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

[JAN 16] Happy Sunday all! I hope 2022 is treating everyone well so far.  There's not a lot going on this week. Johnnyswim is working on their upcoming album (due out later this year, but with singles coming out as early as next month is I recall), and Bruce is gearing up to hit the road (COVID permitting of course.  Ahhh, remember the good ole days when you could count on tour dates without having to think that they could be cancelled at a moment's notice because of pandemic precautions?)

[JAN 16]  I do have a little musical news.  Summer: The Donna Summer Musical is still touring the US (with the usual caveats that some date have been postponed due to COVID) and  of course each stop has its own publicity.  In anticipation of the Augusta, GA performance (which has been postponed until May 31), the Augusta Press has published an interview with Duckling Donna, Amahri Jones-Edwards.

[JAN 16] The musical has posted new videos on its YouTube channel. The first features features members of the company trying to describe the show in one sentence.  The other has members of the company picking their favorite songs.

[JAN 16] Oh and congrats to original Disco Donna, Ariana DeBose. As you may know, after doing the musical on Broadway, she made a couple of movies including the acclaimed  remake of Westside Story for which Ariana has picked up a bunch of nominations AND awards - including a Golden Globe.  Way to go!  :-)

[JAN 16] In remix news, RedHouse is putting out a new mix of MacArthur Park on January 22.  This one is supposed to be very different from the one he did before, so that should be fun! Reshouse also asked me to pass on his thanks to everybody who has checked out his mixes.  He said he had lots of fun making them and he hope you all liked them.  This is his last Donna mix and going forward he's looking to put out some original tracks and covers, and he hopes you all continue to give a listen.

[JAN 16] I think that brings us to YouTube.  First up, one of my favorite ballads - Heaven's Just A Whisper Away live in Chile.  Then we have She Works Hard For The Money from the 2008 Today Show Concert Series and a promo video for Could It Be Magic. We also have the complete broadcast of the 1980 TV Special - this one is a real blast from the past because it includes the commercials that aired back then too.  And finally we have another reaction video - yeah I know these videos are breeding like cockroaches!  LOL  But this one is a little different because they picked a real deep cut - Sally Go Round The Roses.

[JAN 9] Greetings all! Let's start off with Summer: The Donna Summer Musical. As you know it is currently touring the US,  and in honor of the performances in Tampa,  ABC's Morning Blend interviewed Brittny Smith (Diva Donna) and you can see a few clips of the touring cast.   There are plenty more dates/cities on the schedule so catch the show if you can. If you already have tickets to a show somewhere, just keep an eye on the news for your local venue.  COVID has caused some cancellations or delays here and there for all shows - not just this one.  And as always, if you are affected by a cancellation,  contact the box office for info on refunds or replacement tickets.  (Won't it be so nice when we don't have to worry about COVID any more?)

[JAN 9] If you are looking for more of a peek at the musical touring company, the official tour montage is on YouTube.

[JAN 9] UK's Retro Pop had a year-end top 20 poll and I'm A Rainbow Recovered and Recoloured came in at #9. They called it "a fitting celebration of [Donna Summer's] incomparable legacy."

[JAN 9] Johnnyswim fans - the Magnolia Network is now airing on many cable providers.  (If you had the DIY channel, then you have Magnolia in its place now.)  Episodes of The Johnnyswim Show air on Saturdays. Today Series 1 episodes 1 and 2 aired at 7 and 7:30 PM Eastern. And of course you can always catch the shows on demand on  The Magnolia app or Discovery+.

[JAN 9] I think that brings us to YouTube.  First up this week, Donna live in 1987 at The Royal Albert Hall.  It's audio set to a slideshow of photos from the show.  Then we have a short video from the guy who edited Donna's autobiography and a clip of State Of Independence from Top Of The Pops that I never saw before. And here's a few for all you remixers out there - the instrumentals and backing vocals for Once Upon A Time, Back In Love Again,  It's Not The Way, She Works Hard For The Money, and Protection. (That last one keeps more of the vocals than the others.)

[JAN 2] Happy New Year all!  May this be the year we finally kick COVID to the curb! Since it's a new month, it's time for a new Summer Fever Pick.  This month we are looking at I'm A Rainbow.

[JAN 2]  Before we get to the news - Happy almost-birthday to Brooklyn Sudano who celebrates later this week.

[JAN 2] So as you know, this past Friday was both New Year's Eve and Donna's birthday. And if you were watching Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve, they were celebrating their 50th anniversary with clips from past shows.  They included a clip of Donna's 2004 performance of Last Dance.

[JAN 2] In honor of Donna's birthday, Albumism.com posted a short tribute featuring some classic Donna video clips and a playlist of 10 of Donna's hit tracks. and on YouTube, Marchi Dj Oficial posted a tribute video for Donna's birthday.

