NEWS ARCHIVES

2018

[DEC 29]  Happy (almost) New Year all! and happy (almost) birthday to Donna who would be celebrating the big 70 this year.  (Wasn't it only yesterday she was celebrating the big 50 with white roses at the Live & More Encore taping?) Let's start off with some Donna news. The REELZ channel is celebrating the disco era this January with a special about Donna on January 14 at 9PM ET and a special about Saturday Night Fever on January 19 at 9PM ET. To find out how to see REELZ in your area, you can try their website. However, I can tell you that it messed up the channel number for my cable provider,  so you might want to check with your TV provider instead.

[DEC 29]  In other time sensitive news, Mary Gaines Bernard will once again be singing her sister's songs in concert!  And this time she has a few dates planned. January 5 she will be in Aventura, FL at the Aventura Cultural Arts Center, January 16 she will be at the Duncan Theater in Lake Worth, FL, and March 8 she will be at the Lyric Theater in Stuart, FL.  YAY!!! Start planning your Florida trips now!

[DEC 29] in musical news, the grosses for the week of December 23 were down a bit to $493,604. As you know, the last Broadway performance of Summer will take place tomorrow and then we will have to wait patiently (or impatiently - we fans are really good at that!  LOL) for news of the touring production and the West End production.  :-)  I only got to see the show twice (I was going to sneak into NYC to catch it again this weekend but circumstances conspired against me) and both  times I was moved to tears. I would like to take this opportunity to thank the entire company of Summer: The Donna Summer Musical for all their talent, hard work and dedication.  You have helped to keep Donna's legacy alive and for that I will be forever grateful. And, yes, I am going to list all the names here because they all deserve to be listed.  A big round of applause for the cast: LaChanze, Ariana DeBose, Storm Lever, Aaron Krohn, Ken Robinson, Jared Zirilli, Angelica Beliard, Mackenzie Bell, Kaleigh Cronin. Kimberly Dodson, Anissa Felix, Drew Wildman Foster, Judith Franklin, Afra Hines,  Jenny Laroche,  Aurelia Michael, Wonu Ogunfowora, Jody Reynard, Rebecca Riker, Christina Acosta Robinson, Jessica Rush, Kaye Tuckerman, Harris M Turner,  and Kristin Yancy. I hope we see at least some of you again in the touring company or in the West End company, but if not - best of luck to you all in your next projects!

And another round of applause for the creative team (music, choreography, costumes, etc): Colman Domingo - book, Robert Cary - book, Des Mcanuff - director, book, Sergio Trujillo - choreographer, Ron Melrose - music supervisor and arranger, Robert Brill - scenic desigh, Paul Tazewell - costume design, Howell Binkley - Lighting design, Gareth Owen - sound designer, Sean Nieuwenhuis - projection design, Charles G. Lapointe - wig design, Steve Rankin - fight director, Bill Brendell - orchestrations, John Miller - music coordinator, Victoria Theodore - music director, Randy Cohen - synthesizer programmer, Hudson Theatrical Associates - technical supervisor, Richard Hester - Production Supervisor, Beverly Jenkins - production stage manager, Lucy Kennedy - stage manager, Samantha Preiss - Asst stage manager, Tara Rubin Casting - casting, Tommy Mottola - producer, The Dodgers - producer, Lauren Mitchell - creative producer, La Jolla Playhouse - original producer.

Thank you to the Lunt Fontanne Theater for being a home to Summer: The Donna Summer Musical, thank you to Bond 45 for the after parties every night, and thank you to all the people whose names never make the Playbill - the box  office staff, security team, cleaning crew, bartenders, merchandise sales people, ushers - basically all the people who keep the theater running.

And finally, thanks to everybody who saw the show and ended up dancing in their seats.  We can talk about  Billboard charts, gold records, influences on other artists, etc all day long - but the main thing is that Donna's music was meant to be a good time. She always said, "Sing if you want to sing, dance if you want to dance." She wanted her audiences to have a good time! And if you were at the musical singing and dancing - then you truly were celebrating Donna's legacy whether you knew it at the time or not.  :-)

[DEC 29] I think that brings us to YouTube.  Let's send off the musical with a look back at some of the clips we have.  First up is the cast freezing their collective butts off at the Macy's Thanksgiving Parade. Then we have their Tony Award performance,  assorted clips from Broadway.com, a short clip of MacArthur Park from Playbill.com,  a few seconds of the finale, a clip of Friends Unknown,  and a Suecase Hall video celebrating the musical (including the clip of Donna's daughters at the Tonys). Take a bow for a job well done ladies (and gentlemen)!

[DEC 21] Happy Friday and Season Greetings to all! Don't forget, if you want to see Summer: The Donna Summer Musical on Broadway, this is your last week! The show closes on December 30 and then we won't be able to see it again until it hits the West End in London and  goes on tour here in the US in 2019.

[DEC 21] Speaking of the musical, for the week of December 16, grosses were down a bit to $548,217. And  The Broadway League has short videos under the hashtag #MyBroadwayStory featuring Ariana DeBose and LaChanze.  (The links are to Facebook videos, but you can also find them on Twitter.  You just might have to scroll down through their feed a bit to find them.)

[DEC 21] Johnnyswim fans - our favorite duo will be performing in Santa Barbara  at the Granada Theater January 12 for the  Kids Helping Kids Benefit Concert.  And depending on when you are reading this,  there are still a few tickets left for tomorrow's Christmas concert in Los Angeles.

[DEC 21] That brings us to YouTube. Instead of sharing clips with you, this week I am sharing a playlist of holiday tunes from Donna, Johnnyswim and Mary Gaines Bernard. So enjoy!

[DEC 21] And finally the message in the above graphic came from one of the old fan club news letters. I thought you guys might get a kick out of a message in Donna's own handwriting. I'll be back next weekend.  :-)

[DEC 15] Greetings all! Can you believe it's only 10 days until Christmas? I'll have a little special graphic for you on next weekend's update to mark the holiday.  :-)

[DEC 15] I guess we can start with the musical again. (And don't forget you only have about 2 weeks left to catch it on Broadway!) So, for the week of December 9, grosses were up to $609,963.

[DEC 15] If you are still in the market for memorabilia from Summer: The Musical,  the official Broadway site still has stuff for sale and it looks like the prices on at least some items have gone down.  So grab some deals while you can.  :-)

[DEC 15] Bruce Sudano fans - check out his performance of The Garden Of November from his Threefer Madness show in Rockville, MD.

[DEC 15] That brings us to YouTube. This week thanks to some uploads by DonnaSummerVEVO we are going to celebrate Live & More Encore. So let's start with a clip that always takes me right back to that moment in the theater - MacArthur Park. Then we have Dim All The Lights (the first look any of us got of the actual VH1 special), Someone To Watch Over Me, I Don't Wanna Work That Hard, Nobody, and the Ordinary Girl song, If There Is Music There.

[DEC 8] Happy Saturday all! I guess we can start with the musical again.  For the week of  December 2 grosses were up a bit to $511,550.   :-) And Broadwaybox.com has 7 questions with Aaron Krohn (Neil Bogart/Gunther) about the show (and other things.)

[DEC 8} London - keep an eye on the West End. Summer: The Donna Summer Musical is reportedly heading that way in 2019 according to WestEndTheatre.com. No specific date or venue has been announced yet, but you can sign up for email updates.

[DEC 8] As you know the 2018 Carols For A Cure album is out now and it includes one track from the cast of Summer.  BroadwayWorld.com reviewed the album and you can read that review right here.

[DEC 8] Johnnyswim fans - the pair have completed their new album (release to be announced.)  As you know, they are performing in LA on December 22 and you just might get to hear one of the new sons at that show.   :-) They are also performing January 12 in Santa Barbara.

[DEC 8] Bruce Sudano fans - if you are in NY check out his Threefer Madness show at City Vineyard. You can also read an article about Threefer Madnesss at UnionvilleTimes.com.

[DEC 8] I think that brings us to YouTube. Let's do some live stuff this week. First up is audio of Donna's cover of Natural Woman. Then we have an audio of Donna covering Georgia On My Mind,  video of Nights In White Satin, video of Pearls, and video of Donna's cover of Nature Boy.

[DEC 1] Greetings all. Today is World AIDs Day so let's take a moment to remember those who were taken from us too soon.

[DEC 1] Ok now for the bad news. If you haven't heard already, Summer: The Donna Summer Musical will close on December 30, 2018. So that gives you just about a month to catch it on Broadway.  Now a touring production has been announced, but that  won't start until September.  When it closes, it will have played 289 regular performances plus 27 previews.

[DEC 1] So I guess I should move on to the grosses. For the week of November 25 sales were down to $462,727. I wonder if the announced closing will bump up sales?

[DEC 1] In the Donna's music is everywhere category, the UK food delivery service Just Eat is using Hot Stuff in their latest ad campaign.

[DEC 1] Bruce Sudano fans - catch Bruce Live From The Couch on Facebook with a new song called In The Garden Of November.  And as you know, Bruce is on tour with his Threefer Madness partners Dan Navarro and Chas Sanford.  Last night he was at Live at Drews with Dan Navarro and they put it on Facebook live. So if you have Facebook, you can watch the show here.

[DEC 1]  That brings us to YouTube.  Let's take a look at clips exploring Donna's painting.  First up is a news clip on one of Donna's 1990 gallery showings. Then we have Donna showing some of her work to Regis & KathieLee,  Donna on Lifestyles of The Rich & Famous, and Donna on MTV's Week In Rock.

[NOV 24] Happy Saturday all!  Let's start with the musical again. On Thursday the cast of Summer: The Dona Summer Musical performed at the Macy's Thanksgiving Parade.  They did a little Hot Stuff and a little Last Dance. You can watch it here.  And when you watch it, take note of the costumes and then know that it was 22 degrees (approximately -6 for you Celsius  people) outside that day.  Put me down as IMPRESSED!  :-)  (And I hope they all thawed out in time to enjoy dinner with their families.)

[NOV 24] Let's move on to the grosses for the week.  For the week of November 18, Summer was down to $531,161 in a week where a lot of the shows were down. I wonder if the unexpected snowstorm has an effect?

[NOV 24] Some of the cast of Summer made an appearance on Ben Cameron's Broadway Sessions.  You can see a few highlights here, and the Broadway Sessions YouTube channel may have more clips at some point in the future.

[NOV 24] For those of you looking for some new ornaments for your Christmas tree, Summer: The Musical has added an ornament to their  online store. Shipping is free for the Black Friday to Cyber Monday weekend.

[NOV 24] Moving on to Donna's family... Shared.com has an article about Donna's daughters. There is nothing new that we don't already know, it's just nice to see updates on all 3 in one place.  :-)

[NOV 24] If you happen to be shopping at American Eagle's online store and you think you see a familiar face... yup, that's Donna's granddaughter, Savannah Dohler.  As I write this, she is in the middle of their home page where they advertise a free fleece blanket. And you can see her sister Vienna in a short film called Anamnesis that just came out in iqflicks.com.

[NOV 24] I think that brings us to YouTube.  And since they have been torturing me at work with non-stop (annoying) Christmas music, I am going to take this opportunity to indulge in some GOOD Christmas music.  :-) So first up is Donna singing The Christmas Song live on GMA,  the famous version of O Holy Night from Solid Gold, a stampyourfeet video for Christmas Spirit, and a stampyourfeet video for Donna's Christmas Medley.  OK, I think I'm ready to deal with the stuff they play at work for another week.  LOL

[NOV 17] Greetings all and Happy Thanksgiving to my American friends Thursday. (To all my non-American friends - take the day off anyway. Tell your employers you are American for the day.  LOL)

[NOV 17] Let's start with Summer: The Donna Summer Musical. First up a scheduling note -  due to the holiday this week, there will be no performances on Thursday so the cast and crew can be with their families. There WILL be an extra performance Friday at 2 PM. So if you are in NYC and want to avoid the Black Friday crowds, go catch a show instead.  :-)

[NOV 17] In the world of grosses, Summer was up to $686,515 for the week of November 11.  It looks like that was a really good week for Broadway - most shows were up. I'm looking forward to seeing Monday's numbers to see if the snowstorm this weed has any effect.

[NOV 17] Don't forget that the company of Summer will be performing at the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade on Thursday sometime between 9 and 12.  (On a side note - it looks like Diana Ross and family will be performing at the parade too. I mention it only because I know there is quite an overlap in the Donna and Diana fan bases.) I am pretty sure that to see the Summer performance, you will have to tune in to NBC.  The non-Broadway things will be available through other outlets, but the Broadway stuff is an NBC exclusive.

[NOV 17]  The 2018 Broadway Carols For A Cure CD is now available for sale. It features songs by  many of the current Broadway casts - and sometimes they tweak the traditional songs so that they fit in with the style of their shows. It's a chance for them to have a little fun for a good cause. The cast of Summer provided the lead off track for this year's CD - Disco (Winter) Wonderland. Now this not something you can get at Amazon (yet) - you have to go to a place that sells Broadway stuff like Playbill or BroadwayCares, etc.

[NOV 17] Diva Donna, LaChanze was interviewed recently for Broadway Your Way.  She talks a little about the difference between the La Jolla and the Broadway productions of Summer, among other things. You can also check out a clip of her rendition of Friends Unknown on the Playbill website. And while we are talking about LaChanze - congrats are in order.  She has been cast in the upcoming world premiere of The Secret Life of Bees. That show starts previews May 12, opens June 13 and then has a limited engagement until July 7. It will run off-Broadway at the Linda Gross Theater on W 20th Street.  Now for the unknown ... I'm not 100% sure what this means for Summer: The Musical.  Either LaChanze will leave and they will have to recast the role. Or she will just take a leave of absence and return after the run of her new show.

[NOV 17] Bruce Sudano fans -  don't forget that he is on tour with Dan Navarro and Chas Sandford in what they call Threefer Madness. For dates and ticket info, check out Bruce's site - and if you go to one of the shows, make sure you say hi to him.  :-)

[NOV 17] I think that brings us to YouTube.  I'm going to start with Donna's live version of Smile.  That's the video I can share with everyone.  But there is a beautiful fan video that was just posted in one of the Donna groups on Facebook and unfortunately the link only works if you are logged into Facebook and a member of that group.  It's the same vocals you just heard in the YouTube link, but it's set to a video montage of some of the many times Donna smiled or laughed in concert, in interviews, whatever.  It's impossible to watch without smiling yourself.  :-) Moving on.... let's so Donna's cover of Superstar just because that started playing after Smile and I fell under that song's spell.  Next up is Donna on the Paul Anka TV special, Donna on Wayne Brady's show,  then an interview (with a lot of kidding around) with Eric Allen,  and finally Donna performing at the Nobel Peace Prize concert.

[NOV 10] Happy Saturday all!  Let's start with something time sensitive.  Summer: The Donna Summer Musical is running a social media contest. Share with them how much you love the musical on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter with the hashtag #SUMMERonVinyl and you will be entered to win a vinyl copy of the cast album. The contest ends November 14, so you just have a few days to enter.

[NOV 10] We have lots more musical news this week.  The cast will be making an appearance on the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade.  They have also been back in the studio recording. Storm Lever has a fairly long clip of her in the studio recording Last Dance with the other two Donnas. (They are heard, not seen - and it's acapella in case any of you remixers need something to play with. )  I think Ariana DeBose had an instagram story of them in the studio as well, but of course those stories go away after a time. No one has said what the recording is for, but I suspect they are prerecording vocals for the parade. (All the performers at the parade use prerecorded tracks.)

[NOV 10] Broadwaybox.com has 20 questions in 2 minutes with Storm Lever.  They didn't quite get to all the questions in the 2 minutes, so the remaining questions were put into a separate video on Instagram.

[NOV 10] Oh - I almost forgot to post the grosses! For the week ending Nov 4, the numbers were down a little to $569,903. That's not too surprising seeing that The Cher Show just started previews that same week.

[NOV 10] Moving on to Donna, On The Radio is STILL  rocking the iTunes Dance charts. It was at #6 when I looked just now - AND Love To Love You sneaked in there at #40.   :-)

[NOV 10] Facebook users may have seen this already. Long time fan Phil P has written to the US Postal Service to see about getting them to issue a Donna Summer stamp.  He received a letter back saying that they are considering the idea. All this means at this point is that the post office is thinking about it, but they aren't saying that they will actually do it. A few more letters might help them make up their minds.  ;-)  The criteria is posted here, and the contact address is here. Please note, they only accept suggestions sent in writing by US Mail. (No emails, etc.)  And if they do decide to honor Donna, it will take 2 to 3 years from the time they decide until we actually get the stamp - that's how long the planning and development take.  But hey, we are Donna Summer fans. We are used to needing patience.  :-)

[NOV 10] Bruce Sudano fans - check out his Live On The Couch #20 on Facebook. This one is called Shelter Island. He also posted a live video on Facebook from the Northeast Regional Folk Alliance.  It's about a half hour of Bruce performing live.

[NOV 10] Johnnyswim fans - great news! The duo is putting the finishing touches on their next album. They haven't mentioned a title yet, but Abner has said that they have "def given you guys a whole big chunk of ourselves on this one."  :-)

[NOV 10] I think that brings us to YouTube.  Let's check out some duets this week.  Let's start off with Heaven Knows from the Midnight Special, Donna with Seal on Unbreak My Heart, Crazy and On The Radio,  Donna with Joss Stone on Try A Little Tenderness, Donna with her sister Mary on No More Tears,  an audio only clip of Donna with Gene Simmons on Burning Up With Fever,  an audio  only clip of Donna with Darwin Hobbs on When I Look Up, an slideshow to Donna with Paul Jabara on Something's Missing,  and of course I can't leave out Donna and Barry Manilow live on Could It Be Magic.  :-) (There is an ad before that video starts.)

Could It Be Magic

[NOV 3] Greetings all! Can you believe it's November already?  And to my American friends, that means Tuesday is election day. Make sure you educate yourself on the issues and candidates in your areas and then get your butts out there and VOTE! Remember - you aren't allowed to complain about the results if you don't.  (And let's face it - there will ALWAYS be something to complain about - it's what we do best!  LOL) 

[NOV 3] And speaking of November - it's time for a new Summer Fever pick! This month we have the album that my cats almost approve of - Cats Without Claws.  (They like the Cats part - they disapprove of the without claws part.  LOL)

[NOV 3] In Chart news this week - On The Radio is STILL hanging around the top of the iTunes Dance charts. As I write this, it's at #5.  The Dance Collection also popped up briefly this week at #23 - although it's not there right this moment. The Queen never goes away.  :-)

[NOV 3] Fans of James Corden's Carpool Karaoke probably spotted a familiar song this week.  He had Barbra Streisand in the car with him, and the first song they sang to was Enough Is Enough.  :-)  If you've never seen Carpool Karaoke, go check it out. They are usually a lot of fun.  :-)

[NOV 3] Moving on to Summer: The Musical, if you are in NY tomorrow night - they have added an extra show at 7 PM Sunday November 4.

[NOV 3] Looking at the grosses for the week of October 28, they were down to $598,438.  But the majority of the shows running that week were down too.  I'm interested to see what happens as we go into the holidays.  Will Broadway sales in general be up because of people coming to town to see the holiday stuff, or will they be down because of competition from the holiday stuff? I'm looking forward to my Broadway education continuing!

[NOV 3] As you know the cast album for Summer is now available on vinyl. iHeart Radio had a little celebration of the vinyl release featuring an interview with the 3 Donna's.

[NOV 3] I think that brings us to YouTube. Let's do some clips related to the new Summer Fever Pick.  Let's start with Supernatural Love live on European TV, There Goes My Baby live on TV (with lots of sailors!), the Jellybean Benitez 12" mix of Eyes,  a fan video for Cats Without Claws,  Jandry's My Way Mix of It's Not The Way,  I'm Free from Soul Train,  and Forgive Me live on TV.

[OCT 27] Happy Saturday all! Let's start with Summer: The Donna Summer Musical.  The grosses for the week of October 21 were down a little bit to $683,585. But for better news - the vinyl version of the cast album is out now exclusively at Barnes & Noble. Check out the musical's Instagram page for a new video promoting the vinyl. (BTW it's a gorgeous gatefold cover - just like back in the day!  :-) ) Also check out the pages for LaChanze, Ariana DeBose, and Storm Lever while you are at it. They all had Instagram stories at one point this week promoting the vinyl release.  (Of course the trouble with Instagram stories are that they do go away...   :-(  )

[OCT 27] In other musical news, the firm Broadway Licensing has acquired the worldwide stock and amateur licensing rights to Summer. What that means is that that play is now available (or very soon will be) to summer stock, community theater groups, etc. 

[OCT 27] Bruce Sudano fans - catch him in LA Friday November 2 at 8:15 at his usual haunt - Genghis Cohen.  If you are in the neighborhood - go catch the show!   :-)

[OCT 27] I think that brings us to YouTube.  Let's see, it's almost Halloween - let's go with a costume theme (sort of). So first up is Donna with Prince Poppycock on Last Dance.  Then we have the Work That Magic video,  the Unconditional Love video, the entire 1980 TV special, and of course, She Works Hard For The Money.

[OCT 20] Happy Saturday all! We're going to start with Summer: The Donna Summer Musical again - which has just celebrated it's 200th performance.  :-)  Broadwaybox.com has posted a bunch of backstage photos in honor of the milestone.

[OCT 20]  Vinyl fans - mark your calendar. On October 26 you will be able to buy the cast album to Summer: The Musical on vinyl.  :-)

[OCT 20] Moving on to the grosses - for the week of October 14, grosses were up $113,989 to $690,916.  :-)

[OCT 20] Just a note for any of you going to see Summer: The Musical in the near future - this is the time of year the Broadway Shows start fundraising for Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS.  This means you will possibly have cast members collecting donations in the theater, and there will be special autographed items to buy with the proceeds going to Broadway Cares. With that in mind, Ariana DeBose has said that during this fundraiser, she will NOT be signing autographs at the stage door.  She will pose for pics and be her usual sweet self, but she won't give out any free autographs during the fundraising period because she is a big supporter of Broadway Cares. She wants you to BUY the autographed items instead.  And to that I say - you go girl!  :-) I haven't heard if the other cast members have the same plan, but don't be surprised if they do, and if they do - more power to them too.  :-)

[OCT 20] And speaking of Broadway Cares - usually every year they sell holiday ornaments and CDs to raise funds. Their Carols For A Cure cds feature the casts of various musicals that are playing in a given year singing Christmas carols or some sort of mashup of Christmas music plus the music of their show.  They have the 2018 cd available for preorder, but there is no track list yet so I don't know what/if Summer contributed. They also have the 2018 Collection Ornament available and it features the logos of most if not all of the shows that ran (or are still running) this year. Summer is on that one for sure.

[OCT 20] Congrats to Brooklyn Sudano! She posted a pic of herself on Instagram the other day and she is VERY pregnant.  I believe this will be Brooklyn's second child - but I'm not 100% sure because she's pretty private about her personal life.

[OCT 20] I think that brings us to YouTube.  I don't have a theme in mind this week so let me just jump in randomly and see where that leads me.  :-) First up The full Crayons concert from Jones Beach. (Holy cow - was that really a decade ago?) Next up is Donna performing Enough Is Enough with Westlife, then we have Donna on David Foster & Friends, Donna on the Jo Soares talk show from Brazil, Dim All The Lights live from 1995,  and finally, Donna on Oprah.

[OCT 14] Happy  Sunday all!  I guess we can start with the musical again. First up, there is a new ad for the show. Hopefully I'll catch it on TV one of these days. Looking at the grosses for the week of October 7, sales were down to $576,927. Ouch.  Here's hoping next week is better!

[OCT 14] Moving on to the real Donna, On The Radio is STILL  doing well on the iTunes Dance chart. As I write this, it's at #6. And in the land of old news, the NY Times has a review of Donna's 1979 show at Forest Hills posted in its archives. It might bring back memories for some of you. :-)

[OCT 14] Giorgio Moroder fans - he has announced his first ever live tour in Europe. The tour starts April 1 in Birmingham and ends May 22 in Paris.  For more info and tickets, check out Giorgio's website.

[OCT 14] Bruce Sudano fans, catch him Live On The Couch on Facebook with Things Are Changing.

[OCT 14] I think that brings us to YouTube. First up, a live performance of Worth The Wait,  a live ballad version of I Will Live For Love, an audio only clip of Dreamcatcher,  an audio clip of Are You Brave,  the rehearsal clip of I Don't Wanna Work That Hard,  and an audio clip of So This Is Lonely.

[OCT 7] Greetings all!  Let's start with the musical this week.  Grosses for the week of September 30 were down a little to $665,020. There is also a RUMOR (haven't heard it from any of the official sources yet) that they are working on a touring production of Summer: The Donna Summer Musical. :-)

[OCT 7] Diva Donna, Ariana DeBose, is in the October issue of Gay Times. They have a nice interview with here where she talks about being an out queer black woman, and of course about the musical. You can read the article here if you can't find a copy at your local newsstand.

[OCT 7] Bruce Sudano fans - he's Live From The Couch again on Facebook. This time it's a new song called The Mountain. ("Don't look at the mountain if you are reaching for the sky." "If you think too long you can talk yourself out of anything.")

[OCT 7] That brings us to YouTube I think. Let's make the theme, "stuff to make me forget about politics for an evening".  LOL  So let's start with Stamp Your Feet live on Letterman, a liveandmore video for Freedom, Love Is The Healer live on The View, an audio file of Begin Again, and The Impossible Dream live.

[SEP 30] Happy Sunday all! Tomorrow is a new month, so we have a new Summer Fever pick! This month She Works Hard For The Money.  :-)

[SEP 30]  Let's start with Summer: The Musical. For the week of September 23, grosses were down to $685,362.  :-(  I'm sure the numbers will come up again soon.

[SEP 30] The CT Post has a short interview with "Diva Donna" LaChanze in which she talks about her life and career in general.

[SEP 30] Moving on to the real Donna,  On The Radio is still rocking the iTunes Dance chart. Tonight it is at #6 which is the lowest I've seen it in weeks I think.  Who would have thought back when it came out that it would still be selling.  :-)

[SEP 30] And that brings us to YouTube.  Let's do some clips inspired by the new Summer Fever Pick. So we have Donna (and friends) performing She Works Hard For The Money at Disneyland,  Unconditional Love also at Disney, Woman live in Costa Mesa, a UK interview talking about filming the Unconditional Love video (among other things), and an audio only clip of Musical Youth (with a special guest vocal appearance by Donna) of Incommunicado.

[SEP 22] We also have the final episode of Ariana Debose's Hot Stuff vlog this week.  This week features more backstage shenanigans, some footage from Ariana's reading for 12 Angry Men,  and various members of the Summer crew showing off their dance moves.

[SEP 22] If you have SiriusXM, the OnBroadway channel has been playing She Works Hard For The Money from the cast album. I've heard it at least twice this past week or so and that's with me not having the radio on that much.  :-)

[SEP 22] Over on ITunes, On The Radio is still doing well on the Dance chart - as I write this it's #3.

[SEP 22] Bruce fans - check out his latest Facebook video. This is Bruce rehearsing for  a Crosby Stills Nash & Young radio tribute in Milan.

[SEP 22] I think that brings us to YouTube.  Let's do something a little different today. Let's focus on Donna and her paintings.  So first up is a news report on a San Diego exhibit of Donna's work,  Donna showing off her work on Regis & Kathie Lee,  Donna on Lifestyles Of The Rich & Famous,  and Donna Up Close,

[SEP 16] Happy Sunday all! Let's start off with Summer: The Musical. If you are planning to see the show this month - if you have the option, try to go September 26. The reason why is that the 7PM show is a special performance to benefit The Actor's Fund.  (If you don't know, the Actor's Fund provides assistance and resources to those who work in the performing arts.) So if you go that night, you can have a good time while helping people.

[SEP 16]  Moving on to the grosses for the week, Summer took in $749,340 for the week ending September 9, which is up  over $42000 from the previous week. It is one of only 6 shows with increases for that week! (even better - it was the second highest increase for the week.  :-) )

[SEP 16] We also have another episode of Ariana DeBose's vlog, Hot Stuff.  This week is packed full of backstage silliness with Desperate Donna, Storm Lever and company.  You also get to see the lift in action from below stage.

[SEP 16] Moving on to Donna - On The Radio is STILL hanging around the iTunes Top Dance albums chart. As I write this, it's back up to #4.

[SEP 16] I think that brings us to YouTube.  I think since we are celebrating the 40th anniversary of Live & More, we should do some clips related to that.  Let's start with the 2 minute promo for the album (with lots of clips from the show! Somebody needs to find the footage and release the whole thing!)  Then we have he actual commercial as it aired on TV. And then there is the full 1979 tv concert from Japan, MacArthur Park live, Mimi's Song from the Tonight Show, and Last Dance live.

[SEP 8] Greetings all!  I guess we can start with Summer: The Musical today.  Grosses for the week of September 2 are up to $706,901.  :-) The show is also al over the internet this week.  Jared Zirilli (who plays Bruce) is on the Broadwaysted podcast, Jenny Laroche (dance captain for Summer) has a video showing you how to do some of the popular dance moves you see on stage, and Ariana Debose is back with episode 7 of her vlog.  This episode features more behind the scenes shenanigans,  talk about her vacation and the injury she sustained before the Tonys,  cast members' favorite lines, and a rare appearance by LaChanze.  :-)

[SEP 8] Moving on to Donna, On The Radio is STILL hanging around on the iTunes Dance charts. As I write this it's #11 which I think is the lowest I've seen it in a long time.  And remix fans will want to check out this YouTube clip (audio only) for the Tom Moulton mix of Last Dance.  You will want to hear that one for sure.  :-)

[SEP 8] Bruce Sudano fans - as you know, Bruce did a live stream for Paste Music on Tuesday. That stream is available for you to watch on YouTube.  In it, Bruce preforms 3 songs - the new single, Forbidden Fruit, Walking Down The Road, and The Promise.  All of those are from Bruce's upcoming album, True.  It's an album of true stories about real lives and we can expect to see that out early next year.  :-)

[SEP 8] I think that brings us to YouTube. Let's do some interviews this week. We have On Time TV from 2008, Donna on  Johnny Carson from about 1978,  Donna on Oprah 1999, Donna with Rona Barrett in 1978,  and Donna on TVam from 1991. For something completely bizarre there is the Celebrity Ghost Box interview.  The interviewer tries to reach people who have passed on to the other realm and in this particular episode he tries to reach Donna. I'm no expert in the paranormal, but I think he managed to reach snippets of FM radio stations.  LOL And finally, since I am off to see Flashdance the musical tonight, here is the official video for Romeo which is sadly not in the stage production... sigh.

[SEP 2] Where did the summer go? How did we get to September already?  Well you know a new month means a new Summer Fever Pick, so this time we turn the spotlight on the Donna Summer album.

[SEP 2] Let me start with Bruce Sudano news since this is time sensitive.  On Tuesday September 4 at 2:30 EST, Bruce will be doing a live stream with Paste Music & Daytrotter.  He'll be playing some songs and answering some questions. Check out Bruce's announcement (and a little sample tune) on Bruce's Facebook page.

[SEP 2] Moving on to other news, I guess we can start with Summer: The Donna Summer Musical.  Grosses for the week of August 26 were down a little to $679,069 - which is not bad at all looking at everyone else's numbers. There were only 6 shows that were up for the week, and 22 whose grosses  dropped more than Summer's.  Also if you are looking for last minute deals to see Summer, check the TKTS booths in New York (or I think they even have an app now.) You can get last minute deals on various shows that way and Summer has ben one of the shows available at times.

[SEP 2] Moving on to Donna herself, On The Radio is STILL  doing well on the iTunes charts. As I write this, it's #2 on the Top 40 US Dance albums chart.

[SEP 2] Johnnyswim fans - don't forget the duo is still on tour through October. Seriously - if you have the chance to see them live - GO. They put on one heck of a show.  (I saw them last night and I'm still humming the tunes.  :-) )  Also, look for the September/October issue of Relevant Magazine - you will find Amanda and Abner right there on the cover!  (Or if you can't find it, just read it online here.) There is also a podcast that goes with it.

[SEP 2] I think that brings us to YouTube.  Let's looks at some clips that go with the Summer Fever Pick.  So let's start with the Love Is In Control video.  See if you can spot Amanda in it. (Hint: Look at Donna's belly.  LOL) Then we have The Woman In Me video, and State of Independence live. See if you can spot Mimi in that one. (Hint: You really cannot miss her!  LOL) Then there is State Of Independence from Solid Gold, a German interview piece with clips from the making of the State Of Independence video, and a short piece with the all star choir from the song. And finally, some of you may remember that Quincy did a rather uh, interesting interview awhile ago where (among other things) he said that Michael Jackson stole the bass line from State Of Independence for Billie Jean.  Here is a video comparing them. See what you think.

[SEP 2] And finally - I have a lot of stuff going on next weekend, so I might have to do the update early or it might end up being a little late. I'll have to play that by ear and see how it goes. So don't freak out if you don't see me here Sunday night.  :-)

[AUG 26] Happy Sunday all! Let's start off with the Donna news.  On The Radio is still bopping around the top of the iTunes Dance albums chart. As I write this, it's at #4.   :-)

[AUG 26] We also have a new article from  Wall Street Journal  about On The Radio.  Now it is stuck behind a pay wall, but sometimes you can find ways around that. And it's worth a look because there are quotes from Bruce, Giorgio, Harold Faltermeyer, and others. There is also an article from last year on ClassicPopMag.com about Sock Aitken & Waterman.  There is a section that talks about Donna. And there is a video of Bob Esty talking about working with Donna.

[AUG 26] In the Donna's music is everywhere category - I was watching TV the other night when an ad for the movie, White Boy Rick, came on. See if you recognize the classic song that plays through the WHOLE trailer.  :-)

[AUG 26] And in the land of covers, check out this swinging cover of Hot Stuff by China Moses.  :-)

[AUG 26] Moving on to Summer: The Donna Summer Musical... For the week of August 19, the grosses were down a little to 688,279 (although attendance was up a little.) And here's some REALLY good news - ticket sales have been extended to August 2019 - so we have at least a year's worth of shows to look forward to.  :-)

[AUG 26] The cast album for Summer is now out in CD format for those who want to have an actual physical copy of the music.  :-) You can grab that at Amazon and other places that sell CDs. And BroadwayDirect.com has an article about the making of the album.

[AUG 26] This week Ariana DeBose was  on vacation, so there is no vlog episode yet. (I believe Afra Hines stepped into the role of Disco Donna for the week.) BUT - to make up for that, we have a Pop Matters interview with Ariana from our own Christian John Wikane.  :-)

[AUG 26] I think that brings us to YouTube. I think I'll do some random clips starting with Freedom (just because I happened to play it in the car the other day, and I really got into it.  :-) ) Then we have Netherlands,  a 1991 full concert from Yokohama 1991 (with blonde hair!),  You're So Beautiful from Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve, and an audio only track of Adonai.

[AUG 19] Greetings all. First things first. This week we lost another legend - Aretha Franklin.  There are many things I could say about Aretha that I am sure others have said (and have said better!) but I want to point out one thing in particular. Over the years there have been times where various media sources have counted down the top artists in the rock era based on popular vote or whatever.  In all the times that I scanned those lists (looking for Donna of course!) I would many many times notice that the lists were dominated by white males, followed by males of color..  And usually you'd have to really look to find women represented - especially women of color.  BUT - usually somewhere near the top of the lists you'd find Aretha Franklin.  You'd have to really drill down the list to find even someone as iconic as Diana Ross (with or without the Supremes), but somehow nobody  could deny Aretha her place on the list.  She had a gift that transcends gender, color, genre, you any other category you want to name. And she was an influence for so many of our other icons - both living and dead (and including Donna!) My condolences to Aretha's family, friends and fans. I know she will be missed.

[AUG 19] On to something happier - Summer: The Donna Summer Musical.  We'll start with the grosses.  For the week of August 12, sales are up to 714,474.  :-)  They have also sent out a new mailer to Broadway customers. Click any of the thumbnails for the full sized image.

[AUG 19] Speaking of the musical, Ariana DeBose's Hot Stuff Blog episode 6 is up.  This week she goes  to Bryant Park for  the cast's performance at Broadway In The Park. And of course there are more backstage shenanigans with Desperate Donna. (If you don't know about  Desperate Donna, then you need to go back and watch the other vlog episodes.  LOL) I think here are only 2 more episodes after this, so get your Ariana DeBose fix while you still can!

[AUG 19] Moving on to Donna. Civilized.Life has come up with it's list of the most danceable pop hits - according to science.  Somebody build an algorithm with 60 years of Billboard data and Echonet software and somehow they used this to define the 20 most danceable hits since 1958.  Donna came in at #11 with Bad Girls.  Personally, as I look at the list as a whole I can't help but think that there are still some things that people do better than computers and one of those things is picking danceable songs.

[AUG 19]  Johnnyswim fans: Check out the new video for Forever On Your Side by NeedToBreathe (with Johnnyswim). And don't forget that Amanda and Abner are still on tour here in the US through October 20. (Although knowing them, more dates could be added at any time.  I still think they actually LIVE on the road.  LOL)

[AUG 19] Moving on to Bruce Sudano - he's got a couple of concert dates lined up with Dan Navarro and Chas Sandford for December.   They are calling it Threefer Madness.  :-) He'll be at the Kennett Flash in Kennett Square, PA on December 7 and at St Mark Presbyterian Church in Rockville, MD on December 8. And don't forget about his new single Forbidden Fruit available now at Amazon, iTunes and other music vendors.

[AUG 19] I think that brings us to YouTube.  First up a recently posted interview from Epic Conversations with Chuck & Randy. It's audio only but it's a nice long one. Then we have a very well done video tribute to Donna on Facebook posted by Omar.  And we have the complete episode of the John Walsh Show from 2003 with Donna. (Donna is the first segment - followed by Chaka Khan and Grandmaster Flash.  If you think the audience looks a little different in the 3 segments - you are not crazy. They were filmed on 3 different days.) And finally, how could I not end with these? Donna and Joss Stone singing Try A Little Tenderness - and yes I know it's an Otis Redding Song, but Aretha covered it too.  And of course there is Donna's awesome 2006 cover of Natural Woman (and funny tribute to Aretha and her twins..... listen and you will get it.  LOL)

[AUG 12] Greetings all!  Ok let's get the bad (but not unexpected) chart news out of the way. Hot Stuff 2018 has fallen off the Billboard Dance Club Play chart for the week of August 11.  But it had a good run so I'm not too disappointed.  Now moving to the iTunes charts, On The Radio is still doing well.  As I write this it's number 5. No sign of the Dance Collection at the moment though.

[AUG 12] Here's an oldie but goodie -  the Bette Midler Blog, Bootleg Betty, had posted a photo and an audio file of Donna and Bette Midler doing Hot Stuff at the 2003 Hulaween event. The audio quality is about what you expect from a concert bootleg, but it's a lot of fun to hear.  :-)  (Shout out to Mister D - the host of Bootleg Betty!) Oh and on a side note I found that right clicking was my friend - at least in my Firefox browser. It provides interesting menu options for collectors of digital things....

[AUG 12] In musical news,  lets get the grosses out of the way first. For the week of August 5 Summer: The Donna Summer Musical was  down to 679,485.  Actually, all but 6 of the currently running shows were down this week by varying amounts - including Hamilton!

[AUG 12] Broadwayworld.com has posted a favorable review of the Summer cast album.  They do mention the one notible flaw being that the album gives you all the music, but none of the story.  Just a reminder, the cast album is available now for download from Amazon and all your favorite music sources, but if you want an actual CD, you have to wait until August 24.

[AUG 12] The cast of Summer made an appearance at Broadway In Bryant Park the other day.  Their performance is available in full on Facebook.  You'll get to see Ariana DeBose, Storm Lever and Christina Acosta Robinson stepping in for LaChanze (who may have been on vocal rest that day), and of course members of the ensemble. They did MacArthur Park, She Works Hard For The Money, Hot Stuff and Last Dance. Great job everyone!

[AUG 12] And speaking of Ariana DeBose, her Hot Stuff Vlog episode 5 is up. Tis week has some more backstage hijinks, and the closing party for A Bronx Tale. (Ariana was part of the original Broadway cast of that show.)

[AUG 12] Meanwhile, Storm Lever as on Broadway World's Backstage Bite making ... wait for it... Hot Stuffed Peppers. It's not just cooking - there is also a bunch of talking and (especially) laughing.  :-)  The video is here, and the recipe is here.

[AUG 12] Bruce Sudano fans - he's been teasing a new single, and now it's here! The song is called Forbidden Fruit and you can download it at Amazon, iTunes and other music vendors. And you can head over to YouTube to watch the official music video. And if you are wondering who that is singing with Bruce - her name is Dina Regine.

[AUG 12] Bruce's new single is accompanied by an article in Billboard in which he talks about the song, the video, and getting back to writing now that the musical is up and running.  The new single also means a newly revamped website to go with it, so go check out Bruce's site.

[AUG 12] I think that brings us to YouTube.  Let's start with a new fan video by our own Suecase Hall for the My Man Medley. And since that brings us to the Live & More album, let's find some more clips to go with it like the promo for the album, the actual TV commercial as aired, Mimi's Song from The Tonight Show, Heaven Knows from The Midnight Special, and the full 1979 concert from Japanese TV (which is as close as we have gotten to the actual full Live & More concert on video.)

[AUG 5]  Happy Sunday all! I guess we should start with the charts. For the week of August 4 Hot Stuff 2018 slips to #40 on the Billboard Dance Club Play Songs chart.  (On a side note Diana Ross I'm Coming Out/Upside Down 2018 is at the #1 spot I guess proving that great tracks can always come back.  :-) ) Now if you go over to the iTunes Dance albums charts - On The Radio is still hanging around the top spots. As of this moment it's #3, but it's been #1 it's been #2... people are buying it.  :-) And it's not alone on the chart, The Dance Collection has turned up and as I write this, it's at #23. I would say the Queen is back.... but she never really went away.

[AUG 5] In other Billboard news, the magazine has put together their Top 100 Artists of all time to honor the Hot 100 turning 60. They present it as a video (counting backwards of course!) If you don't want to watch the whole thing, then just jump to #31 to see Donna.  In an article that just lists the top 60 female artists, Donna comes in at #11. They also have an article about the Top Producers in the Hot  100 and yes, Giorgio Moroder made the list.

[AUG 5] Moving on to the musical, last week's grosses are in and Summer is down a tiny bit to $798,171.

[AUG 5]  Episode 4 of Arian DeBose's Hot Stuff vlog is up.  This time she takes us on a backstrage tour and SPOILER ALERT - there is footage of rehearsal for one of the more dramatic moments in the show. If you want to avoid the spoiler, skip the part between 1:08 (when she shows  Aaron Krohn backstage) and 2:11 (when she cuts back to her dressing room where you can see a sped up version of Ariana tucking her long braids under a wig cap.

[AUG 5] Also in the  land of social media, if you are on Instagram make sure you follow DonnaSummerBway. They periodically turn over the feed to a cast member for their Instagram stories, and you pretty much have to catch it when it happens because the stories go away after a period of time.

[AUG 5] As you know, the pair appeared with Drew Holcomb & The Neighbors on Jimmy Kimmel's Show last week.  And of course the video is available to see online.  :-) This is their performance of Ring The Bells. And then there is a clip of an unbroadcast performance of Goodbye Road.

[AUG 5] I think that brings us to YouTube.  I'm going to pick some clips from the Bad Girls album because 2 interesting covers came my way. The first is a jazzy cover of Hot Stuff by Judith Owens that comes with a pretty silly video.  ;-) The other is a cover of Bad Girls by Liza Minnelli.  What can I say? This one is vintage Liza, so if you like her then you will probably love this clip, and if you don't ... well... Moving on to the real Donna, we have Hot Stuff live in 2008, Bad Girls from a 1979 Tonight Show,  Dim All The Lights live from 1995, and Sunset People from the 1980 TV special.

[AUG 1] It's a new month and time for a new Summer Fever Pick. This month we explore I'm A Rainbow.

[JUL 28] Happy Saturday all!  Let's start with the charts. I left you last time with Hot Stuff 2018 at #11 on the July 21 Billboard Hot Dance Club Chart and at #48 on the Dance/ Electronic Songs Chart. Unfortunately for the week of July 28, it slips to #31 on the Hot Dance Club Play chart and it fell off top 50 on the Dance/Electronic songs chart. It was fun while it lasted.  :-) Also if you look at iTunes' Top 40 dance albums chart, On The Radio has been doing surprisingly well.  :-)  It was at #2 the other day, and at this moment it is at #4.

[JUL 28]  Johnnyswim fans set your DVRs!  The duo will be performing with Drew Holcomb & The Neighbors on Jimmy Kimmel  on Wednesday August 1.  The show airs at 11:35pm on ABC and of course you can watch  online at some point after the show airs.

[JUL 28] Bruce Sudano fans - check out his latest Live From The Couch on Facebook. This one is called Nothing's More Important. (Somehow I don't think it's a coincidence that this particular song turned up right about the time of Donna and Bruce's wedding anniversary.) Bruce is also teasing a new single on Instagram.

[JUL 28] Ok - time for musical news.  :-)  First up is episode 3 of Ariana DeBose's vlog, Hot Stuff.  In it, she and Storm Lever hit New Jersey for Broadway On The Boardwalk. They have clips of their performances - which because it's just the 2 of them, are a bit different from what you see in the musical. (For instance, Storm tackles Hot Stuff and Ariana sings She Works Hard For The Money.) She also asks some of the cast about the new cast album.

[JUL 28] Moving to the grosses for the week  -- this week is really weird!  Summer: The Musical is down a little bit to $800,001 for the week of July 22.  That's not the weird thing. If you scroll down the list to Hello Dolly, that show is up by OVER a million dollars  compared to last week.  Now I know they are probably having a burst of sales because Better Midler is back to close out the show August 25, but holy cow - they are up by more than their usual weekly gross! It's a wonder any other shows were able to sell anything with all that interest in Hello Dolly.  LOL

[JUL 28] I think that brings us to YouTube.  Let's start off with a Dutch clip I was just sent of Spring Affair. (Sorry, the quality is pretty rough in places - clearly it came from a decaying VHS tape. ) Sticking to 1976, we also have a clip of Lady Of The Night (with Donna in the Love To Love You album dress),  Could It Be Magic from German TV,  Love To Love You  from the Midnight Special, and  Wasted from a TV appearance (with lots of bubbles).

[JUL 20] Greetings all and happy Friday! Yes I'm here a bit early for the update because we have breaking news! The cast album for Summer: The Donna Summer Musical just became available for streaming or downloading on Spotify and iTunes. The CD will be available starting August 24 at places like Amazon. (But you can pre-order it now.)  Broadwayworld and Billboard both have article announcing the digital release of the album and Billboard is streaming the full track for Hot Stuff. Now those of you who haven't seen the show yet (or who can't get to NYC to see it), might be wondering why the songs are not in chronological order and when you listen you might be wondering about some changes you will find in a couple of songs. (For instance, Dim All The Lights is slowed down - but not in the Rod Stewart "unplucked" way Donna would do it sometimes.) The reason is that the songs are used to tell the story - well except for Last Dance which is just a good time to close the show.  :-)  For those who are OK with spoilers - check out my report from the show to see how each song is used.

[JUL 20] Oh let me take this opportunity to congratulate  the company of Summer on their 100th performance!  Great job guys and here's to the next 100!  :-)

[JUL 20] Episode 2 of Ariana DeBose's vlog, Hot Stuff, is up on YouTube. This week she goes behind the scenes at Summer and at Broadway Barks. And again she invites viewers to tweet things they'd like to see in the vlog.  You never know, she might like YOUR idea...   :-)

[JUL 20] Looking at the Broadway grosses for the week of 7/15, Summer has picked up a little of what they lost last week. Sales were up to $814,286. We'll see what happens when the next sales figures are released on Monday.  :-)

[JUL 20] On to the real Donna Summer.  :-) Let's look at the Billboard charts. Last week Hot Stuff 2018 was at #8 on the July 14 Billboard Dance Club Chart and #45 on the Dance/Electronic Songs chart.  For the week of July 21,  it drops to #11 on the Dance Club Chart, and back down to #48 on the Dance/Electronic Songs chart.

[JUL 20] Bruce Sudano fans - catch him on the radio with Alan Ross on Joy 94.5 in Australia.  You guys might remember Alan Ross - he's been a friend to Donna fans for quite awhile now. He's the guy who brought us our first listen to the whole Crayons album... OMG that was 10 years ago!  Wow - time has flown!  Anyway, Bruce will be on Sunday July 21 at 7 AM Australian Eastern Time.  You can convert the time to your specific location here,  but to give you a rough idea, it works out to  Saturday at 5 PM in New York, and Saturday at 10 PM in London.

[JUL 20] I think that brings us to YouTube.  Hmmm - what should we look at this week. I know - it was Bruce and Donna's wedding anniversary this week, let's have some clips of them performing together.  So here is Donna and Bruce unplugged on  Regis and Kathie Lee, live in concert with Worth The Wait, Donna with all the Brooklyn Dreams on the Midnight Special, Donna and Bruce on BBC Radio with So This Is Lonely, Bruce (with Donna on backing vocals) on True Love, Bruce's speech at Donna's Rock Hall Of Fame induction,  Bruce talking about writing Starting Over Again and Donna singing it.

[JUL 15] Greetings all! Let's start with the news many of you were waiting for a way to buy Summer: The Musical merchandise online!  The Donna Summer Musical website has launched an online shop here with most of the items you can get at the theater.  :-) Happy shopping everyone!

[JUL 15]  Moving on to the theater grosses for the week ending 7/8, sales were down quite a bit to $743.385.  I'm assuming that has something to do with the July 4 holiday, but I have to admit that drop hurts to look at.  Fingers crossed that the numbers will be better tomorrow.

[JUL 15] Also in musical news, Ariana DeBose is now vlogging for Broadway.com.  You can see her getting her feet wet here in episode 1.  Look for episode 2 to drop on Tuesday. And if you are on Twitter and you have ideas of things you would like to see in the vlog, send Ariana a tweet.

[JUL 15] Moving on to Donna, we have some interesting chart news, When I left you last time, Hot Stuff 2018 was #6 on the Billboard Dance Club Chart for the week of July 7 and #49 on the Dance/Electronic Songs chart. For the week of July 14, the song slips to #8 on the Dance Club Chart, but on the Dance/Electronic Songs chart, it bounces back up a little to #45.  :-)

[JUL 15] Dutch fans can look forward to Thank God It's Donna - a tribute to Donna starring Carolina Dijkhuizen accompanied by the Gare Du Nord Orchestra. Look for thta February 1, 2019 in 30 Dutch theaters. If you read Dutch, here is the article from De Telegraaf.

[JUL 15] Johnnyswim fans - Sojo.net has an interview with Johnnyswim and Drew Holcomb to promote their EP, Goodbye Road.

[JUL 15] I think that brings us to YouTube.  Let's do some live covers this week.  So we have Donna's version of Pearls by Sade,  Donna's cover of Natural Woman (audio only), Donna's cover of Nights In White Satin, her cover of Superstar, her cover of New York Minute, her cover of Send In The Clowns, her cover of Celebrate Me Home, and finally The Impossible Dream.

[JUL 8] Happy Sunday all!  I guess we should start with the charts. When I left you last time, Hot Stuff 2018 was #1 on the Billboard Dance Club chart for June 30 and #27 on the Dance Electronic Songs chart for that same week. For the week of July 7, the song slips to #6 on the Dance Club Chart and to #49 on the Dance/Electronic Songs chart.

[JUL 8] Udiscovermusic.com has an article about the success of Hot Stuff 2018. (On a side note - I really hate that word "posthumous".  Sigh.)

[JUL 8]  Over on Facebook, Robert Grant (Omega Red) posted video highlights from the Roller Disco Party in Boston last month. Looks like fun!

[JUL 8] Moving to Broadway, the grosses for  the week of July 1 are out. Summer: The Musical took in  $949,959 - its first week below the million mark since April. Don't freak out over 1 low week though.  Sales figures on Broadway can vary quite a bit due to many factors. (Just wait until winter - one bad storm can crash the numbers for all the shows!)

[JUL 8] Look for Disco Donna Ariana DeBose to vlog for Broadway.com starting July 10.  They are calling the vlog Hot Stuff (naturally!  lol) and there will be a new vlog every Tuesday for 8 weeks. If you have never seen any of the Broadway.com vlog,  basically they are all short  videos (10 minutes or so) with a star from one of the current shows showing the behind the scenes stuff from the show. You might see rehearsals, pieces on makeup or costumes,  a piece on some special event the cast is doing - whatever. I've seen some for other shows and they can be interesting, and sometimes funny.  And I can tell you that Ariana seems to really enjoy doing social media so I'm sure her vlog will be a lot of fun. She's done this before too - they had her vlog when she was in A Bronx Tale.  :-)

[JUL 8] The July issue of O (Oprah's magazine) has a photo of Gayle King pointing to the  Summer: The Musical sign in NYC. I haven't seen it myself yet, but I'm told its on the second or third page with a little blurb accompanying the photo.

[JUL 8] Johnnyswim fans - the Augusta Chronicle has an article  promoting their upcoming show with Drew Holcomb. And Connect Savannah has an interview promoting the  upcoming show there.

[JUL 8] And I think that brings us to YouTube. Let me explain something first. I happened to run into an old broadcast of American Top 40 this weekend. It was  special edition from the July 4th weekend in 1979 where they were counting  down the top 40 disco songs  to hit the pop charts  from "the last 5 years."  Donna made that countdown 5 times, so this week I am going to count down those 5 songs.  (The whole list is here.) So starting off the countdown we have Love To Love You at #40.  Then at #37 we have Last Dance, and at #31 we have I Feel Love.  Hot Stuff came in at #21. (Don't forget this was still early days for the Bad Girls album - the title track hadn't peaked on the charts yet and Dim All The Lights hadn't been released as a single yet. Hot Stuff had only just reached its peak and still had more weeks to go on the charts. If they has made this chart even a couple of weeks later, Hot Stuff would have come in higher.) Finally at #12 we had MacArthur Park.

[JUL 1] Greetings all! Happy Canada Day to my Canadian friends and Happy (almost) Independence Day to my American friends! It is a new month so you know what that means - time for a new Summer Fever Pick! This month we re-examine start of the Geffen years with the release of The Wanderer.  :-)

[JUL 1] Let's start off with Billboard Magazine tonight.  The Chartbeat column has a whole article about Hot Stuff 2018 hitting #1 on the Dance Club Chart.  And speaking of charts, when I left you last week, Hot Stuff 2018 was #1 on the June 30 Dance Club  Chart and #24 on the Hot Dance/Electronic Songs chart for June 23.  This week it slips  to #27 on the  Dance/Electronic Songs  Chart for  June 30. And unfortunately my sneaky trick for looking ahead a week on the  Dance Club charts has failed me - but I suspect that we have lost the #1 spot.  :-(

[JUL 1] As you know Boston has it's annual Donna Summer Day Roller Disco party.  Masslive.com has photos from the event - maybe you will spot yourself if you were there?  :-)

[JUL 1] Ralphi Rosario responded on Facebook (in a closed group)  to lots of inquiries he was getting about a version of Heaven Knows he played at Pride in NYC. Here's what he said: "Good day Donna fans - :-) I’m reading all the inquiring posts - thanks for sharing :-) The “heaven knows” version you heard at pride island NYC - was actually debuted at the palm springs t dance/white party like 4 years ago - since that time I’ve also reconstructed “bad girls” “Macarther Park” recently “Hotstuff” & the rarest one “one of a kind” - “kind” had additional lyrics she sung that never made it on record!!!! unfortunately they’re not commercially available & I hold much respect for the master holders of her works - maybe one day if all the logistics line up - they’ll be available - but for now you’ll be def hear me playing them out from time to time :-) much love to all her fans!!!
She was a mentor; icon & it was indeed a pleasure to work for her :-)
I miss her dearly - but at least technology has helped me keep her music & legacy alive EVERY TIME I play for the masses :-)

Ralphi Rosario"

[JUL 1] Moving on to the musical... the grosses for the week of June 24 are up again. That week they took in $1,033,008.

[JUL 1] Storm Lever (Duckling Donna) is getting her chance in the spotlight these days.  Broadwayworld.com has named her the Debut Of The Month. Broadway.com's Live  at Five team featured an interview with Storm on a recent vlog episode.

[JUL 1] The Improper Theater website did a recap on the Chita Rivera Awards.  There's nothing there we don't already know, but they titled the article "Donna Summer Musical Tops Chita Rivera Broadway, Off-Broadway Awards".  :-) They have a photo gallery but I didn't see Summer represented there.

[JUL 1] Bustle.com posted the 20 Celebrity Outfits from June 2018 that their fashion editor can't stop thinking about. Scroll down to about the third photo and you will see Brooklyn Sudano on the Tony Red Carpet.  :-)

[JUL 1] Bruce Sudano fans - he posted a couple of videos this week.  The first is a repost of a live video of It Ain't Cool.  And the other is a new Live From The Couch. It's a work in progress called Up In Smoke.  It's not often that an artist lets you hear something that's unfinished.  It will be interesting to have this to compare to the finished version one day.  It's a rare peek into the creative process (not to mention a tantalizing tease of the final version of the song.) .  :-)

[JUL 1] OK. I think that brings us to YouTube.  I guess in honor of the upcoming July 4 holiday we should pick some songs that fit with that theme.  Let's start with God Bless America. Then we have the Star Spangled Banner, and Livin In America (from Reagan's 1985 innauguration). For something more fun we have Donna performing MacArthur Park and Last Dance live on The Today Show in 1999 - right before July 4. You can actually see a giant Uncle Sam dancing at some point. And finally a liveandmore video for Let There Be Peace just because I think it's something we all need to hear from time to time.

[JUN 24] Happy Sunday all! Happy (day after) Donna Summer Day Boston and Happy Pride NYC! Let's start off with the charts. When I left you last week, Hot Stuff 2018 was #2 on the Billboard Dance Club Songs chart for June 23 and #30 on the Hot Dance/Electronic Songs chart for June 16.  Well the climb  isn't over - on the June 23 Hot Dance/ Electronic Songs chart it hits #24. And on the Dance Club Songs chart for the week of  June 30 ..... we have a #1 hit!  :-) That is Donna's second posthumous number 1. (The other one was MacArthur Park 2013). I said it before - just call it the Donna Summer chart.  LOL

[JUN 24] The On The Radio pink vinyl edition is officially out now and you can grab a copy at Amazon. It looks nice.  :-)

[JUN 24] Boston had it's annual Donna Summer Day roller disco party and it looks like it was a blast! (As usual - Omega Red and crew know how to throw a party.  :-) ) Instagram user lishjoy has some photos and video from the  event.

[JUN 24] Let's turn to Summer: The Donna Summer Musical.  For the week of June 17 it grossed $1,012,957. That's down from last week but I'm sure it will go up again.  People will be heading to NYC for their summer vacations and they will want to DANCE!  :-) By the way, if you want to have a copy of the Pride version of the Playbill - better head to the theater this week. I believe it goes back to normal for July.

[JUN 24] Johnnyswim fans - the duo starts touring again June 28 n Little Rock and they keep ongoing until October. Check out the list to find a show near you. (And if you aren't following them already - check out the Johnnyswim Instagram page.  They gave Joaquin a haircut - no more baby curls! He's still adorable though.  :-) )

[JUN 24] And speaking of Instagram, Vienna Dohler has just started a new page for her musical endeavors. It's only got a couple of posts right now, but I expect it will grow.  :-)

[JUN 24] I think that brings us to YouTube. Let's do some number 1 songs in honor of Donna's chart success this week.  So first up is Hot Stuff (Ralph Rosario and Erick Ibiza 2018 mix). (Hot Stuff 2018 is number 1 now on the Dance Club Songs chart, but it was also a chart topper back in the day on a couple of charts.)  Then we have Bad Girls (also a chart topper back in the day on several charts), She Works  Hard For The Money (#1 R&B song), I Will Go With You , To Paris With Love , Fame (The Game),  and Melody Of Love - all #1 Dance Club songs.  There are plenty of other number ones out there too - especially from the early days of the dance charts where you have listings like Once Upon A Time all cuts.  :-)

[JUN 17] Happy Sunday all! And Happy Father's Day to all the Dads out there no matter your age, marital status, or gender! Anyone can be a father - it takes someone special to be a Dad (or Pop or Papa or any other term of endearment you can think of.  :-)

[JUN 17] OK, so the Tonys happened last week. Unfortunately, Summer didn't win any (And The Band's Visit won everything - even categories that don't exist LOL). But Here is the clip you al want to see -  Mimi, Brooklyn and Amanda introducing the performance by Summer: The Musical. It's on Facebook - the YouTube clip cuts off the intro and I KNOW you guys want to see Donna's girls!  :-) I should mention that Last Dance was staged differently for the Tony's that it is for the actual show owing to the different stage setup and the need to play to the cameras. (Other non-Donna highlights - for me anyway - were the kids from the  Margery Stoneman Douglas High School drama club singing Seasons Of Love. It brought the house to tears!. And  believe it or not - the performance from Spongebob Squarepants.  The guy was tap dancing with 4 feet!  No matter what you think of the idea of a Spongebob musical, you HAVE to see the 4 footed tap dance! ) Getting back to  the Summer part of the Tonys - I was thrilled to see a commercial for Summer: The Musical on CBS shortly before the Tony broadcast started.  Entertainment Tonight did a Facebook live from the red carpet. Skip to about 1:02 for some familiar faces. (That's 1 hour and 2 minutes.) Also, I listened to the SiriusXM On Broadway broadcast Tony night while the Tony's aired, and the deejays there couldn't say enough nice things about the musical! They called it a hit (which I think is a big deal coming from Broadway people) and one of the hosts said she cried when she saw the show. When the cast album comes out - they will be playing it. I guarantee it.  :-)

[JUN 17] I also found out from the On Broadway hosts that there is a  2018 Tony Awards Season compilation CD out with songs from many of the shows that were on Broadway this season.  It includes She Works Hard For The Money from the cast of  Summer.  :-)  On Broadway played that track Tony night and they played it again yesterday afternoon.  The album is available at Amazon - but only as a CD.

[JUN 17] While we are talking musical news, The NY Post just published an article about Diva musicals on Broadway.  (We have Summer of course, there is a Cher musical coming later this year, and a Tina Turner musical currently playing the West  End in London that may be looking to come to Broadway too.) Keep in mind that the Post was one of the newspapers that trashed the show and now they are saying:  "Critics threw rocks at “Summer: The Donna Summer Musical,” but so far the dents are minor. The production, starring LaChanze, is grossing more than $1 million a week and has racked up advance ticket sales of $12 million.

Add to that the (expensive) sippy cups of wine that women in the mood to party are buying before, during and after the show, and “Summer” is shaping up to be a nice little earner for its backers." 

Hamptons-Magazine.com also had a favorable blurb about the show. (I'm linking to the Google cache of the page because for some reason I couldn't get the regular link to load tonight.)

[JUN 17] So let's talk grosses. For the week of June 10, sales for Summer The Musical are up to 1,097,434 making that week the 3rd highest grossing week for the show. You can compare it to the other shows currently on Broadway here.   :-)

[JUN 17] Moving on to the real Donna Summer, let's see where Hot Stuff 2018 is. When I left you last week, it was #4 for the June 16 Billboard Dance Club Songs chart and #37 for the June 9 Billboard Hot Dance/ Electronic Songs chart.  For the week of June 16, the song climbs to #30 on the Hot Dance/Electronic Songs chart.  And on the June 23 Dance Club Songs chart, we have a #2 hit!  :-)

[JUN 17] I think that brings us to YouTube.  First up is a fan video by our own Suecase Hall celebrating the musical. Then let's do some of the longer interviews. So we have the 2004 Lifetime Intimate Portrait, 1996 A&E's Biography, 1999 VH1's Behind The Music, a 1978 interview with Rona Barrett, 2008 On Time TV,  and a 1994 VH1 interview parts one and two.

[JUN 8] Happy Friday all! This update is early because I have plans for tomorrow and because I want to give the Tony Awards my full attention Sunday.  :-)  Speaking of which - the show airs Sunday at 8PM on CBS from 8 to 11 PM Eastern AND Pacific. (Pacific will be on a tape delay so if you are planning to watch and want to avoid spoilers - stay away from social media in the house before broadcast.  LOL) There will also be coverage on TonyAwards.com. If you have SiriusXM Radio, On Broadway (ch 72) always does something on Tony night before and during the telecast. Internationally, check out this partial list of viewing options from TonyAwards.com. I'm sure Playbill and BroadwayWorld will also have some sort of coverage that night as well.  At the very least they will have coverage the next day. And I strongly suspect that I will have Facebook open while I watch, so I might have things to say during the night too.  I'm going to try to listen to SiriusXM as I watch, so we'll see how that goes.

[JUN 8] Now for the IMPORTANT part of the Tony telecast. As you all know both LaChanze and Ariana DeBose are up for Tonys for their work in Summer: The Donna Summer Musical.  But guess what?  The Tony people have selected the cast of Summer to be performers on the broadcast AND (hold on to your hats!)  they will be introduced by Donna's three daughters!  Yes, you will see Mimi, Brooklyn and Amanda on stage together at some point during the show!!!  Now the only remaining question is, which song will the cast perform. My money was on MacArthur Park, until the NY Post said this: “Summer: The Donna Summer Musical,” though not a Best Musical nominee, will have a spot on the telecast. Critics slashed the show, but audiences love it, and there’s not a Tony viewer out there who won’t be dancing around the TV when LaChanze sings “Last Dance.” I might add that I'm sure one of the reasons they picked Last Dance is that all three Donnas get to sing it. Spoiler Alert (although not really because I'm sure you figured this out ages ago) : Last Dance is the song that closes Summer: The Musical.  So you don't have to worry about how it falls in the storyline of the show - it's just a good time after the story has been told. And of course, the entire cast gets to take part - the audience too! They are usually dancing in the aisles at that point !  :-)

[JUN 8] Let's keep going with musical news.  In the land of Tonys promotion we have the Hollywood Reporter's joint interview with LaChanze and Ariana DeBose. Billboard has an interview with LaChanze, and Variety has in interview with Tommy Mottola about the show.  (I bet a normal week of just doing 8 shows a week will feel like a vacation to everyone on Broadway after all the Tonys hoopla.  ;-p )

[JUN 8]  Looking at the grosses for the week of June 3, Summer took in $1,008,391.50. (I love that Playbill brings it out to the penny.  LOL) Unfortunately that is a significant drop from the previous week, but it looks like most of the other shows currently running also had decreased sales.  It will be interesting to see how the Tonys affect sales across the board.   :-) And of course we are moving into the summer season so there will be lots of tourists heading to NYC who will see shows.  (That should mean increased sales and more pedestrian traffic in Times Square - which means I will walk a different way to the theater on my next trip!  LOL) Oh by the way, if you are looking to see the show, tickets are on sale for all dates through April 7 2019.  So make those plans now!

[JUN 8] On to the real Donna herself! Last time the Billboard charts had Hot Stuff 2018 at #42 on the June 2 Hot Dance/Electronic  Songs chart. For June 9 it moves up to #37. The same song was at #6 for the June 9  Dance Club Songs chart and for June 16 it climbs again to #4! Hello Top 5! :-) (Just rename the chart to the Donna Summer chart already, ok?  LOL)

[JUN 8] We have a "new" Donna Summer interview out there.  Long Island Weekly interviewed Donna in 2008 as part of the Crayons promotion and for whatever reason, it was not published.... until now.  So put yourself in a 2008 mindset and go take a look.  And don't forget to check their link at the end of the article for Donna's  5 favorite songs that she recorded.

[JUN 8] I think that brings us to YouTube.  Since we're going to see Donna's girls at the Tonys, let's do some clips that feature the girls.  :-)  First up is  Bruce and the girls at the Rock Hall Of Fame ceremony.  Then we have Donna and Mimi on State Of Independence,  Donna with a very young Mimi on Mimi's Song, the video for This Time I Know It's For Real (wait until the very end - there are 2 pretty small dancers  :-)  ), a fan video for Donna with Brooklyn and Amanda on Part Of Your World,  Donna doing Hot Stuff on the Sharon Osbourne Show with a special appearance by Brooklyn,  Johnnyswim talking about Donna in the Rock Hall Of Fame,  and the acoustic version of Let It Matter by Johnnyswim - a song that was written (at least partly) about the grief they felt when Abner lost his dad and Amanda lost her mom.

[JUN 3] Happy Sunday all and Happy Pride Month to all my LGBTQ friends out there.  It's a new month so let's start off with the new Summer Fever Pick.  This time it's back to 1979 to dance with those Bad Girls.  :-)

[JUN 3] We will start off with the Summer: The Musical.  As you may know, the Tony Awards will be handed out a week from today on June 10.  It will be broadcast on CBS from 8 to 11 PM (ET and PT). For those of you on the West Coast, the show will be on a time delay so if you want to be surprised when winners are announced, you may want to stay off social media (and maybe this site too) until after you see the show.  :-)  No word yet on if the cast of Summer will perform. I'm not really expecting it since the show as a whole isn't nominated - but you never know.  I think the only other awards we are waiting to hear about are the Drama Desk Awards. That is streaming online right now and we are looking at a nomination for LaChanze for Outstanding Actress In A Musical.  I am listening to the webcast as I update, so I will jump in with the results when they are announced.

[JUN 3] Oh - I almost forgot! Since it is Pride month, Playbill is recognizing the month with rainbow colored Playbills for all the Broadway shows. So if you are heading out to see Summer this month, you will get a special Playbill.  :-) OK on to the play grosses. For the week of May 27  the total was down a little to $1,073,066. But it looks like a lot of the top shows were down too - it probably has to do with the holiday weekend and people spending time at the beach instead of in the theater.

[JUN 3]  Of course Tony week means lots of publicity for all the nominated shows. You can see LaChanze on New York Live from the other day.  Ariana DeBose was interviewed for WomenAndHollywood.com. And Vogue has a feature on the costumes of Summer: The Musical.

[JUN 3] For those of you who like silly quizzes, the site for Summer: The Musical has added a "Which Donna are you?" quiz.  One cool thing about it - after you get your answer, it's pretty easy to figure out which answers to change to become a different Donna - just in case you want to see what they have to say about each.  ;-)

[JUN 3] Moving on to the real Donna Summer. I last left you with Hot Stuff 2018 at #9 on the Billboard Dance Club Songs chart for the week of June 2. If you sneak ahead to June 9 - it climbs to #6.  :-) On the Hot Dance/Electronic Songs chart, Hot Stuff 2018 peaks at #42 for the week of June 2.

[JUN 3] Bruce Sudano fans - Bruce has been performing live on his couch again. This time it's a new song called Whisper and you can see it on Facebook. (And he's still rockin' his Johnnyswim hoodie.  :-) )

[JUN 3] I think that brings us to YouTube.  Let's go back to 1979.  We have the concert in Japan,  a promo live video for Bad Girls, Hot Stuff live on Dinah Shore,  Dim All The Lights from the 1980 TV Special,  and Sunset People from the 1980 TV Special.

[JUN 3]  AND FINALLY! The Drama Desk Awards got to the Outstanding Actress in a Musical Award.  The award goes to  Jesse Mueller from Carousel.  Congrats to her and fingers crossed that Summer does better at the Tonys.  :-)

[MAY 27] Happy Sunday all!  Here in the US it is Memorial Day weekend - the official start of the Summer season. And more importantly a time to remember all the people in all the branches of the service who made the ultimate sacrifice in all the various wars and skirmishes since the country began.  They died to defend the country, the Constitution, and the freedoms we all enjoy (including our right to squabble about any or all of the above - because let's face it, it's not the USA if we aren't squabbling about  SOMETHING.  LOL) May those sacrifices never be in vain and may we never forget the men and women who made them.

[MAY 27]  We'll start with Summer: The Donna Summer Musical.  the grosses for  the week of May 20 are out. The show took in $1,160,299 which is a new high!   :-) To go with those great ticket sales, the musical staff has announced a digital ticket lottery.  The way it works is this. Starting May 25 a limited number of $40 tickets for select performances will be made available. The lottery opens at 8 AM and closes at 11 AM for matinees or 3 PM for evening shows. Winners are notified within minutes of the drawing and have 1 hour in which to pay for their tickets online via credit card.  The number of tickets available and the seat locations are subject to availability - so you might get great seats, or not so great seats.  For all the details (or to enter) head over to Broadway Direct.

[MAY 27] Last week the cast of Summer made an appearance on Jimmy Fallon.  You can see the performance here, or you can watch the whole episode here.  (Jimmy had really nice things to say about the musical at the top of the show.

[MAY 27] As you know both Ariana DeBose and Sergio Trujillo picked up Chita Rivera Awards for their work in Summer.  You can see a little of each of them in Broadwayworld.com's video from the event. And check out Storm Lever in Broadwaybox.com's series on the 2018 breakout stars.

[MAY 27] Moving on to the real Donna Summer, Albumism has come up with its 50 greatest live albums of all time.  First up is Live & More!   And the second one up is Live & More Encore.  :-) If you have time, check out the whole list. It's very eclectic!

[MAY 27] And in chart news,  Hot Stuff 2018 debuts on the  Billboard Hot Dance/Electronic Songs chart at #49 for the week of May 26. On the Dance Club Play chart, Hot Stuff is #15 and for the week of  June 2 it climbs to #9.

[MAY 27] Well since it's officially the summer season here, I guess we should go find some good Summer songs on YouTube.  Let's start slow with Sand On My Feet.  (As a Long Island girl I can't think about summer without thinking about beaches and sand.  :-) )  Then we'll pick up the beat a bit with Summer Fever.  And of course the summer of 79 wouldn't have been nearly as much fun without Hot Stuff and Bad Girls to keep us dancing.  Summer of 99 was special to me with I Will Go With You,  and the live VH1 special.  And then there was the last concert I ever saw at at Jones Beach...  :-)

[MAY 20] Happy Sunday all!  First let me attend to some personal business - my MS Walk was yesterday. It was cold and wet, but we raised some nice money thanks to your generosity. And for the first year, I was not the only one in Donna gear. I had to load a hat to a teammate and it just happened to be a Donna Summer one. (She's going to go see the musical later this week too!)  I have goodies to send to all my donors and I will be working on that soon.  :-)

[MAY 20] On to the musical! I was there again on May 17 - and they have  some more merchandise! There is a keyring that is a blue tassel with a silver letter S. It reminds me  of the graduation hat tassels. And there are diva sunglasses! ($30). There is also a feather boa,  a mug , a shoulder bag, a hat, and a pouch. Still no sign of the merchandise being online yet, but it's still early days. I also noticed something about the show that I couldn't see from where I was sitting when I first saw it.  There is a LED sign that hangs over the audience probably about halfway back in the orchestra section. On it they identify where a particular scene is taking place - for example: Grant AME Church in Boston, Musicland Studios in Munich, etc. The only times I saw it say anything other than a location was right at the top of the show where it simply said "Summer" and later it identified the song White Boys as being from Hair.  It was a nice little feature, but not essential for following the story. I haven't been to the mezzanine yet so I don't know if they have a similar sign.

[MAY 20] Oh wait - stop the presses! Before I forget, the cast of Summer will be performing on Jimmy Fallon tomorrow night. If you can't catch the show, it will probably be on their website the next day. 

[MAY 20] Speaking of TV, Thalia (who is a co-producer of Summer: The Musical) was on the Wendy Williams Show the other day to promote the musical. You can watch that segment on YouTube.  (You can probably find the entire show online too, but everything before Thalia was just about the royal wedding.)

[MAY 20] The New York Times has a new article looking at disco musicals.  In it they admit that while critics are not fans of Summer: The Donna Summer Musical, audiences ARE! (When I was there Thursday, EVERYONE - that I cold see anyway - was up on their feet dancing for Last Dance!)

[MAY 20] In awards news, the Drama League announced it's winners the other day.  Summer did not pick up any trophies there which is not overly surprising. The Drama League Awards have a different structure than just about anything I have seen.  The fact that they have so many nominees with plays and musicals together and make and female together plus the fact that once a person wins, they are not eligible to be nominated ever again means that the Drama League Awards are not going to be easy to win. The Chita Rivera Awards are being handed out as I write this. So far they haven't reached any of the categories Summer is nominated for. And of course the Tonys are coming up on June 10. WAIT!! STOP THE PRESSES - they just announced the winner for  Outstanding Female Dancer in a Broadway Show - ARIANA DEBOSE!  And for Outstanding Choreography in a Broadway Show - SERGIO TRUJILLO! Congrats guys! You earned it!

[MAY 20] The grosses for the week ending 5/13 are out. Summer took in $1,125,078 - the best week it's had so far!

[MAY 20] Ariana DeBose (Disco Donna) has been busy. She's done an interview for BUILD series, and another one for Backstage.

[MAY 20] On to the real Donna Summer. Hot Stuff 2018 continues to climb the  Billboard Dance Club Play charts for the week of May 26, it moves from #19 to #15.  :-)

[MAY 20] Harpers Bazaar posted a slideshow of 10 iconic hairstyles that endure the test of time. Slide #1 is Donna's Once Upon A Time cover photo.  :-)

[MAY 20] Bruce Sudano fans - he's been live on his couch again.  :-) This one is called You Know What I Like.  (And check out the Johnnyswim hoodie - think he's a fan?  LOL)

[MAY 20] I think that brings us to YouTube.  Up first, Suecase Hall has made a fan video for Bad Girls to go with the new Original Hits CD.  Then we have a tribute video by Jesus, a Motown Medley video by Suecase Hall,  and a video for The Queen Is Back that has enough footage of Queen Elizabeth II to make me wonder how funny it would  be to hear her try to sing the song.  (Seriously - how ridiculously funny would that be?  LOL) And Stor Dubine's video for I Got Your Love.  (I have to tell you - I was thinking about this video after I saw the musical. The way they use LED screens with Donna's pic on them in some of the scenes reminds me so much of how Stor decorated cartoon Donna's house with her pictures. )

[MAY 13]  Happy Mother's Day to all the mothers out there! I guess Mother's Day is the best day to share this - Johnnyswim's new baby girl has a name now. She is Luna Bird Ramirez and she is adorable! I'm sure we can all look forward to seeing her on tour with the family when she gets a little bigger.  :-)

[MAY 13] On to the news.  When I left you last week, Hot Stuff 2018 had debuted on the Billboard Dance Club Songs at #43 (week ending May 5).  For the week ending May 12, the song climbed to #31. And for those who have early access to chart info (or who found a sneaky back door into that info  lol), we see it climb again to #19 for the May 19 chart.  What can I say? Deejays LOVE Donna!!!

[MAY 13] In musical news, the grosses for the week of May 6 are out and Summer: The Donna Summer Musical is still holding its own.  :-)  It's still doing better than quite a few of the longer running Broadway Shows.

[MAY 13] If you are going to the musical and are looking for something to do afterwards, Bond 45 now hosts an after party after every performance of Summer: The Musical. Now if you are wondering how to get there from the theater - just look to your own 2 feet. Bond 45 is next door to the Lunt-Fontanne. :-) Just dance your way out of the aisles, out on to the street and into the restaurant!  LOL

[MAY 13] You can listen to book writer Colman Domingo talking about the musical on YouTube.  Among other things he talks about when it's like seeing audiences dancing and singing along.  :-)

[MAY 13] I think that brings us to YouTube. Later this week we mark the 6th anniversary of Donna leaving us. So I'm going to start off with one of my favorite clips ever because it really shows Donna's playful side, and I can't watch it without smiling.  It's Donna and Barry playing around with Could It Be Magic.  And another of my favorite clips is MacArthur Park from Live & More Encore - and that's because of my very happy memories of being there that night. (And yes I cheated on both clips since neither is actually on YouTube!  LOL) Moving on to some more serious clips, we have Suecase Hall's video for Netherlands, the audio for Omega Red (featuring Donna) on Angel,  Sand On My Feet  and Be Myself Again live (other favorites of mine),  the  amazing symphonic version of I Will Live For Love,  and because I feel like I need to leave you with something fun a stampyourfeet video for That's The Way It Is - how can you not smile at a bouncy song that features Donna's name in the lyrics.  :-)

[MAY 6] Greetings all and Happy Sunday.  Let me start off with the new Summer Fever Pick since I'm a few days late with it. This month practice shouting "more, more, more" as we celebrate Live & More. (Good god, I just realized that album is 40 years old this year.... How is that even possible?  LOL)

[MAY 6] I'm going to go a little out of order this week and start with Johnnyswim because they have 2 new releases out now. The first is their EP, Goodbye Road with Drew Holcomb & The Neighbors.  That just came out May 4 and is for sale at all the usual music places.  :-) The other release was a huge surprise that Amanda and Abner have been working on in secret for quite awhile now - 9 months to be exact.  The pair have welcomed a new baby girl into the family! So congrats to the Ramirez clan - she's adorable!

[MAY 6] On to Summer: The Donna Summer Musical! First up a little explanation - Ariana DeBose injured her ankle recently, so if you were at a show recently and saw her using a cane - that's why.  Now I think I mentioned last week that the Tony nominations were coming this week. Well they did and we have nominations for Diva Donna LaChanze for Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a musical, and another for Disco Donna Ariana DeBose for Best Performance by an actress in a Featured Role in a musical. Congrats to both!

[MAY 6] In the land of reviews, we have a new one written by a fan named David Messineo. It's a very good review (and a fair one!) that you may have seen on Facebook. I will warn you though that there are a few spoilers, so read it at your own risk if you haven't seen the show yet.  Now for those still smarting from the less than stellar reviews from main stream media, the Wall Street Journal says "Forget the Bad Reviews; Donna Summer Musical Is Doing Well On Broadway." In a nutshell, the article says that ticket sales are good, the show is a crowd pleaser,  Donna's global popularity is a draw for foreign tourists, and there hasn't been a musical to truly tap into the disco craze since Saturday Night Fever ran 20 years ago. If you want to read the article for yourself and find yourself stuck behind a pay wall - try clearing your browser cookies. (Or try a browser that you don't usually use.)

[MAY 6] Speaking of sales - Summer: The Musical grossed over $1 million opening week.  :-)  (The Wall Street Journal article says that they probably could have made even more money that week,  but they gave out quite a few free tickets for the opening night show.  You know the press all got in for free!  LOL) If you look at Playbill's website, you can see how Summer's grosses compare to the other shows currently on Broadway.  (Hint - if you click on any of the column headings - like "this week's gross" - you can reorder the list so you can make better comparisons.)

[MAY 6] And speaking of Playbill, their store has the first musical merchandise to be seen outside the theater. It's the opening night Playbill. It can be yours for $15 or for an extra $30 you can get it framed.

[MAY 6] Moving on to the real Donna Summer - guess what? We have some chart action!  For the week ending May 5, Hot Stuff 2018 debuts on the Billboard on the Dance Club Songs chart at #43!

