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

[NOV 17] Greetings all! I guess we can start with the musical this week.  You guys in Brazil will be happy to learn that you will get to see Summer: The Musical some time next year. ABroadwayEAqui.com.br has an article announcing a casting call for the show, so hopefully we will be hearing more soon.  :-)

[NOV 17] Moving on to Bruce - he's got a video now for his new song, In The Garden Of November. Check it out on AmericanHighways.org.

[NOV 17] In Johnnyswim news, new dates are on sale now  for their tour with Lauren Daigle.  Check out their website for ticket info, and maybe even to score some  VIP meet & greet passes.

[NOV 17] Now here's someone I don't get news about often enough - Brooklyn Sudano. :-) She's scored herself a pilot for a show called Last Summer which will be a thriller from Freeform. You can read more about it here,  but it is described as a story that takes place over 3 summers about 2 girls - one who is abducted and one who transforms from awkward outlier, to most popular girl in town, to most despised person in America. Each episode will be told from the point of view of one of the girls. It sounds interesting - can't want to check it out.  :-)

[NOV 17] I think that brings us to YouTube.  Let's start off with a mix that people have been talking about lately - Love On & On the original mix. Next up is  the lost song Ordinary Miracle,  a live acoustic vaulted track called So This Is Lonely, the Ordinary Girl song, No Ordinary Love Song, Donna's live cover of Georgia On My Mind, and finally the unreleased Crayon's track, Run With It.

[NOV 10] Happy Sunday all! And happy Veteran's Day to all the vets out there! Thank you for your service.  :-) Let's start off this week in the land of covers. I mentioned last time that Sam Smith has recorded I Feel Love and that this cover would be used in Target's holiday ads. Well, the holiday ads have started and holy cow, I have heard I Feel Love about a million times already! (And I don't even watch a lot of normal TV.  LOL)

[NOV 10] In musical news, Summer: The Musical is playing the Pantages Theater in Hollywood until November 24. If you are out that way go check it out. And everybody can check out this video celebrating opening night in Hollywood.

[NOV 10] Bruce Sudano fans - check out this clip he posted on Facebook of True Believer filmed at the LOLA concert this past week. Brooklyn Dreams fans can spot Eddie Hokenson on the stage too. Rounding out the crew are Steve Addabbo and Andrew Zehnal.

[NOV 10]  I think that brings us to YouTube. In honor of the Summer Fever Pick, let's look at some of the songs from I Remember Yesterday. First up, Can't We Just Sit Down live. Then we have Love's Unkind live,  Take Me live, I Remember Yesterday live,  and of course I Feel Love live. And finally we have the alternate studio version of Can't We Just Sit Down that turned up unexpectedly on the remastered album a couple of years ago.

[NOV 3] Greetings all! It's a new month so you know that that means - time for the new Summer Fever Pick. This month we look back to I Remember Yesterday.

[NOV 3] Ok, Bruce Sudano fans check out his new single In The Garden Of November available at all the usual places (Spotify, ITunes, Amazon, etc). If you want to catch him live,  he'll be in New York City November 5, Washington DC on November 6, Stamford, CT on November 7 to 10 and then next year he'll be On The Blue Cruise in Miami, FL April 1 to 8. Ticket info for all of those shows is here. And you can watch a Facebook video of him listing al the dates. And speaking of Facebook videos, Bruce was live from the couch with In A Stormy Season.

[NOV 3] Moving into the land of covers, there is a new cover out there of I Feel Love by Sam Smith.  According to Rolling Stone, it will be used in Target's holiday campaign. (The article also includes the song so you can check it out for yourself.)

