Go forward and don't look back. Celebrate, live,love, laugh. Love, Donna

Donna Summer

1948-2012

Last update: June 16, 2013

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Rock Hall Of Fame Update:  The show airs at 9 PM on HBO  tomorrow (May 18) and then will repeat on May 24 at 5 PM and 12:15 AM,  May 26 at 4:10 PM, May 28 at 9:45 PM and 4: 05 AM, May 31 at 12:30 PM, June 1 at 1 PM, June 3 at 1:45 PM, and June 5 at 2:20 AM.  HBO Signature will have a 24 hour marathon starting at Midnight tomorrow, and HBO2 will air it on May 20 at 9:30 AM and 10 PM, May 22 at 12:10 AM, May 30 at 10:55 AM and 10 PM, June 9 at 7:30 AM, and June 30 at 5:30 PM. Whew! That's a lot of airdates!  So if tomorrow at 9 isn't working for you, you have lots of chances to catch up (or watch again... and again... and again...  ;-) ) There is a trailer and selected clips posted here.  (The only Donna stuff is in the trailer, but the Heart fans out there have several clips to enjoy.)

 

News:

Donna Summer: She could sing anything, anywhere, with anyone, at any time.


[JUN 16] Happy Father's Day to all the dads out there!  Let's start with the ARTE TV special in Germany. It will be called Donna Summer: Hot Stuff and it will air on August 17 at 10 PM. It's going to have interviews with family, friends and colleagues . You can read more about it here (in French - ARTE serves both France and Germany). Or you can go with the translation Wolfgang sent me: “Donna Summer – Hot Stuff: Donna Summer dominated the international pop charts in the 70ies with hits like Love To Love You Baby, I Feel Love, Hot Stuff, and Bad Girls. She was the undisputed Queen of Disco. In her career, spanning four decades, she sold more than 130 million records, won 5 Grammy Awards and her song Last Dance an Oscar. In May 2012 she died unexpectedly from lung cancer. The movie maker Lucia Palacios and Dietmar Post make a transatlantic journey to remind us with former friends, members of her family, musicians, and colleagues of the fascinating story of one of the most colorful icons of Pop.

[JUN 16] Idolator has posted an article where Giorgio Moroder (and others) talk about Donna and about Giorgio's "10 Big Music Moments." Naturally they kick it off with I Feel Love.  :-)

[JUN 16] Facebookers: we have yet another magazine posted there. This one is from the UK (1984).

[JUN 16] Let's move on to Johnnyswim because just in case you forgot - they have a new EP coming out  Tuesday followed by a release party in NYC at Rockwood On Wednesday June 19. The EP is called Heart Beats and will have 3 new tracks and 3 previous ones. And just to whet your appetite, they put out the official video to  the title track already. (It would look so nice on MTV or VH1... if either channel played music anymore.  I must be getting old - I remember when both played music videos all day long.  LOL)

[JUN 16] And if you need a little more Johnnyswim in your life - the Tennessean had a nice little piece about the couple  in their blog the other day. 

[JUN 16] That will bring us to the web news. First up on Vimeo are..  well I don't want to say what they are because they tend to disappear quickly.  ;-) Let's just say that they are 3 popular live tracks from the year 2000  - one of which pays tribute to another diva. So here they are, track 1, track 2 and track 3. (Donna OWNED that night!  :-) ) Then over on YouTube, look for this rare (and surprisingly good quality clip) of a young Donna singing Meglio Stasera (It Had Better Be Tonight),  a 1984 interview from the UK, a 20 minute performance/interview segment from 1992 (in Spanish and English), and On The Radio from the Hot Summer Night special.

[JUN 9] Let's start with a call to all the voting fiends out there.  Boston Magazine is polling people on their favorite things in Boston in all sorts of  categories. One of those categories is best musical act and at the moment Aerosmith is kicking butt. Now they are a great band, but I can think of someone else from Boston....  ;-)

[JUN 9] There is a website out there that has a whole collection of ads from the Voice for the Madison Square Garden and Felt Forum concerts.  If you scroll down to October 23, 1978 you will see a copy of the ad for Donna at the Felt Forum.  ($15 for tickets? You can't even get crappy seats for that these days!  LOL)

[JUN 9] Billboard compiled a list of the 50 sexiest songs of all time.  Look who came in at #6. (And #13, and #33 and even #43.)