[MAY 6] And we have release news too. On The Radio is coming out again - IN VINYL. Not just in any vinyl either. This will be pink swirl colored vinyl.  :-)

[MAY 6] I think that brings us to YouTube. In honor of the new Summer Fever Pick, let's do some live stuff from about that timeframe. So first up is the 1977 concert from Italy. Then we have what they are calling a commercial for Live & More, but it's actually 2 and a half minutes of clips from the Live & More concert.  Then we have MacArthur Park live in concert 1978, Heaven Knows live in 1978,  Last Dance live,  Donna in the studio working on the Live & More album (with some interview footage),  Mimi's Song from the Tonight Show,  and the TV commercial for the album as it aired on TV.

[APR 29] Happy Sunday all! Let's start with Summer: The Musical again.  We'll start with the one thing you are all wondering about - a cast album. Guess what? They are recording it tonight and tomorrow according to a tweet from LaChanze. So we shouldn't have to wait too long for it.  :-)

[APR 29] On to awards.... yes, there are some award nominations to talk about.  The Drama Desk Award nominations are out and LaChanze is up for best actress in a musical for Summer: The Donna Summer Musical. Those awards will be handed out  June 3.  Then we have the Chita Rivera Awards which honor dance on stage and screen.  Summer: The Donna Summer Musical picked up nominations for Sergio Trujillo for Outstanding Choreography in a Broadway Show, Summer: The Musical for Outstanding Ensemble in a Broadway Show, and Ariana DeBose for Outstanding Female Dancer in a Broadway Show.  Those awards will be handed out on May 20.  And then we will be looking to the Tony Award announcements on Tuesday, so stay tuned.  And of course - congrats to all the nominees!

[APR 29] This should make you smile. Both Whoopi Goldberg and Jimmy Fallon caught performances of Summer: The Musical last week and both mentioned the show (FAVORABLY!) on their talk shows. This was Whoopi at the end of The View the other day. And here is Jimmy Fallon having fun with Donna's songs (and glitter from the show  LOL) on the Tonight Show.

[APR 29] New York Theater Guide covered opening night at Summer and they have a bunch of red carpet photos.  They also have nice things to say about the show - they seem to have avoided that instant hatred of jukebox musicals.  LOL They also posted the House Capacity figures for Broadway shows.  For the week ending April 22 (the last week we have numbers for so far),  Summer: The Donna Summer Musical had the highest gains in attendance.  And of course, THAT means more than reviews - it's all about filling the seats.  :-) And on a side note, someone in NY checked the TKTS booth the other day to see if they has any tickets for Summer.  They did NOT.  :-)  Let me explain for those who don't know about the TKTS booth.  That is a place (well actually 2 places) in Manhattan where you can grab discounted tickets for that day's shows. You never know what they will have available until you get there because it all depends on which shows have unsold seats. If they had nothing for Summer, then that means that there were no unsold seats - which is a good thing.  :-)

[APR 29] Moving on from the musical to the Diva herself, Vogue has posted a slideshow of Donna's 11 best beauty looks.  (Let the fighting over the best wig begin!  LOL) And 39 years ago this week - Bad Girls was released.  Feel old now?  LOL

[APR 29] I almost forgot - the 40th anniversary Blu-Ray edition of Thank God It's Friday is due out Tuesday.  Extras are not listed and frankly, I don't expect there to be any extras.  They are only charging 8 or 9 dollars as of this writing which is less money than the regular DVD release.

[APR 29] I think that brings us to YouTube.  Let's have some fun! The musical picked up some dance award  nominations, so in honor of that, let's show off the Diva's dance moves.  So of course we have to start with the famous robot dance in I Feel Love.  Then we have the skirt flipping moves of Hot Stuff, the music video moves in Dinner With Gershwin and Love's About To Change My Heart, the young choreographed moved of Meglio Stasera, and my favorite clip ever - the playful and fun moves of Donna with Barry Manilow in Could It Be Magic.

[APR 24] Happy Tuesday all. I thought I'd jump in to share some of the opening night festivities.  And fair warning - there may be potential spoilers mixed in. We'll start with some video. First up is a compilation of show clips, then there is Facebook live from the red carpet, final bows after the show, red carpet celebs with questions for the cast, and Broadway World live at the red carpet.  Also check out  the twitter feed for Summer: The Donna Summer Musical for photos and videos from opening night. (They even have a clip of Bruce.)

[APR 24] Congrats to cast member Afra Hines who received the Gypsy Robe on opening night.  For those who don't know, the Gypsy Robe is a Broadway tradition where the member of the ensemble of a show who has the most Broadway credits receives a special robe to "bless" the show.  You can read the whole history of the tradition here.  Personally I think it's a pretty cool idea.   :-)  Here's an interesting bit of trivia for you - they are planning to change the name of the Gypsy Robe to something else for next season. So Summer: The Musical will be the last show to receive the robe under the name "Gypsy Robe."

[APR 24] The grosses for last week are out. You can see them on Broadway World. Sales are up! (Keep in mind that the cut off for these figures is April 22.  So those are all still figures for the previews.)

[APR 24]  Reviews are out.... there are a ton of them, and before you read any of them be aware that some may have spoilers.  I'm going to make it easy for me and link you to a Playbill page that has most of the reviews. And I will also give you this Broadway World link with highlights from the reviews. (And they will update that page as more come in, so return to it every so often.)  Now for the not so fun thing to report - a lot of the reviews are not good.  But don't let that put you off from seeing the show. There are a lot of things at play here - number one being that things that critics like and things that audiences like can be two VERY different things.  And frankly, what I am hearing from people who have been seeing the show is that they are having a GREAT time. The audiences have been extremely enthusiastic and really THAT'S the thing that will make a show a success.  Also, the vibe I am getting from the critics is that they are not overly fond of the whole jukebox biographical show genre anyway. (I might have gotten that impression from this opening quote from the New York Times review: "The biographical jukebox musical — of which “Jersey Boys” provides a shining example, thanks to all the Brylcreem — is the cockroach of Broadway."  LOL) But I would also like to point out that even though critics are not fond of the show overall, they do seem to like all 3 leading ladies (as well they should!) and there have been some positive nuggets in there as well.  My favorite quote comes from the Chicago Tribune: "But I’ve sat in enough shows to say this: On Thursday night at the Lunt-Fontanne, the audience did not just respond to the music, it craved it, and the feeling it hoped it might bring, with an intensity of a force I don’t recall ever seeing before. It wasn’t so much a desire for “Mamma Mia!”-style fun as something more existential, an elixir that might help you forget you’ll never have that recipe again."  In other words - this guy thinks that the audience will make this show a success.   :-)  And let me throw one more thing at you. I've been saying this all along here and there (probably mostly on Facebook) that the musical Wicked was hated by critics when it came out. And yet it found its audience and is still running over 10 years later. (Plus one of its leads picked up a Tony.) There is an article on The Daily Beast on exactly how such a critically panned show became a hit.  And what it boils down to is that it found its audience. So critics be damned - if Summer finds its audience, it will do well. :-)

[APR 22] Happy Earth Day all! We're gonna start with the musical again.  :-) As you know, tomorrow is the official opening day.  And that means we can expect to see reviews starting on Tuesday.  We can also expect to see lots of activity on the various social media pages: Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.  They will have coverage of the red carpet starting at 6. And I  would imaging the cast members may chime in as well during the day if they find a free moment or two.  :-)

[APR 22] Summer: The Donna Summer Musical has already picked up a couple of award nominations. The Drama League has announced their list of nominees and included are Summer for Outstanding Production of a Broadway or Off-Broadway Musical, and both Ariana DeBose and LaChanze for the Distinguished Performance Award. Now these awards are a bit different than you may be used to. In the case of the Distinguished Performer Award, there are about a billion nominees because it's not broken up by musical and play or by male and female. Also, once someone wins that award once - they can never win it again. So it's a big deal to win it.  :-) I know you will be wondering about other awards too - such as the Tonys.  The musical has officially opened up just in the nick of time to be eligible for this year.  Tony nominations are scheduled to be announced on May 1. Those are usually webcast early in the morning. Other key awards to look out for are the Drama Desk Awards.  Those nominees will be announced April 26 and we MAY have missed the cutoff for that.

[APR 22] When I left you last weekend, we were expecting the cast of Summer to appear on the Today Show. Well, they were on as scheduled and you can watch the clips online.  First up is She Works Hard For The Money.  In the play, this song is performed as Donna has realized she's been screwed by Casablanca and she is trying to regain control of her career.  It is sung by Diva Donna as Disco Donna acts out (through dance) the whole taking care of business thing. It will make sense when you see it. The other performance is MacArthur Park - this is where Donna gets to show off that she's a real singer and not just a disco queen.  It starts with Disco Donna and then Diva and Duckling join in.  (Can I just say here that I love the way the costumes are handles - all 3 Donnas in the same colors but in styles that are suitable for the ages they are playing.) On and speaking of the 3 Donnas - I recommend you follow them all on Instagram because you sometimes get some good behind the scenes stuff from them. You can find them at Storm Lever, Ariana DeBose and LaChanze. Ariana DeBose tends to post the most (she's also very active on Twitter),  but all 3 were pretty active when they did the Today Show.

[APR 22] We have articles! BroadwayBox.com has a list of questions the stars and creators of Summer would ask Donna if they could. The Boston Globe has a story about the show, Playbill has a short article with some new photos, Dance Magazine has an article on the show, and The Ensemblist has an article by Aurelia Michael who is the swing for Summer: The Musical. (For those who don't know, the a swing is an actor who covers multiple roles in a production.) We also have a video review from someone who attended the show.  I agreed with some of what he said, but not with everything. But hey, everyone is entitled to an opinion...... as long as it agrees with mine!  LOL  (Only kidding.) AND - I have a special surprise article for you. Ken Allan is back from a long sabbatical with his van of drag queens, and he has seen Summer: The Musical. So we have a new Ken's Korner that I have relegated to a separate page because there are SPOILERS. So if you haven't seen the show yet, read it at your own risk. You have been warned! Oh! And as I write this, Playbill just added another article called "& Things You Might Not Know About Donna Summer."  Let me take a quick peek.  OK - different people from the musical each state one thing they didn't know about Donna.  There's nothing there that will surprise a diehard fan and nothing that will spoil the musical for you.

[APR 22] I think that's all I have on the musical. Let's move on to the new compilation Summer; The Original Hits. It's out now and most people are finding that Target only has a few of their special copies with the extra tracks.  One of the posters on the forum picked up a copy and he very kindly photographed the CD and the booklet so you can see what it looks like.  You can see it here.

[APR 22]  I have a random interview for you from 2012. If you recall, Donna dis a duet with Darwin Hobbs for one of his albums, and after she passed he talked about her a little on the radio.

[APR 22] Let's move on to Bruce for a minute. He recently appeared on the Songcraft podcast. In it he talks about songwriting and Donna. You can listen to it here.

[APR 22] I think it's time to head over to YouTube.  What should we do this week? How about Donna as a blonde - the Mistaken Identity clips?  First up is a 1991 concert from Yokahama (the whole thing - and yes, the only clip here with actual blonde hair.  LOL.) Then we have the Work That Magic video,  Say A Little Prayer live in Brazil, a liveandmore video for Fred Astaire,  and Friends Unknown live.

[APR 22] And finally, I an still fundraising for Multiple Sclerosis. Thank you to all who have donated so far and for those who would still like to, it's never too late.  :-)  My link is here.

[APR 15]  Happy Sunday all! Let's start off with a special announcement for tomorrow morning. The cast of Summer: The Donna Summer Musical will be performing on NBC's Today Show twice. The first time will be at  approximately 8:50 AM and the second time will be in the 10 to 11 AM hour. Presumably the clips will show up later on the Today Show website.  While this is going on, cast member Afra Himes (ensemble, understudy for Disco Donna) will  take over @DonnaSummerBway Instagram stories for some behinds the scenes stuff.

[APR 15] As long as we are talking musical - Ariana DeBose (Disco Donna) did a Facebook live session where she answered a few questions. You can watch it here, but a couple of things that came out of her session were that there is definitely a cast album planned (but she doesn't now the exact timeline yet) and that they are still making changes here and there to the show. She doesn't say specifically what has changed - just that the changes that have been made so far are "smart" and they "clarify the story telling". At some point the show will be "frozen" and then no more changes will be made.  Storm Lever (Duckling Donna) did one for Instagram, but I can't find that one archived on the site anywhere, and unfortunately when I watched, my stream was so bad that I missed a lot.

[APR 15] The magazine "Where" (usually found at NYC hotels) is a guide to the stuff going on in New York for visitors looking for things to do. The April edition has Summer: The Musical on the cover.  Now if you don't happen to be hanging around any NYC hotels, you can see the magazine online here  - you can even download it if you want to.

[APR 15] The report for the weekly grosses on Broadway comes out on Mondays.  So last week's numbers won't be out until tomorrow. But the week ending 4/8 the show grossed 893,307 which is higher than it grossed the previous week( 569,993). Now of course, the first week wasn't a full week since the show didn't open until March 28. Tomorrow I will be eager to see a full week compared to another full week.  :-)  Number trackers can keep an eye on this link if you don't want to wait for my update.

[APR 15] BOSTON - guess what? You are having yet another Donna Summer Day.  :-) The 5th annual event is scheduled for June 22 in City Hall Square.  There will be the usual music and roller skating, but details on performances will be announced at a later date.  They always have members of Donna's family on hand for the festivities.  :-)

[APR 15] Disco fans, the BBC website has an article about why Disco should be taken seriously.

[APR 15] Johnnyswim fans - their new song, Ring The Bells is now available for sale at Amazon, iTunes and other music vendors. You can read a review of the song on AtwoodMagazine.com. Their upcoming EP, Goodbye Road with Drew Holcomb & The Neighbors,  is expected out May 4.

[APR 15] Bruce Sudano fans - he's Live On The Couch again with a new song called Anyway. You can see it on Facebook. (Hmmm  - maybe his next album should be "The Couch Sessions"?  LOL)

[APR 15] I think that brings us to YouTube.  Today I feel like going back to 1976.  So the clips we have are  Donna on American Bandstand for the first time (3 parts: Love To Love You, interview, Try Me), Spring Affair on Soul Train,  Could It Be Magic on German TV, and the Winter Melody video.

[APR 8]  Greetings all! Let's start off with Summer: The Donna Summer Musical again.  Ah, but where to start there... OK, first up there is a new (and BIG) ad up for the show on 42nd and Broadway.  Let's call that a prime selfie spot.  :-)  Other promotion is happening too. Playbill has an interview with LaChanze (Diva Donna) and Ariana Debose (Disco Donna) was on PBS's One On One With Steve Abubato the other night. If (like me) you were asleep when it aired, have no fear! It's already on YouTube.  And I am told that the cast of the show will be on NBC's Today Show on April 16.  Usually when a Broadway cast hits the morning shows, it means we get to see a performance. Now this is just a total guess, but I'm thinking they will either do MacArthur Park or Last Dance because all 3 Donnas get to shine together on both of those numbers.

[APR 8] In completely non-professional review news,  my aunt Rose went to the matinee of Summer: The Musical yesterday. She's not a diehard like us, she's just a casual fan. But when she left the theater, she emailed me one word to describe the show - "WHOA!" She enjoyed herself.  :-D  Oh and I saw on Facebook, there has been one update so far - but it's not to the show itself. It's to the drink menu. Now there is one called Hot Stuff.  (Yes, I find the drink menu entertaining.  LOL)

[APR 8] If you haven't been to TheDonnaSummerMusical.com in awhile, go check it out now. They've added tweets, cast bios, video from the press day and the tv ads. And I am sure they will keep adding things as the show gets rolling.  :-) Oh and if you are into tracking  the play's grosses, keep an eye on this link.  As I write this, they only show last week's numbers, but they should be updating again either tomorrow or Tuesday.

[APR 8] If you are in NY and are looking for discounted tickets to Summer: The Donna Summer Musical,  good news - they have announced their rush ticket policy. They will have $40 tickets available at the box office (as soon as it opens) for that day's performance. Patrons are limited to 2 tickets only. They are non-transferable, subject to availability, and they may only be partial-view seats.  So if you find yourself with a free evening sometime and want to take a chance - head over to the box office.

[APR 8] Moving on to the new compilation, Summer: The Original Hits. As I started  in a previous update - the extra mixes (and the song White Boys from Haare) are available on the deluxe digital release, and not on the CD.... UNLESS.... you go to Target. Yes, Target will have a special edition of the CD that includes the same tracks as the deluxe digital release.  So if you are a CD person, head to Target.

[APR 8] Moving on to Johnnyswim news. The duo has a new song coming out April 6 called Ring The Bells.  If you have Spotify you can presave the song now and hear it in its entirety.  If you don't do Spotify, you can hear a clip on Facebook.  You can even see the lyrics on Instagram.

[APR 8] Bruce Sudano fans, check out video of him at City Winery from March 14.  He sings It Ain't Cool, Analyzing  Stars, and With Angels On A Carousel.

[APR 8] I think that brings us to YouTube.  In honor of the 50th anniversary of Martin Luther King's assassination, let's start with the New Radio Millennium Mix of State Of Independence.  (It's the one that includes part of the I Have  A Dream speech.)  Then let's keep going with some classic mixes. We have I Feel Love (MAW 86th St. mix),  Last Dance (MAW short version), the Jr. Vasquez long DMC mix if Melody Of Love,  Love Is The Healer (Thunder dub),  and the studio 54 mix of Love On And On.

[APR 3]  Happy Tuesday all!  Let's call this the weekly update.  LOL  And II am going to start off with some stuff about Summer: The Donna Summer Musical again.  The first week's grosses are available and  the musical took in $568,993.  Both Playbill.com and BroadwayWorld.com track the numbers for anyone who wants to watch those. I'm no expert in Broadway sales figures, but I would love to be able to compare Summer's preview numbers with some other preview show numbers from past shows.  Then I could get a better idea of how much of a good start we are off to. Now both of those sites have comparisons with other currently running shows, and when you look at numbers to compare you have to remember that not all theaters are the same size so potential earnings are not the same. And the shows listed vary from limited engagement productions, to long running hits, to shows that may be on their way out. So if you scroll down the list of grosses on Playbill, you will find that it's not a level playing field.

[APR 3] We have a whole bunch of articles about Summer: The Musical's Broadway debut.  There is one from Broadway Direct, the Broadway Buzz on Broadway.com, a feature on the cast at Broadway World,  a Broadway Direct feature on the 3 Donnas, and an Out interview with Ariana DeBose (Disco Donna).

[APR 3] Speaking of Ariana DeBose, she tweeted that she will be on  One On One with Steve Adubato on PBS (NY channel 13) at 12:30 AM tonight.  She's also posted a video on Twitter of her getting ready to take the stage in Summer: The Musical.  (HEY! I just had a random thought.  All these years we diehard fans have groaned when  people have written "Donna SummerS" instead of "Donna Summer".  But now that we have the musical and there are 3 people playing the role, maybe "Donna SummerS" is correct? Or should it be "DonnaS Summer"?  LOL)

[APR 3] Moving on to the new hits collection, Summer: The Original Hits, 947wls.com has an article about the compilation and PR Newswire has the press release. Here's the interesting thing from the press release - the 2 remixes at the end of the album are exclusive to the DIGITAL deluxe edition.  So if you order the CD you won't get them.

[APR 3] I guess I can move on to Johnnyswim now. They will be touring with Needtobreathe this Summer/Fall.  Dates and ticket info are posted on Needtobreathe.com.

[APR 3] On to Youtube.  Let's start off with a song I have been returning many times since I saw the musical, and that's Be Myself Again.  Then we have My Life (which was listed in La Jolla's information on the musical, but which is also not currently in the show.) Then let's move to some rehearsal clips from Summer: The Musical. We have one video from Theatermania, one from Broadway.com, one from The Donna Summer Musical, and one from Tamsen Fadal TV.

[APR 3] And finally.... some of you saw this on Facebook already, but I am officially announcing my annual MS Walk!  (I have a couple of donations already - THANK YOU!)  As you know, I like to have out some little tokens of my appreciation to those who donate.  This year, I had some opens made up to commemorate the musical. AND when I was at the show the other night, I grabbed a few extra goodies to share with my top donors. The top 3 will get an official Summer: The Musical keyring, and the top 5 will get a copy of Playbill. If you donate multiple times before the walk (May 19), I will add up the total of your contributions to figure out your standing.  In the event of a tie, I will go by the date the donations were made and take the first high donors. Here's what the pens and keyrings look like:

As always, donations made before this official posting are STILL eligible for goodies.  :-)  And as always, if I hit my goal of $517, I will walk in my Donna gear. (If I don't hit that goal, I am screwed because I don't know where my team shirt is!  LOL)

[APR 2] Pictures have been added to  the first part of my musical report.

[APR 2] The new Summer Fever Pick is up! This month it is Once Upon A Time.  (I'm getting there with the updates - slowly but surely, one piece at a time.  :-) )

[APR 1 no wait  APR 2 it's after midnight here] Part 2 of my show report is up now. It's the spoiler version so reader beware! I'm off to bed now!

[APR 1] This week's updates will be a bit weird - and not because it's April 1!  LOL  I saw the musical Friday and I am trying to work on my show report. (I wanted to do this yesterday but my boss made me work!  UGH!)  So, my report will be in 2 parts and I will have some images to add as well.  This is going to delay both the regular update and the changing of the Summer Fever Pick.  I will squeeze all of these in as I can.  Part 1 of my show report is now up.  Please excuse the typos, I consider that page a work in progress still. (In fact you will see a couple of place holders for pics and links there.)  I'm about to work on part 2 of my report. It's getting late but I'm hoping to have it tonight (fingers crossed!) It's sort of handwritten at the moment - I just have to decipher my own writing and type it up.

[MAR 24] Happy Saturday all!  This week we are starting off with a new compilation called Summer: The Original Hits due out April 20.  Now BEFORE you start yelling about yet another compilation - this one is a little different. It is specifically geared toward people (casual fans) who will see the musical but who may not be as fully  familiar with the original songs as we are. As such, the album is coming out just 3 days before the official opening date of April 23, and the tracks are all ones used in the musical. Let me give you the track list:  I Feel Love, Love To Love You, I Remember Yesterday, On My Honor, Faster And Faster, MacArthur Park, Heaven Knows, Enough Is Enough, Pandora's Box, On The Radio, I Love You, Bad Girls, She Works Hard For The Money, Unconditional Love, Hot Stuff Last Dance, and as a bonus on iTunes (probably for us diehards - and probably at Amazon if you look at the MP3 listing) they added the Rosabel Radio mix of MacArthur Park and the Ralph Rosario Eric Ibiza 2018 mix of Hot Stuff. That Hot Stuff mix is actually available to purchase now. Oh, and I forgot to mention that the MP3 version of the collection also includes White Boys from the German soundtrack to Haare. Now, EVERY one of those songs was used in the musical when it played La Jolla. There are a couple of other songs that were also used that UMG would have had to pay to include: Stamp Your Feet, The Queen Is Back, To Turn The Stone, Friends Unknown and My Life.  So this album should tide at least the casual fans over until a cast album is recorded.  :-) On a side note - I have tickets for the Friday performance this coming week, so I will have first hand reports to make on the next update.  :-)

[MAR 24] Speaking of the musical - I have finally seen the TV commercials on the air. A couple of nights this week I was watching The Late Show With Stephen Colbert and the ad ran shortly before midnight.  :-)  It was very exciting!  Also, I find myself being followed all over the internet by ads for Summer: The Musical which on the one hand tells me that I really should clear my cookies and history more often. But on the other hand, I do get a kick out of seeing those ads.  LOL

[MAR 24] There is a new non-profit organization called The Songstress Hall Of Fame. They took to Twitter to announce the following inductees:  Adele, Cher, Aretha, Loretta Lynn, Dolly Parton, Katy Perry, Linda Ronstadt, Diana Ross, Barbra, Tina Turner, Dionne Warwick and of course DONNA SUMMER.  :-)

[MAR 24] Fan club fans - Tom Gilliam is looking for some help. He's been funding the Fan Club out of his own pocket since 1986. It's been getting more expensive as time has gone by so now Tom has a GoFundMe to help raise money to pay for upgrades and updates to the fan club site software, etc. If you would like to contribute, the link is right here.

[MAR 24] Let's move on to Johnnyswim. Guess what? They are hitting the road again! (Which is absolutely NO surprise to anyone who follows Johnnyswim.  They do love the road!  LOL)  Let me give you the link to the Facebook video where they teased the announcement of the dates. (You want watch that because Joaquin  makes a guest appearance in that.  LOL) Then the following day they listed cities and dates in another video. They've got shows almost every day from August 10 to October 7 all over the USA. If they are coming to your city, grab some tickets when they become available. Johnnyswim puts on a GREAT show!

[MAR 24] In Bruce Sudano news, TasteOfCountry.com listed their "10 Disco-Country Songs We Can't Stop Dancing To." They included Starting Over Again which as you all know was written by Bruce and Donna. (And it's always fun to hear Bruce talk about how Donna contributed to that song.  LOL)

[MAR 24] I think that brings us to YouTube.  Let's start with Donna doing Starting over Again on the Tonight Show.  Then we have a stampyourfeet video for A Song For You/How Great Thou Art, another stampyourfeet video for Let It Be, Worth The Wait live,  Any Way At All on The Tonight Show, and Heaven's Just A Whisper Away live at the Apollo.

[MAR 17] Happy St. Patrick's Day all!  So you know we have to start with the musical again. (Can you believe it's opening in just a couple of weeks?) First up is an article in Broadway News explaining why the cast is predominantly female - including some women who play male roles. (Short answer - to create more roles for women on Broadway and to honor Donna's "central mission" of female empowerment. )

[MAR 17] We also have 2 new TV commercials for Summer: The Donna Summer Musical.  Now I haven't seen them on TV yet - but that may be because I'm not watching the right channels lately.  Neither ad says much about the show - but that's in line with other musical ads I have seen lately.  Here is the first ad, and here is the second.

[MAR 17] CaribbeanLifeNews.com was at the March 8 preview of Summer: The Donna Summer Musical.  There is an article, but it talks more about Donna than about the musical. It even explains what happened with that sitcom Donna was talking about making  around 1989 or so. (I think she mentioned it in her interview with Arsenio Hall if I recall.)

[MAR 17] Moving on to the land of remixes - our own Summer2k (who now uses the name DJ Moch) got his hands on the original stems for Bad Girls and has used them to build his Epic 12" Disco Remix.  This is not your typical fan mix where the mixer has to work with or around what was already there. He got all the separate pieces so he could do anything he wanted to with them - like the pros get to.  It's amazing - go check it out! :-)  I also want to mention that DJ Moch has said that he did this mix as "a tribute to Donna and her amazing musical legacy." He also revisited his old One Of A Kind mix and incorporated some of the new vocals that turned up in the new John Morales mix.

[MAR 17] The Guardian recently posted an article called, "Readers recommend playlist: Songs with sudden changes."  In the Dance section of the playlist you will spot a familiar diva with On The Radio.

[MAR 17]  In the land of auctions, one of Donna's old Casablanca contracts was up for auction late last year.  It didn't sell (probably because none of US knew about it then) but you can still see the listing with a couple of pages.

[MAR 17] Bruce Sudano fans - he's posted another video from his recent concert. This one is the end of Ball Of Confusion where Bruce is joined by Pepe Cardona (froma Alive N Kickin'), Eddie Hokenson (from the Brooklyn Dreams) and of course Randy Mitchell from The Candyman Band and from Donna's band.) At the moment, Bruce is hanging around Brooklyn while he records some new tracks.  :-)

[MAR 17] I think that brings us to YouTube.  Let's start off with another DJ Moch mix. This one is Netherlands - Donna vs. Dan Fogelberg. Then we have Donna's interview on The Arsenio Hall Show. (Yes, I remembered correctly - this is the interview where she talks about the sitcom.) Now let's just go into YouTube freefall and see what comesup. We have a 2004 UK interview plugging The Journey,  Nathan's 2008 tour video,  and his clip of Donna singing La Dolce Vita on a plane in 2009., a fan video for Adonai, and another one for Valley Of The Moon.  And then just for fun, let's bring back the clip of Donna with Barry Manilow fooling around with Could It Be Magic.  :-)

[MAR 11] Greetings all! Well, you know we have to start with Summer: The Donna Summer Musical.  As you probably know, the show is currently in rehearsal and the press was in to do a little filming recently.  So you will want to check out this short clip on YouTube with a bit of the music.  Then there is a video at BroadwayWorld.com with interviews with various people associated with the production - even Bruce. (If you use an ad blocker, you may have to turn it off to get the video to play.) Playbill.com has photos from the rehearsal,  and Theatermania.com has video of MacArthur Park.

[MAR 11] in remix news, John Morales has reworked the MacArthur Park Suite.  You can hear it as part of the John Morales M&M mix starting at about 27:30.  (Sorry - there are some vocal watermarks over the track here and there that are pretty distracting.) Oh, and I left out the best part - EXTRA vocals in One Of A Kind!  :-) Crack open that vault!  LOL

[MAR 11] Moving on you Bruce - as you know he has a couple of recent performances including a headlining event where he sneaked in a couple of surprises.  Some of those  have made it to his Facebook page.  :-)  He's got the new song Forbidden Fruit with Dina Regine, the new song Walking Down The Road with Mike Montali, and the not quite so new song Bad Girls with Eddie Hokenson.  :-)

[MAR 11] I think that brings us to YouTube.  And since MacArthur Park has popped up a couple of times in the news this week, let's start with that.  This version is live at the Today Show in 1999. Then we have She Works Hard For The Money live in 2008,  and Friends Unknown from some TV appearance.  Then let's do a couple of deep cuts - Freedom, a clip of the unreleased song Addiction,  a clip of another unreleased song, Half The Battle, and the unreleased Ordinary Girl song, Begin Again.

[MAR 4] Happy Oscar Sunday all! It's a new month so it's time for the new Summer Fever Pick. This month, I Remember Yesterday.

[MAR 4] Since it's Oscar night, let's start with some movie news. Thank God It's Friday is coming out on Blu-Ray as a special 40th anniversary edition on May 1.  You can pre-order now at places like Amazon. It looks like it's just the film with no extras. The disc is being put out by Mill Creek Entertainment, and you can see full details on the release there.

[MAR 4] Moving on to the musical - the box office for the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre is now open! So if you are in NYC and still need tickets, you can just stop off at the theater and get tickets while admiring Donna on the marquee!  And if you head to Instagram, you can see a couple of pics from rehearsals.

[MAR 4] Moving on to Quincy Jones. No he hasn't said anything new about Donna, Michael Jackson, or anyone else he talked about in recent interviews.  What he has done is apologize for his recent "wordvomit" after an intervention from his family. Apparently his daughters took him aside and told him to cool it, and he's taken that to heart.

[MAR 4] Bruce fans - don't forget he's playing City Vineyard in NYC on Tuesday. If you are in the area, stop in and enjoy the show!

[MAR 4] I think that brings us to YouTube. Since it's Oscar night - let's do some movie music.  Let's start with Donna's 2 appearances on the Oscar telecast singing Papa Can You Hear Me (originally sung by Barbra Streisand in the movie Yentl) and Last Dance (from Thank God It's Friday).  And, of course, Paul Jabara picked up the Oscar for writing Last Dance.  Then we have Down Deep Inside (Theme From The Deep), The Power Of One (from Pokemon 2000),  Whenever There Is Love (from Daylight),  Romeo (from Flashdance),  Highway Runner from Fast Times At Ridgemont High), On The Radio (from Little Foxes), and Hot Stuff (from The Full Monty).

[FEB 25] Greetings all! Yes we are starting with the musical again! Broadway.com has an interview with "Diva Donna", LaChanze. There is even a YouTube interview on the bottom of that page.  :-)

[FEB 25] In the land of remixes. there is a new one for Sometimes Like Butterflies. The  only trouble is, only a clip is available to play. It's a minute and a half, but it will make you long for the rest! You can check that out on the Reservoir Media Management website.

[FEB 25]  DNA Magazine is holding an online poll for  Favorite Old School Diva.  You  have a choice  of 5 worthy contenders and as of this writing Diana Ross has the lead with Donna in second place.  (Cher, Bette Midler and Barbra are 3, 4 and 5.)

[FEB 25]  Bruce Sudano fans - he was  on Acoustic Cafe recently, and you can listen to the show's archives online. In it Bruce talks about (and performs) some of his recent songs.  You can also catch Bruce on Facebook with Live On The Couch #13 - a new song called Nancy Goldstein. He's also posted (from that same couch!) an invitation to come see him perform at City Vineyard at Pier 26 on March 6.  Now if that  date doesn't work for you, you can also see Bruce February 28 at City Winery in NYC with The Zombies,  March 3 at Live At Drews in Ringwood, NJ with Hollis Brown,  and March 4 at City Winery in Boston with The Zombies.  Tickets for all those dates are available through this link.

[FEB 25] I think that brings us to YouTube.  I think in honor of the Olympics, well do some Art On Ice clips. (Hey, it's Donna performing with some Olympians.  :-) ) So we have Dim All The Lights with Evgeni Plushenko,  She Works Hard For The Money with Joannie Rochette, Smile with Delobel & Schoenfelder, and La Vie En Rose with Shen & Zhao.

[FEB 18] I have to start off by offering my condolences to the people of Parkland, Fl. Another 17 kids dead for no reason at all.  More thoughts and prayers, more political debates that go nowhere, more clamor for change that won't happen - because let's face it, nothing ever really changes after these shootings. We argue for awhile, and then it's on to the next thing.   :-(  But, I would like to say that I do see a tiny silver lining to this particular tragedy. The survivors I have seen are an articulate and thoughtful bunch who are ready to speak their minds, and who will be VOTERS in a year or so.  (You hear that Congress - they will be old enough to VOTE very soon!) I see them and I see the future, and I think it just might be a bright one.  :-)

[FEB 18] On to Donna! Let's start with the musical again.  Rehearsals just started Tuesday and the full cast has been announced. The full list is on Broadway.com (among other places.) Over on BroadwayWorld.com, you can see a photo gallery of the new marquee being put up.

[FEB 18] Moving on to the infamous Quincy Jones interview I talked about last week. If you remember, in it Q claimed that Michael Jackson stole State Of Independence (the baseline anyway) for Billie Jean.  Well one positive result of this accusation is that streams of State Of Independence have increased dramatically - something like 12,000 % !! Billboard posted an article about that shortly after I did the update last weekend. Not bad for a song that is unfamiliar to most non-fans.  LOL 

[FEB 18] Now Q's claims about Michael have not been met with universal acceptance. The Jackson family is not overly happy with Q's statement. And just to throw gasoline on this fire, I found this clip on YouTube where Daryl Hall says that Michael Jackson told him that he used I Can't Go For That as the basis for the Billie Jean baseline. And there is a comparison of those 2 songs on the video as well. (Personally, Billie Jean sounds more like State Of Independence to me than it is to the Hall & Oats song - although I could be biased.  ;-)  )

[FEB 18] I think that brings us to YouTube.  Let's start with a 30 minute interview from 1978 that just reappeared. It's with Rona Barrett - and I'm probably showing my age if I say I remember her.  LOL Then we go to Donna's cover of Superstar for no other reason than I heard the original in the car today and remarked to my friend that Donna did an amazing cover of it.  :-) And then I think since it was Valentine's Day this week, we should do a few love songs.  And of course that means Love To Love You Baby - in this case, live in 1977. Then let's play Love's About To Change My Heart (the video), Love Is The Healer (live on The View),  and stampyourfeet's video for Sand On My Feet.  (Yes, I know it doesn't say "love" in the title, but this is DEFINITELY one of Donna's best love songs!) Oh yes, and of course we can't leave out I Feel Love (live in 2008).  :-) I am off to go watch the Olympics - go ice dancers!

[FEB 10] Happy Saturday all!  Let me start off with a quick reminder that Mary Gaines Bernard is performing tomorrow (February 11) at 12:30 PM at the South Florida Garlic Fest in John Prince Park in Lake Worth, FL. If you are in the area definitely go check that out!

[FEB 10] Moving on to Donna.... As you know Summer: The Donna Summer Musical is coming to Broadway on March 28.  Well, the sign has gone up outside the Lunt-Fontanne Theater already! If you are in NYC go take a look - the theater is at 205 W 46th. For those of us who can't go take a look in person (yet), I swiped this pic from the Facebook page for the musical:

[FEB 10] Mailings promoting the musical have also gone out. (Most new shows sent out a flyer to people who have purchased Broadway tickets in the past.)  It was very exciting to receive this in the mail today:

I imagine the next things we will be seeing are ads around the city - posters at the train stations, ads on the busses, etc.

[FEB 10] In more unusual news, Quincy Jones gave a rather interesting interview to Vulture.com recently that has been getting a lot of attention. How can I describe this interview? It's sort of like he has no filter - like in his mind he's thinking, "I'm 85 and I'll say whatever I want! The heck with diplomacy!"  LOL In it we find out who killed Kennedy, we hear about Marlon Brando's sex life,  we find out that Q once dated Ivanka Trump (although I would think she's kind of young for him), and we find out that Michael Jackson "stole a lot of stuff".  (Musically, that is.) And here's where Donna comes into it.  Q maintains that Michael stole State Of Independence and used it for Billie Jean. And just to be clear - we're talking about the baseline here. And this one little section of the interview has taken on a life of its own - probably because it's the one thing people can truly investigate for themselves. As a result - YouTube views for State Of Independence are way up., new videos have been posted comparing the baselines of State Of Independence and Billie Jean, and of course social media is full of discussions about the songs.  TMZ has even added fuel to the fire by finding the clip of Michael singing back up on State Of Independence. Here is one of the videos comparing the baselines so you can decide for yourself if it sounds like anything was stolen.  And no matter your opinion, make sure you read the Vulture article.  It is a very entertaining read!

[FEB 10] Tom Gilliam over at the Donna Summer Fan Club has done an interview with John Billings, formerly the bass player for Donna's band. Tom sent questions and John and his wife made a video of John answering them. The video is up on YouTube, so go see what John has to say about working with Donna. This one phrase will grab at least a few of you... "giant rolling trunk of wigs."

[FEB 10]  Bruce Sudano fans - as I mentioned last week, Bruce has a bunch of dates lined up for the next few weeks. He's really promoting his March 6 show in NYC - to the point where he keeps posting one particular photo on Facebook, but with new words added to it each time.  I feel like anybody who goes to that show should find a way to bring up that photo for a laugh. (Sigh... it's a Tuesday. I don't think I can pull that one off.)

[FEB 10] I think that brings us to YouTube.  Well, I guess in honor of the Q interview, we are going to have to start off with State of Independence. I give you the official video and a live performance from 1983. And let's do another Q/Donna track  since John Billings mentioned it - Love Is in Control the official video.  Then we have I Feel Love live 2008 and Could It Be Magic live 2009  - look for John Billings in the background.  And finally in honor of the Olympics, Stamp Your Feet live on Letterman.

[FEB 4] Happy Sunday all! First up - the play.  According to Playbill, Summer: The Donna Summer Musical will open on Broadway with the same 3 women playing Donna who had the roles in La Jolla.  No word yet on casting for the rest of the parts.

[FEB 4] Speaking of the musical, one of the characters is Donna's long time fan, friend and executive assistant - Brian Edwards.  Nola.com has interview with him where he talks about the play among other thing.

[FEB 4] Bruce Sudano fans - catch him live on February 28 at City Winery in NYC with the Zombies, March 3 Live At Drew's in Ringwood, NJ with Hollis brown, March 4 at City Winery in Boston with the Zombies, and headlining March 6 at City Winery in NYC.  Tickets for all these events are available through this link.

[FEB 4] I think that brings us to YouTube.  Let's do some duets.  We have Donna with Joss Stone on VH1 for Try A Little Tenderness,  Donna with Seal for Unbreak My Heart/Crazy/On The Radio,  Donna with Liza Minnelli on Does He Love You,  Donna with Bruce Roberts on Whenever There Is Love,  and a fan video for Enough Is Enough.

[FEB 2] It's a new month so it's time for a new Summer Fever Pick. This month we explore the Four Seasons Of Love.  :-)  Oh and as for the new color scheme - if you think it looks familiar, well then you are right. I shamelessly stole it from the  promo images for Summer: The Donna Summer Musical.  :-)  I'll be back later this weekend with the regular update.

[JAN 28] Greetings all and Happy Grammy Sunday! Sorry for the lack of an update last weekend but I've been battling a nasty sinus infection. On  side non-Donna note, if you are ever sick in bed and want something to watch on TV that won't tax your brain - check out BBC/BBCAmerica's Planet Earth and Blue Planet. Even if you can't deal with listening to David Attenborough talk about all the various creatures , you can turn off the volume and just look at all the absolutely gorgeous video. There was some footage in Blue Planet II especially that was completely breathtaking!

[JAN 28] OK, let's get down to business. And I have to start off with some sad news. Some of you may know a fan named Lucia Martinez. She was president of the Donna Summer Fan Club in Spain in the late 70s and early 80s. (Although if I understand correctly, she was known as Jordi back then.) Well, unfortunately Lucia passed away January 16 after a long battle with kidney disease.  My condolences go out to Lucia's friends and family and I'm thinking that right about now she's at some heavenly concert right there in the front row and dancing to our queen! :-)

[JAN 28] Billboard posted a compilation video on its Facebook page of the best Grammy performances from over the years. Yes, Donna made the list.  :-)

[JAN 28] In the land of covers - remember last time I had the heavy metal cover of Hot Stuff? Well, this time I was sent  a link to a cover by China Moses. It's a couple years old, but the really interesting thing is that this time the song was reimagined as a bouncy jazz tune. And you know what? I think it really works!

[JAN 28] And speaking of covers - this video is a couple of years old but has been making the rounds again lately. It is Trez Gregory sharing her story of meeting Donna (more than once) followed by her cover of Donna's There Will Always Be  A You.

[JAN 28] Bruce fans - check out his Live From The Couch #12 on Facebook. This one is a cover of (What's So Funny About) Peace, Love & Understanding written by Nick Lowe.  You can also see his  performance of Common Sense on LineaRock along with a little bit of an interview.

[JAN 28] Don't forget - Bruce is playing with the Zombies at City Winery Boston on March 4. Tickets are on sale now.

[JAN 28] I think that brings us to YouTube.  First up, Donna's famous performance of She Works Hard For The Money from 1984, the 1980 Grammy Medley with Kenny Rogers, and Donna's Grammy win for Last Dance. And then for fun, let's thrown in a couple of unplugged tracks - On The Radio live on Regis & Kathie Lee, and So This Is Lonely from BBC Radio.

[JAN 14] Happy Sunday all! So as you know, tickets for the Donna Summer Musical on Broadway are currently on sale. Tickets range in price from $48 to $149 and are available at Ticketmaster.  I personally will be there March 30.  :-) And speaking of the musical - there is a video fan review on YouTube.  Fair warning - the first half of the video is about the outfit she wore to the show so if fashion isn't your thing you will want to skip ahead a bit.  :-)

[JAN 14] In the land of remixes, there is a new EP out there featuring new mixes of Bad Girls (the Scandal and $wan$ mixes.) You can grab a copy on iTunes and Amazon.

[JAN 14] In cover news, Mystic Prophecy has released a new album called Monuments Uncovered. It's an album of covers which includes a cover of Hot Stuff. Now the band is a heavy metal act, so how you feel about the cover will depend on how you feel about that genre of music. You can hear clips on Amazon.com. To me, it's not bad but also I have to be really in the right mood to listen to metal. (The cover art though - that I can completely live without. )

[JAN 14] I think that brings us to YouTube. In honor of the heavy metal cover of Hot Stuff, let's look at Donna's rock and roll side.  :-) First up we have Cold Love live on the Tom Snyder show, the video for Fame (The Game), Romeo live from the Hot Summer Night concert, a fan video for Protection, and of course Hot Stuff live from the 1981 TV special.

[JAN 7] Happy 2018 everyone! May it be a happy and healthy one!  Of course it's a new month so it's time for a new Summer Fever Pick. This month we look back at A Love Trilogy.

[JAN 7] Tomorrow (Monday) is January 8 and you all probably remember what day that  is - the day the tickets go on sale for Summer: The Musical on Broadway! The show starts previews on March 28 and officially opens April 23.  Tickets will be available at Ticketmaster starting at 10 AM tomorrow. The price range is listed as $48 to $149. And can I just say that I LOVE that I have a reason to post Ticketmaster links again.

[JAN 7] Albumism.com posted an article to remember Donna on her birthday. And Vogue posted 5 New Year's Eve looks inspired by Donna.

[JAN 7] There is a new book by Quentin Harrison called Record Redux: Donna Summer (Volume 3). It is Donna's discography covered in detail  with synopsis and full color art for all of Donna's albums and singles. It's absolutely gorgeous! (Oh and I should explain the volume 3 thing - the other 2 volumes cover other artists. The book is available in paperback at Amazon.com. If you do the Facebook thing, you can follow the whole Record Redux series there. Oh and I should probably mention - the author is one of us - a fan!  :-)

[JAN 7] Bruce Sudano fans check out his performance of Let's Fly from Border Crossings on Facebook. And on YouTube check out Word Of Love - a performance improvised by Bruce and Randy Mitchell when Memphis morning TV asked him to perform a Christmas song. Oh and Paste Magazine included When Cinderella Dies in their Top 100 songs of 2017. Way to go Bruce!

[JAN 7] In some unusual Johnnyswim news... the duo is credited for inspiring a new life? Apparently Chip and Joanna Gaines of the TV show Fixer Upper attended a Johnnyswim concert a few months a go in Waco that ehy described as being very romantic. I guess the feeling of romance continued after the show with the result being that the Gaines family is expecting their 5th child. I guess  Johnnyswim concerts should come with a warning label now? "May cause pregnancy"?  LOL

[JAN 7] I think that brings us to YouTube.  Since we are in the middle of a nasty cold snap here, I think it's time to warm the place up. So of course we have to start with some Hot Stuff. Then we have A Hot Summer Night With Donna - the whole show! Then we have a little Spring Affair/ Summer Fever live, I'm A Fire live, and the infamous Donna Summer Gene Simmons duet of Burning Up With Fever (audio only).

2017

[DEC 30] Happy almost New Year and Happy Day Before Donna's birthday! I hope everyone is enjoying the holiday season.  :-)  I have one request that I have made many times before - if you are doing out to celebrate the New Year tomorrow night, PLEASE - if you are drinking then don't drive and if you are driving then don't drink!  I want to see everybody safe and sound for 2018!  :-)

[DEC 30] Well of course we have to start with the musical.  Tommy Mottola and his wife Thalia were on the Today Show recently to promote another project of their, but the subject of the Donna Summer Musical did come up. Jump to about 3:10 to get to that part of the interview.

[DEC 30] Speaking of the musical, fan Jim F went to see the show in La Jolla recently and this about it: "The music, the story /acting, the music, the singing the performers were spectacular! When it was over I almost had the feeling like I used to have after seeing Donna in concert live..... her spirit lives on in this show, I say BRAVO to the cast for a job well done and a show well worth seeing! It really was a special time and also an emotional ( from tears to cheers) up and down ride that really made the show time pass by so quickly I wanted more more more!!!" Now, if you are like me, you read that last line and in your mind you heard the Live & More guys yelling "more more more".  :-) (I wonder if any of those guys are still around? And if they know how iconic their cheering became?)

[DEC 30] In the Donna is everywhere category, she was mentioned on ABC's Match Game the other night. One contestant (who is known for changing her hair a lot) said that her co-workers often call her Donna Summer. To which the host, Alec Baldwin, replied that he also  rocks the Donna Summer look often but with his chest hair. (of course that begs the question - WHICH Donna Summer look?  Ok wig fans - start imaging your favorite one on Alec's chest...   LOL)

[DEC 30] In honor of Donna's birthday tomorrow, let's revisit this 2012 blog post remembering Donna.

[DEC 30] I think that brings us to YouTube. Let's do some clips that are in keeping with the holiday.  :-) We have Donna performing Could It Be Magic and Try Me on the 1976-77 Dick Clark's Rockin' Eve. We have a version Last Dance from 2004 - sorry I had to use the Nobel Peace Prize concert clip because I can't find video of her appearance on Dick Clark's Rockin' Eve that year. (It was awesome - they had her OPEN the new year with the song instead of closing out the old year.  LOL) But from the actual New Year's Eve show - I have You're So Beautiful.  :-)We also have stampyurfeet's Happy Birthday video to Donna, and another birthday tribute by his "friend" Suecase Hall.

[DEC 30]

[DEC 22] Greetings all and Merry Christmas to those who celebrate. Happy Hannukah, Happy Kwanza, Happy Winter Solstice, and Happy Festivas to those who celebrate any or all of those holidays! This week's update was planned to be some holiday videos and probably very little news.... but then we got an early Christmas present!  We now have an OFFICIAL opening day for Summer: The Donna Summer Musical on Broadway! It is April 23 but, previews start March 28 so you can see it as early as that.  :-)  Tickets go on sale starting January 8 through Ticketmaster. 2018 is already off to a great start!

[DEC 22] Now with the musical's debut on Broadway comes some new websites you should know about.  :-) First is the official website for the production: TheDonnaSummerMusical.com. There's not a lot there yet of course, but you can sign up for email updates. (Just a note, the "listen" link there is for just a general Donna Summer Spotify playlist and not for music specifically used in the musical.) There are also some new social media sites on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. So if you use any (or all) of those sites, be sure to follow those pages.

[DEC 22] And of course the announcement of the opening day has spawned tons of media coverage.  SiriusXM's On Broadway mentioned it in their Broadway Buzz yesterday? or the day before? I don't remember - I just heard it on my way to work and I was thrilled. And then there are articles in the following outlets:

New York Times
Broadway.com
Playbill
Variety
Hollywood Reporter
NY Theater Guide
Newsday

And there are a lot more articles popping up as well!

[DEC 22] Unfortunately there is some sad news this week too. Larry Harris, one of the co-founders of Casablanca Records, has passed away unexpectedly at the age of 70. You can read his obituary in Billboard. My condolences to his friends and family.   :-(

[DEC 22] Ok - on to the holiday updates I planned to post.  The King Moonracer's Revolt blog has a post on why to him, Donna Summer means Christmas. It's a very personal reflection and a touching read. Oh, and here is the 1984 Bandstand episode he talks about.

[DEC 22] This week, instead of just posting a bunch of YouTube links, I made a YouTube playlist of holiday songs featuring Donna Summer, Johnnyswim, and Mary Gaines Bernard. And with that let me say  - have a very happy and safe holiday weekend!

[DEC 16] Happy Saturday all!  First up - Christmas is a week from Monday so I'm not sure exactly when next week's update will happen. It might be Saturday again, or I might do it Friday. I'll see how it goes with my holiday preparations.  :-)

[DEC 16] On to the musical!  So as you know Summer: The Donna Summer Musical plays in La Jolla until December 24. And then..... BROADWAY some time in April! At least that's the news according to the NY Post.  :-)  It seems that Tommy Mottola is in as producer now and the Lunt-Fontaine Theater will be available by then. An April opening will bring the musical to Broadway just in time for the Tony cutoff date and it will give the show a chance to get rolling before The Cher Show opens in the fall. You can read more about Tommy Mottola's  involvement on Music-News.com.

[DEC 16] While we're talking about the musical, let's post a few more reviews:

Los Angeles Edge Media Network
Talkin' Broadway
Entertainment Today
Times Of San Diego
The Stage Review
Carol's Theater Reviews
Vet Tix

The reviews are a mixed bag - which is not a bad thing.  There is still time to work on the weak parts of the production and there are plenty of productions that have done much better with audiences than with critics.  So let's see what happens when it comes to Broadway!  :-)

[DEC 16] There is a new documentary online called Donna Summer: Hot Stuff. It's a German production (but subtitles are available in English and French as well.) The show includes interviews with Donna's friends and family, AND also a phone interview with Donna herself done after she became ill. I haven't had time to watch it myself yet (maybe I can make that my Christmas present to myself next weekend  :-) ) but I understand that it is really good. You can stream it on Playloud.org for 2 Euros. They take PayPal only.

[DEC 16] Bruce Sudano fans - he is live from his couch again on Facebook! This time it's with his new song She Said No.

[DEC 16] Last week I mentioned that Mimi Dohler has an Etsy shop with her handcrafted jewelry. She also has a Facebook page to promote her shop. If you like her stuff, give her a follow.  :-)

[DEC 16] I think that brings us to YouTube. Let's do some interviews this week. First up is the Lifetime Intimate Portrait. Then there is the A&E Biography, the VH1 Behind The Music special, a 1994 interview (part 1 and part 2), and raw footage of a 2003 interview.

DEC 9] Happy Saturday all! Let's start off with a remix this week. John Morales has remixed Heaven Knows and put it on the M&M Mixes Vol 4; The Ultimate Collection. I think I have mentioned this before, but now there is a pretty decent clip available so you can check it out. Just head to Juno.co.uk for a 2 minute sample of that and the other mixes on the set.

[DEC 9] On to the  musical. TheaterMania has posted its review and unfortunately it's not overly enthusiastic. They love the music and the 3 Donnas, but have issues with the writing and the lack of depth in the other characters (as in the other characters really aren't given much to do.) On the other hand, sdvoice.info loves the show unreservedly.  :-)

[DEC 9] The Clarion Ledger has posted an article about the Dan Fogelberg Tribute album. There is a section where they talk about Donna's part in the album.  Apparently she was one of the first people to agree to record a song, but unfortunately her schedule was such that they had difficulty finding a time for her to come in and record. The end of Donna's part of the article will get you:

“But one day she called me up and said, ‘Norbert, I’m in California. My voice is feeling strong. See if you can book me into a studio.’ I was in bed with the flu, but I arranged for her to record at a studio in Malibu, and I had the engineer email me her vocal.

“She told me, ‘Book the studio for two days in case you don’t like what I do the first day, then I can go back in and do it over.’ ”

At his home studio in Florence, Alabama, Putnam dubbed Summer’s vocal over an orchestral arrangement that Fogelberg had written. “I had goosebumps all over me while listening to it,” he said. “I called her and said, ‘Donna, don’t worry about doing it over. It’s perfect.’

“What we didn’t know at that time was that Donna was battling cancer. She died just two or three months later (May 17, 2012). For her to do that while she was ill was really special.”

So there you have it. Netherlands is officially one of the last things Donna ever recorded.   :-(

[DEC 9] In the Donna is everywhere category, she was the $500,000 question in Who Wants To Be A Millionaire  the other day.  The question was, "Creating an anthem for working women, Donna Summer wrote the song, She Works Hard For The Money, based on an encounter she had with a tired what?" The choices were: A. Teacher, B. Meter Maid, C. Nurse, D. Bathroom attendant. Unfortunately the contestant was not a fan and had to walk away - even as I screamed at the TV "BATHROOM ATTENDANT!!!"  LOL So the lesson to be learned here is that everyone needs to be a Donna Summer fan!  ;-)

[DEC 9] Moving on to Bruce Sudano. He recently did an interview with Italy's Il Terzo Lato Del Vinile. The article on the website is in Italian of course, but Bruce has posted an English translation on his Facebook page. (If you aren't on Facebook - there is always Google translate.  :-) ) Also, he performed on Il caffè di Raiuno recently. You can see his performance of Bat Shit Crazy here at about the 28 minute mark followed by a short interview, but be advised that the site makes you register first.

[DEC 9] Johnnyswim fans: Baeble Music has a Christmas session with Johnnyswim. It's their version of WInter Wonderland/Baby It's Cold Outside. Now granted it was recorded a couple of years ago, but it's still a fun listen.  :-)

[DEC 9] Finally, for those of you still holiday shopping who might be looking for some handcrafted jewelry, Mimi has a shop on Etsy with some really pretty stuff. Go check it out.

[DEC 9] And that brings us to YouTube.  Let's start with the John Morales mix of Heaven Knows - audio only. (See, I warmed you up with the 2 minute clip above and here you get 7 minutes of Heavenly goodness.  :-) ) Let's do something else fun now. Let's look at a couple of Donna's early hits and compare the early performances with her later ones.  We'll start with Love To Love You in 1976 and then live in 2009. Then we have I Feel Love live in 1977,  and then live in 2008. Hot Stuff live in 1979 and again in 2009, and finally Last Dance live in 1977 and again in 2010/11. (It aired in 2011 but if I recall it was taped in 2010.)

[DEC 8] Sorry for the short notice, but I have breaking news for anyone who can see Summer: The Donna Summer Musical THIS weekend (December 9-10). Lodge Torrey Pines is offering a deal to stay and see the show. There are also tickets to a Sunday  brunch  meet and greet with the cast of the show. For details, RUN to the  Lodge Torrey Pines website.

[DEC 2] Happy December all! Can you guess what the new Summer Fever Pick is? (If not, then you must be new here.  LOL)

[DEC 2] Let's start off with Summer: The Donna Summer Musical (playing until December 24 in La Jolla.) We have a few more reviews now. There is a very enthusiastic one from BroadwayWorld.com, another pretty decent reviews from San Diego CityBeat, a positive review from the San Diego Reader, another from Entertainment Today, and one more positive review from the Fallbrook & Bonsall Village News.   :-)

[DEC 2] Moving on to the land of podcasts, Slate's Hit Parade recently did a whole show about Donna. You can hear it here.

[DEC 2] In social media news, RuPaul has been tweeting  and Facebooking about Donna lately. (He's been a fan forever!) He even begged the cast of Summer: The Donna Summer Musical to help him get tickets to the show. (And it worked - the La Jolla Playhouse tweeted back an invitation to the show.   :-)  )  I would love to hear Ru's review of the show someday.

[DEC 2] I think that brings us to YouTube. Oh what the heck, why fight it - everybody else is playing Christmas music so I may as well too. First up a fan video for Christmas Spirit, a lyric video for Christmas Is Here, a stampyuyfeet video for Donna's Christmas Medley and one for I'll Be Home For Christmas, a Patrice video for White Christmas, and a lyric video for Rosie Christmas.

[NOV 26] Greetings all!  Let's start with Nether Lands today. VintageRock.com has posted their review of the Dan Fogelberg Tribute album. The review is generally positive for the compilation as a whole, and they really love Donna's track, calling it "ethereal and gorgeous."  :-)

[NOV 26] On to the musical. A couple of reviews have popped up. The LA Times was not enthusiastic unfortunately.  The San Diego Times is more positive while still pointing out that some things need work. And the San Diego Union-Tribune expresses a similar opinion. Now keep in mind 2 things. First of all, the show will probably be a bit different by the time it hits Broadway. And secondly, reviews don't necessarily mean that much. Lots of musicals click with fans but not with the press - Wicked comes immediately to mind. The critics weren't fond of it (at least at first) and yet over a decade later it's still running on Broadway. So don't let a less than enthusiastic review keep you from seeing the show for yourself - especially now that the show has been extended to December 24. (And actually, the fact that the run has been extended twice says a lot more about the show than any review. You don't extend the run of a flop!  :-) )

[NOV 26] On to the Donna's music is everywhere category... some of you have already noticed that Walmart is using Hot Stuff in their holiday TV ads. And I Feel  Love is being used in the Netflix series The Punisher - episode 4 called Resupply. Apparently it is used in a car chase scene.

[NOV 26] In remix news look for a new mix of Heaven Knows on the  John Morales M+M Mixes Volume IV. You can hear a little taste of it on SoundCloud - just jump to about 24:10.

[NOV 26] Johnnyswim fans - keep your ears open while you are out holiday shopping.  Their song Christmas Day is playing in the holiday music rotation in some places. (It's playing in my store which is a national drug store chain. I decline to specify which due to various social media policies my employer has. But suffice to say, if my store is playing it then other places are too I sincerely doubt we have a custom playlist.)

[NOV 26] I think that brings us to YouTube.  Let's start with the first fan video for Nether Lands by our own Suecase Hall. Then we have more by Suecase Hall with several of Donna's Motown covers, a video for From A Distance, one for La Vie En Rose, one for Part Of Your World, one for her country medley with Eddie Rabbitt, and a clipfest he put together in honor of Mary's Once Upon A Time concert.

[NOV 19] Happy Sunday all! Let's start off with the musical.  Summer: The Donna Summer Musical has officially extended its run until December 24! I take that as a very good sign! Also, one of the guys who went to the show came back with some souvenirs. He bought a keyring (black rectangle with the Summer logo) and a t-shirt (blue with the iconic Live & More photo as seen in the musical's artwork with the Summer logo.)  I have received another fan report of the show, plus a couple have turned up on Facebook. So I think we are due for a fan report page that I will update as I hear from more of you guys. :-) Tonight I am adding Patrick's report and links to the Facebook posts. And please feel free to send me your reports if you are seeing the show.   :-)

[NOV 19] Moving on to media coverage of the musical, Broadway World has PHOTOS from the show. (Real professional photos!) So that will give you an idea of the look of the show. Playbill.com has an article about the extension of the run that includes one or two pictures that Broadway World didn't post. And AmericanTheatre.org has an interview with LaChanze who plays Diva Donna.

[NOV 19] That brings us to Nether Lands. It is officially available for sale along with the other tracks from A Tribute To Dan Fogelberg. If you have not heard the song yet - go listen!  And the buy it! (Or you can buy it first and then listen - I'm easy.  LOL) I can't tell you how many times I have played it since Billboard started streaming it the other night, or how many more times I played it once I was able to stick it in my Google Music. It just grows on me more every time I hear it. :-) I have to share one quote with you from Facebook because I really like the way Rael put it: "...that voice is like a warm welcoming of a missed friend...." That's exactly the way I feel about it.

[NOV 19] When I heard Nether Lands, one of my thoughts was that some clever fan would make a really cool video for this song at some point.  Well that hasn't happened just yet, BUT one of the fan mixers has gotten to work and has already made a "duet" version  with Dan Fogelberg and Donna singing together. It's on YouTube now. The mix is credited to DJ Moch who many of you may remember as Summer2k.

[NOV 19]  I mentioned in a previous update that Donna's official site now has t-shirts in stock with more items on the way. Well, someone got their limited edition t-shirt order recently and it came with a little notecard that says, " We hope you love & enjoy this exclusive product as much as we did creating it. With our very sincere thanks for your support, The Estate Of Donna Summer"  followed by the "Donna" signature you see on the new merchandise. That's a very nice touch!

[NOV 19] In the land of remixes, there is an EP out by Andy Buchan that includes a track called Caught In The Middle that is basically just a mix of Donna's version of If It Hurts Just A Little. You can listen to it on Soundcloud too.

[NOV 19] Before I get to the next thing, scroll up and see how many news entries I posted about DONNA just now. This is like the good old days again! Ok, moving on to Bruce. He has recorded a song called She Said No. Do I even have to tell you what it's about? Just look up the hashtag #MeToo to see where Bruce got his inspiration. (Or just look at recent headlines coming out of Hollywood and the world of politics.  :-(  ) You can listen to the song on Facebook.

[NOV 19] I think that brings us to YouTube. Let's do some random clips this week. Let's start off with Be Myself Again live.  Then we have Donna's live cover of Superstar, Smile live, Donna with Joss Stone on Try A Little Tenderness, Donna with Seal with Unbreak My Heart, Crazy and On The Radio, and finally stampyurfeet's fan video for Take Heart.  I will be back next weekend - I hope  my American friends have a very happy Thanksgiving! (Seriously? How did it get to be so late in the year so soon?)

[NOV 15] BREAKING NEWS! Billboard is now streaming the full Dan Fogelberg album including Nether Lands. They use Dan's instrumental track but unlike in Dan's version - Donna's vocals don't get buried at all. :-)  Fair warning - when you hear the song, some of you will cry.  I will be back this weekend with more on the play.  And now I'm off to stream Nether Lands a few million more times!

[NOV 12] OK - I came back on time.  LOL Happy Sunday all. Let's start off with the musical. BroadwayWorld.com has a forum with a little discussion of the show. You will want to jump down to post #11 for lots of details including exactly how the songs are used. There is also a regular article about the show on LGBT Weekly. I also wanted to mention that according to Donna's official Facebook, they are "woodshedding" the musical right now - that is, they are improving it as they go. For those of you who know how musical theater works - skip ahead to the next part of the update. For those of you who don't know so much about it, let me explain the process a bit. When a musical is written, the creators hone it as much as they can before it ever gets to an audience. But then before they bring it to Broadway, they open it out of town in a place like La Jolla in order to see how an audience responds. Depending on how the play works in front of the audience - changes may be made. Maybe the book gets adjusted, maybe songs changed, but whatever needs working on gets improved. Just as an example, I'm sure many of you have heard of the classic musical Oklahoma. (It was made into a film in the 50s starring Shirley Jones and Gordon MacRae.) Now that was a pretty successful musical, but when it opened out of town, it had a completely different title and it was missing the iconic Oklahoma title song.  You see, when they played it for audiences, they discovered that they needed a rousing song at the end to lighten up the mood after all the dark things that happened in act 2. So what I am getting at is that whatever you see in La Jolla - it could be quite different when it hits Broadway. (Or maybe not if the audience responds well to what is there.)  The other thing I wanted to mention is that no matter how much the production crew plans, they can't predict an exact date for Summer: The Donna Summer Musical to hit New York.  No matter how ready the show is for Broadway, they still have to wait for a theater to become available - meaning that something has to close first - and they will be in competition with other shows hoping to open on Broadway.  So we are all going to have to hang in there and try not to be TOO impatient. (What? Whoever heard of Donna fans being impatient?  LOL And yes, that advice is for me too!)  Also (true confession time here), I haven't really listened to anybody but Mary sing Donna's songs since 2012. So when the show does come to town, I am going to have some really mixed feelings about seeing it. I mean, I'll go - try and stop me!  But there is a part of me that is nervous about someone else singing Donna's stuff.

[NOV 12] Enough musical talk for a second.  Let's take a look at Donna's website.  :-) The look of the main page has been updated and then if you click on the shopping link you see several new items listed. Now, the t-shirts are all available for sale now, but the caps and hoodie are not in stock yet. You can see what they look like though.  :-)

[NOV 12] Bruce Sudano fans - he has posted a svide on Facebook called Damned Lonely On The Road.  He's also posted a photo of himself wearing a t-shirt that says "She said no." His comment said "New song... New t-shirt... Men supporting women..."

[NOV 12] I think that brings us to YouTube. Let's do some of the songs being used in the musical.  :-)  I'll skip some of the bigger hits for now and go with the deeper cuts.  First up is Faster And Faster To Nowhere live in Japan. Then there is Friends Unknown from the Walk Of Fame, an I Believe In Jesus fan animation, My Life live (audio only), On My Honor (audio only - sigh, I would have loved to hear her sing it live), To Turn The Stone (lyric video), White Boys (Donna's German version combined with footage from the movie of Hair), and The Queen Is Back (promo video).

[NOV 9] This is just a quick update with the first fan review of Summer: The Donna Summer Musical. I will probably not be able to do the regular update until Monday or Tuesday.  So here we go from Christopher Blackwell from Phoenix:

Came back today from seeing the premiere of The Donna Summer musical. The La Jolla Theater was a cute classy theater. I stood in the lobby with my spouse and I saw a few of Donna's family members. I shook Bruce's hand & told him that I'm glad that this musical is finally happening & thanked him. I forgot to introduce myself. We just were facing each other & I decided to shake his hand. It was a great moment for me.

The musical started with the stories intertwined with one another. The play touched base on how Donna started singing in the church. She came from a strict and caring religious background. It discussed vaguely about Donna witnessing a crime with someone she knew. Being abused by a boyfriend. There was a vague story regarding an inappropriate relationship with a church member. Most of the stories were easy to follow. Some of the stories were a bit hard to fully understand. That would be my slight critique of some of it; If I had to pick one.

Other than that I thought the play was entertaining throughout. The music felt like it was written for the musical. I liked the fact that both hits and obscure songs from Donna's catalogue were used. I loved the fact that at least one of the intended original songs from the play " My life" was used. Using that song in the play I felt tied the whole thing together with the original play concept & the "live and more encore" from which mentioned. I felt that the cast did a great job bringing the roles to the stage. The acting wasn't so much as an imitation of the people they were playing but more of the feeling that these people invoked throughout the character lives. I felt the real emotion of the story in spite of knowing it wasn't the real Donna Summer on stage.

The play got towards the later years in her life and her untimely death and her reflection on her artistic and personal legacy. It showed a strong and powerful woman taking charge of whatever circumstances came her way. The play showed how Donna was one of the first female singers to fight the music industry. Towards the end of the play was when things got to my heart and I couldn't keep a dry eye. The play ended we went back to our motel. Unexpectedly the play is still sticking with me. Meaning that I still keep thinking about it. I even cried few times the day after the play. So I guess you can say that I took something from the play. I'm so grateful that I had the opportunity to go to the world premiere of it.

[NOV 5] Greetings all! Let's start off with the musical, Summer: The Donna Summer Musical. It opens Tuesday - can you believe it? Tuesday! The long wait is over! If you are in the La Jolla area and don't have your tickets yet, grab some now because the show closes December 17.  NBC 7 in San Diego has an article about the show where they talk to Ariana DeBose ("Disco Donna").  The NY Post also has an article about a number of shows that could potentially end up on Broadway next season. (Please understand that while the plan is to try to get Summer on Broadway in 2018 - it will depend very much on if there is a theater available. For something to  open on Broadway something else has to close, so it's always a competition for any newly available theater.) I am hoping for the next update, we will have a bunch of reviews to share. Fingers crossed!

[NOV 5] The Pop Icons Blog is running a poll until November 12 to determine the Best Female Icon. Currently Donna is in 10th place and all of the icons are severely trailing Madonna. So maybe it's time to give the Madonna fans a run for their money. You know what to do.  ;-)

[NOV 5] Bruce Sudano fans - 21st Century World has been officially released in Italy. Check it out on Rockerilla.com and on Rootshighway.it. (Both sites are in Italian so if that's not your language try Google translate or get some cute native speaker to interpret for you.  :-) )  New York area fans will be able to see Bruce live on March 6 at City Vineyard for the Voices On The Hudson series. Tickets are on sale now and are limited, so don't wait too long to grab yours.

[NOV 5] Johnnyswim fans - the duo are still on tour and of course that means articles from the road. TampaBay.com has a review of the show in St. Petersburg, and GastonGazzette.com has a promotional piece for the  Charlotte show.  Interestingly, both articles mention that Johnnyswim are writing new songs for an upcoming album (no surprise there!) AND that they are planning to collaborate with a couple of other bands for an EP that will go along with a planned Spring tour. So expect lots more Johnnyswim goodness in 2018!  :-)

[NOV 5] Mary Bernard fans - don't forget that she is performing at the South Florida Garlicfest on February 11.  That promises to be a great time so make sure you bring your dancing shoes!

[NOV 5] I think that brings us to YouTube. Let's do some interviews this week. First up is a long one with Elliot Mintz from 1978 - that starts off with Donna being a total wiseguy.  LOL Then we have Donna on Regis & Kathie Lee from 1994 (with her dishes), Donna on the Mike Douglas Show promoting Love To Love You,  a 1989 French interview (you can hear Donna under the interpreter if you listen closely - also, you can tell Donna is listening to a translator via earpiece while the hosts are speaking), and a 1995 interview from Brazil with Jo Soares where the host does all the translating.

[NOV 5] And finally - just a note about next weekend's update. I will be spending next weekend indulging one of my other geeky hobbies (I speak many dialects of geek!  LOL) so that might make the update a little late. BUT - if a bunch of review of the musical turn up, I may get to update early. So you might get an early surprise, but don't freak out if I don't get to the update until Tuesday. :-) Oh, and on a side note to my American friends - Tuesday is election day so don't forget to go out there and vote. I know this year isn't a Presidential year or the all important mid-term year, but don't let that make you lazy. If you don't try to put good people in the lower offices, then you aren't going to have good people to choose from for the more prestigious offices. 

[NOV 1] It's a new month so we have a new Summer Fever Pick. This month we look at Love To Love You Baby.  :-)

[OCT 29] Happy (almost) Halloween all!  Let's start off with some sad news. Robert Guillaume star of the TV shows Soap and Benson has passed away at the age of 89. Donna Summer fans will remember that he made a guest appearance on her 1980 TV special where they did a little skit and then performed Bridge Over Troubled Water. My condolences to his family, friends and fans. (89? I had no idea he was that much older than Donna!)

[OCT 29] On to happier things. Can you believe that Summer: The Donna Summer Musical is just a few weeks away? I feel like we've been waiting for it forever! LOL The San Diego Union Tribune has an article taking a look at the 3 talented ladies who will be playing Donna at various ages.  Playbill.com also has an article listing the winner of the Edgerton Foundation Awards. (There are financial awards that allow productions more time to develop and rehearse.) The Donna Summer Musical is one of the recipients.  :-)

[OCT 29] In the Donna is everywhere category, her song Do Believe (I Fell In Love) is in the Netflix series Stranger Things 2 - episode 9 I believe. Talk about a deep cut!   :-)

[OCT 29] In Bruce Sudano news - as you know, he performed at Genghis Cohen the other night. Fortunately for thos if us who couldn't be in LA, someone live streamed one of the songs, At The Dawn Of Hallelujah Day,  on Facebook. So go check that out when you have a chance.

[OCT 29] In more sad news, Bob "Inky" Incorvaia has passed away.  If you are Brooklyn Dreams fan, you will have seen his name in the liner notes - actually you probably saw him in some of Donna's liner notes too. He and Bruce went way back - all the way to the days when Bruce was in Alive & Kicking. Inky did some engineering, some producing, and some songwriting over the course of his career. My condolences to his friends and family. And just to give you a little something - here is a track from Bruce's 1980 Fugitive Kind album. It's called True Love and it was one of the ones co-written by Inky. And you might just hear a familiar female backing vocalist in the mix too.  ;-)

[OCT 29] I think that brings us to YouTube. Oh let's do some Donna collaborations with the Brooklyn Dreams.  So of course we have to start with Heaven Knows from The Midnight Special. Then there is a Motown Medley also from The Midnight Special, the American Bandstand interview Donna did with the guys, the Brooklyn Dreams version of Heaven Knows (with the vocal parts reversed),  and a Soundcloud track of Donna and the Brooklyn Dreams singing an alternate version of Hollywood Knights. Anf finally in honor of those we lost - Donna's amazing live cover of Celebrate Me Home with Mary and Dara on backup.

[OCT 22] Greetings all! I hope your weekend is going well. Let's start off with Mary Gaines Bernard this time. She will be performing on Sunday February 11 at the South Florida Garlic Fest in Lake Worth. For info check out the Garlic Fest website.

[OCT 22] Ok - back to Donna. Fans of the self-titled album, Donna Summer,  will want to check out the Insights and Sounds blog for an in depth look at  the album.

[OCT 22] Bruce Sudano fans - catch his performance for 91.3 FM The Summit on his Facebook page. It's about 50 minutes long, so allow yourself plenty of time to enjoy the show. ALso, if you happen to be in LA on the 24th (Tuesday) go see Bruce at Genghis Cohen at 8PM. He's bringing his full band and he's promising some new songs. 

[OCT 22] Johnnyswim fans - catch them on the road now through December in various places here in the US. And if you can't get to a show, check out their Instagram feed for pictures from the road. Oh and go check out KTVU.com also. Johnnyswim brought special guests Steph and Ayesha Curry up on stage for the final number and KTVU has the video. (Johnnysw3im's Instagram has some video too, but it's a much shorter clip.)

[OCT 22] Let's jump to the rumor mill for a second. Some of you might remember that there was a rumor going around awhile ago that Madonna would record Enough Is Enough as an anti-Trump anthem. Well now we have a new rumor about the song which is that Pink and Kelly Clarkson will perform it. I'm not holding my breath on that one - Pink has never heard of the song.  LOL

[OCT 22] I think that brings us to YouTube. I'm in the mood for some Crayons tonight, so here we go. First up is the whole concert from Jones Beach. Donna on the season finale of American Idol, the Queen Is Back promo video, the Today Show Summer Concert Series performance from 2008, a fan video for Driving Down Brazil, and Stor Dubine's video for Stamp Your Feet.

[OCT 15] Happy Sunday all! Where to start? How about the Dan Fogelberg Tribute album? We still have about a month until the whole thing is released, but the Dan Fogelberg official website has posted more info about the album. They have the whole story about the album starting with an overview of how the album came about and then continuing with the stories behind all the individual songs. You can go read the whole thing, but I will summarize the section about Nether Lands.  Donna's involvement dates back to June of 2010 when she expressed an interest in recording that particular song for the tribute. Apparently it was a song she sang along to for years and she credited it for helping to inspire her during some difficult times. When it came to recording the song, they used Dan's original instrumentation taken from the original masters as they figured it would be too costly to recreate it. So what you guys have heard on YouTube is going to be exactly what we are getting only with Donna's vocals.  :-)  And you guys will be amused by this part. Jean Fogelberg (Dan's widow)  was unaware that Donna was still performing and so she was very pleasantly surprised (or maybe I should say she was blown away) when she heard Donna's track and discovered that the Diva could still sing like no ne else! :-D  Then she goes on to mention that since Donna is no longer with us,  Johnnyswim performed the song at the tribute concert this past summer.

[OCT 15] Donna's official Instagram has been updated. It includes photos of some of the old recording tapes and such. Go look - it's very interesting. ;-) And as long as you are on Instagram, check out Bruce's photo with one of the cast members of Summer: The Donna Summer Musical.

[OCT 15] Vienna Dohler fans - she has a single out now on Amazon.com called What Are You Waiting For. Go check it out.  :-)

[OCT 15] I think that brings us to YouTube.  I think since we found out Nether Lands will be with the full orcestral track that was used in the original, I want to feature some orchestral Donna. :-) SO let's start with Donna at the Nobel Peace Prize concert in 2008 backed with an orchestra of course. (This is a play list of 3 videos that cover Donna's entire part of the show.) Then there is Donna at Art On Ice  backed with the Christoph Walter Orchestra, I Feel Love at Night Of The Proms 2005, and then Donna with the Nashville Chamber Orchestra with a "medley." (It's not actually a medley as such, it's a compilation of clips from the show including parts of MacArthur Park,  Smile - which is amazing with the orchestra!, Don't Cry For Me Argentina, Amazing Grace, Last Dance, and the beyond amazing symphonic version of I Will Live For Love.) And then just for fun - the Belgrade Philharmonic covering Hot Stuff. (Watch the conductor - he's having a blast!)

[OCT 8] Greetings all and my condolences to the people of Las Vegas.  I'll never understand how someone can just randomly kill or injure a bunch of people for... well, who knows what his reasons were.  :-( On a happier note, Happy Thanksgiving Canada!

[OCT 8] OK on to Donna. TVOverMind.com has published an article featuring the top uses of Donna's songs in movies or TV. They only show 5 selections, but there are video clips for each.

[OCT 8] Bruce fans - he's been busy making the rounds lately. He performed Common Sense on WREG News Channel 3 recently, he also sang a tribute to the late Tom Petty at his concert the other night. You can hear a bit of it on Facebook. Bruce has one more concert on his schedule (at the moment anyway) and that's LA on October 24 at Genghis Cohen. If you are in the area, go check out the show.  :-)

[OCT 8] Johnnyswim fans - the duo is back in the US with more dates starting October 13 and going through to December 19.

[OCT 8] I think that brings us to YouTube. I'm in the mood for the Bad Girls album tonight so let's see what YouTube has. Let's start with the less familiar tracks - the long version of Walk Away (set to a slideshow), the Glen Rivera Restructured Mix of Love Will Always Find You, a fan video for an edit of Journey To The Center Of Your Heart, the Razormaid Remix of Our Love, and Sunset People from the 1980 TV special. And you know Ihave to include the 3 biggest hits,right? So we have Dim All The Lights from the 1980 TV Special, Hot Stuff from Dinah Shore, and Bad Girls from Johnny Carson (with the funky glasses  LOL). And as an added bonus, the "unplucked" version of Dim All The Lights presented with a slideshow in memory of Donna.

[OCT 1] Greetings all!  And a special shout out to the people of Puerto Rico. We have not forgotten you!

[OCT 1] Okay, I think we should start with a new song! I have mentioned before that Donna recorded a song called Nether Lands for the upcoming Dan Fogelberg tribute album.  Well, we have an official release date - November 17 and it is finally available for pre-order on Amazon and Amazon UK. No sould clips are up yet for most of the tracks, but I'm sure those will come soon. In the mean time, check out the lyrics to the song and Dan Fogelberg's original recording just to give you an idea of what the song is like. I predict tears when we hear Donna's version.... :-) I do want to say that this album has been a LONG time coming.  I went back through my archives and found a November 2011 mention from Dan Fogelberg's website when they were talking about that year's crop of potential Rock Hall Of Fame inductees:  "Our personal pick is Donna Summer - she was a big DanFan and is one of the artists who have donated their time and talent to the tribute CD. Her track is going to give you goosebumps; it's a song she credits with helping to get her through a really tough time in her life. Go, Donna!"

[OCT 1] On a related note, there was a Colorado Music Hall Of Fame Concert this past August at Fiddler's Green that included a number of the artists  on the Dan Fogelberg tribute album. Because, of course, Donna is no longer with us, they tapped someone else to perform Nether Lands. I think you just might be familiar with the duo who sang in Donna's place. They go by the name of Johnnyswim.  :-D The event was filmed and the Fogelberg website is talking about a DVD coming some time in the future.

[OCT 1] Well, you know I have to mention the upcoming Summer musical, right? Well there is nothing new about the musical itself this week, but Bruce had an interesting Instagram post. In it he's wearing a new hat with the photo caption Old Merch -New Merch and the hashtag #musical. In other words, I think we are looking at some new swag.  :-) (Good! I need something new to wear at my next MS Walk!)

[OCT 1] I got so excited about the new song and the musical, I forgot to mention - it's October 1 so that means it's time for the new Summer Fever pick! This month we go back to the beginning with Lady Of The Night.

[OCT 1] Do you wanna dance?  DJ Rico Berringer has posted a number of his mixsets on Mixcloud and  yes, you will find some Donna tunes mixed in there. He is one of us you know.   :-)

[OCT 1] Ok, so let's move on to Bruce. He's been a busy boy lately! First up is his interview in the October issue of Daeida Magazine. (I'm sure you guys remember their other fabulous interviews with others in Donna's circle.) You can read the whole issue for free online. And to see Bruce performing, check out the Facebook of When Cinderella dies filmed at The Station, or you can see the same song on YouTube performed for Today In Nashville.

[OCT 1] Vienna Dohler fans - she recently performed at set at City Winery. You can hear 2 of the songs at the RAW website. (And you DO want to hear them!  :-) )

[OCT 1] Paul Jabara fans - can you believe it's been 25 years since he left us? (And if any of you are wonderling who Paul Jabara is, I will smack your young whippersnapper head and then start playing Last Dance for you.  LOL) Anyway, to commemorate Paul's life, a new version of PaulJabara.com has been launched with an official press release to announce it. (You know, I wonder if when Donna got to the next world, Paul found her and locked her in a bathroom there to make her listen to his latest song idea.  :-)   I'd like to think so!)

