|
LaDonna Adrian Gaines (aka Donna Summer) was from Boston,
MA. Some of her greatest success came as a disco artist in the
late 1970's. According to her mother, Donna began singing at a
very young age. She not only sang in the church choir, but also
was interested in performing on stage. She was asked to perform in
the Munich, Germany version of the musical Hair, and thus she moved to
Germany where she not only learned to speak German, but also where she
released her first single (as Donna Gaines). She married a German
named Helmuth Sommer, and after divorcing him, she kept his last name
(Anglicized).
While singing background tracks in a Munich studio,
Summer met Girogio Moroder and Pete Bellotte, and the two German
producers helped her release her first album. Lady of the Night
was released in 1974, and it did very well in some European countries.
Several more 70's releases followed that featured hit songs like "Love
to Love You Baby", "I Feel Love", "MacArthur Park", "Heaven Knows",
"Last Dance", "Hot Stuff", "Dim All the Lights", "Bad Girls", "On the
Radio", and "No More Tears (Enough is Enough)".
By the 1980, Donna Summer was ready to move from Disco to
a more pop-rock sound, and after signing with the newly formed Geffen
Records,
The Wanderer was released. The title track peaked at no. 3
in the USA.
Donna
Summer, her next 80's release hit shelves in 1982 and featured
the hit songs "Love is in Control (Finger on the Trigger)" and the top
40 hit "The Woman in Me". It was her 1983 release,
She Works Hard for the Money,
that featured the hit title track in addition to the songs
"Unconditional Love" and "Love Has a Mind of Its Own". Donna's
next release,
Cats
Without Claws (1984), began a somewhat downward trend.
Nevertheless, it did feature the hit song "There Goes My Baby".
She finished of the 80s with
All Systems Go (1987), and
Another
Place and Time in 1989, which featured the songs "This Time I
Know It's for Real" and "Love's About to Change My Heart".
Donna Summer continued both her music career and acting
career post 80's, but she never met with the same level of success.
Her final studio release was in 2008. She died at 63 of cancer.
The Donna Summer Discography is as follows:1974: Lady of the Night
1975: Love to Love You Baby
1976: A Love Trilogy
1976: Four Seasons of Love
1977: I Remember Yesterday
1977: Once Upon a Time
1978: Live and More
1978: The Greatest Hits of Donna Summer
1979: Bad Girls
1979: On the Radio: Greatest Hits Volumes I & II
1980: The Wanderer
1980: Walk Away - Collectors Edition: The Best of 1977-1980
1981: I'm a Rainbow
1982: Donna Summer
1983: She Works Hard for the Money
1984: Cats Without Claws
1987: All Systems Go
1989: Another Place and Time
1990: The Best of Donna Summer
1991: Mistaken Identity
1994: Christmas Spirit
1994: Endless Summer: Greatest Hits
1998: Greatest Hits
1999: Live & More Encore
2003: The Journey: The Very Best of Donna Summer
2008: Crayons |