[JUN 9] In the Donna is everywhere category, the movie Behind The Candelabra (about pianist Liberace) opens with I Feel Love

[JUN 9] German fans - keep an eye on your TV listings. ARTE will be running a special about Donna later this summer. If I get a specific airdate, I'll let you know, but right now I'm hearing July or August.

[JUN 9] For those who need a remix fix, Chris Cox has posted his mix of I Will Love For Love on Soundcloud.

[JUN 9] I think that brings us to YouTube. First up is a promo interview/profile piece that was done in 2008 to promote the Berlin concert. Then we have a nice clear copy of Donna's part of the Rock Hall Of Fame ceremony as broadcast (for the unedited version see the fan videos posted by lstdnce), a clip from the TV show The Doctors about lung cancer with an intro piece about Donna, a MUCH more fun clip of Donna performing with Seal at one of the David Foster concerts, and a classic video for Last Dance.

[JUN 2] Let's start with photos. As many of you know, Harry Langdon did a lot of Donna's photo sessions over the years. He's posted a bunch of his 80s work  and that included some alternate shots that were never released.  He is also selling prints of the photos on his site - it's $50 for an 8x10, but there are also larger sizes available for more money.  Check out pages 3 and 4 of Langon80sFasionArt.com to see Donna. (And since we have people here who are also fans of other divas, I will mention that Harry Langdon also has photos pf people like Cher, Diana Ross, Halle Berry and others. So do a little exploring.)

[JUN 2] Facebookers - we have a couple of Brazilian magazines posted courtesy of a fan.  :-)  Check out Donna Summer Celebridades, and Donna Summer Pop Music

[JUN 2] Let's move on to Johnnyswim. Their new EP, Heart Beats will be out on June 18 with a release party at Rockwood in NYC on June 19.  (Pardon me while I go do my happy Snoopy dance.  :-) ) If you need a fix before then - head to Manchester TN where they will be playing June 13, 14, and 15. Then later this year, they will be at the Rocky Mountain Folk Festival August 17,  then at Mohegan Sun's Wolf Den on September 13, the 17 Days Festival in NC on  September 26 and the University of TN on  September 27. As always, watch Johnnyswim.com for updates to the tour schedule.

[JUN 2] While we are on the subject of Johnnyswim, check out the interview they did for the Charleston City Paper another one for  The Post And Courier, a short article in the Tryon Daily Bulletin, a review from the Charleston City Paper, and another review from The Post And Courier.

[JUN 2] That brings us to YouTube. First up is a Stars on 45 Donna Medley, Melody Of Love from what may be a European TV show, the alternate vocal of Can't We Just Sit Down, Last Dance from Live & More Encore and just for something a  little different, a live Barbra Streisand clip that includes Enough Is Enough. (I'm really gonna miss Donna and Mary doing that one!)

[JUN 1] It's a new month, so it's time for a new Summer Fever Pick. This time, it's The Wanderer. (Hello record labels... we could use a remaster/reissue on this one, Go beg the estate for a chance to do it!  ;-) )

[MAY 31] Woot! My site was having server issues the last couple days, so I couldn't upload any updates until now. (So I guess I should change May 28 to May 31?)

[MAY 28] I have an update to yesterday's update.  LOL The alternate Can't We Just Sit Down is also available on iTunes - it's part of the 2013 remastered I Remember Yesterday. I would assume (even though assuming is usually a bad thing  LOL) that we'll also see it on Amazon, etc soon. I was also noticing that a lot of the old Universal albums have been remastered and reissued on Island Def Jam this year. (Watch out for Once Upon A Time - iTunes has both the remastered and the original posted. All the other remasters show only the new versions available.) And, be still my heart! Live & More has the MacArthur Park Suite on it again.  And if the time listing is accurate - they have the RIGHT VERSION!!! Excuse me while I go do my happy dance now!  Now we just have to get someone to do the same for the Geffen and Atlantic albums. ;-)

[MAY 27] Happy Memorial Day everyone! To all the service people (and of course their families) out there: Thank you for your service and your sacrifices!  First up, the May 17 update moved down the page so I can get back to normal with the news. 