[OCT 1] I think that brings us to YouTube and I think to celebrate the new Paul Jabara website we should have some Paul and Donna stuff.  So let's start with liveandmore's video for Never Lose Your Sense Of Humor (Paul featuring Donna), liveandmore's video for  Shut Out ("to get off my bummer I play Donna Summer!", stampyourfeet's video for Donna's half of Something's Missing (released as a duet between Donna and Paul but almost certainly recorded separately), Last Dance (Donna performing it at the Oscars the night it won the award for Best Original Song), Enough Is Enough live at Coney Island and just for fun, Paul's video for Ochos Rios.

[SEP 23] Happy Saturday all! All good thoughts and wishes are going out to those places ravaged by the recent hurricanes - the islands can't catch a break.  And also to the people of Mexico who are dealing with 3 recent earthquakes. Mother Nature is on a real rampage these days.  :-(

[SEP 23] Let's start off with Summer: The Donna Summer Musical opening in La Jolla in November. Broadwayworld.com has an article about the musical including a cast list. There are 3 actresses playing Donna at different stages in her life - one of whom is a Tony winner. The article includes this very interesting line:  "Told through the dramatic lens of her final concert, SUMMER: The Donna Summer Musical presents the complexities and conflicts the iconic songwriter and singer faced in her meteoric rise - and descent."  Playbill.com also has a shorter article with the same info (but less background info on the key players). I'm getting excited! Any of you who are going to the show - feel free to send in your reports! I'll be more than happy to post them here on the site.  :-)

[SEP 23] Bruce Sudano fans - we have a couple of new videos for you. First up is a Facebook video of  Bruce and Neon Moon on WDXV's Blue Plate Special.  Bruce is the first half of the show.  The other video is the official video for When Cinderella Dies.  PopMatters debuted the video with an accompanying article by Christian John Wikane.

[SEP 23] Johnnyswim fans - the duo is on tour right now, and in support of their visit to Germany, daserste.de has posted an article and a couple of videos. The article is in German of course and just gives a little background on Johnnyswim. But there is a performance video on the top of the article of the two of them performing First Try.  And if you check the links on the side of the page, there is one that brings you to an interview/profile piece. That is also mostly in German. Johnnyswim speaks in English but a translator plays over them so you have to listen really carefully to  hear Amanda and Abner themselves. 

[SEP 23] I think that brings us to YouTube. Let's do some official videos this week. First up is the promo video for Could It Be Magic. Then we have the official video for Unconditional Love, the video for Work That Magic, the video for When Love Takes Over You, the video for The Woman In Me, the video for Love Is In Control, and a promo video for Winter Melody.

[SEP 17] Happy Sunday all! Let's start with a little chart news. Currently the iTunes Dance Albums chart has On The Radio sitting pretty at #8. (Of course that chart updates frequently, so it may be elsewhere by the time I finish this update. )

[SEP 17] Speaking of rankings, SiriusXm had a countdown of the  top 30 divas of disco. Donna came in at #1 followed by Diana Ross in the #2 spot. (I find that interesting because even though I know Diana has had a long and varied career, I think of her as more of a pre-disco diva.)

[SEP 17] The New York Times has an interview with Giorgio Moroder in honor of the 40th anniversary of I Feel Love. In it, he gets to talk about Donna.

[SEP 17] I think that brings us to YouTube. Since it's Emmy night here, let's do some TV stuff.  And to do that right, I have to cheat and go to Daily Motion first to see Family Matters: Aunt Oona and Family Matters: Pound Foolish - both featuring Donna as "Aunt Oona from Altoona". These are both full episodes. Then on YouTube we have Lifetime's Intimate Portrait of Donna, A&E's Biography of Donna, VH1's Behind The Music on Donna, and Donna's 1980 TV Special.

[SEP 8] Greetings all and happy Friday. (Sunday isn't going to be good for me this weekend - stuff to do, so here I am now.) First up - I think the world is ending. Ok, that might be a bit extreme, but the west coast is dealing with wildfires, the Houston area is under water, Mexico just had an earthquake, a bunch of islands were torn apart by mega-hurricane Irma, (one in particular, Barbuda, is about to get hit again by another hurricane) and Florida is about to take a direct hit from that same storm this weekend. Yikes! Mother Nature is on a rampage!  My thoughts and prayers are with everyone in all the affected areas. You will get through this! Stay strong! And Florida - if you are in an evac zone and are just sitting home reading this - GO! You saw what happened to the islands Irma hit and you saw what Harvey did to Texas. Seriously - GO NOW! The update will still be here when you get settled someplace safe.  Florida Keys, I am especially looking at you - GET OUT NOW!

[SEP 8] Ok let's start with the bad news in Donna land. Last week I reported that her Ultimate Collection was on the UK Top 100 Album chart. This week it has fallen off.  :-( Well, it was nice while it lasted.

[SEP 8] We have a small update on the Donna Summer Musical playing in La Jolla later this year. They have cast Jared Zirilli in the role of Bruce. You can find out more about him at his website.

[SEP 8] Johnnyswim fans - the pair have announced more US tour dates throughout October, November and December. And they are bringing special guest, Striking Matches, with them.

[SEP 8] Bruce Sudano fans - catch Bruce live September 27 at the City Winery in Nashville, September 29 at Levitt Shell in Memphis, and October 6 and 24 at Genghis Cohen in Los Angeles.

[SEP 8] I think that brings us to YouTube. First up, the audio for The Power Of One,  Heal Them from a telethon appearance, Stor Dubine's video for Stamp Your Feet, Donna and Giorgio performing Carry On, Don't Rain On My Parade live, Riding Through The Storm from Live & More Encore (this one isn't on YouTube - you have to deal with a commercial first), and finally an Ordinary Girl demo called Begin Again.

[SEP 8] And finally, for all of us out of harm's way (so far) who would like to help - Charity Navigator has a list of organizations that are providing assistance and it gives you info on each so you can see how well they use the money.

Hurricane Harvey (Texas, etc)

Hurricane Irma (Caribbean and coming to Florida)

And if I can just offer my two cents to the survivors of the hurricanes - it's been 5 years since we had Superstorm Sandy here. I have spent that whole 5 years watching my best friend working through the red tape of FEMA and other relief agencies in an attempt to her her home rebuilt.  It literally took her 4 years and 11 months from the day of the storm until she could move back in. What I have learned is this - you have to be persistent, patient and organized! Keep copies of EVERYTHING and if you have the opportunity to get an dedicated caseworker - DO IT. That person can show you programs you never would have learned about on your own. Seriously - rebuilding is like having another full time job. Oh, and watch out for crooks - after a disaster, they race out of the woodwork like a swarn of ravenous cockroaches. (Be especially wary of crooked "charities" that appear overnight, and thieving "contractors" who will take your insurance money and run without building a damn thing.)

[SEP 3] Greetings all! And Happy Labor Day Weekend to my American fans. It's a new month and so it's time for a new Summer Fever Pick. This time we take a look at Donna's work in musical theater.

[SEP 3] OK how does some chart news sound? Over in the UK, Donna's Ultimate Collection is back on the top 100 albums chart. It debuted at #85 last week and is now at #79. I think we can credit all the recent interest in I Feel Love for the chart news.  :-)

[SEP 3] Arizona - look for a concert salute to Donna's music on February 23 at the CPAC Community Performing Arts Center. The show features Crystal Stark and her band performing Donna's hits. You can see a sample of her work on YouTube.

[SEP 3] Johnnyswim fans - don't forget that Johnnyswim is taking their show to Europe in the second half of this month. Check out the dates and places on their website.

[SEP 3] I think that brings us to YouTube.  Let's do a few covers this week. First up, Could It Be Magic  on German TV from 1976,  Nights In White Satin live in concert, Natural Woman live in concert,  Superstar live at the Hollywood Bowl, Send In The Clowns (audio only), Anything For You live in Spain, Let It Be (fan video by stampyourfeet), Masquerade on TV from Venezuela 1977, and finally Pearls live in concert.

[AUG 27] Greetings all and a special shout out to Houston and all the other communities being devastated by Hurricane Harvey. The photos I am seeing are just unbelievable and the storm isn't even really over yet. They are still expecting an unprecedented amount of rain to fall over the next few days. If you are anywhere near that area please stay safe! And if anyone wants to help the victims of the storm, NBC has posted a list of some organizations that are helping out. Texas - know that all my best wishes, good thoughts and prayers are heading your way. You will get through this - you are TEXANS! :-)

[AUG 27] In the Donna is everywhere category, she gets name checked in a LA Times article about Sunset Blvd. It's an interesting read about some of the musical history of that street. (And yes, when I read it, Sunset People started playing in my head.  LOL)

[AUG 27] Bruce Sudano fans - there is a nice long interview with him on PopMatters by our very Donna fan, Christian John Wikane.  :-)

[AUG 27] Johnnyswim fans - they have a new video they did for Crate And Barrel talking about their home (and how they got their stuff at Crate And Barrel.)

[AUG 27] I think that brings us to YouTube. I feel like seeing some full concerts tonight, so here we go. First up is Italy 1977. The we have Japan 1979, A Hot Summer Night from 1983, Japan 1987, Spain 1990, Brazil 1992, Belgium 2005, and Jones Beach 2008.

[AUG 20] Greetings all! What a week its been - terror attacks, so-called free speech rallies, heck tomorrow's eclipse probably signals the end times or something. (Don't eclipses usually?  ;-) ) Anyway, I just wanted to remind everyone that the hate groups and terrorists out there are vastly outnumbered by the kind and decent people out there. They are just noisier and more violent - and they have to be in order to get anyone to notice them, So when you see terrible things in the news - try to look past the bad and see what the good people are doing. There is always someone there to help victims or to stand up for what's right. Don't let the bad things in the world lead you to despair. As long as the good people stand together, evil cannot prevail. To quote someone we all know - Love is the healer.  :-)

[AUG 20] On to Donna!  First up some great news - the Donna Summer Musical  playing this November in La Jolla has been EXTENDED an extra week. Now it runs from November 7 to December 17 and  tickets for the new dates are on sale  now.  It must be a hot seller if they feel they can extend the run another week.  :-) The musical gets a mention in the San Diego Tribune.

[AUG 20] Giorgio Moroder did an interview for the On Rotation podcast in which he talks about I Feel Love (and Donna of course.)  Giorgio doesn't show up until about 16 minutes in.

[AUG 20] Bruce Sudano fans - live from the couch is back! This time Bruce treats us to a new song called Can't Go Home Again.

[AUG 20] Johnnyswim fans - go check out their video for First Try on YouTube. Or you can catch it on the Rolling Stone website and read the accompanying article.  :-) (Little Joaquin puts in appearances throughout the video too. :-) )

[AUG 20] I think that brings us to YouTube. And in light of all the stuff going on in the world these days, I think we need to put a little love out there. So let's start with Love Is The Healer (on The View), Whenever There Is Love  from Regis & KathieLee, and Love Is In Control (the official video). Then we have State Of Independence (from the HBO special),  Crayons live at Coney Island, The Impossible Dream live from Spain, and finally the beautiful symphonic version of I Will Live For Love.

[AUG 13] Greetings all and a special shout out to Charlottesville. Hang in there guys - the hate mongers are vastly outnumbered by the rest of us and I am a firm believer that karma will get them in the end.

[AUG 13] On to happier things! There isn't much going on in the world of Donna this week, but Johnnyswim has a new video coming out for First Try. (If you have been to one of their concerts, then you know that this is a favorite for fan sing alongs!)  The video will debut on Rollingstone Country between 9 and 11 AM CST. You can get a taste on Facebook here and a tinier taste here.  :-)

[AUG 13] In Bruce Sudano news, he has announced 2 new dates. The first is September 29 at Levitt Shell in Memphis, TN,  and the other is October 6 at Genghis Cohen in Los Angeles. His live on the couch series of videos is on vacation so he reposted this live video of Bat Shit Crazy. (Who knew couches need vacations?  Now I have a mental image of a sofa sunning itself on a beach somewhere.  LOL)

[AUG 13] And that brings us to YouTube. Let's do some interviews today.  First up is a compilation piece called Up Close. Part 1 is here and part 2 is here. Then we have a BBC interview from 2004, On Time TV from about 2008, a 2007 radio interview where she talks about 9/11's effect on her, Donna on Say It Loud, a 2008 interview for Curtain Call, and finally Donna on Nightline's Playlist from 2008.

AUG 6] Happy Sunday all! The Summer Fever Pick is up. This month we dance to Crayons.  :-)

[AUG 6] The BBC ran a special concert called I Feel Love to celebrate 50 years of sexual freedom. The show ended with Donna's version of I Feel Love. (Sigh.... if only she could have been there....) Now if you are in the UK, you can watch the concert on the BBC iPlayer. The rest of us can listen to the audio feed posted on the BBC Radio2 website. (Generally speaking, BBC video is region restricted, where as audio from the various BBC radio stations is not.)

[AUG 6] Moving on to Bruce.  He's posted a couple of new clips on Facebook - both for new songs. The first is a clip of a song called Forbidden Fruit taped at his recent shot at Hotel Cafe. The other one is #9 in Bruce's Live From The Couch series. It's called Snowman and it's about the Ed Snowden situation. (If you don't know what that is - Google it.)

[AUG 6] Brooklyn Sudano fans, DenOfGeek has an article that explains in a bit more detail why most of the cast of Taken is not returning for season 2. The article also mentions that she show has been pushed back from a fall season premiere to an early 2018 premiere. (It sounds to me that maybe the network wasn't overly happy with the ratings?

[AUG 6] I think that brings us to YouTube. I ran into this 1995 video of Donna on The Box on Facebook (non Facebookers can see just Could It Be Magic from that show on YouTube) and it put me  in the mood to hear some more stuff from the mid 90s. So we have Melody Of Love from Letterman, the video for one of the 1995 versions of I Feel Love, No Ordinary Miracle (audio only), From A Distance (audio only), the video for Whenever There Is Love, and the A&E Biography.

[JUL 30] Happy Sunday all! Tickets for The Donna Summer Musical at the La Jolla Playhouse in California are now officially on sale for all dates/times. Get those credit cards out now!  :-) And of course once you have seen the show, I will be happy to post reviews/reports right here on the site.  :-)

[JUL 30] I feel Love fans - PopCrush.com has posted a tribute to the song for its 40th anniversary. (Who feels old now?   LOL) OfficialCharts.com also has a tribute to the song.

[JUL 30] Bruce Sudano fans - you can now catch With Angels On A Carousel live from the couch on YouTube. (And check out the Johnnyswim t-shirt he's sporting in that!  :-) )  Then back on Facebook, he's posted Live From The Couch #8 - Bat Shit Crazy. And don't forget that if you are in LA (or will be), Bruce is playing  at Hotel Cafe on August 1 with Edward Rogers. Tickets are available here.

[JUL 30] I think that brings us to YouTube. I think we'll do some ballads this week.  :-) Let's start with Be Myself Again live in 2008, then Anyway At All from Jay Leno, Heaven's Just A Whisper Away from Live At The Apollo,  Worth The Wait live from the mid-90s, Starting Over Again from the Eddie Rabbitt Special, and the ballad version of I Will Live For Love live with the Nashville Chamber Orchestra.

[JUL 23] Greetings all! Let's start off with The Donna Summer Musical. As you know, it will run at the La Jolla Playhouse in La Jolla, CA from November 7 to December 10. If you can get a group of 10 or more together, then you can get tickets starting as low as $48 each.

[JUL 23] In the everybody loves Donna category, The Guardian ran an article about gay stars and the artworks that changed their lives. I Feel Love has a prominent spot in that article.  :-)

[JUL 23] Remix fans - Devotion has posted a bunch of Donna mixes on HeartThis.at. The site works just like Soundcloud.

[JUL 23] Bruce Sudano fans - check out the July 17 issue of OX HC Magazine (downloadable online.) It's got a nice interview with Bruce. And then head over to Facebook where Bruce is live on his couch again. This time it's a new song called Damn Lonely On The Road.  And if you are in Los Angeles (or will be) - catch Bruce at The Hotel Cafe on August 1 with Edward Rogers.

[JUL 23] I think that brings us to YouTube. Let's do some early stuff.  :-) There is O Segne Gott Mein Seel from Godspell (it's a slideshow set to what sounds like a slightly sped up copy of the song), The Flesh Failures from Haare, Sally Go Round The Roses (audio only), If You're Walking Alone and the flipside, Can't Understand, (both audio only), Black Power, and Meglio Stasera.

[JUL 16] Happy Sunday all! I hope you had a good week. Ok let's start off with some odd iTunes chart news. The On The Radio album is on on the iTunes Top Albums chart. It was first spotted at #91 then it was next seen at #84. Then it was #62 and just now I saw it at #47. I'm not sure what caused the sudden interest in the album, but I'm sure the $5.99 price tag helped.  :-) The album is iTunes remastered and sounds very good according to several people. On a semi-related side note - they have been playing more Donna songs in my store lately. (And for the record, I have NO control over the music selections there!  LOL)

[JUL 16] Calling all mad voters -  TheTylt.com is having a poll on who is the real Queen of Disco - Donna or Gloria. They present it as basically a choice between Donna's whole career vs. one anthem by Gloria. As of right now, Donna is winning by a wide margin. (It's probably not a fair competition anyway - too many casual disco fans think Donna recorded I Will Survive so to them it's Donna vs. Donna.  LOL)

[JUL 16] Bruce Sudano fans: DittyTV has made Coney Island Days their video of the week and they debuted it earlier today. And for something more intimate, check out Bruce live from his couch on Facebook with a new song called Walking Down The Road.

[JUL 16] I think that brings us to YouTube.  Let's do a collection of clips that have popped into my email box this week. First up is an interview with Harold Faltermeyer. It's a long one and starting at about the 5 minute mark he talks about meeting Giorgio Moroder then about 6 minutes in he talks about Donna. Then we have an interview promoting the Anthology - it's a nice mix of serious and silly.  :-) Then we have a Reflex Revision mix of Bad Girls, a joint interview with Dick Clark from GMA, a 2008 live version of Love To Love You, and then for good measure a short clip of Donna's Love To Love You rap on the 1999 Today Show concert.

[JUL 9} Happy Sunday all! If you missed the BBC2 The Summer Of I Feel Love special that aired the other day, for the next 23 days you can stream it on demand on the BBC website. Two things you need to know - it does not seem to be region restricted.  It's a UK website and the show plays here in the US. Also, don't be thrown off when you hit play and hear the news at first, the show starts after that. Oh and for a special treat - they got to interview Pete Bellotte too!

[JUL 9] In the Donna is everywhere category, Jean Paul Gaultier has a new fragrance out called Scandal. And the commercial uses clips of Donna's recording of Bad Girls.

[JUL 9] OK wig fans - and I KNOW you are out there!  LOL A while back, Ebony posted a slideshow just for you. It's called "The Very Best of Donna Summer's Hair." I never saw it back in 2012, or at least I don't remember seeing it then ... (May 2012 is kind of a blur still because there was so much going on.) It's a nice look at Donna's hair through the years, but unfortunately they are missing a few fan favorites.

[JUL 9] Bruce Sudano fans - he's posted a new installment of his Live On The Couch series on Facebook. This time it's a new song called Morning Kisses and this time he filmed it early in the morning from his bedside. (It goes with the song though, which is a really sweet love song.

[JUL 9] I think that brings us to YouTube. Let's start off with this clip of Breakaway live in Brazil that someone shared on Facebook this week. :-) Then let's stay in Brazil with 45 minutes of Donna in concert there which includes covers of Do You Wanna Dance and Girl From Impanema (it's actually the source of that first clip of Breakaway), Let's stay in the 90s and  check out 20 minutes of Donna on Maury Povich's show (with cameos from assorted local fans all of whom look very young! lol), and finally the A&E Biography from 1995.

[JUL 2] Happy Sunday all! And July 1 and July 4 to my Canadian and my American friends! (Yes, it's a party in North America this weekend!  LOL) First up - the new Summer Fever Pick is posted. This month we party with Live & More Encore. Wooooooooooo!

[JUL 2] Reminder - tomorrow (July 3)  BBC Radio 2 is airing a special called "The Summer Of I Feel Love" at 10 PM (local time).  BBC Radio 2 does stream online worldwide so we should all be able to hear it - well, unless we are stuck at work without internet access...

[JUL 2] And if you need a little more I Feel Love, Pitchfork.com has an article (a nice long one!) about the  song and about Donna's and Giorgio's careers.

[JUL 2] Bruce Sudano fans - if you are in Los Angeles (or will be) , you can catch Bruce August 1at The  Hotel Cafe with Edward Rogers. For those of use who can't get to the show, well there is always  the Facebook series of Bruce live on his couch. #4 is With Angels On A Carousel.

[JUL 2] Johnnyswim fans: check out their performance on the Penzoil Garage Sesssions. And then go read the interview with the pair on the Sioux City Journal website.

[JUL 2] Brooklyn Sudano fans: As you know she was on the series Taken which recently wrapped u it's first season. (She kicked some butt on that too! Action hero Brooklyn!  LOL) The good new for Taken fans is that the series is coming back next year. The bad news is that they have a new show runner who is making some major changes. So the entire cast except for Clive Standen and Jennifer Beals has been given the boot.  So now we'll just have to wait for Brooklyn's next project.

[JUL 2] I think that brings us to YouTube. Oh let's just join the club and have a little I Feel Love party.  :-) So we have the video, the robot dance live clip, and a 2008 live performance.  Then in honor of July 4, we have  Livin' In America, God Bless America, and The Star Spangled Banner.

[JUN 25] Happy Sunday and Happy Pride Day for those cities that had their celebrations today. :-)  Let's start off with some I Feel Love. It is (of course!) one of Gay Times' 60 most important Gay anthems. And MixMag is celebrating the 40th anniversary of the song (God, that makes me feel old!  lol) with a special feature about the track.  Then on July 3, BBC Radio 2 is airing a special, "The Summer Of I Feel Love", at 10 PM.

[JUN 25] If you need a short break from I Feel Love, check out the  playlist created for Billboard's 30 Days Of Pride Initiative by Jake Shears of Scissor Sisters.  Obviously he's a fan because he included Lucky and that's a pretty deep cut for a casual listener to come up with.  ;-)

[JUN 25] On to Donna Summer Day in Boston. As you know the annual Roller Disco party was held Friday and it looks like a  good time was had by all.  The evening  featured a message from Bruce and a live performance by none other than the Real Diva herself, Mary Gaines Bernard. The performance was broadcast on Facebook live by fan Nick Petrone (and a few others as well).  You can also catch a little of soundcheck on Instagram.

[JUN 25] Speaking of Bruce, he's posted another live performance from his couch on Facebook. And then on Instagram, he's posted a couple of poems and a photo of the really beautiful place he's hanging out in today.

[JUN 25] Johnnyswim fans - the pair are still on tour until November. (Then they will probably just take a nap and hit the road again.  LOL)  I got to see them last night in Westhampton for the first time in awhile and I have to say that a Johnnyswim show is NOT to be missed if you can possibly help it.  You guys already know the music is good,  but the energy of a live show just adds so much more. The pair have obvious chemistry with each other and with the audience. They try to make it like one big family get together and that really works. And the last encore was both sweet and funny. They did a sweet song at the end that was the perfect closing number and then at the end of the song they started to improvise and got really silly.  And of course they brought out little Joaquin at the end. He's got the bowing and blowing kisses to the audience thing down pat.  :-)

[JUN 25] OK I think that brings us to YouTube. I've been seeing a lot of rainbow pics on my Facebook feed lately, so that's kind of put me in the mood for this one. Then we have Be Myself Again live,  Don't Cry For Me Argentina, Smile live, and then we'll go uptempo with a little Fame.

[JUN 18] Happy Father's Day to all the Dads out there! Let's start off with Donna's Instagram. If you haven't seen it in awhile, go check it out. They have been posting lots of interesting pictures and usually in a very creative way. It works better if you actually just look at her page as a whole instead of just seeing the individual posts as they come up in your feed.

[JUN 18] Reminder: This coming Friday (June 3) is the Donna Summer Roller Disco Party in Boston. The event takes place at City Hall Plaza from 6 PM to 10 PM. The event is free and will feature lots of tunes spun by DJ Roy Barboza, a performance by Mary Gaines Bernard, and appearances  by Omega Red and any other family members what happen to drop in. Don't have skates? Don't worry. They have free skate rentals on a first come first served basis.

[JUN 18] Johnnyswim fans - the pair are on tour from now until November with something like 2 billion dates lined up. (I might be exaggerating just a tiny bit, but there really are a lot of dates scheduled.  :-) ) Most of the dates are USA/Canada but there is a block in September for parts of Europe. Find a date neat you and grab some tickets! Personally, I am excited because they are FINALLY playing near me on a night that I don't have to work. Westhampton here I come!  :-) And just a heads up - Johnnyswim is filming a video for First Try at their show tonight, so we can probably expect to see that fairly soon.   :-)

[JUN 18] Bruce Sudano fans: check out this review of 21st Century World. Then head over to Facebook and catch his performance "live on the couch" of When Cinderella Dies. Then go see Bruce's Instagram for more on When Cinderella Dies and other things.  :-)

[JUN 18] That brings us to YouTube. In honor of the Roller Disco Party Friday, let's run some clips from the previous parties.  This is a long one from last year - stay with it to the end to see the family onstage. Here's another from last year with a message from Mimi (she phoned in to the party). Then we have one from 2015 with Rainere Martin (Legends In Concert)  performing as Donna, and Omega Red performing Angel at the 2014 party. And then just for fun - here is the diva herself on The Queen Is Back (live in Brooklyn.)

[JUN 11] Happy Sunday all! Let's start off with this announcement from Donna's official Facebook page.

"Hey everyone, a few things...

Yes we absolutely intend to release rare recordings & video footage, coffee table books, strawberry jam, balloons & birthday cakes etc etc so please stay patient. Managing an estate properly is something that takes time & strategy. We want a lasting legacy, one that honors Donna.
Brooklyn is currently in prep & pre production for what will be an amazing documentary... & we're also in the final stages of prep for the opening of a show on Broadway that's been in the works for a couple of years. If we're being honest, the Broadway show has eaten a significant chunk of our time & energy (it's gonna be bananas though).

But these things take time. Oh & donnasummer.com will soon have "official" merchandise ... (more information on that coming soon).

In any event, please understand, these things are not easily accomplished. We know that images of Donna might get a bit tiring (not so sure how that's possible ) but lets be honest, for the most part that's why social platforms exist.

Oh & one last thing, we promise we have seen the "It's Donna Day" video messages... so at this point maybe we're all good in that department.

Signing off for now. Please know that we are Blessed by you all & absolutely appreciate your love & support. We really do!"

[JUN 11] In other things to look forward to, Dan Fogelberg's website has announced that the all-star tribute CD to Dan will be out for Thanksgiving (the end of November).  As you may remember, Donna recorded Neverland for that project, so now we should FINALLY get to hear it!

[JUN 11] Bruce Sudano fans - if you aren't following him on Instagram, you should be. He's been posting a series of video clips where he talks about - well whatever he wants. The clips there are about his early days and about the new album. And since it's Instagram, all the clips are short, so you can check them out at work without your boss catching on.  ;-)  You can also see Bruce on Facebook performing  from his livingroom.  This week he posted a song called True Believer.

[JUN 11] For you fans of the Sudano girls - as you know, Amanda is on perpetual tour as half of Johnnyswim, and Brooklyn is celebrating the success of her series Taken (and hopefully gearing up for season 2!) In addition, the sisters teamed up for a promotion for Panthere de Cartier. The first video from that promotion is out now and you can see it on YouTube. (You won't see the Sudano ladies until about 40 seconds in.) You might just recognize the music that they use in the ad too.  ;-)

[JUN 11] I think that brings us to YouTube. It's Tony night here, so let's check out some theatrical Donna. First up, her cover of Don't Rain On My Parade  (from Funny Girl). Then we have Don't Cry For Me Argentina (from Evita), a brief 2009 clip of Aquarius/Wasserman (from Hair/Haare),  My Life and Begin Again (from Ordinary Girl which Donna hoped to bring to Broadway),  I Will Live For Love (from another musical Donna was working on), an audio clip (that sounds like it's been speeded up a little)  of O segne Gott mein Seel (from Godspell) , Someone To Watch Over Me (from Ok Kay and Crazy For You), The Impossible Dream (from Man Of La Mancha) and a Soundcloud clip of No Ordinary Love Song (from Ordinary Girl).

[JUN 4] I feel like I should start off by saying something to the people of London in light of yesterday's attacks. But instead I think I want to speak to the perpetrators. Yo - whoever you think you are...  what did you hope to accomplish by attacking London? Read a history book - Hitler found out that you absolutely cannon break London's spirit. So pack it in already, you will not win.

[JUN 4] Moving on to the land of fun things - it's a new month, so it's time for a new Summer Fever Pick. This month we have a case of Mistaken Identity.  :-)

[JUN 4] Bruce Sudano fans - check out his Instagram. He's posted a couple of videos recently that are worth checking out.  :-) He's also posted a new song on Facebook and a performance of Your World Now on YouTube.

[JUN 4] Bruce was on Kick Out The Jams with Dave Marsh on SiriusXM's Spectrum this morning. the show reairs Tuesday at 12 AM (eastern). And you can read a new interview with him on PennyBlackMusic.com.

[JUN 4] I think that brings us to YouTube. In honor of the new Summer Fever pick, lets do some Mistaken Identity tracks. First up is Work That Magic from UK TV,  Heaven's Just A Whisper Away from Showtime At The Apollo, liveandmore's fan videos for Get Ethnic and Fred Astaire, and Friends Unknown from the Walk Of Fame ceremony.

[MAY 29] Happy Monday all! It's Memorial Day weekend here in the USA which is the traditional start of the summer season here - a time for barbeques, beach parties, etc. But more importantly it is also a time to remember all the military personnel who have given their lives in the line of duty. So to all the families of the fallen, I would like to say thank you for your sacrifice.  In a perfect world, that sacrifice would be unnecessary. :-(

[MAY 29] Before I get started, my condolences to the people of Manchester in the wake of the terrorist attack at the Ariana Grande concert. A terrorist attack is always a terrible thing, but somehow it seems even worse when so many of the victims were young people.  I would also like to congratulate the people of Manchester for the way they came together to help the people at the concert - taxis that gave people free rides home, hotels that put people up, etc. Seeing good people come together in the face of an evil act always gives me hope for the human race.

[MAY 29] I'm not sure where I want to start today.  Lots of good stuff to talk about this week!  :-) Let's go with Mary's concert last night. The whole thing wasn't streamed live, but there are a number of clips available on Mary's Facebook page - including her version of Sand On My Feet!  :-)  Then Nancy Stewart-Franczak posted a couple of clips including My Life, and  Friends Unknown (you MUST listen to Mary's intro to the song!) Oh and sorry, those videos are sideways. If you happen to be friends with Steven Bott ( I know he's friends with  quite a few Donna fans), he's got some videos too but they are restricted to those who are friends with him.  And then there is one video (so far) on YouTube featuring Nick Petrone in a duet with Mary on Heaven Knows.  :-) It looked like one heck of a fun night and I wish I could have been there in person! For those of you who will be in Boston for the big roller disco party on June 23 - Mary will be performing there too. :-)

[MAY 29] Moving on to The Donna Summer Musical - we have some new info. It is officially a revised version of the Ordinary Girl musical Donna was working on - forever it seems.  According to Bruce, they were having trouble selling a musical with all original songs, so they had to rework it to include Donna's hits. So they are telling Donna's story with a bunch of famous songs and "a few obscure ones."

[MAY 29] Speaking of Bruce, the Daily Times has an interview with him that mainly focuses on his adjustment to life after Donna. Then check out this review of Bruce's show at the Cutting Room and this review of 21st Century World. After that, you can go to Facebook to check out live performance videos for Coney Island Days and It Ain't Cool.

[MAY 29] ClassicPopMag.com has an article about SAW and why there was no follow up album with Donna.

[MAY 29] I think that brings us to YouTube.  Let's celebrate the start of summer.  So we have Spring Affair/Summer Fever live in concert, Sand On My Feet live, and Hot Stuff live. Then in honor of Memorial Day we have The Star Spangled Banner,  God Bless America, and Amazing Grace.

[MAY 29] And finally - thank all of you who supported my MS Walk last weekend! I have little goodies to send all of you and those are sitting here on my desk just waiting for me to mail them. I'll get them out Wednesday or Thursday, so keep your eyes out for my bright colored envelopes after that.  :-) You guys are AWESOME!

[MAY 26] BREAKING NEWS! Mary's concert in Florida on Sunday will be streamed on Facebook live!  The time is 7 PM Eastern so you have until then to rearrange your furniture so you can dance in front of your computer.  :-) On a sort of related side note - I probably won't do the regular weekly update until Monday

[MAY 21] Happy Sunday all! Well, I made a promise about my MS Walk. I was holding some tracks hostage until I received some donations.  :-) Here is the next track - A Different Road live in 1999.  :-) I also have a few little goodies to mail to my donors - I'll get to that later in the week.  :-)

[MAY 21] And speaking of tracks - I grabbed Mary Gaines Bernard's interview on the radio from the other day. You can catch that on my Soundcloud too.  In the interview, Mary talks a little about her upcoming concert in DelRay Beach on May 28. Here's her tip - if you are going, wear comfortable shoes. You WILL be dancing!  :-)

[MAY 21] On to Donna! First up. Noisey.vice.com has posted a guide to getting into Donna's music. THere is nothing new there for us diehards, but it is an excellent resource for someone who is new to Donna. The article includes several playlists - each showcasing a different aspect of Donna's catalog: disco, Euro, R&B, spiritual, rock 'n' roll...

[MAY 21] Pitchfork.com has posted its list of the best 200 songs of the 70s. It's a pretty eclectic list with lots of great songs, and some info about each song (which makes it so much better than just a straight list.) I Feel Love comes in at #4.

[MAY 21] The Hamilton Spectator posted a new interview with Bruce Sudano where talks about Donna and this anniversary of her passing.

[MAY 21] I think that brings us to YouTube. Let's show Donna with her family this week. Let's start with Donna and her parents being interviewed, then we have a compilation featuring Donna with her sisters Mary and Dara, Donna and Bruce unplugged on the Regis and Kathie Lee Show, Donna with Bruce and the rest of the Brooklyn Dreams on a medley of Motown hits,  Donna with Mimi on State Of Independence, a video by our friend Suecall Hall for the live performance of Part Of Your World featuring Brooklyn and Amanda, and Vienna Dohler performing Be Myself Again.

[MAY 18] Radio alert for Mary Gaines Bernard fans - she will be on WBZT radio at 9:30 AM (eastern) to promote her upcoming show.  :-) The station does stream on the internet, so catch it if you can.  :-)

[MAY 14] Happy Mother's Day to all the mothers out there!  OK - as you all know - May 17 marks 5 years since we lost Donna. Can you believe it's really been that long? I think to honor her legacy on that day we should play her tunes (of course!), request them on your local radio stations, and then perform some random act of kindness. I think she'd like that.  And whatever else you do - remember to celebrate,  live laugh and love.  After all, that was her last request of us.  :-)

[MAY 14] As you all know, Donna Summer: The Musical is set to open at the La Jolla  Playhouse in California in November and then hopefully it will hit Broadway in 2018. Joe.My.God has an article about the show to whet your appetites for it.  :-) TV3.ie and Broadwayworld.com have also picked up the story.

[MAY 14] If you are in DelRay Beach, Florida (or will be at the end of the month), Go see Mary Gaines Bernard perform a tribute concert to her sister, Donna on May 28. And if you follow Mary on Facebook you just might find out about a special limited opportunity for fans.  ;-)

[MAY 14]That brings us to YouTube. Let's start off with The Queen Is Back (because who doesn't love to hear Donna reference her own history in song?), then there is Sand On My Feet, (she doesn't say it but it has to be about Bruce),  Be Myself Again (probably one of Donna's most personal songs ever), Friends Unknown (Donna's tribute to us), fans singing Last Dance to Donna, Bruce's speech at the Rock Hall Of Fame ceremony, and finally a fan video by our own Sue Casehall for I'm A Rainbow to memorialize Donna.

[MAY 14] Saturday is my big (sleep) Walk for MS and I will be once again rocking my Donna-gear instead of my team gear.  :-) We raised about $900 so far, but there is still time to donate if you want to.  :-)

[MAY 7] Happy Sunday all! The main news this week is that Bruce's new album, 21st Century World is finally out in its entirety.  :-) You can grab a copy at Amazon, iTunes, or your other favorite music seller. To celebrate, Bruce posted a video on Facebook of him performing Coney Island Days live from his couch. (Ahhh, technology - making working from home possible for so many different careers.  :-) )

[MAY 7] Brooklyn Sudano fans - check out her interview teasing the season finale of Taken. (That aired on Monday, but if you missed it you can catch it on demand. Spoiler alert: stuff happened!  LOL And yes there is a bit of a cliffhanger ending.)

[MAY 7] In the land of Disco deserves more respect than it gets, PBS posted an article saying just that.  And they included 5 songs to prove the point. I'm guessing that none of you will be surprised to learn that I Feel Love is the first one.  :-)

[MAY 7] I think that brings us to YouTube. First up is one of Donna's very last performances - it's On The Radio from October 2011. And now I think we need to balance that by going back to the beginning. So we have Donna in Haare (skip ahead to 2:25), then we have Black Power from the German TV show 11 Uhr 20, The Hostage from Van Oekel's Discohoek, Lady Of The Night, also from Van Oekel's Discohoek, and finally the promo video for Love To Love You Baby.

[MAY 7] Finally - my MS Walk is May 20 - less than 2 weeks away!  And since they are starting at something like 8 AM this year, I think I may start calling it my  MS Sleep Walk.  LOL So far you guys have helped me raise over $700! That's awesome.  :-)  This is where it gets more awesome - out friend lstdnce has pledged to donate $25 to go with your donation of $10. And if he sees 17 donations of $5 or more, he will toss in $517! So you guys know what to do - drain his wallet!  LOL  The link to donate is here, and just so you know, I have a couple of things to toss into the pot myself. I have a couple more live tracks to share with you on Soundcloud, plus I have this photo of Hattie Mae Blanche Dubois to send to all my donors when the walk is over. :

And I still have some of these to send too:

[MAY 2] The new Summer Fever Pick is up. This month we visit Another Place And Time.

[APR 29] Happy Saturday everyone!   I'm going to start with my MS Walk because....  I hit the $500 mark which means I owe you a track on Soundcloud.   :-)  So for your listening pleasure, I present Be Rich - an Ordinary Girl track Donna performed on her 1999 tour.  The next target is $1000 and if I hit that, you will get A Different Road from the same tour.  :-)  If you would like to donate, the link is right here.  The walk takes place on May 20 so we only have about 3 weeks left and I will have little thank you goodies to send to my donors.  And don't forget we have our friend lstdnce who is donating $100 for every $50 I receive.

[APR 29] On to Donna!  If you haven't looked at her official Instagram in awhile, go look now. They are doing some very creative updates. If you saw it last week, - well they added more.  :-)

[APR 29] The Library Of Congress is doing "Bibliodiscotheque" which is an exploration of Disco culture. Upcoming events include an interview  about Disco fashion, a lecture and film about Disco's influence on European Dance music,  a Disco dance party featuring Gloria Gaynor, and more. Details are here.

[APR 29] In Brooklyn Sudano news, the season finale of her series Taken airs Monday at 10 on NBC. It's getting really exciting now - Brooklyn's character has now been taken and is trapped in the hands of the baddies.  (She kicked some serious butt though - she very nearly got away! ) You have to tune in Monday to see if the main guy can rescue her before the big season ending cliffhanger. (There has to be a cliffhanger, right?   :-) )

[APR 29] In Bruce Sudano news - well, you all know that May 6 is literally right around the corner. And that means we can all have copies of his new album,  21st Century World, VERY soon!  If you are on Facebook, you can get another little taste of what is to come. Bruce posted a video of his new song, Bat Shit Crazy.

[APR 29] Also in Bruce news, there is a really good new interview with him on Bangs! Music & Entertainment. And, of  course, if you are going to be in NY on May 11, you can see Bruce perform the entire 21st Century World album live at The Cutting Room.

[APR 29] I think that brings us to YouTube.  I guess we'll do some tracks from 1999 to go with my Soundcloud file.  :-) First up, I Will Go With You from Música Sí, the same song from Rosie O'Donnell,  Love Is The Healer from The View,  I Don't Wanna Work That Hard rehearsal,  Donna on Queen Latifah, and Donna doing MacArthur Park and Last Dance on The Today Show.

[APR 23] Happy Sunday all! Let's start off with Donna's official social media sites.  Some of you may have seen that the official Instagram site was pretty active today. The reason for that is that the people running Donna's social media sites are  in the process of revamping them all.  The idea behind it is to make the various feeds more fun and creative - sort of how they think Donna would handle them if she was in charge (and computer literate.  ;-) ) The explanation is on Instagram at the moment.  And look for the other social media feeds to be updated as the team gets to them.   :-)

[APR 23] Moving on to Mary "The Real Diva" Gaines  Sealy Posturepedic Bernard....  (yes I stole Donna's line.... somebody had to.  ;-) )  I mentioned last week that Mary was teasing something for May 28. Well guess what - the official announcement is out and she is doing another tribute concert .  The event is "Donna Summer: A Musical Journey" and it  will take place May 28 at 7PM at  the Old School Square Pavilion in Delray Beach Florida.  Tickets are on sale now AND if you are coming from out of town, they have a deal with the Hyatt Place right across the street.  Many of you may remember that Mary did a show like this for Donna's birthday in 2015 - to raves I might add.  :-)  Here's a little sample from that night just to give you an idea:

[APR 23] Ok, take a minute to wipe the tears from your eyes from the clip above, and then we can move on to Brooklyn.  WWD.com has posted an article to help promote Taken.  Speaking of which, Taken is on Mondays at 10 PM on NBC and there are only a couple of episodes left in the season.  And from what I've seen, I'm pretty sure the season will end with a big cliffhanger that will have us all cursing the inventor of cliffhangers every day until season 2 starts. (Or is it just me that does that?  LOL)

[APR 23] Up next is Johnnyswim.  They are out on the road again - seriously, do they just live in a tour bus? Do they even remember where their actual house is anymore?  LOL I have never seen an act tour so much! (That's great for us fans, but they must get really tired!)  NashvilleLifestyles.com posted an interview to promote a recent appearance in that area. Oh and you can catch a bit of Johnnyswim's performance at the Rites Of Spring Festival here.

[APR 23] I think that brings us to YouTube. Last time we did spiritual songs, so let's go the complete opposite way this time.  First up - Love To Love You on the Midnight Special.  Then we have a fan video for With Your Love,  Dim All The Lights live in 1995,  Hot Stuff live in the UK,  Try Me I Know We Can Make It video, and Bad Girls from the 1980 TV Special.

[APR 15]  Happy Saturday all! And Happy Easter and/or Passover to those who celebrate. (Also -Happy Tax Day to the IRS... BOOOOO!   LOL)

[APR 15] Deniece Williams recently posted a vlog on YouTube that relates  her story of when she met Donna.

[APR 15] In the Donna's music everywhere category: you can hear Love To Love You in a commercial for Hidden Valley Ranch dressing.  (I was actually pleasantly surprised to turn on the TV and without warning hear Love To Love You! It's the little things...  lol)

[APR 15] On to  Bruce. His new single and video, Coney Island Days, is out now.  That is, of course, from his upcoming 21st Century World album coming out May 5 on Amazon, iTunes, and other music vendors.  (That's just around the corner guys!  :-) )

[APR 15] Do we have fans here of the Sudano girls?  I know that was a stupid question. (And yes, I know they are grown women, but I prefer to live in denial sometimes.  ;-) )  Brooklyn and Amanda are in a promo film for Cartier's Panthere watch that should be out in June. You can read more about it here, and here.  And of course you can catch the 2 of them separately doing their own things - Amanda on tour (still!) with Johnnyswim, and  Brooklyn on NBC's Taken on Monday nights.  (There are only a couple more episodes left in the season and things are getting pretty intense!)

[APR 15] And now we have a little tease from Mary Gaines Bernard.  She's got something up her sleeve for May 28 in DelRay Beach Florida.  The official announcement is still to come, but I would think that Mary's recent Facebook  obsession with disco balls  might just be a hint.  :-)  And also - she is supposed to perform at the  Roller Disco Party in Boston this June.  :-)

[APR 15] And I think that brings us to YouTube. I think since it's Easter we should look at some of Donna's spiritual songs.  So let's start with Forgive Me live,  Amazing Grace,  How Great Thou Art,  a Gospel Medley from the Mac Davis Show, the only clip of Rejoice I could find, and another version of Amazing Grace.

[APR 9] Greetings all! Happy Sunday! Let's start off with Billboard. No, Donna's not on the charts again (yet), but she did get a mention in a recent ChartBeat article about Rihanna. The  theme of the article was the number of number 1s she has had, which lead to a list of the acts who have the most number ones since the  Dance Club Songs chart started in 1976.  Donna makes the list with a very respectable 15 number ones to her name.  :-)

[APR 9] In the land of covers - check out the Boston Gay Men's Chorus. After a few solo bars of Hot Stuff, the whole chorus   do their thing with MacArthur Park. And just in caser you are wondering - their arrangement is pure Donna Summer - with the bridge! Bravo men!

[APR 9] In Bruce Sudano news, check out his new interview for TheStrangeBrew.co,uk.  It starts off being about 21st Century World (coming out in just a few weeks!)and then goes on to take a look at Bruce's history.  And if you are in the NY City area (or will be), Bruce is doing a show on May 11 at The Cutting Room where he will sing all the songs from 21st Century World.

[APR 9] I think that brings us to YouTube.  Let's do some State Of Independnce. We have the making of video with the all-star choir,  a German piece that had footage of the making of the music video (even Donna speaks German in this one) ,  the official video for State Of Independence, a live performance of the song from 1983, and a 2005 Night Of The Proms performance.

[APR 9] OK - I have news about my MS fundraising. Our very good friend friend lstdnce has graciously made the following offer:

"...to you, and our FRIENDS UNKNOWN, I will donate $100 for every $50 that you receive for your MS Walk.

I want you to walk with a winning amount of donations to wear your Donna Summer gear and continue your heartfelt sharing to others about Donna as she too had a tremendous giving spirit to others.

Your walk this year is 3 days after the 5th anniversary of our loss. I will add another $25 to my donation for every donor who posts a Donna tribute photo of them interactive with “something Donna” to you for this memorable time. A video? A selfie with posters? A pic with our Donna? ….all can qualify for me to add to donating to MS on behalf of you and Donna."

I will, of course, make a page to post whatever you want to send. I do request that if you opt to send a video, you post it on YouTube and then I can embed the YouTube clip on the site.  This could be a lot of fun!  And then don't forget I am holding a couple of live songs hostage.  When I hit $500, you all will hear the whole version of this song.  And then I  have a couple more up my sleeve for later in the fundraising.  :-)  The link to donate is here. Thanks for al your support! With your help maybe someday we can actually CURE MS!

[APR 2] Greetings all! It's a new month so it's time for a new Summer Fever Pick. This month it's all systems go for All Systems Go.  :-)

[APR 2] Let's start with Boston. Once again they will be doing their annual Donna Summer Memorial Roller Disco Party.  The date is June 23 from 6 to 10 PM at City Hall Square.  They will have the usual amenities - great music (spun by DJ Roy Barboza),  free skate rental, food trucks and water stations, and appearances from O'Mega Red and other members of Donna's family.  Oh wait - did I say family? Well there is a little something different this year - a performance by Mary Gaines "The Real Diva" Bernard.   :-)

[APR 2]  The Guardian has posted a nice article about Stock Aitken & Waterman. It's a good overview of the team and the artists they worked with - including some very nice comments about Donna. It's definitely worth a look.  :-)

[APR 2] Moving on to Bruce news, he just wrapped up his tour with Johnnyswim - but you can still catch him touring on his own.  His new album 21 Century World is coming soon and  while on tour, Bruce debuted a song from the album called Bat Shit Crazy.  (Hmmm... sounds like a day at my job?  LOL)  You can hear a tiny snippet of it on Facebook.

[APR 2] I think that brings us to YouTube.  Let's start with a couple of rare gems that just found their way to the web. First is Donna on the Paul Anka Special - doing her best Bond Girl imitation.  :-) And the second is A Song For You from The Mac Davis Show. Let's continue with old variety show and see Donna on The David Soul and Friends Special,  a country medley and Starting Over Again on the Eddie Rabbit Special , and finally - Donna's own TV Special.

[MAR 26]  Greetings all!  First of all , a shout out to the city of London. I don't know what possessed someone to launch a terror attack there.  I thought it was pretty much common knowledge that (like the meme says) Londoners just Keep Calm and Carry On.

[MAR 26] On to chart news..l. well, there isn't any.  :-( Both Enough Is Enough and On The Radio fell off the charts for the week of April 1.

[MAR 26] Let's take a quick trip to Soundcloud where we can find Junior Vasquez's unreleased mix of My Life.  (Go listen - there are some alternate lyrics used!) And then some crazy fan with a website ;-)  was going through some old concert tapes and happened to find Donna and her girls singing Part Of Your World live at Jones Beach (in the rain no less.) I actually posted it a couple of weeks ago and forgot to put it on an update.

[MAR 26]  In the category of strange things you find on the internet - there is a group called  Twenty Sixty Six And Then - or perhaps I should use the past tense because it was only active in the very early 70s. It was based in Germany and one of the members of this band was Veit Marvos.   That would be the same Veit Marvos who was know to use a young vocalist who later became Donna Summer.  Some of Twenty Sixty Six And Then's music is up on YouTube, and our old buddy Wolfgang happened upon this little treasure.  If you jump ahead to about the 3 and a half minute mark, you just might hear a familiar background vocalist. :-)

[MAR 26] Let's move on to Johnnyswim. They are on tour (of course - they seem to never stop touring!  LOL) And for a little while they have a very familiar opening act - Bruce Sudano.  Now if you have Facebook, there is a little clip of the 3 of them doing a cover of On The Road Again.  Johnnyswim also posted a couple of Facebook live videos this week from their appearances on 92.5 in Massachusetts  and 106.1 in Charlottesville.

[MAR 26]  There are also a couple of new articles out there to promote Johnnyswim's tour.  Liberty University posted one,  ShelbyStar.com has one,  Voice Online has one, and CityBeat has one.

[MAR 26] On to YouTube!  This week I think I will focus on 1999 and I will tell you why in a minute. First the clips.  First up is  UK This Morning with an interview and I Will Go With You. Then we have a Live & More Encore medley from German TV,  I Will Go With You from Musica Si,  Donna (and fans!) on The View, and then on the View again later in 1999,  and finally the VH1 Live & More Encore interview part 1 and part 2.

[MAR 26] So about 1999...  as you guys know, every year I do a Walk to fight MS at this time of year.  And you guys are always very generous.   :-)  But I have a little incentive to encourage donations.  I mentioned above that I have been going through some old concert tapes I have. One gem I found was from 1999. I have pulled 3 tracks off of that tape and will put them on Soundcloud at various times during the fundraising process.  They are Carry On, Different Road (written by Bruce and never recorded by Donna), and Be Rich from Ordinary Girl.  They were all recorded live in Atlantic City - and as such have the usual issues you would expect from covert concert recordings - crowd noise, etc. When I get my first $500, I will post the first track.  :-)  (And yeah, I know money is tight... so eventually I will post all 3, donations or not. It's just that donations will speed things up!)

[MAR 18] Happy Saturday all!  Let's start with the charts. This week Enough Is Enough takes a big drop to #41 on the  Billboard Dance Club Songs chart for March 25. BUT - over  on the  Top Dance Electronic Albums chart, On The Radio debuts at #15.  It is the highest ranking debut for the week.  :-)  Now the question is why after al these years is there a renewed interest in the album? Certainly part of that is the success of the Enough Is Enough mixes.  On top of that it probably helped that iTunes had it on sale for $5.99 recently, and of course Donna's name has been in the news a bit more lately thanks to the family getting publicity. Johnnyswim is out on tour, Bruce has an album coming out, and Brooklyn has been promoting her show Taken like crazy.  And generally speaking journalists seem to at least mention Donna's name when talking to/about the others. In Brooklyn's case, she is getting asked more questions about being Donna's daughter because the press doesn't know her as well yet.  Once the novelty wears off (and a few more episodes of  her show have aired), the press will be more interested in Brooklyn herself than in her lineage.

[MAR 18] In other Donna news,  tickets for the Donna Summer Musical  in La Jolla, CA are officially on sale to the general public - well for at least one date of the run.  Vividseats.com is selling tickets to the December 2 show, but the show is running from November 7 to December 10.  More info is available on the La Jolla Playhouse website.

[MAR 18] In the Donna is everywhere category, she was the answer... wait I mean the question to a Jeopardy clue this week.  If you've never seen Jeopardy,  the way the game is played is they give you a clue and then you have to respond with a question.   The clue was "In 1983 this singer told us, 'She works hard for the money, so hard for it honey.'" The correct response was of course "Who is Donna Summer?"

[MAR 18] I mentioned Brooklyn before - her show Taken is on NBC Mondays at 10.  And of course since it's a new show, they are doing lots of publicity for it.  Brooklyn was on Access Hollywood live this week.  The first half of the interview is on the Access Hollywood website.  The other half of the interview was about being Donna's daughter and I've only run into that on Facebook so far.  You can also see several cast members from Taken talking about the show in this YouTube clip.

[MAR 18] Moving on to Bruce,  he is giving a songwriting master class at Stax Music Academy in Memphis on April 1. For more info, check out this link.  But for those who are more interested in listening to Bruce's songs than in learning to write their own (yeah that would be me  lol), Bruce has posted a lyric video for his new single, It Ain't Cool.  I have to say songs like It Ain't Cool and Common Sense are reminding me a lot of the good 60s protest music.  I grew up on Peter Paul & Mary and liked their sound long before I had the maturity to understand the message.

[MAR 18] I think that brings us to YouTube.  I think with On The Radio charting again,  we should put that in the spotlight.  So we have On The Radio from the 1980 TV Special,  Enough Is Enough with Westlife, a medley of 70s hits,  I Love You live on the Tonight Show,  and  finally some demos of Enough is Enough:  version 1, version 2 and an acapella demo.

[MAR 12] Greetings all!  It's been a sad week this week. We just lost Joni Sledge from Sister Sledge. We also lost Kevin Brown, who most of you know as ViSiON - the guy behind the wonderful ViSiON mixes.  My condolences to their families, friends and fans. Both will be greatly missed.

[MAR 12] In Donna news, Enough Is Enough slips to #21 on the Billboard Dance Club Play Chart for the week of  March 18.

[MAR 12] Brooklyn Sudano fans - catch her on NBC's Taken Monday nights (or on demand  if that's your thing.)  Now that we have hit the second episode and they can concentrate more on building up the plot than on what I like to call "setting up the chessboard", we are starting to see more of Brooklyn's character. :-)

[MAR 12] As part of the promotion for Taken, Brooklyn did an interview with the NY Post where she also gets to talk about her mom a little. She also did an interview for PIX11. It's short but fun.  :-) And finally she did a  joint interview on 11 Alive with one of her costars, Gaius Charles, where they talk strictly about the TV series.

[MAR 12] Let's move on to Bruce Sudano. As I have mentioned before, Bruce has a new album coming out May 5 called 21st Century World.  The first single is out now and it's called It Ain't Cool. The album itself is available for preorder from Amazon and iTunes. And People Magazine spotlighted the song on their website recently.

[MAR 12] I think that brings us to YouTube. Since we are expecting a massive snowstorm here this week, I think we're gonna need some  good mixes to get the blood flowing and stay motivated to shovel all that white stuff.  :-)  So let's start off with the original mix of Love On And On, That's The Way It Is from The Journey), Crayons,  Someday (the original version), I Got Your Love,  and then a couple of mixes from our late friend ViSiON - If It Makes You Feel Good and  This Time I Know It's For Real.

[MAR 12] And finally on a personal note, I will be walking to fight MS again this year. I started walking because I have a friend with MS, I continue walking because of her and others I have met since, and I walk to honor Donna's humanitarian legacy.  Everybody knows Donna's music - not everybody knows about her generous spirit, and since she left us, every act of charity I do is dedicated to her memory. So, in a way she is still making good in this world. :-)  If you are interested in donating, my link is here.  And as many of you know, I usually find some sort of little Donna-related thank you  to give to my donors. If I hit $517 then I get to ditch my team shirt in favor of my Donna gear. (And I really hope I hit that again this year because I'm not 100% sure I even know where my team shirt is anymore! LOL) The walk is May 20, so we have a little time to raise some money so we can hopefully cure some people! Thanks!

[MAR 4] Happy Saturday all! It's a new month so the new Summer Fever Pick is up. This time we explore Cats Without Claws.

[MAR 4] Let's start with the charts. For the week of March 11, Enough Is Enough drops to #15 on the Billboard Dance Club Songs chart.

[MAR 4] Enough Is Enough 's run may be fading, but a couple of other songs have received some attention of a different kind this week.  On the show Riverdale, Josie & The Pussycats performs a cover of I Feel Love on the episode titled "Faster, Pussycats! Kill! Kill!" That episode will air on Tuesday, March 7 on the CW.

[MAR 4] The other song in the spotlight is Last Dance thanks to a performance on last week's episode of The Voice. The contestant did a really good job and totally blew away the judges.

[MAR 4] Brooklyn Sudano fans - don't forget you can see her in Taken on NBC Monday nights. Also, there are a couple of interviews out there promoting the show.  One is from Hollywood Today Live,  and the other is a more general promo piece for the show. There is also a print interview on Emmys.com.

[MAR 4] Bruce Sudano fans - Bruce was on the Morning Buzz with Beth Pike a couple of weeks ago. The show is available online, so go check it out.

[MAR 4]  I think that brings us to YouTube. Let's just do some random clips of Donna performing with others.  There is Donna with Raffaella Carra on Lovin' You, then  Donna with a bunch of people on the Mac Davis Show,  a short clip of Donna with Rita Coolidge on You've Got A Friend, Donna with Kenny Rogers on a Grammy medley,  Donna with Rosie O'Donnell on Enough Is Enough,  and finally Donna with Price Poppycock on America's Got Talent. (Well, I did say  these clips were random!  LOL)

[FEB 26] Greetings all! Happy Oscar night!  Let's start off with the charts again.  On the Billboard Top Dance Club Songs chart for March 4, Enough Is Enough falls to #13. It has totally fallen off the Hot Dance/Electronic Songs top 50.

[FEB 26]  In the Donna is everywhere category, She gets a mention in an article posted on Billboard.com today about highest charting hits winning Oscars for best original song. You guessed it - Last  Dance makes the list.  :-)  Also, Donna got a mention on the People's Court recently in the case of the "Sizzling Mad Disco Singer." One participant was asked his favorite disco  song and he (wisely) replied "Anything by Donna Summer." Clearly, any other answer should have gotten him booted out of court.  ;-)

[FEB 26] Brooklyn Sudano fans - don't forget that her series, Taken, premieres tomorrow (Monday February 27) at 10 PM on NBC.  (And I am sure you will be able to catch it on demand if you miss it.)

[FEB 26] Johnnyswim fans - the duo is STILL on tour and new dates have been announced for the US and Canada this spring and summer. And knowing Amanda and Abner - there will be even more dates to come.

[FEB 26]  I think that brings us to YouTube and I think we should go with an Oscars theme today.  So we have Donna performing Last Dance at the 1978 ceremony, Paul Jabara winning the Oscar for the song, and Donna singing Papa Can You Hear Me at the 1984 telecast. And then we have a couple of songs from movies like The Power Of One, Whenever There Is Love, and an alternate version of the Brooklyn Dreams Hollywood Knights from the film of the same name. (You might spot an extra voice in that one.  LOL)

[FEB 19] Happy Sunday all! Let's start off with the charts again this week. This time the news isn't good.  Enough Is Enough slips from #3 to #4 on the Billboard Dance Club Songs for the week of February 25. And on the Electronic Dance Songs chart it slips from #39 to #42,

[FEB 19] Moving on to Bruce Sudano news - as you know he was performing at the Folk Alliance recently. In support of his performance, he appeared on KCTV 5, and you can watch that here.

[FEB 19] Bruce fans can catch him on tour on the second half of March.  He will be opening for another act I think you are all familiar with - Johnnyswim.  :-)

[FEB 19] And just in case that isn't enough Bruce for you - he's got another album coming out on May 5 - 21st Century World.  :-)

[FEB 19] I think that brings us to YouTube.  Let's do a little traveling with Donna this time.  We'll start by Driving Down Brazil,  then it's off to Tokyo, then we go To Paris With Love, then Don't Cry For Me Argentina because In A  New York Minute we'll go to Los Angeles to see the Sunset People. Then it's off to Somalia to find some Pearls that just might be lying In The Valley Of The Moon. And finally, God Bless America!

[FEB 11] Greetings all! And Happy (almost) Valentine's Day! Let's go right to the charts this week. So for the week of February 18, Enough Is Enough stays at #39 on the Billboard Hot Dance Electronic Songs chart.  But on the Dance Club Songs chart, it rises 2 spots to be #3.  Nice!

[FEB 11]  And while we are talking about Billboard - they have posted their list of the 100 Greatest Grammy Award Show Performances of All Time. Donna comes in at #98 with She Works Hard For The Money.

[FEB 11] Johnnyswim fans - check out the new review of Georgica Pond on Redbrick.me.

[FEB 11] Brooklyn Sudano fans - good news, her series Taken will premiere on NBC on Monday February 27 at 10 PM (9 Central).  For those wondering, Taken is based on the films of the same name about a former Green Beret who, after experiencing a personal tragedy, becomes a "deadly CIA operative." Brooklyn plays Asha Flynn, "an attractive and driven young lawyer" who reconnects with the main guy. You can see more about the show on the NBC website.

[FEB 11] I think that brings us to YouTube.  Well you know we are going to have to go with a love theme this time.  So there is Love To Love You from the Midnight Special, the Love Is In Control video, I Love You from the Tonight Show, I Feel Love live 2008, Love Is The Healer from Queen Latifah, a little snippet of Love To Love You  from 1999 (the first time she had performed it in YEARS) and finally, Friends Unknown - Donna's love tong to the us, her fans.  :-)

[FEB 4] Happy Saturday all! The new Summer Fever Pick is up. This month we are workin' hard for the money! (Or for the no money, as the case may be.  :-) )

[FEB 4] Let's start off with some chart news. For the week of February 11, Donna becomes a Top 5 artist  yet again as Enough Is Enough 2017 sneaks up to #5 on the Billboard Dance Club Songs chart.

[FEB 4] Bruce Sudano fans -  catch Bruce live at the 2017 Folk Alliance on Friday February 17 at 9:30 at the Shawnee Mission in Kansas City, MO. If you are in the area, go check it out.

[FEB 4] Johnnyswim fans - Amanda and Abner are touring in Europe at the moment and a couple of clips have come out of their visit to Sweden. The first is a nice  interview from a talk show over there. And the second clip is a performance of Drunks from the same show.  Just so you know, the interview is in English, but the hosts' introduction to the sing is in Swedish.

[FEB 4] I think that brings us to YouTube. Since Disney is using Donna tunes in their Main Street Electrical Parade, let's go with a Disney theme this week.  So we have  She Works Hard For The Money on  the Disneyland 30th Anniversary special, Unconditional Love and a snippet of Dim All The Lights also from Disneyland, liveandmore's fan video for Someday, a fan video for A Whole New World (Dave Koz featuring Donna), selections from Donna at One Mighty Party 2007 (for Gay Days) part 1 and part 2,  and finally a Disney parody of She Works Hard For The Money. Don't pass that last one up - it's a very clever edit of clips from Hunchback of Notre Dame to parody the music video for Hard For The Money.

[JAN 28] Happy Saturday all! Let's start off with chart news.  for the week of February 4, Enough Is Enough 2017 is up to #45 on the Billboard Hot Dance Electronic Songs chart and up to number 6 on the Dance Club Songs chart.   :-) And on the  Hot Dance Electronic Songs chart, Enough Is Enough climbs to #39

[JAN 28] Disneyland fans - the Main Street Electrical Parade is back until the middle of June. Someone who went to a preview a couple of weeks ago noted that they were using 70s disco music - yes, they included Donna.  :-)

[JAN 28] Facebookers, Casablanca Records recently posted a live video with Giorgio Moroder talking about his music. Yes there are some Donna tunes in the discussion.  :-)

[JAN 28] In cover news, there is well let's call it a rumor for now, reported by TMZ that Madonna has been approached to record Enough Is Enough as an anti-Trump anthem with some new lyrics. Now neither Bruce Roberts (the songwriter) nor Madonna responded to  TMZ's requests for info, so don't het your hopes up yet. (Or for you Madonna haters, don't get upset yet either. BTW - Hi Ken.  LOL)  I figure the combination of Enough Is Enough hitting the dance charts again, plus Madonna's recent headlines from the Women's March (and Trump's response) make a proposed cover perfect rumor fodder. So personally, I'm taking it with a grain of salt for now.

[JAN 28] Johnnyswim fans - there are THREE new reviews of the Georgica Pond album courtesy of Fortitude Magazine, The Arts Desk, and Music-News.com. And don't forget that Amanda and Abner are on tour - hitting Europe in just a few days! Check out the list of dates on their site.

[JAN 28] I think it's time for some YouTube clips. I'm just gonna go with some songs that have been going through my head lately. So let's start with Love Is The Healer live on The View, liveandmore's fan video for Let There Be Peace, State Of Independence from the Hot Summer Night special, Work That Magic (audio only), Bring Down The Reign (slideshow),  Voices Cryin' Out (audio only), and Stamp Your Feet live on Letterman.

[JAN 22] Greetings all - and my best to the people of Italy who are dealing with earthquakes and an avalanche. I hope everyone is safe and their loved ones accounted for.  :-)  And kudos to all my American (and even foreign) friends who marched in the protests yesterday. It was nice to see people able to stand up for what they believe in in a PEACEFUL way. Regardless of any person's particular political stance, this is how our democracy works best - when people can get their point across without violence and without hate. It's okay to disagree (and let's face it, we wouldn't be Americans if we didn't disagree!  LOL) but it is possible to disagree in a respectful way, and I believe that's what we need to strive for.  (Well, unless the matter at hand is Donna Summer.... if you don't like her, I might have to bitch slap you.  ;-) KIDDING!)

[JAN 22] Speaking of Donna - let's look at the Billboard charts.  On the Dance Club Play chart, Donna moves up to #9.  But one chart isn't enough to contain our Donna, so if you go over to the Hot Dance Electronic Songs chart, we have a #47 debut for the 2017 Enough Is Enough remix. By the way, those are the January 28 charts for those of you keeping track.   :-)

[JAN 22] Here's a heads up for those of you who watch PBS. Their Disco Explosion music show has been making the rounds again. It aired recently here in NY. So if you check your local listings, you may find it playing in your area.

[JAN 22] Johnnyswim fans - as I mentioned, the pair appeared on Conan last week. You can catch their performance of First Try on the show's website. And after you check that out, check out their All-Access interview on Soundcloud.

[JAN 22] And that brings us to YouTube.  Let's have some fun with clips we don't see too often.  We'll start with a pair from the old Tom Snyder Tomorrow Coast To Coast show The Wanderer and Cold Love.  Then we have a 1991 performance of State Of Independence (with the blonde hair she was rocking for the Mistaken Identity album),  Say A Little Prayer live in Brazil, Sunset People from the 1980 TV Special,  and Dinner With Gershwin from The Late Show,

[JAN 15] Happy Sunday all! Let's start off with some chart info. You know the new 2017 Enough Is Enough remixes.... well this week they jump up to #12 on the Billboard Dance Club Play chart.  It's been almost 5  years since Donna left us and she STILL rocks the dance charts! :-)

[JAN 15] If you are in the La Jolla CA area (or will be in November), it's official - the La Jolla Playhouse will be running the "Untitled Donna Summer Musical". It's on their 2017/18 Season announcement.  On a side note - the musical REALLY needs an official name.... unless, of course, Untitled Donna Summer Musical becomes the official name..  LOL

[JAN 15] Johnnyswim fans - catch the duo on Conan on Tuesday January 17. That airs on TBS at 11pm (or 10 Central). The show also posts video on the TBS website - clips and full episodes. So if you miss it on TV, catch it on the web.

[JAN 15] Also, Johnnyswim fans should check out their interview on news-press.com.  :-)

[JAN 15] That brings us to YouTube. Oh what the heck, let's watch a few official music videos this week - or what passed for official videos in the pre-MTV days. :-)  We have Last Dance,  Could It Be Magic, I Remember Yesterday, MacArthur Park, She Works Hard For The Money (the first video of the MTV era for Donna),  There Goes My Baby, All Systems Go,  Melody Of Love (UK version), Work That Magic, and Fame (The Game).

[JAN 8] Greetings all! Here in NY it is DEFINITELY winter, but we have a little Summer on the charts.  :-)  Enough Is Enough 2017 is currently #20 on the Billboard Dance Club Songs chart. There is also a mention of that fact in an article about the dance charts.

[JAN 8] And speaking of Enough Is Enough, we have another mix out there in the wild - the Art Color Mega Remix Kaleidoscope.

[JAN 8] I think that brings us to YouTube. Let's start with a popular clip this week - but I better explain it first. As many of you here in the US know, Mariah Carey performed on New Year's Rockin' Eve and had some technical difficulties that resulted in her receiving a certain amount of criticism.  Now as I'm sure most of you know, when a person makes their living performing live, it's not a question of IF something will go wrong, but WHEN it will happen. And in my opinion the mark of a true professional is in how they handle it when things do go wrong. So with that in mind, take a look at this clip of Donna dealing with a bad mic - a complete professional!  :-) That led me indirectly to this clip of  VH1 Divas 2000 rehearsal footage. Now it's mainly Diana Ross and Mariah Carey (and a bunch of interview footage cut in) but if you go to the end you see Donna rehearsing with them for the Supremes medley she didn't participate in for the actual show.  Then there is this clip with Donna rehearsing her own stuff along with interviews with her and Nile Rodgers. And as long as we are in Divas 2000 mode, let's see the actual performances: Reflections, Bad Girls, Love Is The Healer, and the group finale of Ain't No Mountain High Enough.

2016

[DEC 31] Greetings all! I hope you've been jamming those Donna tunes today in celebration of Donna's birthday and the incoming new year!  :-) Let me start off by offering my condolences to the friends, families and fans of George Michael, Carrie Fisher and Debbie Reynolds. 3 legends who left us this past week. 2016 has been a rough year for icons... I'm hoping 2017 is a better year!

[DEC 31] On to Donna. If you are a SiriusXM subscriber, tune in to  Studio 54 (Channel 54) tonight for some special programming.  From 8 pm to 9 PM Tony Smith celebrates Donna's birthday with a special tribute. Then from 9 to 10  listen for Robbie Leslie's Donna Summer Tribute. From 10 to 11 it will be Tony Smith's New Year's Mix and then from 11 to midnight Giorgio Moroder presents his New Year's Eve Mix. So you better get out our dancing shoes.  :-)

[DEC 31] Albumism.com is celebrating Donna's birthday with some tunes and with an invitation for fans to share their Donna memories in the comments.

[DEC 31] It's the end of the year, so Billboard has been busy compiling lists.  Donna is on the Greatest Of All Time Top Dance Club Artists list at #6 on the Greatest Of All Time Hot 100 Artists at #29 , and Hot Stuff is #84 on the Greatest Of All Time Hot 100 Songs.

[DEC 31] The NY Times had a short article about some upcoming musicals about Whitney Houston, Cher, Tina Turner and of course Donna. There is no new info about the Donna musical, but it's still nice to see it getting some press.  :-)

[DEC 31] Oops - I almost forgot to mention. The new Summer Fever Pick for January is up. It is the self-titled album.  :-)

[DEC 31] And I think that brings us to YouTube. We have  Donna's medley from the 1976/7 New Year's Eve show, Could It Be Magic from the same show, Suecase Hall's Happy Birthday Donna video,  and another Happy Birthday video, a cool video set to Donna's cover of Let It Be, and of course, Last Dance to bring out the old year! Finally I'd like to dedicate Celebrate Me Home to everyone we lost this year - whether they are internationally famous, or just famous to their own small circle of friends and family. You will all be missed.

[DEC 23] Greetings all! Merry Christmas and Happy Chanukah! And my condolences to the people of Berlin who experienced a terror attack just a few days ago.  :-(

[DEC 23]  I'd also like to offer my condolences to the family, friends and fans of Alan Thicke. For those who don't know the name, Alan Thick was an actor, the composer of a number of TV theme songs and for awhile in the 80s he had a late night talk show called Thicke Of The Night. Donna appeared on it one time and the result was this strange little in-studio clip that was followed by a silly cooking segment which I can't seem to find on YouTube at the moment.

[DEC 23] Ok, on to happier things! There are Enough Is Enough mixes out there in the wild!  :-)  Here's one by Scar, one by Tweaka Turner, one by Offer Nissim, one by Craig C, one by C-Rod, one by Mindskap and the Dirty Disco Mainroom mix.  That should keep you dancing for a little while.  ;-)

[DEC 23] That brings us to YouTube.  I think we should do a few Christmas clips this time.  So we have Donna doing The Christmas Song on GMA,  O Holy Night from Solid Gold,  a medley of Christmas songs from Bandstand (the video quality if a bit rough but you can just spot Mimi in the crowd at one point), and here is the edited version of that episode of Bandstand with Donna promoting Cats Without Claws, a fan video for Donna's Christmas Medley, O Come All Ye Faithful with Marilyn McCoo, a fan video for Rosie Christmas, the promo for Breath Of Heaven, and a fan video for I'll Be Home For Christmas.

[DEC 23] I'll be back after Christmas some time, so let me leave you with this for now.   :-)  Have a very safe and happy holiday season with LOTS of Summer!

[DEC 18] Greetings all! Can you believe Christmas is only a week away? And Donna's birthday is only 2 weeks away? With that in mind - I'm not sure exactly when the next 2 weekend updates will take place, but I think the Christmas one will be a little early just because I'm not going to want to do it on the holiday itself.

[DEC 18] Let's get some seriously annoying news out of the way . Rolling Stone compiled their list of the 100 Greatest Singers Of All Time. First of all, it's sad to see just how many people on that list are no longer with us.  I'm telling you, there is one heck of a concert scene in the afterlife! But putting that aside... Rolling Stone seems to have forgotten someone. Grrrrr...

[DEC 18] On to more fun things - keep an eye out for for Enough Is Enough 2017. It's a remix project featuring work by Tweaka Turner and Mindskap, and probably others as well.

[DEC 18] The Ultimate Collection has been reviewed by a couple of blogs recently. BlogCritics.org gives it 95/100 and Attitude.co.uk gives it 5/5. And of course both have articles explaining why they like the collection so much.  :-)  (Maybe we should send Rolling Stone a copy of the Ultimate Collection in case they feel like fixing their 100 Greatest Singers list...  ;-) )

[DEC 18] I think that brings us to YouTube. Since the holidays are usually about family, let's put together some clips of Donna performing with her family. So we have Donna with Bruce on Worth The Wait, Donna with Mimi on State Of Independence, Donna with Brooklyn (and Sharon Osbourne) on Hot Stuff, Donna and Mary on Enough Is Enough,  a tribute video by Suecase Hall featuring Donna with appearances by Mary and Dara, an interview with Donna and her parents, and Bruce's speech at the Rock Hall Of Fame (with Mimi, Brooklyn and Amanda by his side.)

[DEC 11] Happy Sunday all! Let's start off with some Donna is everywhere news.  If you go see the movie Trolls, keep your ears open. There is a scene that uses I Feel Love.  :-)

[DEC 11] He's a strange little trend some fans have been noticing. If you go to iTunes, you will see that Dim All The Lights is enjoying an unusual amount of popularity lately. Apparently people have rediscovered the song.  :-)  I know I was also hearing it on the music at my job from time to time too - but of course that was before they switched to all Christmas music.

[DEC 11] Johnnyswim fans - there is a short article on Baeblemusic.com.

[DEC 11] I think that brings us to YouTube.  So let's start off with Dim All The Lights - this one is from Art On Ice. Then let's stick with Art On Ice since I haven't watched them in awhile and go to Last Dance, Smile, On The Radio, MacArthur Park, She Works Hard For The Money, and of course Hot Stuff. And then I have a bonus clip of the Art On Ice tribute to Donna and Robin Gibb.

[DEC 4] Greetings all! Can you believe it's December already?  Well you know what that means - it's time for a holiday Summer Fever Pick. In other words, we celebrate the greatest holiday album ever - Christmas Spirit! (Not that I'm biased or anything.... ;-) )

[DEC 4] Ok - the Ultimate Collection.... as you may know, there were a few issues with the 3 CD set. There is an issue with the start of The Wanderer. Crimson is fixing that for future pressings. If your disk has the problem, contact Demon Music Group. They have already promised to ship a corrected disk to at least one fan. I Feel Love (Patrick Cowley remix) - the original master vanished off the face of the earth. So instead of using a vinyl rip, it was recreated for this release. Some people report a skip in it, but it is actually an edit, so it's there to stay. The misspelling of Wassermann will be fixed in future re-pressings. And with Melody Of Love they had to use a different mix than they had planned. That info will be updated on future pressings. (And in the meantime, I ordered my copy late so I haven't personally experienced any of these issues yet. I am going in what I hear from the other diehard fans.)

[DEC 4] I used to say VCR alert, but I guess I should make that DVR alert now. :-) Keep an eye on your local PBS listings. I mentioned previously that Donna (I Feel Love) is featured in the series Soundbreaking in the episode Going Electric. There is also another show called Get Down Tonight: The Disco Explosion which is one of the usual pop music shows they run during their fundraisers. This features a bunch of stars from the disco era plus archival footage of Donna and of the Bee Gees. So as I said, check your local listings because every PBS station does their own thing as far as scheduling goes.

[DEC 4] Billboard has compiled a list of the Top 10 Dance Club Songs year by year from 1976-2015. There is one diva in particular who appears multiple times in the list. And if you can't think of who that might be... then you are banned from this site!  LOL

[DEC 4] There is a site called RageOn.com that sells t-shirts and things. Donna fans (or those shopping for Donna fans) might want to give this page a look.  :-)

[DEC 4] Johnnyswim fans - check out the new interview on AtwoodMusic.com. And then check out the 2017 tour dates - including some European dates (that didn't get included with the Atwood Music interview.) Those two tour so much, I seriously don't know why they bother having a house.  LOL

[DEC 4] I think that brings us to YouTube.  Let's do some full concerts this week. First up is  the 2008 Jones Beach concert, the 2005 Night of the Proms show from Belgium, the 1990 Lloret de Mar concert, the 1983 Hot Summer Night HBO special, the 1979 concert from Japan, and finally the 1977 concert from Italy.  (So now it will be my fault nobody gets anything done at work this week?  LOL)

[NOV 27]  Greetings all. I hope my American friends are enjoying their holiday weekend. They are playing mostly Christmas music in my store now. They haven't played any Christmas Spirit, but strangely in the middle of all the other Christmas music they threw in Bad Girls. Make of that what you will,  :-)

[NOV 27] We have some UK chart news. The Ultimate collection debuted on the UK charts at #30.  It's always nice to see a little Summer on the charts.  :-)

[NOV 27] Johnnyswim fans - as you know they got to perform at the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. (For my international fans who may not know - this parade has been a Thanksgiving morning television tradition since.. since there were TVs I think. The parade itself was an annual event since the 1920s and I think they started broadcasting it nationally in the 50s, so yeah, that's pretty much when TV became a thing.  Anyway, thanks to YouTube, you can see Johnnyswim's performance. (The link is for the whole parade broadcast, but it should start you right before Johnnyswim's song.) The pair also were also interviewed at the parade rehearsal the night before. And here is one more YouTube video from the parade - this one just has Johnnyswim riding the float.

[NOV 27] Facebookers can also catch Johnnyswim live at Paste Studios. This was filmed the day before the parade.

[NOV 27] I think that brings us to YouTube. Let's do some interviews this week.  First up is a long one from October 2003. Then we have the A&E Biography from 1995. (And that song you are wondering about is Worth The Wait.) And finally there is Part 1 and Part 2 of Donna Summer - Her Words, Her Story.

[NOV 20] Happy Sunday all! We have some Donna news tonight!  :-) First up - the play!  The La Jolla Playhouse in San Diego has announced 4 world premiere plays for next year. One of them is the "untitled Donna Summer project. This is the very same play Bruce has mentioned in some recent interviews.  According  to SanDiegoUnionTribune.com, the play will be a dance musical that explored Donna's life from a child performing in the living room for family, up through her life in pop culture. It is supposed to include about 20 of Donna's songs and we can expect it to play about a year from now. That will definitely be something to look forward to!

[NOV 20] On to the Ultimate Collection. Some people have received their copies already and I'm seeing mixed reviews. People seem to be very happy with the vinyl edition, but the diehard fans have found some flaws with the 3 CD set. In particular the packaging is fragile and there are some issues with the sound here and there. On the bright side, the track list was adjusted after the label received some input from fans. There is a discussion about the set on SuperDeluxeEdition.com that shows the  final track list and at the end you will see some of the concerns some fans have had.

[NOV 20] PBS has a new music miniseries called Soundbreaking. So far the website lists 8 episodes but it is possible they will add more as the episodes air.  I Feel Love is featured in the episode called "Going Electric" and there is an interview with Giorgio Moroder and an old one with Donna. (Both of which I missed because my phone rang! Grrrrr.... Gotta catch the repeat! ) I feel Love came in at about 38 minutes into the show.  The episode after that is called "Four On The Floor" which is about the dance beat. They do show a clip of Love To Love You, but most of the commentary about the disco era comes from Nile Rodgers and Barry Gibb. (And they had some interesting things to say about the making of the music.) Now here in NY, the show airs on Channel 13 weeknights at 10 until November 23 with previously aired episodes available for a short time on the PBS website. Other areas should check their local listings because as you know PBS does different things in different areas at different times.  And I do recommend checking out the non-Donna stuff too. There is a lot of interesting stuff.

[NOV 20] Billboard posted a list of women with the most Hot 100 top 10s. Yes, Donna was on the list.  :-)

[NOV 20] Moving on to Johnnyswim,  CBS Philly posted a new interview in honor of the duo's recent concert in Philadelphia. This one  is mainly about Amanda being encouraged to find her own musical voice by her mom.

[NOV 20] US fans - don't forget that you can see Johnnyswim playing at the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade on Thursday. Make sure you tune in for that. :-)

[NOV 20] I think that brings us to YouTube.  Since the US based fans are getting ready to gorge themselves on Thanksgiving feasts this week, I think maybe we need some tunes to help burn off all those calories! LOL  So let's start with Hot Stuff from the 1980 TV Special. (Work that leopard print dress!) Then we have Romeo from the Hot Summer Night Special,  Bad Girls from Queen Latifah, I Feel Love live (with the robot dance),  Last Dance from TGIF, and Could It Be Magic live with Barry Manilow (sorry for the preceding commercials).

[NOV 13] Greetings all!  This is just a quick update because I've been out all weekend exercising my inner geek and I got home later today than usual. (I was at a Doctor Who convention - don't laugh! I speak many varieties of geek. :-) And I speak them proudly!)

