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

[SEP 17] Happy Saturday all! We start right in with Donna this week. In anticipation of the upcoming 40th anniversary release of the self-titled Donna Summer album,  The State Of Independence video has been remastered and posted on the official YouTube channel, and The Woman In Me has also been remastered and will be released on October 7. (That link goes to a placeholder where you can ask YouTube to notify you when the video goes live.)  Now before you get excited.... oh boy.  I can't say I'm overly satisfied with the remaster.  On the plus side, they did bring out more of the color, made the dark tones richer, warmed up the overall tone a bit... so that is good.  It's not really any sharper than it was, but that might not be possible to fix with the source material they had, so that doesn't bother me.  (There is actually a Facebook video showing the comparison of a short clip from the video.) Where things start to fall apart, is visually they changed the aspect ratio from the original 4:3 to 16:9 to suite most modern screens. The problem is, that leads to Donna's head being cut off in places. I better option would have been to put a couple of black bars on the ends of the 4:3 to make it 16:9.  Yeah, black bars can be annoying, but not as annoying as cutting off the tops of people's heads.  Ugh.  Then there is the sound. It is badly muffled. And that's probably an easy fix. Strip the audio and replace it with remastered audio (or even unremastered audio) from any of the album releases.  A fan could probably even do that.  (Suecase Hall, are you listening?  LOL)  Oh! And I almost forgot, there is about 12 seconds missing from the beginning of the video. So while I do appreciate the effort, to me it fell short of the mark.   :-(  Here's a link to the original unrestored video for those who are interested.

[SEP 17] There is a YouTube channel called Celebrity Underrated, and they just posted an episode about Donna.  There's probably nothing new there for diehard fans, but it's always fun to hear people talking about Donna.   :-)  Also on YouTube in the Conversations with Christian John Wikane, we have Rahsaan Patterson talking about Donna.

[SEP 17] Moving on to Johnnyswim!  As you know, their tour starts up again on Thursday in West Springfield MA.  Now if you thought  they'd actually be done touring at the end of October with Silobration - well, you probably don't know Johnnyswim very well.  LOL  Our favorite duo has just announced a Christmas tour starting November 30 in Chicago and going through to December 18 in San Francisco.  Dates/tickets are available here, AND there are VIP packages available too.  As always - if you want to go, get your tickets EARLY!  And watch their Instagram for announcements,  ticket alerts, merchandise announcements, general tomfoolery...   ;-)  If you have never seen Johnnyswim live, - DO IT. It's always a good time.

[SEP 17] Bruce Sudano fans - Bruce did a couple of dates this past week, and a short clip of Bad Girls  from Club Passim has popped up on Facebook.

[SEP 17] I think that brings us to YouTube.  What am I in the mood for today? Let's start with some alternate vocals for One Of A Kind.  (Sounds like something fan mixers might want to play with.  ;-) )  Well that's it - now I just have to listen to the whole MacArthur Park Suite.  LOL (You realize this is the longest part of writing the update? I actually do listen to these clips as I write because I just can't help myself. And OMG I love this bridge! I always have! )  Ok, that video lead me to  a 2 part compilation of Donna's "best live vocals".  They are each a bunch of clips from various songs in various performances.  Part 1 is here, and part 2 is here.  Lots of great stuff in there!

[SEP 11] Greetings all! I hope you are as well as you can be this sad weekend.  My condolences to the people of the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth on the passing of Queen Elizabeth II.  With a reign of 70 years, there aren't many people left who can remember a time before she was Queen.  Then of course here in the USA, we are marking the anniversary of the 9/11 attack.  So overall, it hasn't been a really great weekend....

[SEP 11]  Bruce Sudano fans - don't forget he has 3 concerts this week.  Thursday he is in Cambridge, MA, Friday he's in New York, and Saturday he's in Annapolis.  So if you are in (or will be in) those areas, do check him out.

[SEP 11] Johnnyswim fans have to be  a little more patient.  Their shows don't start up again until September 22.  But they have a bunch of dates going through October 2 in West Springfield, MA, Portland, ME, Montgomery, NY, Buffalo, NY, Cleveland, OH, Ocean City, MD, Boston, MA, and New Haven, CT. Then don't forget about Silobration in Waco, TX on October 29. Keep an eye on Johnnyswim's Instagram for ticket updates and merchandise announcements.

[SEP 11] I think that brings us too YouTube. Let's just go with the mood of the weekend.  So first up, Donna's cover of Celebrate Me Home. Then we have Riding Through The Storm live, Smile live,  In A New York Minute live, and one of Donna's go to songs for when tragedy strikes - Amazing Grace.

[SEP 11] Next weekend's update my be late - there is a chance that I will be away visiting my friend with the new baby.