[MAY 27] So let's start with the Cancer Society ad I mentioned in a previous update. Rather than just throw it up here on the page where you have to see it, I'm just going to give you a link.  That way if you think you aren't in the right frame of mind to see it, you don't have to look.  (And you can right click and save that link if you want to keep a copy of the ad for yourself.)

[MAY 27] In Rock Hall Of Fame news, I haven't seen the show yet (no HBO here but working on getting access to a copy  ;-) ) but it is my understanding that they snipped a but of both Bruce's and Kelly's speeches. It was inevitable that something would get trimmed - the taping was over 5 hours. Thank god for the fan videos on YouTube!  :-)  For those who are also waiting for a chance to see the broadcast - there are still more airdates coming (see the list above) and if you don't get HBO... well, there are always friends. (In fact my friend Mr. Google is usually very helpful.) 

[MAY 27] Rolling Stone had an article with Lou Adler and Quincy Jones talking about this year's RHOF inductions. Quincy had this to say about Donna: "I produced her just before I produced Thriller, so it's really meaningful, because it's recognizing her ability. That's what it's about really."

[MAY 27] Stargayzing.com has a nice 1 year later memorial article on Donna.  And The QH Blend blog has a look at "The (Other) Shades of Donna Summer's Rainbow."  Now with a title like that, you KNOW the author is one of us even before you peek at the song list.  :-)

[MAY 27] In release news, There is a site called HDTracks.com that sells high quality music downloads. One of the albums they have available is I Remember Yesterday.  I highly recommend checking out the sound clip for Can't We Just Sit Down (And Talk It Over). It sounds a bit different from what we are used to.

[MAY 27] Giorgio Moroder fans - he spun his first US DJ set ever recently - just going to show that it's never too late to try something new.  :-)  Of course he played I Feel Love. (Really, how could he not?)  Spin has an article accompanied by a video clip of Giorgio spinning I Feel Love. Of course that wasn't the only Donna track he sneaked in. You can hear the whole set here.  And you can read more about it here. And if you want more Giorgio, read his interview in TimeOut NY.

[MAY 27] As many of you know, there was talk of Justin Timberlake doing a film called Spinning Gold about Neil Bogart. The film has apparently been picked up by Sony and will begin filming some time next year. 

[MAY 27] Facebookers, a fan over there has posted an entire Spanish magazine dedicated to Donna. You can see it here.

[MAY 27] Let's move to Johnnyswim for a minute.  :-)  Check out Christa Black's blog where she talks to Amanda about self-image.

[MAY 27] And that brings us to YouTube.  Let's start with God Bless America in honor of the holiday today, then we have a clip from the movie Off The Menu about the last days of Chasens. (Some of you may recall that's where Donna got the inspiration for She Works Hard For The Money - and if you don't remember that, well just watch the clip. It's all explained.)  Then we have a live clip from Universal Studios Mardi Gras, and a clip of Giorgio Moroder playing On The Radio at his DJ set. (The sound quality is really rough but you can see that the dancers were getting into it.  :-) ) And finally Giorgio's full DJ set - it's no different from the audio link I posted above, but the YouTube version does include a list of the tracks used.

[MAY 12] Happy Mother's Day to all the mothers out there!

[MAY 12] First things first - don't forget on May 17 to mark the 1 year anniversary of Donna's passing, we're going to buy Sand On My Feet (and hopefully make it chart!) and we try to do some random act of charity or kindness. That way we honor the musical legacy and the humanitarian legacy.  You can get Sand On My Feet at Amazon, Amazon UK , iTunes and other MP3 sellers.  :-)

[MAY 12] And I know you haven't forgotten that The Rock Hall Of Fame Ceremony airs Saturday May 18 on HBO at 9 PM. The bad news is that the ceremony took about 5 hours so it had to be cut down for broadcast. The good news is I saw Jennifer Hudson plugging the show on Rachel Ray the other day, so that means they aren't cutting Donna out. 