[NOV 13]  First up, some sad news. Songwriter/musician Leon Russell has passed away.  If you are wondering about the Donna connection - well, a lot of you are familiar with A Song For You. Donna used to perform it a lot back in the day. Well that song was written by Leon Russell. He also wrote the Carpenters' hit Superstar which as you know, Donna covered so well in her final tour.

[NOV 13] As many of you know, Larry Flick is a long time Donna fan/friend and had a radio show on SiriusXM.  He did a segment on his show awhile ago that was a fond remembrance of Donna. The whole segment is available on Soundcloud and it's worth a listen.

[NOV 13] Johnnyswim fans - there are 2 more behind the scenes videos on Facebook. They are for Georgica Pond (the title track of the album)and Lonely Night In Georgia. Also, check out this review of their recent show in Nashville.

[NOV 13] That brings us to YouTube.  In honor of Leon Russell, let's play a couple of videos of Donna singing his songs.  First up is A Song For You from 1979. Then we have This Masquerade from 1977 and of course her wonderful cover of Superstar from 2010. And finally an unreleased track that I think that I'm hoping might cheer up some people and remind them to NEVER give up. It's called Begin Again and it's from Ordinary Girl. (And if you've never heard it before - give it time to get to the uptempo part. The slow intro is pretty long.) And another unreleased track that I hope can provide some inspiration in this world we are facing.

[NOV 6] Happy Sunday all! First of all - to my American friends, don't forget (as if you could!  LOL) that Tuesday is election day so get your butt out there and vote. (Sadly, neither Presidential candidate has added "release Donna's vault" to their platforms.  ;-) )

[NOV 6] Ok so it's a new month and you all know what that means - it's time for a new Summer Fever Pick. This month we celebrate I'm A Rainbow.

[NOV 6] Don't forget that the Ultimate Collection is coming out i n just a couple of weeks. The release date is November 18 in the UK, while Amazon US shows it available as an import on November 25.

[NOV 6] Johnnyswim fans - check out their Behind The Scenes videos on Facebook for Summertime Romance and Touching  Heaven. Also, look for Johnnyswim at this year's Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. (Woot!)

[NOV 6] There is also a nice article online about Georgica Pond with particular mentions of Johnnyswim's friends at the TV show Fixer Upper.

[NOV 6] I think that brings us to YouTube. Let's try a collection of mid-80s clips starting with Livin' In America from the 1985 Presidential Inauguration of Ronald Reagan. Then we have She Works Hard For The Money, a clip of Dim All The Lights and Unconditional Love  live from Disney (love her top!  LOL), a clip of Forgive Me, I'm Free from Soul Train, and Papa Can You Hear Me from the 1984 Oscars.

[OCT 30] Greetings all! Special greetings to all my friends in Italy. I hope you and your loved ones are all doing well in spite of recent earthquakes.

[OCT 30] This just in - Donna's entire vault just burned down and we'll never ever see a new release again? No, not really. I just thought that would be more scary than a ghost or a spider or crazed axe murderer or something else more traditionally Halloween-ish. So Happy Halloween!  :-)

[OCT 30] Ok. Getting on to more serious breaking news, Norman Brokaw passed away yesterday at the age of 89.  For those of you who don't recognize the name, he was a vice President ( and later Chairman Of The Board) of the William Morris Agency and he is the guy who helped Donna when it was time for her to leave Casablanca.  if you have a copy of Donna's autobiography kicking around, she does talk about him a bit. And I believe that he would have been a character in Donna's Ordinary Girl musical just going by what Donna said in her book and by the song list I have seen for the musical. My condolences to his family and friends.

[OCT 30] Moving on to Johnnyswim news. Facebookers can check out more behind the scenes commentary about  Hummbingbird, and Say Goodnight Instead. And just in case you were wondering, those are both songs from the new Georgica Pond album. (Go check it out if you haven't already! Pretty sure the CD version will make great stocking stuffers this year.....  ;-) )

[OCT 30] Oh and speaking of Georgica Pond,  the Herald Standard has posted its review of the album online.

[OCT 30] I think that brings us to YouTube. Let's do some clips that can be hard to find.. First up is Reflections from Divas 2000, then Bad Girls, Love Is The Healer, and Ain't No Mountain High Enough (with the whole cast), all from Divas 2000. Then we have MacArthur Park and Last Dance from the 1999 Today Show concert series and the audio for I Will Go With You from the same show. (I have to find the rest of that show - I think that was the time the crane fell in NYC so the broadcast was preempted for the East Coast. Unfortunately it was also the first time I heard Donna do a very short rap version of Love To Love You.)

[OCT 23] Happy Sunday all! First a note to my American friends - as you probably know, election day is in just a couple of weeks.  (And if you didn't know that, what rock have you been living under this year and can I join you there until this madness is over? LOL) I just want to remind you to take this opportunity to EDUCATE YOURSELF, if you haven't already, on the issues (local, state and federal) and then VOTE!  (If you happen to hate all the available choices for President, I am available for the job if you want to write me in. My platform is Donna Summer. I pledge to play the full 17 minutes of Love To Love You as my inaugural address for no other reason than it would crack me up to see boring old  C-SPAN playing that live.  LOL)

[OCT 23]  Bruce Sudano fans - there is an article about him on MusicIndustryQuarterly.com. It's mainly about the rerelease of With Angels On A Carousel, but there is also a mention of the Donna Summer musical at the end. He says it COULD be up and running in another year and it should contain a number of her most famous songs. I wouldn't hold Bruce to "another year" though. Broadway can be really unpredictable and even if you get the book and music just right, and the perfect casting, staging, etc all ready to go - you might still end up having to wait around for a theater to become available.

[OCT 23] Johnnyswim fans - I told you last weekend that the duo would be on the Today Show. Well, as predicted, the clip is on the Today website. The song is Let It Matter from the new Georgica Pond album. It's also on YouTube in case the Today link doesn't work outside the US.

[OCT 23] Also in Johnnyswim news, Abner was interviewed for GretschGuitars.com.  You can read the interview, and you can watch a video of Abner talking about his switch to an electric guitar.  (And for you guitar geeks out there, they have a link to his guitar so you can check out all the specs. )

[OCT 23] Facebookers - Johnnyswim has posted a couple of "Behind The Scenes Commentaries" where they talk about songs  from Georgica Pond. The first one is about Drunks, and the second one is about Let It Matter.

[OCT 23] I think that brings us to YouTube. Let's see, what haven't we done in awhile? Let's look at Donna's spiritual side. So let's start with Forgive Me from 1983, a live version of Amazing Grace performed in Nashville, a fan video for How Great Thou Art, a fan tribute video for Celebrate Me Home, the video for State Of Independence, and The Impossible Dream live. (I was good - I stayed away from the Christmas stuff.... for now!  ;-) )

[OCT 16] Happy  Sunday all! This week the official Donna Summer Facebook page has released a video trailer for the upcoming Ultimate Collection.  So far I have only seen it on Facebook, so hopefully the link will play for you non-Facebookers too. The album is expected out on November 18 but of course some formats are already available for pre-order.

[OCT 16] Johnnyswim fans - their new album, Georgica Pond is officially out now. And if you are buying from Amazon - it looks like getting the CD is cheaper than getting the MP3s - assuming you can do the free shipping thing with Prime or with a large enough order of other stuff. (And the CD on Amazon does come with a free digital copy as well, so you won't have to wait to listen!) You can read a review of the album at HotPress.com.

[OCT 16] There are also a couple of new Johnnyswim interviews out this week. TheBayBridged.com has a really nice one, and PortlandTribune.com has one.  And don't forget to check out the Today Show tomorrow (Monday October 17) to see Johnnyswim performing in the 10 AM hour. Oh let's get real -- a lot of us are working, so later we can go to Today.com and look for the video there. (I'm not sure if they turn up later in the same day or if you have to wait 24 hours for videos to get posted, but I am sure the video will be posted eventually. :-) Thank god for onDemand!)

[OCT 16] I think that brings us to YouTube. Let's track down the clips used in the Ultimate Collection trailer. Ok, it starts with just audio of Hot Stuff, then the first video is a 1979 live clip of Bad Girls, followed by a 1983 clip of MacArthur Park, the classic I Feel Love robot-dance video, and the music videos for Dinner With Gershwin, Love's About To Change My Heart, and This Time I Know It's For Real. Then it ends with just audio of Enough Is Enough.

[OCT 9] Greetings all! I have to start with a correction. When I posted the links last week to the upcoming Ultimate Collection, I accidentally linked to the US Amazon site instead of the UK site - so the links didn't work. Here are the corrected links for single CD set and the vinyl. There will also be a 3 CD set which isn't posted on Amazon yet. Here is the tracklist for that:

Disk 1: I feel Love, MacArthur Park, This Time I Know Its For Real, Hot Stuff, Dinner With Gershwin, Bad Girls, State Of Independence, Rumour Has It, The Wanderer, She Works Hard For The Money, All Systems Go (edit), On The Radio, Heaven Knows (with the Brooklyn Dreams), Sunset People, Power Of Love (Hani's Mixshow edit), I'm A Fire (Solitaire Club Mix), Last Dance.

Disk 2: No More Tears (with Barbra Streisand), Love's Unkind, Love To Love You Baby, Down Deep Inside (Theme From The Deep), Could It Be Magic, Try Me I Know We Can Make It, Spring Affair, I Love You, Unconditional Love (with Musical Youth), Love Is In Control, I Don't Wanna Get Hurt (7" remix), When Love Takes Over You (Dave Ford 7" remix), Breakaway (Power Radio mix), Melody Of Love (West End 7" Radio Mix), Winter Melody, The Woman In Me, Back In Love Again, Dim All The Lights, Cold Love (edit), Love's About To Change My Heart (PWL 7" Mix)

Disk 3: I Remember Yesterday, Wasserman (from Haare), O Segne Gott Mein Seel (from Godspell), Lady Of The Night, Something's Missing (Paul Jabara feat. Donna), Once Upon A Time, Shut Out/Heaven Is A Disco (Paul Jabara feat. Donna), Never Lose Your Sense Of Humor (Paul Jabara  feat. Donna), Highway Runner, Romeo, Eyes (Jellybean remix edit), When Love Cries (single remix), I Will Go With You (radio edit), Love Is The Healer (Eric Kupper's I Feel Healed 7"), Stamp Your Feet (Jason Nevins Radio edit), Fame (Dave Aude Radio).

[OCT 9] I have some sad news this week. Legendary songwriter/ music producer Rod Temperton passed away this week  at the age of 66 - another victim of cancer.  He was probably most famous for his work with Michael Jackson (both on Off The Wall and Thriller) but he worked with a whole bunch of other people too. Donna fans will know him for Love Is In Control, Livin' In America and Love Is Just A Breath Away.

[OCT 9] This one is just a little fun clip on Facebook. I'm not sure if it will play for anyone not on Facebook but  here goes: Whoopi Goldberg and Sara Haines of The View had a little fun backstage last week with Last Dance.  :-)

[OCT 9] Johnnyswim fans - great news! If you can't wait for their new album, Georgica Pond, to come out, well you can stream it now on NPR. And it's not just a song or two - they have the whole thing streaming on demand. And of course, the album is out on October 14 so it won't be long until we can all own a copy.  :-)

[OCT 9] If you are in New York and are looking for something to do tomorrow (Monday) night, the pair is giving a free concert to promote the upcoming album. Details are here.

[OCT 9] I think that brings us to YouTube. In honor of Rod Temperton, let's start with Love Is In Control and Love Is Just A Breath Away (Klyk's remix in this case). Then let's check out a Valley Of The Moon remix, an audio track for Adonai, a remix of Freedom, and a short acapella version of La Dolce Vita. And then in honor of the US Presidential debates tonight, let's listen to Common Sense from Bruce Sudano.

[OCT 2] Happy Sunday all! Let's start off with a new compilation coming out next month.  It is called The Ultimate Collection and it's from our friends at Driven By The Music/Crimson. It will be available in a couple of formats - a single CD, a 2 LP gatefold, and a 3 CD Deluxe edition. )And of course it will be available as downloads as well.) Amazon UK has the track list for the  single CD set, and the vinyl which you can see is heavy with Casablanca stuff this time. The official Facebook page also says that the 3 CD set will include more than 50 tracks including stuff from Haare and Godspell. They will be advertising this on TV so UK friends keep an eye out for that.  :-)

[OCT 2] Johnnyswim fans - you can download not one, but TWO tracks from the upcoming Georgica Pond album.  The album itself is out on October 14 but if you order now you can get the new tracks Wicked Games and Drunks, as well as the previously released singles, Summertime Romance and Let It Matter. (in other words, Johnnyswim knows we can't wait for the album so they are trying to make the wait as painless as possible!  LOL) You can also check out the audio premiere of Drunks on PopMatters.com. And you can c heck out Wicked Games on NPR's All Songs Considered.

[OCT 2] I think that brings us to YouTube. Let's do some ballads tonight. We'll start with Be Myself Again, then there is Sand On My Feet,  Mimi's Song, Starting Over Again, Whispering Waves, Heaven's Just A Whisper Away, and Any Way At All.

[OCT 1] It's a new month so you know what that means. It's time for another Summer Fever Pick. This month we explore The Wanderer.

[SEP 25] Happy Sunday all!  Let's start off with the new mix people have been talking about.  It's the Barry Harris 2016 Mashup of Donna vs. Whitney Houston: I Feel My Love Is Your Love. And can I just ask, how cool is it that a song that came out almost 40 years ago is STILL the basis for tons of remixes. I wonder if  we had been able to tell Donna and Giorgio that back in the day if they would have believed us?

[SEP 25] Happy birthday to Bruce Sudano who turns... umm... old enough  ;-) tomorrow (Monday). Many happy returns Bruce!

[SEP 25] Speaking of Bruce, he was on Dash Radio with Mark Mosley recently. He talks about his whole career from a kid with an accordion until now. And he gets to talk a lot about Donna. (And as a bonus, they use one of my favorite pics of Donna and Bruce together on the Soundcloud page.) Also check out Bruce's performance of Common Sense from BalconyTV. (Can we just play that on TV tomorrow instead of the Presidential debates? LOL)

[SEP 25] Johnnyswim fans - the pair have added Atlanta to their list of concert dates.  For details (and a full list of tour dates) check out their website.

[SEP 25]  Time for some YouTube clips.  Let's do some fun ones this week. We'll start with one of my very favorites - Donna with Barry Manilow on Could It Be Magic. (Could they have had any more fun there?  LOL) Then there is Enough Is Enough with the red Ferrari story. Sadly I couldn't find a more recent version of that story when it became more about how much Donna could ham it up than it was about the story.  LOL Then we have a silly interview with Greg Kinnear, another one with Regis and KathieLee (wait for her to talk about her past jobs), and then one video Donna made that defies description. Andd then since it's Bruce's birthday tomorrow, let's do a couple of popular clips featuring Donna with Bruce on guitar. The first is a BBC radio recording of So This Is Lonely, and the other is one they performed on tour one year called Worth The Wait. That song was featured in a tiny clip on the A&E Biography on Donna and I remember that every time the show aired, someone would ask what that song was in the clip.

[SEP 18] Greetings all and happy Sunday. Let's start off with a silly little quiz that has made the rounds of Facebook. The quiz challenges you to name some top Donna songs based on one line. Seriously, I don't know anyone who didn't score 100%. One of us will have to make a harder quiz one day. :-)

[SEP 18]  In Johnnyswim news, the duo is still chugging along on the road with lots more dates still to play between now and the end of November. And don't forget their new album, Georgica Pond, is available for pre-order and will be officially out on October 14. And  if you haven't heard the new single, Let It Matter, go play it now. I think it has a message we can all relate to.

[SEP 18] Bruce Sudano fans - you can follow him on Spotify and check out all his recent albums - With Angels On A Carousel, The Burbank Sessions, Life & The Romantic and Rainy Day Soul.

[SEP 18] Vienna Dohler fans - she does live broadcasts on Krue.tv from time to time and if you miss a live broadcast, you can always catch it on demand later. It's a great place to hear some of her music.

[SEP 18] I think that brings us to YouTube. Let's start off with Donna's induction to the Hollywood Bowl Hall Of Fame. Then we have Donna performing Superstar with Richard Carpenter at the Hollywood Bowl, a performance of Nature Boy, and one of Last Dance also from the Hollywood Bowl. Then there is  a performance from Holland of Bad Girls/Hot Stuff and Last Dance with an actual orchestra behind her.  :-) And finally part 1 and part 2 of Donna performing in the rain at One Mighty Party in 2007. (Poor Bobby on umbrella duty there!)

[SEP 11] Greetings all! Let me start off by saying on this 15th anniversary of 9/11 - THANK YOU to all the first responders out there who risk their lives for us on a daily basis. I would like to also say THANK YOU to all the every day people who did what they could to help in that dark time. It's very easy when thinking of something like 9/11, the terror attacks in London, Paris, etc, the mass shootings in Newton, Orlando, etc, and the natural disasters everywhere, to get lost in the tragedy of the event.  But if you can look past the tragedy, you can also see hope in the form in the form of people who put aside the differences they normally have to work together to help in whatever way they can. If only it didn't take tragedy for us as a species to realize our better natures.

[SEP 11] Ok, so let's put aside all the sad memories of today that every US media outlet is dwelling on today, and find some refuge in the land of Donna.  :-)  Let's start with the musical. It's getting some buzz now. The New York Post had an article about it the other day, The Guardian had an article about it,  Broadway.com had an article, and BroadwayWorld.com had one too. And those are just a few. A bunch of other sources had at least a small blurb about the musical as well.  It's nice to see that people are interested in writing about it.  :-)

[SEP 11]  Moving on to Bruce Sudano - he was on Deep Dish Radio with Tim Powers the other day for a really nice interview about With Angels On A Carousel (which is being rereleased tomorrow.) In addition to the interview, Bruce brought his guitar and treats listeners to a couple of songs from the album - including some he's never done live before. And before you ask, yes he talks about Donna.  The show is mainly about  With ANgels On A Carousel which is more or less about the period of time when Donna was ill. At the time of the original release, Bruce says he wsn't emotionally prepared to talk about it, but now he is so the album is coming back. The show is almost 50 minutes long, so make sure you have a little time before clicking on the player. Or if you prefer, you can go to iTunes and download the podcast. And if you like what you hear (and you will!) leave a liuttle feedback on iTunes or the Deep Dish Radio Facebook page.

[SEP 11]  I'm sure many of you are familiar with Bob Esty. For those who aren't, he's a songwriter, arranger, and producer who has worked with tons of people including Donna.  Well, he's hit a rough patch in his life. He's discovered that he hasn't received the proper royalties, etc for his work. On top of that, he's getting older (like most of us), has developed some serious health issues, and his housing is in jeopardy.  He has authorized a fundraiser to hopefully pay for the legal costs of recouping his lost royalties. If you are interested in contributing or just in finding out more, you can check his page on YouCare.

[SEP 11] Ok, I think that brings us to YouTube.  Let's have a little fun today. So we'll start off with  some Once Upon A Time,  a little Fairy Tale High, MacArthur Park, Heaven Knows,  Sunset People,  and Last Dance (as Aunt Oona). And then just for  fun, I have MacArthur Park from the musical Priscilla Queen Of The Desert.  Before you click that one, let me set it up for you. Two characters have just discovered they have feelings for each other and after one songs a slow version of MacArthur Park, they fall asleep outside with the cake and champagne they were sharing. In the morning a third character (the one you see in the beginning of this clip), spots them and the cake outside and declared to the audience that he's been waiting his whole life for this, where upon he starts belting "someone left the cake out in the rain..." to kick off the fast version of the song. Sadly the clip picks up a little bit into the song, so you miss that joke. But you do get to see the green cake costumes! LOL

[SEP 4] Greetings all - Happy Labor Day Weekend! Where did the summer go?  First up - it's a new month so that means a new Summer Fever Pick. This month is dedicated to all you Bad Girls out there. (And no, you don't have to be female to be a Bad Girl.)  ;-)

[SEP 4]  Let's start with the Donna is everywhere category. Her song, I Feel Love, was featured in the first episode of the show London Spy. On a related note, here's a cool site. It's called TuneFind.com. If you plug in the name of a show, it will identify the songs used in each episode.  If you plug in an artist - oh let's say Donna Summer - it will show you a lot of the shows and episodes that have featured songs by that artist.

[SEP 4] There is a vlog on YouTube by June Penny, and in it she sometimes does a thing called Storytime where she tells you one of the more interesting stories of her life.  She's got one from last fall called "My Donna Summer Moment". If you have a few minutes (the video is 9 minutes long), check it out - but you have to  stick with it to the end.

[SEP 4] Bruce Sudano fans - Bruce has been playing a few dates in California (with 2 more this week) and he's posted a couple of videos on Facebook. In fact another just popped up as I was writing this. He has also done a new interview with Music-Illuminati.com where he gets to talk about all kinds of things and about many of the people he's worked with over the course of his career.

[SEP 4] I think that brings us to YouTube. Let's look at some rare stuff this week. We have a clip of an unreleased song called Addiction, a clip of another unreleased song called Half The Battle, a song called Freedom, a remix of Valley Of The Moon, and one from Ordinary Girl called Begin Again.

[AUG 28] Happy Sunday all! Special greetings to my Italian friends - particularly those in the earthquake zone.  I hope you and your families and friends are safe and have experienced as little loss as possible.  I've been looking at some of the photos coming out of there and it's just awful. (That may be the understatement of the year.)

[AUG 28] OK, moving on to happier things, I mentioned a couple of weeks ago that Barbra Streisand is doing Enough Is Enough in her tour. Somebody grabbed a clip of it and posted it on YouTube. And I have to say I agree with Barbra's comments - Donna did have an incredible voice, and I think we all wish she was here to sing it with Barbra. (Or sing it without Barbra, or  sing something else entirely, or anything.... I'd just be happy for having her still here.)

[AUG 28] Johnnyswim fans - their new album Georgica Pond is available for preorder now from Amazon and all your other favorite retailers. Two tracks are available immediately - Summertime Romance and Let It Matter. And speaking of Let It Matter, Huffington Post has an interview with Johnnyswim about that song. Read the interview then play the song (it's on the HuffPo webpage too) and see what they are talking about.

[AUG 28] If you are on Facebook, give Johnnyswim a follow. They sometimes do live  broadcasts where they answer questions or sing a little, or just chat about whatever they are up to at the time.

[AUG 28] I think that brings us to YouTube. Let's see, since Barbra and Donna never got to do Enough Is Enough live together, let's look at some of the other people Donna has performed it with.  First up is one of Donna's solo versions. Then we have a TV performance with Rosie O'Donnell, the rehearsal footage with Tina Arena, a TV performance with Westlife, and of course one of many live performances with her sister Mary Gaines Bernard. (Hey Barbra - maybe you can get Mary to sing it with you?) And as long as we have a bit of a Barbra thing going on here, let's look at a couple of times Donna covered a Barbra tune. There was Don't Rain On My Parade live, The Way We Were from 1979,  and Papa Can You Hear Me from the 1984 Oscars.

[AUG 20] Happy weekend everyone! First up: the mix that everybody has been talking about lately. It's the DJ Meme version of MacArthur Park. 10 minutes of green cake melting goodness - with a few extra ingredients tossed in as well.

[AUG 20] Pete Bellotte fans - Radio London did a rare interview with him that you can hear on YouTube.  They talk about Donna, Casablanca, and other things.

[AUG 20] Johnnyswim fans - the new album Georgica Pond will be available for pre-order starting in a week so keep an eye on your favorite music vendors. When you pre-order, you get an instant download of Let It Matter just to keep you going until the whole album is on your hands.  ;-) And of course, Summertime Romance is currently available for purchase. And don't forget that the duo is perpetually on tour (I seriously don't know if they remember what their house looks like.  LOL) Check out the current list of dates here.

[AUG 20] Bruce Sudano fans - don't forget he's got a bunch of dates coming up in Califorina in a c ouple of weeks. Check out the list here.

[AUG 20] That brings us to YouTube. Since we're all enjoying the DJ Meme mix of MacArthur Park, let's have a remix party. We'll start with the famous Patrick Cowley mix of I Feel Love, then I Feel Love vs Giorgio's Chase, State Of Independence New Millennium Mix, I Will Go With You Groovy G Mix, Be Myself Again Klyk Mix, and Love Is The Healer Thunderdub.

[AUG 13] Happy Saturday al! Some of you may remember that there was talk awhile back of a Dan Fogelberg tribute album that Donna had contributed to before her passing. Well, someone has been in touch with Dan Fogelberg's  estate and the album is finally finished. They hope to have it out in a few more months and it will include Donna's cover of Nether Lands.  If you aren't familiar with the song, here is Dan's original, and here are the lyrics. The word is Donna did her recording in 2011.

[AUG 13] Barbra Streisand is on tour and it seems she is doing Enough Is Enough in her set. Photos have turned up with Barbra on stage with a huge photo behind her of her and Donna. (You know the photo - the back to back divas pose they used on the single sleeve.) It looks like she's got someone up on stage with her to sing the Donna part.

[AUG 13] In the land of covers, Giabiconi has recorded Love To Love You Baby. It's so strange to me to hear a guy singing it!

[AUG 13] Vienna Dohler fans - she's posted a piece new song on Instagram. It's just piano and vocals - but, what vocals!  (On a side note, I still don't understand how Donna's GRANDdaughter can be practically a grown woman now!  It makes me feel old!  LOL)

[AUG 13] That brings us to YouTube. Let's do some really early stuff for a change. We have a clip of Black Power from the German show 11 Uhr 20. Then we have Flesh Failures from Haare (you have to wait almost 2 and a half minutes to see Donna), then there is the fan video for Can't Understand (by Donna Gaines!), a slideshow set to O segne Gott mein Seel from Godspell, an old commercial for Africola, a slideshow for How I Feel (from The Me Nobody Knows), an audio clip for Sally Go Round The Roses, an audio clip for Denver Dream,  and finally an audio clip for Virgin Mary.

[AUG 6] Happy Saturday everyone!  First up is the new Summer Fever Pick for August. This time it's Live & More - the first Donna album I ever got.  :-)

[AUG 6] So as many of you know, there was a workshop for a show being called (for now) The Donna Summer Project.  Well a few behind the scenes glimpses have appeared on Twitter. Start with #donnasummerworkshop and then click on the people who have posted with that hashtag for a few more things.

[AUG 6] That brings us to YouTube - yes, already!  It's  very quiet week. I think in honor of the Olympics, we should pick some fitting songs. So let's start with what should have been a sports' anthem, Stamp Your Feet. Then we have a n audio clip of One Of A Kind (because I remember hearing it on a sports broadcast once),  an incomplete live clip of Summer Fever (for the summer games), a live clip of Don't Rain On My Parade (because it's hard to play in the rain), a fan video for Driving Down Brazil (because they are playing in Rio), Smile (for the athletes who don't perform as well as they hoped),  and finally Hot Stuff (because did you see that flag bearer from Tonga at the opening ceremonies? Wow!)

[JUL 30] Happy Saturday everyone!  Let's start of with some Johnnyswim news. Their new song Summertime Romance is out now and available on most of your favorite music services (both streaming services like Spotify and for purchase sites like Amazon and iTunes.) Links for all services are here. The duo have also announced a whole bunch of tour dates which you can see on their website.

[JUL 30] Bruce Sudano fans - if you are in California, you will be very happy because he's announced several dates for September there in Pasadena, San Juan Capistrano, Ojai, Santa Crus and Solana Beach. Details are here.  There is also a short article about The Burbank Sessions on TheUrbanBuzz.com.

[JUL 30] I think that brings us to YouTube. We haven't done interviews for awhile, so let's go with a collection of those. We have the "lost" 1978 interview, a 1978 Bandstand interview, a 1975/6ish Mike Douglas Show interview, a mid 80s ET Interview (her first with ET), a 1983 UK Breakfast TV interview, a 1989/90 interview in support of Another Place And Time, and a very silly mid 80s interview with Alan Thicke.

[JUL 24] Happy Sunday all! Well, this week it's condolences to the people of Germany who have suffered terrorist attacks this week. Seriously - can you terrorists/random nuts with guns/etc just give it a rest already?!

[JUL 24] The CBSLocal website gave Donna a shout out on their July 11 this day in music history article. They chose Bad Girls to represent the 70s.

[JUL 24] I know many of you know that a couple of Donna's songs were used in the Broadway musical, Priscilla Queen Of The Desert. I never saw it on Broadway, but I caught a local production last night, and I have to say the biggest laugh of the night for me came with MacArthur Park. They us a slow version of the song for a scene where 2 characters discover they are falling for each other as they get to know each other under the stars over some champagne and cake. (You know where this is going now, right?  LOL) They fall asleep and in the morning are discovered by a third character. He spots the cake and announces (basically to the audience) that "I've been waiting my whole life for this!" And he launched right into the lines "someone left the cake out in the rain...." and it goes into the uptempo version of the song with him  accompanied by a bunch of drag queens dressed as green cakes and holding umbrellas. I'm not exactly sure what happened right after that because I was still laughing!  LOL If you ever get a chance to see the musical, do it. You won't be disappointed.

[JUL 24] Brooklyn area fans - there is an event coming to your area on September 9 and 10 called I Feel Love. It is described as "a groundbreaking immersive music experience." They promise to grant attendees "access into a world reflective of the sights and sounds of the disco era with classic music re-envisioned and reimagined by today's top artists." More to the point - Giorgio Moroder will be performing both nights.  :-) The press release is posted here, and tickets are for sale here.

[JUL 24] Bruce Sudano fans - check out his new interview on NoDepression.com where he talks about a few things such as Donna, and his recording process.

[JUL 24] Johnnyswim fans -  You really need to be following the pair on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter. Today they had a phone number to call for advance info on tour dates and tickets. (Plus they almost always have cute pics of their baby.  :-) ) And tune into their YouTube channel this week because at some point tomorrow they plan to post a new song.

[JUL 24] I think that brings us to YouTube.  This week we have a random collection of clips I have saved here and there.  First up is Emerson's amazing megamix. (That one is over a half hour of mix goodness so save it for  some time when you can spend that much time dancing.) Then we have Tony Moran's mix of Valley Of The Moon, a 70s appearance on The David Soul & Friends Special, the opening to a 2007 concert at Universal Studios, and finally a 2003 interview in support of the Ordinary Girl book.

[JUL 17] Greetings all and Happy Sunday. Well this has been quite an awful week. First of all, let me extend my deepest condolences to the people of Nice, France where some lunatic drove a big truck into a crowd of people celebrating Bastille Day and then started shooting them up. 84 people were killed and who knows how many were injured. Then an attempted coup in Turkey left 290 people dead. That's 290 families missing someone they love. Seriously, just what is this world coming to? I wish I knew a way to just make the violence stop.

[JUL 17] Then in other sad news, long time Donna fanatic and DJ from Mexico's  Looking Back radio program passed away earlier this week after a long battle with cancer. He was a really nice guy and I know quite a few of you knew him from the various Donna groups online.  He will definitely be missed! His obituary is posted here for those who wish to see it. (It is in Spanish, so if that's not your language, you may want to hit up Google Translate or just find a cute interpreter.)

[JUL 17] On to happier news, Johnnyswim has announced that they will be playing 7 dates with the BELONG Tour. The dates are posted along with a nice article on the BELONG Tour website. And yes, there is yet ANOTHER story about how Johnnyswim got their name!  LOL

[JUL 17] Bruce Sudano fans - he's just announced 2 new concert dates. The first is September 8 at Belly Up in Solana Beach, CA with the Zombies, and the other is September 24 at BarN in Williamstown, MA. He's the headliner on that second date. Look for more shows to be announced soon.

[JUL 17] I think that brings us to YouTube. In light of recent events, I think we could all use a little more love in the world. So let's start off with Love Is The Healer, then we have Love Is In Control, Unconditional Love, and State Of Independence. Then we have Let There Be Peace, and Donna's go to songs for times of trouble - Amazing Grace and Smile.

[JUL 9] Happy Saturday everyone! It's a quiet week, but we have some big Johnnyswim news. Their next album,  will be called Georgica Pond and it will be out September 30. You can read about it here (and see the tracklist!) You can also hear a little preview featuring the track Summertime Romance on YouTube. And here's a little trivia for you - Georgica Pond is the name of a place near East Hampton here on Long Island where I very strongly suspect Donna and her family spent some time. I've never been there, but I imagine it's very pretty. Most of the east end is.

[JUL 9] That brings us to YouTube - yes, already. I told you it was a quiet week!  Last week I went kind of USA heavy on the clips since it was Independence Day, so this week I will try for a more international feel. First up a slideshow set to Tokyo. Then we have To Paris With Love, Don't Cry For Me Argentina, a short live clip of Driving Down Brazil,  Bring Down The Reign (about Darfur) set to a slideshow, and an audio clip of Another Place And Time to cover all the places I didn't find a video for.  ;-)

[JUL 3] Greetings all! Happy Independence Day to my American friends, Happy Canada Day to my Canadian friends and happy Sunday to everyone else!  It's a new month, so that means a new Summer Fever Pick. This month rumor has it that we are going on a fairy tale high with Once Upon A Time.  :-)

[JUL 3] You guys will both love and hate this. There is a new version of Sometimes Like Butterflies posted on Reservoir Media. That's the part most of you will love. (Go listen - it's nothing like the version we already know and love!) The part you will hate is this - there is no buy link for it at this time. So it's just a big tease at the moment.

[JUL 3] In the Donna is everywhere category (or at least her music is) - Last Dance is featured heavily at the end of the new Absolutely Fabulous movie. (Hello - another reason to go see it! I love the AbFab team!) The movie is already out in the UK and comes to the US on July 22.

[JUL 3] Giorgio Moroder fans - according to Billboard, he is back on Casablanca and hopes to release some new stuff this summer. You can read the article here.

[JUL 3] And I think that brings us to YouTube. So let's pick some songs appropriate for the weekend. We have Livin' In America, God Bless America, The Star Spangled Banner, State Of Independence, I'm Free, Freedom, and Happy Birthday (to the Canada and the USA).

[JUN 26] Happy Sunday all! And Happy Pride to all of you who had your parades this weekend. I don't know about everywhere else, but it was a gorgeous day for a parade today. In fact it was perfect weather for a few (okay, A LOT of) Summer tunes.  ;-)

[JUN 26] Speaking of tunes, Stargayzing.com has an article on I'm A Rainbow, calling it the best album ever rejected by a major label.

[JUN 26] A video from the Donna Summer Memorial Roller Disco Party has turned up. This one has Mimi phoning into the event with a message for the fans. Then there is another much longer clip showing people dancing and singing along to the music. (Seriously, Donna would have loved that!) You can also see O'Mega Red perform Angel with his sister Taihisha, and then the whole family took the stage to sing along with State Of Independence.  :-)

[JUN 26] I mentioned last week that many of you probably have vouchers for free tickets in your Ticketmaster account. Well, they have finally posted a list of events you can use them on. (Don't forget to click change location so you can see events close to you.) Check that page periodically as new events will be added (and old ones will go away).

[JUN 26] I think that brings us to YouTube. First up we have a live clip of Sand On My Feet. Then we have an audio clip of Whispering Waves, a live video of Hot Stuff from the 1980 TV special that's been edited a bit, WEN!NG's mix of Summer Fever, Bad Girls from The Tonight Show, an audio clip of Driving Down Brazil, and Stor Dubine's video for I Got Your Love.

[JUN 19] Happy Father's Day to all the dads out there!

[JUN 19] Let's start off with something that's not Donna related but that affects many of you who have attended concerts over the years. If you bought tickets through Ticketmaster any time between October 21, 1999 and February 27, 2013, well you may have a voucher for some free tickets waiting in your Ticketmaster account. Apparently a class action suit was recently settled and this is the result.  Now so far they aren't saying which shows you can use your vouchers for, but since the  vouchers are good until 2020, we have plenty of time for them to decide.  There is more info here, but I recommend that you all check your Ticketmaster accounts and see what's waiting for you.

[JUN 19] Boston held the 3rd annual Donna Summer Roller Disco Party the other night. I saw a couple of videos on Facebook and it looks like the place was PACKED! It also looked like people were having a blast.  :-) (Well, how could they not have fun with all those Donna tunes playing?) They also included a moment of silence for the victims of the Orlando Pulse tragedy. I thought that was a nice touch. I expect in the coming days there will be photos and videos off Facebook that I can share.

[JUN 19] Paste Magazine has compiles a list of 10 disco records for people who don't like disco. Bad Girls made the list - along with Giorgio Moroder's From Here To Eternity.

[JUN 19] According to a recent article on LatinGossip.com, Thalia is working on the Donna Summer Project musical.

[JUN 19] I think that brings us to YouTube. In honor of the Tonys last weekend - let's check out Donna and some showtunes.  First up we have Donna with the cast of Haare in Germany with Flesh Failures. And then a 2009 performance of Der Wasserman in Berlin. Then we have a cover of Don't Rain On My Parade, a cover of The Impossible Dream, and a cover of Send In The Clowns. Then there is My Life, and I Will Live For Love, both from musicals Donna was working on. And then finally, this last one isn't from a Broadway musical, but it is from a movie musical and it's very fitting for Father's Day.

[JUN 12]  Greetings all. I was going to say Happy Sunday, but if you have read the news from Florida, it's not a happy day. If you haven't seen the news yet, well the short version is that some nut went into a gay club called Pulse in Orlando and shot the place up. He killed 50 people and wounded another 50 some odd in what is being called the worst mass shooting in the history of the US. The gunman himself was killed in an exchange of fire with police. I just can't even wrap my head around what would possess a person to do something so heinous. I know there will be plenty of talk and debate over the next days and weeks of what we as a nation should be doing to prevent another mass shooting. (And as usual, probably 99% of that will be hot air that leads to nothing.) But for tonight, I would just like to focus on the victims rather than the debate.  And so, I offer my deepest condolences to the families and friends of those who lost people in this tragedy. And to the injured, I wish a very speedy recovery from both the physical and the emotional wounds you incurred. It shouldn't have happened. But it's going to take someone way smarter than me to figure out how to keep something like this from happening again.

[JUN 12] Boston - don't forget that this Friday (June 17) you have the big Donna Summer Memorial Roller Disco Party in City Hall Plaza from 6 to 10 PM.  This is the third annual roller disco party and fans have reported that the last 2 have been really fun. So if you are in the area - go check it out.

[JUN 12] OK,  there has been a lot of discussion on the forum lately about this Greatest Hits package. Upon examination, the fans have determined that this particular set is a Russian bootleg. So buyer beware!

[JUN 12] Bruce Sudano fans - check out this nice review on FlickOfTheFinger.co.uk. Also, Bruce was on The Vinyl Lunch a couple of weeks ago and that has finally turned up on the show's online archives. So you can hear it now if you missed the broadcast.

[JUN 12] I think that brings us to YouTube. Since it's Tony night, I had originally planned to showcase Donna and her theater songs. But in light of the events in Orlando, I think the world could use a little love right now. So let's start with Love Is The Healer, and then Love Is In Control,  I Love You  live, and the amazing symphonic clip of I Will Live For Love. And then let me throw in Celebrate Me Home, and Let There Be Peace just because they feel appropriate tonight.

[JUN 5] Happy Sunday all!  First up - the new Summer Fever Pick is posted. This month we look at  I Remember Yesterday.

[JUN 5] Some sad news this week. Muhammed Ali passed away Friday after a long battle with Parkinson's Disease. As many of you know, he was a world class boxer, a man of conviction who wasn't afraid to stand up for his beliefs, and a friend of Donna's. I believe at one point in the 70s they even shared a bodyguard. You can see pictures of them together like this one on Getty Images, or this one on Tumblr. Our friend Suecase Hall on YouTube came up with a tribute video set to The Power Of One.

[JUN 5] Boston - don't forget that on Friday June 17 you have the 3rd annual Donna Summer Memorial Roller Disco Party in City Hall Plaza. They have free skate rental, food trucks, water stations, live art and interactive exhibits, the Boston Roller Derby, and ... oh yeah... MUSIC!!! Lots of Donna tunes presided over by DJ Kon.  O'mega Red is going to put in an appearance, and who knows who else may show up? Donna does have lots of family in Boston still.  :-)

[JUN 5] In honor of summer, Musicvaultz.com has posted their list of the top 20 "hot" songs. (They are all songs with either "hot" or "heat" in the title.) Can you guess what came out at number one?  ;-)

[JUN 5] Johnnyswim fans - check out one of their new songs captured at a recent concert.

[JUN 5] I think that brings us to YouTube. First up is I Remember Yesterday live from 1977, the My Man Medley from her 1980 TV special, Smile from 2010, Lush Life from the Quincy Jones album, La Vie En Rose live in Paris, Masquerade live in Venezuela, and Someone To Watch Over Me from Live & More Encore (audio only).

[MAY 30] Happy Memorial Day weekend to all my American friends! And happy normal weekend to everyone else! As it's the first official weekend of the summer (or should I say Summer?) season here in the US, I hope you all found some time to play a few Donna tunes.  :-) I also hope you took a little time to remember the reason for the holiday - all those soldiers from all those wars who made the ultimate sacrifice. May they rest in peace with the thanks of a grateful nation.

[MAY 30] In the Donna is everywhere category - I Feel Love is being used in an odd little ad in the UK. The company is EDF Energy and their odd little mascot dances to the song. You can watch it here.

[MAY 30] Bruce Sudano fans - there is a new interview with him on In The Spotlight. He was also on Acme Radio Live's The Vinyl Lunch today. That show does have archives online, but as of this writing Bruce's episode isn't posted just yet so just check back there in a few days. If you have Facebook, you can check out Bruce's whole set at City Winery in Nashville. For those who are wondering, that's Randy Mitchell on stage with Bruce. (Yes, he was with Donna's band previously.) The link MAY work for non-Facebookers as well, but I can't promise that.

[MAY 30] I think that brings us to YouTube. Let's have a summer theme this time.  :-) So first up is Spring Affair/Summer Fever live. Then there is Hot Stuff live at the Today Show Summer Concert series, Sand On My Feet live, a fan video for Driving Down Brazil, I Will Go With You live at Jones Beach, and of course Last Dance from the Hollywood Bowl. ANd finally in honor of Memorial Day we have  The Star Spangled Banner, and Amazing Grace.

[MAY 22] Happy Sunday all! My MS Walk was  yesterday and it was a big success, so thank you all for your support! All but 2 of my thank you gifts have been mailed out (and those were from late donations and will go out sometime during the week.) So if you didn't get yours yet, it's on the way.

[MAY 22] If you are in Vancouver (or will be on May 28) check out the Reinvention Of Disco event at the Edgewater Casino. It will be a live multimedia stage event celebrating the music of Donna Summer. For more info and to see the promo video, check out the Reinvention Of Disco website.

[MAY 22] The deluxe edition of Crayons is out on Amazon UK now. The word from a fan who has it is that  the book and essay are great. He also says the sound quality is fantastic.

[MAY 22] If you want to have a little fun with Google, try this search. You will get a bunch of classic photos, a bunch of outtakes from various photo shoots, and then some super rare photos where Donna looks just like Diana Ross,  Cher, Charo, Loni Anderson, Jane Fonda, etc.  LOL (Gotta love search results! They can  be so random sometimes!) Don't forget if you are in the Nashville area, catch Bruce at the City Winery on May 27.

[MAY 22] Bruce Sudano fans - check out his recent interview promoting his NYC show at Rockwood Hall. If you are on Facebook, you can check out a short clip of the NYC Show. And those of you who didn't go to the show are gonna kick yourselves - at the end of the concert Bruce invited Joe Esposito and Eddie Hokenson to join him on stage. (You might recognize those names as the other 2 members of the Brooklyn Dreams.)  The 3 of them did a nice impromptu version of Bad Girls to close the show.

[MAY 22] I think that brings us to YouTube.  Let's start with the alternate version of People Talk. This version has a little "rap" section that didn't appear in the released version. Then we have the original demo of True Love Survives, the demo of Bad Girls, a demo of Addiction, a short clip of Half The Battle, a short clip of Donna singing La Dolce Vida, a clip of the studio version of My Life being played in a club, and finally the studio version of La Vie En Rose with the live version for comparison.

[MAY 15] Happy Sunday all! First of all, let's get this out of the way right away.  You guys all know what Tuesday is. It's so hard to believe it's been 4 years since Donna left us. (Add all the others who have left us recently and all I can say is there must be one heck of a music festival going on in Heaven!)  Tom over at the Fan Club has a page set up for anyone who wants to share their memories or thoughts of Donna at this time. And of course all the Facebook pages and groups will be very active with... well just about anything Donna related that people care to share.

[MAY 15] Moving on from memories to something more current, DonnaSummer.com has been updated a bit. AND in an interview in Billboard, Bruce confirmed that we will be hearing some unreleased Donna tracks. (Take a breath.... he didn't say WHEN, so don't hound the guy every day!  LOL) He also mentioned the Broadway play that was announced in Playbill a couple of weeks ago.  Bruce is one of the producers, along with Dodger Theatricals - the guys behind Jersey Boys.   :-)

[MAY 15] And as long as I mentioned Bruce's interview, you might want to go take a look at it.  He also talks about the music business, touring with the Zombies, and just putting his back in order the past few years.

[MAY 15] In Johnnyswim news, the duo will be spotted this summer in Macy's American Icons campaign.

[MAY 15] And I think that brings us to YouTube. I know a lot of you will be sad on Tuesday, but last year I made the decision to remember the fun side of being a Donna Summer fan instead of focusing on her loss. That worked for me because I'd really rather remember Donna with a smile than with tears. (And please note, this is what works for ME - you guys have to do what works for YOU. Grieving and healing very personal things.) So with that in mind, I thought I'd post some fun clips.  First up, the red Ferrari story (not my favorite telling of that story, but videos of it are hard to come by.) Then we have Donna having fun with a late night interview,  the video for When Love Takes Over You (with a little classing mugging for the camera), an audio clip of Donna hamming it up on Happy Birthday, a little between songs silliness from the Hot Summer Night  concert, and Donna with Prince Poppycock. My favorite ever fun Donna clip is her with Barry Manilow on Could It Be Magic, but the video seems to have been pulled from YouTube. :-(  The audio is still there though. And I do have one silly one on Vimeo posted by the diva herself (with the help of Nathan Digesare) 7 years ago. It defies description so just go see it.  LOL EDIT:  Wait I found Donna and Barry on Daily Motion! Whew! I'd hate to see that one lost forever!

[MAY 15] And finally - my MS Walk is Saturday and I will be wearing my Donna gear.  :-) Thanks to all who have contributed! You guys are amazing! A couple of years ago I posted some PSAs Donna recorded for an MS event, along with my own very dorky video. If you want to check those out, they are here.

[MAY 8] Happy Mother's Day to all the mothers out there! I hope your kids were all good to you.  :-) In honor of the occasion, I have 2 video clips for you. The first is a song Bruce wrote for his mother called Santa Margarita In The Clouds. The other is a video by our YouTube friend Suecase Hall. It's Martina McBride's In My Daughter's Eyes set to  clips of Donna and her daughters.

[MAY 8] In the Donna's music is everywhere, last Monday's Dancing With The Stars had an icon show, where everybody danced to the music of an icon. They opened the show with Last Dance. I LOVE that someone finally used Last Dance to open a show!  LOL And then the song as used again last week on Ellen, where she introduced a new game called Last Dance.

[MAY 8] In Johnnyswim news - New Music Monday is back! The latest entry is a song called In My Arms and the previous one (that I forgot to mention last week) is Summer Time Romance.

[MAY 8] In other Johnnyswim mews, there is a nice article on CavalierDaily.com. And there is another article about Home being used as the theme song for Fixer Upper on starcasm.net.

[MAY 8] In Bruce Sudano news, The Burbank Sessions got a nice review from dcrocklive.

[MAY 8] I'm in the final weeks of my MS Walk fundraiser. So far you guys have generously contributed over $1200. You are awesome!! There are still 2 more weeks to go if anybody else wants to toss in a couple of bucks. I still have plenty of photos to give out that are unspoken for.  :-)

[MAY 8] And that brings us to YouTube. See if you can guess the theme this time. (It's not hard.  LOL) The first video up is Mimi's Song from the Music For Unicef Concert. (And there is a little bonus duet before that.) Then we have State Of Independence from the Hot Summer Night concert, the official video for This Time I Know It's For Real, Hot Stuff from the Sharon Osbourne Show, and Fairy Tale High from the 1980 TV Special (the link is to the whole show, but it should start you at the 8 minute mark.) And for the casual fans who may not have figured out the theme - every one of those clips features Donna with one or more of her girls.

[MAY 1] Happy May everyone! It's a new month so it's time for a new Summer Fever Pick. This time we look at Four Seasons Of Love.

[MAY 1] He's an odd little surprise from the world of iTunes. Dance music fans have rediscovered On The Radio and as I write this, the album is currently #4 on iTunes Dance Music Album chart. It was Number 1 earlier this week!  :-)

[MAY 1] Here's something interesting.  Playbill.com reports that there will be a workshop of a new musical currently titled The Donna Summer Project.  It will be directed by Des McAnuff, choreographed by Sergio Trujillo and musical direction will be by Ron Melrose. The workshop is scheduled for June 22 to August 6, so hopefully we will hear more then. Among the roles they will be casting: 3 actors to play Donna (at different ages),  and actors to play a whole bunch of other key players in Donna's life. Hmmm.....I'd really like to see a song list for this show. Ideas are starting to form in my head...

[MAY 1] Fans of the song MacArthur Park will want to check out this article on redbullmusicacademy.com. It has lots of Giorgio Moroder's  thoughts on the creation of the track. I will bet money that you can't resist playing the Suite after reading the article.  :-)

[MAY 1] And in the Donna is everywhere category, there is a new book coming out soon called Imagine Me Gone.  One of the main characters is obsessed with Donna Summer songs (among other things.) Sounds like my kind of character!  LOL

[MAY 1] Don't forget we have Crayons Deluxe coming out on May 20 in the UK and then as an import in the US a week later. Don't forget that Amazon UK will ship to the US, so keep an eye on currency conversion and shipping rates to see which store will give you the better price in the end.  :-)

[MAY 1] I think that brings us to YouTube and I'm in the mood for a MacArthur Park party!  :-)  So we have the 1978 video, then there is a live performance which I think was from one of the Night Of Proms shows she did, there is the 1999 Today Show performance (ok East Coast guys - look for yourselves!  LOL), and finally the  Hot Summer Night performance. And then just so the rest of the Suite gets a little love, here is a great performance of Heaven Knows by Donna with the Brooklyn Dreams.

[APR 24] Happy Sunday all! Let me start off by saying that 2016 has claimed yet another icon. Prince has left us. My deepest condolences to his family, friends and fans. You know, Donna and Prince once worked together (well sort of.) In 1997, Donna did a 3 Divas concert with  Chaka Khan and Gloria Estefan. Who showed up to jam on Turn The Beat Around? Yes, it was Prince. According to Billboard, "Without uttering a syllable or lowering his dark ornate shades, he nearly upstaged the singers when he picked up a guitar and cranked out a few fluid funk licks. His shy smile at the crowd's noisy reception was as charming as the kneeling bow of respect he offered Estefan, Summer, and Khan."

[APR 24] Moving on to Donna, in London the Sadler's Wells BalletBoyz production uses Last Dance in the whole second half of the show. Here in New York , the Broadway Show disaster uses Hot Stuff, and I found out that they almost included Heaven Knows as well. (They replaced Heaven Knows with Never Can Say Goodbye at almost the last minute.)

[APR 24] In Johnnyswim news, we have a new article promoting one of the recent concerts. AND they are back with New Music Monday and a song called Let It Matter. And don't forget that Johnnyswim is still on tour. (Seriously, why do they even have a house? They are never home to live in it!  LOL)

[APR 24] Also touring next month is Bruce Sudano.  He's hanging out on the East Coast for right now, the venue list is here.

[APR 24] I think that brings us to YouTube. Since it was 3 years ago last week that Donna was FINALLY inducted into the Rock Hall Of Fame, I figures we'd go with  some Hall Of Fame stuff.  We have Kelly Rowland inducting Donna, Jennifer Hudson singing Last Dance at the ceremony, Bruce's acceptance speech, and then 2 videos by Suecase Hall. The first is Donna's journey to the Hall Of Fame, and the second is why Donna belongs there. ANd just in case there are some casual fans out there who need another reminder of Donna's impact on the  music scene, allow me to present a couple of hits: I Feel Love, Bad Girls, Hot Stuff, and Last Dance.

[APR 24] And on a final note, I am still collecting for my MS walk is you want to donate. If you have already donated - THANK YOU!!! And my team thanks you too! (And I will eventually start mailing out the photos and wristbands - don't worry, I haven't forgotten you.  :-) )

[APR 17] Greetings all. Sorry I missed last week's update. As some of you know, I was caring for a sick cat again who ended up passing away. Squeaky as my little Donna Summer fan. I remember one time when he was younger, I as playing some videos on YouTube, Squeaky was sitting here with me. When I started playing a Donna video, he got up and went over to the speakers trying to find the source of the sound. He never did that with any other video I ever played.  So when I took him for his final vet trip, we played Donna tunes the whole way there for him, and the whole way back for me.

[APR 17] On to more cheerful things Someone notices that if you searched Sears.com for Donna Summer, you could find some rare photos for sale. So I tried the same thing at Amazon. They have a ton of photos and posters over there. Some are photos we've seen a million times before and some are rare. A few are even signed. So if you have some extra wall space to fill, go check it out.

[APR 17] If you are looking for a blast from the past, there is a nice tribute to Donna by Felipe Rose of Village People (from 2012 of course) posted on Indian Country Today.

[APR 17] I think that brings us to YouTube. Let's do some interviews this time. We haven't done those for awhile. We have a short and silly 90s interview with Eric Allen,  then we have an interview in German (yes with Donna speaking German as well) from 2009, and another one in German from maybe 1976 or 77. Going back to English, we have  a 1986 Good Morning America appearance with Dick Clark, A clip of Living In America at Reagan's inauguration with a tiny interview clip to promote her appearance, a 1993 interview on Regis & KathieLee, and a nice CNN interview which is on Facebook instead of YouTube. I hope non-Facebookers can see it too.  And finally for my Squeaky, a clip of Last Dance from David Foster & Friends.

[APR 4] And now for the REAL Summer Fever Pick - A Love Trilogy.  :-)

[APR 4] And just a side note about my MS fundraiser. First of all, even if you donated before I announced that I was handing out pictures as a thank you, you will still get them.  :-) Second - any donation you see on my page from LST DNCE is a matching contribution for donations that were previously made - even if it doesn't actually say that in his screen name every time.  :-) And can I just say - you guys are all awesome!

[APR 1 again!] I have some free time, so I thought I'd do the update a little early.  :-) First up is Crayons, the Deluxe Edition. Our friends at Crimson are remastering Crayons and putting it out as a 3 disk set - the original album plus a ton of remixes. And as always there will be extras in the packaging. This time it is liner notes from our own Christian John Wikane and new interviews with Evan Bogart and Sebastian Arocha Morton. They are even going to toss in the interview Christian did with Donna when Crayons came out.  Disk 1 will be the original Crayons album (including It's Only Love). Disk 2 is a collection of I'm A Fire, and disk 2 is a collection of mixes of Stamp Your Feet and Fame (The Game). The Crayons Deluxe Edition comes out May 20 on Amazon UK.  There is no US release date at this time, but keep in mind that Amazon UK does ship to the US (and other places).

[APR 1] Mary Gaines Bernard fans - as you know she performed in LA for the Calvary Chapel South Bay Easter Service. The entire service is available on Livestream for your viewing pleasure. If you only want to hear Mary's part of the service (3 songs), just jump to the 34 minute mark.

[APR 1] Bruce Sudano fans - he was recently interviewed for the How Did I Get Here podcast. You can listen online here.

[APR 1] I mentioned last week that I am doing my MS walk again this May and that I have someone who has generously offered to match donations.  Well I have other incentives as well. First of all, some of you saw the Fame picture of Donna I posted on Facebook recently. Well, I ordered a whole stack of 4x6 prints of it and will be sending those out to my donors.   :-)

And I still have some wristbands left from last year that I'll send out while supplies last.

They aren't much - just my way of saying thanks for your support.  :-)

[APR 1] And that brings us to YouTube.  Let's go with some Crayons stuff this week.  Let's start with Nathan's video for Fame (The Game), Stor's video for Stamp Your Feet, the promo video for The Queen Is Back, the ET interview to support Crayons, Be Myself Again from NH, Science Of Love from Artist Confidential, a 2008 radio interview, and finally a whole 2008 concert.

[APR 1] It's a new month, so it's time for a new Summer Fever Pick. This time in honor of the upcoming Crayons Deluxe edition, we put Crayons back in the spotlight. (More on the deluxe release in the next update which may be as soon as later tonight.)

[MAR 28] Happy Monday everyone!  I hope the Easter Bunny was good to all those who celebrate. For those who have been following my cat saga - Squeaky went back to kitty hospital last week and is coming home again this afternoon. I gotta get that boy a job with health insurance!  LOL

[MAR 28] Some of you may remember that back in the day, Donna used to have a young comedian named Gary Shandling opening for her shows when she toured. Well, unfortunately he passed away just the other day from an apparent heart attack. He was just 66. My condolences to his family, friends and fans. I can't believe we've lost another one so soon. This has been a seriously bad year to be a celebrities.   :-(

[MAR 28] Moving on to something more cheerful... Bandwidth Daily  has a short interview with Bruce Sudano. In it, he mentions that he has some new songs written (which should be no surprise to anyone), he's starting to make plans for his next recording, and FedEx will be using one of his songs in their marketing campaign starting in June. Very cool!

[MAR 28]  Johnnyswim fans, if you were planning to see the dup in Columbus, OH, well guess what? They had to switch to a bigger venue! (I guess a lot of you were planning to see them.  LOL) So if you need tickets and were unable to get them before, well now there are more seats available.

[MAR 28] I think that brings us to YouTube. Since Spring is here, let's start off with a little Spring Affair (from Soul Train),  then we have a video for Try Me, I Know We Can Make It, the video for Winter Melody, the video for I Remember Yesterday, a performance of Love's Unkind,  a performance of Come With Me, and finally, one of the first live performances of Last Dance.

[MAR 28] And that brings me to a personal request. As I mentioned a couple of weeks ago, I will be once again walking for a cure for MS. It's a cause that's been near to my heart ever since a friend was diagnosed with the disease a few years ago. She's doing well, but others are not so lucky.  Anyway, if you would like to donate, the page is right here. As always, if I make $517 I can ditch the hideous orange MS colors for some cool Donna gear to walk in.  :-)  And I have some other incentives as well.  The first being our old friend lstdnce who will be  matching donations again this year.  For every $20 and $50 donation, he will match the donation dollar for dollar.  For every $100 donation, he will match it  by 1 and a half dollars, and if you donate $517, he will double that donation.  (Of course there is a limit to his generosity because - hey the guy has a mortgage and stuff too, so if he hits the 2k mark then the matches will stop.  Now my own personal incentive sounds lame in comparison, but I  have wristbands to give out to all my donors and I am working on another incentive as well.  :-) My walk is May 21 and I am looking forward to donning my Donna gear for the day!

[MAR 25] Hi guys - I just have a quick update for Mary Bernard fans who will be in the Los Angeles area this Sunday.  Mary will be performing at the Easter service for Calvary Chapel South Bay at the Stub Hub Tennis  Stadium at Cal State. The doors open at 7:30 AM and service starts at 9 AM. It's free, so if you are in that area and Easter is your thing, go check it out. Details and directions are here. For those who can't be in LA, Calvary Chapel often broadcasts services on the web and archives them for later viewing. With any luck, they will do the same for the Easter service.

[MAR 20] Happy Sunday all! I'm still dealing with a sick cat, but at least he's home for now and I can write this while he sulks upstairs. (He hates it when I give him his medicine!  LOL)

[MAR 20] Let's start off with  the new compilation by Ben Liebrand called Grand 12-Inches Vol. 14. It comes out April 1 (in the UK or April 8 in the US) and includes the 8:29 version of Walk Away. (In comparison - the version on the Dance Collection clocks in at 7:15.) You can grab it at Amazon US, Amazon UK and other vendors.

[MAR 20] If you are going to be in Antwerp next month, there will be a ABBA Gold vs. Donna Summer Tribute show on April 23.

[MAR 20] Bruce Sudano fans he is about to be on the Mo'Kelly show on KFI Radio tonight. The show will be posted on the blog archive of the KFI website soon, so you will be able to catch it on demand.  (As I write this, the show has been on about an hour and Bruce hasn't been on yet, so skip ahead if you want.) There is another interview you can also catch from Fox7 to promote the SXSW performances.

[MAR 20] I think that brings us to YouTube. I'm in the mood for some duets.  Let's start with Stor Dubine's video for Does  He Love You (duet with Liza Minnelli), the Midnight Special performance Heaven Knows (duet with the Brooklyn Dreams), a VH1 performance of Try A Little Tenderness (duet with Joss Stone), an America's Got Talent performance with Prince Poppycock, an audio clip of When I Look Up (duet with Darwin Hobbs), and an acoustic performance of On The Radio (duet with Bruce's guitar).

[MAR 15] Greetings all! Sorry I'm late, but I've been dealing with a sick cat. He's still at the vet while I write this, so I'm hoping he'll be okay soon.

[MAR 15] First up today - the new musical on Broadway called Disaster. It's a spoof of all the disaster films of the 70s (Earthquake, The Towering Inferno, The Poseidon Adventure, etc) and as such it uses music from the 70s. One of the songs they use is Hot Stuff. And I believe that's the second time Hot Stuff has been heard on the Great White Way. It was also used in Priscilla Queen Of The Desert. You can hear a little of it in the cast's performance on The Today Show.

[MAR 15] Moving on to Bruce Sudano news... see if you can spot Bruce's cameo in this Hollis Brown video. (Don't blink!) He was also on BBC Radio Northampton recently. You can check that out  here. If you don't want to listen to the whole show, jump to 1:38 to hear Donna's  On The Radio followed by the interview with Bruce. And don't forget that Bruce is on tour, so catch him along the way somewhere.

[MAR 15] Brooklyn Sudano fans - great news! She has been cast as a regular in the NBC drama series, Taken. More on that when more details come out.  :-)

[MAR 15] Johnnyswim fans - don't forget that they are on tour through the month of April (so far anyway - knowing them, more dates will be announced for the summer.  I swear they actually live on the road!  LOL)

[MAR 15] I think that brings us to YouTube. Let's do some live stuff this week.  We have On The Radio from 2009, La Vie En Rose from the same show (love the intro! LOL), I'm A Fire from the LA County Fair, Be Myself Again from 2008,  a few songs from Night Of Proms 2007, and  finally a bunch of songs with the Nashville Symphony including that killer symphonic clip of I Will Live For Love.  :-)

[MAR 6] Greetings all! First up (a few days late - sorry) the new Summer Fever Pick. This month it's all about Love To Love You Baby.

[MAR 6]  Boston fans - the open air roller-disco party celebrating Donna Summer will be back again on Friday June 17.  Mark your calendars!  (And for those who have been at the previous events - they are working to get the DJ that was at the first one back again. :-) )

[MAR 6] Bruce Sudano fans (and Donna fans) - catch him on BBC2 Radio on Johnnie Walker's Sounds Of The 70s.  The show has already aired (today actually) but you can play it on demand on the BBC website for the next 29 days. (And BBC Radio clips are not region restricted like the video clips are, so everyone should be able to play it.) It's a 2 hour show, but Bruce doesn't turn up until about the 1:18:00 mark talking about Bad Girls. And then a few random songs later, Bruce comes back to talk about other things.

[MAR 6] I think that brings us to YouTube. Let's start with a medley of early songs (including Love To Love You)  from a 2006 concert, a 1975 skit and a performance of the same song from Discohoek, then we have a 1976 appearance on American Bandstand,  Could It Be Magic from 1976, and again live in 2009 (once you get past the added intro), and finally an entire 1977 concert from Italy.

[MAR 6] And on a final note, I will be walking for MS again this May. I only just reactivated my account for this year, so I don't have everything 100% set up yet, but if you would like to donate, my page is here. And when we get a little closer, I have someone who is interested in doing some sort of matching donation deal so we'll announce that when we have that all set up.  I will keep you posted.  :-)

[FEB 28] Happy Sunday all!  Bruce Sudano fans - he will be at SXSW on Friday March 18. He'll be at Freedman's at 5:10 PM and at Intercontinental Stephen F Austin at 11 PM. For more information, check out the SXSW website. Bruce will also be in New York City at Rockwood Music Hall on May 19. Tickets are available now.

[FEB 28] Johnnyswim fans - there is a nice interview on HeraldCourier.com. (There are even nice mentions of Amanda's parents included.)

[FEB 28] And that brings us to YouTube.  It's Oscar night so let's continue with a movie theme. First up is Hot Stuff which was heard in a few films including The Full Monty and The Martian.  Then there is I Feel Love which was heard in Behind The Candelabra, and With Your Love which was heard in Thank God It's Friday. And On The Radio was heard in Foxes, while an alternate version of Hollywood Knights by the Brooklyn Dreams (with Donna) was featured in Hollywood Knights. (OK that last one is cheating since it's on Soundcloud instead of YouTube.  LOL)  And finally for you trivia buffs, Love To Love You was in Thank God It's Friday even though it didn't make the soundtrack album. I couldn't find the movie clip on YouTube, but if you watch the film, check out the part where Donna's character is annoying the DJ and knocking over his records and stuff. She commandeers his mic to sing a couple of lyrics before he takes her away from the mic.

[FEB 21] Happy Sunday all! Let's start off with an article on Buzzfeed called "22 Photos That Prove Black Girls Have Been Magic For A Long Time." They have a whole bunch of iconic women posted including someone named Donna Summer. I wonder who she is?  LOL

[FEB 21] Bruce Sudano fans: Don't forget he will be playing at SXSW this year. The event runs from March 11  to  20 in Austin, TX but Bruce will only be performing on Friday at 11 PM.  For more details, check the SXSW website.

[FEB 21] Johnnyswim fans: The duo is on tour currently, but here is the even more cool thing. They have partnered with Feed The Children to help improve the lives of children around the world.So look for your chance to help the cause at future shows.  :-) And if you are looking for VIP tickets to one of their shows - head over th the Johnnyswim website to grab tickets there.

[FEB 21] I think that brings us to YouTube.  Since the Oscars are coming up soon, let's go to the movies this week.  We have Donna's cover of Papa Can You Hear Me from Yentl, Donna and Dave Koz covering A Whole New World from Aladdin, Donna's cover of Someday from Hunchback Of Notre Dame, The Power Of One from Pokemon The Movie, Theme From The Deep from The Deep, Romeo from Flashdance,  Ordinary Miracle from Let It Be Me,  and Whenever There Is Love from Daylight. Oh, and obviously we can't forget the Oscar winning song, Last Dance.

[FEB 14] Happy Valentine's Day everyone! Let's start off with Smithsonian.com.  They are collecting fan concert photos for use in a book that they will  publish next year.  If you have something you would like to submit, head over to the website, but make sure you read both the rules and FAQs.  There are certain technical and legal requirements you will have to meet for your entry to be considered. For those who just want to buy the book - it should be available for pre-order in the Spring.

[FEB 14] In the Donna is everywhere category, she (well specifically her version of MacArthur Park) gets mentioned in an article about author Colson Whitehead.

[FEB 14] Johnnyswim fans - the duo is still on tour and if you are heading to one of the upcoming shows and you are on Facebook, you can request a song and they might just add it to their set. Just head over to this post and comment with the show you are attending and the name of the song you want to hear.  ANd don't forget, the live album is out now and available at retailers like Amazon.com, and of course at the Johnnyswim website.

[FEB 14] Bruce Sudano fans - he is hitting the road again with the Zombies this Spring . He's got a couple of nights in various places in Maryland, and a date in Pennsylvania listed so far. Check the full list here.

[FEB 14] I think that brings us to YouTube. It's Valentine's Day so let's go with the theme of love.  We have Love Is The Healer,  Love Is In Control, Love On And On, I Got Your Love, Love's About To Change My Heart, I Love You, and of course I Feel Love and Love To Love You Baby. (As if I could skip those two!  LOL)

{FEB 7] Happy Sunday every one!  Let's start off with a little Donna. There is apparently a new magazine out in supermarkets called "The 70s". I haven't run into it yet, but it wouldn't surprise me if it was a special edition or one of the various weekly or monthly magazines. Anyway, Donna is on the cover (along with some other 70s icons) so it should be easy to spot. (You know I'll be looking next time I hit the supermarket!) Dona's part inside the magazine consists of a 2 page photo from the  Live & More album and a nice article about Donna's contributions to 70s music. And then of course the rest of the magazine is about all the other stuff going on in the 70s.

[FEB 7]  Bruce Sudano fans - check out his new song and video called Analyzing Stars.  It's just Bruce, his guitar and a very pretty song.

[FEB 7] Johnnyswim fans - check them out on RollingStone.com. There is a short article along with the video for Don't Let It Get You Down. And don't forget that their live album came out Friday. You can grab a download at places like Amazon.com, or get the CD/DVD at the Johnnyswim website.

[FEB 7]  I think that brings us to YouTube. It is Super Bowl Sunday here in the US, so let's go with a collection of sports themed clips - well, sort of sports themed.  LOL  First up we have the Star Spangled Banner from the 1999 All- Star baseball game,  God Bless America from the 2004 baseball World Series,  Stor Dubine's video for Stamp Your Feet (with Donna as a cheerleader/coach), and then there is an audio only clip of One Of A Kind which I remember hearing in the post game show of some sporting event once a long time ago. Let's see, there is also From A Distance from a 1996 Olympic CD called One Voice, and finally, Donna with a whole bunch of world class figure skaters for Art On Ice.

[JAN 31] Greetings all! Since tomorrow is the start of a new month, it's time for a new Summer Fever Pick. This month it's back to the beginning with Lady Of The Night.

[JAN 31] If you are in Mexico, check out Looking Back with Donna's Bad Girls album. Now this audio file is region restricted so it won't work for everyone. It's not playing for me here in the USA. The file was made in Mexico so it should play there, and everyone else can try your luck.  :-)

[JAN 31] Don't forget,, it's only 5 days until the new Johnnyswim live album (and DVD)  are released. Downloads of the album are available at places like Amazon.com, and the CD/DVD is available from the Johnnyswim website. And if you can - catch the pair on tour. New dates have been announced, including the makeup date for the Virginia concert that was cancelled due to snow. All dates are posted on the Johnnyswim website.

[JAN 31] I think that brings us to YouTube. Looking Back did Bad Girls, so why don't we? We have Hot Stuff from the Dinah Shore Show, Bad Girls live in 1979, a slideshow set to the long version of Walk Away, Dim All The Lights from 1995, a fan video for Journey To The Center Of Your Heart, a fan video for One Night In A Lifetime, Jendry -Wen!ng's Insomnia mix of Can't Get To Sleep At Night,  All Through The Night set to clips from the movie Casablanca, Our Love accompanied by the Soul Train dancers,   Glenn Rivera's restructured mix of Lucky, and finally Sunset People from the  1980 TV Special.

[JAN 24] Happy Sunday everyone. Let's start off with some Johnnyswim news. Their live album is due on February 5 and as a nice little tease for the album, Palladia ran a half hour of footage from the concert. It debuted last night but will be repeated Tuesday January 6 at 3PM, Thursday January 28 at 8:30 PM, Saturday January 20 at 12 PM, and Friday February 5 at 2 AM. (All times listed are Eastern.) Check the Palladia website to find out where to watch in your area. And if you don't get Palladia - well just be patient. Video from the concert will be available for sale too - both as an iTunes download, or as a DVD from the Johnnyswim website.

[JAN 24] Speaking of Johnnyswim live performances, they were scheduled to play at the January Jams series in Virginia. Thanks to the big  winter storm, that show was canceled. The promoters are  working to reschedule the performances and will contact ticketholders when they have more info. So if you had tickets to that show, just hold on to them and be patient. Or if you prefer, you can contact the box office for a refund.

[JAN 24] And one more Johnnyswim item - they have a new interview on KeysWeekly.com to promote an upcoming show at Key West.

[JAN 24] Bruce Sudano fans, Bruce will be performing at this year's SXSW festival in Austin, TX. The festival takes place March 15 to 20, but the exact performance schedule has not been announced yet.

[JAN 24] I think that brings us to YouTube. Let's  start with our friend Suecase Hall's video tribute in art to Donna and David Bowie. Then we have  a mix of Donna vs. David Bowie on Fame, which leads me to the clip I was looking for - David Bowie talking about I Feel Love. (Actually the clip is the full interview, but the link should bring you right to the start of his I Feel Love comments.) Then we have  the video for Work That Magic,  Donna singing Bad Girls on the Tonight Show, the video for Whenever There Is Love,  and of course, I Feel Love.

[JAN 18] Happy Monday everyone! Let's start off with a blast from the past - a 1978 article from the Washington Post.

[JAN 18] Bruce Sudano fans - his new single is One Beautiful Life (from The Burbank Sessions of course!) It's been sent out to radio, so keep  your ears open for it. And if you'd like to see Bruce perform the song, well, he's posted a live clip filmed on the beach in Mexico.

[JAN 18] Johnnyswim fans, as you know their live album drops February 5 (although you can pre-order it now). But did you also know that they are currently editing the video from that concert? The whole concert will be available as a video download on iTunes.   :-)

[JAN 18] I think that brings us to YouTube. Let's do some duets this week. So first up is Donna with Seal, then we have Donna and the Brooklyn Dreams with a medley of Motown hits. (Although can it really be a duet if she's singing with 3 guys?  LOL) Then there is Donna with Tina Arena in the Live & More Encore rehearsal, Donna with Kenny Rogers with a medley of Grammy nominees, Donna with Bruce Roberts, Donna with Mary Bernard on Enough Is Enough, and of course my favorite - Donna with Barry Manilow. (Could they have had any more fun?  LOL)

[JAN 9] Happy Saturday everyone! I hope your New Year is off to a good start.  :-) Let's start off with Mary Bernard. She's got a new website set up with photos from her concert, a mailing list you can join (joining will get you a free copy of her song You Made It), AND.... a really great video of Mary's performance of  Friends Unknown along with a touching introduction.  You don't want to miss it! And if you are on Facebook, don't forget to look up Mary over there too.

[JAN 9]  Bruce Sudano fans - you can now stream his music on Spotify. And you can read a little bit about The Burbank Sessions on BlogNobbers.com.

[JAN 9] That brings us to YouTube (yes, already.)  Let's start off with Donna's version of Friends Unknown and see where YouTube takes us.  Next up is Donna on Divas 2000 with a little fan editing thrown in, and then behind the scenes at Divas 2000 part 1 and part 2. It's focused on Diana Ross, but it's a fun peek at the making of the show. Then we have the Divas 2000 rehearsal/interview  promo piece,  Donna on The View in 1999,  Donna on Regis and Kathie Lee 1994, and finally an interview with Donna's parents.

[JAN 3] Happy New Year everyone!  I hope you all got the year off to the right start with a little Donna Summer.   :-) (And how did it get to be 2016 already?) I have posted the new Summer Fever Pick. This month we look back at one of my favorites, Crayons.  :-)

[JAN 3] So I know you are all wondering - how did Mary's concert go? And to that I saw, what concert? What are you talking about?  LOL  Only kidding.  I wasn't there but all the  comments I have heard have been extremely positive. And the clips I have seen have blown me away.  :-)  They are just further proof that the Gaines family has hogged more than their fair share of the talent genes.  ;-)  The line up included MacArthur Park, I Feel Love, I Love You, Heaven Knows, This Time I Know It's For Real, Enough Is Enough, Sand On My Feet, Friends Unknown, On The Radio, Happy Birthday, She Works Hard For The Money, Bad Girls, Hot Stuff, My Life and of course Last Dance. (Just once I want someone to OPEN a show with that just to confuse the audience.  LOL)  Mary used Donna's  original arrangements and she brought out a special surprise guest - Dara!  Dara dueted with Mary on Enough Is Enough and Sand On My Feet and the two of them got to share some Donna stories with the audience.  One of the more interesting comments I heard about the show was that it was healing. And that , I think, was partly what Mary was going for.  Now there are a few short clips from the show, but they are only on Facebook so far and I don't think they will work unless you are on Facebook.  Sorry.  :-(  But I will include the links here anyway:

Hot Stuff

MacArthur park (intro)

Love To Love You

Last Dance

MacArthur Park

I Love You

Also on Facebook - photos posted by Mary, photos posted by Alex (who also provided some of the videos above), and photos posted by Patrick (who provided some of the above videos as well). I'll see if I can work on getting some of that stuff off Facebook and onto the site during the week.  :-)

[JAN 3] And as long as we are talking about Facebook - Donna was a trending topic there worldwide on Thursday. It was reported as "Donna Summer: Fans mark late singer's birthday on December 31." So apparently we can still make noise when we want to.  :-)

[JAN 3] Bruce Sudano fans - he has posted a couple of videos for your listening pleasure.  First up is a repost of Alone for New Year's Eve on YouTube, and the other is a Facebook video of his cover of Blowin' In The Wind.

[JAN 3] Vienna Dohler fans - she has posted an original song on YouTube called Bruise.

[JAN 3] On a side note - Antenna TV has just started repeating the old episodes of Johnny Carson's Tonight Show. Looking at this week's listings, they are airing in no particular order every day at 10 PM on weekends and 11 PM on weekdays (ET). Now Donna is not on any of the episodes on this week, but she did do the show a number of times over the years, so keep an eye on your local listings!  These are full episodes with interviews and performances so they are worth seeing again.   :-)

[JAN 3] I think that brings us to YouTube. Let's pick some random stuff that's been floating in my brain this week. There is Donna's cover of Natural Woman, her cover of Nights In White Satin, Andy's Upper Mix 2006 of Looking Up,  the club remix of Stamp Your Feet, an Sunset People from her 1980 TV Special.

[JAN 3] And let me just add this last clip of Miss You Like Crazy  by Natalie Cole.  While we Donna fans were celebrating Donna's birthday and celebrating her legacy, Natalie Cole fans were experiencing that jolt of sudden loss that we all know so well. So my condolences go out to the Natalie Cole fans. I dedicate this clip to Natalie, Donna, and all the other icons we have lost too soon.

2015:

[DEC 27] Greetings everyone! I hope Santa was good to all of you.  :-) If you are in Europe, I have good news for you. The Another Place And Time UK 12" singles collection and The Vinyl Collection are both on sale in the official Donna Summer Store.  Unfortunately there are distribution restrictions so those of us outside of Europe can't order.  :-(

[DEC 27] Johnnyswim fans - check out their performance on baeblemusic.com. And then run over to iTunes to preorder their new live CD recorded  at Rockwood Music Hall in New York. The actual release date is February 5, so if you don't like iTunes for any reason, it will probably be available at Amazon by then. And don't forget that the never-ending Johnnyswim tour resumes January 7 and continues (at least) all month long.  :-)

[DEC 27] Mary Bernard fans - Thursday is  the night! The big concert to celebrate her big sister Donna.  :-)  There are still some tickets available, so if you didn't get yours yet, do it now.  And don't forget that Mary is carrying on the family tradition - you are to sing if you want to sing and dance if you want to dance.  :-)  And I will be carrying on a long standing tradition of fan reports. If you are going to the show and want to write something, I'll post it here on the site.  :-)

[DEC 27] And if you would like to contribute to Mary's fundraiser so that she can bring the show on the road, use this link here.

[DEC 27] I think that brings us to YouTube.  The New Year is coming so let's party!  Let's start with Sue Casehall's awesome tribute video, then we have Could It Be Magic from Dick Clark's Rockin' Eve 1976-77, I Feel Love from Night Of The Proms 2005, Love Is The Healer from Divas 2000, Hot Stuff/Bad Girls from the Nobel Peace Prize concert 2009, and MacArthur Park from the Live & More Encore special from 1999. And f inally we can't end the year without a little Last Dance, and a final Happy Birthday tribute to Donna.

[DEC 27] Have a very happy and safe New Year's Eve (and Donna's birthday!) I hope 2016 brings you all health, happiness and love! And let me leave you with this quote from Mary:

When we leave 2015 and go into 2016 let's roll the New Year in to a Donna Summer song. Choose your favorite one. One that makes you happy. One that makes you dance. One that makes you feel glad to be alive, and let's all bring in this new year in singing to Donna's music. And guess what? We will all be together.  - MGB

[DEC 19] Happy Saturday everyone!  This will be the last update before Christmas - well, unless something big happens.  :-) So let me take this opportunity to wish all of you a very Merry and safe Christmas!  (And if you don't celebrate - then have a great Friday!)

[DEC 19] OK Mary Bernard fans - she was on the radio again this week and I have a recording of it for you on Soundcloud. She was on for the whole hour so there is a lot to listen to (including a little singing!) but let me share a couple of highlights now. First of all, Mary is once again promising really cool surprises - ones that are apparently making the show run longer.  The other highlight is a contest. She is giving away a pair of tickets to her show New Year's Eve. How do you win? Well it's really easy. Send an email to OnceUponADiva2015@gmail.com with a subject line that says something like "I want those tickets". Mary and her team will pick a winner from the entries and announce the winner on her Facebook page on Christmas Day.

[DEC 19] Also, Delray Beach has a bunch of holiday discounts and Mary's concert is one of those.  For a limited time you can buy (or even gift) tickets for only half their usual cost. (Well not counting the service fees.) It ONLY works with this link though. The regular link gets you the regular prices. Act faast though because the venue is selling out. The balcony is almost gone already and a good chunck of the orchestra section is gone too.

[DEC 19] Let's move on to Bruce Sudano. He did a nice long interview for Deep Dish Radio with Tim Powers. Wanna hear it? (What a stupid question - of course you do.)  The nice folks at Deep Dish Radio gave me a code to embed the interview here for you:

[DEC 19] Also  in Bruce news, his song Common Sense, is a featured track on GrownFolksMusic.com.

[DEC 19] I think that brings us to YouTube. Let's go with a holiday theme this week. (I know - so predictable!  LOL) So we have The Christmas Song from Good Morning America, O Holy Night  and O Come All Ye Faithful from Solid Gold, a Christmas Medley from American Bandstand (see if you can spot a young Mimi in the crowd), an audio clip of Breath Of Heaven, a fan video for I'll Be Home For Christmas, a fan video for Rosie Christmas, a video for Winter Melody, and of course a fan video Christmas Spirit.

[DEC 14] Breaking news for Mary Bernard fans - she will be on WBZT radio tomorrow (Tuesday December 15) for the whole hour from 9 AM to 10 AM ET. You can listen online on the radio station's website. (And I will try to get a recording for you too.) I'm sure there will be lots of Donna talk and who knows, Maybe Mary will sing a little for us too. (Begging on her Facebook page might help with that.  ;-) ) Hey, and if you tune in don't  forget to thank the radio show for having Mary on. (Positive feedback is always a good thing.)