[SEP 2] Happy Friday all! I took off last weekend because a dear friend just welcomed a healthy and beautiful 7 pound baby girl and I got to spend the weekend taking baby photos. (I discovered photographing babies is a lot like photographing cats - neither will do what you want when you want them to, but it is still very difficult not to get a cute picture.  LOL) And before anyone asks - I do plan to introduce the little one to Donna's music.  ;-)

[SEP 2] OK on to Donna-land. It's a new month so that means it's time for a new Summer Fever Pick.  This month we are celebrating all the colors that make up Crayons.

[SEP 2] Bruce Sudano fans - if you are in (or will be in the Annapolis MD area on September 17, go check him out in concert at 49 West Coffeehouse.  It's a free show, but seating is limited. See details on the venue website. Bruce is also performing at Passim in Boston on September 15.  You will need to provide proof of COVID vaccination at this venue.  And then he will be at Rockwood Music Hall in New York on September 16.  On November 8, Bruce will be performing yet again for the iVoted Festival - an online concert. It's free to access, but you do have to either send them a selfie with your blank ballot, or a selfie in front of your polling place to get access. If you are not eligible to vote in the US then they have other options to gain access.  Also, for those of you who missed out on the cancelled show at Bar Lubitsch last month, it will be rescheduled.

[SEP 2] Bruce is not the only one on tour, Johnnyswim hits the road again on September 22 with lots of dates in the Eastern US, and of course Silobration in Waco TX on October 29.  Details are on their website,  And keep an eye on their Instagram, Abner loves to post ticket alerts and merchandise updates.

[SEP 2] I think that brings us to YouTube.  Well, if Crayons is the Summer Fever Pick, we might as well go back to 2008.  First up, a full concert from Jones Beach.  Then we have a silly video of Donna talking about the tour (I love it when Donna is silly!), the unreleased track Run With It that was on the original track list for the album,  Stor Dubine's animated video for  Stamp Your Feet,  Nathan's video for Fame The Game, and one of his tour videos.

[AUG 21] Happy Sunday all!  I will almost definitely be out of town next weekend taking newborn photos (the mom-to-be is issuing an eviction notice to the little one effective immediately  LOL) so next weekend's update will either be a little early or a little late depending on exactly when I can leave.

[AUG 21]  First up is a time sensitive item for Bruce fans.  He will be playing  this Tuesday August 23 at 9pm at Bar Lubitsch in West Hollywood.

[AUG 21] Moving on to Donna... BBC2 in the UK ran a Top of the Pops special with a tribute to Donna. If you are in the UK (or are good with proxy servers), you can watch it on  the BBC iPlayer for the next 28 days.  Now if you are on Facebook an din the  Friends Unknown Group, you can see someone's recording of the tribute.  For those who can't access either, the tribute is about 6 minutes of clips of  Donna performing with a few pop up captions giving random facts about Donna or the songs. Of special note - it concludes with Donna's performance of Let It Be on Jools Holland.

[AUG 21] Moving on to release news - we have the 40th anniversary of the self-titled Donna Summer album coming out November 4.  You have the original tracks (of course) plus 7  extra tracks - Mystery Of Love Le Flex Summer Mystery remix, Love Is In Control 7" version, State Of Independence 7" version, The Woman In Me 7" version,  Sometimes Like Butterflies, Mystery Of Love Le Flextended Summer Mystery remix, and Love Is In Control Dance remix. There is also a new essay by Christian John Wikane.  It will be available as CD or colored vinyl and it is available for pre-order now. (Paid Amazon link) Townsend Music Store also lists a version that has both the CD and the vinyl versions together.  Donna's official YouTube posted a promo video for the new release too.

[AUG 21] Speaking of the Le Flex mix of Mystery Of Love, that is available for your listening pleasure now and our own Suecase Hall made a fan video for it.

[AUG 21]  Express.co.uk recently posted an article about Donna's death that draws heavily from the  Reelz Autopsy: The Last Days Of show from a couple of years ago.  While I am not a big fan of that Reelz show, the article may help some people in that it ends with a description of the common and less common symptoms of lung cancer.

[AUG 21] In other Donna news, Christian John Wikane has a YouTube series where he posts conversations with various musical artists.  He recently did an interview with Ruth Pointer, and the other day he posted Ruth's memories of Donna.

[AUG 21] As you know, Last Dance won the Oscar for Best Original Song in 1979. The other day, Billboard posted an article about all the nominated songs from that year noting that 3 of the 5 nominees hat year were all big hits.  The article gives details about each of the nominated songs - including some chart history.  It's a fun little read.  :-)

[AUG 21] I think that brings us to YouTube.  The Mix-N-Mash channel has posted a couple of new acapella versions of Donna's songs.  This month they added I Feel Love,  Dim All The Lights,  and Sunset People.  (Remixers - go have some fun!) For those of you who are in an I Feel Love kind of mood, there is a 1 hour (yes you read that right!) edit of the song done by LPJ_IS_KOOL.  And in the you know it had to happen category - someone on YouTube named U4RIK mashed Beyoncé's Summer Renaissance  with Donna's I Feel Love.