[NOV 3] I think that brings us to YouTube.  I was sent a couple of clips in my email this week, so I'm gonna start with them and see where that leads me. First up an interview for Entertainment Las Vegas Style (including some performance clips),  Donna and Bruce Roberts talking about (and performing) Whenever There is Love from 1996, that lead me to Donna on Arsenio Hall in 1989,  which lead me to Anyway At All on Jay Leno,  and that lead me to Try A Little Tenderness with Joss Stone in 2005. And finally in honor of the Sam Smith cover, I think we should take a look at the original I Feel Love. (Do your best robot dance as you play it!  LOL)

[OCT 27] Happy Sunday all!  To my friends in California in the fire zones - please stay safe! Fire is nothing to mess around with!

[OCT 27] Let's start with Bruce this week. I have already mentioned that he is playing with Dave Navarro in Washington DC November 6.  He is also playing at Lola (Coney Island Baby NYC) in New York City (with friends) on November 5 (Election Day - do NOT forget to go out and vote!) at 9PM with proceeds benefitting HeadCount -  a non-partisan group that promotes voter registration/voting. (Seriously, did I mention that you need to go out and VOTE?) You can get ticket info here, and if you  have an "I Voted" sticker, you get a free CD. The venue is 21 and over which I am sure is not a problem for the vast majority of my readers.  :-)

[OCT 27] Moving on to Johnnyswim where we have some BIG news!  Some of you may know Chip and Joanna Gaines from their show Fixer Upper. Well they've been friends with (and fans of) Johnnyswim for quite awhile now. And now they are starting their own network called Magnolia. The first show announced for the new network is a 6 episode original series called Home On The Road. The show will follow Johnnyswim (and family and crew)  as they tour North America.  Look for that some time in October 2020.  Read more about the show here, and watch a teaser on Instagram.  And read a little more about Johnnyswim here.

[OCT 27] I think that brings us to YouTube. Let's see if we can make a Halloween theme. First up is She Works Hard For The Money featuring Donna in costume as a waitress. (It also features various Disney characters - I leave it up to you if that counts as people in costumes.  ;-) ) Then we have Sunset People and Bad Girls from the 1980 TV Special. That features Donna in a few different costumes. Up next is Donna with Prince Poppycock on America's Got Talent, then Slide Over Backwards with Donna dressed up as her alter ego Hattie Mae,  some Another Place & Time footage  featuring Donna in the famous kabuki makeup, and finally the two episodes of Family Matters with Donna - Aunt Oona and Pound Foolish. Oh wait - we also have this strange clip.  LOL (Fair warning - for some reason my Firefox browser won't play it, but Chrome does. So if you have an issue, give another browser a shot if you can.)

[OCT 27] And finally, since Halloween is this week, I have this message for you - and yes you can click it for a larger version:

[OCT 20] Greetings all! Lets start off this week with Donna Summer Day in Cleveland.  Another article popped up this week about it, and it includes video of Mimi in the Rock Hall Of Fame with both dresses that were loaned to the hall.  The first one if the one from Four Seasons Of Love, and I'm sure I have seen Donna in the second one - and someday it will come to me where!  LOL Check it out at WKYC.com - oh and the clips they show from the musical are from the Broadway company.

[OCT 20] I mentioned last time that Bad Girls is being used in the new Charlie's Angels trailer. Well, the song is also listed in the  of the soundtrack album as well.  :-)  Look for t hat November 1.

[OCT 20] Bruce Sudano fans - check out his interview with Song Facts. It covers Bruce's whole career from his early days  learning to write songs with Tommy James up to the work he's doing now. And don't forget that Bruce is performing (along with Dave Navarro) at the Mansion  on O Street in Washington DC on November 6. If you want to go, you can reserve your seats here.