[DEC 13] Happy Sunday everyone! It's only 2 weeks until Christmas. Can you believe that? (Excuse me while I run around the room in a blind panic about all the stuff I still have to do!  LOL) That means it's only 3 weeks until New Year's Eve, aka Donna's birthday aka the night of Mary's concert. Now I have been saying - get those tickets while you can. Well, now they are starting to sell pretty quickly. AT a quick glance, I'd say about half the theater is sold out already. So if you want to see the show and didn't get your tickets yet, you better get them now while there still are some. Now if you are geographically challenged like me and would like to see Mary's show go on the road, well then why not toss a couple of bucks into her  Indiegogo fundraiser?

[DEC 13] And speaking of Mary,  she's got another new interview out there on goodnewsfl.org. This one is interesting because.. how can I explain it? Most interviews (including mine) start with the point of view that we are getting to know Mary through her connection to Donna. This one comes from the perspective that they already know Mary through her work with the church and now they are exploring the whole Donna side to her music. Does that make sense? Read it, it's good.  :-)

[DEC 13] Johnnyswim fans - you know that Amanda and Abner practically live on the road.  LOL They are currently on their Christmas tour so if you have the chance to see them - go for it! Grab tickets fast because they consistently sell out. And if you do social media, follow Johnnyswim on Facebook, Instagram, and/or Twitter for exclusive behind the scenes photos and videos. (Not to mention the cute baby photos too!  ;-)  )

[DEC 13] And if you are looking for a Johnnyswim fix - catch their performance  of Christmas Day on WCL from the other day.

[DEC 13] Bruce Sudano fans - check out his new performance video of These Shoes. And while you are there, check out his performance of Common Sense that was posted a couple of weeks ago.

[DEC 13] For those of you still doing your holiday shopping, don't forget that Mimi has her own shop on Etsy where she sells her handmade jewelry.

[DEC 13] And finally - yes I do have some Donna news too.  LOL LA Weekly came up with their list of Top 10 Classic Disco Songs For  People Who Don't Know Sh*t About Disco. I was a little annoyed at first that Donna only made the list once, but since they picked the entire MacArthur Park Suite and that includes 3 songs, I can forgive them  ;-)

[DEC 13] Ok, so YouTube. What do we want to do this week? How about something a little different? Donna singing in languages other than English. Let's start with From A Distance (with Nanci Griffith and Raul Malo), the Hex Hector & Mac Quayle Italian Uptempo mix of I Will Go With You, Donna with the cast of Haare on Der Wasserman, the French version of Whenever There Is Love, and the Spanish version of the same song.  And this last one is probably cheating because Donna only sings a few lines in Portuguese: Driving Down Brazil.

[DEC 6] Happy Sunday everybody! And Happy Hanukkah to everybody who is celebrating!  I finally changed the Summer Fever Pick. Do I really need to tell you which album is in the spotlight? Hint - Mary Bernard likes it a lot too.   ;-)

[DEC 6] Johnnyswim fans - the pair has embarked on their Christmas tour. For a list of dates, links to buy tickets, and other exclusive content, check out their Christmas tour site. And if you do Facebook,  follow them over there to watch exclusive videos from the road.

[DEC 6] Bruce Sudano fans - check out his latest interview, this time from Marilu Henner's podcast. You can listen to the MP3 here. (Jump to 28:30 if you want to only hear Bruce's segment.) There is an interesting story about Donna's performance of Starting Over Again on the Tonight Show. You can also hear Bruce's performance of These Shoes from his recent European tour on YouTube.

[DEC 6] Mary Bernard fans - don't forget that The Real Diva (TM) is performing New Year's Eve in Florida to celebrate Donna's life and career. Tickets are still on sale! So if you are in the Boca Raton area (or will be on New Year's Eve) well, why not party with Mary? And if you would like to see Mary's show hit the road, why not toss a couple of bucks in her Indiegogo fundraiser. All money raised will be put toward making Mary's show mobile. She's got $1800 out of $10000 as of this writing. Let's see if we can get her all the way to the top.   :-)

[DEC 6] I think that brings us to YouTube. Let's start with a 1994 UK performance of I Feel Love/Bad Girls/Hot Stuff that surfaced on Facebook recently, then we have the Tonight Show performance of Starting Over Again that Bruce talked about, Mimi's Song also from the Tonight Show (a very special clip for me), and what the heck, let's toss in an interview from The Tonight Show too, a 1984 performance of Forgive Me, the 2008 season finale of American Idol, and finally Last Dance live in Miami.

[NOV 29] Greetings all! I hope you enjoyed the holiday (or non-holiday) weekend.   :-)

[NOV 29] First up for Bruce Sudano fans - a new song! It's was recorded live on tour and it's called Common Sense. And quite frankly, I can think of a few (billion lol) people who should hear it and take the message to heart.

[NOV 29] Mary Bernard fans - she's got her very own billboard on I95 in Delray to promote her December 31 concert. (Tickets are still available.)  And don't forget - she is still trying to raise money so that hopefully she can take her show out on the road.  If you have a couple of bucks to spare, why not contribute?

[NOV 29] Johnnyswim fans, they posted a video on Facebook of them live on the air at Nashville's Lightning 100 radio. The show includes an interview and a live performance. One of the things they mentioned is that the live album is coming out in February, and they will have a special on Palladia in January. And they are starting work on their next  studio album. (Seriously - how many hours are in a Johnnyswim day? It has to be more than 24!) And if you are looking for some Johnnyswim swag, head over to their store. They have a code for 25% off - but I'm not sure how long it will be valid. It's  JOHNNY25OFF.

[NOV 29] I think that brings us to YouTube.  And since most of the Americans spent the weekend eating, I think it's time to work off all those calories. So let's dance! We'll start off with a little Hot Stuff live in 1980,  Bad Girls from Queen Latifah's show,  Crayons live from 2008, This Time I Know It's For Real live in 1990,  Once Upon A Time live  in 1979, I Feel Love (and yes, you MUST do the robot dance with Donna  LOL), Could It Be Magic with Barry Manilow, and of course we can't end this list with anything other than Last Dance - this time from SiriusXM's Artist Confidential.

[NOV 25] Breaking Donna news! The official store has a special sale on the CD Box set from now until November 30 only. AND for this sale, they will ship to  the USA and Canada.  Go grab a copy!

[NOV 22] Greetings all! I changed to my Christmas theme a little earlier than I planned since I was finding the last theme a little difficult to read.  This should be better for all of us.

[NOV 22] Mary Bernard fans - guess what? She's got a new interview out and it is (currently) exclusive to this site.  Check it out right here. And guys, please feel free to share it where ever you think it's appropriate.

[NOV 22] Also, Mary is doing a fundraiser with Indiegogo.  I know some of you are wondering what that's about. Well, Mary really wants the New Year's Eve show to be the first of many. She definitely wants to do one every December 31, but she also wants to take it out on the road in between so that more people can get a chance to see the show. Now taking show on the road costs money. The money she is trying to raise will be used to create a sort of template for a road show. She needs to get the music professionally arranged so that they have something that local musicians can work with. They need sets, lighting, sound, and even the most basic setup costs money and everything that is raised will go towards making the show mobile.  :-) If you would like to donate, just go to Indiegogo. And please feel free to share the link anywhere you feel there will be interest.  And I would also like to say that Mary is EXTREMELY appreciative of all your support. The word she uses most is "blessed."  She feels very blessed to have the love and support of the Donna community. (Of course she does - you guys are awesome!)

[NOV 22] Bruce Sudano fans - he has a new interview on Observer.com. It's a very interesting read and the interview was conducted shortly before Bruce started his European tour.

[NOV 22] Johnnyswim fans: The duo are hitting the road for their Christmas tour. Now here is the even cooler thing - they want to go caroling along the way. So if you hit them up on social media ( @Johnnyswim on Facebook or Twitter) and tell them why they should stop at your place, you may get a shot of them coming to your place. Use the hashtag #singatmyplace. And if yo check out t heir Facebook page, there are videos of  the Christmas tour rehearsals.

[NOV 22] Ok all you chart fans. There is a blog out there with a whole bunch of chart info for Donna from a number of different countries. You can find it right here.

[NOV 22] That brings us to YouTube. Let's see, to night is the American Music Awards, so let's check out Donna on some awards shows. We have Hot Stuff from the AMAs, a tribute to Stevie Wonder on the AMAs, She Works Hard For The Money from the Grammys, a medley of songs with Kenny Rogers from the Grammys,  Last Dance from the Oscars,  and Papa Can You Hear Me from the Oscars.

[NOV 22] Happy Thanksgiving everyone! (Yes everyone, I'm sharing the holiday with the world - tell all your bosses you are taking the day off.  ;-) )

[NOV 16] Greetings all. Before I get to the news, I'd just like to give my condolences to the city of Paris. Stay strong, and know that you have the support of civilized people everywhere.

[NOV 16] Let's see, where should I start? Maybe the vault is a good place? (THAT got your attention!  LOL)  There is a magazine called Classic Rock Italia and in the November issue there is an interview with Giorgio Moroder by Andrea Bufalini. Now the magazine is in Italian. But I was given a translation for a VERY interesting part of the interview:

AB: Musically speaking, you've always been "in the future." What are your future plans?

GM: I'm thinking about a big Las Vegas style musical about Disco. And then in my vaults I have a beautiful unreleased track sung by Donna that I particularly care for. It's called "Africa." It was meant for the South Africa Football World Championship back in 2010. For some reason it was not released, but now Universal would like to include it as an exclusive bonus track in a Donna anthology scheduled for 2016 which should list some of her less popular songs, like "Domino" for example, one of my favorite Donna pre-Love To Love You Baby songs.

OK - go read that again. Apparently Uni is putting out an anthology next year with some lesser-known songs AND they want to include this unreleased track called Africa.  Should we start dancing now?  :-)

[NOV 16] Moving on... Billboard ranked their top 100 Artists of All Time and Donna came in at #29. Then if you peek at the Top 100 Singles - you can find Hot Stuff at #84.  :-)

[NOV 16] In Mary news, she did a radio interview last week to promote her upcoming concert. I got most of it up on Soundcloud. Give it a listen when you get a chance. (And stay tuned because we're working on something for the site.  :-)  )

[NOV 16] Bruce Sudano fans - he is still on tour in Europe. (The Paris show was cancelled for obvious reasons, but you can still catch him in Germany and The Netherlands.) There is also a new interview with Bruce posted on SingersRoom.com.

[NOV 16] Johnnyswim fans - you may have heard their music on The Voice last week. Team Adam performed Diamonds (love that song!) Johnnyswim posted a little clip on Instagram. And don't forget they will be performing all over the US throughout December and January, so catch them if you can.

[NOV 16] I think that brings us to YouTube. First up, a couple of clips everyone has been playing this weekend, To Paris With Love and Let There Be Peace. Then we have Take Heart, a live clip of Smile, and a live clip of Amazing Grace. And finally for something on the lighter side a fan video featuring Donna and her sisters  to promote Mary's upcoming Once Upon A Time concert.

[NOV 8] Happy Sunday all!  Let's start off with a Billboard chart rewind.  Look at what artist debuted on the album charts 40 years ago. (40? Really? Damn I feel old.  LOL)

[NOV 8] Mary Bernard fans - she will be doing a radio interview on WBZT 1230 AM Radio TOMORROW November 9 from 8 to 10 AM (Eastern time). You can listen in online at WBZT.com. And don't forget, tickets are on sale for her New Year's Eve tribute concert.

[NOV 8] Bruce Sudano fans, he is still on tour in Europe. And, he's got a new interview out on UncloudedByAmbition.com.

[NOV 8] Johnnyswim fans - the duo is still on tour, which lead to this short but puzzled article. (The press always gets hung up on the band name.  LOL)

[NOV 8] Taihisha fans - there is an article about her in The Soul Survivors issue 61 (November 15 to January 16).  The link is here, but it may not work right now because the site is doing some updates.

[NOV 8] I think that brings us to YouTube. This week, let's check out  some of the more obscure tracks. First up is a fan video for Freedom, an audio clip for Adonai, Donna singing a bit of La Dolce Vida on a plane, Donna and Bruce singing Worth The Wait, a fan video for the Donna part of the Paul Jabara/ Donna duet of Something's Missing, and a fan video for Ordinary Miracle.

[NOV 1] Happy November all! Where the heck has the year gone? First up is the new Summer Fever Pick which is Live & More Encore.

[NOV 1] There isn't much going on this week. Bruce is still touring Europe so if you are out that way, try to catch him while you can.

[NOV 1] In Johnnyswim news, the pair is still touring, with new dates being added periodically. Also, Amanda did an interview for the True Motherhood blog about home birthing. The article includes a couple of cute pictures too.

[NOV 1] Mary Gaines Bernard fans - you know what I'm going to say. You need to catch her in concert on December 31. There are still plenty of good seats available, BUT they will be open to the general public this week, so they will go fast. Also, if you do Facebook, go visit Mary over there. She's been posting photos, and generally interacting with people over there. She was even asking for song suggestions the other day.

[NOV 1] I think that brings us to YouTube. I think in honor of Live & More Encore, we will find some "unplucked" songs. :-)  So first up is Donna and Bruce doing On The Radio on Regis & KathieLee.  Then there is the audio for So This Is Lonely (also Donna and Bruce), Sand On My Feet (with her band), I Don't Wanna Work That Hard (LME rehearsal), Anyway At All (acoustic with Bruce) fan video, and Bad Girls (acoustic with Bruce) audio.

[OCT 25] Happy Sunday all! There are still tickets available for Mary (The Real Diva TM) Gaines Bernard's concert in Florida for Donna's birthday.  They will be opened up to the general public soon, so if you want to go (and get the best seats) order as soon as you can! And if you somehow missed Mary's letter to the fans - just scroll down a bit to see it.  :-)

[OCT 25]  Bruce Sudano is still on tour in Europe. UK - he is headed your way this week, so grab some tickets!

[OCT 25] Johnnyswim fans - they have added more dates to their tour.  They will be out and about through most of December and January. Check the tour list for a place near you.

[OCT 25] Vienna Dohler fans - I told you last week she has a new single out called What Are You Waiting For.  Well guess what? It's now on iTunes and Amazon.  That should make it very easy for everyone to go grab a copy.  (And am I the only one in shock that Donna has a grandchild old enough to have a single out? Who authorized kids to grow up anyway?  :-) )

[OCT 25] I think that brings us to YouTube.  It occurred to me that there might be some newer fans out there who don't know why I keep calling Mary "The Real Diva (TM)".  This clip will explain it all.  :-) Now as for Donna clips? Oh let's put Donna on Broadway this week. So we start with Don't Cry For Me Argentina,  then there is Don't Rain On My Parade,  a fan mashup of Sting and Donna on Someone To Watch Over Me,  an audio file of Send In The Clowns, a short clip of Der Wasserman, and finally, The Impossible Dream.

[OCT 21] And now as promised, the letter from Mary to the fans.  :-) It is the original full sized image, so click it to read it.  (It was kind of bid to post as anything but a thumbnail here.)

And for my friends who can't read the text off the graphic, here is what it says:

A Message From Mary Gaines Bernard

To my many friends known and unknown it's been awhile since you heard from me, so I would like to share my journey with you.

Life without my sister has been a huge transition. I miss her more than words can express. She was not just Donna; she was my big sister, my confidant, my road buddy, and my best friend. The last couple of years have been a difficult transition for my family, myself and I'm certain for many of you. AT first, it was very painful to even hear her music playing. It seemed to be playing everywhere and for a time the whole world was mourning. I could not listen to the music because of the sadness that it brought to my heart, knowing she was no longer on the planet.

Early one morning, I heard Donna's voice whisper to me, "Mary, you don't have to miss me. Remember me through the music. I'm with you and I come to life in the music. In the music, you'll always remember the good times we had and all the incredible places we've been! In the music, you will remember the amazing people we've met from all around the world. In the music, you will remember the wonderful times that we shared with our fans and friends, doing what we loved, singing, performing, laughing, and making wonderful memories. We will always be a part of one another. We are part of a great family and our fans are also part of this family."

Because you have always been there for us, you are the first to be invited to my "Donna Summer Birthday Celebration" on December 31, 2015. It will be a musical journey into the life and music of my sister Donna. You can dance if you want to dance, sing if you want to sing, you can dress in a tuxedo, wear your blue jeans or your best disco dress and maybe even sporting an Afro wig. So unbutton that collar and put on your dancing shoes because we'll be singing all of your favorite songs right into the New Year.

Come join us as we make some new memories together!

[OCT 20]  Well, to quote a certain diva from her 1999 Live & More Encore performance, "ARE YOU READY???"  :-)  

Presenting - Donna Summer: A Musical Journey as performed by the one and only Mary Gaines Bernard.  This is the concert I mentioned a couple of days ago. It takes place at the Delray Beach Center For The Arts Crest Theater (51 N Swinton Ave)  in Delray Beach FL. (That's near Boca Raton.) The night is December 31 and Tickets are $250 for VIP seating (champagne, meet & greet, private reception), $200 for premium seating and $100 for regular seating. (Not bad for New Year's Eve - I was really afraid they might be higher!)  Now here's the thing.  Mary  wants fans to have the first crack at tickets. So until November 1, this event will only be promoted in Donna fan circles.  Once November hits, then the general public gets their shot at tickets and they will go FAST. (Remember it's New Year's Eve - people want to be out having fun and this will certainly qualify!)  If you want tickets, grab them NOW by either hitting this link, or by calling the box office at 561-243-7922 x1.  Please remember that seating is limited, so when I say act fast, I mean it. (How many of you missed on on Johnnyswim shows because you didn't heed the warnings about tickets selling out fast?  Don't make the same mistake!  LOL) 

Now, I have a really nice letter from Mary to all of you. It looks really pretty (see below), but unfortunately due to technical difficulties, the copy I got is unreadable.  I will be getting a better copy  probably tomorrow and I will post it as soon as I have it.  But I wanted the ticket info up now so that you have as much time as possible before the tickets open up to the general public.  Also, Mary is back on Facebook and some of you may even recognize the photos she used. (They came from some of you.)  If you are a Facebooker - give her a like and a follow.   :-)

[OCT 18] Greetings all! I'm still waiting for the details on Mary's upcoming tribute concert. I can tell you already that it will be New Year's Eve at a small theater in Florida, and we are hoping to be able to open the tickets up to fans first and then the general public. I will post an update as soon as I have the info.

[OCT 18] Johnnyswim fans - there is a book of poetry by Propaganda called I Am Becoming.  Along with the poems are some responses by other people, and Amanda was one of the people who got to write a response.

[OCT 18] Vienna Dohler fans - she has an official single with an official music video to go with it. The song is What Are You Waiting For and it put Vienna on ReverbNation's first Watchlist, AND this for Vienna a mention in Billboard.  Things are starting to happen for this young lady!  :-)

[OCT 18] I think that brings us to YouTube.  Ummm... let's pick some stuff from the UK this week.  So we have a 1987 TV AM interview,  a 1989 TV AM interview,  a 1983 TV Breakfast interview, Work That Magic from a 1991 UK TV appearance, a 1991 TV AM interview,  and the very popular Jools Holland segment where Donna sings Let It Be.

[OCT 16] Hi guys - I know it's not time for the weekly update yet, but I have a request. Mary Ellen Gaines Bernard (aka The Real Diva™  LOL) is planning a concert in Florida  on December 31 to honor Donna's legacy. Details on that will be coming very soon, but in the mean time she is looking for whatever pictures you guys may have of Mary either on stage with Donna or backstage at meet and greets or whatever.  If you have any you would like to share, you can send them directly to Mary at Gainesgirl2015@gmail.com  (and yes she told me I can give that address out)  or if you are shy, you can send them to me to forward.  (But I promise - Mary doesn't bite.  LOL)  Thanks in advance for your help, and I will be back on Sunday with the update - or sooner if I get the concert details tomorrow.  :-)

[OCT 12] Happy Monday everyone! So this week Donna became an interplanetary diva - thanks to the magic of Hollywood.  LOL In the new movie, The Martian, Matt Damon dances to Hot Stuff while stranded on Mars.  That scene made the top of  The Washington Post's list of the top musical moments from the movie.  (Actually that same list has been posted on other sites as well.) You can read more about the movie soundtrack at Billboard.com as well.

[OCT 12] Bruce Sudano fans,  check out the SoulTracks review of The Burbank Sessions.  And Europe - don't forget that Bruce is headed out your way for a series of shows that start next week!

[OCT 12] I think that brings us to YouTube.  Since I work in  retail (and see how the holidays get rushed) and since I feel a little evil today  ;-) I think this week's theme will be Christmas. Now this list will only have its true impact if you play the clips while surrounded by Halloween and/or Fall decorations.  LOL So let's start with the 1984 Bandstand Christmas medley,  The Christmas Song from Good Morning America,  O Holy Night from Solid Gold,  Donna and a whole bunch of people on We Wish You A Merry Christmas from Solid Gold, a fan video for White Christmas, and finally because I know you ALL are saying this, a clip of Enough Is Enough!  :-)  And on a side note, I had the opportunity this week to look through some of my personal memorabilia. I was looking for something in particular, but as I was looking I ran into photos and ticket stubs, etc from shows I'd been to and it brought back a lot of happy memories. And I just want to say that sometime when you have a free afternoon or evening - take a look at your personal memories.  No one can live in the past - but it's a nice place to visit once in awhile.   :-)

[OCT 4] Greetings all - it's a new month so that means it's time for a new Summer Fever Pick. This month we have a case of Mistaken Identity.  :-)

[OCT 4] On to the news. The Boston Globe posted a video remembering Donna Summer. It's short but nice.  :-)

[OCT 4] There is another Donna site out there. It's called Online With Donna Summer. Check it out when you have a chance.

[OCT 4] PopIconsBlog.com has a poll to decide which pop icon people miss most. As of this minute , Donna is at #10.

[OCT 4] Bruce Sudano fans - check out this interview from Artist Of The World. And European fans - don't forget Bruce is heading your way later this month with dates in the Netherlands, Belgium, the UK, Switzerland, France, and Germany.

[OCT 4] That brings us to YouTube. Let's go with another random assortment of clips. We have the Fresh Aire interview with Donna (set to a slideshow),  a video montage played at a concert Donna did for WKTU, the Thanksgiving Day 2003 episode of Hollywood Squares (with Donna as one of the squares),  Donna and Wayne Brady doing Last Dance,  Live & More Encore rehearsal footage of I Don't Wanna Work That Hard,  and rehearsal footage of Enough Is Enough with Tina Arena,  and Extra's interview footage of Donna promoting her book,  Ordinary Girl.

SEP 27] Happy Sunday everyone! I have an update on the upcoming CD Singles box set that was due out October 2.  It's been pushed back to October 9 so that they can do some final checks before shipping. As you know, the set is available in many places through MyPlayDirect. It is also available from Amazon UK and will come to the US version of Amazon on October 16.  (Amazon UK will ship to the US if you are impatient.  :-) )

[SEP 27] I also have an update on the 40th anniversary edition of Love To Love You Baby (Amazon, Amazon UK).  First of all, it does have a sticker on the cellophane wrapper that says it's a 40th Anniversary edition and it says that the album is remastered.  The actual cover itself adds some glitter to the lights behind Donna. The fan who got his already (and told me this) has not opened the album to see what the inside is like - he's keeping his copy sealed.)

[SEP 27] Donna gets a mention in a Diply list of 15 musicians who got their start in talent shows.  The item for Donna is rather vague saying she was a drama queen in high school and got her start performing in productions like school's musical.  I don't know why they didn't just say she started in church - then they could have included a quote or two to back up the statement.

[SEP 27] Johnnyswim fans - the Christmas tour dates are out. Look for the duo so spend December and January in Los Angeles, Minneapolis, Chicago, Detroit, Boston, New York, Washington DC, Atlanta, Knoxville, Nashville and Miami.  Many of those tickets are on sale now - especially if you are on their email list and for the presale code. And if you aren't on the email list - sign up on the Johnnyswim website.

[SEP 27] Bruce Sudano fans - you remember a song called Starting Over Again? Bruce had it on his 1980 Fugitive Kind album, and then it was recorded by Dolly Parton and later by Reba McEntire.  It was even performed on TV a few times by some obscure singer named Donna Summer -who co-wrote he song with Bruce. (I'm sure you have no idea who she is - it's not like her name is all over this site or anything....  LOL)  Well, Bruce has dusted the song off and made a video with just him and his guitar. You can find it on YouTube and on Yahoo Music.   :-)

[SEP 27] I think that brings us to YouTube. Since yesterday was Bruce's birthday (HAPPY BIRTHDAY BRUCE!!!), let's feature a few Summer-Sudano collaborations.  So let's start with  Worth The Wait,  an audio only clip of So This Is Lonely, Donna and Bruce on Regis & Kathie Lee,  Donna with the Brooklyn Dreams on a Motown medley,  Donna interviewing The Brooklyn Dreams on Bandstand, and finally Bruce's speech at Donna's Rock Hall Of Fame induction.

[SEP 20] Greetings all!  As most of you know (and are horrified to realize  LOL) Love To Love You Baby is 40 years old. (I think that makes us fossils.  LOL)  In honor of the anniversary, Universal has reissued the album on vinyl. As far as I can tell, even though the release is advertised as the 40th Anniversary edition, there is nothing different about the album art. Of course that could merely be retailers  using the artwork  they already had for the previous releases. You can grab a copy at Amazon, Amazon UK and other vendors.

[SEP 20] In other release news, Bruce's new album, The Burbank Sessions is out now.  For those who like downloads, there is iTunes or Amazon. If you want an actual CD, head to CDBaby. Now if you bought the downloads and  want to see the additional CD artwork, head to Facebook where Bruce has posted it.

[SEP 20] Johnnyswim fans, expect info tomorrow on their Christmas tour.  And head over to Instagram for a short clip of Joaquin singing with his parents. (Well, that's if it's still called singing when you don't know the words yet...  LOL)

[SEP 20] And that brings us to YouTube. Let's try a little random YouTube free fall - that it I will start with a random clip then pick random stuff from the suggested follow ups. (I have to be careful when I do that - I tend to end up wasting lots of time when I do!  LOL) OK, so let's start with Smile as a tribute to Michael Jackson.  From there let's go to The Impossible Dream, then  I Will Go With You from Spanish TV,  the David Foster & Friends medley with Seal,  Could It Be Magic with Barry Manilow, and finally, the entire 1980 TV special.

[SEP 13] Happy Sunday everyone!  Now I'm sure you all remember that we have a singles box set coming out  in just a couple of weeks.  One of the disks in that set will also appear in another set -  Say I'm Your Number One: The Stock Aitken Waterman Singles. That is a 10 disk set that includes songs from all the top SAW acts.

[SEP 13] Bruce Sudano fans - did you miss his show at Joe's Pub last week?  Guess what? It's posted in full on YouTube!  And there is a set of nice photos from the night on seanjamar.com. And don't forget The Burbank Sessions is being released on September 18 (just a few days away!) and you can get it on iTunes or Amazon.

[SEP 13] I think that brings us to YouTube.  Let's see... why not revisit 1978(ish)?  We have clips from a "lost interview",  Donna on The Tonight Show (part 1),  and The Tonight Show (part 2), Donna being interviewed on American Bandstand,  Donna on The Midnight Special, the in-house trailer for Thank God It's Friday,  the commercial for Live & More, and the video for Last Dance.

[SEP 7] Happy Labor Day  everyone!  Let's start off with a couple of articles.  The Boston Herald website had a blog that is called Boston 101 about the music of Boston.  Donna makes the list at #3 with I Feel Love.  And fan Jim Joseph wrote an article about balancing career with children and he closes it with a clip of Mimi's Song which is (in his opinion) the perfect portrayal of the angst of finding that balance.

[SEP 7]  Johnnyswim fans - the couple has released a New Music Monday video today. The song is called Hummingbird.  And don't forget - they are still on tour, so catch them if you can.  :-)

[SEP 7] Bruce Sudano fans - Bruce has a bunch of shows coming up, starting with New York, Philadelphia and New Jersey this week and then moving on to Europe next month.

[SEP 7] Bruce also has a new album called The Burbank Sessions coming out September 18. But you can pre-order it now at iTunes.  Or if you aren't an Apple fan, head to Amazon for a pre-order.  :-) And if you need a little fix before the album drops - check out Bruce's video for Bad Girls on BlurtOnline.com.

[SEP 7] I think that brings us to YouTube. Since summer is officially over here in the US, let's wind up this holiday weekend with some fun Summer songs.  So how about a little Hot Stuff (live from the 1980 TV special), Bad Girls (from the Queen Latifah Show), Dim All The Lights (live  from 2008),  MacArthur Park and Last Dance (live from the Today Show in 1999), She Works Hard For The Money (from the Today Show in 2008) and Heaven Knows (from The Midnight Special). And then let's just toss in the video for Autumn Changes just as a final goodbye to summer vacations for the year.

[SEP 4] Happy September guys!  Where the heck did summer go?  The new Summer Fever Pick is posted. It is Another Place And Time.  :-)

[AUG 30] Holy cow - where did the summer go?  Let's start off this week with a couple of articles. Ozy.com wrote about the sexiest summer songs of all time. Can you guess what song got mentioned first?  LOL I'll give you a hint. It's the title song of the album discussed in this article on TheBoomBox.com. (Hmmm - was somebody reading my LTLY YouTube links list?) And then for something a little different, DW.com posted their top 10 musical acts from Germany.  Donna came in at #6.

[AUG 30] I have a fan out there that has made it his mission to get Donna on a US Forever stamp.  If anyone is interested in supporting his efforts, this is how you submit a suggestion, and this is the criteria for a stamp subject.  Please note that ideas have to be submitted at least 3 years before the date you want the stamp issued - that is, if you want the stamp out to commemorate a significant anniversary or something. 

[AUG 30] Johnnyswim fans - there is a new article out of Charlottesville in which you will find out that Johnnyswim's sound is like being in a bath on a rollercoaster. (Yes, they really said that. Yes, it makes total sense when you read that line in context. And yes, you will just have to go read the article now.  LOL) Don't forget that Johnnyswim is still on tour with dates coming up in Michigan, Colorado, the Carolinas and Virginia. Go catch them if you can.  :-)

[AUG 30] Bruce Sudano fans - don't forget that he has dates coming up too. He'll be in New York September 9, Philly September 10, Ringwood NJ on September 11, and then he's off to Europe. You don't want to miss him!

[AUG 30] In fanmixer news, our friend Summer2k (aka DJ Moch) now has a blog where you can find out what he is up to these days.

[AUG 30] I think that brings us to YouTube.  I ran into this wonderful cover again this week of Nights In White Satin, so let's just go with some random live clips.  So there is The Way We Were  live in Japan, the My Man Medley from 1976,  Last Dance live in Mexico,  The Impossible Dream live in Spain, In A New York Minute live, and because I have such find memories of this show- MacArthur Park from Live & More Encore.

[AUG 23] Happy Sunday everyone.  I hope your weekend went well. :-)  Let's start off with a couple of articles. First up is a short discussion of The Wanderer on HamptonRoads.com. Then there is an interview with Ray D'Ariano on MrPopCulture.com that talks  about (among other things) Neil Bogart and Donna Summer.

[AUG 23] Up next is a rare medley from a TV special Donna did with Paul Anka from 1978. You can hear it on Soundcloud.

[AUG 23] Bruce Sudano fans - there are a couple of upcoming dates I want to remind you of. First is Joe's Pub in New York on September 9. Tickets are on sale now.  :-) And the next night, September 10, Bruce will be at World Cafe in Philly.  You do  not want to miss these shows if you can help it, because Bruce will be celebrating his upcoming CD, The Burbank Sessions.

[AUG 23]  So I think that brings us to YouTube.  Let's see, what haven't we done for awhile? How about some spiritual music to balance last week's Love To Love You fest?  So we have the gospel medley from the Mac Davis Show (with appearances by Donna, Mac, Tom Jones and Dolly Parton),  Amazing Grace live in Nashville,  Forgive Me from the Hot Summer Night With Donna special, a fan mix video of Rejoice (from Family Matters) with Riding Through The Storm (from Live & More Encore), How Great Thou Art (which is another fan video),  and State Of Independence from Night Of The Proms 2005.

[AUG 16] Greetings all! We have Donna news tonight! And you will like this I think.   :-) There is a new box set coming October 2.  It's a 24 CD singles box set - and like the previous box sets, this one looks gorgeous! Many of you can preorder it at the official store on MyPlayDirect, North Americans will have to use Amazon UK. The full track list is on the official store page - if you are in North America, just pick a random country to see it.  As with previous releases, there are new liner notes and excerpts from archive interviews with Donna. And the first 500 people who order from the official store will get 2 bonus mixes.  Oh yeah, and I should also mention that these are the Geffen/Atlantic singles. Now you will have to go excuse me while I wipe the drool off my computer screen.  :-)

[AUG 16] So the music episode of CNN's The Seventies finally aired. Don't worry, if you missed it, it will be repeated. Plus it should be available on demand from your cable provider. Now if you saw it and missed Donna, well that's because you must have blinked.  LOL They had about an hour to cover 10 years worth of music so everything was covered VERY briefly. They covered disco on about 5 minutes starting about 45 minutes into the show. For Donna they talked a little about Love To Love You, then moved on to the Bee Gees, KC & The Sunshine Band, Chic and  the Sugarhill Gang. On the bright side, Donna did make CNN's "7 Songs That Mattered In The 70s" article. (And it cracks me up that they picked I Feel Love for that but talked about Love To Love You on the show.) Live & More also made their list of great album covers - a slideshow that accompanied an article on vinyl.

[AUG 16] Johnnyswim fans - there is a short article about the duo on Citybeat.com

[AUG 16] I think that brings us to YouTube.  Well what the heck. If CNN thought Love To Love You was the one track they had to talk about in The Seventies, then let's go there.  There's is the Midnight Special performance,  the video with the freaky dancers in white,  a European performance (wearing her Soul Train dress), a performance from the Mike Douglas Show,  a performance (and skit) from Van Oekel's Discohoek, a live performance from Italy,  and a 2006 live medley that includes Love To Love You.  Now do take a cold shower and I'll see you all next weekend.  ;-)

[AUG 9] Happy Sunday all! Okay, it's official. Thursday's episode of CNN's The Seventies will be about music.  They call the episode What's Goin' On and the description reads: American popular music explodes into new formats, while established artists find new creative voices.  In other words, they are going to cram 10 years of music into 1 hour, which probably means not a lot of Donna.

[AUG 9] Bruce Sudano fans - he's got a whole tour coming up. Here we go: Genghis Cohen in La on August 15, Joes Pub in NYC on September 9, World Cafe in Philly on September 10,  and then it's off to Europe.  October 20 at  Merleyn in Nijmegen, The Netherlands,  October 24 at Vzw De Zwerver Leffingeleuten in Leffinge, Belgium,  October 25 at De Harmonie Edam in Edam, The Netherlands, October 27 at The Cluny in Newcastle, UK, October 29 at The Maze in Nottingham, UK, October 30 in The Bullingdon in Oxford, UK, November 17 at Red River die Live Musikkneipe in Heilbronn, Germany, November 18 at Musicstar in Norderstedt, Germany, November 19 at Cultuurkapel Deurne in Deurne, The Netherlands, and November 20 at Vanslag in Borger, The Netherlands. Those dates are all with Hollis Brown. So if you are in any of those places - go grab some tickets and plan to have a great time.  :-)

[AUG 9] Johnnyswim fans - the pair is still on tour and they have just confirmed a December 21 gig at the Ryman.

[AUG 9] I think that brings us to YouTube.  What should we do this week? How about duets?  So let's go with Heaven Knows (with the Brooklyn Dreams of course!), Try A Little Tenderness with Joss Stone, No More Tears with Westlife (hmmm... is it really a duet when she sings with a whole boy band?),  my favorite Could It Be Magic clip with Barry Manilow, Donna's medley with Seal,  Whenever There Is Love with Bruce Roberts,  Donna with a young  Mimi and the entire tour crew on State Of Independence,  and finally some behind the scenes audio of Donna with Barbra Streisand.

[AUG 3] Oops  - I forgot something on last night's update. This week's episode of CNN's The Seventies will be Music. Finally!  At least that's what one episode guide says. The actual TV listings on TVGuide.com show a repeat of the first episode instead.  So be prepared to tune in Thursday at 9 PM - unless of course there is some major news event that preempts all regular programming.

[AUG 2]  Greetings all - can you believe it is August already? Where is the summer going?  Of course since it is a new month, it's time for a new Summer Fever Pick. This time it's All Systems Go.   :-)

[AUG 2] Here's an interesting find someone saw on Amazon UK.  It's a vinyl import of Love To Love You Baby with a release date of September 18, 2015.  It's supposed to be put out by the Universal Music Group, but there is no indication of where it is imported from.  And there is no sign of any of the other early albums showing up on vinyl. So I guess we're just going to have to wait and watch to see what happens.

[AUG 2] Here's an interesting quote courtesy of the  Official Donna Summer Facebook page: "I don't care if I'm beautiful; I don't care what I look like on the outside. It isn't about the outside."   :-)

[AUG 2] Bruce Sudano fans - don't forget he's got a couple of concerts coming up to promote his upcoming CD, The Burbank Sessions. He'll be at Genghis Cohen in LA on August 15,  and Joe's Pub in NYC on September 9.

[AUG 2]  I think that brings us to YouTube.  Hmmm, let's do some official music videos that don't get seen very often.  There is All Systems Go,  Work That Magic, The Woman In Me, Whenever There Is Love,  When Love Takes Over You,  The Queen Is Back,  and Fame The Game.

[JUL 26] Happy Sunday all!  Let's just say  to start - that the next episode of CNN's The Seventies STILL isn't music.  It will be Terror At Home And Abroad, so unless they focus on fans who thought they lost their concert tickets or their music collection (that would be pretty scary!), I don't think there will be any Donna content.  LOL

[JUL 26] Moving on to Bruce Sudano news.  You guys are gonna like this! We have a new song out there, and it's a collaboration with Giorgio Moroder. Some of you guys may remember that the two of them did the 2013 Station To Station art event. This is the song they wrote for that. It's called Willoughby. You can hear it here, and you can even pre-order a limited edition vinyl release.

[JUL 26] Also in Bruce news, he's got promo copies of his upcoming cd, The Burbank Sessions and he's working on a tour schedule. So stay tuned for more info.  Also, if you check out Bruce's Instagram post, it looks like the CD not only will have great tunes, but it will be pretty tasty too.  ;-)

[JUL 26] Johnnyswim fans - don't forget that the pair is still on tour with dates coming up in Los Angeles, Chicago, Wisconsin, Illinois, Ohio, Michigan, Colorado, South Carolina and Virginia. Find a show near you and go see them!

[JUL 26] That brings us to YouTube. Hmmm... I was sent this interesting computer animated video for Romeo this week, so let's so a bunch of fan-made videos this time. So if we are doing that, we have to start off with some Stor Dubine:  Does He Love You, Stamp Your Feet and I Got Your Love.  Then there are our buddies stampyurfeet and suecase hall with  videos for To Paris With Love (WaWa Radio Mix), La Vie En Rose (Lovely Reprises Remix 2010),  Journey To The Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame,  The Power Of One (a celebration of the election of our first African-American President),  and Remember Me - Donna Summer Tribute. That one is actually Diana Ross music set to video of Donna and it makes a really nice tribute.

[JUL 19]  Greetings all! There is not much going on in Donna land, but there is an interview with Mike Stock (of Stock Aitken & Waterman) on BBC2 Radio in which he talks a little about the Another Place And Time album.

[JUL 19] For those keeping track of the CNN series The Seventies - nope, no music next week either.  They will be doing The Revolution Of The Sexes.  They gotta be doing music soon!  (I hope, anyway.)

[JUL 19] Bruce Sudano fans - If you are in Edam, The Netherlands (or will be) on October 25, Bruce will be playing at Harmonie. You don't want to miss him!

[JUL 19] Also, don't forget that Bruce has an Instagram account now. He's got a few things posted now, and I'm sure he'll sneak in another post when we least expect it.  :-)

[JUL 19] I think that brings us to YouTube. In honor of a discussion on the forum, let's do some ballads this week. First up, a very rare track that was only played live one tour  - Worth The Wait.  Then we have one called Heal Them that was only ever performed on a telethon, The Way We Were live in Japan, Heaven's Just A Whisper Away from a TV appearance, So This Is Lonely from BBC Radio (so that makes it an audio only clip), a cover of Pearls, and of course how could I leave out Friends Unknown?  :-)

[JUL  12] Happy Sunday everyone! For those thinking of watching the CNN series The Seventies, well, next week won't be music either. But, CNN has posted the favorite 70s songs of a number of their anchor staff.  In a shocking oversight by most of the CNN staff, only Anderson Cooper remembered to include a Donna Summer song. And he picked a great one - I Feel Love!  :-) By the (no) power invested in me by the internet, I sentence all the other anchors to a week of listening to nothing but Donna's 70s albums so they can see what they are missing!

[JUL 12] Oh, and in the Donna is everywhere category, I saw a local production of the musical Sister Act last night. (It's very funny and entertaining - if it plays near you, go see it!)  The story is set in 1978 and because of that, Donna gets name checked a couple of times. There are also a couple of "beep beep"s  in one of the nuns' disco numbers.  I can't imagine where they got that from?  ;-)

[JUL 12] Bruce Sudano fans, you can catch him live at a couple of upcoming shows.  He'll be in LA at his usual spot - Gengis Cohen on August 15 for a record release performance for the Burbank Sessions.  You know what that means right? New CD coming soon!!!) Then in October, Bruce is heading out to the UK to play at The Cluny 2 in Newcastle Upon Tyne. Yes, it's official. We Americans are not completely hogging Bruce.  We'll share... sometimes.   ;-)

[JUL 12] And that brings us to YouTube.  Let's do a few interviews this week - for no other reason than I haven't posted any in awhile.  So there is  a 1978 interview with Johnny Carson,  a 2003 interview with Extra  to support her autobiography, Donna on Jools Holland in 2004,  a 2010 phone interview, a UK interview from 1987,  and part 1 and part 2 of Up Close (a compilation of many interview clips).

[JUL 5} Happy Sunday everyone! I hope all my American friends have been enjoying the holiday weekend. And I hope my friends in other places are enjoying their regular weekend. First up -  I sneaked in the new Summer Fever Pick yesterday before the fireworks. It is Cats Without Claws.  :-)

[JUL 5] There are more photos on Facebook from the Donna Summer Roller Disco party last month. It really looks like a good time was had by all. More cities should try something like that.

[JUL 5] For those of you eagerly awaiting Donna's appearance on the CNN series The Seventies - we have a little longer to wait. The episode scheduled for Thursday is Crimes and Cults. (So, unless they consider Donna fandom a cult...   LOL)

[JUL 5] Johnnyswim fans - you're gonna love this!  How would you like your own 30 minute Johnnyswim concert via Skype? Well, it could happen!  As part of Studio Tenn's annual fundraiser, a Johnnyswim Skype concert is being auctioned off via the 32auctions.com site.  As of right now, the top bid is only $125, but I know it will go much higher once fans find out about it.  The bidding closes on July 18, so  go grab your cash and  get those bids in!

[JUL 5] I think that brings us to YouTube.  So in honor of the July 4th holiday, let's start with Livin' In America,  God Bless America,  and the Star Spangled Banner.  And now let's move on to some other "place" songs. There is  To Paris With Love, Driving Down Brazil,  Sunset People (from the TV Special) , Tokyo, Denver Dream,  New York Minute (live),  and of course, MacArthur Park.

[JUN 28] Greetings all and happy Sunday! Let's start off with an interview with David Day about  this year's Donna Summer Roller Disco Party in Boston. It was recorded before the party actually happened.

[JUN 28] It's been pretty quiet on the Donna front this week, but the rest of the family is busy. First up is Bruce. If you follow him on Facebook, well then you need to update your follow list to include www.facebook.com/brucesudanomusic. That's his new Facebook url, so that's where he'll be posting updates. He's also got an Instagram account now, so you can follow him there too. Both accounts have sneak peeks of his Songwriter Series video session.

[JUN 28] If you want to see Bruce performing live, well he'll be in NYC at Joe's Pub on September 9 (for a record release party!) and in Philadelphia at World Cafe Live on September 10. Tickets for both are on sale now.

[JUN 28] Speaking of touring, Johnnyswim is still on the road. And they have just added a July 19 date at the Stephen Talkhouse in Amagansett, NY.

[JUN 28] Savanna Dohler fans - she's  selling some of her visual art on Society6.com. Go check it out when you get a chance.

[JUN 28] I think that brings us to YouTube.  Usually I pick a theme for the clips based on what I am in the mood for when I do the update. But this time I picked my theme on Friday. After the news of the Supreme Court ruling, what else could I pick but "love"? :-)  So let's go with some love songs.  There is the Love Is In Control video, I Love You live from the Tonight Show,  I Will Go With You live on Oprah,  Anyway At All from Jay Leno,  Stor Dubine's video for I Got Your Love,  Love Is The Healer from The View, I Will Live For Love the live symphonic clip,  La Vie En Rose live in Paris, and Sand On My Feet live.  My congratulations to all the newly engaged and/or married couples out there. May you have many years of happiness together - in all 50 states!  :-)

[JUN 21] Happy Father's Day to all the dads out there! And happy first day of Summer!

[JUN 21] Hmm.. .let's start with Boston. They had their big Donna Summer Roller Disco Party the other night and it looks like they had fun.  :-)  There is a whole album of photos on Facebook here,  and WBUR.org has an article and a couple of photos here.

[JUN 21]  In the Donna is everywhere category, she was the answer to a Jeopardy question again the other night. No wait, that's backwards. She was the question an an answer. (If you have never seen the show, that's the way the game is played. They give you an answer and you have to come up with the question.)  The answer was: "MacArthur Park: Richard Harris in 1968, the Four Tops in 1971 and this disco diva in 1978." The appropriate response was (of course!) , "Who is Donna Summer?" And having said that, I don't think I ever heard the Four Tops version. I should go look for it.

[JUN 21] Those who are waiting for Donna to be on the CNN series The Seventies have a little longer to wait.  We went from episode 1 being about TV to episode 2 being about Watergate and now episode 3  (Thursday June 25) will be about Viet Nam. Don't forget, if you are watching the series, episodes do repeat at various times during the week. 

[JUN 21] Johnnyswim fans - the duo played the Telluride Bluegrass Festival the other night. Heyreverb.com has photos from the event, but only one of Johnnyswim.  (It's #4)

[JUN 21] Vienna Dohler fans,  check out the new video of her singing "karaoke". (I use quotes because when I think of karaoke, I think of drunks performing badly.  LOL This is DEFINITELY not that!  LOL)  In this video Vienna sings the Leonard Cohen version of Hallelujah. I feel very sorry for whoever had to follow her.  ;-)

[JUN 21] I think that brings us to YouTube.  Let's see... why not celebrate the day this time? For Father's Day we have Papa Can You Hear Me, and Celebrate Me Home to honor the dads who are no longer with us.  Then for the  first day of summer, well you have to have Sand On My Feet. And Driving Down Brazil always feels like summer to me.  And of course it wouldn't be summer (or Summer) without a little Hot Stuff, and a few Bad Girls. Then we can Dim All The Lights, while we hear what's On The Radio and we ask the important question, Could It Be Magic.  (Ok, I'll stop now.  LOL) Oh what the heck - let's just have a whole concert on the beach - Jones Beach.  :-)

[JUN 14] Happy Sunday everyone!  Boston - don't forget that this Friday (June 19) is the free Donna Summer Roller Disco Party at City Hall Plaza.  From all accounts, last year's party was a lot of fun, so if you are in the neighborhood this year, go check it out.  :-)

[JUN 14] As many of you know, CNN started a new series called The Seventies. Now if you missed this week's episode, never fear, they are repeating episodes at various times. Plus, the last episode was on the TV shows of the Seventies, so Donna wasn't in that one.  This week will be Donna-free too as the topic is President Nixon.  But if you want to catch it anyway, it debuts Thursday at 9 PM on CNN and will be repeated at various times after that.

[JUN 14] Johnnyswim fans - They are making a live recording at Rockwood in NYC on July 13 and July 14.  There is a presale for tickets that goes until noon Monday (June 15). Use the links above and the promo code: LIVEATROCK

[JUN 14] SFGate.com has a new interview with the Amanda and Abner to promote their concert at the Regency Ballroom Tuesday.  The article is short but good.  :-)

[JUN 14] Also, the last Johnnyswim New Music Monday was Villans (with bonus cameo by Joachim at the end.) What will they play tomorrow?  I can't wait to find out.  :-)

[JUN 14] I guess that brings us to YouTube.  Let's see... maybe some live duets this week?  Let's start with Donna's performance with Seal from the David Foster & Friends show.  And of course we need to include Heaven Knows with the Brooklyn Dreams.  Then there is Try A Little Tenderness with Joss Stone, a country medley with Eddie Rabbit,  a Grammy medley with Kenny Rogers,  a short clip from 1979 with Rita Coolidge,  and some gospel music with Mac Davis, Tom Jones and Dolly Parton. (Ok, technically that's at least a quartet - more if you count the choir that joins in.) And of course I can't leave out the duet of Enough Is Enough with Mary "The Real Diva (TM)" Gaines Bernard.  :-) (Unfortunately in this video you don't really see much of Mary, you just hear her. I think the guy filming was just too afraid of overwhelming his camera with all the diva power.  ;-)  )

[JUN 7] Happy Sunday everyone!  Let's start with the Another Place And Time  UK singles box set.  It is now available from Amazon - both the US and UK stores.

[JUN 7] Last week I  did a YouTube list of Donna's long form interviews. Well A&E's Biography was missing (mostly) from the list, but now the complete version is available for your viewing pleasure.

[JUN 7] Bruce Sudano fans -  he will be playing Joe's Pub in New York on September 9.  But if you need a musical fix before then, check out some of the music from the Joe Bruce & 2nd Avenue album on YouTube.

[JUN 7] Johnnyswim fans -  they are on tour all summer, so make sure you check out the current list of dates on their website.  Then check out the latest New Music Monday.  This week is a new song from their upcoming album. It's called Rescue You... or not.... Maybe it's untitled?  LOL (You will understand when you see the clip.) What's coming tomorrow? Who knows? We'll have to tune in and see.

[JUN 7] I think that brings us to YouTube. And since tonight is the Tony Awards, let's do a little Broadway Donna Summer style.  First up, her cover of Don't Rain On My Parade  (from Funny Girl). Then we have Don't Cry For Me Argentina (from Evita), a brief 2009 clip of Aquarius/Wasserman (from Hair/Haare),  My Life and Begin Again (from Ordinary Girl which Donna hoped to bring to Broadway),  I Will Live For Love (from another musical Donna was working on), an audio clip (that sounds like it's been speeded up a little)  of O segne Gott mein Seel (from Godspell) , Someone To Watch Over Me (from Ok Kay and Crazy For You),   and finally Hot Stuff (from Priscilla Queen Of The Desert).  Okay - I admit that last one is cheating.  LOL

[MAY 31] Greetings everyone! Tomorrow is June 1 so it's time for a new Summer Fever Pick. So this month She Works Hard For The Money... or in my case, the no money.  ;-)

[MAY 31]  Okay, let's start off with the Record Store Day release of Another Place And Time: The UK 12" Singles.  I know some of you were disappointed that you couldn't find a copy in stores, but here's some good news for Europe and Australia. Donna's store at MyPlayDirect.com has a number of copies available for sale.  So before you drop a lot of money on ebay, go check out Donna's store.

[MAY 31]  In other release news, the Hits Singles & More compilation is out. It's a 2 cd set with 16 tracks a piece and it comes in a cardboard slip cover with the cd case inside. And interesting bit of trivia... the photo on the cover is the  - well I won't say unretouched because I sincerely doubt there is such a thing as commercial photo that isn't retouched in some way  LOL - but it hasn't been edited to hide the baby belly.  Yup, that's Amanda hiding behind that big belt. (And now don't you all feel old!  LOL) The albums is available at Amazon UK and as an import at Amazon US, and you can probably find it in a bunch of other places as well.

[MAY 31]  Moving on to Italy,  our friends Giovanni and Andrea (the guys behind the excellent book La Disco) did a special tribute to Donna in Rome on May 17 where DJs and journalists got to reminisce about Donna and her artistry.  That was followed a couple of days later by Andrea's appearance on a morning show to promote the book. (Jump to about 6:18 to see that. And yes it is in Italian, so if that's not your language, then find some hunky Italian to help you out.  ;-) )

[MAY 31] Huffington Post posted an article by David Munk about his personal memories of Donna. It's a beautiful article - well worth the read!

[MAY 31] Johnnyswim fans - this week's New Music Monday features the littlest member of the family - Joaquin.  :-) And of course Amanda and Abner are there singing Moon River/ Falling In Love. (Hmmm.. Joaquin is looking at Abner's guitar like, "I could play that if I wanted to!  LOL)

[MAY 31] I think that brings us to YouTube.  Let's go with some long-form interviews this week.  First up, Donna's 2004 Lifetime Intimate Portrait has turned up on YouTube. Catch Part One,  Part Two, Part Three, and Part Four.  Then there is the 1999 Behind The Music.  A&E's Biography used to be up on YouTube, but only part 5 still remains. SIriusXM posted a couple of clips from Donna's Artist Confidential from 2008. So you can watch Science Of Love and Last Dance - both with a bit of interview before the songs. Now let's change it up with a short one - Nightline's Playlist where Donna gets to talk about some of her favorite songs by other artists.

[MAY 24] Happy Memorial Day everyone!  Let me take this opportunity to thank all the service people and their families who sacrifice every day so that we can spend the weekend enjoying all the summer pleasures.

[MAY 24]  CNN will be airing an original series called The Seventies that will examine the politics, culture and historical events of the Seventies.  Donna's photo is featured in a couple of the trailers, and I'm sure her music will be featured in the appropriate episodes.  The series debuts on Thursday June 11 at 9 PM.

[MAY 24]  Bruce Sudano fans - catch him performing Bad Girls at the Sunset Sessions in Mexico in this YouTube clip.

[MAY 24] Johnnyswim fans - don't forget to check out their New Music Mondays on YouTube. Last week they did a song called Live While We're Young.  What will they do tomorrow? Who knows? You'll just have to wait and see.  :-)

[MAY 24] Speaking of Amanda, she and Brooklyn (and their mom) and the subject of an article on ILoveOldSchoolMusic.com.

[MAY 24] Congrats to Vienna Dohler - a brand new high school graduate!  Here's to a bright future filled with endless possibilities!  (And yes, I feel old again...    LOL)

[MAY 24] I think that brings us to YouTube.  Let's see... it's officially the start of the summer season here,  so let's go with some stuff that reminds me of summer. First up, Sand On My Feet. (And what is up with that ad YouTube threw on the video?  Something about a 3000 lb sea monster? Are you guys seeing the same ad?  LOL)  Then we have a clip that includes bits of Don't Cry For Me Argentina, Spring Affair, and of course Summer Fever. If you have a little time on your hands, there is the full 2008 concert from Jones Beach.  Then there is a live clip of To Paris With Love, a clip of Nights In White Satin, and finally since Memorial Day is the day we honor our fallen soldiers, this audio clip of Let There Be Peace.  Maybe someday our human species will evolve to the point where we won't ever need to resort to conflict to settle our differences?

[MAY 17] Greetings all.  Well, it's been 3 years since the worst update I ever had to write.  I can't believe how time has flown by.  But even 3 years later I still find myself looking at the concert listings at the beginning of every summer, and then I remember I won't be seeing my favorite name on any list. 

[MAY 17] So with it being the anniversary,  everybody is posting tributes on their Facebook pages, etc.  Bruce had this to say this morning:

It was my privilege to walk with you in life
And down the darkened road
That leads to the forever
Someday we all will know
Your grace was ballerina
Your heart was purest gold
Our love was burning fire
And I held you
Until I had to let you go
Forever I'll remember...

He also posted a new video on YouTube for Beautiful History. It's just audio, but it fits the day perfectly. :-)

[MAY 17] Now enough sadness.  The Donna Summer I remember was about fun, and a sense of humor, and having a good time.  So let's have a good time! So let's go right to a demo for This Girl's Back In Town - sung in its entirety by Donna.  (In the actual released version, Donna only solos on a couple of lines.) Then for the Facebookers out there - one fan has posted a VIDEO for Worth The Wait.  The quality is a little rough because let's face it, VHS doesn't always wear well - especially after a couple of decades. But this is the whole song!

[MAY 17]   Now let's have some fun with YouTube.   :-) As Donna always said - sing if you wanna sing and dance if you wanna dance. (Although I will qualify that by saying that if you are reading this at your job.... you might want to save the singing and dancing for your break times.  ;-) ) First up, my favorite YouTube clip - Donna with Barry Manilow just having a total blast with Could It Be Magic. Then another favorite of mine, MacArthur Park from Live & More Encore. That one always rings back such fond memories for me. Then there is the classic Bad Girls performance from the Johnny Carson Show, and Enough Is Enough with a short version of the classic red Ferrari story. I know some people got tired of the red Ferrari story, but I always enjoyed seeing how much Donna would ham it up each time.  :-)  Then we have Donna owning Divas 2000 with Love Is The Healer. I could watch that long note forever! And then we have Nathan's video for Fame The Game. I loved that song live in concert! And finally - this is something silly Donna made with some software Nathan showed her.  And with that I hope many of you are remembering Donna as I am now - with smiles instead of tears.  I still miss her, but the happy memories are keeping her light in my life.

[MAY 17] And finally on a personal note - I did my MS Walk yesterday. A little rain at the start didn't deter us!  Thanks to your generosity, I raised over $1800! Special thanks to lastdnce who always goes over and above what anybody has a right to ask.  :-)   Someday there will be a cure - and I can say with certainty that in the 5 years I've been walking, I have seen progress in the treatment of MS.  Thank you all - and I will be getting out the rest of the bracelets I didn't mail yet sometime during the week.  :-)

[MAY 14] Just a quick update for you to hold you over until the weekend. First up - Sunday is the 3rd anniversary of Donna's departure from our world. (Can you believe it's been 3 years already?) Tom over at the fan club is putting together a page where fans can share their memories of Donna. If you head over to The Donna Summer Fan Club, you can listen to Friends Unknown while you read all the details, and instructions on how to publish your memories. (And please note, if you are following the fan club on Facebook - that's cool, BUT you need to share your memories on the actual fan club website and not the Facebook page if you want to be part of this.   :-) ) Then after you do that - go play some more Donna tunes!  Summer is right around the corner and we need more tunes playing - preferably at a high volume with all the windows open!  ;-)

[MAY 14] And while I'm here - Nathan DiGesare has released another clip from his vault. This song is called Half The Battle, and you can view  the clip on YouTube.  I'll see you all on Sunday night. I wonder which CD I'll be playing while I update? So many to choose from.....   :-)

[MAY 9] Happy Mother's Day weekend! Let's start off with an article about vociferous fans.  LOL Spin.com has an interview with  the remixers Holy Ghost! in which they talk about their experiences mixing a few artists - including Donna. (If you recall, they did the Working The Midnight Shift remix that featured a different vocalist.) In the article they explained why that happened, and what their experience with angry fans was like.

[MAY 9] Giorgio Moroder fans - his interview for Out is now online. He talks about Donna  quite a bit in it.  He's also got an interview with Billboard that's done as sort of a "pearls of wisdom" list of things he's learned over the years.  There is also a video companion piece on YouTube to go with the Billboard article.

[MAY 9] In Johnnyswim news, they had a song called Falling For Me (from their Diamonds album) featured on the VH1 show, Swab Stories.  And don't forget, the pair are on tour again, so try to catch them when they come to your area.

[MAY 9] Brooklyn Sudano fans - she's on Instagram now. If you are on Instagram too, give her a follow.

[MAY 9] Bruce fans - we had Live In Rehearsal Part 1. Then we had part 2. Are you ready for part 3?  Also, Bruce has recently been performing at Sunset Sessions Tulum, and he took part (with all the other artists there) in a tribute to the late great Ben E King.

[MAY 9] I think that brings us to YouTube.  Let's go with some early Donna this week.  We have Flesh Failures from Hair (in German. You will see Donna at about 2:25, so be patient with that clip.)  Then there is Black Power from a German TV show,  a clip of Lady Of The Night, a humorous clip for The Hostage,  a clip of Meglio Stasera,  Virgin Mary (audio only),  O segne Gott mein Seel (audio only from the German Godspell soundtrack), and Love To Love You from Soul Train.

[MAY 9] As you all know, next weekend is special. Sunday is May 17, the third anniversary of the day Donna left this world.  As always, I would like to mark the anniversary by celebrating Donna's legacies. So let's crank those tunes (wake the neighbors if you have to!  LOL) and  honor the musical legacy.  And then to honor Donna's humanitarian legacy - do something nice for someone.  I leave it to your imagination and means to decide how to do that. You can donate money or time to a worthy cause,  you can cook dinner for your significant other, you can let someone cut you in line at the supermarket.  Whatever works for your lifestyle.

[MAY 9] Also on May 16, I will be walking for MS again.  I have already collected enough to wear my Donna gear to the walk instead of my team gear.  (Thank god! The team shirt is orange and I hate to wear orange!  LOL)  But there is still time to contribute if you would like to. And as an added bonus, I have a really cool guy out there who will match any $20 donation made this week.   :-)  And I still have those neat little wristband. (Some of those have been mailed out already. I think I still have 3 or 4 left to mail - so far.)  If you would like to donate - the link is here.

[MAY 3] Greetings all and happy May!  It's time for the new Summer Fever Pick and this month it's the self-titled album, Donna Summer.

[MAY 3] Ok let's start off with a new release.  There is a new 2 CD compilation called  Hits, Singles & More coming out in a couple of weeks. (Amazon UK lists it for May 25, Amazon US lists it for June 2.) The set is a collection of 32 tracks  (hits, album tracks, and mixes) culled from the Geffen and Atlantic years.  For a complete track list, just check out the Amazon link.

[MAY 3] In the Donna's music is everywhere category,  Love To Love You made the monologue for Saturday Night Live last night.  Scarlet Johansson sang a bit of the 'lullaby" she says she sings to her new baby - yup, it was Love To Love You Baby.  It's pretty funny, you can watch it here.

[MAY 3] Giorgio Moroder fans, he has an interview in the latest edition of Out Magazine, and another in Variety. Of course Donna gets mentioned.

[MAY 3] Johnnyswim fans - they have brought back their YouTube series, New Music Monday.  This past Monday they perform Take The World. Tune in every Monday for more new offerings.

[MAY 3] Bruce Sudano fans - remember last week I mentioned he posted a video called Live In Rehearsal Part 1. Well, Part 1 is always followed by a part 2, and that is now on Youtube as well.

[MAY 3] Vienna Dohler fans - if you are in Nashville (or will be), she is playing at The End on May 15. Tickets are available here.

[MAY 3] I think that brings us to YouTube.  First up is a 16 minute segment from a 1995 Brazilian talk show.   Then there is a 1992 performance of Breakaway (also from Brazil), and a 2009 interview from Brazil's Video Show. (That comes  with an English transcript in the description. The actual audio  has Donna's interview in English, but then with a Portuguese interpreter speaking over it. ) Also see the live performance of Say A Little Prayer from a 1992 concert in Brazil.  And then let's round out our Brazil theme this week with a little bit of Driving Down Brazil live.

[MAY 3] And on a technical note, you might have noticed that I changed the theme colors again.  For some reason this time I had a heck of a time getting the changes to publish. So if you run into a page with the old theme still, just holler and I'll fix it.  :-)

[APR 26] Happy Sunday everyone!  There's not really any Donna news happening right now, so let's just start with Johnnyswim. They have announced a few West Coast dates, so now their tour looks like this: May 1 in Nashville TN, May 2 in West  Palm Beach, May 17 in Annapolis, MD, may 19 in Alexandria, VA, May 20 in New York City, May 22 in Pawling, MY, June 14 in Los Angeles, June 15 in San Diego and June 19 in Telluride, CO. Many of these tickets are already on sale (or are going on sale very soon!)  For more details, check out Johnnyswim.com. Also, if you look at Instagram, it looks like Johnnyswim is breaking in a new pianist.  ;-)

[APR 26] Brooklyn Sudano fans: she has snagged a part in 11/22/63 - a 9 part Hulu adaptation of a Stephen King novel by the same name. It's a time travel story about a guy who goes back in time and tries to prevent the Kennedy assassination.  It looks pretty interesting.

[APR 26] And that brings us to the patriarch of the family - Bruce Sudano.  He's posted a video on YouTube called Live In Rehearsal. It has clips of him rehearsing with the Candyman Band last year interspersed with Bruce's comments on his music. Oh wait, I left off part f the title. It's called Live In Rehearsal Part 1.  That's important because nothing is called "part 1" unless there is going to be a "part 2". So stay tuned to Bruce's YouTube page.

[APR 26] Also in Bruce news, this review of a show from last year turned up online. It's a nice review and it comes with a bunch of photos.

[APR 26] I think that brings us to YouTube.  This week... we're skipping any clip with Hot Stuff because I think I may have overdone that last week.  LOL Let's enjoy a few covers this time. We have Pearls live in Niagara Falls, Natural Woman live on Long Island, Nights In White Satin live, La Vie En Rose live in Paris, and Reflections from Divas 2000.   :-)

[APR 19] Greetings all! Happy day after Record Store Day. I know some of you were able to grab that cool vinyl APAT 12" set.  From what I gather, people were finding that stores only had a copy or 2 in stock which makes me wonder if the rest of the 1000 copies that were pressed will turn up elsewhere down the line.

[APR 19] In classic news, we have a 2013 article with 5 Things You Didn't Know about Hot Stuff. (Well, they call the article that, but I'd say if you hang out here, then you probably know at least 4 of the 5.  LOL) Also, there is a 1980 interview with Jeff "Skunk" Baxter. His Hot Stuff guitar solo gets a mention.

[APR 19] In new article news, the Telegraph came up with the 20 Best Summer Songs. (And in this case they are talking about the season and not the diva.  LOL) Donna   does come in at #4 with... yes you guessed it, Hot Stuff. (This seems to be the theme tonight!)

[APR 19] In Bruce Sudano news, he's put out another new demo on YouTube, and no, it's not Hot Stuff. ;-)  This is called Santa Margarita In The Clouds. It was inspired by a photo he took (that Facebookers can see here) and also by his mother who passed away 3 years ago.  The lyrics are also posted on YouTube. Now having said that, I can see that the video has had 77 views, and I see a couple of positive comments, but I have not been able to get YouTube to play it for me as of yet - and I have tried multiple devices and browsers.  I just keep getting that YouTube "try again later" error. And it's just that video I'm having trouble with - other stuff plays just fine.  So hopefully the link will work for you. If not, just keep trying at different times.

[APR 19] In Johnnyswim news, they are also not singing Hot Stuff  :-) but they are expanding their tour. (And that should be no surprise to anyone. I think Amanda and Abner just live on the road!)  Look for upcoming shows in LA, San Diego and San Francisco - dates to be announced soon.

[APR 19] I think that brings us to YouTube.  Oh what the heck, let's just run with Hot Stuff.  We have the 1979 Dinah Shore performance, the Nobel Peace Prize concert performance, a 1994 Festival de Vina performance (get ready to skip the ad at the beginning), the 2008 Today Show Concert performance, a 2009 performance from Coney Island, and then just for fun the Hot Stuff clip from The Full Monty, and the male cast of Boy Meets World dancing to the song. (And of course some of the clips I listed also include Bad Girls.)

[APR 19] And finally, my MS walk is coming up next month. If you want to contribute, here's the link.  And I still have a bunch of wristbands I'll be sending out as thank yous.   :-)

[APR 12]  Happy Sunday everyone! I hope you are all well.  First up - Boston area fans - save the date! June 19 will be the second annual Donna Summer Roller Disco  at City Hall Plaza. The place will be turned into a roller disco with lots of tunes, skates to rent (or just bring your own), food trucks, and anything else they decide to throw in there. The event is free, so if you are in that area (or will be) go check it out. From all reports, last year's event was lots of fun!

[APR 12] Calling Canadian fans - specifically those in the Vancouver area.  There will be a show called Reinvention Of Disco at the Edgewater Casino on April 26. It is a song and dance benefit show for St. Paul's Hospital and it features Donna's music sung by Frenchie Davis in a 70s era story that's very loosely based on Donna's career.  It's playing for one night only, so if you are in the area at that time be sure to check it out.

[APR 12] In the Donna is everywhere category...  no that's not right. The category was Disco Shoes, the show was Jeopardy, and Donna was the question to the answer "To everything there is a season: The first top 40 hit for this 'Queen of Disco' was Love To Love You Baby."  That was Friday night, and while I don't usually watch the show, I heard my mom in the next room give the right answer. (Yes, I have taught her a few things over the years.  LOL)

[APR 12] Johnnyswim fans - Amanda and Abner are back to work again. (As if a little thing like being new parents would slow them down!  ;-) ) They did the Live With Kelly & Michael Show the other morning and if you missed it (like I did - 9 AM is NOT a good TV time for me  LOL), you can catch their performance online right here. (You might have to scroll down a little depending on when you are reading this. The page you land on has all the recent musical performances with the most recent guest being on the top of the list.)

[APR 12] If you want to read a little more about how the new little Johnnyswim roadie joined the team (his name is Joaquin, by the way), you can read this short article about the happy day.

[APR 12] Bruce Sudano fans - he has written a new song (well okay he's probably written a bunch of new songs LOL but this is one he just shared.) It's called Cleanse My Soul, and he's posted a demo on YouTube along with the lyrics.

[APR 12] I think that brings us to YouTube. And since next weekend is the Rock Hall Of Fame induction ceremony, I thought it would be fun to look at a previous induction ceremony. So we have Kelly Rowland's speech inducting Donna into the RHOF, Jennifer Hudson's performance of Last Dance at the ceremony, the video montage they showed, and of course Bruce's wonderful acceptance speech.  And then we have  Sue Casehall's great video montage that puts together bits of all of the above plus more into a fitting tribute to Donna.  And let's end with something from the Diva herself, Fame (The Game).

[APR 12] And on a side note, I am changing internet providers on Friday. So if anyone has a Verizon email address for me - that is no longer valid. I'm assuming that the transition will go smoothly and the site update will happen on schedule. (And if I assumed wrong, watch for my ranting on Facebook.  LOL)

[APR 5] Greetings everyone! I hope you are having a Happy Easter, a Happy Passover, or just a happy weekend.  :-) As you can see (hopefully) I have brought a touch of spring to the site for now. I have also posted the new Summer Fever Pick, I'm A Rainbow.

[APR 5]  In the land of polls, we have two. First is the one at TheRealDivas.com where Donna came in at #1.  And then over at TheQueenOfMusic.com, Donna is at #5 (right now) but you can still submit your votes.

 [APR 5] Pitchfork.com has an article called "When Divas Talk Back" which is about divas celebrating their gay fans in song. They include a discussion of The Queen Is Back at the end of the article.

[APR 5] I think that brings us to YouTube. Look for Dinner With Gershwin on Jay Leno (with lots of tulle  LOL), a very early clip of Donna singing Black Power on a German TV show,  a short interview clip about Power Of One, a fan video for Someday, Donna asking Heart and Wynonna Judd about being a woman in rock music, Spring Affair from Soul Train, and Amazing Grace live in Nashville.

[MAR 29] Happy Sunday all!  Let's start off with one for our friends in Los Angeles.  There is a place called the Skirball Cultural Center, and from now until April 21 they are having an exhibit called Rock & Roll Billboards of the Sunset Strip. The exhibit includes more than 20 photos of famous  billboards, and Donna's famous Live & More billboard will be part of the show.  (A photo of the billboard, that is. ) For more info, check out their website.

[MAR 29] In the Donna is everywhere category,  she gets a nice mention in an interview with Jimmy Somerville.

[MAR 29] Moving on to YouTube, look for  27 minutes of Donna from the 2005 Night Of The Proms in Belgium,  then there are 10 minutes of clips from a 2009 live show in Paris,  a clip of Donna and Giorgio performing Carry On, a clip of Donna covering Superstar at the Hollywood Bowl, and her cover of Natural Woman live.

[MAR 29] And finally, don't forget that I am walking to stamp out MS again this year. If you would like to contribute, the link is right here.  I have cool little wristbands for my first 50 donors - some of which I have already mailed out.  :-)  So if you happen to have a couple of bucks you aren't doing anything with, keep my MS walk in mind. Thanks to your generosity, I have already raised over $1000 which means my team captain lets me wear my Donna gear instead of the team  t-shirt.  :-) (It also makes her say that Donna Summer fans are very cool every time she talks to me.  ;-)  )

[MAR 22] Greetings all! Happy Spring! First up tonight - is Night Of Proms on PBS television. One reader caught a preview for the performers being aired next week, and they showed Donna singing MacArthur Park.  Now I'm not sure which PBS station it was, but a search of my local (NY) ones doesn't have any listing for Night Of Proms. But it wouldn't hurt for those of you in other areas to check out your local listings.  I know some programs only get shown in certain markets, so some of you might get lucky.  :-)

[MAR 22]  In the land of covers, Kylie Minogue has teamed up with Giorgio Moroder on a cover of I Feel Love.  You can check it out here. It's very faithful to the original for the most part.

[MAR 22] Johnnyswim fans - if you are planning to go to the May 1 show in Tennessee, those tickets are on sale now.  Grab 'em before they are gone! And if you are not in the Nashville area, you have your choise of the following dates: April 17 in Austin, TX, April 25 in Wilkesboro, NC, May 2 in West Palm Beach, FL, May 17 in Annapolis, MD, May 19 in Alexandria, VA, May 20 in New York City, and June 19 in Telluride, CO.

[MAY 22] I think that brings us to YouTube. First up is a live clip of Donna singing Don't Rain On My Parade, I Don't Wanna Get Hurt from Top Of The Pops, Donna's second appearance on The View in 1999,  a live clip of Amazing Grace,  Hot Stuff from the Sharon Osbourne Show (with a special appearance by Brooklyn Sudano!), a live clip of Pearls, and finally a live clip of A Song For You.

[MAR 15] Happy Sunday all! So who is ready for another beautiful box set?  Well, if you are in the UK, one is coming.  Let me start at the beginning. In the UK they are having an event called Record Store Day on April 18. It's a day set aside to promote all the local record stores.  Part of this event involves the sale  of exclusive merchandise, and this year they will have  a vinyl box set of the Another Place And Time UK 12" Singles.  The release is limited to 1000 copies, and you have to go to a participating record store to get it. The box set is by Crimson Records/Driven  By The Music - which probably sounds very familiar if you  got the 80s albums CD and/or Vinyl box sets.  :-)  The track list is as follows: Record 1: This Time I Know It's For Real Extended Verion (7:21),  Whatever Your Heart Desires (3:50), This Time I Know It's For Real  Instrumental (3:39). Record 2: I Don't Wanna Get Hurt Extended Version (6:58) I Don't Wanna Get Hurt Instrumental (4:45), Dinner With Gershwin Album Version (4:37). Record 3: Love's About To Change My Heart Extended Version (6:19), Love's About To Change My Heart Instrumental (5:13), Jeremy Album Version (4:36). Record 4: When Love Takes Over You David Ford - Extended Version (6:13), When Love Takes Over You David Ford - Instrumental (3:37), Bad Reputation Album Version (4:08). Record 5: Breakaway Remix Full Version (6:45), Breakaway Remix Edit (3:37), Love Is In Control Album Version (4:19). (Actually looking at the track list, maybe they should call is Another Place and Time And More.  ;-) ) These will all be pressed on white vinyl in  LP sleeves housed in a rigid outer box. And it looks GORGEOUS! But don't take my word for it - here is the photo.   :-)

I probably should have posted a smaller version of that picture, but it is so beautiful, I couldn't bring myself to shrink it down. Now if you want to know more about Record Store Day - and more specifically, what retailers are participating, well just head on over to the Record Store Day website.

[MAR 15] Fans of the US TV show, Scandal, (or people who just happen to see the commercials currently running for next week's episode) may have heard a familiar voice in the ads.  They are using Bad Girls to promote the show. I can only imagine that someone on that show is being a very Bad Girl.  ;-) Toot Toot!

[MAR 15] In the Donna is the best category, the website FDRMX has posted its top 10 greatest disco artists of all time.  They count them down from #10 to #1, but they spoil the winner of the number one spot by posting  Donna's picture right at the top of the page.  (As if anyone else could  have taken the top spot anyway.  LOL)

[MAR 15] Moving on to Johnnyswim, they have a new video out for Diamonds.  You can catch it on EW,com and then take note of the tour dates listed after the video. If they are coming to your area, you will want to get your tickets as early as possible - Johnnyswim does tend to sell out quickly!

[MAR 15] I think that brings us to YouTube.  First up is Fairytale High from  a 1979 Japanese concert,  a video of behind the scenes footage from the APAT photo sessions set to Breakaway, Donna and Paul Jabara on the Merv Griffin Show, Donna on Jools Holland, and my favorite Could It Be Magic performance with Barry Manilow. (Yeah, I know I post it a lot, but it always makes me smile.)

[MAR 8] Happy Sunday all! Spring is almost here.  (You can tell by the foot of snow still on the ground here!  LOL) Let's start off with an interesting find on eBay.  Apparently Universal Japan has remastered some of Donna's back catalog and reissued it. The link I gave you goes to She Works Hard For The Money, but I also saw Bad Girls, On The Radio and The Dance Collection.

[MAR 8] In the Donna is everywhere category, she made the Oscar fashion coverage of the March 8 issue of Entertainment Weekly.  A piece on Rosamund Pike's red dress was accompanied by photos of past red Oscar dresses - including the one Donna wore in 1979.

[MAR 8]The Boston Globe ran a nice piece about the Grammy Museum exhibit.  Also, if you haven't been to the exhibit yet, and want to go - keep in mind that it is scheduled to close April 20. So time is running out!

[MAR 8] Johnnyswim fans - the pair made a brief appearance on the HGTV  show Fixer Uppers.  It's season 2 episode 11, and you can probably still catch it on HGTV because they repeat these things many times. I was also able to catch it on my cable provider's  On Demand list. The song, Home, seems to be the theme for the show this season.  :-)

[MAR 8] In other Johnnyswim news, they will be hitting the road again soon.  (That should be no surprise  - they practically live on the road!  LOL)  Upcoming cities include: Austin, Ft. Worth, Wilkesboro, Nashville, West Palm Beach, New York, Alexandria and Annapolis.  Specific dates have not been listed for any of them yet except Alexandria which is  May 19. You can buy those tickets now at Ticketmaster.  (No word yet on whether the new little baby will actually be singing yet.  LOL  Although having said that, he has been in the studio already!)

[MAR 8] That brings us to YouTube.  First up is part 2 of Her Words Her Story.  Then there is the 1990 Spain concert, the video for State Of Independence,  the video for Fame (The Game),  and finally Enough Is Enough with Westlife.  I would like to dedicate that last one to Mother Nature, just in case she is thinking about MORE snow!   ;-)

[MAR 8] And don't forget that I am walking to stamp out MS again this year. If you would like to contribute, the link is right here.  My first 50 donors get these cool wristbands that say "Donna Summer Celebrate, Live, Love, Laugh" and if you flip them inside out, they are rainbow colored so you can wear them for Pride events (or just because you like rainbow colors. Hmmmm... I still have 50 misprinted ones as well. Maybe I'll flip those inside out and then do something with them that way.)

[FEB 28] Greetings all! Happy Saturday! Yes, I'm a day early, but since I had to work on the Summer Fever page, and I wanted to change the color scheme for March, I figured I might as well just keep going.

[FEB 28] First up is the new Summer Fever Pick. This month we are looking at The Wanderer. (And best of all, you can take out your newly remastered copies to enjoy.  :-) )

[FEB 28] There is an interview with Jimmy Somerville in which he talks about Donna and Giorgio.  Check it out on Chicago.GoPride.com.

[FEB 28] This week for her Throwback Thursday post on Instagram, Barbra Streisand gave a shout out to Donna.  :-)

[FEB 28] Speaking of Instagram, you might want to look at Johnnyswim's page there.  Amanda and Abner always manage to post cool pictures there from their various adventures, but the last 2 posts have an extra cute factor... they feature Abner with the new baby. (I'd say fatherhood is agreeing with him!)

[FEB 28] Vienna Dohler fans - she is performing at a fundraiser tomorrow (March 1) at Factory At Franklin. It would not surprise me if video  got posted sometime after the event.

[FEB 28] I think that brings us to YouTube.  In keeping with the Summer Fever Pick, let's  start with the video for The Wanderer, followed by a live performance of the song.  Then there is the  Sunset Strip video mix of Running For Cover, a live performance of Cold Love, Andy's Upper Mix 2006 of Looking Up,  and a fan video for Grand Illusion. And finally, in honor of Barbra's Throw Back Thursday post, here is a clip of Barbra singing Enough Is Enough in concert -  with some nice comments about Donna at the beginning.  :-)

[FEB 28] And finally, I am walking for MS again this year. If you are interested in contributing, the link is right here. I even have cool little Donna Summer wristbands to  hand out to my first 50 donors. (And I have 50 misprinted wristbands that I need to find some creative use for. LOL) As always, if I hit the $500 mark, my team captain let's me wear my Donna gear instead of the team gear.  :-)

[FEB 23] Happy Oscar Night everyone!  Sadly Thank God It' s Friday is not nominated in any category this year thanks to some obscure rule requiring the nominees to be NEW films.  :-)

[FEB 23] Let's start off with some great news.  Johnnyswim welcomed their new baby on February 17.  More details will be posted when Amanda and Abner are ready to share.  (I would imagine right now they are just spending time getting to know their new little person.  :-) )

[FEB 22] You guys in the Seattle Washington area may want to check out at event called Stiffed that happens the first Saturday of the month at Kremwerk. February's event featured the music of none other than Donna Summer and they even had a drink special called the MacArthur Park. (I wonder if it was garnished with green icing?  LOL)

[FEB 22] In the blast from the (not so distant) past,  there is a nice article from 2008 from the Telegraph.

[FEB 22] Here is an interesting timelapse video someone made of the birds that flew past his house. You might just recognize the music is is set to.  ;-)

[FEB 22] That brings us to YouTube.   Since it's Oscar night, let's start with Donna's performance of Papa Can You Hear Me from the 1984 awards. Then there is a live clip of Work That Magic, the first part of the interview called Donna Summer: Her Words, Her Story,  a 2008 interview promoting Crayons, and finally Last Dance from the 1979 Oscars.

[FEB 15] Greetings all - I hope you had a nice Valentine's Day.  :-)  Let's start with something really cool. If you are on Facebook and are friends with Nathan DiGesare, then you know he is opening up his vault a little and giving us a peek at his work with Donna.  Now if you are not on Facebook, don't worry - he's using YouTube to share too. So check out this clip of something they were playing with called Addiction. If you like what you hear, make sure you thank him  in the comments either on YouTube or Facebook.

[FEB 15] The Westcoast Music blog has an article about the remastered Donna Summer album.  There's not much new there for most of us, but it's nice to see the album get some attention.