[MAY 12] The June issue of Essence Magazine features a Cancer Society advertisement featuring Donna. Sadness alert: it features a classic photo of her holding a bunch of AMA awards. And over it they have printed a "to do" list  with things like "become a mom" and "win 5 Grammy awards" crossed off, and other things like "attend grandchildren's college graduations" left uncrossed off. And the list is followed by her name and 1948-2012. It's part of their Life List campaign. I couldn't find an online link to show you yet, so I'll try to get a picture of it one of these days.

[MAY 12] in release news, Playlist: The Very Best Of Donna Summer is coming out May 21. [Amazon, Amazon UK] The track list is up now and it's the live part of Live & More Encore

[MAY 12] Oh, I don't think I mentioned that Donna has an official Instagram page now. It's run by the same guy who does Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest.  :-) He's doing a great job too.  (I especially love it when he follows people on Twitter and they freak out because they think Donna is following them from the afterlife.  LOL)

[MAY 12] That brings us to YouTube. First up is MacArthur Park and Last Dance from The Today Show concerts, Donna covering Rod Stewart, the State Of Independence video, and State Of Independence from a TV appearance. And finally, also from The Today Show concerts, Bad Girls and Love To Love You. That was the FIRST time she had performed Love To Love You in any way shape or form in many years. (My jaw STILL hurts from when it dropped to the floor when I heard that bassline kick in!  LOL) I will be back on Friday (May 17) with some sort of an update to mark the anniversary. I will also bring you the online version of Pages From The Heart that day.

[MAY 10] A fan over on Facebook came up with a great idea - on May 17, let's all buy another copy of Sand On My Feet in Donna's honor. Hopefully if enough of us get behind it, we can get it on the sales charts.  :-)  Why Sand On My Feet? Well aside from it being a really nice song that fits this time of year, there is only one version of it. So our efforts won't be dispersed among several different releases.  :-)  You can grab the song on Amazon, Amazon UK and iTunes. And I would still like everybody to do something nice for someone else on May 17 - maybe buy a friend a copy of Sand On My Feet?  ;-)

[MAY 5] Happy Cinco de Mayo everyone! First things first - my MS Walk was today, and because you guys came through for me in a big way, I ditched my team t-shirt in favor of my Donna Summer gear. The photo below is me with my team Captain, Courtney who says: "Thanks to all the Donna Summer fans who made walk MS a big success!" Thanks to all who contributed and I will be getting back to you a bit sooner than I did last year.

In case you can't tell, I'm wearing my Crayons street team shirt, my Crayons hoodie, and the button on my had is one I had made in Donna's memory. And for the record the camera in my phone is really bad.  In person I'm really svelte and much younger.  ;-)

[MAY 5] In other news, I just need to put some final touches on the Pages from the Heart book before I send it out. And I will make the website page available on or shortly before May 17.  Thanks to all who wrote something. I think it will be nice for the family to have something tangible to show our appreciation for all the years they put up with our craziness. (I never could figure out why they didn't sell tour straightjackets ever...  ;-) ) 

[MAY 5] AND with May 17 right around the corner, I would like to suggest once more that on that day we all make an effort to perform a random act of charity or kindness on that day to honor Donna's memory.  What you do is strictly up to your own imaginations and abilities. You could donate money, you could donate time, you could say a prayer for someone, or you could just refrain from strangling that coworker who seems to deserve it so much!  LOL Whatever works for you.

[MAY 5] Johnnyswim fans - they appeared on the Today Show the other day! Go Amanda and Abner!  :-)  The performance is online on the Today website, but I strongly suspect that it is region locked. (A Google search may show you how to work around that.... maybe.  ;-) )

[MAY 5] That brings us to YouTube. We have Last Dance live from 2011, She Works Hard For The Money and Dinner With Gershwin from the Late Show (1987), a remix of You're So Beautiful,  and for you videogame fans out there - I Feel Love from Let's Dance 3.

