SHE SOLD OUT TO CHEESEY POP MUSIC
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3_Beekman_Place — 20 years ago(January 18, 2006 08:51 AM)
CHEESEY??? Remember, at the time Donna did not have a record contract. That album was not even going to be released in the U.S.A. I know because i ordered it as an import. It wasn't until it was a HUGE success in Europe (where Donna started) did it get released here. Although, in America they (Atlantic Records) screwed up and released "I Don't Wanna Get Hurt" as the second single here and it didn't do as well. One of my all time favorite Donna songs "Breakaway" is on that album. Funny, i think that type of music was cheesey when Rick Astley or Bananarama sang it, but putting the Queen of Disco with England's biggest pop/dance producers was a perfect fit and will go down in history! Even Donna seemed hip to the "joke" and appeared white faced on the cover art! It is the most silly, catchy pop music and it's FUN!
Lighten up!
(lol) -
crisso — 20 years ago(January 23, 2006 08:20 AM)
Donna managed to add new depth to songs that would have been the usual Stock-Aitken-Waterman pap if done by the likes of Kylie Minogue or Sonia (even a really talented singer like Rick Astley didn't make SAW songs sound better than they were). Donna Summer truly is an exceptional vocalist.
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deanoplumbs — 20 years ago(March 14, 2006 07:57 PM)
IN RESPONCE TO 3 BEEKMAN PLACE
I suppose some Stock Atkin Waterman music sounds a little dated now as most of it is over fifteen years old, however i don't agree with you at all.
Rick Astley for example was the most successful selling debut artist for S.A.W. and Bananarama had a carear with S.A.W. for over six years, both artists had many number ones far more than Donner Summer, so i wouldn't use the word "Cheesey" to describe such artists id have more Respect, however i understand your Americian so i guess we will have to let it slide this time -
Mr.Bell — 19 years ago(September 03, 2006 06:22 AM)
" by - deanoplumbs on Tue Mar 14 2006 19:57:23
IN RESPONCE TO 3 BEEKMAN PLACE
I suppose some Stock Atkin Waterman music sounds a little dated now as most of it is over fifteen years old, however i don't agree with you at all.
Rick Astley for example was the most successful selling debut artist for S.A.W. and Bananarama had a carear with S.A.W. for over six years, both artists had many number ones far more than Donner Summer, so i wouldn't use the word "Cheesey" to describe such artists id have more Respect, however i understand your Americian so i guess we will have to let it slide this time"
Bananarama lasted with SAW from 1986 to 1991, but Siobhan Fahey left in 1988, and her replacment left after their POP LIFE album in 1991, for which SAW only produced a few songs. Nana were just a duo and made the PLEASE YOURSELF album in 1993 with PWL after Matt Aitken had left, so it wasn't official SAW.
FWIW, Donna had sold out her disco LONG before SAW- SHE WORKS HARD FOR THE MONEY with Michael Omaritian and ALL SYSTEMS GO, produced largely by Harold Faltermeyer 5b4and Richard Perry were generic chart synthpop. -
3_Beekman_Place — 19 years ago(January 31, 2007 07:00 PM)
I was checking my old posts and came across this one and I had to correct a few things.
First of all, I DIDN'T START THIS THREAD! Two people replied to me directly and seemed to take issue with the word cheesey. Let's face it, most of the pop music in the 80's sounds a bit cheesey and dated. But Donna didn't sell out. If anyone did it was Banarama. I loved their first 2 albums and then they totally changed their sound. At least Donna was still doing dance music.
I couldn't believe your claim that Rick Astley had more hits than Donna, so I did some research according to Wikipedia.com
Donna Summer had a top 40 hit every year from 1975 to 1984. Her last appearance on Billboards hot 100 was in 1991.
She's had 14 top ten songs on Billboard's Hot 100.
She's had 4 #1 songs on that chart.
She's had 16 #1 songs on various Billboard Charts (Dance, AC, R&B, Pop)
Donna had a total of 20 Top 40 hits on Billboard's Hot 100.
She was the first female to have 3 consecutive double ablums hit #1.
She was the first female to have 3 #1 singles on the pop chart in one year.
Donna has won 6 Grammy Awards.
She was the first black artist (male or female) to recieve a Grammy in the rock catagory (1979 Best Female Vocal- Hot Stuff).