[FEB 15] That brings us to YouTube.  First up, the full 2008 Jones Beach concert.  Then there is Last Dance from 1978, a full 1977 concert from Italy,  and a clip of Donna with Prince Poppycock from America's Got Talent. And finally just for laughs - somebody posted a video demonstrating how to pronounce "Donna Summer."  (Just in case you got this far in your life as a fan without ever having heard Donna's name spoken.  LOL )

[FEB 8]  Happy Grammy night everyone! As long as it's an awards show kind of night, let's start with this article about the Golden Globe Best Song category. It talks about a couple of the notable  winners in that category, and Donna is the second one on the list.  :-)

[FEB 8] Huffington Post has an article about Barbra Streisand. In it they talk a little about Donna and the famous recording session for Enough Is Enough.

[FEB 8] Johnnyswim fans - if you are looking for something new to put your coffee in - well, Johnnyswim mugs are up for sale now on the site.  :-)

[FEB 8] That brings us to YouTube.  Since it's Grammy night, let's go with some Grammy clips. First up, the famous medley with Kenny Rogers, a performance of She Works Hard For The Money, and an acceptance speech for Best R&B vocal female for Last Dance.  Then there is a short version of Last Dance from a Disney anniversary celebration,  a short piece on The Power Of One,  Last Dance from the 1978 Oscars, and Donna's acceptance speech at the AMA's for Favorite Disco Single.

[FEB 1] Happy Sunday all! It's a brand new month and we are rapidly approaching Valentine's Day, so I thought a little change of scene was appropriate. (Plus I am sick of snow now!  LOL) This is also the first update made on my new computer, so that's a little exciting for me.  :-)  And of course, being a new month, we have to change the Summer Fever Pick. This month, we look back at those  bad Bad Girls. (Toot toot, hey, beep beep!)

[FEB 1]  If you are on Facebook, then you probably already know that Team Donna have (so far) secret new plans to revamp the official website. They are also asking for suggestions regarding the types of things you'd like to see them post on Facebook. (Hmmmm... would it be rude to ask for EVERYTHING?  Actually, is the internet even big enough to hold everything?  LOL) Keep an eye on all things official, you never know what's going to pop up.

[FEB 1] Are you looking to buy digital versions of the newly remastered and expanded albums? One fan has had good luck with HMVDigital.com.  He says they often have European releases available for US fans who can't often get the European stuff. And they take PayPal.

[FEB 1] There is an interesting essay about I Feel Love posted on the Library Of Congress website.  It is a PDF file, so you will need the Acrobat Reader to view it.

[FEB 1]  In the Donna is everywhere category, Nile Rodgers mentioned her in a new interview. You can check it out here.

[FEB 1] In the same category, The US version of The Guardian has an article  listing the 5 best and worst versions of the US National Anthem as performed at various sporting events. (Well, mostly at sporting events - they also included Jimi Hendrix at Woodstock.)  The first one listed under the best category is Donna at the 1999 All Star baseball game.

[FEB 1] Sebastiano over at Donna Summertime has recalculated the fan-picked top 40 tracks.  There are quite a few debuts on the chart and I suspect the box sets inspired some of those entries.  (The page itself looks really cool too!)

[FEB 1] Facebookers, there is another new Donna page out there called Donna Summer - Once Upon A Time that will showcase some of the many items collected by long time fan Warner.  He's got a bunch of stuff up already - photos, videos, picture discs, vintage merchandise... you name it.  It's a lot of fun to look at the stuff.

[FEB 1] I think that brings us to YouTube.  First up is Donna at the 2005 Night Of The Proms in Belgium. (It's the whole 27 minute performance!) Then there is She Works Hard For The Money from one of the Mistaken Identity shows, On The Radio from the Tonight Show I think, I Will Go With You from a Dutch TV show, and finally Donna on the 2008 American Idol finale.

[JAN 25] Greetings all! East Coast - are you ready for some nasty winter weather? (Shut up Florida!  LOL) Looks like it will be a good time to spend time indoors with our Donna collections. )Although personally, I plan to skip Winter Melody for now!  LOL)

[JAN 25] In the Donna is everywhere category, you can see a poster of her on display in the new show Empire on FOX. It's hanging on the wall of one of the character's apartment.

[JAN 25] Ok all you mad voters out there.  Ranker.com has a list of the most UNdeserving members of the Rock Hall Of Fame and you can add your voice to their list. Next to each name is a thumbs up or a thumbs down. If you agree that an artist is UNworthy then you click the thumbs up to agree. If you think the list has it wrong and the artist absolutely deserves to be in the RHOF, then you click the thumbs down button. Since I am assuming that anyone hanging around this site  would agree that Donna absolutely belongs in the RHOF, you would click the thumbs down button for her. She needs to be as close to the bottom of that list as possible. (Currently she is #3 - I blame the usual "disco sucks" crowd for that.)

[JAN 25] Ranker.com has another poll for best female vocalist. This is more straightforward - if you like the artist give them the thumbs up.  As of right now, Donna is #11 on a very eclectic list.

[JAN 25] Twitter users, why not follow @TheDonnaSummer is you aren't already? They have over 25k followers and the Facebook page has promised a nice surprise when we hit 30k.

[JAN 25] Brooklyn Sudano fans, her Lifetime movie, With This Ring debuted last night. I saw it, it was pretty good, but I should warn you that Brooklyn isn't in it as much as some of the other girls. But on the other hand, it's her character's wedding that gets the whole plot started, so I guess without her there is no movie.  ;-)  Lifetime is still airing it at various times, so check your local listings. (It could make a nice way to pass a blizzard.  ;-) ) You can read more about the movie online at the NY Daily News, Yahoo. Urban Daily, and probably a bunch of other places.

[JAN 25] I think that brings us to YouTube. First up is the video for Autumn Changes, Try Me from American Bandstand, Lady Of The Night from a TV show, a clip from Regis & Kathie Lee showcasing Donna's art, and a Mother's Day video of Mimi's Song from our own Suecase Hall.

[JAN 18]Greetings all! Let's start with the CD box set. There is a US vendor called DeepDiscount.com that has the set for $83.99. A couple of fans have already ordered from there.  :-)

[JAN 18] Vienna Dohler fans - you know about her new website right? Well, just by going there and playing her music, you can help her climb in the rankings at ReverbNation. So if you are looking for some tunes to accompany you in your journeys on the web, go check out her songs.

[JAN 18] That brings us to YouTube. (Yes, already!)  First up is a performance of Melody Of Love. Then there is Hot Stuff/Bad Girls from a UK TV appearance, the Love Is In Control video (that belly she's trying to hide is Amanda  :-) ), the Work That Magic video, Heaven's Just A Whisper Away from the Apollo, and a promo appearance to promote The Journey.

[JAN 18] And finally on a personal note, I will be walking for MS again this year on May 16.  If all goes well, this year I will have cool wristbands to give out to my first 50 donors. (If you follow me on Facebook, you have already seen that the company messed up the wristband order, so I am hoping to get that fixed soon.) If you want to donate, or even just watch the dorky video I made last year to thank everyone, my page is here.

[JAN 11] Greetings everyone! Let's start off with a party.  :-) Do you remember last summer when the city of Boston held a big outdoor roller disco party in Donna's memory? Well, it looks like they are going to try to do it again on July 17. (The date is subject to change.) If you are on Facebook, keep an eye on this page for more details as we get closer to summer (or even to Summer!)  ;-)  And if you don't have Facebook, there is always Twitter. And if you don't have that - well, don't worry because I will be watching both closely!

[JAN 11] In Box set news, the BBC Shop has both the CDs and vinyl available. They do seem to ship worldwide, so that's another option for those who still need a Donna fix.  :-)

[JAN 11] Bruce Sudano fans - stay on your toes this year.  :-) He is promising more music this year - tour dates and more CDs. First up should be an EP of the Burbank sessions due sometime in the first quarter of the year.

[JAN 11] Vienna Dohler fans, you can follow her on Facebook and you can check out her new website (with lots of tracks to buy!) I have one personal request though. Please keep in mind that Vienna is still under 18 years old, so conduct yourselves accordingly if you post to her Facebook or anything. (On a side note, she's not THAT much under 18, so I hope you all feel as old as I do right now!  LOL)

[JAN 11] That brings us to YouTube. Look for a TV performance of Supernatural Love, the promo video for Autumn Changes, Spring Affair from Soul Train, an audio clip of Adonai, Anyway At All from the Tonight Show, Sand On My Feet from the Crayons tour, and VH1's Behind The Music on Donna.

[JAN 11] And one final thing. It has come to my attention that the contact form on the site managed to blow up or something when I redid the site. It is now fixed and should be working just fine again.   :-)  (These computers.... they have  a mind of their own sometimes!)

[JAN 4] Happy New Year everyone! I hope you all enjoyed your holidays!  There's not a whole lot going on since I think everyone was pretty much taking time to relax with friends and family. I do have one very nice piece of news though. The new book, La Disco, by Andrea Angeli Bufalini and Giovanni Savastano is doing well. Last time I checked, it was #22 in the music books chart on Amazon.it. Way to go guys!

[JAN 4] In annoying news, Amazon UK has the CD box set available from another third party seller (that's the good news!) but I have heard from a couple of people that have not received their orders at the promised time and when they emailed Amazon, they were offered refunds.  I'm not sure if the orders were merely delayed by the holidays, or if they actually got lost, but it's something to keep in mind. Having said that, if you do order and there is a problem, Amazon is usually pretty good about making it right.

[JAN 4] Out.com has declared the return of the disco diva in an article that came out just last week. The article take a look at a couple of past divas, points out that disco never really went away, and then discusses a couple of current performers Out considers disco divas.

[JAN 4] That brings us to YouTube. Look for the complete 1980 TV special, Donna with Barry Manilow on Could It Be Magic (I LOVE this clip - this is why I keep bringing it back.  LOL), Donna and others welcoming in 1977 on New Year's Rockin' Eve, an interview promoting The Journey, and Donna with Dick Clark on Good Morning America.

[JAN 4] Oops, and I almost forgot to mention - the new Summer Fever Pick is up. This month it is Live & More! (And please note, if you bookmarked the Summer Fever Page, I have changed the location of the page so you will need to update your bookmark.)

2014:

[DEC 28] Greetings all! I hope you are enjoying your holidays.  :-) Wednesday is New Year's Eve, and Donna's birthday, so be sure to mix a little Summer into your festivities!  :-)

[DEC 28]Those still looking for the CD boxset should head over to  Amazon UK. They have a supply available through one of their third party sellers.

[DEC 28] There is a movie called Foodfight that features a theme song called You Got Me Believing. It was written by Donna and Bruce, and performed by the Brooklyn Dreams. It is currently available on Amazon Instant video (in the US anyway)  And if you have a Prime membership, you can watch it for free.

[DEC 28] Johnnyswim fans - check out Baeblemusic.com's post about Johnnyswim at the Bowery. The article is accompanied by a couple of photos and a video.

[DEC 28] I think that brings us to YouTube.  First up is a beautiful tribute by Suecase Hall set to Celebrate Me Home. Then we have Heaven's Just A Whisper Away at the Apollo, Last Dance from the Night Of The Proms, All Systems Go from a TV appearance, and finally a short clip of You Are So Beautiful from Night Of The Proms. I would like to dedicate that one to the memory of Joe Cocker, the man who originally recorded the song, and who this past week joined Donna in the heavenly choir.

[DEC 28] I will see you all in 2015! Have a very happy and safe New Year's celebration! I will be rockin' my box set all night.  :-)

[DEC 21] Happy Sunday all!  As you can see, the site upload went well.   :-) And if you are not seeing the spiffy new winter theme, just hit refresh and that should take care of it. I am currently working on themes for other seasons too, so look for things to change once in awhile. I may still have to tweak some of the interior pages, but those I can do a little at a time when I have a chance. If you find anything obviously broken, just let me know.

[DEC 21] Moving on to Donna. In annoying news, the Rock Hall Of Fame class of 2015 has been announced so you know that means endless articles on the Hall Of Fame. One columnist has taken the opportunity to list what he sees as the 10 "worst" inductees of all time. Yeah, Donna's on the list. And it's for the same old stupid reason - disco.  But you know what they say about opinions - everybody's got one.  :-p

[DEC 21] Now on to much better news!  Amazon UK has a VERY small stock of the CD box set back in stock. So if you didn't order one yet, if you are quick you might be able to sneak in an order still.

[DEC 21] There is a new book coming out of Italy called La Disco by Andrea Angeli Bufalini and Giovanni Savastano, both of whom are huge Donna Summer fans. It is available from Amazon (Italy) and other sellers, and yes, it is in Italian, so if that isn't your language you'll need to find a sext Italian to help you.  ;-)  If you are on Facebook, you can follow the page for La Disco here. The book also got a 2 page article in the December 14 issue of La Repubblica. :-)

[DEC 21] Let's move on to Johnnyswim. They have (at least for now) wrapped up their tour and are hopefully getting some well-earned rest! They closed out the tour in Boston and were rewarded with this nice article on the Boston Herald website.

[DEC 21] Oh, and if you happen to have SiriusXM radio, take a listen to their Holly channel - one of several holiday music stations. Yesterday I was tuned in and they played Johnnyswim's Christmas Day. Even though I have the Johnnyswim Christmas EP and can play it whenever I want, there is still something special about hearing a favorite artist on the radio - especially the first time!  :-)

[DEC 21] I think that brings us to YouTube. This week we have the Love On And On Studio 54 Remix, the Glenn Rivera Restructure Mix of Dim All The Lights, the Christmas Medley from American Bandstand (1984), The Christmas Song from Good Morning America, and a fan video for the album version of the Christmas Medley.  And then one unusual cover for you - a ukulele version of I Feel Love complete with a yodeling section. I swear to you I am NOT making this up! LOL

[DEC 21] I will see you guys next weekend, but before I go I just want to say Happy Hanukkah, Merry Christmas, Happy Kwanzaa, and Happy Festivus for you Seinfeld fans. And remember to stay safe while you are out celebrating - if you are drinking, don't drive!

[DEC 19] Okay, if you are seeing this then the site updated correctly. I still have stuff to learn with the new software, but as you may have guessed, I learned enough to be able to change the theme fairly easily.  :-)

[DEC 14] Greetings everyone! Lets start off with a site announcement. I believe I have the site fully converted to the new software and should be able to make the big switchover this coming weekend. (That's assuming real life and holiday preparations don't get in my way.)  So my plan right now is to delete the site from the server on either Friday or Saturday and then re-upload it with the new software.  So the site will be all or partly down during that time.  When the changeover is complete, the site will look just a little bit different.   :-)

[DEC 14]  Let's move on to the box set. I think by now most people who pre-ordered from Amazon UK and MyPlay have received their box sets.  I admit I have not had time to fully appreciate the whole set as much as I would like to. (Stupid job! I could be listening to Donna 24/7 if I didn't have to work!  LOL) The consensus is (and I have to agree) is that the remastering has brought new life to the albums. People are falling in love with albums that they previously hasn't fully appreciated.  So if you haven't played all your CDs yet, why not pull out the one you'd consider your least favorite and see if you still feel the same way?

[DEC 14] Now for those of you who haven't ordered your box sets yet... oops! The vinyl is still available, but the CD set is out of stock at Amazon with no indication of when more will be available. You can still get the individual CDs though if you want. 

[DEC 14] And speaking of the box set, it made the Telegraph's list of the 10 best box sets for Christmas - even though their description of the set was obviously not written by one of us.  LOL

[DEC 14] The LA Times came up with a list of the 20 best pop songs by women. I Feel Love came in at #12. 

[DEC 14] Johnnyswim fans - did you miss them on Kelly & Michael the other day? Well fear not. You can catch their performance of the Christmas Waltz right here. 

[DEC 14] Brooklyn Sudano fans - catch her on January 24 in the Lifetime original movie, With This Ring. You can read more about it here. 

[DEC 14] I think that brings us to YouTube First up there is a 2008 interview with On Time TV that is not to be missed. (Seriously, wait for her explanation of the Hattie Mae character.) Then we have The Wanderer from the Tom Snyder Show, a medley of hits from a 1999 TV appearance, and a playlist of Donna at the Nobel Peace Prize concert.  

[DEC 8] Greetings all. I have just a quick update to tell you two things. First, Johnnyswim will be on the Kelly And Michael Show Wednesday morning - December 10.  YAY!  

[DEC 8] The other thing I have to tell you is that Amazon UK has shipped more quickly than promised. I got an email on December 1 saying my cd box set would arrive ob December 22. It came TODAY. Other American fans have had the same happy experience.  So if you ordered from Amazon UK, keep an eye on your mailbox.  :-) Now I have to go read some extensive liner notes.  :-)

[DEC 7] Greetings all! The big news is that many of our UK friends have received their CD and vinyl boxsets, and the word is that they are GORGEOUS! There is actually a YouTube video of someone opening the Another Place And Time CD.  That will give you a tiny taste of what to expect if you are still waiting for your CDs. There is also this review of the boxset that you should check out. 

[DEC 7] Moving on to other Donna news, the official YouTube channel (which you should definitely subscribe to if you haven't yet) has added a couple of new clips from the vault. First up is a promo clip for Bad Girls. And that was immediately followed by a promo for Live & More Encore.  So how is YOUR case of Summer Fever now?  ;-)

[DEC 7] And in other Donna news, as you know we have an active official Youtube channel, if you are on Facebook you have seen that the page has been decorated with the boxset artwork, and I believe we are expecting an update to DonnaSummer.com. I would imagine that the boxset art will feature prominently over there too.  :-) 

[DEC 7] In remix news, check out this new mix of Bad Girls. Pretty cool!  And along with that is the Summer2K edit of Looking Up. 

[DEC 7] Let's move on to Johnnyswim (who are still on their Christmas tour.) They made a Huffington Post list of the best albums of 2014! (It's nice to know Huffington Post figured out what we've known for ages - that Johnnyswim is majorly talented!) 

[DEC 7] And while we're on the subject of Johnnyswim, check out their interview with CMT Edge in support of the Christmas album. 

[DEC 7] I think that brings us to YouTube.  This week look for a performance of Supernatural Love, a mashup of U2 vs Donna on She Works Hard On New Year's Day, and highlights from the musical, I Totally Know What You Did Last Donna Summer. 

[NOV 30] Greetings all!  First up - a site announcement. My computer is literally falling apart, so I am at the point where I have to upgrade. The software I use to create the site is not compatible with the latest version of Windows.  So I downloaded a new program, and am in the process of converting the site so that it works in the new program. Once I am done with that (and I'm not sure when that will be yet), I plan to take down the site and reupload it. I figure that's a good way to also clean out some of the stuff that I don't use any more. When I am ready to do this, I will post an announcement here and in a few other places because obviously the site will be all or partially down while I do this. I will try to time things so that I can make the announcement during a regular update and then so the actual work the following weekend. The disruption will hopefully be minimal. (All fingers and toes crossed!)

[NOV 30] Moving on - tomorrow is December 1, so I figured tonight was as good a time as any to post the new Summer Fever Pick. Do I even have to tell you what it is?   LOL (I don't know of any of you keep a bookmark for the Summer Fever Page, but if you do be advised that I have changed the URL a little bit in preparation for the big site reupload.)

[NOV 30] And with tomorrow being the first, something else is happening... those deluxe CDs and boxsets we've been waiting so (im)patiently for are coming out - in Europe at least. Here in the US we have to wait a little longer.  Now for those of you overseas - here is some great news,  you may be able to grab the albums in an actual brick and mortar store! One gentleman found himself in the HMV in London's West End yesterday (Saturday) and even though the release date for the CDs is December 1, HMV had a copy of Another Place And Time. The fan who grabbed it (because did you really think he would just leave it there?  LOL)  described the liner notes as "fabulous", the sound as "great" and he said there are a bunch of never seen before photos.  He sent me a couple of pictures (Thank you Chris!), so I'll share one with you now:

You know, I was starting to get excited before... now, I think my mailman should be very afraid of coming to my house without my boxset!  LOL

[NOV 30] And let's continue to the other exciting news. As many of you know, Donna has an official YouTube channel. Well, the plan for this channel is for it to be a place for rare and never before seen footage. (Yes, the video vault is starting to open!)  They started off by posting a nice promo for the boxsets, then followed that up with a commercial for Live & More (the 1978 album) which happens to have a bunch of footage that will make you scream "I WANT THAT SHOW!!" (It can't be just me right?  LOL)  And now as I am writing this, they went and sneaked in a clip of A Man Like You from the Midnight Special. (That's such a new upload that right this second, it's not even indexed on the main Donna Summer page yet.) If you don't run right over and subscribe to the channel, you must be out of your mind! I would go subscribe right now, but YouTube won't let me subscribe twice.  ;-)

[NOV 30] In the Donna is everywhere category, or maybe I should say Donna fans are everywhere because fans HAVE to be responsible for this: There is a show, a cartoon actually, called Bob's Burgers.  They did an episode for Thanksgiving where Bob is home alone for the holiday, so he dances to Dim All The Lights in his livingroom. The music continues to underscore the next scene with the family doing some king of running with the turkeys event. The the show ends with the family singing Love Is In Control (Finger On The Trigger) over the closing credits. There is a review of the episode here, and it is available (in the US at least) on Hulu Plus, or you can buy it on YouTube and probably other places as well. You can probably even catch it on your cable provider's On Demand menu.

[NOV 30] Johnnyswim fans: check out their new interview on CMT about the Christmas EP. Their  Christmas tour kicked off tonight, so if they are coming to a venue to you, grab some tickets before they sell out. (And they WILL sell out - you have been warned!)

[NOV 30] And let's drop down another generation to Mimi's daughter Vienna Dohler. I've shared clips from her before, so many of you probably know she is a talented singer and songwriter. If you want to have your mind blown, check out her covers of Be Myself Again and Nights In White Satin. Just Vienna and her piano. This kid is going places.

[NOV 30] I think that brings us to YouTube. After you've played the Live & More promo a million times, go check out an audio clip of a mix of Valley Of The Moon, the Hot Summer Night concert, the Glenn Rivera Restructured Say Something Nice, Papa Can You Hear Me from the Oscars, and Donna on an American Bandstand Christmas episode. (The sound is a bit weird on this one, and it does not include the Christmas medley they performed later in the show. See if you spot a young Mimi in the crowd.)

[NOV 23] Greetings all - and (early) Happy Thanksgiving to my American friends.  (And if my international friends would like to join in the holiday celebration Thursday - just tell your employers that I said it is okay to take the day off.  ;-) )

[NOV 23]  There's not a whole lot going on this week. We have the CD and vinyl box sets (and of course the individual albums) coming out next week, so if you haven't ordered yet, now is a great time.  (Available at Amazon UK on December 1 and through Amazon US on December 9.) Get a box set for everyone on your holiday list!  And then we can dance December away.  :-)  I'm sad to report that I haven't run into Christmas Spirit at the local Targets or Walmarts, yet so thank god for online shopping.

[NOV 23] Giorgio Moroder fans: he will be releasing his first solo album for something like 30 years sometime next spring. It should be fun!

[NOV 23] Johnnyswim fans - make sure you catch them on their Christmas tour.  And if you can't make the tour, at least grab a copy Diamonds or A Johnnyswim Christmas (or BOTH!) The albums make great gifts you know.  ;-)

[NOV 23] That brings us to YouTube. Check out the video montage for Who Do You Think You're Foolin' by out friend Suecase Hall, Glenn Rivera's Queen For A Day video mix, the Could It Be Magic promo video, a fan video for Christmas Is Here,  Donna on the Queen Latifah Show,  and a bonus of Mary Gaines Bernard singing Make December Stay.

[NOV 16] Greetings all! Just a reminder - the 80s CDs (and vinyls) are due out via Amazon UK on December 1 and through Amazon US as imports on December 9.  Personally, I found it more cost effective to order through Amazon UK, but your mileage may vary. 

[NOV 16] Also, for those of you who have to endure Christmas music not of your own choosing (I'm looking at YOU retail workers!), Amazon has Christmas Spirit available. It's great for scrubbing your brain of the other junk we get subjected to. 

[NOV 16] In the Donna is everywhere category, the folks at the TV show Scandal are doing it again. They sneaked a Donna song into the last episode - Bad Girls. There has to be a fan or two working there.  :-)

[NOV 16] That brings us to Johnnyswim, who as you know, released their Christmas EP this week.  Read more about the EP here, here, and  here.

[NOV 16] And speaking of Johnnyswim, did you know they have a web store now? Right now it's just t-shirts (although every fan needs some JS swag  :-) ) but eventually they will add CDs and vinyl. 

[NOV 16] That brings us to YouTube. First up is Donna promoting All Systems Go on Jay Leno (the clip has 2 songs, the interview and enough tulle to swallow Donna in her chair  LOL), Stor Dubine's video for Does He Love You,  Romeo from RAI TV,  Work That Magic (with male dancers voguing behind her), and the video for When Love Takes Over You.

[NOV 10] Happy Monday all! Sorry the update is late, but I was busy all weekend. (Holy cow I got off the couch for a change!  LOL) First up, remember how I have been saying that A Johnnyswim Christmas was coming out on November 11? Well, at iTunes it is already November 11 apparently. Go grab your copy now! And while it is downloading, check out this article with behind the scenes pics of the duo and a stream of their original song, Christmas Day.

[NOV 10] And while we are on the topic of Johnnyswim, Amanda has recorded the vocals for a cover for You Belong To Me with the Doobie Brothers (and Vince Gill on guitar.) You can hear it on YouTube.  Or better yet, it's on the album Southbound by the Doobies. You can buy the whole album or just the one track.

[NOV 10]  Moving on to the diva herself, Donna, first up is the remastered 80s albums/boxsets coming out next month.  As some of you are probably aware, the Fan Club had a contest in which a couple of people won samplers for the box set. The winners have received their prizes and are happy to report that the remastering was very well done.  To quote one: "Donna's voice is so clear and you can hear sounds never heard before." So if you haven't pre-ordered any of the albums or box sets yet, now is the time! And if you have ordered already, now is the time to start saying, "Is it here yet? How about now? What about now?" as you pace back and forth to the mailbox.  ;-)

[NOV 10] And if you need something to fill in the time as you are pacing  back and forth to your mailbox looking for the upcoming cds, why not check out the Fan Club website. You never know when Tom will sneak in a new contest, plus there are some cool t-shirts and things to buy. (The holidays are coming...  you must know someone who would like a little Donna under their tree.  Or even better - 8 days of Donna!  ;-) )

[NOV 10] That brings us to YouTube. First up, a medley of Grammy nominated songs from Donna and Kenny Rogers that includes a little Doobie Brothers near the end. Next up is the Ralph Rosario mix of I Feel Love,  a radio edit of You 're So Beautiful, MacArthur Park from Night Of The Proms, From A Distance with Better Midler and Raul Malo, Let It Be from UK television, and Donna on Oprah. 

[NOV 10] And finally, here in the US is it Veteran's Day. So thank you to all the Veterans out there, and their families for your sacrifices over the years.

[NOV 2] Greetings all, I can't believe it's November already! That means it's time for the new Summer Fever Pick. This month we go on a Fairytale High with Once Upon A Time.   :-)

[NOV 2]  We're gonna change things up a bit and start off with some Johnnyswim news.  They have 2 upcoming releases due soon. The first is is their Christmas EP due on November 11.  The second is... a baby boy due in February.  :-) Congrats Amanda and Abner!  No word yet if the baby will immediately join the band, or if they will wait until he can walk and talk first.  ;-)

[NOV 2] In Donna news, as you know we are expecting a whole bunch of remastered CDs on December 1.  Amazon UK has sound clips from the remastered albums in their digital music store. Just click this link and scroll down for the remastered albums. (Make sure the album you pick says it's the remastered version - Amazon still has the old versions available for sale too.)

[NOV 2] I found a couple of articles that mentioned Donna - some more recent than others.  First is a nod to Stamp Your Feet in an article about songs that should have hit the top 10.  Then there is the 2012 list of holiday songs you may never have heard.  (Obviously in this case "you" refers to someone who isn't a diehard Donna fan.  LOL)  And Cracked has an article about people who "secretly made all your favorite music."  Giorgio Moroder made that list and of course any time someone talks about Giorgio, Donna gets mentioned somewhere.  :-)

[NOV 2] In the Donna is everywhere category, She Works Hard For The Money was played throughout a recent episode of Rachel Ray in which Rachel was handing out cash to people in the food industry who have done amazing charity work. 

[NOV 2] Bruce Sudano fans - I know most of you probably checked out his appearance on VOA's Border Crossings.  Well, now VOA has released a video copy of that appearance.  It was a really good interview, so be sure to check it out again - or if you missed it on the radio, catch it now. (And stick with it to the really cool new song at the very end.) By the way, if you think you recognize the other guitar player... well, you probably do. He's Randy Mitchell and he was with Donna's band for years.

[NOV 2] I think that brings us to YouTube. First up is a video presentation of the Grammy Museum exhibit for those of us who can't get to LA to see it in person. (Thanks Ray!)  Then we have a mix of Running For Cover, a clip of Winter Melody,  Supernatural Love from Soul Train, an audio clip of Someday (Gypsy Classic Radio Mix), the video for The Woman In Me, and the Pound Foolish episode of Family Matters. 

[NOV 2]  That's it for this week. Next weekend, the update will either happen on Friday (if I can get  time that day) or it will be delayed until Monday. I have an unusually packed weekend planned, so most of my Donna time will be spent in the car instead of on the computer. (And there is nothing like driving with Donna tuned cranked up at full volume - if you live within a 100 mile radius of me, you may even hear me.  LOL)

[OCT 26] Happy almost-Halloween everyone!  How many of you are going to dress up as Donna for the holiday?  LOL

[OCT 26] Calling all fans in Los Angeles (or who will be in Los Angeles on November 1) - the Grammy Museum will be throwing a Donna Summer Nights party on November 1 from 4 to 8 PM.  They will be spinning tunes all night, and will have a cash bar on every floor. Admission is free but you must reserve a space.  Details are on the Grammy Museum website.  (And if you are going to Los Angeles at any time in the relatively near future - make sure you catch their Four Seasons Of Love exhibit. )

[OCT 26] In the land of covers, Kristin Chenoweth has a new album and PBS special coming out called Coming Home. On it she covers Enough Is Enough.  Look for the album on November 17 and the PBS special will start airing on November 28. (As always with PBS specials, you have to check your local listings.) There will also be a DVD release in February. 

[OCT 26] If you aren't already, you should be keeping an eye on the Donna Summer Fan Club site (or check them out on Facebook if that's your thing).  Tom has already run one contest for CD collection samplers, and he's planning another one soon for a tourbook.  For the last contest, all you had to do was correctly answer a trivia contest. (Well, in a manner of speaking that is. Nothing Donna related can truly be considered "trivia".  ;-) )

[OCT 26] I know everyone is eagerly awaiting the Geffen deluxe releases, but some of you may remember that a Casablanca CD set was due to come out in Europe soon.  Well, that release date seems have been pushed back to February, but the interesting thing is that a seller on Amazon UK had a couple of copies available, and people were able to buy them. A poster on the forum had received his shipment notice from Amazon already and he plans to let everyone know when he gets his set.  :-)

[OCT 26] Johnnyswim fans - November 11 is rapidly approaching! And you know what that means - soon we will be able to hear A Johnnyswim Christmas. But while you are waiting for that album, go check them out on tour.  And go out and grab a few more copies of Diamonds. They make great gifts.  :-)  (Oops... I think my family knows what they are all getting now.)

[OCT 26] And I think that brings us to YouTube. Look for She Works Hard For The Money from European TV, a very young Donna singing Black Power, Donna in a promo film for Hair (it takes about 3 minutes before you see her), a clip of Meglio Stasera, and a clip of The Hostage. 

[OCT 19] Greetings all!  There isn't much going on in Donna-land right now. We're just waiting for those deluxe CDs and vinyls to hit.  (Is it December yet? How about now?  LOL) But while we are waiting, the people over at the TV show Scandal decided that MacArthur Park was the perfect closer to one of the early episodes this season.  I've never seen the show, but I always agree with someone using a Donna song.  ;-) 

[OCT 19] In the Donna is everywhere category, she got a weird little mention in an article about petitioners. In a nutshell, the article is about how annoying it can be to be accosted by petitioners in the street. The article includes these lines:  A fellow journalist told me she was shouted at recently while obviously listening to music: specifically, the music of Donna Summer. When you mess with Donna Summer, you've gone over the line. 

[OCT 19] Johnnyswim fans: the pair have announced a whole bunch of new tour dates in support of their upcoming Christmas EP. Many of those tickets are already on sale, and they are going fast. If you want to catch Johnnyswim at any of their dates, buy your tickets EARLY.

[OCT 19] That brings us to YouTube. This week look for the video for Try Me, Glenn Rivera's Restructured Mix of The Wanderer, A video for Could It Be Magic, Hot Stuff live in Beijing,  a country medley with Eddie Rabbitt,  Heal Them from a telethon, and a live version of Nights In White Satin. 

[OCT 12] Happy Sunday all - and Happy Thanksgiving Canada! First up - an article in Billboard about new signings, etc mentions that Donna is being distributed by The Orchard. 

[OCT 12] Aretha Franklin's new album, Aretha Franklin Sings The Great Diva Classics comes out October 21. The track list is already on Amazon, and despite early reports to the contrary, Last Dance is not on the list.  I'm sure those of you ho wanted to hear Aretha's take on the song are disappointed, while those who can't imagine anyone but Donna singing it are relieved.  My question is, did they record the song and then leave it in the vault? Or did they just not bother recording it at all?

[OCT 12] Johnnyswim fans, while they are currently on tour until November in support of Diamonds, on Tuesday they will announce dates for a Christmas tour. A couple of cities they plan to hit are Boston, New Orleans, Philadelphia, and Nashville. The Nashville tickets are already on sale. And I know I sound like a broken record, but you need to get your tickets EARLY! Johnnyswim tends to sell out everywhere they go.  :-)

[OCT 12] If you are looking for handmade jewelry, don't forget Mimi is making and selling stuff on Etsy. (Some pretty nice stuff too!)

[OCT 12] That brings us to YouTube. Look for  a Japanese concert in support of All Systems Go (it's the one that includes Donna's awesome cover of Celebrate Me Home),  then there is Hot Stuff/ Bad Girls from the Nobel Peace Prize concert, I Will Go With You from a TV appearance, and I Love You from The Tonight Show. 

[OCT 5] Greetings all! It's a new month so you know what that means. It's time for the new Summer Fever Pick. This month, we look at I Remember Yesterday.

[OCT 5] California - if you missed the slasher parody, I Totally Know What You Did Last Donna Summer, then you can catch it at the Cavern Club Theater for a limited engagement from October 10 to 25. 

[OCT 5] If you missed it in 2012, Jellybean Benitez had some nice things to say to CNN about Donna. 

[OCT 5] Bruce fans - don't miss him at Genghis Cohen in Los Angeles on October 10.

[OCT 5] Johnnyswim fans - mark your calendars. November 11 s the release date for their upcoming Christmas EP. It's called A Johnnyswim Christmas and the tracks will be: Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas, O Come All Ye Faithful, I'll Be Home For Christmas, Christmas Waltz, and a live version of What Are You Doing New Year's Eve.  Check out the cover art on Instagram. And don't forget, the duo is currently (perpetually!) on tour, so try to catch them when they get to a place near you.

[OCT 5]  That brings us to YouTube.  This week look for the Live & More Encore concert, the 1980 TV Special, Donna with Barry Manilow on Could It Be Magic (one of my favorite clips), Clips from Divas 2000, and an audio clip of Walk Hand In Hand. 

[SEP 28] Happy Sunday everyone!  First up tonight, the US Amazon store has listings now for the CD boxset, the vinyl boxset, and the individual deluxe CDs.  Now keep in mind that these are being made available as imports which means the price is on the high side, and we won't get them here until December 9.  But this is another option for those of us in North America who want some Deluxe Donna goodness.  :-)

[SEP 28] In the Donna is everywhere category, she made Huffington Post's  Iconic Oscar Dresses You've Probably Forgotten.  The photo you are looking for is #4.

[SEP 28] You all remember the upcoming movie, Spinning Gold, about Neil Bogart, right? Well, it looks like Kelly Rowland is interested in playing Donna in that film. See what you think. (Scroll down to the bottom photo.)

[SEP 28] You may remember awhile back I mentioned that there is a blog that's all about chart positions? Well it's been improved and you can check out the Donna page here.  Most of the text  is in French, so if that's not your language you will have to use something like Google (or a hot French guy if you prefer) to translate for you.  :-)

[SEP 28] Bruce Sudano fans - catch him live in LA at Genghis Cohen on October 10 at 8 PM. If you have never seen Bruce live, then you need to go. An0d if you have seen him live, then you already know that you need to go see him again.  :-)

[SEP 28] For those of you wondering what Mimi is up to these days (besides being a mom that is), well she's making jewelry and selling it on Etsy.  She's got some nice stuff, so go take a look. 

[SEP 28] That brings us to YouTube.  First up is Breakaway live in Brazil, Mimi's Song from the Tonight Show, Vh1's Behind The Music, Donna on Oprah, and the long version of Walk Away (slideshow set to audio).

[SEP 21] Happy Sunday everyone. Let's start off with this nice little article about the Top 40 Pop Artists of all time. It's an opinion piece about the most essential artists to get to know. The list is based on commercial success and the timelessness of the artist's music. See if you spot a familiar name in the #2 spot.  ;-) 

[SEP 21] Music distributor, The Orchard, has announced that they are now working with Driven By The Music - which is of course is Donna's estate. 

[SEP 21] Ebony posted a list of 25 style icons. They call Donna "the glamour girl."

[SEP 21] Here's a bit of trivia or you. Donna holds the record for the longest note held by a woman in a hit single. (I don't need to tell you that the song is Dim All The Lights, do I?)

[SEP 21] Ok everyone - sing along: I'm dreaming of a Donna Christmas....   ;-) In case you haven't heard enough about the upcoming CD and vinyl deluxe versions of the 80s albums, well here's another article about them.  Excuse me while I go glare at my calendar and wonder why December 1 seems so far away.

[SEP 21] Here's something unusual. Someone has created a poster with Billboard's Hot 100 of all time represented as diagrams and charts. (Yes you read that right.)  Most of the poster is rendered too small to read on the website, but they show a sample area of it that includes the entry for Hot Stuff. 

[SEP 21] Bruce Sudano fans - he did a show called Border Crossings on VOA radio. It was a nice long interview complete with 3 live performances - one of which was a never before heard song called What The Future Holds. Now, don't be disappointed if you missed it.  You can catch it on the Border Crossings website.  You want the September 17 episode, and you have the option of playing it in your web browser, or downloading it to put on a portable device.  Check it out if you can. It was a really good interview that touched on all different points in Bruce's career, and he even opened up about Donna a bit.  And besides that - the new song is worth tuning in for.   :-)  On a side note - Bruce's birthday is Friday, so if you are on Facebook head over to his page and wish him a happy one.  

[SEP 21] Johnnyswim fans - stay tuned because the pair have been recording a video for Diamonds in Las Vegas. They are also currently working on their Christmas EP. 

[SEP 21] I think that brings us to YouTube.  This week we have Glenn Rivera's video mix of Fairy Tale High,  a clip of Lady Of The Night, a clip of On The Radio, a clip of Amazing Grace, a clip of Starting Over Again (a song mentioned by Bruce in the interview he did for VOA),  and  finally an audio only clip of Happy Birthday.

[SEP 14] Greetings all. The answer to the question a lot of you have been asking is, "yes". Oh wait, I guess I should give you the question too.  ;-)  The question is, "does the CD box set contain the DELUXE versions of the albums?" and that answer yes it does!  So that means you don't have to buy all the individual releases just to get all the bonuses - although if you have the cash, feel free to.  ;-) 

[SEP 14] In other news, as the deluxe albums are being worked on, they have found some stuff they didn't know they had.  And as a result, the tracklist for a couple of albums have had some adjustments made.  Cats Without Claws will now include the 7" Jellybean remix edit of Eyes.  And Another Place And Time adds I Don't Wanna Get Hurt (Original Pete Hammond 12" mix), When Love Takes Over You (Original Pete Hammond 12" mix), Love's About To Change My Heart dub (not to be confused with the Love Dub and it will replace the PWL 12" mix),  and Breakaway Instrumental Remix Edit (which replaces the album instrumental.) What's happening is that as they remaster the tracks, they are discovering things that are mislabeled or whatever and fortunately they are at a stage where they can still make changes as different things are found.  Probably the track lists we have now are the final ones, but who knows? With a couple months left, we may get lucky and some rare mix will turn up in somebody's laundry room or something. 

[SEP 14] I'd say people are getting pretty excited about the deluxe releases. Tae a look at Amazon UK's list of disco best sellers. As of this writing, I see APAT, the CD set, ASG and the self-titled album all in the top 20.  The others all fall somewhere in the 21 to 40 slots, Endless Summer  popped up at #43, and on the 81 to 100 page, you find The Journey and Four Seasons Of Love.  We should just rename it the Donna Summer Chart.  ;-)

[SEP 14] Cats Without Claws lovers - did you realize the album is 30 years old?  (Can you believe it? ) Anyway, in honor of 3 decades of Cats Without Claws, The QH Blend blog has posted a very nice retrospective on the alum.

[SEP 14] In the land of covers, Beck is the latest to add I Feel Love to his set. You can hear it here. (Jump to about 2:45 for I Feel Love.)

[SEP 14] I think that brings us to YouTube.  First up is I'm A Fire live in Paris, then we have Science Of Love and Last Dance from XM Radio's Artist Confidential, An audio only clip of the Enough Is Enough recording sessions (jump to 16:40ish for the famous "beat him up with a stick" outtake), Donna with Dick Clark on Good Morning America, and Donna on Jools Holland. 

[SEP 7] Happy Sunday everyone! In case you haven't been on the social media scene this week, let me announce that the 80s albums (the Geffen and Atlantic ones only) will be released as deluxe editions on December 1 and there will be gorgeous box sets of vinyl and CDs.  Now as of right now, these are only available to Europe and Australasia via Donna's official store, or you can order through Amazon UK, and they will ship to North America. (It just costs a little more.)  You can see photos of the box sets here.  Now the only thing we are not sure of right now is if the box sets are just the remastered albums, or if they include the bonus tracks from the deluxe releases. What the box sets do have are postcards in the CD set and a gorgeous booklet in the vinyl set.

[SEP 7] Now as I said, the albums are coming out individually as deluxe editions too. They will have all the original liner notes, art and lyrics, plus some extensive new liner notes to go with them.  Since I am sure you are all well acquainted with the original tracks for all the albums (and if you are not - feel free to check out the discography section), let me run down the bonus tracks. 

The Wanderer: Who Do You Think You Are Fooling (3:55 edit), Cold Love ( 3:11 edit)

Donna Summer: Sometimes Like Butterflies, Love Is In Control (7" Version), Love Is In Control (Dance Remix), Love Is In Control (Instrumental feat. Ernie Watts On saxophone solo), State Of Independence (7" Version), State Of Independence (NRG Mix), State Of Independence (New Radio Millennium Mix)

Cats Without Claws: Face The Music, Supernatural Love (Extended Dance Remix), Eyes (Extended Mix), I'm Free (Extended Mix)

All Systems Go: Tearin' Down The Walls, All Systems Go (edit), All Systems Go (Extended Remix), Dinner With Gershwin (Edit), Dinner With Gershwin (Extended Version), Dinner With Gershwin (Instrumental), Only The Fool Survives (Edit)

Another Place And Time: This is 3 CDS so make yourself comfortable! Breakaway (Power Radio Mix), Breakaway (Extended Power Mix), Breakaway (Harding Curnow Extended Reix), Breakaway (Remix Edit). Breakaway (Album Instrumental), I Don't Wanna Get Hurt (12" version), I Don't Wanna Get Hurt (Instrumental), I Don't Wanna Get Hurt (Remix), If It Makes You Feel Good (Pete Hammond Remix Instrumental), Sentimental (Instrumental), The Only One (Instrumental), This Time I Know It's For Real (Extended Remix), This Time I Know It's For Real (Instrumental),  Whatever Your Heart Desires (Instrumental), When Love Takes Over You (Dave Ford 7"), When Love Takes Over You (Dave Ford Extended Remix), When Love Takes Over You (Dave Ford Instrumental), Love's About To Change My Heart (Clivilles & Cole 12" Mix), Love's About To Change My Heart (Clivilles & Cole 7" Mix), Love's About To Change My Heart (Extended Mix), Love's About To Change My Heart (Instrumental), Love's About To Change My Heart (Love Dub), Love's About To Change My Heart (Loveland's Full On 7" Radio Edit), Love's About To Change My Heart (PWL 12" Mix), Love's About To Change My Heart (PWL 7" Mix)

Mistaken Identity: When Love Cries (Single version), When Love Cries (Vocal Club Dub aka Summertime Remix), Work That Magic (ISA Extended mix)

I'm A Rainbow: No actual bonus tracks have been listed, but it's touted as being sequenced as originally intended.

[SEP 7] These upcoming releases have already started to chart on Amazon' UK's New Music chart just based on preorders. :-) (You will have to click through the pages because chart positions change rapidly.)

[SEP 7] I think that brings us to YouTube.  First up is 14 minutes of clips from a performance with the Nashville Symphony. (It ends with that wonderful version of I Will Live For Love.) Then there is a 2008 performance of Last Dance from Oakland, Glenn Rivera's video mix of Once Upon A Time, a 1990 megamix, and Donna's duet with Seal from David Foster & Friends.

[AUG 31] Wow - where did the summer go? Well, tomorrow is September 1 so that means it's time for a new Summer Fever Pick. This month we reexamine Four Seasons Of Love.  :-)

[AUG 31] So you guys on Facebook have probably been noticing the countdown on the official Donna Summer Facebook page.  Yesterday they posted the number 2. Later tonight we should see a 1. And then tomorrow we will either get a big announcement, or.... they will drive everyone crazy by posting the number 0.  LOL  Now I have no idea what the announcement is, but I suspect if may have something to do with this interesting search on Amazon UK.   :-)  For those who don't want to click right now - that link takes you to a list of Donna stuff that includes pre-orders for the DELUXE versions of the 80s albums - due out on December 1. You may also be interested in knowing that these will be available as cds, or vinyl AND there will be box sets for each version.  Now this hasn't shown up on the US Amazon yet, but let's see what happens tomorrow.  :-)  Oh and one other little detail you will like - the label imprint is Driven By The Music.   :-) Everybody start doing your happy dance!!!

[AUG 31] Also in release news, Amazon UK has the Donna Summer Complete Album Collection listed with an October 14 release date. 

[AUG 31] In the Donna is everywhere category, the talk show, The Chew, is using Love To Love You Baby in their ads for the upcoming season. 

[AUG 31] In an odd coincidence, tonight I made Four Seasons Of Love the Summer Fever Pick - over on the German eBay, someone is selling a lamp based on that album cover. 

[AUG 31] I think that brings us to YouTube. This week look for Donna live in Rotterdam, Glenn Rivera's Restructured Mix of When Love Takes Over You, Love Is The Healer Dream Machine Remix, a 1985 Megamix, and Someone To Watch Over Me from Live & More Encore.

[AUG 24] Greetings all! It's a quiet week so let's just jump right to the world of unusual covers. This one is a strange slow version of I Feel Love by the Plantains being used in the trailer for the film Men, Women, & Children.  You can see the trailer (and read about the film) here.  I'm trying to decide if the cover itself is depressing, or if it's just that the movie is depressing and that's affecting my reaction to the song.  I think I better go play Donna's original a few times to shake that movie out of my head.  ;-)

[AUG 24] Johnnyswim fans - check out their new interview on PopMatters.com. Now if you are looking to catch the duo on tour - well, they are on a short break now, but they hit the roads again with a show on September 4 in Nashville, and they they continue to play here, there and everywhere throughout September and October.  Check out the dates here, and don't forget - Johnnyswim tends to sell out everywhere they go lately. So GET YOUR TICKETS EARLY!! I've had several people tell me they waited too long and couldn't get seats.... don't make that mistake!

[AUG 24] That brings us to YouTube. First up a feature from Wolf Trap from 2008, a 1979 segment from 20/20,  Last Dance and On The Radio from Live & More Encore, Donna introducing Chaka Khan on Solid Gold, Friends Unknown live, and one of my personal favorite clips - I Will Live For Love with the Nashville Symphony.

[AUG 17] Greetings all!  I just want to start off by saying that it was my pleasure to catch Bruce in concert last night in my  first theater concert since  May 17, 2012. It was a lot of fun and I scored an autographed VINYL copy of With Angels On A Carousel at the merchandise table.   :-) If he comes to your area - try to catch the show. You will be sorry if you miss it!

[AUG 17]  If any of you are missing any of Donna's albums (or missing them in digital format, or just need an updated copy of the ones you have) - iTunes and Amazon now have listings for ALL of Donna's albums (yes even the lesser known 80s stuff like I'm A Rainbow) available for sale. The 80s albums are actually pre-order only right now - they are expected to be available on September 2. 

[AUG 17] Facebook users, the Grammy Museum page is running a contest where fans can submit a photo of their favorite piece of Donna memorabilia for a chance to win tickets to the Four Seasons Of Love exhibit and Grammy Museum swag. For instructions (and to enter) head over to this page. 

[AUG 17] In the Donna is everywhere category... her friend Alice Harris ("everybody works - except maybe Alice" - Live & More Encore 1999) has put together an art book called Blow Me  A Kiss that features a ton of images around the theme of lips. If you open the book to the dedication page, it simply says, "For Donna."  And if you flip to the back, the girls and their husbands all get a mention.  Some of you might already be familiar with the book from Facebook - both Bruce and Amanda have posed with it.

[AUG 17] In site news, Wolfgang has updates his German biography/discography. You can read it in PDF format here.  He's done such a great job with it - thanks Wolfgang!  :-)

[AUG 17] Johnnyswim fans - check out this video they did for Uniglo. 

[AUG 17] I think that brings us to YouTube. First up is the karaoke video for MacArthur Park, the 12" mix of I Will Live For Love, a live version of To Paris With Love,  a live cover of Nature Boy, and this awesome clip of Smile. 

[AUG 10] Happy Sunday everyone. This week I have a new Ken's Korner for you where he looks back at Donna's  Atlantic City concerts over the years.

[AUG 10] The latest word on the upcoming Demon Records releases of the 80s albums is that they are still working on them, they hope to release them all at one time,  they hope to make most of them 2 CD releases with lots of extras, and Bruce is working with them. 

[AUG 10] Long Island fans - Legends In Concert is playing the Patchogue Theater August 13 to 17 and they have Rainere Martin performing as Donna. She is the same person who played for the mural unveiling in Boston. Tickets are available through the Gateway Playhouse website. 

[AUG 10] Speaking of Long Island, Bruce Sudano is playing here this week. Look for him in Massapequa, Long Island  at the John Burns park on Wednesday August 13, then he's down in Virginia at the Birchmere Music Hall on Thursday, then back up to Peekskill NY at the Paramount Hudson Valley, on Friday, and then on Saturday August 16, he's back on Long Island at The Westhampton Beach Performing Arts Center.  Bruce and the band will be opening for the Zombies at all of these events. Oh and one interesting thing to note - the Candyman Band had been reduced to a trio for these shows. It's their first time playing as a trio, so it should be fun for all of us.  :-)

[AUG 10] Johnnyswim fans - yes they are still on tour, and I can tell you now that New York is already sold out. This is why I keep saying to get those tickets early!  In other Johnnyswim news, they are working on an ad campaign for Uniglo, so you may see Amanda and Abner looking at you from some billboard somewhere unexpected.   :-) (Their picture has already been spotted in Boston!) 

[AUG 10] I think that brings us to YouTube. First up is Donna's cover of Don't Rain On My Parade,  then there is a television performance of Last Dance,  Donna's cover of Superstar (it's truly amazing!) , a news segment on a San Diego art show, and Try Me from American Bandstand. 

[AUG 3] Greetings all! It's a new month so you know what that means - time to change the Summer Fever Pick. This month we celebrate A Love Trilogy.  :-)

[AUG 3] Brooklyn Sudano fans - she just scored a lead role in the Lifetime original movie, With This Ring.   :-)

[AUG 3] Johnnyswim fans - look for Amanda on the upcoming Doobie Brothers tribute albums called Southbound. It is scheduled to hit stores November 4. 

[AUG 3] I know I sound like a broken record - but I want to remind you all again that Johnnyswim is still on tour, and they are selling out everywhere they go. (So grab your tickets as soon as you can!)  StAugustine.com has a nice review of their recent show.  And while you are in a Johnnyswim frame of mind, check out their interview on Nuvo News. 

[AUG 3] Boston fans - Linda Gaines will be performing at "Skippy White's Rhythm & Blues Record Hop" and birthday tribute to Wanda Sutton at the Grand Hiram Lodge on Sunday August 17. Tickets will be available at  Skippy White's and space is limited so don't wait until the last minute.

[AUG 3] Vienna Dohler fans - as you know she's been posting new music on her YouTube page on a regular basis. Well, now she's making music videos for her songs too.  Check out this one for Farewell. 

[AUG 3] And that brings us to YouTube.  This week look for Giorgio Moroder's tribute to Donna at his performance at the Musilac Music Festival, Glen Rivera's Restructured mix of I Remember Yesterday and his Rumour Has It/Happily Ever After mix,  A promo clip  for Winter Melody,  and 18 minute music video mix,  Forgive Me live, a 5 minute photo story about Donna, and an unusual cover of I Feel Love by Cherry Mint Koala.

[JUL 27] Greetings all! Let's start off with the Boston Roller Disco party again. :-)  The Boston Globe posted an article about it, and if you are on Facebook, the Boston Arts Festival posted a bunch of photos from that night. (If you are lucky, you may even spot yourself.) There are also a number of photos on BostonMagazine.com.

[JUL 27] In release news, Amazon UK (and some other vendors) are showing the 80s albums as being available for download starting September 1. The label releasing them is Crimson which is part of the Demon Records Group - the ones remastering all the 80s stuff.  The speculation is that these September 1 listings are placeholders for the upcoming remasters and as such are subject to change. I guess we will see when Demon puts out a press release.  :-)

[JULY 27] Johnnyswim fans, yes they are STILL on tour (and will be most of the year, so find a time and place where you can go see them), and they are planning to put out a Christmas EP this year.  That release will be accompanied by a Christmas tour. By the way, if you go to a show - check out the merchandise.  Some shows have special posters available, and most shows have a few limited edition white vinyl copies of their album, Diamonds. 

[JUL 27] And while we are talking about Johnnyswim, let me point you in the direction of a couple of new interviews.  The first is on StAugustine.com, and the other is also at StAugustine.com.  (Can you guess which city they were playing?  LOL)

[JUL 27] I think that brings us to YouTube. First up is a Donna tribute story from Trez Gregory, a live version of In A New York Minute, a tribute video to Take Heart, a mix called Do You Wanna Get Down, a tribute set to The Way We Were, and Bad Girls live from Belgium.  And then this has only a little Donna content (you hear her music), but there is a 15 minute clip from a 1978 broadcast of 60 Minutes about Disco music.  Specifically it's about recording a record and then promoting it.

[JUL 20] Happy Sunday everyone! Are you Bostonians all rested up from the skate party the other night? For those of us who couldn't be in Boston for the big roller disco party tribute to Donna,  a couple of sites have posted highlights, including The Fab Empire, My Fox Boston, and YouTube. There is even a clip of Donna's nephew Omega Red performing Angel - the song that features Donna's vocals.  If you happen to be on Facebook, check out the Donna Summer groups because people are posting their videos. 

[JUL 20] In the everybody loves Donna category, Gloria Gaynor will be doing a Disco Mania cruise next year and her performance will include a tribute to Donna. 

[JUL 20] Giorgio Moroder fans - check out his interview on the Chicagoist. Donna only gets a very brief mention in this one since they are mainly only talking about his current work.

[JUL 20] Johnnyswim fans, the pair are STILL on tour, and of course that means more promotion.  :-) So check out their Last.fm interview, and their Glide Magazine interview. 

[JUL 20] That brings us to YouTube. First up is a new tribute by our friend Suecase Hall,  The Queen Is Back from Ottawa Bluesfest, 14 minutes of Donna with the Nashville Chamber Orchestra from 2006,  She Works Hard For The Money from RAI, and finally a 2009 acoustic cover of Bad Girls from Bruce Sudano.

[JUL 13] Greetings everyone. :-)  Let's start with this little article. For those who don't feel like clicking, apparently the Demon Music Group has acquired the rights to the Geffen and Atlantic albums, and the first one up for re-release (in an expanded format no less!) Is Another Place And Time because supposedly it has the most bonus material. I do know there were a boatload of remixes for those songs and it would be nice to get them all in one collection.  :-)

[JUL 13]  For those of you who like to follow the charts, this blog has compiled Donna's Top 20 hits from 1974 to 1999 im a whole bunch of countries. The information is presented as an image, so those of you out there with visual issues that make you reliant upon screen readers will have to get a little human help.

[JUL 13] Boston- are you up for a party? On Friday July 18 from 6 to 10 PM City Hall Plaza will be transformed into a FREE roller disco party tribute to Donna. They will be playing Donna mixes of course! and there will even be a couple of drag performers modeling some of Donna's looks. If you don't have skates of your own, there will be some there to rent.  It sounds like a lot of fun!

[JUN 13] In the Donna Summer FANS are everywhere category, the Garden Roses website apparently employs a fan who added the "Disco Queen" rose to the catalog in Donna's honor. They are said to be a very bright orange/scarlet color and if the photo is accurate, they really are really eye-catching!

[JUL 13] And in Gloria Gaynor news 9you will see why in a second) - she's got an autobiography out called I Will Survive, and in support of that she has been doing interviews and things. One, in the Examiner, concludes with a nice little memory of Donna. (And now you see why I mentioned it.) 

[JUL 13] I think that brings us to YouTube. First up is an interesting mashup of Donna, Ke$ha, Beyoncé and Madonna called Love To Blow You Baby.  If you are reading this at your job - save that link for home. It's not work-friendly.  Then we have MacArthur Park from the  HBO special,  the JCRZ mix of Driving Down Brazil,  I Feel Love from the Midnight Special, and the video for Fame (The Game). Oh wait - and one more video that was just uploaded - Stamp Your Feet set to soccer (football)  highlights.  :-)

[JUL 6] I hope everyone is enjoying their weekend.  :-)  This week's update starts off with .. what else? The Grammy Museum Exhibit of course.   :-) A few people have already attended and all I can say is thank god the gowns are behind glass because I think some of you would have slobbered all over them by now.  ;-)  Now, the museum doesn't allow photos to be taken of the exhibit - which is pretty normal museum policy. It's just like how no concert venues will allow you to record the shows, and yet YouTube is full of concert videos. So you know where this is going, right? If you are on Facebook, you may have already seen some of the photos that aren't being taken.  (Check out the Donna groups - you will find the fans who aren't taking pictures.  ;-) ) If YouTube is more your style, then there is this video that wasn't shot, and of course I have no photos on my site. (Wait, was that a hyperlink? How did that happen?  ;-) )   Now for those who just want the important highlights, I counted 9 gowns and 2 wigs. There is a bunch of other cool stuff too, but I know there is a certain obsession with clothes and PARTICULARLY wigs on the forum. 

[JUL 6] Let's move on to the land of remixes. Now playing on Soundcloud is the Division 4 Radio Edit of She Works Hard For The Money.  It sounds like they used the vocals from Live & More Encore. 

[JUL 6] In the land of covers, there is a cover of Hot Stuff that is unlike any version of that song I have ever heard. It is described on YouTube as the Peruvian Folk version of the song. 

[JUL 6] Johnnyswim fans, they've been working with Lincoln cars on their Dream Ride campaign. Check out the video they made with Lincoln here. 

[JUL 6] I think that brings us to YouTube.  First up, this unreleased gem (which just happens to fit with the July 4 holiday), then there is the Danny Howells  mix of I Feel Love paired with lots of club footage, the 1983 HBO special (taken from VHS), the Patrice Relaxamix of Love To Love You, and She Works Hard For The Money from the Grammys. 

[JUL 1] It's the first of the month so you know the drill. The Summer Fever Pick changes.... this time to Love To Love You Baby.  :-)

[JUN 29] Happy week of celebrations! I know a lot of you were doing Pride celebrations this weekend, We have July 4 here in the US coming up along with Canada Day for our northern neighbors. And of course the most important celebration of them all - the opening of the Donna Summer exhibit at the Grammy Museum on Wednesday!  If you missed that announcement the other day, just scroll down for the press release.   :-)  If you are looking for a tiny little sneak peek, the museum posted this photo on their social media accounts:

[JUN 29] In cover news, I have mentioned previously that Aretha Franklin is working on an album  of covers that will include Last Dance.  She's promising to "give you what you are expecting and what you are not expecting." That is an intriguing promise.  They are hoping for a September release, but that is subject to change since they only recorded about half the songs so far.

[JUN 29] Johnnyswim fans - they are still on tour, and as I keep saying, get your tickets early because they keep selling out.  :-)  The pair did an interview with The Tennessean to promote tonight's show. Check it out - you can find out what it's like to smack David Letterman with a broken guitar string. (Accidentally of course!)   :-)

[JUN 29] I think that brings us to YouTube. First up is Patrice's Non-Stop Hit Mix 2  - over an hour of Donna tunes! Then there is his Ballad Collection (another hour of tunes!) ,  Donna on Oprah,  and Donna on Regis and Kathie Lee (with her dishes  LOL). Then in honor of July 4 we have God Bless America,  and The Star Spangled Banner. 

[JUN 24] This just in.... On July 2 the Grammy Museum in Los Angeles will unveil a new temporary exhibit called.... (you are gonna love this!) ... Donna Summer: Four Seasons Of Love.  The exhibit will run until Spring 2015 and will include things like gowns, set design sketches by Donna, handwritten lyrics and notes, rare photos, some of Donna's art.  I'm gonna quote the entire press release in a second, but I want to say first that if any of you west coasters are going and would like to share a report - I'll be happy to publish it!  Now let me just stop doing my happy dance long enough to cut  and paste the press release:

[JUN 22] Happy Sunday everyone.   :-) Let's start off with one more photo from the mural celebration in Boston last week, courtesy of the Boston Globe.  (It also made their photos of the week page.)

[JUN 22] Remix fans, our very own fanmixer Q has returned with his mix of Our Love. 

[JUN 22] Johnnyswim fans: there is a nice interview in the Saratogian, and another in the Boston Herald.  And don't forget, the pair are on tour, so check out the list and if they are coming to you - grab your tickets EARLY!   :-)

[JUN 22] Bruce Sudano fans, check out his new song, Alone, on YouTube.  And stay tuned, because later this summer Bruce will be taping something for Voice Of America.  Also check out these new dates (opening for the Zombies):  
8/13 John Burns Park - Massapequa, NY
8/14 Birchmere Music Hall - Alexandria, VA
8/16 Paramount Hudson Valley - Peekskill, NY
8/16 Westhampton Beach PAC - Westhampton Beach, NY

[JUN 22] Vienna Dohler fans - check out her new songs on YouTube, Bruise and You And I.  Both are original songs.  :-)

[JUN 22] That brings us to YouTube. First up is an hour megamix of Donna music by Patrice, an extended mix of Adonai, Donna on Tavis Smiley, and a half hour profile on Donna . 

[JUN 15] Happy Fathers' Day to all the dads out there! 

[JUN 15] First up some sad news. Casey Kasem, the legendary voice behind American Top 40, passed away today.  I have very fond memories of listening to him count down the top hits every week (especially since so many times, Donna was on the countdown.) My condolences to his family, friends and fans, and to quote the man himself - keep your feet on the ground and keep reaching for the stars.

[JUN 15] Moving on to Donna, as you know the Dreambuilders Youth Project completed a mural of Donna at her former high school. This past Friday, they unveiled the mural with a special reception. You can see BNN News' report on the mural on Vimeo,  and you can see a few photos on the Dreambuilders Youth Facebook page.  There was also a performance by Rainere Martin who plays Donna in shows like Legends In Concert. She has posted a number of clips on her YouTube channel. 

[JUN 15] ARTE in France ran a special on Donna the other night. Some of you may be able to see it online here.  It is a region-restricted video, and I can tell you right now it doesn't work in North America. 

[JUN 15] Cultura.nl has an interview with the person who painted the flames on Donna's Rotterdam costume. It's in Dutch, so if that's not your language, you need to find a cute guy (or girl - whatever floats your boat)  from the Netherlands to translate.  ;-) 

[JUN 15] The Disco Soul Gold blog has an interview with Jeanette Wilson - someone who used to work with Donna as a stylist/personal assistant.

[JUN 15] If you want to hear a cool tribute to Donna, check out  Bad Girl by Kevin Saunderson & Inner City. Note that the title is singular - it is not a cover of Donna's song. This is a new song that pays tribute to Donna.

[JUN 15] I think that brings us to YouTube.  Let's start with Pete Waterman's tribute to Donna (with  help from his new 16 year old artist, James Graham).  It features Love's About To Change My Heart re-imagined as a ballad. I would have loved to hear Donna try it like that at least once.  Then we have the entire John Walsh Show with Donna, Chaka Khan and Grandmaster Flash. (That was taped over the course of 3 days - watch the audience change for each guest.  LOL) Also check out Donna singing Let It Be,  a rehearsal segment for Divas 2000, and an audio only video for the Rollo & Sister Bliss mix of I Feel Love. 

[JUN 8]  Greetings all!  :-) Let's start with some timely info.    On June 13, as I'm sure many of you know,  the Jeremiah E Burke High School in Boston is holding an event to celebrate Donna, and to unveil the  mural they made in her honor.  You can read more about the event and see the mural here. 

[JUN 8] There is a report on Facebook that the Demon Music Group has signed a deal to remaster and reissue the post-Casablanca albums.  Now it's way too early for release dates or even details about the releases, but all I can say is that it will be nice to see the Geffen albums get a little love for a change. (Not to mention Another Place And Time, and Mistaken Identity!)

[JUN 8] Here's one to make you laugh. Imagine Donna Summer showing up on the same list of musical artists as AC/DC, Judas Priest, Black Sabbath, etc? Well she did. But it was a list of artists banned in the former Soviet Union in the 80s.  You can see the whole list here.  (Hmmm, my top 2 divas are both on the list. IS that a good thing or a bad thing?  LOL)

[JUN 8] Ok Johnnyswim fans, I'm going to say it again - if you plan to catch one of their shows, get those tickets early! They are still selling out everywhere they go.  If you need a fix now though, check out these recent articles from TheUnion.com, the SFExaminer, and LAist.com. 

[JUN 8] I think that brings us to YouTube. First up is Philippe's video remix for How I Feel.  (That was a song from the musical The Me Nobody Knows, for those of you who can't place it.)  Then we have Supernatural Love (plus interview) from Soul Train, some live footage from Rotterdam, 2001, She Works Hard For The Money live from the Tonight Show, and finally a clip of Dinner With Gershwin. 

[JUN 1] Happy Sunday everybody. It's June 1 so that means 2 things. First of all, it's time for the new Summer Fever Pick. This month it is Lady Of the Night.  Of course June 1 is also the start of LGBT Pride month, so I expect that there will be lots of Donna playing at events everywhere.  :-)

[JUN 1]  There's nothing really going on at the moment, as far as Donna is concerned anyway.  But I do want to pass along some info from the Fan Club. Apparently there was a glitch with a few of the recent merchandise orders. The issue has been fixed and the missing orders are going out this week. Also - and this affects EVERYBODY (in a good way!) - the fan club merchandise will be redesigned some time this summer.  So if you want the original designs, you better order soon because once the new designs are out, the old ones will be retired. 

[JUN 1] So let's move on to Johnnyswim.  :-)  They have a new video for Home. It very nicely captures the spirit and energy of the song. You can see it on the YouTube link I posted, but if you watch VH1 or CMT, keep your eyes open for it there too.  :-)

[JUN 1] The Seattle Times has a short but good interview with Johnnyswim to promote last night's concert.

[JUN 1] And don't forget that Johnnyswim is currently on tour. I keep saying this (but only because it's true) if they are coming to your area, grab your tickets as soon as you can because the duo are selling out everywhere and you do not want to miss the chance to see them live.  And if you haven't grabbed your copy of Diamonds over at Amazon or iTunes, well then I just don't know what to do with you.  ;-)

[JUN 1] That brings us to YouTube. First up is some rehearsal stuff from the Enough Is Enough sessions,  a video for I Remember Yesterday,  a Stampyurfeet video for the dance version of La Vie En Rose, rehearsal footage of I Don't Wanna Work That Hard,  and the video for Fame (The Game).

[MAY 25] Happy Memorial Day everyone. As many of you know, this weekend marks the official start of the summer season here in the US. That, of course, makes it the perfect time to bring your Donna tunes outside to the picnics, barbeques, and  "sick" days from work.  ;-)  

[MAY 25]  So let's start off this week with a statue... or rather, a request for a statue. Apparently there is a group on Facebook pushing for a statue of Donna to be erected in Boston. (There are Donna Summer fans on Facebook? Who knew?  LOL) The difference between this group and all the other Donna groups on Facebook is that this one got a mention in the Boston Herald.  So maybe this statue could really happen.  (Although I have to admit to having mixed feelings about that. A statue would be really cool, but who'd have to clean it every day after the pigeons desecrated it?   ;-)  )

[MAY 25] In honor of the start of the summer season, Billboard compiled a Top 20 list of "cool songs with 'hot titles'.'" Guess what song came in at #1? I'll give you a hint, it's a famous Donna Summer song.  ;-)

[MAY 25] Da-Professor's Lounge has posted a tribute to Donna. It features commentary and music, and it runs a mere 4 hours and change.  So if you need something to play on a lazy holiday afternoon - this has you covered. :-) 

[MAY 25] In severely annoying news, at the end of an article about a weird study (and exceedingly small) on homophobia, Huffington Post tacked on a slideshow of celebs who they say have made made homophobic statements in the past. Yes, they stuck Donna on the list - and they included a quote she was never even accused of making while she was still alive. Can I just say, the woman is dead. She can no longer defend herself. Leave her alone already. Putting her on lists like that only serves to hurt the people who love her. If you have to pick on anyone, pick on the living. They can still defend themselves. And maybe, (if the stars align just so) you can even convince them to reconsider their opinions. 

[MAY 25] On to something more fun.  You Bruce Sudano fans will be happy to hear that Christian John Wikane was at Bruce's Bitter End show this month. That means that PopMatters has an awesome review of the show. 

[MAY 25] Vienna Dohler fans: (and I think I can safely say we have at least a few here  :-) ) she has a new original song on YouTube called Come.  I'm telling you , that whole Gaines/Summer/Sudano/Dohler/Ramirez family is hogging all the good music creating genes! 

[MAY 25] Johnnyswim fans - I have chart news for you. Unfortunately this week, Diamonds drops to #173 on the Billboard Top 200 Albums. Time to round up your friends and make them pick up a copy. (It should be easy - play them your copy and they will be hooked!) Don't forget, the pair is still on tour in support of Diamonds, so check out their tour schedule. If you see a show you can get to, grab your tickets early because they have been selling out all over the place.  :-)  You will hate yourself if you miss out.

[MAY 25] That brings us to YouTube. First up is Donna and the Brooklyn Dreams from the Midnight Special doing Heaven Knows. Then we have Donna's CNN interview about Michael Jackson's death, Glenn Rivera's Restructured Mix of Je T'Aime, a re-edit of Could It Be Magic, Love To Love You from the Midnight Special, and Last Dance, also from the Midnight Special. 

[MAY 25] Finally, I would just like to say that while Memorial Day is traditionally the start of summer fun, it is also (and more importantly) a time to look back and remember the military service people we have lost over the years. So I would like to say thank you to all the families of service people everywhere for your sacrifices.  Someone may choose to join the army or navy or whatever, and they choose to accept the risk that goes with it. The families don't make that choice, but they have to live with the consequences.  So my hat is off to all the spouses, children and parents of the fallen.  And my hope is that one day, humans will evolve to the point where we don't have to send people out to fight wars.  (Maybe in a millennia or 2 or 3?)

[MAY 18] Well, yesterday marked the 2 year anniversary of the day we lost our diva.  I hope you all were able to spend the day reliving the happy memories and playing all of Donna's songs.  (Okay, maybe not ALL of them, there are only 24 hours in a day after all.  ;-) )

[MAY 18] Let me start off with some personal business. As I said the other day, I reached my goal for the MS Walk thanks to your incredible generosity. I didn't think mere words on a page could adequately express my gratitude, so  I grabbed my team captain and at the risk of total life-threatening embarrassment, we recorded a short little message for you guys. (Please keep in mind that I HATE being on camera.  LOL ) If you are on Facebook, you may have seen it already. If not, then here it is:

[MAY 18] I would also like to give a special shout out to Paul, who has been extra generous in his support, and who has been an all around great guy in our correspondence about the walk.  He asked me if I would share these photos with you, and as far as I am concerned, that is the least I can do.  :-) As for the rest of you donors, I will be in touch this week. I have Donna postcards for you.  :-)

(As always, click 'em to make 'em bigger.

[MAY 18] OK - on to Donna.  :-)  First up, a gentleman by the name of Elliot Mintz who was a radio and television talk show host, and later a media consultant. He has quite a collection of interviews he's done posted on his brand new website. One of them is an in-depth 1978 interview with Donna.  It runs over an hour, but it is well worth a listen. The site is ElliotMintz.com and I'll just tell you now that you will have to accept his user agreement upon entering the site, and then sit through enough of the intro for the "skip" button to appear so that you can get into the main site.  When the jukebox with the menu options comes up, click the "150 interviews" button then click over to page 4 to find Donna. 

[MAY 18] DJ Ben Liebrand is releasing another of his Grand 12 Inches collections. This one is #11 and it will include the MacArthur Park Suite. 

[MAY 18] I think that brings us to YouTube.  First up is a Donna Summer Tribute mix by DJ Soph-eye Richard. That clocks in at something like 40 minutes, so leave yourself plenty of time to enjoy it.  :-) Then we have DJ DiscoCat's mix of One Of A Kind, Dinner With Gershwin (and an interview) from Jay Leno, Patrice's 12" La Dolce Vita Mix video, Science Of Love from SiriusXM's Artist Confidential, and Last Dance from the same show. 

[MAY 15] Thank you all! Because of your generosity, I have reached my goal for the MS Walk!  I am grateful for your support, and my team captain is in utter amazement of how awesome Donna Summer fans are.  Thanks to the cool people at Daeida Magazine, I have some cool postcards with the Summer Collection illustration to hand out to my donors. And of course I have the final MS PSA that Donna did in 2001.  Thanks again for all your support - not just for the walk, but for everything all these years.  I will be walking at Jones Beach on Saturday (and blasting those Donna tunes in the car both ways!) And since there is a chance of rain, I'll be looking out for a rainbow or 2.  I'll be back this weekend with the regular update.  :-)

[MAY 11] Happy Mother's Day to all the moms out there!  Let's start off with some good news. You guys remember Daeida Magazine? Well, it was on hiatus for about 6 months, and now it's back!  :-) And yes they are still showing Donna some love. The new issue is all about the cover illustration for the 1985 Summer Collection.  Now, you can read the whole magazine online for free, but if you opt to buy a copy you get a few extra little goodies to go with it:  a promotional postcard, a 2 sided bookmark with the original sketch and the finished illustration, AND an 6x6 autographed print of the complete illustration. The site is Daeida.com, so go check it out.  (And before you ask about the Nellie Prestwood interview we saw the first part of in the last issue... that will be completed in a future edition.  :-)  )

[MAY 11] Now here's a little something to make you feel old.  The album Lady Of The Night turns 40 this year.  And in honor of that milestone, Blogcritic.com has an article on the album.  It's nice to see Lady Of The Night getting a little attention - it usually gets overlooked in favor of Love To Love You. 

[MAY 11] Are you looking for something Donna-related for dinner?  The Tennessean recently had an article featuring recipes from 3 celebrity moms. Donna was represented by what they are calling a "High Octane Salad."  (Nice timing too - it's becoming salad weather around here. )

[MAY 11] Bruce Sudano fans - Bruce has posted a short clip from his show at The Bitter End. It's a short bit of a new song called Why Aren't You Here. 

[MAY 11] Now for the Johnnyswim fans out there.... guess what? Diamonds hit the Billboard too 200 album chart. It debuted Thursday at #29!  Way to go Johnnyswim!!

[MAY 11] Now if you are looking for a little Johnnyswim fix, there is a nice interview on Pastemagazine.com, another one on AntiMusic.com, and one more at Creative Loafing Charlotte.  And don't forget, Johnnyswim is currently on tour. If they are coming to your area, grab your tickets early - they are selling out all over the place.  :-)

[MAY 11] That brings us to YouTube.  First up is a special Mother's Day video for Mimi's Song by our own Suecase Hall, then there is MacArthur Park from a TV appearance, Glenn Rivera's Love Is The Healer (I Feel Love) mix, and She Works Hard For The Money from Musik Laden. 

[MAY 11] Next weekend is my MS Walk. I am almost at my goal and I just want to say thank you to all of you who have supported me so far.  My team captain and fellow teammates are also astounded by the generosity of Donna Summer fane.  :-) There is still time to donate if you would like, but no pressure. I'm just hoarding one more PSA....  ;-)

[MAY 11] And finally, Saturday is May 17 - the 2 year anniversary of Donna's passing.  To mark the day, I'd like everyone to go out and do 2 things. First, try to do something nice for someone. Whether it's donating time or money to charity, or letting someone cut you in line at the supermarket, or treating your significant other to something special.... just do something nice that fits in with your lifestyle. And then of course the other thing I'd like you to do is blast those Donna tunes as loud as you can. And remember - sing if you wanna sing, and dance if you wanna dance.  I think she'd like that very much.  :-)

[MAY 4] Happy Cinco de Mayo (almost) everyone. Let's start off with the new Summer Fever Pick.  It's time to take another look at Donna's musicals.   :-)

[MAY 4] Let's start with some new rereleases. Culture Factory has released She Works Hard For The Money and I Remember Yesterday as vinyl replica CDs. That means CDs that are made to look like the vinyl release right down to a replica album sleeve. They are really cool looking and even more importantly, they are remastered. I know some of you have been looking forward to these for awhile, so know that they are officially in stock at Amazon right now, and eligible for Prime shipping if you are a Prime member.  Now having said all that, there are people complaining about distortion on some of the SWHFTM tracks. I don't have my copies yet, so I haven't heard with my own ears yet. It seems to be mainly people with high end audio equipment doing the complaining, so keep that in mind when you order. (And remember that Amazon usually has a pretty decent return policy if the disk you get sounds too messed up.)

[MAY 4] There is a website out there that specializes in ....ummm... let's just say unreleased concerts. I mention it because they have quite a list of Donna shows available. Or so they say. People trying to access the site have found that either it doesn't work, or more concerning - that their antivirus software flags it as a malicious site.  So I just want to remind you all, that if you see something that looks too good to be true - tread VERY carefully!  Virus removal is NOT fun.

[MAY 4] In something way more fun, Sensiblereason.com has an article celebrating 35 years of Bad Girls. (Yes the album is 35 years old, and yes we are old!  LOL)

[MAY 4] Let's move on to Bruce Sudano. He played the Bitter End the other night and I finally got to see him and the Candyman Band in person.  Let me tell you why you NEED to see Bruce in concert. While most artists would stick to songs from the new album plus maybe a couple of popular ones from the old albums, Bruce takes a slightly different approach. He does some new songs of course, he threw in a (not so old one), and then he did some stuff that hasn't been released yet - including one song that he said they had never performed together.  So a Bruce Sudano concert is an adventure.  :-)  Oh and good news - Bruce told us after the show that The Bitter End wants him back.  :-)  (As well they should - he had a nice noisy crowd of family, friends and fans.)

You can click these for a larger version. (Side note to Scott - See, I did post it!)

[MAY 4] Johnnyswim fans - did you get Diamonds yet? (Amazon or iTunes) It is absolutely amazing! When it came out the other night, it was #1 on iTunes charts on the all genres list. Last time I looked it was hovering around #12 on that chart, and it was #1 on the singer songwriter chart.  I'm telling you, Johnnyswim is going places!  Once you have the album, you are going to want to catch them live, so check out tour schedule. Tickets for the Los Angeles show just went on sale, and there are plenty of other dates coming up.  And if you can't make a date (or are just too impatient to wait for them to get to you), well then you can console yourself with this NPR Tiny Desk concert.

[MAY 4] I think that brings us to YouTube. This week we have a vintage clip of Winter Melody, the whole Hot Summer Night show, Spring Affair, and a  Johnnyswim interview on many things including Donna's Hall Of Fame induction.

[MAY 4] And finally - I'm still a little short of my goal for the MS Walk on May 17.  And more importantly, my team captain is about to catch up with me (as soon as she inputs what she earned from a couple of cool offline events) and I can't have that happen!  LOL  I only need $330 to make my goal... no wait scratch that. It's more like $285 because I have a little offline money to input myself.)  So if you have an extra dollar or two kicking around and you have nothing better to do with it....   ;-)   But on a more serious note, it is surprising to me just how many people I encounter with a personal connection to MS. And I'm not talking about my pharmacy customers - just other people I see in everyday life who have a mom, or a cousin, or a brother, or a friend, or whoever with MS.  And it's the sort of disease that's really unpredictable in how it can affect someone. Since it affects the brain, depending on where the lesions are, a person could have vision problems or mobility problems or just about anything else.  Fortunately my team captain is doing really well, but there are other people who are stuck in wheelchairs, and others who have died.  You just never know. 

[APR 27] Happy Sunday everyone!  Let's start off with a couple of reminders. First up, don't forget that Johnnyswim's Diamonds is out on Tuesday.  If you pre-ordered on iTunes, make sure you have the program open at some point on Tuesday so you can get your downloads.  If you are impatient, you can stream it here (legally!)  If you didn't order it yet, head over to Amazon or iTunes and grab a copy.  

[APR 27] Then  on Friday (May 2), Bruce Sudano makes his long awaited return to New York to perform at The Bitter End with his Candyman Band.  He is scheduled to hit the stage at 9 PM. If you need a little something to get revved up for the show, check out the tracks on Bruce's SoundCloud including one he just posted called The Man Nobody Knows. 

[APR 27] In Donna news, the  3ChicsPolitico blog spent a week talking disco and they ended with the spotlight on Donna. 

[APR 27] That brings us to YouTube.  This week we have She Works Hard For The Money from the Grammys, Last Dance from American Bandstand, Send In The Clowns (because Sandro reminded me how amazing this one is), and finally Barry Manilow and Donna performing Could It Be Magic in one of the most fun clips ever. (That's how I like to remember Donna in concert - having fun and being funny!) 

[APR 20] Happy Easter, Passover, Earth Day, 4/20 and Sunday everyone.   :-)

[APR 20] Calling all you crazy voters out there -  Pop Icons Weekly is polling people to determine the best 70s icon. Right now, Donna is in 6th place. We only have until April 27 to vote, so let's see how high we can take her.  :-)

[APR 20] Get ready for the parody musical I Know What You Did Last (Donna) Summer.  It is said to be a parody of the Scream and I Know What You Did Last Summer franchises, set of course, to Donna's music.  It opens on May 2 at the Cavern CLub Theater in Silver Lake, CA. 