[MAY 1] Happy May Day everyone! It's a new month, so it's time for a new Summer Fever Pick. This time, it's Bad Girls. (And that's a great one to showcase our Rock & Roll Hall Of Famer!  :-) )

[APR 28] Let's start off today with a request. There are some people in Germany working on a documentary about Donna and they are looking for fan footage from the Berlin 2009 concert. This is the real deal - something Donna herself knew about and approved of before she passed, so if you have something you are willing to share let me know and I'll hook the right people up with you.  :-)

[APR 28] If you are on Facebook or the forum then you know a couple of "new" photos of Donna have surfaced. I also have another older "new" photo that came to my email recently.  First up the Facebook leaks:

The person who originally had them said they are from the Ordinary Girl book photo shoot. And I have to agree. One shot has the same wig and in another you can see that it is the same outfit. 

[APR 28] The other "new" picture is from Germany and you can thank Guenter Lauke - the guy behind Family Tree. He was also working with Donna on something about her years in Germany. Sigh. 

[APR 28] In the world of covers, one of the American Idol Top 4 covered Donna's version of MacArthur Park

[APR 28] Brooklyn Sudano fans, she was on ABC's Body Of Proof recently. The episode is called Disappearing Act and you can watch it online on ABC's website. (Well US viewers can, I'm not sure about other countries. It wouldn't surprise me if the episode was region-locked.)

[APR 28] And that brings us to YouTube. I gave you all the RHOF clips in the lat updates, so let's go with Papa Can You Hear Me from the Oscars, a Madonna vs. Donna mashup called I'm A Fire/Burning Up, the Melody Of Love video, and another Madonna/Donna mashup called Secret/Spring Affair.

[APR 23] OK, for those of you who missed Facebook or the forum, we have more RHOF videos out there.  On YouTube look for Bruce's complete speech, Kelly Rowland's complete speech, and another copy of the film they used right before the speeches. And I just saw that Bad Girls and Last Dance (as performed by Jennifer Hudson) are up too. Put it all together and you got the whole thing.  :-)

[APR 21] Here's a quick addition to yesterday's update. Part of Bruce's speech has hit YouTube. It's the part where he thanks people - including the fan base.  :-)

[APR 20] Before I get started - kudos to the people of Boston both for the way you handled yourselves in the wake of the Boston Marathon, and for catching the guys so quickly! The lesson here is: Don't screw with Boston!  

[APR 20] So lets call this the weekly update, but who knows? I may have to come back again.  :-)  So, um... nothing at all happened this week. Nope, can't think of a single thing worth writing about.....   ;-)  I am teasing of course. Let's go back to the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame. Where to start?  Pictures maybe? A search for Donna Summer at Getty Images or Wire Image will get you plenty to start with. A search for Sudano ay Getty Images or Wire Image will get you even more. And if you search at Getty Images or Wire Image  for Jennifer Hudson, you will see a whole bunch of her performing at the ceremony (some with the huge photo of Donna in the background!)  And of course a search for Kelly Rowland at Getty or WireImage will show you a whole bunch from the induction speech.  Thank you ladies for doing such a nice job in Donna's honor.  :-)

[APR 20] Oh it just occurred to me that some of you don't know who is who in the family pictures, and it doesn't help that some of the captions I have seen have been wrong.  If you look at any pictures of the four of them on stage  when Bruce made the speech, the family members are (from left to right): Brooklyn Sudano, Bruce Sudano, Mimi Sommer, and Amanda Sudano.

[APR 20] I know you want video, but that's a bit hard to come by at the moment. (The Rush fans seem to be the most active YouTubers at the moment. I think they just may be as vociferous as we are!  LOL) Right now there is a montage of performance clips from the ceremony, and a copy of the film they showed for Donna's induction. I know other things have been recorded by people - they just haven't found their way to the net yet. 

