
Donna Summer: She could sing anything, anywhere, with anyone, at any time.
[APR 13] Happy Sunday all! Would somebody please remind Mother Nature
that is it SPRING so it should be warm out now? LOL
[APR 13] Let's start with Donna. You mat have read on Facebook that she
was awarded something called the Golden Clef. Guess what? That is
AI nonsense again. The same site had the same story about at least 4
other celebrities. I am the first to admit that playing with AI is
fun, but it is getting really frustrating to sort the garbage from the
real news.
[APR 13] On that note, there is a
story circulating that Toby Gad has a song of Donna's that he wants
to release in a couple of months. That looks more credible than
most of the AI stuff I have seen, but that being said - I don't know if
it's true or not. I am hoping to find a video, or at least a full length
interview where he says that. This is the other annoying thing about
AI... the proliferation of garbage makes you doubt stuff that
could be true. Ugh.
[APR 13] On to Johnnyswim and stuff that definitely is true. They have
added Georgia
to the fall tour list. So snap up those tickets before they sell
out! In other tour news, you know I keep telling you to watch
Instagram for announcements and show recaps? Well, they posted a show
recap in which the audience (and then Johnnyswim joined in) sang Last
Dance (with Donna's recording playing in the theater as the catalyst.
:-) ) It's the second video clip in
this post. (I had ALL the feels in that clip.... )
[APR 13] There is also a new interview with Johnnyswim online in
Decatur Daily. In it they talk about using their life experiences to
write songs.
[APR 13] Bruce Sudano fans - look for him on the
Someone You Should Know podcast. In it he talks about everything
from being a kid in Brooklyn up to the new album. And yes, he
talks about Donna too.
[APR 13] Brooklyn Dreams fans - the Mini LP CD is available
at CD Japan for now. (It's cute - a CD packaged to look like a
little LP.) Currently it's about $19 USD, but I have no idea what
the on again off again tariffs will do to that. :-(
[APR 13] I think that brings us to YouTube. First up we have a
mini concert at the Diamond Awards from the early-mid 90s.
Then we have an
interview/concert from the Bad Girls tour that was played on the
radio back in the day, a clip of Donna singing
Hot Stuff on the American Music Awards in 1982, Bad Girls from the
Tonight Show in 1979 (with the funky glasses LOL), and
finally in honor of the song being played at the end of a Johnnyswim
concert, we have
Last Dance - this one is live from the VH1 concert. As a
special bonus clip, here is one of The Three Dog Night's
Mama Told Me Not To Come. This clip claims that Donna was a
vocalist on this track. Now I do remember reading that Donna did demos
for Three Dog Night back when she was still living in Germany. I
don't know if she made it to any of the final versions of the songs, and
if she is on this one, she is buried so far in the mix that I can't pick
her out. If she's there it might take headphones and younger ears
than mine to find her. LOL
[APR 13] And finally, just a reminder that I am walking to end MS again
this year. If you are into donating, here is
my link. And if money is tight - I accept thoughts and prayers
for those who have MS. I like to say that I walk for those who
can't. :-) Thanks to all who have already donated!
[APR 06] Greetings all! It's a new month so it's time for a new
Summer Fever Pick. This month we are
dancing to the one and only Bad Girls!
[APR 06] I Feel Love fans -
BBC
Radio 4 aired their special on the song, and you can catch it online
now.
[APR 06] I'm sure most of you remember that Andrea Bufalini and Giovanni
Savastano wrote a book about Donna called la Voce Arcobaleno. At first
it was available only in Italian, then they released a version in
French. Well, there is an English version coming. According to
Amazon [paid link], it will be available on December 31 - which
seems strangely appropriate. LOL It's a paperback edition with a
list price of $39.99 currently. Hopefully the tariff nonsense doesn't
cause that price to change.
[APR 06] Moving on to Bruce.... he's got a new song out now called No
Surprise. You can catch it in all the usual places, including a
lyric video on YouTube.
