There are divas..... and then there is
 Donna Summer!

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Hot off the presses:

[JUL 3] Paris - Donna will be on Radio Nostalgie's Happy Days show on July 6 between 6 and 9 local time. It looks like they some times post interviews on the web, so hopefully we'll all get to hear it.

[JUL 1 again] I goofed on the BBC radio thing this morning - it's 10 PM local time on Saturday. So don't tune in late!  The other reason I'm back is that it's time for a new Summer Fever pick. I'm bringing back Crayons in honor of the upcoming tour dates. I'll be back on the weekend with the regular update.

[JUL 1] I have a radio alert for the UK. BBC 2 will be airing a 60 minute documentary on Donna on July 4 at 10 PM (local time) called Feelin' Love: The Donna Summer Story.  International fans can listen in online.  I'll be back after work with the Summer Fever pick.

[JUN  28 again] Donna was on CNN again (via phone) again tonight on CNN Newsroom. She got to talk a little more about Michael - it's a totally different interview than what was on Larry King.  She was on about 10:30 tonight (Eastern) - the show airs again at 5 AM, but I don't know if it's the same one or a new show for a new day. If my DVR cooperates, I'll know tomorrow.

[JUN 28] Let's start off with a time sensitive item. I have a fan with 2 tickets to the Paris concert and now he finds himself unable to go. So  if anyone is still looking to buy a pair of tickets, let me know and I'll hook you up with Gareth.

[JUN 28] For those of you who missed Donna calling in to Larry King the other night, you can catch it on Youtube. Or, thanks to one of the guys out there, I have  a transcript for you. (Note, while Donna was on the phone, CNN showed video footage of Michael's body being taken away.)

<< Now joining us on the phone, the disco icon, the one and only Donna Summer. 

Donna, you knew Michael, did you not? 

DONNA SUMMER, SINGER: Yes, I did, yes. 

KING: We're seeing the vehicle transporting the body now over to the coroner, who will, I gather, begin the autopsy I would guess tomorrow, not tonight. What are your thoughts, Donna? 

SUMMER: Well, I have just -- I have to go on stage and sing tonight. It is extremely difficult. It is such an incredible shock to me. I -- you know, I've known Michael for many years. We've worked together. We've had -- we've done different things together over the years. 

And I know his family. And it's just -- it's a total shock. And I don't even have words to say. I mean, I'll miss Michael. The world will miss Michael. And I'm sure that the world is in a state of grief right now. 

KING: Where are you performing tonight? 

SUMMER: I'm up north of Los Angeles at a casino, Chumash. 

KING: Will you talk about him? 

SUMMER: I certainly will. We're going to try to dedicate a song to him tonight. 

KING: All right. Donna, what was his greatness? 

SUMMER: His greatness was perfection. And when you meet people like that, who are so given to doing things at the utmost and the highest level, then it makes you up your game. And Michael was one of those people who wouldn't stop until he was perfect. And he kept going even after that. 

So I will personally miss him. I will miss his light. I will miss his star. I will miss who he has caused other people to become because of his greatness. He upped -- he upped the standard. 

KING: Did you let the stories about his personal life affect your feelings about him? 

SUMMER: Not at all. Not at all. Because I don't, personally, know that those stories are true. I tend to want to not believe them because I know Michael, and I can't even imagine that he would ever try to hurt a child. I think it -- I felt more like it was exploitation, personally, from other people. I don't know if it's true or not. I just -- you know, I just think he was a sitting duck at times. >>

Pieces of this interview have been quoted in articles all over the web, as journalists recap people's memories of Michael, and CNN repeats it periodically during  the weekend broadcasts of Larry King Live.

[JUN 28] Before you guys ask - Donna didn't dedicate a specific song to Michael at the show, but she did talk about him and she asked everyone to say a prayer for him. If you would like to read a little about the show, Jonathan sent me in a fan report and some photos to go with it.

[JUN 28] Berlin - TV commercials promoting the upcoming concert have been spotted on German television. The commercial starts with music from I'm A Fire and then goes into clips from Live & More Encore. 

[JUN 28] That brings us to the web news for the week. Let's start off with a brand new forum out there for French speaking fans. It's called Donna Summer, The Diva and if French is one of your languages - go join the party over there. (And if it's not your language, Google can help you with some translations.) Over on Multiply, Steve has gone insane again and posted a bazillion Glen Rivera mixes, and Jeff has posted the promotional Crayons videos, among other things.  On YouTube, we have the Larry King clip I mentioned above posted by Stampyourfeet, plus Fernando's tribute to Michael  (he used A Whole New World accompanied by a photo of Donna and Michael). For those of you who need a little break from all things Michael, we have Glen Rivera's mix of Wasted, and the rare b-side Something In The Wind. You Rick-Rollers out there will get a laugh out of this clip.  Someone has slowed down This Time I Know It's For Real and paired it with the video portion of one of Rick Astley's songs. (Slowed down, Donna sounds amazingly like Rick.  LOL)

[JUN 25] What a bad week to be a celebrity icon. First we lost Ed McMahon, then Farrah Fawcett, and now Michael Jackson. I guess you know you're getting older when the big stars of your youth start moving on to the next realm.  :-(  I would like to take this opportunity to express my deepest condolences to the family, friends and fans of all three of those icons.  Today Earth is a sadder place, but in heaven there 3 bright new stars.