[APR 20] I did see a bit of Bruce's speech (eagerly awaiting a chance to see the whole thing!  LOL)  so I thought I'd share this part of what he said: And for those of you who have never seen a Donna Summer concert, well she was just something else. But she would take a crowd all the way up, and then she would take them all the way down to the intimacy of a really poignant moment. And then the next minute you'd be laughing hysterically because she was just such a funny girl. And then she would rock you. Then she'd take you to an inspirational moment - sing a gospel song. And then she'd just take you all the way out, and you'd leave that concert....  Sorry that's where my clip ended so I can't finish the sentence. But I agree wholeheartedly with every word.  :-)

[APR 20] And of course we have media coverage of the event. Let's just get some of those links up here for you.

Yahoo's article
K-Earth 101 (quotes from both speeches, but I wish they would have spelled Bruce's name right)
Boston Globe  (thanks for taking the time even though you had WAY more serious things going on over there)
Cleveland.com (part of a profile on all the inductees)
Cleveland.com (you can replay the live chat that was going on during the ceremony - this is the chat I followed on the night)
Boston.com
Today Show Entertainment Blog
Spin.com's 20 Coolest Tributes to the Class of 2013
Mercury.com's 11 Best Moments from the RHOF ceremony
A Writer In The World Blog (about Donna's worthiness of the RHOF)
WKSU ( a sampling of the class of 2013)

[APR 20] Oh I almost forgot. Christina Aguilera was scheduled to perform at the RHOF ceremony, but as you all know by now she was "mysteriously" a no-show.  Perez Hilton cracked the mystery - Christina was sick with a nasty upper respiratory bug. (All mysteries should be so easy to solve!)  If Christina Aguilera finds this - I hope you are feeling better.  :-)

[APR 20] And just a reminder - an edited version of the ceremony will air on HBO on May 18. (The ceremony went on for 5 hours, they pretty much HAVE to edit it.)

[APR 20] In other news, American Idol paid homage to Donna in their recent episode. They opened the show with the top 5 performing a medley of Donna songs

[APR 20] Those of you who were at the Crayons concerts may remember that when Donna performed Sand On My Feet, the photo on the screen behind her was one she had taken herself from the window of her Florida home. Well that home has now been sold. You can see a photo of the home with this article and more photos here. (Beautiful property!)

[APR 20] There is a movie called Food Fight that uses a song called You Got Me Believing written by Donna and Bruce. The song is performed by the Brooklyn Dreams. The movie is available on DVD in some countries already [Amazon UK] and is coming out soon in others. (The US release date is May 7  according to Amazon.) The film has some rather interesting reviews, so you might want to take a look at those. You can see the movie online here. Go to about 81:45 for the song.

[APR 20] And I think that brings us to YouTube. Let's go with a Rock Hall Of Fame theme this week. First up is Gallery Talk - a companion to the RHOF exhibit in Cleveland. Then we have a piece on the class of 2013,  a piece on the ceremony with a nice piece of Kelly Rowland's speech (that's at about :30),  and another VERY short piece on the RHOF.

[APR 18 again] It's official - Donna was just inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame minutes ago.  Let me give you what I have pieced together from social media, a live chat and a love blog. For those of you who follow me on Facebook - this is  just the same stuff I posted there. Let's start  with the ceremony. Kelly Rowland did the actually induction followed by emotional speech by Bruce. Then Jennifer Hudson rocked the house with Bad Girls and Last Dance. Christina Aguilera was apparently a no-show, and I don't know why yet.  (She probably got sick or something.)  That's the bare bones account of the induction. Now let me quote something from a live blog of the ceremony done by Hitfix.com

9:15: Donna Summer's being inducted, but we're missing it. Booker T. Jones is in the press room. I asked him his favorite Albert King memory: "My best memory was when I was asked to write for him. Jones and William Bell wrote the song, and Jones says he wasn't sure about it (how hard to believe it that?), until they got into the studio. "We started the first four bars and he played that guitar lick. I was 19 years old and there I was playing with a blues god." 