[APR 06] Johnnyswim fans - catch them
on tour
(still) and if you are going to a show don't forget to check out their
Merch To Go.
And keep an eye on their
Instagram for announcements and tour highlights.
[APR 06] That brings us to YouTube. First up, a new mix of
Sunset People. Then we have the
Bad Girls demo that appeared in the documentary, and the demo that
was on the
Bad Girls Deluxe Edition. Then we have the 12" version of
Walk Away,
Dim All The Lights live from the 1980 TV special, and a longer
version of
Hot Stuff with extra adlibs in the outtro. As an extra bonus,
here is Bruce's performance of
Bad Girls.
[MAR 30] Happy Sunday all! Unfortunately I have to start off with
another warning about AI. Now there is a site soccer247.com that is
posting nonsense. If you are on the web and you see an interesting story
about an upcoming Donna release, or film, or what have you, be really
aware of the site posting it. A true story will come from a recognizable
entertainment website. But random stories on a site with a url that is
say, sports related (like the last 2 AI sites have been) should be
looked at with suspicion. Why would a soccer url be talking about music
news? Also, look at the other stories on the site - usually once an AI
story about Donna is posted, there are other VERY similar AI stories
about other artists on the same site.
[MAR 30] In better news,
Billboard has compiles a list of the 100 best dance songs of all
time. The MacArthur Park Suite came in at #73 and at #1 is
none other than I Feel Love. :-) And as long as we are counting
down songs,
Singersroom.com has its own list of the 15 best disco songs.
Donna has 3 songs on that list: Hot STuff at #8, Bad Girls at #12,
and Love To Love You at #14.
[MAR 30]
BBC Radio 4 has a series called Soul and on Saturday April 5 the
episode will be about I Feel Love. It repeats on the radio on Monday the
7th, and then at some point it will be available on demand.
[MAR 30] Boston's Donna Summer Day 2025 has been announced. It will be
Friday June 27 from 5 to 9 at City Hall Plaza. DJ Vince will be
playing the tunes and I am sure that as always, some members of Donna's
family will be there.
[MAR 30] In figure skating news, American Alysa Liu won with world
Championship using MacArthur Park and One Of A Kind as the music
for her free skate. Appropriately enough, the competition was held
in Boston. You can see her performance on
YouTube.
[MAR 30] Bruce fans - look for a new song from him called No Surprise on
April 4. Find it at all the
usual places.
[MAR 30] Bruce has also posted a couple of clips on Facebook from
his show the other night. He shared
Damn Lonely On The Road, and
Change.
[MAR 30] In Johnnyswim news they did an interview and performed a couple
of songs for WFPK. You can catch it
on demand here. Don't forget they are still on
tour and
still doing the whole
Merch To Go
thing. And keep an eye on their
Instagram for Run Club dates, updates, and photos from the road.
[MAR 30] That brings us to YouTube. This time I think we'll do
some European clips. So we'll start with
Melody Of Love from 1994,
Enough Is Enough performed with Westlife, a
medley of I Feel Love, Bad Girls, and Hot Stuff from 1994, The
Nobel Peace Prize concert from 2009,
Supernatural Love from German TV, and as a bonus, Donna with
Family Tree in 1974. (Yes that's her, but NOT her voice.
Weird.)
[MAR 23] Greetings all and Happy Spring! (Although Mother Nature pulled
a prank on us here where I am and made it cold again today. LOL)
Let's start off with a little music history this week. NPR posted
an article called 100 Years, 100 Moments: How Women Shaped A Century
Of Music. It is part of a series and this part covers 1975-1999. Hmmm...
do we know anyone who was active in that time frame? LOL It's a fairly
short article - it goes year by year and picks one artist/song for that
year - and no artist is repeated on the list. So they start with Donna
and Love To Love You in 1975 and then that's it for her.
[MAR 23] Moving on to Johnnyswim - their
tour is
officially on the road now. With that comes the inevitable publicity. So
with that in mind, check out the interview in
The Daily Bulletin for the Anaheim show, and the interview for
Arizona's Family.