Mandatory Donna connection: She called in to Larry King Live tonight to express her grief and admiration. If you missed it, it airs again at midnight here on the East Coast and again at 3 AM on CNN. Other time zones can do the math. CORRECTION: The midnight Larry King may be another new live hour.  3 AM could be a repeat of either. UPDATE:  I found this quote online:  

-- Disco star Donna Summer, in an interview with CNN, said Jackson's death came as a "total shock."

Of Jackson's talents as a performer, Summer said: "His greatness was perfection. Michael was one of those people who wouldn't stop until he was perfect and he would keep going after that."

Also - forum users, you may find that you have trouble accessing Delphi.  I believe that's due to extra web traffic caused by today's news.

[JUN 21] Happy Father's Day to all the Dads out there!  Let's start off with a really good new interview courtesy of the Santa Barbara News Press.  If you are a subscriber to that newspaper. you can read the article online on their website. Everyone else can see it here.

[JUN 21] Photo hounds - there are pictures of Donna at WireImage.com from the concert last month and from an event in Los Angeles. (Bruce and Brooklyn are in the LA photos too.)

[JUN 21] That brings us to the web news. Over on Multiply, look for new mixes posted by Steve and Andy.  And on YouTube, look for new videos from Fernando, an excellent quality clip of Lady Of The Night, Hot Stuff from a UK appearance a few years ago,  and No More Tears with Westlife.

[JUN 17] BERLIN - there is a slight change to your concert. They can't have it at the Admiralspalast. Apparently they need a bigger venue.  :-)  So the show is moving to the Tempodrom. Any tickets you already bought are still valid. Also, I believe there are interviews and such planned for Europe while Donna is over there - so keep an eye on your local radio stations, etc.

[JUN 14] Bruce fans - you will want to see the Family Matters section below. (Actually - Johnnyswim fans will like the news too.)

[JUN 14]  I guess the best place to start off is with release news.  iTunes has finally listed the Stamp Your Feet mixes as of a day or 2 ago.  So if you didn't grab them before, grab them now. (And they are still only 99 cents each - a lot of the new iTunes stuff is up to 1.29.)

[JUN 14] In the land of books, we have one coming out this fall about Casablanca Records called And Party Every Day by Larry Harris. I suspect that it might be a little heavier on the KISS side of the label because the author seems to be into KISS, but I think they will have plenty of stuff to interest the rest of us too.  :-)

[JUN 14] In cover news, the band Dengue Fever (with guest vocals by Inara George) is putting out a digital only EP that includes a cover of I Feel Love.  Look for that next month.

[JUN 14] Of you are looking for videos, the German site Truveo has a bunch of official clips culled from MSN, VH1, etc.

[JUN 14] That brings us to the web news for the week. On Multiply, look for new mixes posted by Jeffrey and Andy.  ANd on YouTube, Fernando has posted his Grand Illusion video.  (It's amazing how well the Whenever There Is Love video footage works with other songs.)

[JUN 7] Usually I save all the YouTube stuff for the end of the update, but this week a rare gem turned up that I know everyone wants to see.  It's a little interview footage combined with some studio footage of Donna (and company) from 1978.  I don't know where the FootageWorld.com guys found that clip - but I hope they dig up some more.  :-)

[JUN 7] The press release for the Berlin concert has started showing up in various German media outlets.  :-)  Hopefully there will be as much publicity when Donna arrives there.  :-)

[JUN 7] There is a very good quality (I'm told) video of All Systems Go posted on O2 Music Stream.  The catch is that it won't play in every country. They also have the Love Is In Control video posted as well.

[JUN 7] In the Donna is everywhere category, she gets a mention at the end of a Kristine W article. The article list the artists with the most #1s on the Billboard Hot Dance Club Play charts.  Donna came in at #3 behind Madonna and Janet Jackson. (Kristine W came in at #5.)

[JUN 7] If you happen to be in India (or are planning to visit India), the Hard Rock Cafe in Delhi has one of Donna's paintings on display.