[OCT 20] I think that brings us to YouTube.  Last week I gave you a list of clips by rikymira1 exploring Donna's whole career, but one part was missing.  Well part 4 is back covering the 80s. You can see it here. And if you missed the other parts, explore rikymira1's YouTube channel. They are worth a look! And since I'm in a Live & More Encore sort of mood tonight, let's check out some clips from the turn of the millennium.  First up is a medley  from a 1999 German TV appearance. Then we have the music video for I Will Go With You,  My Life from the Live & More Encore concert, Donna on Queen Latifah's show singing Love Is The Healer,  Donna on Oprah singing I Will Go With You, and finally MacArthur Park and Last Dance from the Today Show concert series.  (See if you can spot yourself if you were there.  :-) )

[OCT 13] Happy Sunday all! Let's start off with the musical this week.  As I write this, Summer: The Musical is playing in Cleveland, OH which you might recognize as also being the home of the Rock & Roll Hall of  Fame.  Put those 2 fact together and you wind up with Donna Summer Day at the Rock Hall where Mimi presented 2 of  Donna's dresses to the museum.  By sheer coincidence, one of those dresses is the one you see on this month's Summer Fever Pick.  :-) They didn't say what the other one was, so if any of you decide to visit the museum, let me know.  :-)

[OCT 13] Also in musical news - there is new merchandise available on the website. They have a Last Dance hoodie, a national tour poster, and a Hot Stuff enamel pin.  And I can't remember - is the metallic Hot Stuff mug new? The ornament is gone - at least for now.

[OCT 13] In the Donna's music is everywhere category - the Netflix show, The Politician, used I feel Love in episode 4. (I have to check that show out - I have heard good things about it.) Also, there is a new Charlie's Angels film coming out and they are using a mix of Bad Girls in the trailer. (It starts about halfway in... and these are not the Angels I remember from the 70s.  LOL)

[OCT 13] And speaking of remixes.... a new one has surfaced for Whenever There Is Love. It's called the Warren Rigg Vocal Mix.

[OCT 13] Moving on to Bruce. Yes, he and his guitar have been hanging out on the couch (and on Facebook) again making videos.  The first is his version of I Cast All My Cares Upon You. The next is a mashup of a new song Bruce is working on and a cover of The Letter. And of course we still have his video With Him out there on YouTube. If you haven't seen that, go check it out. And if you like it, share it! The more views it gets, the easier it is for Bruce to get gigs - which means the easier it is for us to see him live!   :-)

[OCT 13] I think that brings us to YouTube and this week I have something unusual for you.  A very dedicated fan (using the YouTube handle rikymira1)  put together a massive 6 part tribute to Donna that covers her whole career - starting in the 60s and going right up to 2011.  I can't even imagine how long it took to put this all together! So here we go: part 1 (starts with Hair),   part 2 (starts with I Remember Yesterday),  part 3 (starts with Last Dance),  part 4 is missing but it would cover the 80s,  part 5 (starts with When Love Cries), and then there is the final part (starting with The Power Of One). Standing ovation for the effort (and love!) that went into this tribute.  :-)

[OCT 6] Greetings all! It's a new month so it's time for a new Summer Fever Pick.  So this time we ring in Autumn with the  Four Seasons Of Love.

[OCT 6] I guess we can start with the musical. As you know, the Summer: The Musical tour started in Rochester. Broadwayworld.com has a review of the show. And the Akron Beacon Journal has an article about Summer's costume designer.

[OCT 6] Bruce Sudano fans -  catch him live November 3 at the Philadelphia Folksong Society at 7PM. For details and  tickets, check out  Eventbrite.com. In the meantime, you can also check out Bruce's latest Facebook video.... well he didn't call it live from the couch, but it looks like he's on the couch.  LOL It's a song called For The Sake Of Humanity.  (It's a very timely message.)

[OCT 6] Mary Bernard fans - she will be celebrating Donna's birthday again this year with a concert in DelRay Beach FL on December 31 at the Old School Square Pavilion.  For more info and to get tickets, head on over here.  :-)

[OCT 6] Last time I mentioned that Bob Esty had passed away. The Hollywood Reporter has posted his obituary on its website, as has BroadwayWorld.com, and 5Mag.net.