[APR 20] Johnnyswim fans - catch them on VH1's Morning Buzz TOMORROW (April 21) playing songs from the upcoming album Diamonds.  I would tell you all to run out and buy Diamonds on April 29, but I am SURE you all already pre-ordered your copies. (But don't forget to go download your pre-ordered copy on that date!)  :-)  And don't forget to check out their tour schedule. New dates get added from time to time - including one on June 3 in Los Angeles. 

[APR 20] Bruce Sudano fans - he's posted a new song on YouTube called These Shoes. That's his Candyman Band backing him up.  And don't forget - if you are (or will be) in the New York area, you can catch him live at The Bitter End on May 2. 

[APR 20]  As you all know, I am walking to fight MS next month. Those of you on Facebook may have seen this already, but I am 3/4 of the way to my goal of $2012. And so, I have made the third of 4 of Donna's MS PSA's available on YouTube.  Some of you may remember she did a concert with VH1 to support Rock To Erase MS, and she recorded he PSAs to air during the broadcast.  I gave you the first 2 when I got half way to my goal. Now you have #3, and I think you can guess when I will post #4.  :-) 

[APR 20] And speaking of YouTube, time to check out what's there. First up is  the song When I Look Up by Darren Hobbs (featuring Donna), En 10 Minutos: Donna Summer, Patrice's video for Jandry's mix of Be Myself Again, a winter slideshow set to Winter Melody, and She Works Hard For The Money from the Hot Summer Night Special.

[APR 13] Happy Sunday everyone. I have great news about the Donna mural project. They have reached their fundraising goal and surpassed it. I knew we could do it! Thank you all for supporting the project and of course for supporting Donna's legacy.  :-)

[APR 13] As you know, last week on Bravo's Flipping Out, one of Donna's former homes made an appearance (not that she'd lived in it since the 90s.) The episode title is "Flipping Nashville" and the house you are looking for is the one the client ends up buying. The episode is available for sale at Amazon.com. (You'll have to sit through a lot of reality show drama between houses, so keep your finger on the fast forward button if that's not your thing.)

[APR 13] In the Donna is everywhere category, she "appears" on the latest episode of Family Guy. A giraffe bursts into a restaurant and asks a woman at the table if she is Donna Summer. The woman says yes. I should probably mention that this is a cartoon - for those of you who are unfamiliar with the program.

[APR 13] For those of us who love MacArthur Park, there is an interview with the songwriter specifically about the song. Yes, he addresses the cake.  :-)

[APR 13] The land of covers, there is an interesting Salsa cover of On The Radio that is sung partly in Spanish. It's not Donna of course, but it's not bad. :-)

[APR 13] Moving on to Johnnyswim. They did a live online event for SerialBox.com and you can catch it here. And check out the interview they also did for SerialBox. And don't forget the pair are currently on tour in support of their upcoming album, Diamonds available for pre-order at Amazon or iTunes.

[APR 13] And then we have Vienna Dohler - she and her friend Camille and doing a fundraiser for childhood cancer.  Check out the details here. 

[APR 13] That brings us to YouTube. First up is a promo for On The Radio, the State Of Independence video, Glenn Rivera's Restructured I Feel Love mix, the All Systems Go video,and  I Feel Love from the Midnight Special.

[APR 13] And finally, I took a break from plugging my MS Walk because I didn't want to compete with the mural project, but if you happen to have a couple of bucks left over and are looking for a cause to give them to, well here is my MS page.  I'm still forking towards my goal of $2012.  :-)

[APR 6] This week we start with some sad news. Legendary DJ/remixer Frankie Knuckles passed away last week at the far too young age of 59. If you are a fan of dance music, then you have probably heard dozens and dozens of his remixes.  If you are someone who doesn't follow the remix scene and aren't sure if you have heard any of his mixes - just dig out your copy of Love To Love You Donna and play Hot Stuff.  My condolences go out to his family, friends and admirers.

[APR 6] Moving on to happier news,  this Wednesday April 9 is the premiere of the Nashville episode of Bravo's Flipping Out which should include one of Donna's former homes. 

[APR 6] There are only 6 more days to donate to the Donna Summer mural.  They only need $621 more. Surely between us we can do that?

[APR 6] NeverUndressed.com posted a photo gallery of women who they consider the beauty icons of the 70s. Donna si there on the list.  :-)

[APR 6] Here's one of those things that make you go hmmmm...  a blogger claims he saw Donna sing karaoke in a bar in Boston. Not he admits that it could have been just an impersonator, but whatever the truth is, at least he has a nice memory.  :-)

[APR 6] Johnnyswim fans, they sneaked in an appearance on the David Letterman Show last week. You can see it here.  (It may be region-restricted because it's the network's website. In any case, if you have an ad-blocker, you need to disable it for that page.)

[APR 6] Also catch Johnnyswim Tuesday April 8 at 1 PM (Eastern) for a live streaming event at SerialBoxPresents.com. There will be live performances, interviews and more.

[APR 6] And don't forget you can pre-order their new album Diamonds at Amazon or iTunes. (If you buy it at iTunes, you get 2 tracks now to listen to.)  And if you are looking for a live Johnnyswim fix, check out their tour schedule.

[APR 6] Bruce fans, don't forget he is FINALLY coming back to play New York at The Bitter End on May 2.

[APR 6] I think that brings us to YouTube.  First up if Giorgio Moroder playing I Feel Love in one of his DJ sets, then there is the entire 1979 concert from Japan,  Love To Love You from a 1976 TV appearance, and finally an audio only clip of the Hot Stuff mix by Eric Kupper and the late Frankie Knuckles.

[APR 2] And now for the real Summer Fever Page!  :-)

[APR 1] Since it's April 1 (almost) it's time for the new Summer Fever Pick. If you've been keeping track, we are finally up to Crayons. 

[APR 1] And while I'm here I have 2 reminders. Johnnyswim's Diamonds is available for pre-order at Amazon now and at iTunes either now or later on tonight depending on when you read this. It's actually only 11 PM on March 31 EDT as I write this.)

[APR 1] Also - don't forget about the Donna Summer mural. They still need $1900 more to reach their goal and time is ticking away.....

[MAR 30] Happy Sunday everyone!  :-) I'm going to harass you again about the Donna mural at her old high school. They only need about $1900 more (as of this writing) but there are only 13 more days to contribute. Of you have an extra dollar or two (or 1900 LOL) please consider donating it to the cause. They have a number of cool perks available to donors too. The Boston Globe has a short article about the mural project. You can see it here.

[MAR 30] Johnnyswim fans: You will be able to pre-order the new album, Diamonds starting April 1. (The release date is April 29.)  The pair are promising all kinds of fun for April 1. They will be streaming something "top secret" and live tweeting about it.

[MAR 30] In other Johnnyswim news, they have joined the lineup for Lollapalooza 2014 to be held in Chicago. Johnnyswim take the stage Saturday August 2. 

[MAR 30] And just in case you need a little something to tide you over until Tuesday's fun.... check out this new Billboard interview with Johnnyswim where we get yet ANOTHER version of how the band got its name.   :-)  You can hear the song Home on the Billboard page too.

[MAR 30] In Bruce Sudano news, he's posted a new clip to his Soundcloud page. He says they start every rehearsal with a jam and he's posted one that's about 9 minutes of jazz.  It's got a nice groove to it - it's good music for updating a website to...   ;-)

[MAR 30] I think that brings us to YouTube. First up is a tribute video by Suecase Hall set to The Impossible Dream,  then a brief overview of Donna's career -  in Spanish, the video for When Love Takes Over You, On The Radio from 1981, an interview from Lifestyles Of The Rich And Famous, and a cover of Always Something There To Remind Me. 

[MAR 23] Happy Spring everyone!  Let's start off with the Donna mural again. As of right now, they only need another $2500 to make the mural a reality. But there are only 20 more days to contribute, so we've got to act fast.  Let me share an email that our friend LST DNCE sent to his friends and family. (I edited it only enough to protect his privacy and the privacy of his family.)

This is a legit email from your friend/family LST DNCE. First off, I'm asking you to consider donating to this cause. If you're first answer is no then delete this and I'm sorry I bothered you and I hope all is well with you.

Now that you have kept reading....Many of you know my Donna history...Donna Summer has always been a HUGE passion in my life since 1975 and this fundraising cause will leverage Donna's Legacy to inspire others to be successful just as Donna is. This cause is funding a mural in Donna's Boston High School, the Jeremiah E. Burke High School, so that today's youth are encouraged to stay on a path towards achievement and building on their dreams. As a Boston Public School graduate I was inspired by others before me who made is possible to achieve a Harvard Masters Degree and a very successful and enjoyable career. I'm committed to help others who grow up in the same circumstances to become all they can be and feel confident about taking on challenges as they become the future of our society. They can't do this alone unless they are inspired by others who prove that they can grow beyond their means to become whatever and whoever they desire.

On a more personal note, my sister went to this high school with Donna and can you imagine my awe when I realized that my muse rubbed elbows with my sister! On top of that, another family friend was Donna's banker in her early years of success and I was just about to explode wondering how I was missing out on such close contact with Donna!!!! Needless to say when I first met Donna on Friday, July 2, 1999 at the Today Show I had years of built up desire to just spend the day with her catching up on this history as if she was a known friend. Of course, Donna, being the pleasant person she is, was chatting with me as if we were friends, even if it wasn't for the whole day. But those precious 30 or so minutes will stay with me as if they were the whole day.

<snip>

So these two brief stories lead me to my request that you consider donating what you can to achieve the goal so the Donna Summer Mural can become a reality for so many other inner city kids like yours truly. Sadly, Donna has left us to join the Disco in Heaven and her passing was on Thursday, May 17, 2012. So if you contribute $5.17 or $51.72 or $517.12, that would be a memorable amount building on this mural to make it a reality.....or any amount in between that is possible will surely achieve the goal and trust me, when the Donna Summer Mural is complete I will be there and send each of you a photo of that wonderful event.

In closing, yes, I am and always will be a Donna Summer diehard fan! And who can ask for anything more than having a lifelong passion who will always provide enjoyment, guidance, comfort and inspiration in a talent such as Donna Summer who has no boundaries and reminds us that you can always carry on until your LAST DANCE!!!!

Thank you and at this time of year you should find a way to play/hear Donna singing "SPRING AFFAIR"

[MAR 23] Ok you guys all know Donna lived in Nashville. She had different  houses there at different times and the one she had in the early 90s is going to be featured on the show, Flipping Out. The house has been recently purchased and the episode will feature before and after pictures of the place. According to Wikipedia, the airdate will be April 9, but keep an eye on the show's website for confirmation of that.

[MAR 23] How about something silly? A NASCAR reporter met Donna at a race today. Well, at least he thought  he did.  LOL  The poor guy is probably ready to crawl under a rock now that places like TMZ are pointing out that Donna passed away almost 2 years ago.  You can see the video here.  

[MAR 23] And here's another silly thing that isn't Donna related - thank god!  LOL  There is an article called Who Killed Disco? 7 Suspects Revealed. I have to say.... there are some scary things on that list!  LOL The Disco Polka album really sounds like something we made up  on the forum, but apparently it was real. 

[MAR 23] Bruce Sudano fans - he is FINALLY coming to New York to play The Bitter End on May 2. (It's about time you came East again Bruce!  LOL)  You can see his billboard in Times Square here. (It's a Facebook link, hopefully it works for everyone.)

[MAR 23] As most of you know, Bruce performed  in LA the other night and he debuted a new song called Alone. Someone did get video and they put it on Facebook. Here is the link, I hope it works for everyone. (It's not something I'll be able to download and share by alternate means if Facebook won't work for you. I already tried... )

[MAR 23] I think that brings us to YouTube. First up is Sal's really cool video for the Knuckles & Kupper Hot Stuff mix, ten there is This Time I Know It's For Real, from an Italian TV Show I think, a slideshow set to the vaulted track, Walk Hand In Hand, and a sassy clip of Hot Stuff/Bad Girls from the UK. 

[MAR 16] Happy St. Patty's Day everyone! (Well, almost anyway. :-) ) There's not a lot of Donna news at the moment, so let me just remind you that the kids at Donna's old high school are still trying to raise money for that mural they are doing to honor her legacy. At this moment they only have 19 days left and they aren't even half way to their goal yet. This is about honoring Donna's legacy and about inspiring the younger generation. If you have a couple of bucks to spare, think about tossing it their way.  :-) 

[MAR 16] That brings me to the family, now where should I start? I guess we should start with the oldest and work out way down the list.  :-)  So... Bruce fans will be happy to hear that he has been interviewed yet again - this time for Elmore Magazine. In it, Bruce talks about With Angels On A Carousel and about songwriting in general.  Also if you are in the LA area (or will be) - Bruce and the Candyman Band will be playing at Genghis Cohen on March 21.  Be there! :-)

[MAR 16] In the land of Johnnyswim, they are currently on tour and are gearing up for the release of their first full length album, Diamonds, due out on April 29. Part of that tour placed the pair at the SXSW Festival where VH1 recorded these comments on the keynote address. If you check out their Instagram feed, you can see some of the recent photos they posted from SXSW (and other things.) AND for those of you who haven't seen it yet, the Johnnyswim episode of Live At Daryl's House is now live on the Live From Daryl's House website. 

[MAR 16] And that brings us to the next generation... Vienna Dohler.  She's Mimi's oldest, and quite a singer/songwriter in her own right already. Vienna has a whole bunch of songs posted on ReverbNation.com for sale with half the proceeds going to the charity Keep A Child Alive. (So that makes her talented AND a good kid! They are doing something right in that family.  :-) )  So after you get over feeling old because the little kid on the Live & More album cover is old enough to have a kid who is old enough to be recording (where did the time go?) then head over to ReverbNation and grab some tracks.  :-)

[MAR 16] And one more thing before I get to this week's YouTube list... As many of you know, I've been begging for money for my MS Walk on May 17. I am a little more than half way to my goal of $2012, so I thought  a little token of my appreciation was in order. Many of you may remember that in 2001 Donna performed on a VH1 special that also raised money for MS. In addition to performing, Donna recorded 4 Public Service Announcements to air during the special. I have those PSAs on a DVD and I have uploaded 2 of them to YouTube in honor of hitting half my goal. I'll leave it to your imagination as to when I will post the last 2.  :-)  I should warn you though that the quality isn't as good as I would have liked. My DVD got corrupted and it was all I could do to get it to play on anything. So instead of ripping the video, I ended up having to record my TV screen with a camcorder.  So here is PSA #1 and PSA #2. 

[MAR 16] That brings us to YouTube. This week look for Donna on The Word in 1991, the FULL Japanese concert from 1979, the FULL Italian concert from 1977, Bad Girls/Hot Stuff from the Nobel Peace Prize concert, and a live performance of The Impossible Dream. 

[MAR 9] Happy Sunday everyone! Did you all survive the time change this morning? (Well, those of you had to switch to Daylight Savings Time...)

[MAR 9] Let's start with the mural the kids in Boston are  making at Donna's old high school. They are still trying to raise money for the project, and with only 26 days left to raise money, they still need just about $4000. They have various perks available for different contribution amounts, but really - you can toss in as little as $1 if that's all you can spare. It's just important that the kids make their goal so that the mural can be completed!  :-)

[MAR 9] The other night a concert was taped at the White House honoring the Women Of Soul. (It will be broadcast on PBS starting April 7 as "In Performance At The White House: Women Of Soul" - check your local listings.) They had a bunch of cool people there like Patti LaBelle, Aretha Franklin, Jill Scott, Melissa Etheridge, and a young lady named Tessane Chin who did a really good cover of Last Dance. I believe she may be one of us!  ;-)

[MAR 9] Bruce Sudano fans: Catch him live at Genghis Cohen in LA on March 21. And if you need a little something to tide you over until then... check out this NEW song called No Surprise that Bruce put up on his Soundcloud this weekend. 

[MAR 9] Johnnyswim fans: Keep an eye on this page on NPR.org. The pair are performing tonight for a special event for Generation Listen and video highlights will be posted there when they are available.  Also, Broadwayworld.com has an article to promote the upcoming album, Diamonds, and the tour that goes along with it. 

[MAR 9] I think that brings us to YouTube.  First up is the video for Fame The Game, then there is the Queens Of Pop special, the ENTIRE Hot Summer Night With Donna special, and Donna with Joss Stone on Try A Little Tenderness.

[MAR 9] And finally - if you have a dollar or two left after donating to Donna's mural, I am about half way to my goal of $2012 for the MS Walk this year. If I hit that, I have someone who will be happy to toss me another $517.  My walk is on $517 at Jones Beach and I will be thinking of every Donna concert I've ever seen there. Any little bit you can throw in is greatly appreciated.  :-)

[MAR 1] Well, it's March 1 so you guys know what that means... time for a new Summer Fever Pick. This month it's Live & More Encore.  I expect you all to spend the month saying things like "Sorry Rod", and "unplucked section."  :-) What are you laughing at? It works for Barbra...

[MAR 1]  I know we have some remix fans out there. If you have ever wondered how a remixer works his or her magic on a song, check out this video about the making of the Hot Chip mix of Sunset People.

[MAR 1]  The blog, My Fabulous Disease, has reposted a very nice tribute to Donna that was originally published in May 2012. If you missed it back then, go read it now. And if you did see it then, go back and reread it.

[MAR 1] In the Donna is everywhere category, Pop Matters has an article on Kylie Minogue and Madonna that talks about how their music carries on where Donna left off in the early 80s. (The article is actually much better than I just made it sound.  LOL)

[MAR 1] Bruce Sudano fans: catch him at Genghis Cohen on LA on Friday March 21 at 8:30. Be there!  Also, Bruce has released his new video for Neighborhood Of My Dreams - shot in his old Brooklyn stomping ground. 

[MAR 1] Johnnyswim fans: Their episode of Live From Daryl's House is streaming now on VH1.com. For those of you wondering about the name "Johnnyswim"... well, the pair has yet another story on where they got the name.  ;-) 

[MAR 1] If you need a little more Johnnyswim, check out their interview on QCTimes.com.

[MAR 1] I think that brings us to YouTube.  In honor of the Summer Fever Pick, let's start with part 1 and part 2 of the interview Donna did to promote the VH1 special.  Then there is Donna's performance of I Will Go With You (and the interview) from the Rosie O'Donnell Show, Enough Is Enough from the same show, Donna and fans on The View, another appearance on The View,  Donna on Queen Latifah part 1 and part 2, and finally, Donna on Oprah.

[FEB 23] I have a challenge for my MS Walk. We have a generous Donna fan who said that if I make $2000 he will thrown in another $517. I am amazed! And my team captain may have fainted when I told her.  In fact, since I am now officially walking in my Donna gear, she would like to do something too to thank the Donna community if I hit $2000. I have t-shirts I could loan her to wear on the walk, we could get a boombox  and play some Donna tunes while we walk... actually, we are open to suggestions. (But the first person who says we should play I Will Survive will be ridiculed publicly!  LOL) If we hit $2000 what would you like to see my team captain do? (And keep it clean guys - we have some young children on our team.  Some are so young they can't even walk yet!  LOL)  Let me take this opportunity to thank those who have donated so far - you guys are awesome! And for those of you who haven't - we'll you are awesome too. And if any of you are worried that you don't have big bucks to donate, that's totally cool. Even $1 is helpful, or even just your well-wishes are very welcome. 

[FEB 23] While I'm begging for money, I might as well also take this opportunity to remind you that the Dreambuilder's Youth Project is still accepting donations to fund the Donna Summer mural they are creating to honor her legacy.  They offer a few perks for various dollar amounts, so be sure to check that out. And keep in mind their deadline for donations if April 4.

[FEB 23] In the Donna is everywhere category, she was the subject of Beauty World News' Throwback Thursday feature. 

[FEB 23] Johnnyswim fans - their appearance on Live From  Daryl's House debuted on Palladia just the other night. It will repeat a few more times before they switch to the next episode, and it will be on the show's website starting March 15.  And don't forget to check out Johnnyswim's tour page - they have a ton of dates coming up all over the place and you WILL hate yourself if you miss out.  ;-)

[FEB 23] I think that brings us to YouTube. First up is an old video from Stampyurfeet that combines footage of Barbra Streisand's Kennedy Center Honors with Donna's vocals. I have to say it's kind of funny to see Barbra's mouth move on Papa Can You Hear Me while you hear Donna's voice singing.  Then there is a video that starts with some other divas singing Last Dance, and then ends with a separate clip of Donna singing it herself. (You will have NO DOUBTS as to who the real diva is!  LOL) Then we have a cool video for the MAW mix of Last Dance that combines footage from several different things, Hot Stuff live on the Dinah Shore Show,  and Donna's awesome cover of Nights In White Satin.

[FEB 18] It has come to my attention that I messed up my MS Walk link. Apparently I stick in a link for She Works Hard For The Money instead.  Oops.  LOL  This is the right one. 

[FEB 17] Sorry - I was tired last night, so my update is a little late.  First up today... the new video by Stor Dubine.  :-)  It's his vision of the Laidback Luke mix of MacArthur Park.  (And yes there is a cake, and rain - but the cake isn't actually out in the rain.  LOL) 

[FEB 17]  Last week I mentioned the Dreambuilder's Youth Project at Donna's old high school. They are  creating a mural to honor Donna's legacy, and now they have a way for people to contribute to the project. They have a fundraising page - it's kind of like Kickstarter only this is hosted by another company. If you would like to contribute, there are 47 more days left to do so.

[FEB 17] In release news, remember that Casablanca box set? Well the Dutch retailer I mentioned last time still has a release date of February 7, but apparently they were counting on building a time machine because the real release date is now September 27. LOL  I guess we can wait - it's not like that's a new concept to us.  ;-)

[FEB 17]  The Advocate has an article about what happens when the gay community feels betrayed by someone they've made an icon. Unfortunately Donna is in there because she was accused of making  certain statements, but thankfully the article does say she denied making comments. And really the thrust of the article is not so much about what various divas did or didn't do, but how the gay community reacted to whatever was done/said/accused/whatever. And Donna is only one of several divas they talked about.  (By the way, I am aware of recent online "celebs you didn't know were homophobes" articles. I don't generally comment on them because I don't want to give any more page views to their garbage, but anyone looking to respond to one of those articles may find ammunition here and here.)

[FEB 17] OfficialCharts.com has picked This Time I Know It's For Real as their Pop Gem for Valentine's Day.

[FEB 17] Bruce Sudano fans - don't miss his interview with Dave Marsh posted here on Soundcloud. It's a pretty extensive one focused mainly on With Angels On A Carousel.

[FEB 17] Johnnyswim fans - catch them on Palladia this Thursday night at 11 for  Live From Daryl's House.  If you miss it (shame on you!)  it usually repeats a few times AND they post the shows online. Also check out their tour page - more dates have been added.  :-)

[FEB 17] I think that brings us to YouTube. Look for the Work That Magic video, the Romeo video (Donna's not in that one, it's just movie clips), Last Dance from the Midnight Special, She Works Hard For The Money from a TV appearance, and Donna with Joss Stone on Try A Little Tenderness.

[FEB 9] Greetings all! Let's start with a special upcoming valentine from our own Stor Dubine.  If the name doesn't sing a bell, let me remind you that he is the guy who makes cool animated videos like this one for I Got Your Love.   Well on February 14 (Velentine's Day  :-) )  he will be releasing his latest video through the fan club site. It will be a video for the Laidback Luke mix of MacArthur Park.  Personally, I cannot wait! I love his videos!  :-)

[FEB 9] There is a program called the Dreambuilders Youth Project operating out of the Jeremiah E Burke High School in Boston.  (If that school sounds familiar, it's because that's where Donna attended school.) Basically, it's an after school program designed to help give kids the inspiration  and encouragement they need to succeed in their chosen fields of interest. The project they will be working on is a mural to honor the legacy of Donna Summer.  You can watch their PSA here, or follow their Facebook page to keep up with announcements on how you can help support the mural project. 

[FEB 9] NME.com has published their 500 best songs of all time. I Feel Love comes in at #3!!  :-) (Personally I would have put it up higher, but they didn't ask my opinion.  LOL)

[FEB 9] Bruce Sudano fans - keep an eye out for his upcoming video, The Neighborhood Of My Dreams. He has promised on Facebook that it's coming "soon". (And it can't be too soon for me - that's one of my favorite tracks off the album!)

[FEB 9] I think that brings us to YouTube. This week we have Dim All The Lights live (preceded by a short interview), a 2003 interview, a recent Giorgio Moroder interview, MacArthur Park live,  and She Works Hard For The Money at Disney.

[FEB 9] And finally, as many of you know I have done the local MS Walk for the last couple of years. I will be doing it again this year and as I did last year (and as I have been doing  with all my charitable endeavors since 2012), I do it in Donna's memory to celebrate her humanitarian legacy.  This year the walk takes place at Jones Beach again (last year it was too wrecked by Superstorm Sandy for it to be ready in time.) And this year by pure coincidence, it takes place on a very special day: May 17.  If you would like to contribute, here is the link. There is no pressure.... but if I hit my $500 goal, then I will once again ditch my team t-shirt and instead dress in my Donna gear.  :-)  My team captain was totally cool with that last year.  (Please help me wear my Donna gear - I hate wearing the color orange!  LOL)

[FEB 5] Mary Bernard fans - go see "The Real Diva" (sorry Donna  LOL) sing in Delray Beach Florida at the Garlic Festival this Sunday February 9.  Mary will be there all day and she's even gonna hit the stage with Andy Child for a couple of songs. She very specifically said that she would LOVE to see everyone, so if you are in that area (or will be) go catch her performance, and then go say hi. (I promise - she doesn't bite!  Well....  maybe if you asked her really nicely to, she might...   LOL)

[FEB 2] Happy Groundhog's Day! That darn groundhog predicted 6 more weeks of winter, so I might be eating groundhog stew for dinner this week.  ;-)  Fortunately in here it's always SUMMER.  And that brings me to the Summer Fever Pick for the month. If you've been keeping track, we are now up to Mistaken Identity by some blonde chick.  :-)

[FEB 2] Some of you may remember a couple of months ago that  a  an 8 CD Donna Summer Casablanca box set was announced for European release. That should be released Friday February 7 according to this Dutch retailer. There is still no definitive word about this collection - other than it seems to be 8 CDs in a cute box. They haven't said if there is any new remastering, or if all the original art is included or anything. I suspect we won't know much more until one of us grabs a copy.

[FEB 2] 2 of the stars of the Broadway musical Kinky Boots were asked by Playbill to pick their favorite disco songs. Can you guess which artist made the list 5 times? (Hint: She is blonde in this month's Summer Fever Pick.  LOL) 

[FEB 2] Johnnyswim fans - mark your calendars for April 29. That is Abner's birthday and I strongly suspect he would just love it if you would celebrate by grabbing a copy of Johnyswim's first full length album - coming out April 29. Woot!!

[FEB 2] And that brings us to YouTube.  First up is a commercial for Live & More that will make you yearn to have the whole concert on DVD. Then there is the There Goes My Baby video,  Forgive Me live from a telethon, and an AMAZING playlist from the 2008 tour that kicks off with Be Myself Again.

[JAN 26]  Happy Grammy night everyone!  Let's start off tonight with some museum news.  Over at the MIM Museum in Phoenix AZ, there is an exhibit called Women Who Rock.  Donna is represented with her black velvet dress with the silver studs.  You might know it from the 12" single artwork for Work That Magic.  That exhibit runs until April 20. Then over in Fairfield CT,  the Fairfield Museum is running an exhibit called Fairfield's Rockin' Top Ten. That also includes some Donna and it will run until April 28.  Gotta love it!  :-)

[JAN 26] In release news, the company Culture Factory will be reissuing She Works Hard For The Money and I Remember Yesterday. These will be "vinyl replica" cds that include cardboard sleeves with the original art.  I am told that they do a beautiful job. Currently they have the Thank God It's Friday soundtrack available, along with a number of other releases by various artists including Diana Ross. (So some of you may already be acquainted with Culture Factory's work.)  I imagine that if the Donna cds do well, they will look into releasing other albums as well. 

[JAN 26] In sad news, attorney Donald Engel has passed away. Some of you may remember him from Donna's book as the attorney who helped Donna get out of her contract with Casablanca/Polygram when she made the move to Geffen.

[JAN 26] Johnnyswim fans - they just announced some more tour dates. They have  joined the Communion USA tour which is a multi-artist tour designed to give up and coming artists more exposure. For tickets and dates, go to communionmusic.com. (Be sure to click on the Club Nights Series and then February.) I know Johnnyswim have also been hard at work on their upcoming CD, so we should be hearing more about that soon.  :-)  

[JAN 26] That brings us to YouTube.  First up is MacArthur Park live, then we have Hot Stuff live, a commercial for Africola from the Germany days, a remix of That's The Way It Is, Last Dance from one of the VH1 specials, and Unbreak My Heart from the David Foster & Friends concert (because I can't get enough of that one.  LOL)

[JAN 19] Greetings all!  :-)  Let's go right to the charts. Unfortunately the news from Billboard is not good. MacArthur Park has slipped off the Dance Club Play chart. I guess nothing can stay there forever.  It looks like it's off the Brazilian charts too.  :-( I guess that means we need a new single - Verve, are you listening?

[JAN 19] The Diva Devotee Blog has an interesting piece on Donna's vocal range. It explains in technical terms what we already know - the woman could SING!  :-)

[JAN 19] In remix news, JCRZ has remixed The Hostage of all things. It's pretty interesting, but definitely not one of the songs you expect remixers to tackle.  :-)

[JAN 19] Johnnyswim fans - look for them to perform at the Ann Arbor Folk Festival on January 31, and the New Orleans Jazz Festival on May 1. If you can make the New Oreans Festival, try to go several nights because in addition to Johnnyswim, there are a few other lesser knows acts like Bruce Springsteen, Christina Aguilera, Eric Clapton...   :-)

[JAN 19] That brings us to YouTube. We have MacArthur Park live, Someone To Watch Over Me from Live & More Encore, Sunset People and Bad Girls from the 1980 TV Special, the Jacques Greene mix of On The Radio, Last Dance live in Japan 1987, and Dinner With Gershwin from the same Japanese concert.

[JAN 12] Happy Golden Globes night everyone! Let's start off with a new Ken's Korner about the remixes. :-) And after you read that and the news, look at this week's YouTube links below. There is something really special this time.  :-)

[JAN 12] On to the charts. On the Billboard Dance Club Play chart, MacArthur Park holds at #14. In Brazil - we'' they are still stuck on the January 4 chart, so we don't know how high she's climbed past #7 yet. 

[JAN 12] SoulTrain.com has a nice new article about Donna.

[JAN 12] I mentioned previously that Aretha Franklin is planning to cover Last Dance on an upcoming album. It's going to be an album of covers, and I just found out that she wants to cover Barbra's People too.  I have to say that I don't think I have ever had such mixed feelings about an album before. I am intrigued because it's Aretha and we all know she CAN sing.  :-) But on the other hand, I can't help but wonder if even she can pull it off.... those songs are so firmly associated with the original singers that it may be almost impossible to get listeners to accept a cover. I really can't wait to see what comes out of this project.

[JAN 12] There was a request on the forums for the Harold Faltermeyer interview, so I took out my trusty camera and photographed the magazine pages for that. And while I was at it, I photographed a few other things I found while digging up the Faltermeyer interview. I've tossed those all up on my Flickr account. Not all the pages show up on the Flickr stream in the correct order, but if you follow the file names, you should be fine.

[JAN 12] Bruce Sudano fans - go catch him Friday January 17 at Genghis Cohen in Los Angeles. You will be sorry if you don't. 

[JAN 12] Johnnyswim fans - did you like the Heart Beats video? They are promising a remix video - but there is a catch. First the original Heart Beats video needs to hit 425k views.  It's at about 406k as I write this - so we're not too far away.  So go watch a few more times to raise that view count.  (And then tell your friends to watch.)  :-)

[JAN 12] And that brings us to YouTube, and the special video I promised.  Nathan DiGesare has posted a little clip of Donna singing a bit of La Dolce Vida live on an airplane.  It is a rare behind the scenes glimpse of Donna, and everyone who has seen it so far is in love with this clip.  Everything after that is going to seem anticlimactic, but I'll give you a few more links anyway. There is Dinner With Gershwin from a TV appearance, then we have a medley from 1987, and a performance of All Systems Go.  Then if you are in the mood for something a little ummm... different... we have a gentleman analyzing Donna's transitional numbers.  (It's a numerology thing based on Donna's death date. More power to you if you can get through the whole thing. All the numbers made my head hurt.  LOL)

[JAN 5] Happy 2014 - I hope everyone enjoyed the holidays!  :-) Let's start off with a new Summer Fever Pick. This month we are up to Another Place And Time.

[JAN 5] Ok, in chart news this week, MacArthur Park slips another couple of spots to #14 on the Billboard Hot Dance Club Play chart.  I don't have an update for the Brazilian Dance chart yet. They may have taken a break for the New Year because they have the same chart posted as last week.

[JAN 5] As most of you probably know, Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve has been a tradition for the last few decades. The tradition continues even though Dick Clark is no longer with us, and this year they did a countdown of the Top Divas in the show's history. Donna came in at #16 and when they got to her, host Ryan Seacrest mentioned Donna's guest host stint on American Bandstand. 

[JAN 5] As you know, the Fan Club launched a web store last year. (Gee, that sounds so long ago when I say it like that!  LOL)  Anyway, Tom is looking to expand the merchandise selection and to do that he needs your help. So he's holding a contest where fans can submit their designs for a t-shirt logo to be used on future merchandise.  Now there are some simple rules about copyright that you need to read before you start designing, so read those carefully before you get started.   :-)  I can't wait to see what you all come up with!

[JAN 5] Attention internet voters: Pop-Icons.net is holding a poll to determine the favorite female pop icon. The poll is set to close on January 8, so try to vote if you can. (I say "if you can" because when I went there just now, the site was down. I think they used up their bandwidth.)

[JAN 5] As you know, December 31 was Donna's birthday, and it's nice to see that even though she's not here to celebrate it, the media have not forgotten her.  In honor of her birthday, TheBacklot.com posted Donna's 20 Greatest Songs, dw.de wrote a nice retrospective article, and BET.com posted a short article on Donna's career.

[JAN 5] Giorgio Moroder fans, there are 2 new interview with him. One is on NPR.org, and the other is on MixMag.net.  Donna gets a brief mention in each. 

[JAN 5] That brings us to YouTube. Look for Donna's 2004 appearance on Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve, a 1976 clip of Lady Of The Night,  Supernatural Love from France, JCRZ,s filtered dub mix of La Dolce Vita set to Patrice's slideshow, and just for something different: the Belgrade Philharmonic playing Hot Stuff.

2013

[DEC 29] Happy Sunday everyone! I hope you are all enjoying the holidays.  :-)  Since I won't see you again until next weekend, let me wish you all a very happy, healthy and safe New Year!  And when you are out partying this New Year's Eve, don't forget to have a toast in honor of Donna's birthday.  :-)

[DEC 29] First up this week - a small correction. Last week I said Love To Love You Is on the American Hustle soundtrack. I meant to say I Feel Love is on the soundtrack - but having watched the trippy new Love To Love You video a few times, I think I had that title stuck in my brain.  LOL (You know, now that I think of it - we could use a trippy new I Feel Love video too. Who do we have to bribe?  LOL)

[DEC 29] Germany: VOX is repeating 100 Songs, die die Welt bewegten on Donna's birthday. Look for the part with Donna at 15:05 German time. 

[DEC 29] In chart news this week, sadly MacArthur Park has relinquished the top spot and slid to number 12 on the Billboard Dance Club Play Chart for January 4. Sigh. But the news is better in Brazil where the song climbs to #7 on the Top 30 Dance chart.

[DEC 29] Let's move on to release news. You guys know Big Break Records, right? (They keep releasing awesome remasters of classic dance albums. If you don't know Big Break and you are a classic dance fan, RUN to their website now!) Well, they've gotten their hot little hands on the soundtrack to The Deep, and they plan to issue their remastered version of that this coming February. I've heard there are rumors they are trying to get their hands on some other Donna stuff. All I can say is, if they do get their hands on more Donna stuff, they WILL run with it! I have no doubt!

[DEC 29] Dunia Magazine has posted a list of 25 must hear Donna songs - and not all of them are the usual suspects.  :-)  I imagine that's because the article is written by an actual fan.  :-) 

[DEC 29] In remix news, look for the Pied Piper Regroove mix of I Feel Love using some of the new vocals recorded for a Gucci commercial.

[DEC 29] I think that brings us to YouTube. First up, a 2008 interview promoting Crayons. (Was that really 5 years ago?) Then there is an energetic performance of Romeo, a 1994 promo interview for Melody Of Love, a 1984 medley of Christmas songs, I Remember Yesterday live in 1977, and finally a TV commercial for Another Place And Time. 

[DEC 29] And finally - Happy Birthday Donna, where ever you are!  (I'm pretty sure birthday cake in heaven has no calories, so have a couple of pieces for me too. ;-) ) On a side note - I've had the Kennedy Center Honors on while I've been writing the update. I keep thinking how good Donna would have looked in one of those ribbons.  

[DEC 22] Well since this is the last update before Christmas, I will take this time to wish you all a Merry Christmas - or a Happy Wednesday if Christmas isn't your thing.  And in case you didn't notice, I posted a little Christmas picture for you above.  Feel free to steal it for Facebook or wherever if you want.  :-)

[DEC 22] As you know, MacArthur Park is #1 on the Billboard Dance Club Play Chart. That earned Donna a nice mention in the ChartBeat column. (But I still haven't found out if anyone else has topped the chart with the same song after so long a gap. My guess is that 35 years has to be some sort of record.)

[DEC 22] For those who missed it, Bruce was on Entertainment Tonight this week talking about Love To Love You Donna. You can catch it on their website still.

[DEC 22] Remember a couple of weeks ago we had a promo clip for Love To Love You? Well, the whole video is out now. Spin posted it on their website. It's very trippy!

[DEC 22] In the Donna is everywhere category - the movie American Hustle uses Love To Love You in the soundtrack.

[DEC 22] And in cover news, Aretha Franklin is working on an album of classic covers. She says, "They're records that, musically, I respected and that I liked a lot and that I would love to have one go-'round with..." Last Dance is one of the songs on the list, and hopefully we well see the album in the second quarter of 2014.

[DEC 22] I think that brings us to YouTube. Festivaldevinachile has posted a whole bunch of live clips from 1994. (They look like they came off of an excellent quality TV broadcast.) Then there is Donna's appearance on Tavis Smiley.  And then for the holidays there is Carlybabe's Donna & Friends Come Home To A Widescreen Rosie Christmas, Stampyurfeet's video for I'll Be Home For Christmas, Patrice's video for the Christmas Medley, the Christmas Song live, and of course O Holy Night. And finally for Bruce (if you are reading this), Patrice's video for Take Heart.  Keep watching for those rainbows my friend.

[DEC 22] And finally - if you are out partying this holiday season, #1 play LOTS of Christmas Spirit! and #2 - don't drink and drive. 

[DEC 15] Happy Sunday everyone. It's just 10 days until Christmas, so I hope you all have your copies of Christmas Spirit by now. (And I don't care if Christmas isn't your holiday - get the album anyway!  LOL)

[DEC 15] So last week I had some chart numbers for you, and I mentioned that MacArthur Park would be #2 on the Billboard Dance Club Play chart for December 27. That was a slight typo - it's actually #2 for the week of December 21.  And as it happens, we have the chart position for December 28 (the closest chart to Donna's birthday by the way.) Let's see if you can guess what number it is?  Did I hear you all screaming ONE really loudly? Well, if you did, you are right. Once again Donna tops the Billboard Dance Charts!  You just can't keep a good diva down!  :-) 

[DEC 15] And while we are talking charts, MacArthur Park entered the Brazilian Top 30 charts at #26 last week and then decided to jump up to #12 this week. I think it's heading for the top over there too.  :-)

[DEC 15] So how should we celebrate all this excellent chart news? Well, we could celebrate with the ROSABEL MacArthur Park mixes that will hit iTunes this Tuesday (December 17.)   :-)  

[DEC 15] A recent episode of the ABC TV show Nashville has caused a little discussion on the forums because it looks like there could be a Donna painting in the background of one scene. The episode in question is "Tomorrow Never Comes" and if you look at the online stream at about the 28 minute mark there is a scene set in a dressing room or green room, and if you look behind the guy (or in the mirror behind the girl) you can see a painting that looks like it could be in Donna's style. (It's a little blurry though.)  Check it out and see what you think.

[DEC 15] Soundcloud users, there is a  Brian Reyes mix of Whenever There Is Love available for your dancing pleasure. (There is some really cool artwork posted there to go with it.) 

[DEC 15] And now for some Mimi Dohler news (although you remember her as Mimi Sommer.) Wait, what? Mimi news?  Do I have the right daughter? Why actually - yes I do! Mimi has written and recorded a new song to honor the legacy of Mia Sutphin, a friend of the family who passed away while working with HIV-infected kids at an orphanage in Kenya.  Mia's family set up a foundation to continue her work with children, and  purchases of Mimi's recording of Mia's Song will benefit the Mia Sutphin Foundation. It's available on Esty.com for $1.99 and it's a really beautiful track. 

[DEC 15] That brings us to the web. First up is a cool fan video for the Laidback Luke MacArthur Park mix. Then there is a tribute video by our friend Suecase Hall  called Remember Me. Yes, it's a Diana Ross song but it does fit wonderfully, and as a bonus it will confuse the heck out of casual fans.  LOL Then we have the famous version of O Holy Night from Solid Gold. (Was anyone NOT blown away when it originally aired?)  Then we have the audio only for When The Dream Never Dies, from the Christmas musical Child Of The Promise, and finally a fan made video for Christmas Spirit.  (Did you buy the album yet? If not, you better - or else I'll play Shout It Out for you 100 times in a row! Ha! That'll teach you!  ;-) )

[DEC 8] Greetings from snowy Long Island. Let's jump right into the charts.  :-)  On the current chart (December 14) MacArthur Park is #7 on the Billboard Dance Club Play chart. Look for it to be #2 on the December 27 chart.  :-)

[DEC 8] Look for the Rosabel MacArthur Park remixes to hit iTunes on December 17. We'll be dancing the holidays away!  :-)

[DEC 8] If you are looking to get one of Donna's lithos, there are still a few (a very FEW) left. Tom posted a list on the fan club site with the number left and the prices. 

[DEC 8] Here's a cool little video for you. It was commissioned by Verve to promote the Love To Love You Donna album. I just wish it was longer!

[DEC 8] Bruce Sudano fans - he's made a video for his new song Things Are Changing (from With Angels On A Carousel.)

[DEC 8] Johnnyswim fans: If you are in Nashville, catch their free show Wednesday December 11 at Houston Station. The show is free, but you do need to "buy" tickets to reserve your spot.  Details are here. 

[DEC 8] And if you need a little more Johnnyswim, check out this nice little article on standard.net. 

[DEC 8] And now for some sad news. Many of you are familiar with the fan mixes made by Phil Hall better known as Klyk The Mixer. It has come to my attention that he passed away yesterday. My condolences go out to all his family and friends who loved him. He will be missed. You can check out his SoundCloud page here.

[DEC 8] In honor of the late great Klyk (who I really hope is in the front row at a heavenly Donna concert right now), this week's YouTube links will all be his mixes. There is his Full On Instrumental mix of Be Myself Again, the Full On vocal Remix of Be Myself Again, his Opera Mix of I'm A Fire, his Speedo mix of Breakaway, his Smooth Mix of Tokyo, and his Extended Dance Mix of I Got Your Love.  There are plenty more from over the years if you nose around YouTube a little more, but these will get you started. And I have to say his Be Myself Again mixes are AMAZING. When he first shared them, I admit I was a little leery about making that one into a dance track. But Klyk made it work.  :-) 

[DEC 1] Happy Sunday everyone! I hope you all had a good Thanksgiving. And Happy Hanukkah to all my Jewish friends! (I guess this year's celebrations include 8 days of Thanksgiving leftovers?  LOL)  It's a new month again, so that makes it time for a new Summer Fever Pick. Being December, you know that means that Christmas Spirit  is in the spotlight again. Why? Because it's the best Christmas album ever - so BUY IT if you haven't already.  (I see my regulars rolling their eyes out there.... "Oh God, Cathy is at it again!"  LOL)

[DEC 1] Let's start off with some chart news. MacArthur Park moves up to #12 on the Billboard Dance Club Play Chart with no sign of slowing down.  Maybe Santa will bring us a #1 for Christmas this year? I have all my fingers crossed!

[DEC 1]  I know we have a few Barbra Streisand fans out there. Well, she did a concert in Brooklyn that was filmed for PBS and is currently running (in NY at least) as part of the Great Performances series. In it she says some nice things about Donna before doing her solo take on Enough Is Enough.  You can check out the set list and a couple of clips (but not the Enough Is Enough clip) on PBS.org.  Now if you can't catch it on PBS, you can also get the CD/DVD set at Amazon (or Amazon UK). Enough Is Enough is only on the DVD part of that set, so don't be put off that it's not on the tracklist. 

[DEC 1] In the Donna's music  is everywhere category, the trailer for American Hustle uses I Feel Love. 

[DEC 1] And in strange news,  somebody made a holiday wreath out of a Donna record. I would normally be upset at the waste of a good LP,  but they used a badly scratched album.

[DEC 1] Bruce Sudano fans, he premiered a new song at his recent show at Genghis Cohen. It's called Gentle Girl and he posted it  (along with the story behind the song) on SoundCloud. Check it out, it's a good one.  :-)

[DEC 1] I think that brings us to YouTube. Look for Philippe's video for the AfroJack mix of I Feel Love, and his video for I Don't Wanna Get Hurt.  Then check out Let It Be live on a UK TV show, On The Radio from Live & More Encore, She Works Hard For The Money from Disco Inferno, Paul Shaffer remembering Donna, and just in time for the holidays, Patrice's video for Lamb Of God. 

[NOV 24] Happy Sunday everyone! Let's start off with some fan club news. As you know, Tom started selling t-shirts and things on the site, and now he has an interesting idea for the holiday season. He's going to donate all the profits from the sales from now to January 1 to a charity picked by the fans.  Head over to their Facebook page to suggest a charity. (Don't forget to tell them why you like the charity!)  Oh, and while you are there, don't forget to click the like button.  (I KNOW there are more than 680 of us on Facebook!)

[NOV 24] And while we are on the subject of the fan club, Tom has compiled a list of what's left of Donna's lithos. (Sigh...) If you are looking to buy, contact Tom because the fan club has some special pricing available. 

[NOV 24] Ok, time to hit the charts. MacArthur Park is up 10 spots to #22 in the Billboard Dance Club Play Charts. (They ought to just rename it the Donna Summer Chart - she owned it in life and now she owns it in the afterlife!  You can't keep a great diva down!  :-) )

[NOV 24] Bruce Sudano was interviewed on the Marc & Myra Show on SiriusXm's Studio 54 channel last week. He talked about his CD With Angels On A Carousel and about Love To Love You Donna. 

[NOV 24] Johnnyswim fans - did you catch them on VH1 last week in the You Oughta Know concert? Well, if you somehow missed it, or if you just want to see it again, go to VH1.com to see clips from the show.  The Johnnyswim clips start on page 5 - do not miss Diamonds!

[NOV 24] I think that brings us to YouTube. This week brings Hot Stuff from the AMA's, Hot Stuff from another TV appearance, the State Of Independence video, The Wanderer video, and the Sound Factory mix of Love Is The Healer.

[NOV 24] I'll be back next weekend, but in the meantime Happy Thanksgiving to all my American friends (and to any of my international friends who want to blow off work Thursday and stuff themselves with food. The more the merrier!  :-) )

[NOV 17] Let's start off with some chart news. On the Billboard Dance Club Play Chart, MacArthur Park moves up to #32.   :-)

[NOV 17] And speaking of MacArthur Park, there are at least 4 Ralph Rosario mixes out there. No word on if they will ever be released commercially, but my guess is you will hear them out in clubs. So if you are out partying, keep those ears open!

[NOV 17] And just in case you were wondering about the original version of MacArthur Park, Jimmy Webb talks about the meaning of the lyrics and about the Richard Harris recording in this interview.

[NOV 17] Now how about a little I Feel Love? (I'll wait while you do your robot dance.  LOL)  In this short article, Giorgio Moroder talks about I Feel Love being inspired by Star Wars.  (Dance with me Obi Wan Kenobi, you are my only hope...  okay, I'll take off my geek hat for now.  ;-) )

[NOV 17]  With the holidays upon us, now it the time to start shopping for your favorite Donna fan - or even for yourself.  :-) And just in time for the shopping season, Tom at the fan club has opened up an online store with shirts and hoodies with the famous fan club drawing/cartoon of Donna. And then of course you have Donna's official store (linked through her site and the fan club site) where you can buy Love To Love You Donna in vinyl or as a bundle with vinyl, cd and a poster.  Maybe I'm a bit old school, but that cover art is FABULOUS on a nice large LP cover! 

[NOV 17] Moving on to magazines, I was sent scans of a couple of German magazines for you to view.  I have the pages all available for you as jpg images, co click on each link below to see the page you want.

Hinnerk Magazin (October 2013)
Good Times (October/November 2013 page 1
Good Times (October/November 2013 page 2
Good Times (October/November 2013 page 3
Good Times (October/November 2013 page 4
Good Times (October/November 2013 Disco Story
Magazin Stern (February 1, 1979)

[NOV 17] Facebookers, Alejandro has posted a couple of new classic things as well. He's go the Superteen Yearbook from 1980, Teen Beats Disco from January 1980,  and Right On from April 1980. 

[NOV 17]  For those of you in the mood for Christmas music, ChristmasMusic.org is online and streaming AND they did play some Donna this morning. (And really, that's the only Christmas music I can deal with this early!  LOL And since I mentioned it, DOnna's Christmas album is still available on Amazon.com.  If you don't have it, you HAVE to get it!  Come on, it's really cheap right now and they will throw in a download copy when you buy the CD. If you only buy one Christmas album ever, this is the one!!)

[NOV 17] Johnnyswim fans - don't forget to tune into VH1 on November 21 at 8 to see them on the You Oughta Know concert. You will hate yourself if you don't!  Just to whet your appetite, check out a snippet of their cover of  Til The World Ends.

[NOV 17] That brings us to YouTube.  This week we have Donna live in Japan (from the 80s). This is the whole show guys!  Then there is Autumn Changes, Could It Be Magic, and MacArthur Park from the Hot Summer Night concert.  On a side note, if you are doing your own YouTube search for recent uploads, watch out for anything by CockRockDisco. That stuff is all DJ Donna Summer aka Jason Forrest, and not our Donna.

[NOV 14] If any of you guys ordered the Donna bundle with the poster from MyPlay Direct, don't freak out when you get the box and the poster isn't there. That ships separately in a tube and will arrive by US Mail.  Mine came a day apart, but your mileage may vary depending on how far you are from the warehouse. (On a side note - the album art is GORGEOUS on a nice big vinyl cover!!)

[NOV 11] Happy Veteran's Day to all the military families out there - be you currently serving, formerly serving or in the reserves and just waiting til you are needed.  :-) Sorry the update is a little late - I had a busy weekend and was too tired to do it yesterday. (Especially since I had to take the early shift at work this morning... who is the evil entity that invented work?  LOL)

[NOV 11] Ok, everybody  take out your copies of Love To Love You Donna and look at the cover. (Or if you  bought the download, look at the cover art in your iPod or whatever.)  Are you looking at it? Well guess what - you are looking at the best album cover for the week of October 22 as selected by the Album Art Exchange Blog. I have to say they have excellent taste.  :-)

[NOV 11] The other night, Dutch TV ran a documentary about Disco magazine. It was a 2 hour event and of course you know Donna was in there.  :-) (In fact she was even in the TV magazine Vara for that week as well.)  You can watch the documentary here, and it doesn't seem to be region restricted. I got it to play here in the US with no problem. Even better (for me anyway) they went with English on the audio track and Dutch subtitles. So I could understand what was being said.  :-)  Now the whole thing is interesting, but if you are short on time and just want to watch Donna, jump to about the 51 minute mark.

[NOV 11] Let's move on to articles. We have a number of websites that have chosen to write about Love To Love You Donna. Here's the list:

Windy City Times
RandomHouse
SCPR.org (especially note the paragraph answering "Did you learn something new about Donna Summer. It is very nice to read!)
Inland Valley News

[NOV 11] Let's move on to the charts.  Love To Love You Donna drops to #8 on the Billboard Dance Album chart for the week of November 16. It seems to have slipped off the other album charts - at least as far as I can tell from the website. (You can only see part of the charts online without a subscription .) MacArthur Park debuts at #39 on the Billboard Dance Club Play chart - the highest debut this week. (On a side note of trivia, the MacArthur Park Suite was #1 35 years ago today. 35 years? Who feels old now?)

[NOV 11] You may recall that the Fan Club website was holding a contest for the best objective review of Love To Love You Donna. The winner is none other than our friend Jimmie Lee. Congrats Jimmie Lee!  You can read the review here, and  believe me its worth the read. (It's a little long though, so be careful you don't get caught if you are reading it at work.  LOL) And while we're on the subject of the fan club, it has come to my attention that the Fan Club Facebook page only has 642 likes. That's crazy! I know there are more of us out there - I think some of you just forgot to click "like".  ;-)  Now on the off chance that some of you think that if you like this site, you can't like the fan club, or vice versa - that's just more crazy talk!  I encourage you to like us both because it really is my masterplan to have Donna take over the entire internet!  ;-)   Tom and I are not in any sort of competition.... wait... unless... hmmm...  If competing will somehow get us vaulted tracks quicker, then I will be happy to challenge Tom to a mud wrestling match or something.  (That would be one competition where we'd all end up winners!  LOL)

[NOV 11] While we're on the subject of Facebook, Alejandro has been posting again. This time he's got 16 Magazine's Rockline from 1979, the Disco Handbook from 1979, and the 1979 Year In Music.

[NOV 11] Bruce Sudano fans - go catch him at Genghis Cohen in Los Angeles  this Saturday November 16.  And if you go - say hi for me and tell him to come out East again!  :-)

[NOV 11] Johnnyswim fans - catch them on VH1's You Oughta Know concert Thursday November 21 at 9 PM on VH1. It's actually being taped tonight and as I write this, the live concert is streaming on VH1.com. (Their new song Diamonds is a keeper!!) Seriously, if you haven't had a chance to see Johnnyswim live yet, then tune in to the concert (or DVR it or something.)  You will hate yourself if you miss it. Now if you need a little something to tide you over until then - watch them talk about marriage and teamwork on VH1. 

[NOV 11] And moving to the youngest generation, some of you know that Mimi's girls sing. Vienna in particular is pretty active on YouTube, and this summer she and her friend Asa posted a  music video they made for their cover of The Fault Is In Our Stars.  Check it out if you get a chance.

[NOV 11] And that will bring us to YouTube. This week we have On The Radio from the Hot Summer Night special, Patrice has posted several new mixes he made, the official promo video for Last Dance ( with a few bonus seconds of Paul Jabara's Disco Queen at the beginning), and a tiny clip of Giorgio Moroder talking about Love To Love You Baby.

[NOV 3] Where should we start this week?  How about with - Oh my god it's November! Where is this year going??  LOL  So obviously it's time for a new Summer Fever pick. This month it is All Systems Go.

[NOV 3] Moving on to Love To Love You Donna... we have a little chart action happening.  :-)  It debuts at #97 on the Billboard Top 200 Albums, #20 on the Billboard R&B Hip Hop Album Chart, #11 on the Billboard R&B album chart, and #2 on the Billboard Dance Electronic Album chart. (Those are all for the week of November 9, by the way.) I'm actually very surprised and pleased at how well the album is doing.  Always in the past we had Donna out there promoting her stuff - I wasn't sure how well it would go without her.  Now if we move over to the Billboard Hot Dance Club Play chart (which has always been very good to Donna!)  for the week of November 2, MacArthur Park is the #3 Breakout song.  :-)  The chart action earned Donna a mention in the Chart Moves column on Billboard.biz.

[NOV 3] Bruce Sudano was interviewed by Joonbug.com specifically about the Love To Love You Donna compilation. In it, he addresses a lot of the questions we were all wondering about, like why Working The Midnight Shift is a cover. (And for the record, I think there would have been way less controversy about that song if Verve had just been totally upfront about it being a cover when they released the track. If you expect a cover then you judge it on its own merits. If you expect Donna's voice and you get someone else, then .... well, we all saw what happened. We fans do have a rep for being very vocal.  LOL)

[NOV 3] In original track news, the 1977 I Feel Love has reappeared on various European iTunes R&B charts. I figure this is either because of that 4G commercial I posted last week, because the I Feel Love remixes may have inspired interest in the original, or a combination of the two. The Journey also popped up at #5 in the German iTunes album chart.  That may be due to Donna being featured in a German music documentary called 100 Songs, die die Welt bewegten. If you are in Germany, you may still be able to see it online here. (The rest of us are out of luck - it's region  restricted.)

[NOV 3] If you are in the Phoenix area, check out the Women Who Rock exhibit at the MIM, now through April 20. The exhibit will move to the Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn, MI from May 15 to August 24. The exhibit covers blues artists of the 20s all the way up to contemporary artists. You can see costumes, albums, instruments, photos, video, etc. You can check out a short video abotu the exhibit here. 

[NOV 3] Giorgio Moroder fans, check out his new interview for the LA Times where he confirms he found lost master tapes in his laundry room. (All I ever find in my laundry room is escaped dryer sheets. Maybe I need to move?)

[NOV 3] In the land of video, let me start off with one on Facebook. It's almost a minute of Donna performing Last Dance at David Foster's wedding on November 11, 2011. Sigh. On YouTube look for She Works Hard For The Money from a TV appearance, Dinner With Gershwin from another TV appearance, a Donna Summer megamix from Looking Back, MacArthur Park from Night Of The Proms, a 1987 live clip of She Works Hard For The Money, and finally O Come All Ye Faithful from Solid Gold.

[OCT 27]  Happy Sunday everyone! I hope you all grabbed your copies of Love To Love You Donna and/or the iTunes deluxe version  :-) I know we heard most of the mixes individually in the weeks leading up the the release, but there is something about playing them all together that makes it more fun. I know you are all wondering how well the album has done so far. Well over on iTunes, it's currently at #4 on the dance album chart and #128 in the all categories chart.  On release day it hit as high as #2 and #49. Over on Amazon it's sitting at #6 on the dance chart, but it was as high as #1. I don't know if this will translate into any action on the Billboard charts - I'm HOPING we can score a little action on the Club Play charts. (So if you are going out clubbing - get those DJs to play some Donna!!!) 

[OCT 27] Now if you guys want a little something more than a CD for Love To Love You Donna, MyPlayDirect has  a vinyl set (that includes a digital download version too) AND another set with the vinyl, a CD, the digital download, and a really funky poster. (If you have kids and opt to get the vinyl release - you can have extra fun watching the kids try to figure out how to stick a record in a CD player.  LOL)

[OCT 27] And finally in Love To Love You Donna news, a few places have reviewed the album. There is Rolling Stone, Slant, Newsday,  DoAndroidsDance.com, and of course the Boston Globe.

[OCT 27] For those of you who can't get enough Donna (which is all of you I assume...  ;-) )  Christian John Wikane has written a wonderful companion piece for Love To Love You Donna on Pop Matters. Part 1 can be found here, and part 2 is here. These are very long and very interesting articles, so make sure you have time to fully enjoy them. (In other words, sneak reading them at work probably won't go very well for you.  LOL)   

[OCT 27] Any writers out there? Tom is holding a contest over at the fan club site for the best OBJECTIVE review of Love To Love You Donna. (In other words, it has to sound like something you could read in a magazine and not just the crazy ramblings of a diehard fan.  ;-) ) The winner gets their review published on the fan club site and social media, the review will be sent to Verve, and you will snag a couple of 12" promos of Love Is The Healer that Tom happened to run across somewhere. Now I have seen the stuff you guys post on Amazon and iTunes, so I know you guys are gonna make Tom WORK to pick a winner.  :-)  He's announcing a winner on November 29 so get writing!

[OCT 27] There is a cute ad running in the UK for 4G service. See if you recognize the song.  :-)

[OCT 27] Bruce Sudano fans -  he and the Candyman Band will be playing Genghis Cohen in Los Angeles on November 16.  Be there!  :-)

[OCT 27] And on the East Coast, look for Johnnyswim at a VH1 You Oughta Know concert on November 11. For free tickets, go to the event page on Facebook and respond with "RSVP Johnnyswim".

[OCT 27] That brings us to the videos for the week. Recently in Holland a show called the Night Of The Pop Music aired and showed some 2008 footage from an unseen Donna interview.  There is a clip online of Donna talking about her early success in Holland. (You might have to be a little patient with this clip - I had a heck of a time getting it to load, but I can't tell if the problem was on my end ot theirs.)  Then on YouTube we have a You Are So Beautiful (On The Radio) 2013 tribute to Donna from the YouTuber currently known as Suecase Hall.  Also check out the interview with Paula Yates, a tribute to Donna from Teatro Nacional 2013, Donna doing Loving You with Raffaella Carra, I Don't Wanna Get Hurt from TOTP, and a slide show set to Giorgio's remix of Love To Love You. 

[OCT 20] Just 2 more days until the official release of Love To Love You Donna and the iTunes deluxe version.  Oh, that is unless you are in Australia. If you live there, your release date on iTunes was October 18 - so go grab your copy now!  Now if you need just a little taste to tide you over until Tuesday, well just play La Dolce Vita.  This is the same song Nathan Digesare played in an interview segment shortly after Donna passed away. You don't have to listen too hard to figure out what Giorgio Moroder added when he remixed it. And then check out the Laid Back Luke mix of MacArthur Park. 

[OCT 20] For those of you looking to go all old school and actually go to a store to pick up the album, I understand that Walmart and Best Buy should probably have it. And if you want to go really old school, Amazon and Best Buy will have a vinyl version starting October 29. (I don't know of Best Buy will have the vinyl in the store or if that will be online only.) 

[OCT 20] I suspect we may see more of these next week, but  Renowned For Sound has reviewed Love To Love You Donna. So has a blog called The Line Of Best Fit. 

[OCT 20] Some of you may recall that the Fan Club threw a release party last week. (Many of you may have actually been there too - if not physically, then in spirit.  :-) )  Tom has posted some pictures from the event on the Fan Club website. 

[OCT 20]  In remix news, there are apparently several Laidback Luke mixes of MacArthur Park.  (I guess that's not too surprising - DJs usually have a couple of variations.) According to Dirrtyremixes.com there  are  the Laidback Luke Vocal Album version, the DJ version mix, the Vocal Dub, and the Vocal Instrumental. 

[OCT 20] Of you are in Bermuda (or will be) there is a tribute concert on November 2 at the Ruth Seaton Center. Three singers will be paying tribute to the music of Donna, Whitney Houston and Teena Marie.  

[OCT 20] Now for something completely bizarre... UsVsTh3m.com has posted what they call Donna Summer's Disco Sausage Quiz.  Try taking the quiz - I guarantee you will walk away saying "What the heck WAS that?"  LOL

[OCT 20] Facebook users: Alejandro has posted a few more things this week. There is Story from 1979, Rocky from 1979, and Muziek Expres from 1979. 

[OCT 20] I think that brings us to YouTube. This week we have an audio only clip for the La Vie En Rose US Radio Mix. (This is the 1993 recording and not a mix of the live version from the last tours.) Then we have MacArthur Park live from Night Of The Proms, a Patrice video/slideshow for On The Radio, an instrumental version of Carry On, and a classic video for Could It Be Magic. 

[OCT 13] Let's start with some release news.  :-) iTunes now lists a deluxe version of Love To Love You Donna with a total of 17 tracks.  The extra tracks are Our Love Krystal Klear mix (which was always on the iTunes list, but not on the other vendors' lists), MacArthur Park Laid Back Luke vocal mix, Bad Girls Boys Noize Club mix, and Sunset People Hot Chip re-edit. All can be previewed on iTunes. 

[OCT 13] And speaking of Love To Love You Donna, one more mix has surfaced - the Laid Back Luke vocal mix of MacArthur Park. 

[OCT 13] Fans in the North Carolina area may be interested in The Flat Rock Playhouse's Music On The Rock series.  Starting October 16 they are doing Donna Summer and The Sounds Of The 70s. The songs will be performed by Reva Rice. The show only  runs a couple of weeks, so if you want to see it, get tickets now.

[OCT 13] Awhile ago I mentioned that the American Cancer Society is using Donna in one of their ads.  The ad appears in the latest issue of Essence. You can also see it here. 

[OCT 13] Facebook users, Alejandro is at it again. Look for Muziek Expres from December 1977 (OMG the sunglasses in one picture are too much!  LOL),  then there is Rocky from June 1978,  Veronica from 1978, and Notitas Musicales from 1978.

[OCT 13] Bruce Sudano and/or Giorgio Moroder fans - you can catch a little piece of their collaboration for the Station To Station event on Vimeo. The video is a collection of clips from the whole Winslow happening. The guys appear at about 3:30 if you are in the mood to skip ahead. (I wish they had a longer clip!)

[OCT 13] And that will bring us to YouTube. This week we have a 1981 Midnight Special interview that proves (of there was ever any doubt) that Donna was human  LOL, then there are clips from the Enough Is Enough recording sessions here,  here and here.  Sadly none of them have the infamous "beat him up with a stick" outtake. We also have Donna's cover of Superstar (not the one with Richard Carpenter - this was recorded at a later show), Last Dance from the Midnight Special, the medley video from the Endless Summer compilation, and Could It Be Magic from The Box. 

[OCT 6] Let's start off with a couple of reminders. First, the fan club is having release party on October 12  in Michigan. Then in New York we have Dance Ritual Presents: Flashback with Louie Vega  celebrating the release of Love To Love You Donna on October 13 from 7 PM to  1 AM at Santos Party House. For those who can't do either show, there will be release parties in all of our homes on October 22 as we receive our CDs or downloads.  :-)  And of course there will be endless debates on the forums about which mix is best. Some of it might even be civilized.  ;-)

[OCT 6] And speaking of mixes, the I Feel Love Benga mix is posted on Complex.com.  This one is another dub.

[OCT 6] In the Donna Summer fans are everywhere, it seems the group The Saturdays are fans.  :-) In their song Disco Love they sing "It's never winter when It's Donna Summer all year long." They also start their video with a bit of On The Radio. And apparently they really like On The Radio because they have have recorded it as a b-side for their Living For The Weekend album. 

[OCT 6] Facebook users, Alejandro has been posting stuff again.  :-) He's got a Dutch magazine from 1974, Song Hits from 1976, a 1977 magazine from Mexico, the new I Feel Love CD booklet, and another Dutch magazine from 1977.

[OCT 6] Johnnyswim fans: check out this new interview with them in the Augusta Chronicle.  And if you haven't caught them live yet, well check out their tour page.  This month Amanda and Abner have dates in Florida, Alabama, Tennessee, North Carolina, and Maryland. 

[OCT 6] That brings us to YouTube. First up we have one of Philippe's wonderfully trippy fan videos for the new mix of Love To Love You. Then the YouTuber currently known as Suecase Hall has made a new video for State Of Independence that combines footage from the 1983 Hot Summer Night show, with the official music video and footage of the all-star choir in the studio. As a nice touch, he starts off with quotes from Quincy Jones and Bono about the song. There is also some live concert footage from the news show 20/20. The quality is a bit rough, but since footage from that show is really hard to come by, it's probably the best we'll see. We also have Last Dance from The Midnight Special and the Donna and Kenny Rogers Grammy Medley. And finally, this one isn't a Donna video, but if you have sharp eyes you can spot her in the audience. A few years ago Wynonna and Heart got together for an episode of CMT's Crossroads.  Donna and Bruce were there in the audience and you can spot them briefly in the video for No One Else On Earth. And just in case you are afraid your eyes are deceiving you, well here's a clip from a different part of the show where you can't possibly miss Donna. There are other clips from the show on YouTube, but I don't know if Donna can be spotted in any of them. 

[OCT 1] It's a new month, so that means it's time for a new Summer Fever Pick. This month it's Cats Without Claws. 

[OCT 1] And while we are here, Elle.com has the new Bad Girls mix for your listening or dancing  pleasure.

[SEP 29] If you missed the midweek updates, better scroll down and get caught up.  :-)

[SEP 29] I have a brand new Ken's Korner for you this week. This time he takes a fresh look at the Donna Summer album.

[SEP 29] Speaking of the Donna Summer album, there is a track on it called Livin' In America which Donna got to perform  at President Reagan's 1985 inauguration. If you check out Reagan's Presidential Library archives, you can see a photo of Donna performing.

[SEP 29] Bad news for those waiting for the Casablanca Complete Album Collection.  Apparently it has been delayed, although no new release date has been given. People who have placed orders have received refunds from what I am told.  I can only assume that either there is a licensing issue that needs to be worked out, or there is some technical issue that has caused havoc with the production schedule. All it would take is an issue with one  of the albums to throw the whole collection off track.

[SEP 29] Johnnyswim fans, check out their interview on Grammy.com. Also, if you were able to catch the Titans' game today then you weren't hallucinating - that really was Johnnyswim singing the National Anthem.  :-)

[SEP 29] Facebook users: Alejandro has posted something like 9 million (give or take a few  LOL) screen captures from the 1980 TV special. These are captures from a very good quality source.

[SEP 29] That brings us to YouTube, and let's start with that high quality copy of the TV special. Tom from the fan club posted  the full show from the original master, so it's a really clear copy.  :-)  (Hmmm - I wonder if the powers that be would ever digitally master that and sell it as an on-demand kind of thing?)  Then we have Patrice's video for Take Heart, Giorgio Moroder and Chris Cox's mixshow in Japan - featuring Donna hits of course, a tribute video for Friends Unknown from our friend currently known as Suecase Hall (break out your hankies for that one), then there is an instrumental for Last Dance (set to a slide show), and Donna performing with Seal in 2010.

[SEP 26] Breaking news on Love To Love You Donna! iTunes now has sound clips (long ones actually) for ALL the tracks!  And Love To Love You Baby is available now as a single.  Amazon users - neither the single nor the clips are there yet, but I imagine they will be soon.  :-)

[SEP 24] Yes  it's time for another sneaky midweek update and I have a couple things for you.  First up is a tantalizing interview with Giorgio Moroder that comes with the official Love To Love You Baby remix. (The sound quality on this is way better than the mixshow releases we've heard previously. Some people who were not overly thrilled with the mix before, have found that they enjoy it quite a bit now.  :-) ) 

[SEP 24] Next up is the fan club. Tom has announced a release party for October 12 in Douglas Michigan at the Dunes Resort. It's al all day affair with music, posters, CDs, giveaways and the must important thing - FUN! If you are in that area (or will be) be sure to check it out. And if you are on Facebook, be sure to like the Fan Club page. Tom is trying to get 500 likes, and honestly there have to be at least 500 of us who remember the fan club. (And then  even MORE people we can convert in the never-ending quest to take over the entire internet with Donna!  ;-) )

[SEP 24] And now for the less fun part of the update. I thought that by now the final track list for Love To Love You Donna had to be etched in stone by now just because of the logistics of making the CDs and getting them to where they need to be by release date.  Apparently that's not entirely the case. I was speaking to someone in the industry earlier and it seems there is some sort of kerfuffel  (I love that word!) regarding La Dolce Vida.  It's something about not all the writers signing off on the song yet because of some credit issues. (Not all the writers are being credited appropriately for their contributions.) They are hoping to have that all sorted in a couple of days, and I'm really hoping that's the case because I want the vaulted tracks! (And raiding the vault myself became a lot less fun without Donna there to guard the door. Sigh....)  The other thing I am hoping is that if the track list isn't nailed down yet, maybe there is still time for Verve to  clean up the Working The Midnight Shift madness. I think all it would take is a little truth in advertising - something like the CD art and advertising listing 12 mixes (13 if we get La Dolce Vida)  plus a bonus COVER version.  I think the song probably would have been received a lot better by all of us if we had known it was meant to be a cover before we heard it. I mean, it's not bad as a cover (IMO) ... it's just not Donna. 

[SEP 22] Happy Sunday everyone! Let's start off with yet another track from Love To Love You Donna. This one is The Master's At Work mix of Last Dance. I really like this one - it's got a bit of chill groove to it.  And I am still loving the fact that Verve has gone with a collection of vastly different mixes so that there is something for everyone. It also gives us something to fight about on the forum just like in the good old pre-2012 days.  ;-)  (Of course I won't consider the forum completely back to normal until we can fight about wigs again!  LOL ) Oh and I just realized - it's exactly 1 month until the album is out.  :-) Bring on La Dolce Vita!!!  (Is it still too early to stare intently at my mailbox in anticipation of the arrival of my CD from Amazon?)

[SEP 22] in single news, Metro.co.uk had an article listing the week's new singles. Intriguingly, La Dolce Vita was included in the list. Unfortunately it was the only one without a sound clip to go with it - nor has it turned up for sale anywhere yet.  The article describes the song like this: It’s softly romantic rather than raunchy but as the robot chorus declares: ‘We miss her so’. Is is October 22 yet? Or should I go back to staring at my mailbox again! (No wonder my neighbors think I'm weird.  LOL)

[SEP 22] And while we are talking about Love To Love You Donna, clear your calendar for October 12. The Official Fan Club has something up its sleeve for that date to celebrate the album. Tom isn't saying exactly what yet, so you are gonna have to watch the website. (Oh and for us long-time fans who remember the cartoon image the fan club used to use - it's back on their Facebook page.  :-) )

[SEP 22] There is an article online from earlier this year celebrating The Other Shades Of Donna Summer's Rainbow. It features a discussion of 10 of Donna's catalog tracks that show her diversity as a musical artist.

[SEP 22] HeraldScotland.com has a whole article celebrating I Feel Love.  Mark my words, that song will outlive us all.  :-)

[SEP 22] In movie news, Justin Timberlake was in Caanes promoting the Neil Bogart biopic Spinning Gold. The film goes into production next year, and it looks like they've already made some deals with various foreign markets.   :-)

[SEP 22] For those of you who use Facebook, Alejandro has been posting classic stuff again.  :-)  He's got a bunch of promo pictures from... I'd say maybe about 1976? 1975? I've seen that dress on Soul Train, I just have to remember what she was singing!  LOL Then he has a few from 1977, and a pair from 1978? 1979? I'm leaning to 1979 on those. 

[SEP 22] Happy Birthday to Bruce Sudano who turns ummmm... 21 again?  ;-) later this week.  I think in honor of his birthday, everyone should go buy themselves a gift - With Angels On A Carousel.  Check out this review on Soul Tracks to see just why you should get this CD.  :-)

[SEP 22] That brings us to YouTube. We have a TV clip of  Try Me, Could It Be Magic from 1981, an ET segment of stars remembering Donna, Patrice's extended Love Is The Healer, Patrice's video for Winter Melody, and Klyk's Instrumental mix of Be Myself Again paired with a slide show by Patrice. It's done as a dance mix and it's really pretty cool.

[SEP 18] Just a quick update for some news.  :-) Let's start with Daeida Magazine. The September issue is out now (and available to read online.) It has the first part of a 3 part interview with Nellie Prestwood - formerly a publicist at Casablanca and Donna's assistant. It also has a review of Bruce's CD, With Angels On A Carousel - which is their CD of the month.  So make sure you go check that out.  :-)

[SEP 18] Some of you expressed interest in a release party for Love To Love You Donna. Well, if you are in the New York area, here is a little something that just may fit the bill.  :-)  Dance Ritual Presents: Flashback with Louie Vega will be celebrating the release of Love To Love You Donna.  That will be October 13 from 7 PM to  1 AM at Santos Party House.  I feel obligated to say it's 21 and over, although I suspect for most of us 21 is just a fond memory.  LOL

[SEP 18] And finally, yet another Love To Love You track has hit the web. It's Working The Midnight Shift (Holy Ghost Remix) and you have probably run into some discussion of the track if you are on social media. (Well, "discussion" may be a mild term!  LOL)  For those who don't know, many fans are up in arms because that mix does not use any of Donna's vocals. It's a cover track.  Had it been an actual remix of Donna's track, I think it would have gained more acceptance because musically it's not bad.  But since someone else is singing... well let's just say (in what may be the understatement of the week)  that some people are a a bit put off by it.  And as is usually the case with Donna fans, we haven't been too shy about expressing our opinions.  Here's my take on the situation. Yes, I am very disappointed that this is a cover. A cover has no place on a remix album. Cover tributes should have a separate album.  BUT - I am still excited about Love To Love You Donna because there are other mixes I do like AND..... (this is the really important part) ... we will be getting La Dolce Vita which is a track straight from the vault. Don't ever forget that! There will be an unreleased track! And if that sells well, it could very well open the door for more vaulted stuff.  (Ann fingers and toes crossed!!!) 

[SEP 18] Just as I was about to upload this, I saw that now the Duke Dumont remix of Dim All The Lights has hit the web.  There is also talk that the Last Dance mix may turn up soon too.

[SEP 15] Happy Sunday everyone!  Let's start with Love To Love You Donna. We've had the track list for awhile, but I thought I'd summarize the remix leaks here - especially since one more turned up tonight.  The one thing I am really liking about this album is that there are a variety of styles of mixes, so that hopefully everybody can find a mix or 2 or 3 or 14 that they like.  (And at the very least, we will have something to argue about on the forum.  LOL)  So here is the track list with links to the leaks.

1. Love To Love You (Giorgio Moroder feat. Chris Cox Remix)

2. Dim All The Lights (Duke Dumont Remix)

3. Hot Stuff (Frankie Knuckles and Eric Kupper Director's Cut Signature Mix)

4. I Feel Love (Afrojack Remix)

5. Love Is In Control (Chromeo and Oliver Remix)

6. Sunset People (Hot Chip Dub)

7. Working The Midnight Shift (Holy Ghost! Remix)

8. Bad Girls (Gigamesh Remix)

9. MacArthur Park (Laidback Luke Remix)

10. I Feel Love (Benga Mix)

11. On The Radio (Jacques Greene Remix)

12. Last Dance (Masters At Work Remix Short Version)

13. La Dolce Vita by Donna Summer and Giorgio Moroder

14. Our Love (Krystal Klear Remix)  [Go to about 12:50 in the mixshow]

[SEP 15] I mentioned a couple of updates ago that Germany's JPC site has an I Feel Love compilation coming out September 30. Well they finally have a tracklist posted. They don't have the track  times listed, but I'm guessing that the extra I Feel Love is the 12" version. Disk 1:  I Feel Love, Love To Love You, Bad Girls, Hot Stuff, Love Is In Control, MacArthur Park, Love's Unkind, Theme From The Deep (OST version), On The Radio, I Remember Yesterday, Could It Be Magic, Back In Love Again, Rumour Has It, Last Dance, Heaven Knows, Dim All The Lights, She Works Hard For The Money, Unconditional Love. Disk 2: I Feel Love, Je T'Aime, Theme From The Deep, MacArthur Park Suite, No More Tears, Sunset People, Our Love.

[SEP 15] I haven't had anything silly for awhile, so I guess it's time.  The residents of the small town Castrovalva in Italy got together and made a music video of the whole town lip-syncing to Hot Stuff in order to attract more tourism. They only have about 20 residents there and it looks like they got them all in the video - from the very young to the old-timers. It looks like they had a lot of fun making the video.  :-)  (On a side note, the mountains there look beautiful.)

[SEP 15] Johnnyswim fans -  if you missed them on Craig Ferguson the other night, well fear not. It's been captured on YouTube and on Craig Ferguson's website.  (It's the September 13 episode.) The duo ROCKED the house!  :-) (And you kow somewhere in heaven, Donna is grabbing people and pointing down with pride saying those are MY kids!  And well she should!)

[SEP 15] That brings us to YouTube. This week look for a 2008 Curtain Call interview, the TGIF trailer, a Patrice video for If There Is Music There, an extended mix of Now I Need You, and Bad Girls and Hot Stuff from the Nobel Peace Prize concert. ANd finally a Soundcloud bonus for you - the DRSJ 2013 mix of She Works Hard For The Money.

[SEP 13] Happy Friday the 13th! This one is a lucky one for Johnnyswim fans because they will be on Craig Ferguson tonight. On the East Coast he's on CBS at 12:30 am (after David Letterman).  I assume that's the case for the West Coast too. Central people, Mountain people, Alaska and Hawaii - you are on your own!  LOL  I highly recommend keeping an eye on Johnnyswim's Instagram page - they love to post pictures from their adventures.

[SEP 13] Now, if you are old like me and don't have a can meowing at you to keep you awake until 12:30,  well then you can play a little dance music to keep the energy levels up. Might I recommend the latest Donna remixes to leak from the upcoming album?  We have On The Radio (look for the little play button under the cover picture), we have Hot Stuff, and Sunset People.  There is also a mixshow that uses the Our Love mix. Look for that at about 12:50. I'll be back Sunday.  :-)

[SEP 10] I came home tonight to discover that another remix has sneaked out.  :-) (Well since it's posted on Pitchfork.com I guess you can't say it sneaked out - more like we were deliberately given a teaser to keep us insane until October.  LOL) You can hear it here, but I understand that some of our international friends were having trouble accessing the mix. And I know of at least one person who couldn't play it on Chrome, but Internet Explorer worked just fine. So if you find you are having trouble - try switching browsers. It won't hurt and it might help.  :-)  

[SEP 10] And as long as I'm here, iTunes now has Love To Love You Donna available for pre-order.  The good news is that they have a bonus track of Our Love listed  - the Krystal Klear Remix.  The bad news is that they don't have sound clips available yet. I wonder if I stare at iTunes the same way my cats stare at me at feeding time, if it will make the clips appear faster?  LOL

[SEP 8] Okay - raise your hand if you remember the old Donna Summer Fan Club run by Tom Gilliam and company? Okay, those of you with your hands raised who happen to be at work while reading this - don't you feel silly sitting at your desk with your hand up?  Your coworkers will think you are nuts. LOL  For those of you who remember the fan club, you will be excited to learn that Tom has set up a fan club site and it is now open. There is a ton of cool stuff there and I warn you if you start with the pictures, you may never leave.  LOL For those of you who are too young to remember the fan club - well now is your chance to get acquainted with it.

[SEP 8] In the land of releases, the German site JPC has listings for an I Feel Love compilation and a 2 disk vinyl set for Love To Love You Baby. There are no details yet other than the I Feel Love compilation is due out September 30 and the Love To Love You set is due October 22.

[SEP 8] For those who need a remix fix before the album comes out next month, check out this mix of Work That Magic by  DJ Queen Vic.

[SEP 8] Facebookers, Alejandro is at is again. This week he's posted pictures of Donna with artist Peter Muhldorfer, and then a compilation of the same image altered many times, and a collection of 1975 images taken in LA.  And for the non-Facebookers, I was sent a page from Musik Express from 1980 featuring Donna clowning around with a boom box. 