[JAN 2] In remix news, fan mixer Q  has debuted another mix in his series of I'm A Rainbow mixes. This one is  his Tribute to Bellotte mix of A Runner With The Pack.

[JAN 2] Mary Gaines Bernard fans - if you are in her private Facebook group, you can catch the video she posted on Patreon a couple weeks ago, AND you can see the live video she posted on Donna's birthday.

[JAN 2] I think that brings us to YouTube. Let's do some Rainbow tracks. First up a Suecase Hall Valentine's video for True Love Survives.  Then we have another Suecase Hall video, this one for I'm A Rainbow (Junior's Shiny Rainbow mix),  a mashup video of live clips for Romeo, Q's celestial vox mix of To Turn The Stone, a lyric video for I Need Time,  and in honor of Brooklyn's birthday - a Suecase Hall video for Brooklyn (Ladies On Mars Child Of Rhythm mix).

[JAN 2] OH! I almost forgot. If you have the 1977 calendar  from the Four Seasons of Love album lying around somewhere, you can use it for this year too!

[DEC 26] Greetings all! I hope everybody who celebrates had a nice Christmas, and that everyone else had a nice weekend.  First up this week, Mark Tara has  a radio show airing on Canadian Radio about Donna's I'm A Rainbow album.  The show is an episode of Rainbow Country which is syndicated so you will catch it on different stations at different times until January 3. Or you can listen to the 2 hour podcast online here. Mark has interviews with Ladies On Mars, and  Michael Neidus of Demon Music Group.  Mark is a huge Donna Summer fan, so he knows the right questions to ask.  :-) It is definitely worth a listen!

[DEC 26]  Bruce Sudano fans - catch Bruce on tour in 2022.  He had already announced some dates with The Zombies, and now he's added a few more dates in April with Jesse Terry. For a complete list of shows and a links to get tickets, see Bruce's website.

[DEC 26] Here's one to make you laugh. As many of you know, recently pictures of Donna and Kelly Rowland have been circulating on social media with people losing their freaking minds about how much they look alike. (Personally, I don't see any more than a slight resemblance, but whatever.)  The funny thing was an article I ran into that was talking about all the fuss about the pictures. What struck me was the second sentence: "Fans  have demanded that a 1979 photo of the 'Last Dance' legend be cast as the Destiny's Child alum."  So they are saying that fans want a PHOTO of Donna to be cast as Kelly Rowland? LOL Maybe the editor was enjoying some holiday cocktails on the job.....   Having said that, the idea of Kelly Rowland (the woman, not her photo) should be cast as Donna (the woman not the photo LOL) has been floating around Donna fan circles  for ages now - long before Twitter found these two photos.

[DEC 26] I think that's all I have for you this week. So let me leave you with some YouTube clips. First up is DayOne Reacts to Donna's Solid Gold performance of O Holy Night.  (Yes, she was as impressed as I think all of us were when we first saw it. )  Then we have Donna (and others) ringing in 1977, Donna singing You're So Beautiful on Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve 2004, and Last Dance and On The Radio from Merv Griffin's 1993 New Year's Eve special.  We also have  a lstdnce tribute video in honor of Donna's birthday, and a slideshow set to Donna singing Happy Birthday live.

[DEC 26] I will see you all next weekend. Let me take this opportunity to wish you all a very happy and healthy New Year! If you are out celebrating this year, please don't drive if you've been drinking, and don't drink if you plan to drive. And if you plan to be out with other people, please take all the necessary precautions against COVID.  It's getting bad out there again.   And Donna - if you are reading this somehow (do they have computers in  heaven?  LOL) HAPPY BIRTHDAY! I miss you!

[DEC 18] Happy Saturday all. Well... absolutely nothing happened this week. Nope not a thing. Well... unless you count this.  :-)  When you click that link you will find the press release for the upcoming Donna documentary project directed by Oscar winner (and Donna Summer fan) Roger Ross Williams and another name you might be slightly familiar with: Brooklyn Sudano. ;-)  This is the project we have been hearing about for awhile - the project some of you may have even contributed to.  Go read the press release - this is going to be amazing!  If you are not excited after you read the press release, and you are a Donna Summer fan, then I suggest you check yourself for a pulse!  LOL (And if you don't have one - by all means, call out sick from work Monday.) 2022 is starting to look good to me! 