[JUN 7] That brings us to the web news. Over n Multiply, Steve's been a busy boy posting mixes and video clips. AJ has posted a few mixes as well, and Andy has added his There Goes My Baby mix to the week's offerings.  On YouTube, we have that great classic clip I mentioned earlier and not too much else that is new.  But beware of a clip called On The Radio: Uncut video footage.  It's not Donna. It's not even On The Radio. It's a 3 second plug for some Bible video. Apparently the poster has dozens of copies of that video posted under all sorts of different titles. Everybody start singing the Monty Python Spam song now.  LOL

[JUN 3] BERLIN - your tickets will go on sale Friday. They had a slight delay in getting everything set.  Prices will be 39 Euros for advanced sales and 45 at the box office. You will be able to grab them on line at eventim.de and getgo.de.

NEWS ARCHIVES

PERSONAL APPEARANCES

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(Concert - USA) June 25 at the Chumash Casino Resort in Santa Barbara, CA. Tickets are on sale now through the casino's website.

(Concert - France) July 7 at Le Palais de Congres in Paris France. Tickets are on sale now.

(Concert Germany) July 30 at the Admiralspalast in Berlin, Germany. Tickets are on sale now through eventim.de and getgo.de. UPDATE: The show has moved to the larger Tempodrom.  Tickets that were already purchased will be honored by the new venue.  :-)

(Concert - Belgium) August 1 at the Lokerse Feesten in Lokeren, Belgium. Tickets are on sale now - see the festival website for details. (The Lokerse Feesten website can be viewed in Dutch, French or English.)

(Concert - Canada) August 20-21 at the Fallsview Casino in Niagara Falls, ON. Ticket go on sale May 8 - probably through Ticketmaster, but definitely through he box office.

(Concert - Canada) August 22 at Caesar's in Windsor, ON. Tickets go on sale May 20 via Ticketmaster.

(Concert - USA) August 23 at the Horseshoe Casino in Hammond, IN. Tickets are on sale now through Ticketmaster.

(Concert - USA) August 27 at Coney Island in Brooklyn, NY. This is a free standing room general admission event, but chairs will be available for rental for $10. (Who wants to sit?)

(Concert - USA) August 28 at Foxwoods in CT. Tickets are on sale now through Ticketmaster,

(Concert - USA) August 29 at Taj Mahal in Atlantic City, NJ. Tickets go on sale June 6 through Ticketmaster,

(Concert - USA) September 25 at the LA County Fair in Pamona, CA. Tickets go on sale in July - probably through Ticketmaster. Check the LA County Fair site to join the End Of Summer Concert Series Club. Membership gets you (among other things) a change to buy concert tickets earlier than the general public.

As soon as I hear more dates, I'll post them.  :-)

MEDIA:

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OTHER NEWS:

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Quote Of The Week:

[JUN 28] 

"I don't know how Michael Jackson is handling his success. I tell you, I pray for him. Really. I do pray for him. Because I'm really concerned that he makes it okay."

 - Donna Summer, City Rhythms (radio show) April 15, 1984

Summer Fever Pick
July 2009:

Click image

(Please note - this is not the regular Summer Fever url)

Family Matters:

[JUN 28] Bruce fans - It's Her Wedding Day is still #1 on the New Music Weekly AC charts.  :-)  You can find him on Twitter now too. (I should probably mention that you can find me on Twitter now too - but I haven't posted the link because I'm not really doing much with it yet.)

[JUN 21] A couple of people told me that they had trouble viewing Bruce's new video on his site.  I'm not sure why it doesn't work for them, since it' an embedded YouTube file, but if anyone else out there is having trouble try using this link instead. For some reason the guys who had trouble did better on the YouTube site.  (I guess it's just one of those weird computer things that happens.)

[JUN 14] Bruce fans - his new video for It's Her Wedding Day is posted on the media section of BruceSudano.com. Johnnyswim fans might recognize the bride and groom in the video. For those of you following the charts, the song is #1 on the New Music Weekly AC chart for June 5. Go Bruce!

[MAY 10] Okay Bruce fans - first up for you guys is the updated BruceSudano.com.  Look for a brand new bio, some video, all the lyrics to Rainy Day Soul and Life & The Romantic,  and some very good news about It's Her Wedding Day.  :-) When you are done exploring over there, head over to PopMatters.com and read the new interview by our friend Christian Wikane with Bruce and Joe Esposito about the Brooklyn Dreams. (Look for more from that interview sometime in the future when Pop Matters looks at Casablanca's 35th anniversary. That ought to be amazing!)