[SEP 8] Bruce Sudano fans - Bruce will be teaming up with Giorgio Moroder for one song in Winslow, AZ as part of the Station To Station Project. It will be a song they create on the train from Santa Fe. For those unfamiliar with the Station To Station Project, it is essentially a 3 week mobile cultural event featuring people from  the worlds of art, music, film, literature and food.  The train stops at 9 different places with events planned for each.  It's a really intriguing idea and I can't wait to see what comes of it.

[SEP 8] Johnnyswim fans - catch the recording of their live appearance on WFUV. Then catch this clip from last year of Amanda with the women of Smokey Joe's Cafe.

[SEP 8] I think that will bring us to YouTube. Let's start off with a rare Afrikola commercial from Donna's German days. Then we have Last Dance from David Foster & Friends, She Works Hard For The Money from Disco Inferno, Try Me from American Bandstand, Live & More Encore, and a classic clip of Love To Love You (with the creepy dancers.)

[SEP 1] Happy Labor Day weekend to my American friends. Happy September to everyone else. It's a new month so it's time for a new Summer Fever Pick. This month we are up to She Works Hard For the Money. (Or in my case, She Works Hard For NO Money!  LOL  I wonder if my employer is reading?) If you missed the update from the other night, you better go get caught up - you KNOW you want all the details on the remix album.  :-)

[SEP 1] To go along with the first single (Love Is In Control) from the remix album, we have a cool new remix video. This is the official video. I'll have a fan video for you a little later in the update.

[SEP 1] And for those of you wondering about the unreleased La Dolce Vita, you can hear a tiny little clip at the end of this segment on Donna's death. 

[SEP 1] Photo hounds, you will LOVE this link someone found to Peter Raba Photography. It has a whole bunch of old pictures of Donna from her German days. These have never been seen before - well at least by me.  

[SEP 1] Google has archived a 2009 interview with Pete Bellotte about  I Feel Love.  You can read it here. And Interview Magazine reposted their 1976 interview with Donna.

[SEP 1] And that brings us to YouTube. Look for Philippe's cool (and trippy) video for Dim All The Lights, Summer3K's video for the Love Is In Control remix, and ANOTHER fan video for the Love Is In Control mix,. Then we have a few official videos for When Love Takes Over You, There Goes My Baby, the original Love Is In Control, All Systems Go, and The Woman In Me.  Actually, just go to the Donna Summer YouTube channel and see EVERYTHING that's been posted. There is a lot! :-)  Finally, a 1993 clip from a French news show. 

[AUG 30] This is just a quick early update to bring you news on the remix CD, Love To Love You Donna..  :-)  First of all, the official Facebook page has released the cover image... in a clever way. If you are a Facebook user (and not on a mobile device because it won't work on one) please use this link to reveal the cover. You'll see there are a couple of things you have to do to see it, and all of them help to promote the CD on social media.  :-) Of course I'm not going to deprive you if you are not on Facebook.  :-) I have the image right here for you. 

[AUG 30] We also have the track list for the new CD. :-) There are some interesting choices so pay attention.  

1. Love To Love You (Giorgio Moroder feat. Chris Cox Remix)

2. Dim All The Lights (Duke Dumont Remix)

3. Hot Stuff (Frankie Knuckles and Eric Kupper Director's Cut Signature Mix)

4. I Feel Love (Afrojack Remix)

5. Love Is In Control (Chromeo and Oliver Remix)

6. Sunset People (Hot Chip Dub)

7. Working The Midnight Shift (Holt Ghost! Remix)

8. Bad Girls (Gigamesh Remix)

9. MacArthur Park (Laidback Luke Remix)

10. I Feel Love (Benga Mix)

11. On The Radio (Jacques Greene Remix)

12. Last Dance (Masters At Work Remix Short Version)

13. La Dolce Vita by Donna Summer and Giorgio Moroder

Spot that last track? It's an unreleased track straight from the vault! :-)

[AUG 30] And finally tonight, Bruce's album With Angels On A Carousel is finally out on iTunes and Amazon.  Physical CDs will be available on Amazon On Demand. Take my advice and check out this album. It is amazing. It is his personal spiritual and emotional journey through Donna's illness and loss, and I like to think of it as a love letter to her. He has a true gift for painting a picture with words and melody and you will hate yourself if you don't  give it a listen. 

[AUG 25] Just a reminder for Bruce's fans out there - his new albums With Angels On A Carousel is due out tomorrow. If you have been following the Facebook lyric postings, then you know he has some seriously good stuff on the album.  :-)

[AUG 25] On to Donna.  :-) As you know the new remix album is due in October.  The Hot Stuff mix got played in a club recently, and if you can see Facebook and don't mind that the sound quality is a little rough at times (the perils of recording at  alive event!) then you can check it out here.  I think I like this one - it will be nice to hear it on the CD when it's out.  :-)

[AUG 25] In other release news, Universal is putting out a complete Donna Summer Casablanca collection box set on September 27.So far I see availability in Holland and Germany - we'll have to see how many countries actually end up getting it. 

[AUG 25] In the Donna is everywhere category, I had the TV on the other night and suddenly I saw an ad for this makeup. You will understand why it caught my attention as soon as you click the link - BUT I should warn you that as soon as the page loads, you will hear the ad immediately. So if you are working in a quiet office and don't want to be caught doing some personal websurfing, make sure you mute the volume on your computer.  LOL

[AUG 25] Alejandro has been posting articles on Facebook again. This week he's added: the Bad Girls tour book, and a bunch of No More Tears artwork.

[AUG 25] Johnnyswim fans, catch their Tumi Case Studies spots here, and here. And check out Amanda's section on the Tumi website.  For something more musical, check out their track by track breakdown of Heart Beats part 1 and part 2. ANd then there is the interview you can read on Examiner.com.

[AUG 25] And that brings us to the web. First up, many of you remember the Donna Summer Fan Club (from the olden days before there was the internet. Yes kids... back when dinosaurs roamed the world, we had to get our news through snail mail.  LOL) Well save this link, Tom has plans for it.   :-)  On YouTube, Sandro has been filling in the Brazilian clips with a 1992 clip from MTV Brazil, another 1992 clip from Espaço Amador, and a 1995 clip from MTV Brazil. (The MTV clips are in English, the other one has an interpreter speaking over Donna.) Then there is Junior's Sound Factory mix of My Life, a TV clip of On The Radio, Fairy Tale High from the 1980 TV Special (with an appearance by a young Mimi), a 1976 video for Autumn Changes, and finally KC (of KC & The Sunshine Band) remembers Donna right after she passed.

[AUG 18]  So last night was the ARTE TV special called Donna Summer: Hot Stuff. Now if you missed it, some of you can view it on the ARTE TV website.  (I would watch it soon if I were you because I don't know how long they will keep it posted.) The bad news is that the video is region-locked so many of us can't watch it, unless we happen to be clever with Google.  (You would be surprised at what you can find out when you know where to look!)  I'm trying to watch the special as I work on the update (which means I'm typing slower than usual  LOL) and from what I've seen so far, there is a lot of early stuff we don't normally get to hear about. One thing that is annoying is that they have a translator speaking over Mary and the other non-French speaking interviewees. So if you don't speak French you have to listen hard to hear the English (or in some cases German) underneath. BUT - they left Donna's phone interview alone. You hear her voice clearly with text captions doing the translation. I thought that was a nice touch to let us hear what is probably Donna's last interview. 

[AUG 18] The other big news for the week is that Verve Records issued the press release for the upcoming Love To Love You Donna remix album. Because of that, music columns and blogs everywhere are picking up the story - including Billboard.   :-)  Here's what we know so far about the album. It's due out on October 22 (and Amazon USA has the pre-order available now), the first single will be the Chromeo and Oliver mix of Love Is In Control, to be followed by Giorgio Moroder's mix of Love To Love You.  We'll also be getting a Knuckles and Kupper mix of Hot Stuff,  and a Hot Chip mix of Sunset People. And according to Twitter, MAW is working on something too. Altogether there are supposed to be 12 remixers working on this album. Now this is a tribute I can really enjoy. Instead of having 12 artists sing Donna's songs (and let's face it no matter how great the artists are, they aren't Donna), they are keeping Donna's vocals and letting the remixers have some fun. And you know what? It's the DJs and remixers who have had a huge part in keeping Donna alive on the dance charts all these years - they are the prefect ones to do a tribute. Even better - they have the whole back catalog to choose from, so they can pick a song that speaks to them and go crazy with it.  :-)

[AUG 18] Also in release news, there is a new CD version of the Thank God It's Friday soundtrack. It's a 2 disk set and it's what they call a vinyl replica. Which means the CD looks like a record and the packaging matches what came with the original vinyl. It's like taking the original vinyl and shrinking it down to CD size.  It looks cool amd since it's remastered, it should sound good too.

[AUG 18] Broadway.com has a poll - Which legendary female singer should get a bio musical? There are quite a few choices, including Donna, but at the moment Karen Carpenter tops the list.

[AUG 18] Let's move on to Johnnyswim. We have a new interview on LifeAndTimes.com, and a NY Times article on Tumi using lesser known faces in their current ad campaign. (I don't think Amanda and Abner are going to be "lesser known" faces for long though.  LOL)  They are also touring all over the place, so check their list and see which shows you can attend. (You will hate yourself if you miss out - trust me on that!)

[AUG 18] Bruce Sudano fans - his album, With Angels On A Carousel, will be out August 26. But while we are waiting, he has been posting little teasers on his Facebook page. Actually the teasers aren't so little. He's posted song lyrics the past 3 days, and I am assuming that will continue until the album is out. Many of you know the album was written while Bruce was going through everything with Donna. So the expectation might be that the album will be depressing.  Going by what's been posted so far - the opposite is true. It seems to be very uplifting.  I'll give you a little taste of what he posted today so you can see what I mean, and also because the words are good advice:

High’s and lows, in’s and outs
Win and lose, ups and downs
It’s give and take, round and round
Way up high and underground

Dream with a passion, love with your heart
Taste every moment, give all you got

Live every moment, love all you can…while you can

That’s what it’s all about

[AUG 18] I think that brings us to Alejandro's Facebook article collection. This week he added US from 1979, Teen from 1979, and Buenhogar from 1979.

[AUG 18] And finally in the land of YouTube we have a long profile on Giorgio Moroder, with some Donna music included of course.  Part 1 is here and part 2 is here. Then we have Donna's last interview with ET,  Dinner With Gershwin live, Last Dance live,  Breakaway live, a 1992 interview from Brazil (what is that  clip they show at 1:07 and does anybody have the rest of it?), and finally a 1995 Brazilian talk show appearance. (Ok I cheated - the last clip is on DailyMotion instead of YouTube.  :-) ) 

[AUG 11] If you missed my update the other day - better go read it.  :-) 

[AUG 11] Ok so if you are caught up on the news, you know we are looking at an official remix album coming out in October.  :-) I have one more piece of info to add to that. Frankie Knuckles is working on a remix of Hot Stuff. 

[AUG 11] If you are going to be in the Boston area on September 7,  Voices of Hope will be doing a concert to benefit the Termeer Center for Targeted Therapies at Massachusetts General Hospital. Voices of Hope is a charity  that uses music and dance to raise money for cancer. At this particular concert, they plan to pay tribute to LaVerne Andrews, George Harrison, Dan Fogelberg and Donna - all of whom were taken from us by cancer.

[AUG 11] Johnnyswim fans, we have 2 new articles out there. The first is an interview in Billboard, and the second is a review on Ear To The Ground Music. 

[AUG 11] Taihisha fans: if you haven't yet, go check out Erik Rico's new EP, Love's Dance Vol 1.  [Amazon and iTunes] It has 3 songs (each presented as the regular vocal version and as an instrumental version) to get you moving.  (I should have played it while I was painting yesterday to keep me fired up, instead of waiting until later when I was too stiff and sore to move!  LOL) The second track, Think Of You, is performed by Taihisha - and that's perfect since she's the one who wrote it.  :-)  When you grab your copy, try to leave a review after you've had a listen. Let's see if we can fill in those naked review pages!  :-)

[AUG 11] That brings us to Alejandro's Facebook collection. He's posted the Bad Girls tour book, a 1979 magazine from Chile, Rona Barrett's Hollywood from 1979,  and Right On from 1979.

[AUG 11] Finally on YouTube we have Donna's first appearance on the Tonight Show, an animated fan video for I Believe In Jesus,   another for Spring Affair, Last Dance part 1 and Last Dance part 2 live in Puerto Rico, Hot Stuff from the same concert, and finally Bad Girls/Hot Stuff from the Hot Summer Night with Donna special.

[AUG 9] This is just a quick update for some breaking news. I have a couple of items, but let's start with Donna. First, we have a brand new Chromeo and Oliver remix of Love Is In Control. Notice that the SoundCloud account belongs to Verve Records. Yup, that's a label.  :-) Now this mix was an official surprise promoted by Donna's social media team. Here's the next part courtesy of Sebastiano over in Italy. (And if you haven't been to his site, you should go check it out!)  He has discovered (because he was smart enough to check Verve's Facebook while I was slacking off  LOL) that this is part of an upcoming album called Love To Love You Donna, due out in October.  This may or may not be a coincidence, but a mix of Love To Love You by none other than Giorgio Moroder himself has turned up on YouTube. AND Louis Vega recently tweeted that Masters At Work are in a studio working on something. They didn't say what, but they gave  the hint: Donna Summer.  :-) 

[AUG 9] In other news (this has been a very exciting day!), Bruce Sudano has announced the release date for his new album With Angels On A Carousel will be out August 26.  Also  he mentioned that the new song/video on his site was filmed in 2011 when he was going through, as he puts it, the storm.

[AUG 9] And while I'm here, if you happen to be in Los Angeles tomorrow (August 10), catch Johnnyswim with Emeli Sande at Club Nokia.  If you haven't seen them perform before, well then what are you waiting for? They will also be doing  Craig Ferguson's late night talk show on September 13. 

[AUG 2] It's a new month, so that makes it time for a new Summer Fever pick! This month we're doing the logical album for the season and going with Christmas Spirit.... No, I'm just teasing. The new pick is the the self-titles album produced by Quincy Jones, Donna Summer. It is an album by a Rock & Roll Hall of Famer and produced by a Rock & Roll Hall of Famer which I think is pretty cool.  :-)

[AUG 2] As long as I'm here and it's practically the weekend anyway, I might as well just do the update.   :-) Let me start off with eBay. I've had a couple people lately asking me about the value of certain items in their collections. I have to confess, I am not good at putting a value on things since I haven't really been watching eBay lately. The best advice I can give to anyone looking to sell is to check the closed auctions what's been there (even similar items by different artists, if you can't find a similar Donna item out there) and then look to see what the items actually sold for. That should give you a rough idea of what the market is, and then also take into account how much it would take to make you want to part with a particular item. If the market price is significantly lower than what you are willing to let the item go for - then now is not the time to sell. It might be better to wait and see what the economy does - people are willing to spend more when they feel their financial future is more certain.

[AUG 2] There's not really any Donna news (other than more Facebook stuff which I'll get to in a minute), so I'm just gonna jump right to the family. First up, Bruce Sudano and his Candyman band will be playing Genghis Cohen in Los Angeles again on August 22 at 9 PM. If you are in that area (or will be) then make sure you catch the show!

[AUG 2] In Johnnyswim news, they played the VH1 Do Something Awards the other night. I missed it unfortunately (stupid job!)  but I'm hoping VH1 will post a clip on their Johnnyswim page.  They also did a love Twitter Q&A session yesterday. You can check it out at ArtistsDot on Twitter.

[AUG 2] Facebookers: if you are not following The Official Donna Summer, you should be. Aside from all the cool interactive postings, rare photos and clips, they are now adding contests. They just wrapped one up for an exclusive  iPhone case with Donna's picture on it.  And while you are on Facebook, check out the new classic stuff Alejandro has posted. He's got a 1979 issue of Newsweek (Disco Takes Over), a 1979 issue of Grooves, a 1979 issue of Jet,  and a 1979 issue of Circus.  (With all this 1979 stuff, I feel like playing the Bad Girls album!)

[AUG 2] That brings us to YouTube. Look for Glenn Rivera's Restructured Hot Stuff, Bad Girls/Hot Stuff from the Nobel Peace Prize concert, a fan-made computer animated video for I Feel Love, and an extended version of This Time I Know It's For Real.

[JUL 28] Happy Sunday everyone! It seems like I'm starting off with Johnnyswim a lot lately, but I can't help it. They are doing cool stuff and it's exciting to see a young act starting to find their success.  :-)  So with that in mind, catch the duo Wednesday night on VH1's Do Something Awards. (It's 8 PM Eastern - check your local listing for other time zones). Then catch them in Nashville on September 21 for a benefit concert to improve the education of at risk youth. Of course if you can't wait, keep checking out their VH1 page for exclusive clips. And now I have to tell my little story from tonight. I was watching Tina Turner on the Palladia cable channel earlier tonight and was really getting into it (she's my #2 diva) when they cut to commercial. Before I could even let out the groan that the show was being interrupted, I was stunned to see Amanda's face filling my my screen. Palladia was playing this clip, and it was very exciting to see it so unexpectedly on my TV.  :-) So let's just say, if Palladia HAD to interrupt my Tina fix, they did it in the most awesome way possible.

[JUL 28] OK, Giorgio Moroder fans, Rolling Stone has posted a "Fireside Chat" with him. In it, Giorgio talks about his musical history.... including a little about Love To Love You, I Feel Love and Hot Stuff. The interview (plus audio clips of the songs) is an hour long, so there is plenty about Giorgio's other work as well.

[JUL 28] The ARTE-TV special Donna Summer: Hot Stuff has an IMDB page now. There isn't a lot there yet, but probably more details will be filled in after the show airs.

[JUL 28] Facebookers - Alejandro is at it again. This time he has the TGIF Lobby cards, the TGIF Japanese movie program, a whole bunch of Live & More stuff, Right On's 1979 Spring Annual, photos from Merv Griffin, Lundi from 1979,  Circus Weekly from 1979, and photos from the 1979 Unicef concert. And just in case you don't feel old right now, that cute little girl in Donna's arms in the Unicef pictures is now married with FOUR children of her own.  (Now you feel old, don't you? My work here is done!  LOL)

[JUL 28] I think that brings us to YouTube. Let's start with the complete John Walsh Show from 2003.  (An interesting bit of trivia from that show - the guest segments were all filmed on different days. So the audience changes considerably as each day was packed with fans of the various guests.) Then we have the long commercial for I Remember Yesterday,  and a fan tribute called The Journey To The Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame (13 minutes done with love - it's AMAZING! Only a fan could have made it.) Then there is a clip from the 1987 Diamond Awards, a medley from 1999, and a clip of Hard For The Money.

[JUL 21] I'm going to start off with Johnnyswim again. If you missed them on the Tonight Show Monday, you can catch their performance on YouTube. You know somewhere Donna is looking down and smiling! After you watch that clip, check out their page on VH1 for the one minute version of Don't Let It Get You Down (and any of the other clips you may have missed) and then go to Johnnyswim's Instagram page to see this funny picture they took with Jay Leno. 

[JUL 21] There is an interesting article on Huffington Post comparing "home-grown' celebrities with "born" ones. They use Johnnyswim as an example of a home-grown celebrity. 

[JUL 21] Let's move on to Donna.  :-)  She made the Telegraph's list of Songs For A Heatwave with Hot Stuff.  (I don't know if I can agree with that pick. When it's 95 out I don't need any more Hot Stuff. I'd rather have a little Cold Love instead!  LOL)

[JUL 21] Here's one from last year: The Mirror posted Donna's life in photos. The pictures are pretty cool but at the bottom there is an invitation for people unfamiliar with Donna's work to check out some sound clips.... they are all from the Shout It Out collection.  LOL  So I would like to say, if you are new to Donna Summer, please check out ANY of her work except the clips posted with that article. (Seriously - go to your favorite online music source, type on "Donna Summer" and you can pretty much pick any random track that pops up and it will be a better representation that the Shout It Out tracks.)

[JUL 21] Some of you here in the US may have run into a special edition of People Magazine featuring People We Lost Too Soon.  If you are thinking of picking it up so see what they wrote about Donna, save your money. I did not find her in it. On the other hand, there are a lot of other cool people in it, so if you are a fan of some of them it could be worth checking out.

[JUL 21] Facebookers: Alejandro has been posting again.  :-) He's got a bunch of  rare promo shots, Donna with the Brooklyn Dreams, some Heaven Knows stuff, a 1978 article from Mandate, and the 1978 Year In Music book.

[JUL 21] And just because I like to have a little something weird posted here once in awhile - a milkman in Leicester has been banned from whistling on his early morning rounds after people complained. Apparently 2 of his favorite songs to whistle are God Save The Queen by the Sex Pistols and Love To Love You by Donna.  (Strangely I never thought of either as a song that anyone would whistle.  LOL)

[JUL 21] That brings us to YouTube. Look for the TV commercial for the 1978 Live & More album, a live clip of A Song For You, Patrice's extended mix of Love Will Always Find You, Bad Girls from the Tonight Show, Hot Stuff from Dinah Shore, an interview from Arsenio Hall, and She Works Hard For The Money from the Nobel Peace Prize concert.

[JUL 14] Let's start off this week with Johnnyswim. US fans should be sure to tune into The Tonight Show with Jay Leno tomorrow (Monday July 15)  to catch the duo performing. Woot!  Now you may ask why they got that gig... well the answer is they are awesome. Also they are VH1's first ever Artist You Oughta Know Plus - which means they get more promotion and support over a longer period of time than regular You Oughta Know artists. That support helped get the Tonight Show gig. 

[JUL 14] Also, in an interview with VH1, Amanda mentioned that their latest track Heart Beats  is kind of a tribute to Donna and it was written about the time she was diagnosed with the cancer.

[JUL 14]  You can also catch Johnnyswim on ABC's Music Lounge blog as part of the Summer Showcase Series.  They have videos posted there of the duo singing 3 different songs.

[JUL 14] And that will bring us back to Donna. GospelMusicUpdate.com has some photos from Donna's appearance in 2006 with the Nashville Symphony. There are also meet and greet photos posted as well in case any of you was backstage at that event. 

[JUL 14] Facebookers: Alejandro has been posting more magazines and such. Look for  the TGIF Book, the TGIF paper sleeve CD (which actually looks like a record - so cool!), some TGIF photos, and some American Bandstand photos.

[JUL 14] That brings us to YouTube. Look for a new reposting of the very cool clip of Donna with Barry Manilow, Patrice's Last Dance Mix, Could It Be Magic from back in the day, an extended mix of Love's About To Change My Heart, and a 12" version of Protection.

[JUL 7] Let's start off with a reminder that next month ARTE TV will be airing a special about Donna. You can read about it here. It's actually the finale to a whole summer of Soul on ARTE and one of the area TV magazines did an article on the series. This is what Donna's page looks like (You can click it for a larger version, but the resolution is still too low to read:

[JUL 7] And while I'm posting photos - I have another of Donna's grave. As I did last time, I'm only giving you a link out of respect for those who may not want to see it.

[JUL 7] In honor of July 4, Business Insider posted their top 15 best versions of the National Anthem. Guess who came in at #5?   :-)

[JUL 7] Facebookers, there are more magazines posted there:  Us from 1978, Revista Sonido from 1977,  Jet from 1978, and Columbia House's 1977 Year in Music.

[JUL 7] Johnnyswim fans - good news, they are VH1's You Oughtta Know Artist.  Because of that, their Heart Beats video is getting played in the 3 or 4 minutes a day VH1 actually devoted to music. (Remember the good old days when it and MTV were ALL music?  LOL)  There is also a short clip on the VH1 website of the pair explaining where the name Johnnyswim came from.  (Be advised though, they trend to have fun explaining their name so the story can change from interview to interview.

[JUL 7] If you need more of a Johnnyswim fix, check out this live clip of them on Paste Magazine's blog. Also, if you aren't already, you should be following them on Instagram. They post a lot of cool pictures of their travels.

[JUL 7] That brings us to YouTube. First up is a trippy fan-made video by Philippe for the trippy hit, I Feel Love.  :-) (It's pretty cool - check it out.) Then there is Giorgio Moroder (with some vocals by Donna) on Top Of The Pops, Donna with Tina Arena from Live & More Encore, and Patrice's video slide show for You're So Beautiful.

[JUN 30] Happy Pride Day, Happy Independence Day to my American friends, and happy Canada Day to my Canadian friends. Tomorrow is July 1 so that means it's time for a new Summer Fever Pick. This month it's time for I'm A Rainbow. 

[JUN 30] Let's start with this: I was sent recent photos of Donna's gravesite. As I know this is a touchy subject for some people (ad I totally get that) I won't post the photos right here in your face. There are two images. Click here if you want to see the first one, and here for the second one. 

[JUN 30] Goldmine has a nice look at Donna's career.

[JUN 30] Facebookers, look for a Brazilian magazine, HX Magazine, Penthouse, Rolling Stone, Jet, and OK.

[JUN 30] That brings us to YouTube.  Look for Friends Unknown live (sorry the quality is a little rough - must have been ripped from an old VHS tape), Donna on Ryan Seacrest's show from 2003, a fan video of Donna outside a hotel in Amsterdam, a fan-created video for Love's Unkind, Patrice's video for Na Na Hey Hey because we just haven't had a good Shout It Out sighting in awhile  LOL, and finally in honor of the holiday this week, the US National Anthem.

[JUN 23] Happy Sunday everyone! Summer must be officially here - the weather is warm, the sun is out, and some crazy woman in Long Island is driving around with her windows open and the Donna tunes blasting. ;-)

[JUN 23] The Bay State Banner has an article on Boston's musical heritage. Hmmm... do we know an artist from Boston?  ;-)  Donna's right there on the first page - the third item on their list.

[JUN 23] T-Online has an article for the best soundtracks of the 70s. In the middle of the article is a link to a slideshow for the best songs of the 70s. I Feel Love is at #6.  :-)

[JUN 23] Photographer Lloyd Wolf posted some photos last year he took of Donna in 1999 on his blog.

[JUN 23] The Huffington Post published a slide show of some of the black Rock Hall Of Famers. Donna is included at the end.

[JUN 23] Johnnyswim fans - did you grab your copy of Heart Beats yet? If not, head over to iTunes or Amazon and grab a copy.

[JUN 23] And speaking of Johnnyswim, they recently performed at the Bonnaroo music festival in Tennessee. You can see a picture of them in Rolling Stone's Behind The Scenes slideshow.  And you can see then in an VH1 video about the event. 

[JUN 23] Johnnyswim was also on VH1's O Music Awards the other day. You can see them perform Heart Beats on the VH1 website. 

[JUN 23] That brings us to the web news. On YouTube look for a 6 part collection with the Feelin' Love: The Donna Summer Story BBC documentary. It's audio only. This is the first part and you can see the others in the links beside the video. Then there is I Feel Love live in Atlanta from 2010, and Friends Unknown accompanied by a slideshow of fan art. And finally on Vimeo, look fo rthe Supernatural Love video done with the original album version. 

[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 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.

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.

[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!

[APR 14] Happy Sunday everybody! I hope all my American friends got their taxes done before the IRS comes to repossess all your Donna stuff!  ;-)   As I'm sure most of you know, Donna is officially inducted into the Rock Hall Of Fame on Thursday. I still don't know who is actually going to make the speech that inducts her, but I hope it's somebody really great. (You know, Dick Clark would have been a great choice if he was still with us.  Sigh. I must be getting old. Too many celebrities I grew up watching are leaving us.) If you are going to the ceremony and would like to write a fan report - I'll publish anything you want to send.  :-)  Those of us who aren't going, will just have to be patient for another month until the show airs on HBO ( and those of us without HBO will just have to pester our friends who do have it!  LOL)

[APR 14] Donna's official twitter feed is back up and running and the same guys running Facebook and Pinterest are doing Twitter. So you will see some of the interactive stuff from Facebook make its way to Twitter. If you are a Twitter user, you will find the feed at @TheDonnaSummer.

[APR 14] I told you guys last week that Daeida.com has a great interview with Bob Conti. Well I just found out tonight that the guys at Daeida are having him autograph some of copies of the magazine and they will be available for purchase from the Daeida website. Now there will only be a limited number of autographed copies - but priority will be given to readers of this website and the Endless Summer forum.  So if you are ordering, tell them you heard about the magazine here.  :-)  (Thanks David - you guys are awesome over there!)

[APR 14] Let's move on to release news. The new compilation Icon is out now. [Amazon, Amazon UK] It's a budget greatest hits compilation that is a great introduction to Donna's music for the casual listener out there who sort of remembers her music but has only recently regained interest with the Rock Hall Of Fame, etc. And if one of you casual listeners is here now reading this - seriously grab this CD (or the MP3 album) and when you fall in love with the songs (because you WILL)  then go out and explore the regular albums. There are a lot of gems out there waiting for you to discover them.  (And then you will understand why we diehards are so sad that Donna left us so soon.)

[APR 14] Continuing with release news, there is a new CD from Epic called Playlist: The Very Best Of Donna Summer due out May 21. [Amazon, Amazon UK] And that's all we know about it. My guess is that being on a Sony imprint, they will draw heavily from Live & More Encore and Crayons.  So I'm thinking any of the hits that are normally on the Universal imprints will only be on this Epic release in their live Live & More Encore forms. But we'll see.

[APR 14] Let's go back to the Rock Hall Of Fame again. There is an interesting critique of the RHOF posted on the Montreal Gazette website. I don't know if I totally agree with what the author is saying, but it is an interesting point of view.

[APR 14] I think that brings us to YouTube. Look for Donna's first interview from ET, Donna's live cover of Pearls from Niagara Falls and from Westbury, an interview from Arsenio Hall's show, an unedited 2003 interview from Extra (it's almost 20 minutes long), and the Dinner With Gershwin video.

[APR 7]  Greetings all. It's April 7 which means you have 10 days to get in your Pages From The Heart Encore submissions.  :-) Also, I was giving some thought to May 17 and to Donna's legacy.  I know everyone is keeping Donna's musical legacy alive in their own ways - whether it's driving around the neighborhood with Donna tunes blasting so loud that the neighbors HAVE to listen (excuse me while I attempt to look innocent) or if you are just teaching your kids what real music is.   :-)  But I feel that Donna has another legacy as well.  She was a good person who tried to treat others well. And I would like to honor that legacy as well. So I propose that on May 17, we all do a random act of kindness in her memory.  It could be something like contributing to a charity, or helping an elderly neighbor do their shopping, bringing your significant other flowers for no reason, or even just saying a prayer for someone who needs it.  I leave the specifics to your abilities and imaginations.  Have fun with it.  :-)

[APR 7] Reminder for those of you in the LA area - Bruce will be performing Thursday (April 11) at 8 PM at Gengis Cohen. He'll be doing songs from his upcoming album so you may want to stuff a few tissues in your pockets just in case.  And if you are going, I'd love to hear all about it. I'll be happy to post fan reports. :-)   (That also goes for anyone hitting a Johnnyswim show - I am happy to post fan reports for them too. )

[APR 7] OK - on to Donna (sort of). Daeida.com  has done it again.  :-)  This time it's an interview with Bob Conti that talks a lot about touring with Donna back in the day. And of course the article wouldn't be complete without a bunch of never before seen photos.  :-)  I just got the email about this tonight, so I've only had the chance to skim it so far - but what I saw it making me eager to fully read the whole thing.

[APR 7] Also, Giorgio Moroder has also done a new interview. It's mainly about Daft Punk, but he does mention Donna briefly. (Look for that around 4:50)

[APR 7] Pinterest users: there is now an official Donna Summer Pinterest Page for you to check out. It is run by the same ones running the Facebook page. 

[APR 7] In the Donna is everywhere category (or at least her clothes are), the Rock Hall Of Fame in Cleveland has an exhibit running honoring this year's inductees. They have Donna's She Works Hard For The Money waitress outfit on display. If you are not in Cleveland, check out the photo here. (You know, it strikes me as funny that with all the gowns from all the years, our Ordinary Girl is honored with a waitress outfit. :-) )

[APR 7] NME has selected their list of the 10 best long songs in pop music. Donna is represented with Love To Love You.

[APR 7] I think that brings us to YouTube. First up is a nice fan tribute set to I'm A Rainbow. Then look for a live clip of Dinner With Gershwin, Donna winning the AMA in 1979 for Best Disco Album, and a nice copy of the Grammy Medley with Kenny Rogers.

[APR 2] And now for the real Summer Fever Pick for this month: Live & More.

[APR 1] Well it's a little early for me, but somewhere in the world it's already April 1 so it's time for the new Summer Fever Pick. This time we are taking a break from chronological order to bring you an upcoming tribute called A Moment Of Silence.

[MAR 30] Happy Passover/Easter/Weekend everyone!  I'm a day early because I have people coming over tomorrow and for some strange reason they think it's rude if I sit there updating the site.  ;-) I will be back Monday April 1 with the new Summer Fever Pick too.

[MAR 30] In Rock Hall Of Fame news, more performers have been announced - but there is still no news about Donna's part of the ceremony other than that Jennifer Hudson and Christina Aguilera will be performing.  We still don't know who is actually inducting Donna and if any of the family will be performing in any capacity. The ceremony takes place on April 18, so hopefully more news will be coming soon. 

[MAR 30] Facebookers, if you haven't yet, you will want to check out The Official Donna Summer page. It's becoming quite interactive with trivia questions, posts that encourage discussion, and of course video and photo postings.  Examples of recent postings are a photo where you and invited to guess the year it was taken, the question "what do you consider to be the rarest Donna track?", and a trivia question asking which candy bar was Donna's favorite. It even posted one of the equal love graphics that have been taking over Facebook lately. That was nice to see.  So the page is a good mix of serious and frivolous and there is something new posted practically every day.  :-)

[MAR 30] That will bring us to YouTube. Look for a nice clip of Anyway At All,  a clip of This Time I Know It's For Real (from European TV I think - the set looks familiar but I can't quite place it), and a vintage profile clip also from Europe with studio footage from Four Seasons Of Love. There are some interview clips in that in which Donna is speaking German, but a French translation dubbed over it. There is also MacArthur Park from Night Of Proms, Dinner With Gershwin from probably European TV, and a German interview from about the time of the Quincy Jones album. (Well, it starts off in German. Then an Italian interview clip is tacked on at the end.)

[MAR 24] Bruce Sudano fans - catch him performing in Los Angeles on April 11 at 8 PM at Gengis Cohen. He will be debuting songs from his forthcoming album, so if you are going I want to hear all about it!   :-)

[MAR 24] Brooklyn Sudano has been added to the cast of the new pilot, Westside which will air on ABC. No word yet on an airdate, so just keep an eye on the local listings.

[MAR 24] In release news, the Disco Tribute to Donna Summer is available at Amazon US now.  It features 14 covers of Donna's hits by Linda Clifford, Carol Douglas, Thelma Houston, France Joli, Maxine Nightingale and Anita Ward. Nothing against any of these ladies (in fact I enjoy their music too), but this compilation just made me sad. (It probably doesn't help that I was working on Pages From The Heart Encore and was already in a strange mood.)  They are not Donna, and hearing them sing Donna's songs just made me miss her. Having said that, I do appreciate that they did the tribute.

[MAR 24] That brings us to YouTube. This week we have Patrice's extended version of Now I Need You, the Ego Troopers live edit of I Feel Love, a very short clip of the audience singing With A Little Help From My Friends with Donna, Stor Dubine's video for I Got Your Love, and a classic live clip of The Impossible Dream.

[MAR 17] Happy St. Patrick's Day everyone! If you still have some celebrating to do, remember to raise a glass to Donna's memory. It's been 10 months. (I can't believe how fast the time is going by!)

[MAR 17] Speaking of Donna's memory, Bruce posted some lyrics from his upcoming album Angels On A Carousel.  The song he posted is called Beautiful History and the lyrics go (in part): Beautiful history/ That’s what remains/ For all the world to see/ A beautiful history/ One for the ages/ Born of you and me. You will have to friend him on Facebook to see the rest. I have to say that I am both eagerly awaiting and seriously dreading the new cd.  I know it's going to be really good, but I also think it's going to be really hard to listen to.

[MAR 17] Slant Magazine posted their list of the 100 Greatest Dance Songs. There are a lot of good songs on the list (and some I don't particularly care for), but of particular interest are numbers 46, 10 and..... number 1!  :-) (Hmmmm... I wonder what those three could have in common?)

[MAR 17] For those needing a little Summer fix, here is a really good 2008 interview promoting Crayons. (It actually covers her whole career, it's just that it was done because Crayons was being released.)

[MAR 17] RockPaperPhoto.com specializes in fine art photos of music legends. They have a number of prints of Donna available for sale. The prints are not cheap, but they are archival quality.

[MAR 17] Just for fun, one of you guys emailed me with a dream list of performers who should pay tribute to Donna at the Rock  Hall Of Fame Ceremony. This is his list:

1- Bruce Springsteen singing "Protection"
2- Rod Stewart singing "Dim All the Lights"
3- Chaka Khan & Patti LaBelle singing "Enough is Enough"
4- Madonna or Red Hot Chili Peppers singing "I Feel Love"
5- Beyonce singing "Love to Love You"
6- Cher singing "Hot Stuff"
7- Bono with her family singing "State of Independence"
8- Emmy Lou Harris singing "On the Radio"
9- Christina Aguilera singing "Bad Girls"
10- Jennifer Hudson singing Donna's favorite "There Will Always be a You"

He asked which of those I'd choose. Naturally I picked the only answer that made any sense to me: ALL OF THEM! (Yeah, I know they only have a certain amount of time to dedicate to Donna's part of the ceremony. But we could easily make time for all of these performers by just kicking out the other inductees.....   ;-)  Ok rock fans, before you come after me to kill me,, I WAS kidding!) What do you guys think? Who would you pick? And since this fantasy time (since we'd have heard by not if ANY of those people were involved in any part of the ceremony) you can pick anybody you want - living or dead.

[MAR 17] How about a little Johnnyswim news? Those two have been working their butts off lately. And it's paying off.  :-) They will be featured in the April-May 2013 music edition of Garden And Guns Magazine that comes out soon. Hopefully the article will make the magazine's website too.

[MAR 17] That brings us to the videos for the week. First up, a nice copy of the tribute they used at Divas 2013. And while I'm bopping around Vimeo, remember this clip of La Vie En Rose? Or this one from the WKTU concert in 2003? And here's another In Memoriam clip. Then we have Mimi's Song from the Music For Unicef Concert, Fame and Last Dance live in Berlin, Try A Little Tenderness with Joss Stone, and on YouTube we have a little of the State Of Independence recording sessions (the all-star choir). 

[MAR 10] Another Sunday, another update.  :-)  We're just about a month away from the Rock Hall Of Fame induction ceremony and quite frankly my curiosity is starting to get the better of me.  We know that Christina Aguilera and Jennifer Hudson will be performing. What we don't know yet is WHO will actually make the induction speech. Usually they try to pick somebody who worked with the inductee, or somebody who was heavily influenced by them. So I'm dying to know who they are gonna get.  :-)  I'm also wondering if they will get some of the family up on the stage to perform. I said on Facebook it would be really cool if they could get Barbra Streisand to do Enough Is Enough with Mary, but somehow I don't see Barbra being at the Rock Hall Of Fame.  (The head-bangers would have a FIT! LOL)

[MAR 10] In release news, Universal is putting out a new greatest hits collection on April 9 called Icon. Right now Barnes & Noble is the only place that is showing the cover art, but the album will be available at all the usual vendors. As far as the track list goes, it's the usual 11 hits. No surprises. It's definitely geared to the casual fan. 

[MAR 10] There is a really nice story about Donna on  the Playboy Stories blog, told by a guy who hung out with her back in Munich.

[MAR 10] Johnnyswim fans: as you know they played at Bluegrass Underground last week and the show was taped for use on PBS next month some time.  What I didn't realize until they started posting pictures was how cool that venue is. It's a cave! A real honest to God cave. Check the photos on their blog. 

[MAR 10] I think that brings us to YouTube. First up, here's a blast from the past: Dueling Divas. (I haven't seen that show in ages!) There there is No More Tears from 2009, Jandry's video remix of Last Dance, and his mix of Say Something Nice,  and a Musik Laden clip of She Works Hard For The Money.

[MAR 4] I forgot to mention last night that Donna has a new official Facebook page. The official links above now point to the new page.  :-)

[MAR 3] Happy Sunday. First thing first - I fixed the link for the Summer Fever Pick. (Oops!)  It should be working now.

[MAR 3] Second - thank you to all of you who have contributed to my Walk for MS. I have reached my $500 goal which means I am ditching my team uniform in favor of a Donna t-shirt. My team captain is so pleased that she said she'd even pose for pics with me at the walk.  (Just remember that the camera adds about... umm 100 lbs.  ;-)  In person I'm so skinny that you can't even see me.  LOL ) Of course just because I reached my goal doesn't mean that I won't accept more donations. MS is not a nice disease and if we can give it a good kick in the butt, that would be great.  :-)

[MAR 3] Okay - on to Donna. As most of you probably know by now, she was not included in the Oscars In Memoriam segment (although she did make the online gallery.) . That's actually not too surprising. They skipped a few other people who probably had a bigger claim to the spot than Donna did.  It seems to be an Oscar tradition to skip somebody each year.  Deadline.com has a whole list of people they skipped this year.

[MAR 3] Speaking of Oscars, Forbes had a list of the best Oscar winning songs.  Last Dance is right there.  :-) The songs are listed chronologically so look for Last Dance in the middle of the page under 1976 instead of 1978.  Sorry Barbra. (Her song, Evergreen was the real 1976 winner.)

[MAR 3] In a similar vein, AfterElton.com has a list of the 10 best songs from terrible movies. Last Dance is #4 on that list. (I have to disagree on two counts. First of all, Last Dance should be #1 and second of all, TGIF isn't terrible, it's a bit of lighthearted fun. And I still have find memories of seeing it in the theater when it came out ad the whole place erupting in applause when Donna walked onscreen the first time. Where's my time machine? I want to go back and relive it!)

[MAR 3] Johnnyswim fans - catch them live in Tennessee this month, in Nashville on March 6, Chattanooga on March 7, McMinnville on March 8, then they head out to Austin, TX March 16.  Full details are on Johnnyswim.com.  Now here's an interesting thing about the Chattanooga show - it will be taped. And the recording will be aired on local radio and local public television.   :-)

[MAR 3] Taihisha fans, you will be thrilled to know she is featured on two new tracks, The first is Neal Conway's Choices, and the other is Blackliquid's Searchin'.  Both are available on traxsource.com and both have mixes available as well.

[MAR 3] That brings us to YouTube. Look for Friends Unknown at the Hollywood Walk Of Fame, This Time I Know It's For Real from Arsenio,  and a 14 minute Disconet Medley.  This one isn't new, but it makes me smile every time I see it because they are having so much fun: Donna with Barry Manilow on Could It Be Magic.  (Seriously - have you ever seen anybody have more fun on stage? I love that clip!!!)

[MAR 2] It's a new month and that means it's time for a new Summer Fever Pick. Continuing in chronological order, it's time for Once Upon A Time.   :-) (The timing is actually working out pretty well - next up will be Live & More and then Bad Girls. That will have us celebrating the most famous albums as Donna takes her place in the Rock Hall Of Fame.  :-) )

[FEB 24] Happy Oscar night everyone! For those of you who are tuning in like I am, I saw a time table for the show that indicates that the In Memoriam segment should start shortly before 11:00 ET - not that I am expecting much.  The Oscars have been known to omit people that you would have thought for certain would be there. So if Donna gets mentioned at all, it will be a very pleasant surprise. (Well, pleasant is probably not the best word to use - I still find it sad to be hoping for mentions in an In Memoriam segment. Sigh.)

[FEB 24] Let's start with Bruce Sudano. He has announced on Facebook that he will have an album out later this year called With Angels On A Carousel that will feature songs written during Donna's last year.  He has very generously shared one song that he wrote shortly after she passed... no wait, Bruce said after she LEFT and I think I like that word better.  This isn't a final album version, this is just Bruce and his guitar singing into the computer. It's very raw and you will want to have a box of tissues handy.  (Which means if you are reading this at work, you might want to wait until you are home to play the track.) The song is called Holding On And Letting Go, and you can find it on Soundcloud. 

[FEB 24] There is a new Donna Summer forum out there geared to those of you who speak French.  You can find it here.  :-)

[FEB 24] If you were watching VH1's Mob Wives and thought you might have heard a fair of familiar voices... you are not insane. (Okay, maybe you ARE insane, but you weren't imaging things. ;-) )  The February 19 episode used Johnnyswim's song Heart Beats. You can watch the episode here, or you can just sneak over to iTunes and buy the song. (Actually buy the whole EP. You wouldn't want that one little track to be lonely, would you? )

[FEB 24] That brings us to YouTube. First up is a killer clip of Donna singing Superstar, then there is Donna's episode of Behind The Music, an instrumental of Last Dance, and a bunch of mixes/mashups from Bruno.  (Those are probably not suitable for a lot of workplaces - the music is accompanied by lots of big burly male eye candy.) OK - I am off to watch the Oscars. :-)

[FEB 17] February 17.... that makes 9 months. It feels like both an eternity and an instant.  I have about 30 submissions so far for Pages From The Heart Encore, but there is always room for more. The deadline is April 17, so if you haven't written yet, you better get started.  :-)

[FEB 17] Let's start with some release news. Amazon UK has Giorgio Moroder's On The Groove Train Vol 2 available for preorder. (The release date is March 4.)  This one has an unedited version of Virgin Mary, Denver Dream and Something's In The Wind.  I imagine it will make its way over to the US site too eventually.  :-)

[FEB 17] The 2013 Art On Ice show did a tribute to Donna and Robin Gibb. They used a brief clip of Donna singing La Vie En Rose and then after playing some Bee Gees they switched to some uptempo Donna clips. It was really sweet and unexpected, and it broke my heart.

[FEB 17] We have a new memorial website out there with a bunch of audio, video and photos. Warning if you are checking it out at work - the site will play music as soon as you open it up.

[FEB 17] The Grammy's were last weekend and Donna made the In Memoriam segment. She was the third person they showed, and they used an unusual clip from the Merv Griffin Show. You can see the segment here.

[FEB 17] For those who haven't seen it, there is a picture of the cover of the Life Magazine Farewell edition on this blog. 

[FEB 17] That brings us to YouTube. First up is a lovely tribute to Donna by Holland's Ruth Jacott.  Then we have a 9 minute concert clip from 2010,  Could It Be Magic from 2010, a mini documentary with quotes from a number of people, and a TV clip of Wasted.

[FEB 10] Happy Chinese New Year! Who ordered all the snow for the celebration? (Whoever it is can come finish shoveling out my driveway!  LOL)  It is also Grammy night. Unfortunately I'm not expecting much in the way of a tribute - but if something happens whole I'm updating I'll mention it.

[FEB 10] First up is Nathan DiGesare. He revamped his website and has included a bunch of photos and videos from the various tours he did with Donna. He's also got a really sweet video tribute to the children of Sandy Hook Elementary. He's got a YouTube channel too - although I think most of the stuff there is linked on his site. 

[FEB 10] The Washington Post reprinted a 1978 article shortly after we lost Donna. It's an interesting read.

[FEB 10] In the Donna is everywhere category, check out the NAACP Image Awards site.  One of the large pictures on top (the second one in the series of scrolling images) is of Gladys Knight singing for the In Memoriam segment. Donna's photo is posted on the screen beside her.

[FEB 10] I think that brings us to YouTube. Look for a 2001 clip of On The Radio from The Netherlands, Last Dance from a 2011 gala, a very brief clip of Dim All The Lights from 1985 filmed at Disneyland, Love To Love You from The Midnight Special, Anyway At All from the Tonight Show, and Hot Stuff from a 2008 UK TV appearance.

[FEB 3] Happy Sunday guys.   :-) Let's jump right in with the new issue of Daeida Magazine. It has an interview with director Brian Grant - the guy behind the She Works Hard For The Money video and the Hot Summer Night HBO special. They have a number of rare photos from the SWHFTM video shoot. (And after you read that article, keep flipping pages - there are a number of interesting non-articles too.) For those who have never used the Daeida site before, just click "current issue" and then when it loads up, click the arrows on the page edges to flip forward or backwards, and click the middle of the screen to expand to full-screen mode. (That is essential if you want to actually read the words.  :-) ) You can also click again to zoom in more - very handy if you are using a smaller device.

[FEB 3] Last night the NAACP Awards aired. They had Gladys Knight sing The Way We Were as they ran the  "In Memoriam" montage. Of course Donna was included in the montage. Sigh. You can watch the segment on YouTube, but the quality isn't the best.

[FEB 3] Facebook fans will be pleased to learn that Donna's page has surpassed 200k likes. 

[FEB 3] So, many of you know that Donna has a few grandchildren and to the surprise of absolutely no one, they seem to have inherited some of the family talent. Vienna has stepped out with her own YouTube page where you can hear her singing. But, I would like to remind you guys though she obviously has parental permission to have the page, she is still a minor. So just keep that in the back of your mind if you interact with her over there.  :-)

[FEB 3] That brings us to YouTube. First up is clip from The Doctors about lung cancer in non-smokers. For something way more fun, check out On The Radio with some enthusiastic "back up singers". Then there is a behind the scenes 2005 tour video courtesy of Nathan DiGesare (some funny stuff there!)  Could It Be Magic from Don Kirchner's Rock Concert (try to ignore the annoying watermarks), the Glen Rivera Restructured version of I'm Free, an audio version of The Star Spangled Banner, Anyway At All from the Tonight Show, and finally a clip from November of Tony Moran playing Valley Of The Moon during his set.  On a side note, someone asked me earlier if I thought Donna could have another dance hit. And you know, if the right song came out of the vaults, I'm sure the DJs would get behind it and we would see some action on the Club Play charts. DJs love Donna - for good reason.  :-)

[FEB 3] The deadline for Pages From The Heart is April 17 - there is plenty of room for more contributions!  :-)

[FEB 3] And finally on a personal note - thanks to all who have donated to my MS Walk so far. I'm about halfway to ditching my team shirt in favor of a Donna shirt.  ;-)  My team captain is blown away by your support - so am I.  :-)

[FEB 1] So it's February 1 and you all know what that means. It means tomorrow the groundhog will tell us if Spring is near. But more importantly than that, it means it's time for a new Summer Fever Pick. This month, I Remember Yesterday.   :-) 

[FEB 1] And while I am here, the BBC is celebrating the Golden Age of the Album. And one of the things they are doing is asking Radio 2 listeners to vote for their favorite out of a list of albums. Bad Girls is on the list.  :-) They will announce the results of the poll on a special Easter countdown. I'll be back Sunday with the regular update.  :-)

[JAN 27] I've gotten a few more entries for Pages From The Heart Encore, but there is always room for more! The deadline is April 17, so get writing.  :-)  (And for the record, I know for a fact that the family appreciates all the messages they've gotten from fans.  They will appreciate these messages just as much.  :-) )

[JAN 27] Rock Hall Of Fame Induction Ceremony tickets go on sale to members  tomorrow, and to the rest of us on February 1. They will be on sale through Ticketmaster and as you can expect there will be several price levels ranging from $75 up to $750, or there are packages that come with other perks. Those go for $550 to $2000. You can read about those here. The ceremony takes place April 18 at the Nokia Theater in Los Angeles.

[JAN 27] More details about the Hall Of Fame ceremony have come out.  Some of the performers have been announced and they have said that Christia Aguilera and Jennifer Hudson will be the lucky two who get to induct Donna.  Now I already know from reading the forums that some of you are excited by the selection of those 2 performers, and some of you are dismayed by the selection. Personally, I KNOW nobody can sing Donna's songs like the lady herself. So with that in mind, I will be happy to see a performance that captures the feel-good spirit of a Donna Summer concert. I think a worthy tribute should remind us that we can sing if we wanna sing and dance if we wanna dance. (Although I suspect many of us may feel more like crying a few happy/sad tears.)

[JAN 27] I have a personal announcement. I will once again be raising money for Walk MS. If I get the day off I'll be walking May 5 at Belmont Lake State Park (sadly Jones Beach's boardwalk got too trashed during Sandy to host the walk this year), and if I don't get the day off, I'll be walking in spirit (which will do nothing to drop some pounds off my overly large butt... but I digress.  ;-) ) This year for the first time (for obvious reasons), I will be walking in Donna's memory. (Actually, since May 17 ALL my charitable donations have been in Donna's memory, this is just the first one that made the site.) If you would like to support me, the link is here.  No pressure though - it's not like I will send Ken's Van Of Vicious Drag Queens after you if you don't donate.  ;-)  I'll tell you what though - if I get $500 worth of donations by May 5, instead of wearing my team's shirt, I'll go rogue and wear a Donna t-shirt - Team CVan will have to get over it.  ;-)

[JAN 27] That brings us to YouTube. Look for the Love Is In Contol video where sharp-eyed viewers will spot a special guest appearance by Amanda Sudano Ramirez playing the bulge in Donna's belly  ;-) (Did I make you feel old?  LOL) There is also a Glen Rivera Restructured mix of Autumn Changes, MacArthur Park from Night Of Proms, a clip of She Works Hard For The Money, and an unusual mashup of New Order, The Temptations and Donna's I Feel Love. 

[JAN 20] OK, it's been 8 months since we lost Donna and that means we REALLY have to get serious now about Pages From The Heart Encore. I'd like to make the deadline April 17 So that I have lots of time to put it all together and get it to Bruce in time or May 17.  I've suggested sharing your favorite Donna memory, you could also tell the family what Donna means to you, you could share how she impacted your life, you could talk about what you have done to carry on her legacy, you could even just ramble on about how awesome your favorite song is.  My only real requirement is that you speak from the heart.  Donna was very touched by the original Pages From The Heart and I was told she even kept it on display in her office at one time.  I'd really love to have something just as special for Bruce and the girls.  They had to share Donna with us for so many years, this is our chance to thank them for that.

[JAN 20] For those in the Los Angeles area (or those who plan to be) Rock Hall Of Fame Induction Ceremony  tickets go on sale February 1 or January 28 if you are a member. (If I recall, that's a change - I think originally tickets were slated to go onsale January 25.) For more details, see the Rock Hall Of Fame site.

[JAN 20] There is really not a whole lot going on right now. It's the lull before the Rock Hall Of Fame craziness.  So you are gonna have to get your Donna fix from YouTube this week.  We have a Winter Melody tribute to Donna, a clip of I Don't Wanna Get Hurt, an instrumental edit called Now I'm Working The Midnight Shift And I Need You, a fan video for If It Makes You Feel Good, a clip of The Hostage, and the video for I Don't Wanna Get Hurt (with no Donna in sight.)

[JAN 20] I almost had a Donna is everywhere item for you, but I seem to be suffering from a case of CRS... Can't Remember Stuff.  ;-)  I was channel surfing this week and landed briefly on some vintage repeat of something where they had a bunch of guys doing a bit of a parody of The Full Monty to Hot Stuff.  I can't remember what show it was, and I didn't see enough of it to know why they were doing their version of The Full Monty, but I sure as heck hear Hot Stuff loud and clear.  :-) 

[JAN 20] Let's move on to Johnnyswim.  UK - you have YOUR chance to see the pair live in concert.  (Don't pass it up - you never know when we greedy American fans will be generous enough to let them leave the country again.  ;-) ) Catch them January 30 in Dublin Ireland at Vicar Street, on January 31 in Belfast at Mandela Hall,  on February 1 in Glasgow Scotland at Barrowland, February 2 in Manchester England at HMV Ritz and February 4 in London at o2 Shepherd's Bush Empire. After that, we're taking them back! And they will be in Nashville on February 16 at NACA at the Nashville Convention Center, March 8 in McMinnville, TN at Bluegrass Underground, March 12 to 17 in Austin, TX and  May 31 in Charleston, SC.  You can keep up with all their dates at Johnnyswim.com and if you have the chance to see any of their shows - GO!  They are not to be missed.  :-)

[JAN 13] Happy birthday to my mom who turned 70 today. No wait, make that 30. She said at 50 you can start counting backwards.  ;-)

[JAN 13] PressAcademy.com has an article written at the time of Donna's passing with  quotes from her long-time publicist.

[JAN 13] In the Donna is everywhere category, she was the answer to a question on Jeopardy  recently. (Oh wait, since it's Jeopardy I should say she was the question to their answer.) The answer was: Disco Queen we lost in May along with Robin Gibb. Unfortunately none of us was on the panel so the 3 replies were "Who is Diana Ross?", "Who is Whitney Houston?", and a blank stare.  Sigh. 

[JAN 13] In the Donna's music is everywhere category, One of the Miss America contestants used Last Dance for the talent competition. She twirled batons to the song. I'm not even sure what to say about that - I never thought of Last Dance as a baton twirling song? 

[JAN 13] For those of you who like Pandora, they have a Donna Summer Radio station.

[JAN 13] That brings us to YouTube. Remember the guy who has been posting high quality  2008 concert clips? Well, he's added Hard For The Money, and Sand On My Feet.  Then we have the Tonight Show performance of Hard For The Money (complete with waitress outfit), and a video of the year end issue of Hello Magazine. And finally, I know this isn't really Donna, but it's been awhile since it popped up and it's cute.

[JAN 6] There's not much going on with the holidays and everything, but there have been a few more 2012 retrospective articles. IBTimes has an article about the musicians who passed, and Houston's Culture Map has an article on singers who passed (with video clips). The Detroit Free Press posted a list of the top 10 most searched people on Google - Donna is #10.

[JAN 6] TVOne's show Unsung recorded a special about disco. On the page for the show, they pose the question, which disco artist should have an Unsung episode of their own?  If you look at the comments, a lot of people are asking for Donna.   :-)

[JAN 6] Not surprisingly, Pinterest has a whole bunch of Donna things pinned by various people. My favorite is this picture - the glasses are too much!  LOL

[JAN 6] And here's one from May 18: Black America Web has a nice article honoring Donna.

[JAN 6] That brings us to YouTube. Look for Could It Be Magic from possibly New Year's Rockin' Eve 1977. (I'm not 100% sure if I got the show right - it's been a long time since I saw that clip in context.) There is also a record promo clip, MacArthur Park from the 2008 tour (yup, another great quality one!), People Magazine's year end issue (someone videotaped the magazine and read  the tribute to Donna outloud), Last Dance from the Midnight Special (with a little interview intro), the video for The Woman In Me (crystal clear!),  and a birthday tribute to Donna that uses that really awesome "curtain call" picture from the NY Times Magazine.

[JAN 1] The new Summer Fever pick is up. I'm back to chronological order with Four Seasons Of Love.  :-)

[JAN 1] I have to say last night was a bit surreal. I worked until about 9, so by the time I got home and turned on the TV (because that's the sort of party animal I am!  LOL) the early part of Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve was in full swing. It was very strange to tune in and see Dick Clark standing there in Times Square like he used to before the stroke. I also didn't realize when I turned it on that they were counting down the top 30 artists that American Bandstand introduced to the public. (Or something like that - I never saw the beginning where they explained what they were doing.)  I just know that I looked up from updating my Facebook status to hear someone say that Donna was the only person other than Dick Clark to host American Bandstand. Then a big #5 popped up on the screen and they showed clips of Donna hosting.  That was a really nice surprise.  :-)

[DEC 30] Happy New Year everyone! Here's hoping 2013 is a better year (and here's hoping 2012 leaves peacefully without causing any more harm. ) As you know, tomorrow would have been Donna's 64th birthday, so while you are celebrating the holiday - don't forget to drink a toast to our favorite Rock & Roll Hall Of Famer.  :-)

[DEC 30] Keep an eye on DonnaSummer.com - I believe the message there will be changing soon.

[DEC 30] Being the end of the year, all the media outlets are doing their year end recaps - including lists of those we have lost.  I caught one on NBC this morning, and damn there were a lot of people!  NBC's site has a slideshow  of the 2012 losses, ABC has a video from Katie Couric's show, Billboard has their tribute to those we lost, and AOL has a tribute to Donna. Then if you want to see a REALLY cool tribute, check out the NY Times Magazine.  I want to shake that guys hand! I love it.  :-)

[DEC 30] Huffington Post has not 1 but 2 articles about Donna. The first is a celebration of  her career with a look at a number of songs that didn't hit the top 10 (or in some cases were never released as singles.) And I have to say that any list (not compiled by one of us that is) that starts with If There Is Music There has got to be worth looking at.  :-) The other article is a look back at Donna's fashion style over the years.

[DEC 30] Headlinesurfer.com has posted their top 10 stories for 2012.  Donna's obituary was reposted as #10 on the list.

[DEC 30] Don't forget that KDVS in Davis, CA will be doing a special birthday tribute to Donna from 9:30 to noon Pacific time tomorrow (December 31).  If you can't tune in on the radio, tune in online. 

[DEC 30] I think that brings us to YouTube. We have a new fan video of a song found on Soundcloud (I hate to say more because I don't want to get anyone in trouble), but check it out anyway along with his other video of a song that got played on OutQ once. There is also a cool old video for Could It Be Magic (I love that at some point the lip syncing to the record just stops for awhile), and an excellent clip of Last Dance from the 2008 tour. I will be back with the new Summer Fever pick on the 1st. (Assuming the 1st ever comes. I don't think the New Year can officially come without Dick Clark?) And once again, if you are out drinking for the New Year, please please please do NOT drive. You don't want to start the New Year in a hospital - or worse. 

[DEC 22] Happy Holidays everyone! The E-Greetings page is up and I will be emailing the link to Bruce tomorrow night.  Thanks to all who contributed, especially since I know many of you did so with a heavy heart. 

[DEC 22] So since the year is wrapping up, various magazines and websites are posting their versions of a year in review. Of course that includes coverage of the people we've lost. One of those is 1und1.de. Then there is The Day, Breitbart.com and Slate.com.

[DEC 22] We also have a new tribute from Nile Rodgers - a very nice read!

[DEC 22] Divas 2012 was last weekend and I thought they did a better tribute than we've seen so far.  They started off with a nice montage of clips of Donna performing and talking. I'm sure a better copy of this will turn up on YouTube eventually, but you can see a fan filmed copy here. After that Kelly Rowland, Keri Hilson and Adam Lambert did a selection of Donna's hits. They updated the arrangements of the songs to make them more in keeping with the rest of the show.  This is where opinion gets divided. Some people absolutely hated the performance part of the tribute and others loved it. Personally, while nothing beats an actual Donna Summer performance, I really appreciated that the 3 performers all seemed to have fun with the music. And I think that fun element has been missing from other tributes.

[DEC 22] Just a reminder, KDVS in Davis, CA will be doing a special birthday tribute to Donna from 9:30 to noon (Pacific time of course) on December 31.  Split P tells me that Donna "deserves a kicking tribute" - and I have to agree wholeheartedly.  :-) And he says that he will be focusing on rare remixes of the dance tracks. You can catch the stream online if you are out of their broadcast area.

[DEC 22] In chart news, The Journey  was #6 on Billboard's catalog album chart for the week of December 16.  :-) 

[DEC 22] I think that brings us to the web. This week we have Philippe's I Feel Love tribute to Donna, Tony Blass' tribute to Donna, a really good clip of Dim All The Lights from the Crayons tour, and from the same show:  Bad Girls/Hot Stuff,  Stamp Your Feet,  and I Feel Love.

[DEC 22] I will be back next weekend. I hope everybody has a safe and happy holiday season. And remember if youare gonna be drinking, don't drive!  :-)

[DEC 15] First things first, my thoughts are prayers are with those poor people in Connecticut. I can't even comprehend the sort of twisted mind that would think it was a good idea to go shoot up an elementary school. I can't even imagine how horrible it must be to be a parent of one of the lost children, or even of the survivors. How do you explain to a young child that some maniac murdered their classmates and teachers? (I can't even understand, and I'm an adult.)  My thoughts are prayers are also with the families in China whose children were stabbed at their school by another maniac. 

[DEC 15] On to lighter things. I am doing the update a day early because tomorrow is Divas 2012 and I plan to watch the tributes to Donna and Whitney.  (By the way, I'd like to thank the Whitney Houston fans for the support they've shown - particularly when it came to the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame voting.) According to the VH1 site, Donna's tribute will be a medley of songs performed by Adam Lambert, Kelly Rowland and Keri Hilson.  (Check out what Adam Lambert had to say about Donna here.) For those wondering about the Whitney tribute, that will also be a medley and it will be sing by Jordin Sparks, Ledisi, and Melanie Finoa. I hope they all make us proud.  :-)  

[DEC 15] The other big news for the week is the Rock Hall Of Fame. (Donna Summer, Rock & Roll Hall Of Famer - pardon me while I do my happy dance again!  LOL) As always there are a whole bunch of articles about the induction list. Here are a few:

Boston  Herald
Boston Herald (again)
Inquisitr.com
Reuters
Hitfix.com (more about the other inductees, but they use Donna's photo)
Salon.com
Boston.com
Vibe
SoulTracks.com
And about a billion more....

For those interested in attending the induction ceremony, the event will be held in Los Angeles and the tickets will go on sale January 25 at rockhall.com.

[DEC 15] Out Magazine posted its list of "Christmas Albums You Won't Be Embarrassed To Own." Obviously there has been a HUGE MISTAKE as Christmas Spirit was omitted from the list. I'll TRY not to hold it against the magazine, but it's going to be very difficult. So if you see me glaring evilly at a magazine rack, you know why.  ;-)

[DEC 15] Yahoo has posted its year in obituaries. They have a really cool photo of Donna to go with her article. 

[DEC 15] Noise11.com has a very short article in which Jon Anderson mentions that We Are The World was written during the sessions for State Of Independence. 

[DEC 15] I think that brings us to YouTube.  Look for a rare early collaboration with Veit Marvos called Time Can't Take It Away. (Listen to the backing vocals - particularly at the end of the song. There  is NO mistaking the vocalist!) There is also an interesting video showing Donna's vocal range. Then we have MacArthur Park from the Art On Ice Show a couple years ago, the Hall Of Fame announcement, a news story on Donna's Hall Of Fame induction, Be Myself Again live (excellent quality - but still hard to watch), Bad Girls/ Hot Stuff from the Nobel Peace Prize concert, and finally for something a little strange, a mashup called I Feel Gangnam Love. 

[DEC 15] Please have your E-Greetings for Bruce in by Saturday so I can finish up the page and get it to him in time for Christmas. (That's of course assuming the world doesn't really end on Friday. It BETTER not - that's my day off! I don't want to work all week just to have the world end on a day I can enjoy myself! Those stupid Mayans should have checked with me first!  ;-) )  You can send them to me at webmaster AT donna-tribute.com or chawk25619 AT aol.com.  Thanks  :-)  And if the world does end - well , it's been fun.  :-)

[DEC 11] I'm back again to let you know that Donna's official website has been updated with a new message from the family about the Rock Hall Of Fame induction.   :-)  Rock & Roll Hall Of Famer: Donna Summer. I REALLY like the sound of that!

[DEC 11] And while I am here, after quite a bit of thought, I have decided to postpone Pages From The Heart Encore until the anniversary of Donna's loss. I have something like 20 submissions already, but I know there can (and will) be a lot more - it's just that people are still struggling with the loss.  On May 17, it seemed like the holidays were a million years away - plenty of time to adjust, right? Six months really isn't that long when you are looking back at it. So I think May 2013 will be a better deadline.

[DEC 11] Now while Pages is being postponed, I am still going full steam ahead on the E-Greetings for Bruce. (Like it or not, he's inherited US from Donna.  LOL) I only have  a handful of those so far, so get writing! Christmas is right around the corner!! (Oh God, have I finished all my shopping yet?  Oh no and I haven't even started thinking about my cards yet! Excuse me while I go panic for awhile now.  ;-) )

[DEC 10] I lied yesterday. I said I would have an update for you tomorrow, but that's just not true. But I think you will forgive me because the update I was going to make about the Rock Hall Of Fame announcements tomorrow is actually happening right now.  :-)  Every year there manages to be an early leak about someone. This year's early leak says.... are you ready?  After all these years, Donna is FINALLY a Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame inductee!  Set off the fireworks! Turn up the dance tunes! Make so much noise that God himself has to tell Donna that her fans are nuts!  ;-)  Here are a couple of quotes to go with the celebrations:

"We are overjoyed the Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame has recognized Donna's tremendous musical achievements. Its an honor we know she quietly hoped for and would very much cherish. We are deeply grateful." - The Family of Donna Summer 

The family cannot fully express the gratitude they feel for the outpouring of love received over the past few months in support of Donna's induction into the Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame. From fellow recording artists and industry executives to friends and fans from around the world, it will not be forgotten. - Brian Edwards, Enter Talking Client Relations

The induction ceremony takes place April 18 in Los Angeles. 

[DEC 9] In addition to Pages From The Heart submissions, I am also taking E-Greetings for Bruce and the family. I will accept those right up until about December 22.

[DEC 9] Let's start with the Rock Hall Of Fame. The list of inductees will be announced Tuesday December 11 at 11 AM Pacific Time.  I'll be at work then, but I will have an update that night one way or the other. (All fingers and toes crossed that it really happens this time!)

[DEC 9] Mark your calendars - KDVS in Davis, CA will be playing all Donna for a couple of hours on December 31 from 9:30 to noon. It's a special birthday tribute and it streams online. 

[DEC 9] And while we are marking calendars, don't forget that Divas 2012 airs one week from tonight at 9 PM on VH1.  :-)

[DEC 9] In the Donna is everywhere category, look for Time Magazine's Year In Review issue and Life Magazine's Farewell Edition.

[DEC 9] Johnnyswim fans - check out their Christmas video for Baby It's Cold Outside. The song is available for purchase at iTunes.

[DEC 9] And if you have been watching TV here in the US and run across an ad for Target that made you say - HEY! Isn't that...? Yes it is! It's Amanda Sudano Ramirez.  :-)  You can watch it here. 

[DEC 9] And I think that brings us to YouTube. Look for the Headline News reports on Donna's passing here, and here. For something more upbeat, there is the drag tribute to Donna and Whitney, the Junior Vasquez mix of Melody Of Love (audio only), Patrice's video for Breath Of Heaven, and an interview with Nik Ramli author of The Thrill Goes On. I'll be back Tuesday night - hopefully with good news!

[DEC 2] The new Summer Fever Pick is posted, and in keeping with the season I've temporarily abandoned chronological order to bring you... you guessed it! Christmas Spirit!  One note for iTunes users, it has come to my attention that the copy of Christmas Spirit available for purchase there is missing the title track. What you will want to do instead is buy the 20th Century Masters Christmas Collection: The Best Of Donna Summer. That one is complete.

[DEC 2] More performers have been added to the Divas 2012 roster. Kelly Clarkson and Pitbull are the new additions. (Pitbull is a diva?  ;-) ) Melanie Fiona and Metric are slated to take part in the tribute to Donna and Whitney.  The show will air Sunday December 16 at 9/8c on VH1. Hopefully we will get a worthy tribute.

[DEC 2] Speaking of worthy tributes, Canard (under one of his many YouTube names) has put together a really amazing video promoting Donna for the Rock Hall Of Fame.  Have a hanky ready for the end.  :-)

[DEC 2] Speaking of the Hall Of Fame, tomorrow (December 3) is the last day fans can vote for their nominees. The final list of inductees for 2013 should be announced within the next couple of weeks.

[DEC 2] Once again that ever elusive Donna bio-pic is in the news and once again, Tasha Smith is asking to play the lead. I guess we'll have to wait and see what happens with that.

[DEC 2] That brings us to YouTube. Look for Donna's duet with Marilyn McCoo of O Come All Ye Faithful, a 1987 concert from Japan (43 minutes - save time to watch it!), a tribute montage set to On The Radio, and a video for Last Dance filmed on the TGIF set (and it's NOT the clip you see in the movie).

[NOV 25] Let me start off by saying that in addition to the Pages From The Heart Encore submissions, I am also accepting the annual holiday messages again. I guess I can't call the page E-Greetings for Donna anymore.  :-(  That will just go up on the usual page close to Christmas time, while Pages will be primarily an actual book we can send to Bruce.

[NOV 25] In cover news, a bunch of classic dance artists are getting together to put out a Donna Summer tribute CD (not to be confused with the Donna Summer Tribute Site which will not fit nicely in your CD player.  ;-) ) According to the DJ Rico forum, the artists include; France Joli (I Feel Love and Last Dance), Carol Douglas (Heaven Knows and MacArthur Park), Anita Warn and Linda Clifford (songs yet to be announced.) I have to say I have mixed feelings about this. I love the idea of people doing tributes, I'm just not totally in love with the idea of hearing other people singing Donna's songs yet. (Although I'm less opposed than I used to be, so I guess that's progress.)

[NOV 25] I think we have a few Cher fans here, right? It turns out her label wants her to include a cover song on her next album. The fan sit, CherWorld.com, has a list of possibilities posted and is asking viewers to vote for their favorite. Hot Stuff is one of the possibilities and it's the top vote getter as I write this.

[NOV 25] Kylie Minogue was on BBC2 Radio this week picking songs for the broadcast.  One song in particular was one you might be familiar with. It's called Hot Stuff. ;-) You can listen to the broadcast here. (Unlike most BBC video links, the radio links work internationally.) Hot Stuff kicks in at about the 2 hour mark right after the news.

[NOV 25] A Brazilian TV show did a tribute to Donna and Whitney recently. You can watch it on the GloboTV website.

[NOV 25] The Brazilian edition of Rolling Stone has a special Divas edition. There is a photo of the cover on PapelPop.com. You can spot Donna's picture right on top by Janis Joplin and Aretha Franklin. (I think Donna would have found it cool to be in their company.  :-) )

[NOV 25] For the gardeners out there (of which I am not one - unless you like dead plants  LOL)  there is a hosta plant out there that has been named "Last Dance". (And trust me, if I plant it, it will be that poor plant's last dance!)  You can check it out on this plant website.

[NOV 25] That brings us to YouTube. Look for the early 80s demo of Walk Hand In Hand (audio only), Divas 2000 rehearsal and interview footage, State Of Independence official video, and not for the faint of heart - Be Myself Again live in Paris. (Try to ignore the Could It Be Magic intro - it's kind of distracting when Donna starts talking.)

[NOV 18] Where should we start? Well let me start by saying that the American Music Awards are on tonight and I am working on this update as they air. So if Donna gets a mention while I'm working,  I'll let you know. I do know they are planning a tribute to Dick Clark - as well they should. The AMA's were his thing, so if they ignored his passing I'm sure Dick Clark's ghost would haunt them forever.  LOL Having said that, one place that Donna definitely gets a mention in connection with the AMAs is on the BayouBuzz.com. She's at the top of the page with her 3 awards in 1979.  :-)

[NOV 18] I don't usually like to talk about leaks of unreleased tracks here since that tends to cause all kinds of chaos, but Tony Moran sneaked in a bit of Valley Of The Moon in his recent podcast. You can hear the whole podcast here, Donna is about 2/3 of the way in.

[NOV 18] A number of people have already received their copies of Giorgio's On The Groove Train Vol 1 [Amazon, Amazon UK] and while the version of Virgin Mary on it is crystal clear, apparently it is a single edit which is slightly different from the original vinyl release. The guys who have been in contact with Repetoire have asked about some other rare early Donna tracks, and apparently there are plans to release Denver Dream and Something's In The Wind on Volume 2 next year. (The more clean copies we get of rare stuff, the better!  :-) )

[NOV 18] From the land of the completely unexpected, John Lydon (aka Johnny Rotten the punk rocker) said some wonderful things about Donna in his video blog.  You want to jump to about 1:45 - the beginning is about Occupy Wallstreet.

[NOV 18] The last episode of X Factor USA featured one of the contestants doing Last Dance. She got good reviews from all the judges - even Simon Cowell wasn't too mean.  LOL

[NOV 18]  Johnnyswim fans - the pair have been busy lately with an appearance at the legendary Ryman Auditorium in Nashville tonight, and an appearance on NPR radio on the Prairie Home Companion last night. Now don't kick yourself for missing last night's show - because you didn't really.  You only missed the live broadcast. You can still hear the archived copy of the show on the Prairie Home Companion website.   :-)

[NOV 18] I think that brings us to YouTube. First up is a tribute to Donna from none other than Stephanie Mills. The sounds fuzzes out a bit a couple of times and unfortunately Stephanie only does the slow part, but this may be my favorite musical tribute so far. I don't know how much of that is my own mindset (I really wasn't into covers at first) and how much of that is that Stephanie Mills seems to get it.  :-)  Now for those who want to hear the lady herself, there is a clip of I Love You live from 2005, I Feel Love (2012 Giorgio Moroder Mix), Donna accepting a 1980 American Music Award, and a remix called "Donna Summer" Tender Touch (you know when I use quotes, something's up right? ) that sounds EXACTLY like a remix of Diana Ross singing Tenderness. I always admired that about Donna - that every so often she could just change her voice (and look) completely and be a total ringer for Diana Ross, Gloria Gaynor, Irene Cara....   LOL

[NOV 11] Happy Veteran's Day to all my veteran friends regardless of country or branch of service.  Your sacrifices are appreciated - even if we non-military people don't always show it.  :-)

[NOV 11] I would also like to take this opportunity to thank all the people from, well everywhere, who have come to the assistance of the Hurricane Sandy victims. Even though I suffered no more than inconvenience (OK and severe internet withdrawal symptoms  LOL), so many other people suffered so much. It's a really strange thing to see a Red Cross tent set up by the neighborhood gazebo where we had the Fall Festival.  These things always happen "somewhere else" - or at least they are supposed to, right? But not that "somewhere else" is just a couple of miles from my house, it's heartening to see so many electrical workers from all over the country helping to sort out repairs, Red Cross and other volunteers providing hot food to displaced people and people living with no power, people donating food, clothing, blankets, etc to those who lost all, and people who have just offered thoughts and prayers for the victims. Yes, there are a few dirtbags taking advantage of the situation (There always are) but thankfully they are in the minority. It just goes to show that a community is more than just a block or a town or even a city - a community is everybody anywhere who willingly pulls together to help those who need it. In a crisis, a community can be as big as the whole world. 

[NOV 11] I finally updated the Summer Fever pick - in keeping with the chronological order I started when Donna passed, it's A Love Trilogy.

[NOV 11] So there is absolutely no news... nope nothing at all.  I'm kidding, actually I have some great news. VH1 Divas 2012 will officially include tributes to Donna Summer and Whitney Houston. (On a side note, was it really 12 years ago Donna was on the tribute to Diana Ross? Really? I should have listened when my grandmother told me that time goes by faster, the older you get.)  Adam Lambert (A Donna fan in his own right) will be hosting the show, and he will be joined by Ciara, Miley Cyrus, Demo Lovato, Kelly Rowland and Jordan Sparks.  Having said that, the show doesn't air until December 16 (9 PM) and it's pretty common for the Divas lineups to change a bit as the airdate gets closer. It seems to me that some years they started with a list of a half a dozen people, then by the night of the show there were thousands of them.  LOL  By the way, I reserve the right complain about young whippersnappers if someone tries to sing I Will Survive as a tribute to Donna.  ;-)

[NOV 11] I don't remember if I posted this back in May (and it's too depressing to go back and look at the links on the Memorial News page, but this blog post on Margaret Cho's page is pretty cool. 

[NOV 11] A recent episode of Project Runway All Stars featured a project with a disco theme. The episode was filmed shortly after Donna's death, so of course one outfit was inspired by "Donna Summer" and one designer was heard to say "Rest in Peace." The episode is available online - at least to people in the US. I don't know if it's region locked, so if you are outside the US, give it a shot and see what happens.

[NOV 11] Huffington Post recently posted a list of the 15 best covers. MacArthur Park made the list at #13 (proving that Huffington Post has impeccable taste in music.  ;-) )

[NOV 11] A recent installment of  the Toronto Star's Anti-Hit List included Virgin Mary. (Not that's not a song you see listed in current media!  :-) )

[NOV 11] The UK's Daily Mail listed the 123 million-selling songs since the start of the Official Charts Company's countdown in 1952. You will find I Feel Love at # 99.

[NOV 11] And I think that should bring us to YouTube now. Look for Michael Jackson (and others ) in the studio for State Of Independence, a classic Donna being silly moment from the Crayons tour, the Glen Rivera Restructured mix of Enough Is Enough, the Love Is In Control video, kids dancing to I Feel Love on Top Of The Pops (I swear there is one who looks a bit like a young Veronica at first glance  LOL), Riding Through The Storm from Live & More Encore (for all the people dealing with the recent storms, earthquakes, etc), and finally a super mashup video of MC Hammer, Eurythmics, New Order, Talking Heads and Donna. (There is something really strange about seeing the Hammer dance juxtaposed with Annie Lennox in a business suit!)

[NOV 5] I'm alive! I survived Frankenstorm Sandy. For those who haven't seen me being silly on Facebook or Twitter, I got through just fine with no more damage than a few lost shingles on the roof. No big deal. But I was without power for 8 days, so it's going to take a little while for me to figure out what is going on in the Donna world so I can write an update.  I just want to say thank you to all of you for keeping me in your thoughts and prayers. I consider myself a very lucky woman - not just because I weathered the storm, but because I have you guys looking out for me. And now I would like to ask you to redirect those thoughts and prayers to the victims of the storm who lost everything. There are many of them. The photos I have been able to see are just shocking. I will be back when I get caught up with the Summer Fever pick and all the news I missed. 

[OCT 28] Happy Halloween everyone and Happy Frankenstorm for those you on the East Coast of the USA.  If you are in the path of the storm, don't forget to take care of the essentials: charge your iPod (or other mobile music device) so you can have all the Donna tunes you want during a power outage. ;-) I personally am in the storm's path (and yes, I charged up all my music capable devices  LOL) so you may only see me online via mobile connections over the next few days. (Who knows? The last storm didn't do more than make our power flicker.) So watch Twitter or Facebook for all my complaints about having to work during a major storm.  LOL

[OCT 28] Speaking of the storm, for those of you who were planning to see Johnnyswim at Jammin Java in the Washington DC area tomorrow - that show has been postponed due to weather.  They will let us know when they have the new date.

[OCT 28] Those of you with Kindles or Nooks will want to stock up on a little reading material (either for the storm or just for fun.) The good news is that Donna's autobiography, Ordinary Girl is now available for both readers. [Amazon, Barnes & Noble] If you don't have either device, you can always download the free Kindle or Nook app for your computer, phone or tablet and read the book with that. Just one note, it looks like it's currently only in the US stores.

[OCT 28] In music news, there is an EP on the German and Canadian iTunes (possibly others too - but NOT the US iTunes) credited to Donna called How I Feel. Everybody has been asking where it came from, so here you go. The song was from the soundtrack to the musical The Me Nobody Knows which Donna recorded way back when she was still using the name Gayn Pierre. It looks like somebody snapped up permission to release that track (at least I HOPE they did, or it's gonna disappear in a hail of cease and desists  LOL)  and then commissioned a couple of remixes so they could have an EP instead of a solitary track.  Now for the rabid collectors out there who want the original release - it's pretty hard to find as the musical itself it pretty obscure. And you need to keep in mind that Donna's cast recorded a German version and an English version. How I Feel is ONLY on the English version.