What A Week – A Brand New Year And Surging Santorum, THANK GOD IT’S FRIDAY!
UGH, what a tiring week!
But its TGIF and to spice it up a bit here’s a blast from the past in the form A 1978 segment of “Thank God It’s Friday”: Thiin-house Casablanca reel put together to show at a music industry convention and was never intended to be seen by the public.