Her most recent Grammy was in 1997 for Carry On, she was the first recipient of the new Dance Music catagory that year.
And THIRTY YEARS after her first #1 she is still touring and selling out concert halls!
In contrast, Banarama had 3 US top ten hits (one #1), and six 10 top ten hits in the UK (their native country).
Rick Astley had 6 top 40 hits in the US with 2 #1's, and 9 top 40 hits in the UK with 2 hitting #1.
In the US or UK, Rick Astley and Banarama's career COMBINED barely adds up to the success Donna had in the US alone, not to mention her European and UK chart hits (In the UK Donna had one #1, 10 top ten singels and 3 top ten albums!) In fact Donna Summer had 29 top 40 hits in the UK, with many of her more recent singles charting there when not doing much over here. She scored MORE top 40 hits in the UK!!!
It's clear Donna's career has outshined AND outlasted Rick Astley and Banarama. You're right about one thing in the UK Rick Astley had 2 #1 hits and Donna had 1, but in the US Donna had 4 #1's and Rick Astley had 2.
You also claim Donna sold out LONG before her SAW album
She Works Hard For The Money came out in 1983 and All Systems Go came out in 1987, Another Place And Time came out 1989, long AFTER the 2 albums you mentioned.. so your WRONG! (but your NOT American, so I'll let you slide this time). -
VinnyM27 — 19 years ago(February 03, 2007 12:02 PM)
Donna's one of the best in many catogeries (singer, songwriter, etc.), but even as an artist, she's never been all that much for taking very crazy chances. Her intial album was basically episodic pop numbers like "The Hostage" and the title track "Lady Of the Night". Her albums prior to APAT were Christian pop bu still very commerical. SAW where pretty cheesy but combined with DOnna's nice vocals and sometimes lyrics, it's actually a nice combination.
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3_Beekman_Place — 19 years ago(February 03, 2007 07:21 PM)
I disagree with the statement Donna didn't take chances. The early concept albums were a chance. Most disco albums in '75-'77 had 1 or 2 big hits and the rest of the music was complete throwaway. Imagine blending one track into another and treating the album as a whole, like Pink Floyd or Led Zeppelin did!
Expanding the concept into a 2 record set, like Once Upon A Time and Bad Girls, again when most disco artists had 1 or 2 hits was a chance.
1980's The Wanderer was a chance, and blending all that came before in the double album I'm A Rainbow was a chance. One David Geffen wouldn't let her take. Of course the R&B leanings of the Donna Summer album was a chance too. I'll admit after that, she was a bit stuck in the electro-pop of She Works Hard For The Money for a few albums, but you can see some small chances on the non-single tracks. My favs are I'm Free, Maybe It's Over and Eyes from Cats Without Claws. Mistaken Identity was a chance. Of course not all of them were successful, but she took some chances.
(thanks for the correction cypfars, Wikipedia was wrong!) -
pvd295 — 12 years ago(October 31, 2013 08:41 PM)
CHEESEY??? Remember, at the time Donna did not have a record contract. That album was not even going to be released in the U.S.A.
A little more trivia behind this album
David Geffen is the one who teamed Summer up with SAW in early 1988, to complete her contract with his label (Geffen Records). Summer presented the album to him in the Fall of 1988 (for a Christmas release), and he vetoed the project. Rather than send Summer back to the studio for another album (as he did in 1981 when he rejected 'I'm A Rainbow'), he simply released Summer from her contract, calling it 'even' - she owed him nothing, he owed her nothing. He also let her keep the album, since he had no intention of releasing it.ever.
In early 1989, it was released through WB Records, the label which released her music outside the US. The album became a huge hit around the globe, but she didn't have a label to release the album here. Atlantic Records decided to pick it up since she was previously with them (I believe at the time, they had bought out Mercury - which owned her Casablanca catalog) and finally released it about three months after the European release.
The album hit #54, though many believe it would have charted much higher on the Billboard chart IF so many fans didn't buy the import first. The availability of the European import definitely had a drastic effect on US sales.
Summer returned to the recording studio with SAW in 1990, for a follow-up to their mega-success, but Summer did not like what they came up with, so they parted ways. She went back to the studio with a different team, and recorded "Mistaken Identity".
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