gloria – one that got away?
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buby1987 — 18 years ago(August 29, 2007 12:14 AM)
I also heard somewhere that she had What's Love Got to Do With It and decided not to record it. I didn't realize she turned down Love Hangover, a song that I think is great. I get the feeling Diana Ross heard Love to Love You and felt the desire to imitate Donna's style. Somehow Diana Ross always got access to great songs.
By the way, does anyone know if Donna and Diana are on speaking terms? I get the impression that Donna's arrival on the scene in 1976 spurred Diana to embrace disco. -
JohnnyGordon2007 — 18 years ago(September 02, 2007 08:47 PM)
Apparently you missed Diana's Divas Live concert (2001 I think.) Donna was a guest and Diana talked about how the two had become good friends. They emailed and spoke on the phone a lot. This was something new, they hadn't been friends through the 70s, 80s and most of the 90s. They had probably only met each other a few times. I don't know how their friendship got struck up in the late 90s, but there is some indication that it eventually cooled. Not in the sense that the aren't friends at all anymore, but they aren't as close as they were for a while. When Diana got arrested for drunk driving, I remember Donna was quoted as saying she hadn't spoken to Diana in quite a while. There is a duet recored, in the vaults, from the time they were being especially chummy. The duet may eventually find it's way onto a rumored Diana duets album.
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pvd295 — 18 years ago(March 04, 2008 01:01 PM)
Laura Branigan had stated bakc then (1982) that she was a big Donna Summer fan, and wanted to emulate her style on her first recording. "Gloria" was never offered to Summer, it was a hit in Italy with an Italian male singer in the late 70's, one that Branigan came across, and Branigan wanted to record it as wellso she recorded the English translation for her debut album. Later on, she did record a Summer song - "Dim All The Lights" in 1993 for her 'Greatest Hits' CD.
AS for "Love Hangover", that was never offered to Donna Summer. That was originally offered to Thelma Huston (who was with Motown at the time), but Huston passed and recorded "Don't Leave Me This Way" instead, which sounds much like 'LH'. It was a hit for Ross, but critics noticed she was 'aping' Donna Summer ("Love to Love You Baby").
AS for "It's Raining Men" - yes, this WAS originally presented as a second duet with Barbra Streisand. Story goes: Paul Jabara was so excited with the two of them recording "No More Tears (Enough is Enough)" that he quickly wrote "It's Raining Men" for the two of them to record (some say he wanted a trio- with Diana Ross, also). Streisand and Summer loved the idea of a second duet, and was interested in recording it, but could not find the stime in their schedules (Streisand was literally finishing her 'Wet' album, which was due in stores within that month) and the second duet never happened.
The idea of the duet came up once again with Summer and Ross, but never materialized. Allegedly, the two did record a duet together a couple of years ago (I bleieve the title is 'Feels Like Thunder') but there has been no plans to release it. -
3_Beekman_Place — 17 years ago(April 13, 2008 07:14 PM)
I think it should be noted that without Donna Summer, there might not have been a Laura Branigan or Irene Cara. Maybe the reason Gloria was such a big hit was BECAUSE she sounded like Donna. Some record exec thought, "This sounds like Donna I can make this a huge hit!". Every record company wants their version of the latest thing. Because Donna was such a big hit, other labels started signing the likes of Linda Clifford, Thelma Houston and Amii Stewart. It's the TRUE mark of how big an impact an artist has on the music biz they have sound-alikes for years after! Think of in 1986 when Anita Baker had success with the "Rapture" album, there soon was Miki Howard and Regina Belle the year after. Most alt. rock bands these days are STILL trying to sound like Pearl Jam or Nirvana! So it's no surprise that Donna's "sound" has stuck around for so long after and is STILL influencing the dance sound she was that big!
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3_Beekman_Place — 17 years ago(April 14, 2008 05:08 PM)
PS. I want to add to the above statement about Donna and Diana being friends
I saw Donna at the old Valley Forge Music Fair in PA. If you're not familiar with it, it was a small, round theater. The rows staring at the front were A-Z and there couldn't have been more than 30-35 rows in the place (read very small!). Donna made a comment about people coming up to her and saying, "aren't u that singer Diana Summer?" Donna replied, "you're thinking of Diana Ross, she's about 50 lbs. thinner than me!" To which I yelled out, "and 50 years older!". Donna actually laughed and said, "I know her, she's a friend I'm telling!"