[MAY 3]  Bruce fans, a couple of new clips of him popped up on YouTube this week from a performance at Nashville Songwriter night. The first is Jesus I Trust In You, and the second is an obscure track you probably never heard of called Bad Girls.  ;-)

[APR 24] Taihisha fans - she has a new single coming out in a few weeks called How Do Eye Luv You. You can get a sneak peek at it on her Myspace page.  :-)

[APR 19] Bruce fans, there is a review of Life & The Romantic posted on SoulTracks.com.  Some of you might recognize the reviewer as the same guy who wrote a number of glowing Donna articles last year.  :-)

[MAR 29] Bruce Sudano fans - you can grab Life & The Romantic on  iTunes and Amazon's download services now. (I checked a few of the iTunes stores and it seems to be available in all of Europe and in Canada, as well as in the USA.)  If a CD is more your style (or your country doesn't have a viable download service), head over to BruceSudano.com to order a copy.  :-)

[MAR 15] Bruce fans - if you are wondering about Life & The Romantic,  well I've had a chance to hear it and if you liked Rainy Day Soul then you will definitely like Life & The Romantic. No question about it.  :-)  (As a side bonus, a number of those songs work really well in a iPod playlist with some of the Crayons tracks. ;-) )

[MAR 8] Brooklyn fans - she has signed on for an ABC pilot called Limelight that will be set in a performing arts college. Brooklyn will play a young dancer auditioning for the academy. 

IN STORES:

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Crayons by Donna Summer

Stamp Your Feet (remixes) by Donna Summer

I'm A Fire (remixes) by Donna Summer

Life & The Romantic by Bruce Sudano

1-4 by Johnnyswim

You Made It by Mary Gaines Bernard

EDITORIALS:

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Ken's Korner Update

[MAY 17]

Yes, it's me, I'm back, and ready to cause all sorts of trouble..........................

That said, I am actually going to talk FAVORABLY about a couple of other divas.

First, and sadly, disco legend Viola Wills passed away on May 6th. Viola is best known for her disco cover of "If You Could Read My Mind" and a host of other club songs

I found the notice posted on her official site (www.violawills.com) to be beautifully moving, and I wanted to pass it on.

(Do notice the name of one of her children).
"It is with great sadness that Viola's family report Viola passed peacefully away after a long illness, May 6th 8.27am Pacific Time.
Viola leaves behind six children - Vincent, Christopher, Regina, La Donna, David and Rejal, 21 grandchildren and eight great grandchildren. Viola was just 69 years old. Viola's favourite saying to her family was always "Aim for the sky and always dare to dream"

Viola's service will be held at the Macedonia Abbey Baptist Church
1755 114St
Los Angeles
CA 90059
at 11.30 on May 15 2009
all are welcome. Internment follows at Angeles Abbey Memorial Park
1515 E Compton Blvd
Compton
CA 90221.
On Viola's behalf her family wish a special heartfelt thanks to all of Vi's fans over the years, whom, Vi always said, allowed her dreams to come true. (This line brought a tear to my eye)

[Editor's note: Rest in peace Viola - you will be missed.]


On to another Diva compliment.

Someone sent me links to 4 Stephanie Mills you tube clips from a show she did for the comedian, Sinbad.

Stephanie sings, I Feel Good All Over, Feel The Power, Home, and her mega hit, I Never Knew Love Like This Before, will a passion and sincerity that is becoming all to rare these days.


I will be back in a couple of weeks with a another new Kens Korner that will be 100% Donna, but I wanted to let everyone know where I have been.

In the past 2 years I made the transition from Banking to my new career in publishing, and last summer as Donna was staging the awesome Stamp Your Feet Tour, I was where ever the shows were NOT playing. I was home here in The Hamptons when Donna was playing Boston, and in Boston when Donna played Jones Beach, and the Westhampton Beach Performing Arts Center. This is pretty much how last summer went, but that was last summer.

Happily settled in a routine of working from home, I will be at the show in Brooklyn come heck, high water, or the usual follies of the Long Island Railroad, oh wait a minute, I live on the east end of Long Island, we eschew the LIRR, and ONLY ride The Hampton Jitney. Perhaps the Jitney can run a special charter to the show, after all we east enders, don't do subways either LOL.

As for the show at Coney Island, now gee, where is Donna's husband from ?? What IS the name of her middle daughter ?? Where is her friend, and collaborator Paul Jabara from (and sadly laid to rest) ?? What was the name of Bruce's most famous band ?? This should be some show !

As for Crayons, did I like the CD, oh yes, and you will read all about it in more detail shortly.

One last detail for now, on You Tube, clips of Something's Missing In My Life, and Let It Be, have been relisted, BUT have very low view and comment counts. This needs to be corrected NOW, and if you don't ? Besides a 2:00 am visit from the middle aged, dancing drag queens of the Donna Summer van, your photos will be sent to Madonna letting her know you are available for adoption.

Ken 

Visit Ken on CDNow/Amazon to read his album reviews and Listmanias.

Editor's Note to Ken: The JITNEY?? A local boy on the JITNEY? Where I work we have a word for the Jitney.... only it's against company policy to say it out loud.  ;-)   LIRR to Jamaica, then hop the F train, baby.