 [OCT 6] In the Donna's music is everywhere category, someone put together a 3 minute song that's a mix of samples from 50 songs from 1979.  It's really clever and really good. I can't even imagine how long it took to get it right.  :-) And yes, of course Donna is in there.  Oh and it's not just audio samples - they actually used clips from all the various videos too.

[OCT 6] That brings us to YouTube. So let's celebrate our new Summer Fever Pick.  First up is a liveandmore video for  Autumn Changes.  Then we have a slideshow set to Summer Fever, Spring Affair on Soul Train,  and Winter Melody from the same Soul Train appearance.  There is also a rare video for Winter Melody, a live clip of Summer Fever, and a performance of Spring Affair from a rather odd looking TV show. (Donna's performance is fine - I'm trying to figure out what the hosts are sitting on and why they have a monkey....)

[SEP 29] Happy Sunday all! This week we start off with sad news.  A couple of weeks ago I posted a GoFundMe for  producer/arranger/songwriter Bob Esty to cover his hospice expenses. Well, unfortunately Bob has succumbed to his illness.  My deepest condolences to his family, friends and fans.  Bruce posted a nice tribute to Bob Esty on his Facebook page.

[SEP 29] Moving on to Donna. You guys will like this.  :-) Groovefunkel has posted a new mix of Last Dance.  It's called the Groovefunkel Alternate Vocal Remix.  (Yes you read that right - ALTERNATE vocal!)  You can listen to it on YouTube, or you can download it on the Groovefunkel website.

[SEP 29] In the Donna's music is everywhere category, the TV show Dancing With The Stars Premiered a couple of weeks ago and one of the contestants did the cha cha to She Works Hard For The Money. (I linked you to the part of the video where she starts her performance.  But they have some rehearsal footage as well if you want to see it.)

[SEP 29] Mary Gaines Bernard fans - I don't know how I missed posting this before but,  Mary has posted a video with highlights of her  show, "once Upon A Time: A Donna Summer Celebration".

[SEP 29] In musical news, I heard from a fan that Summer: The Musical is coming to Toronto March 10 - 22, 2020 at the Princess Of Wales Theater. Now, it's not on the theater website yet, but it's not uncommon for subscribers to get info in the mail before it hits the web for the general public.

[SEP 29] Disco fans: our buddies Andrea and Giovanni have published a book about Disco called "La Storia della Disco Music." (Yes, that's in Italian.  :-) ) You can expect lots of Donna in the book and if you are a Facebook person, you can check out their page to keep up with all the news about the book.

[SEP 29] I think that brings us to YouTube. In honor of the late Bob Esty, let's look at some vintage Once Upon A Time clips.  First up, the title track.  Then we have a fan video for Faster & Faster,  a fan video for Rumour Has It, an extended version of I Love You, a fan video for Queen For A Day,  and even though it's not from Once Upon A Time, I have to include the video for Last Dance. Rest in Peace Bob Esty. (And say hi do Donna for us.)

[SEP 22] Greetings all! Can you believe it? Summer is already over and autumn is here.  Ok, let's start off with Bruce this week. He's got a new EP, Stories Of Our Lives Vol 1, coming out next spring, but lucky for us he released a track from it already. The song is called With Him, and it comes with a very powerful video.  The song is about a bad breakup told from the point of view of the person scorned. Read more about it and check out the video here.

[SEP 22] In the Bruce's music is everywhere category... you might remember a song called Hollywood Knights that Bruce recorded with the rest of the Brooklyn Dreams.  (It's on YouTube if you need to refresh your memory.) Well, it's been sampled in a song called Good Day that has been used in a McDonald's McCafe commercial.

[SEP 22] Johnnyswim fans - guess what, there are new tour dates! Starting February 20 they are hitting the road with Lauren Daigle for a tour that will go until July 18. Tickets are already on pre-sale, but if you sign up for Johnnyswim's email list you can get advance notification of ticket on sale dates and you might even be able to score some VIP meet and greet passes.  :-)

[SEP 22] Moving on to Summer: The Donna Summer Musical... as you know, the touring production is gearing up for their first performances in Rochester, NY starting September 29.  So of course there is going to be some promotion in the media. Playbill.com has a video of various members of the company talking about Donna's music, the show, etc.  They also have a video of "Disco Donna" Alex Hairston performing Hot Stuff and talking about her role. (Please note, she is not in costume for this performance.)