[AUG 13] Happy Saturday all! First up - a very good friend of mine is expecting a baby very very soon. And when it happens, I will be traveling to take photos of the newborn.  So if the next update is late (or possibly the one after that, but I think we are looking at sooner rather than later), it means I am out of town taking baby photos for the weekend and will get to the update when I get back.   So don't freak out.  :-)

[AUG 13] Let's get the sad news out of the way first. As I'm sure all of you know (unless you've been hiding under a rock all week), Dame Olivia Newton John passed away after a very long battle with cancer.  She and Donna crossed paths several times - photos of the 2 of them have been circulating on Facebook. Both participated in the Spirit Of The Forest project in 1989,  and before that they did the 1979 Music For Unicef: A Gift Of Song concert. There are lots of clips of that online,  but here's one from the finale where both Donna and Olivia are onstage at the same time.  My condolences to Olivia's family, friends, and fans.

[AUG 13] Also lost this week, fan artist Raffaele D'Adamo.  He was the founder of the Friends Unknown group on Facebook and was best known for his  Donna art that he shared freely with fans in the group.  Condolences to all who knew and loved him.  It's another reminder guys, that nobody is promised a tomorrow. So make the most of today.

[AUG 13] In happy news  (and yes we need some of that!), Johnnyswim has a bunch of autumn tour dates coming up.  They will be (mostly) touring the northeast coast of the US at the end of September/Beginning of October.  Check their website for dates and cities, and if you plan to attend one or more of the shows - grab your tickets as soon as you can! They sell out fast.  :-)

[AUG 13] I think that's it for this week - Bruce and the Swims are all on a well deserved family vacation (watch their Instagrams for photos), so I don't expect much news next weekend either.

[AUG 13] So what do we want to watch on YouTube this week? Well, we might as well start with Donna's song from the UNICEF concert.  And here's a short rehearsal clip from that show. with a little bit of a German interview at the end.  As long as we are looking at rehearsal footage, here is some from Divas 2000. (The audio is a little rocky in places.) And here is a short fun outtake from the No More Tears recording session that might make you smile. (It's the beat him up with a stick part for those who are familiar with the outtakes.) I got no more rehearsal stuff so let's move on to some unreleased tracks. I just ran into Valley Of The Moon again tonight which was fun!  And then there is Run With It,  Adonai, and the demo for Begin Again.  (A little editing and that song could have been a dance hit!) And finally - a short clip of Only Love.

[AUG 7]  Greetings all!  Let me start with a time sensitive item for Johnnyswim fans.   Tickets for their performance at Silobration are now on sale. The show is not until October 29, but get your tickets early because they will sell out. Also, (and I hope Amanda isn't reading this) Amanda has a milestone birthday coming up on Thursday. Abner posted in a secret video that he would like to surprise Amanda with a bunch of videos of fans just saying "I love you Amanda".  If that's something you want to do, the place to upload is here.  But shhhhh! It's supposed to be a surprise.

[AUG 7]  Here's an interesting site I discovered recently thanks to some Facebook friends.  It's WorldRadioHistory.com and it is an archive  of tons and tons of music public publications going back decades! Just as an extreme example, when I clicked on Billboard Magazine they had issues going back to 1894 and no, that is not a typo!  When you click on a magazine title, it brings you to a page of the dates they have, and clicking on any of those brings you to a PDF file of the issue in question.  I found the site because someone kindly posted the direct link to the issue of Billboard that had a celebration of Donna's 20 years  in music. (The September 2, 1994 issue to be exact.) The site is a fun playground to explore!

[AUG 7] As you all know by now, Beyoncé  used I Feel Love in her new song Summer Renaissance. I know some of you weren't thrilled with the language in the album version of the song (too many sexy motherf-----s). There is now a clean version out on YouTube that you can listen to instead.  And with a clean version maybe now we can hear it on the radio or TV... Here's hoping!

[AUG 7] Bruce Sudano fans - he performed a new song in Boulder recently, and he gave us a sneak peek on Facebook. The song is Two Bleeding Hearts.

[AUG 7] I think that brings us to YouTube.  Last week we celebrated Live & More Encore, so this week why don't we look at some of the interviews from then. First up, as much of the 1999 Behind The Music special as I can find on YouTube.  It's a pretty good chunk of the show, but not the whole thing unfortunately.  (You know how it goes - clips come and go.) Then we have Donna's first appearance on The View, an appearance on UK This Morning, an appearance on Laat de Leeuw (it's funny!), an appearance on Queen Latifah's show,  a short interview from Brazil,  Donna on Oprah,  and finally Donna's second appearance on The View.

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