9:16: Summer's widower and his three daughters are accepting her award If Donna was here tonight, she's be gracious, she'd be funny, she was a very funny girl," he says, though adding she wasn't "very big on awards...She was about what's coming next," so much so that he could never get her to record a standards album. He thanks the fans for their "care and prayer" over the last year since Summer died, and, appropriately, all of the DJs, club and otherwise.

9:22: Kelly Rowland, who inducted Summer, just asked Flavor Flav for a clock. Man, you know he's going to grab that mic from Chuck D when Public Enemy's induction comes. "I need to know what time it is... " Jennifer Hudson, dressed in a glittery jumpsuit straight out of the disco era, and with big Summer-like hair, is singing "Bad Girls," although she seemingly forgot the words the second verse. She's now singing "Last Dance" to Flavor Flav who's about to hijack the proceedings. Hudson seems off her game.Christina Aguilera was supposed to perform as well, but she's a no show.

[APR 18] I have a couple of pictures for you to see too. First go to wireimage.com. As of right now, there are several pictures of Bruce and the girls taken when they arrived at the induction ceremony. (There may be more things up there by the time some of you see this.) Then we have this picture from Twitter of Jennifer Hudson performing. (Check out the enormous photo of Donna behind her!  :-) )  And then there is Johnnyswim's photo of I guess the program from the ceremony?  It's on their Twitter feed, and I'm just going to link you to their main feed because they may post more photos later. (They are into Instagram and the like.) The photo I'm talking about now is the one where they say they are so proud to be at the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame ceremony. And just in case you can't view photos for any reason, I have to share the coolest thing about this picture. It's got this nice quote in big bold letters. It says: "Donna Summer. She could sing anything, anywhere, with anyone, at any time."  That quote made my night!  And with that - I'm signing off for the night (at least on the site) and I will be back on the weekend or sooner if I have more stuff to share. :-) 

[APR 18] Tonight's the night! In 12 hours (give or take) Donna will officially be a Rock & Roll Hall Of Famer!  If you are going to the show - make a lot of noise for our diva.  :-)  And if you aren't able to be there - blast those Donna tunes! Wake up the neighborhood!

 

MEMORIAL NEWS PAGE

OLD NEWS ARCHIVES

OTHER NEWS:

[Top]

Quote Of The Week:

[JUN 16]

"I call [my father] the super dad. He is a dad's dad. He's the kind of guy you copy to be like a dad. He -- coming from wherever he came from as a young boy, having come from the South, coming North -- he dealt in his life with a great deal of injustices. And he was someone who could have allowed himself to be beaten down and very bitter. But I think I recognized at a very early age that he had chosen not to go that way, that he had chosen not to allow life to dictate to him. And I think that was always a great inspiration to me."

- Donna Summer, A&E's Biography February 9, 1995

Summer Fever Pick
June 2013:

Click image

 

[MAY 17 2012] 

This is the update I never wanted to write. The one that shouldn't have come for another 20 years or more. And to be honest, I never prepared for this. I suppose that what I'm supposed to do is give you all a run down on Donna's life and career but let's face it - most of you can recite it as well as I can (if not better.) And that's what all the other media outlets are doing anyway. So what should I say?

<snip>

So where to go from here? Donna Summer has passed away. There, I finally made myself say it. Maybe part of me was hoping that if I didn't say it out loud it wouldn't be true. But this is the first time today that I've actually said those words. And it hurts to have to say it. But I know that in time the pain will fade. But the music and the memories will live forever. And while Donna's death makes me cry right now, those memories will always bring a smile back to my face.

To all of Donna's friends and family out there - just let me say how very sorry I am for your loss. I know your pain must be tremendous right now, but know that there are so many of us out here keeping you all in our thoughts and prayers. And if there is any thing at all you need, you have only to ask. 