[SEP 22] The Lifetime Channel has  a morning show called The Balancing Act. They have a segment called Broadway Balances America that will launch September 30 and will go behind the scenes of 4 Broadway touring companies.  They will feature Summer on December 10 and 31 (how appropriate!) at 7:30 AM.  If you want an idea of what Broadway Balances America is like, they have a play list of past year's episodes on YouTube.

[SEP 22] I think that brings us to YouTube. In honor of the changing seasons, let's start with Autumn Changes.  Then we'll do some long form TV stuff in honor of it being Emmy night as well. So first up for that is the 1980 TV Special, then we have the Hot Summer Night Special for HBO,  live in Lloret de Mar Spain,  and finally a live concert from Japan.

[SEP 15] Happy Sunday all! Let's start off with Summer: The Musical. As you know the company is getting ready to hit the road. They recently gave a preview rehearsal performance for the media and of course al the usual places covered it.  Broadwayworld.com has photos, Playbill has some photos,  and Broadway.com has some video on their YouTube channel.  Please note - as they are in the rehearsal space, they are not using the set or the full costumes/wigs.

[SEP 15] Johnnyswim fans - they will be performing at Silobration October 18 to 19 in Waco, TX.  They also have a few more upcoming dates in October in Georgia and South Carolina.

[SEP 15] Earlier this year, The Guardian posted Giorgio Moroder's top 20 songs.  Of course Donna is on that list - and if you didn't guess that I Feel Love would be on the top of that list, well then I guess you are new here.  LOL

[SEP 15] I'm sure most of you guys know who Bob Esty is. He's an arranger, producer and songwriter who worked with a whole bunch of people - including Donna of course. (And if you want to know more about him, read his interview with Sebastiano on DonnaSummer.it.) Anyway, this summer he was diagnosed with metastatic gastro-intestinal cancer and now he's been admitted to hospice care.   :-(  One of his friends has set up a GoFundMe to raise money for Bob's care.  If you would like to contribute, here is the link.

[SEP 15] I'm sure a lot of you also know who John Billings is too - at least if you ever saw Donna perform live in the later part of her career. He's the blonde bass player who used to have really long hair.  (Donna dances with him during Randy's lead guitar solo in Hot Stuff  - go watch Live & More Encore and you'll see.)  Anyway, if you are going to be in Nashville September 17, you can catch John at Wine Down Nashville talking about his life in music with Donna and others he has worked with over the years.  And if you go - make sure you say hi to John. He's a really nice guy.

[SEP 15] I think that brings us to YouTube. Let's start with an interview with John Billings where he talks about being in Donna's band, and a clip of Hot Stuff from Live & More Encore. Then we have Bob Esty talking about working with Donna.  Moving on,  we have an interesting slow mix of The Woman In Me - the Ivan Sash slowdance edit and one for Sentimental - the DJ Jay C Special Tough Extended Mix). And finally, On The Radio from Live & More Encore. I post this because a photo from that concert recently turned up on Facebook and people were having fun spotting themselves in the audience. And I remember when this clip came out ahead of the TV special, people were having fun spotting themselves in this too.  So if you were there that night - see if you can see yourself.  :-)

[SEP 8] Greetings all!  Let's start off with Johnnyswim.  You may remember that they had a Live From The Garage video for Say What You Will. Well, now that recording is available for sale (or stream at all your favorite music services. (iTunes, Amazon, Spotify, etc)

[SEP 8] As you know, Johnnyswim was slated to play in Charleston on September 3. Because of the hurricane, that show was rescheduled to October 24, but you can still read the promo printed by CharlestonCityPaper.com.