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buby1987 — 17 years ago(April 25, 2008 01:26 PM)
No doubt Donna had an influence Irene Cara's Flashdance not only sounds like a Donna song, it was written and produced by Moroder. And Gloria is the best Donna Summer song that Donna Summer never recorded.
You're right, whenever an artist hits it big, the industry plays "follow the leader." Everybody sounded like Prince in the 80's
Just got my tickets to see Donna in Reno, 11th row can't wait. -
pvd295 — 17 years ago(August 16, 2008 03:02 PM)
It's also been noted that Summer - being one of the first female singers taking a big chance with such (then) risque songs as "Love to Love You Baby", "Bad Girls" and "Hot Stuff" - paved the way for the success of such singers as Madonna and Janet Jackson.
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pvd295 — 16 years ago(September 12, 2009 11:37 AM)
"Absolutely not! What's Love Got To Do With It was written by Terry Britten and Graham Lyle. Terry Britten was a friend of Roger Davies (Tina Turner's manager) and the song was written and immediately offered to Tina in 1983 when Davies and Tina were searching for songs for her Private Dancer album, released in '84. Donna Summer was definitely never offered that song."
Ummm - it didn'texactly happen that way either.
In 1983, Davies was also the manager of Olivia Newton-John, who was at her peak with the mega-success of her albums "Physical", "Olivia's Greatest Hits, Volume 2" as well as re-teaming with Travolta for "Two of a Kind" (the movie bombed, but she had two hit singles from the soundtrack). Davies wanted to continue ONJ's new sexy/adult image ("Physical", "Make A Move On Me", "Heart Attack", "Tied Up") and was searching for material for her as well as Turner.
The songs submitted for the "Private Dancer" album were actually written for Olivia for her upcoming album, while the songs submitted for "Soul Kiss" were intended for Tina Turner. Davies said his office accidently sent each singer the wrong music, but each singer was happy with what they received.
Turner went on to record "Private Dancer" while Olivia went on to claim "Soul Kiss"and each had their own successful albums. -
pvd295 — 16 years ago(October 16, 2009 02:08 PM)
Oscar, not only don't you know jack about Olivia Newton-John, but apparently you know little about Turner as well.
"Toughen Up" was
the very first song
written for Tina Turner for her comeback album by songwriters Graham Lyle and Terry Britten in 1984. This was the message that Davies wanted to send to her audience - Turner was no longer the same woman she was in the 60s and 70s married to (and dependent on) Ike Turner. She was now strong, liberated and independentand was to share 'her advice' with other women.
Other songs followed for her album which Davies believed would re-enforce Turner's sexy/risque image at the age of 45 that her longtime fans adored - "Culture Shock", "Overnight Observation", "You Were Great, How Was I?", "Soul Kiss", "Electric". Great for Turner, but way too raunchy for ONJ. Critics agreed once the album was released by ONJ (fans disgareed - the album went Gold).
"What's Love Got To Do With It?" (written by Lyle-Britten) was originally written for R&B singer Phyllis Hyman for an album she was planning in 1983 under Davies' management, but failed to materialize due to an ongoing battle with her former label (Arista). Davies put it aside for ONJ.
"Private Dancer" was originally to be included by the group Dire Straits (for their album "Love Over Gold"), but was not recorded by them because songwriter/singer/lead guitarist Mark Knopfler realized it was a song not particularly suited for male vocalists. Davies picked up the song, who planned it for ONJ as well - hoping she would have another mega-hit like "Physical".
BTW, Turner's whole album was built around one single which she released months prior to having an album - "Let's Stay Together". The single unexpectedly showed a great deal of interest on the radio as well as on the pop charts, but had no album to go with itwhich is why Davies put together the project in the first place. -
pvd295 — 16 years ago(October 17, 2009 12:35 PM)
Let's see
You're not knowledgeable about Olivia Newton-John or Phyliis Hyman (the two artists I 'went off topic' with) and you have no knowledge about their music and the history behind their recordings and projects they were working on. So what you don't know you dismiss as 'crap' and 'false' since you are ignorant to information which is new to you.
And I'm trying to have an intelligent conversation with you?