And Donna, if you can read this where you are - THANK YOU for everything. For the music, for the friends I made because of you and for the kindness you have shown me over the years. I love you and will miss you always. And just so you know - you got the last laugh on me. How many times did you tell people that you could never surprise me - that I always seemed to know what you were doing before you did it? Well, you surprised me today. I hope that makes you chuckle a bit. :-)

(The whole statement is on the archived copy of the Memorial News Page)

 

ONE YEAR LATER

 

Someone (I can't remember who) once said, "Don't cry because it's over. Smile because it happened." That's easy to say, but harder to do, especially at first. But I think a year later, I personally am finding that easier to do. Don't get me wrong, I still sometimes cry. But a year later, I can also smile and laugh too. And I hope many of you are at that point, or are on your way to that point. For those of you who aren't - you will get there someday.  Everybody grieves at their own pace.  

A year ago, after my site crashed from all the excess traffic (and I thought American Idol appearances caused a spike in my hit count!), I logged in to mourn Donna's loss. This year I am celebrating her life. First by grabbing a copy (or 2 or 3 ;-) ) of Sand On My Feet [Amazon, Amazon UK , iTunes], and secondly by making a couple of charitable donations in her name. (Please note that as I am writing this, it's still the 16th here so neither has happened just yet.)  And of course I will be playing music all day long.  :-)  In fact, right now I am listening to Brighton Gay Radio on the internet. They are playing all Donna all day today and tomorrow. As for the site - let's have a little fun! I'm going to share a few of my favorites this time.



Sand On My Feet - the perfect summer song.  :-) 

 



I LOVE this clip so much!  Donna and Barry are having so much fun!
I wish I had been there!

 



Nathan did a brilliant job of capturing the energy of this song live. :-)

 



Stor Dubine has made several animated videos for Donna's songs.
I think this one if my favorite - he has as much fun with
the Diva concept as Donna did.

 



MacArthur Park from Live & More Encore
This one always brings back memories of the night.
We were so excited, and she was so into it -
I always smile when I see it.

 



I would love to have the complete symphonic version of this song.
Just amazing!

 



La Vie En Rose live in Paris. Sigh...

 



This is where I started.  :-)

 

 

I could probably keep adding clips all night, but this page is long enough as it is.  :-) I really did want to include Love Is The Healer from Divas 2000, but it's just not on YouTube anymore. I think VH1 is aggressively protecting their copyright.

 

Looking for Pages From The Heart Encore? (Of course you are!) The web version is here.

 

 

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Ken's Korner

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Continued Reflections…

As we move forward, there still remains the yearning that Donna’s passing was one big nightmare. I’ll have lots more to say in the coming months, but for now I want to focus on a very important key to Donna’s enduring popularity, us, all of us.

I count myself fortunate that all those many years ago, there was something about Donna that crept into my soul, and remained there and grew stronger all through the years. Yes, I am paraphrasing from the songs, The Queen is Back, and Friends Unknown, as I will continue to do through this article

Form attending all those concerts starting back in 1981 I also knew that I was in good company. I was in the company of people who shared not only the common love of all things Donna, but people who are great in their own right. I have found all the Donna fanatics to be a group of kind, funny, smart folks, who in many ways mimic Donna’s personality. Far from simply fans, we are not only loyal to Donna’s music, but to Donna herself, her family, and her chosen family as well. We got to know the members of her touring band, and made them part of our extended family. 

Further despite our rabid loyalty we also knew the bounds that must be respected, and we did. Granted in our younger days we may have been a bit more bold, but we have all matured, and together we have grown. 

Just to give an example of how unique a group of people we are, I need to recall an event from earlier this year. Donna’s good friend and fellow Diva, Diana Ross was one of those artists who through the years never won a Grammy award. In part to make up for this and to honor her the recording academy awarded her a special Grammy Lifetime Award this past winter. When I heard about this I was reminded of something that Donna and Diana have in common, the love of their children, and how fine all the children have turned out. In turn I tried to get a conversation going on Diana’s primary tribute site about this, calling her 3 daughters her finest achievement. This went over like the proverbial lead balloon, and comments ranged from indifference, to one blogger writing back that they could care less about her kids. I was shocked, but then realized what a different group of people these are. 

We are in VERY good company.

I will continue to write my column, and I have decades of Donna memories to draw on.
Not to mention new memories from all of us, and Donna’s family as well.

Special note to Madonna, yes, you have been warned, I am not going anywhere !

Ken

 

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