[SEP 8] And if you are following Johnnyswim's Touring Toddler sites, Joaquin and friends have a new recipe up for Fruit Galette. (You think he'd come over and cook for me?  LOL)

[SEP 8] Moving on to Donna. In the land of remixes, we have one on YouTube for I Will Go With You labeled "Exec Ears Only."  If you listen to it, you will find that the vocals are a bit different in places than what we are used to.  :-)

[SEP 8] That brings us to YouTube. First up, I clip I'd half forgotten about featuring the making of the video for State Of Independence.  Just note that the interview that goes with it is in German. Then we have Donna in the studio working on Last Dance, and Donna in the studio working on Summer Fever. That interview is also in German, but then dubbed over in French. Then we  have the all-star choir from State Of Independence in the studio and a rehearsal of Enough Is Enough and I Don't Wanna Work That Hard from Live & More Encore.

[SEP 1] Happy Labor Day weekend to my American friends and Happy Sunday to all! Consider this your respite from all the terrible news this weekend - mass shooting in Texas (can this crap STOP already? Congress - DO something! Thoughts and prayers are not working!)  And then of course we have a major hurricane currently demolishing the Bahamas before it heads to Florida? Georgia? The Carolinas?  Please stay safe everyone! (On and when I said "demolishing" - that wasn't an exaggeration. The pictures I've seen are heartbreaking."

[SEP 1] So moving on to fun stuff.. it's a new month so we need a new Summer Fever Pick. And this time it's A Love Trilogy. (I think we can all use a little love these days, right?  :-) )

[SEP 1] Let's start with Johnnyswim (who are STILL on tour until at least October 5.) They have a show scheduled for Tuesday September 3 in Charleston, SC.  Well, they HAD a show scheduled for that date. Because of the hurricane (and the mandatory evacuation that goes with it), the show is being rescheduled to Thursday October 24. All tickets previously purchased for September 3 WILL BE HONORED for October 24. If there are any questions at all, please contact the box office.  In the meantime - stay safe!

[SEP 1] Bruce Sudano fans - catch him and Larry Mitchell Saturday September 7 at Friday's Creek Winery in Owings, MD from 6:30 to 9:30. (Somebody should buy him a glass of red at sunset.  ;-) )

[SEP 1] Moving on to Donna, last week I had some YouTube clips of rare Donna songs, one of which was The Planet Is Alive.  That was recorded for a special about the Pope in 1987. Well YouTube's Suecase Hall got inspired to update the video to fit with today's situation - in particular the fires in the Amazon rainforest.  He did a beautiful job - see it here.  Of course that got more people interested in the song, so here is what I have learned. It was originally recorded in 1985 by Sarah Vaughan under the title Let It Live for an album called The Planet Is Alive... Let It Live! Writing credits for the song are listed as Music by Lalo Schifrin and lyrics by Gene Lees.  If you want to here her version, YouTube has it.

[SEP 1] In the land of remixes, we have a mix of I Will Go With You that's listed as an Exec-Ears-Only demo.  Listen to the vocals carefully - there are some differences! Then we have a mix called Come On Baby which samples a little of If It Hurts Just A Little.

[SEP 1] I think that brings us to YouTube. This first one is a special request - although I did cheat a little.  He requested the song, but I picked the video of the song - this one is a fan video of Let There Be Peace and I would like to dedicate it to ALL who need to hear it. And let's take that as sort of a theme and continue with Riding Through The Storm from Live & More Encore, then we have another Suecase Hall video. This one puts The Way We Were with Take Heart. Moving on we have Smile live and  Amazing Grace live (Donna's standby for just about anytime she wanted to recognize a tragic event in concert. I remember seeing her in concert in Boston the day they had the bombings in the London Underground. She sang Amazing Grace for the people of London.) And let's throw in Love Is The Healer just because I think love really can be the healer. (Plus you probably need to dance after those other tracks.  LOL)

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