[DEC 18] Johnnyswim fans - our favorite duo was Live From The Backyard (well, living room) the other day.  It's a holiday concert that you can watch on YouTube.  They are also performing at The Silos tonight, and with that comes an interview for the Waco Tribune-Herald.  And of course new episodes of The Johnnyswim Show debuted on Magnolia/Discovery+ yesterday.  By the way, Magnolia hits cable providers in January, so if you haven't been able to stream any of Johnnyswim's shows yet, you will be able to get them on cable TV soon. (You will have a lot to catch up with too - Home From The Road and 2 seasons of The Johnnyswim Show.)

[DEC 18] Mary Gaines Bernard fans: after a break, Mary is back on Patreon with a new story. This time she has a special guest - her niece Taihisha  - and they are talking about going to "Dona Summer University."  The story should come over to Facebook soon, so keep an eye out for that if you are in her group. (And if you are not, ask to join!)

[DEC 18] Since this will be the last update before Christmas, let me take this opportunity to wish you all Happy Holidays!  And on YouTube this week, let me leave you with my Christmas playlist for 2021. I will see you all at some point between Christmas and Donna's birthday. The update might not fall on Sunday but there will be one before the following weekend.  :-) Be safe everyone!

[DEC 12] Greetings all!  Johnnyswim fans - you have an early Christmas present coming! They will be Live In The Backyard (actually live from Park City, Utah this time) on Tuesday. You can catch it on Instagram or YouTube. They didn't mention the time yet, other than it will be in the evening. Just keep an eye on their Instagram for more info. And of course it wouldn't be a Johnnyswim concert without new limited edition merchandise.  Look for a bunch of stuff on sale TOMORROW starting at 9AM EST on their website.

[DEC 12] While we are talking all things 'Swim, our favorite duo has an album coming out  next year with the new single coming out early in the year. You can get a sneak peek on The Johnnyswim Show streaming on Magnolia/Discovery+. New episodes debut on Fridays. (Oh and watch out for Amanda and Abner trying their hand at Donna's diva walk.  LOL)

[DEC 12] Bruce Sudano fans: MusicLetter.it has posted an article about Ode To A Nightingale. It is in Italian of course, so if that's not your language you might want to make use of Google Translate. He was also live on Facebook the other day for Farm Fresh Radio. You can watch that here. And keep an eye on The Johnnyswim Show - Bruce has already made 1 cameo appearance there this season so far.

[DEC 12] Moving on to the Diva herself.... Vice.com has posted an article about how to get into Donna's music.  Obviously my regular readers need no help there, but it is a fun read and a great way to get some of your friends to take a look at Donna's music. The article breaks up Donna's music into 7 different styles and provides a playlist for each.  There are a lot of deep cuts included, so it's definitely worth a look. And in remix news SummerFevr has posted his Cruel To Be Kind mix of Love's Unkind on Soundcloud.

[DEC 12] Moving on to YouTube,  check out the new Suecase Hall video for the Ladies On Mars Buenos Aires remix of Don't Cry For Me Argentina.  I also ran into a nice copy of Donna's induction into the Rock Hall Of Fame - this is  her complete segment with chapter markers  so you can jump around and watch the parts you want to.  Next up we have Donna's whole segment from Don Kirschner's Rock Concert in 1977, then Donna promoting Thank God It's Friday on The Midnight Special, followed of course by Last Dance.  (I don't know why those clips aren't presented as one unless it's because of time restrictions.) Then we have an interview from a different episode of The Midnight Special where Donna can't stop laughing at the end, and finally we have a short profile as part of the Grammy's Greatest Divas series.

[DEC 5] Happy Sunday all! It's December so you know what that means - the new Summer Fever Pick is Christmas Spirit! (Still my favorite Christmas album ever!)

[DEC 5] Starting off in the land of remixes, Q is back again with his Talk Of The Town mix of People Talk.  (The video that goes with it is pretty cool too!)

[DEC 5]  BBC.com just posted an article looking at why Donna was "one of the original rock stars."  The article was inspired by the new release of I'm A Rainbow, but takes a look at her career as a whole. It's a good read.

[DEC 5] We have lots of Johnnyswim activity this week.  First up, they have a new single out called A Hard Year's Christmas.  And then if you have Discovery+ or Magnolia you can watch the first 2 episodes of season 2 of The Johnnyswim Show.  Among other things, you get to watch them make the hard choice to push back their tour until Spring. And, catch their interview on GardenAndGun.com about their holiday traditions.

[DEC 5] I think that brings us to YouTube.  First up is a good clip of Donna on The Tonight Show in 1978 with the interview and both performances. That brought me to a 2000 ET piece promoting Divas 2000, and a clip from a show I haven't seen since it aired - Donna on Marsha Warfield's 1990 talk show.  (Unfortunately it's just a short clip and I'm pretty sure that show was a half hour or more.) Then we have a 2004 interview from the UK promoting The Journey,  and finally a 2008 ET piece promoting Crayons.

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