[MAR 23] Just a reminder, Abner is busy making merch for the shows and
if you use their Merchandise To Go website, you can grab exclusive merch,
plus you can skip the lines at the venue. You can order before or during
the show online, then just grab your prepaid stuff. You can use the
link here,
or scan a QR code at the concert venue. I wish they would have had a
system like this when I was chasing Donna in concert.
[MAR 23] Also, Abner is resurrecting the run club where you can met up
(usually at the venue) at a particular time and you can go running with
him. The first one was today, March 22, at noon in Atlanta. But
keep an eye on
Instagram for info on future runs. (Especially watch the reels -
that's where the best announcements are - plus merch sneak peeks, and
photos/clips from the shows.)
[MAR 23] Moving on to Bruce. Back in the late 80s, he recorded an album
with Joe Esposito as Joe Bruce & 2nd Avenue. That album is FINALLY
available on
Spotify for your listening pleasure.
[MAR 23] Bruce fans near Brescia, Italy - catch him at
The Beatles Museum in Brescia on March 27. Or catch him walking
around Milan filming reels for Instagram. ;-)
[MAR 23] I think that brings us to YouTube. I think this week I'll share
a bunch of concerts with you. So we start in
1977 in Italy then move to
Japan in 1979,
Spain in 1990,
Japan in 1991,
Brazil in 1992,
Chile in 1994,
Belgium in 2005, and
Long Island in 2008. That's a lot of traveling without leaving
your chair! LOL
[MAR 16] Greetings all and Happy St Patrick's Day. We'll start off with
Donna this week. First up is a
video I found on MSN called How Donna Summer Changed Pop Music
Forever. It is about (as you probably guessed) I Feel Love. The video is
actually a couple of years old, but it was fun to see MSN pick it up.
[MAR 16] Next up is a
Yahoo article about b-sides that became hits. Yes, that includes I
Feel Love.
[MAR 16] Johnnyswim fans - as you know the
spring tour
starts on Thursday in Indianapolis. This first half of the tour features
special guest Micah Edwards. This tour will also offer the
Merchandise To
Go service they have used before. In other words, you order and pay
for your merch online on the day of the show (before the show, during
the show, whatever) then you go to a special line at the end of the show
and just grab your order. (Kind of like you can do with food or coffee
at a lot of places - you order and pay through the app then just grab it
when you get there.) They will have an exclusive Merch To Go t-shirt, as
well as other regular merch that Abner was working on in his backyard in
a recent Insta reel. (Hey, how many bands make their own merch?)
[MAR 16] Johnnyswim is also interviewed in the March/April issue of
American Songwriter. You can see a teaser of that interview on
Instagram. Unfortunately the interview isn't online (yet) so you
will have to find a copy of the magazine to see it.
[MAR 16] And don't forget to check out Johnnyswim's
YouTube channel for more clips of them performing the new songs
live.
[MAR 16] Bruce Sudano fans in Italy - Bruce will be at the Demetrio
Stratos Auditorium of Radio Popolare in Milan on Thursday March 20.
Admission if free, but you have to reserve tickets by email. Details are
in
this link.
[MAR 16] Bruce was also
live on his couch on Facebook again. This was a new song called A
Girl Forgotten inspired by a book Bruce read last fall.
[MAR 16] That brings us to YouTube. I felt like hanging out in 1999 this
week, so here are the clips I've been checking out. First up is the
whole
VH1 Live & More Encore show. Then we have the video for
I Will Go With You, and Donna on the
Rosie O'Donnell Show. And finally 3 clips from Donna's first
appearance on The View - the
interview,
I Will Go With You, and
On The Radio.
[MAR 09] Happy Sunday all! Let's start off with a warning this
week. There is more AI nonsense going around on social media. If you
read ANYTHING that came from halftimenews.uk - it's AI generated
garbage. Laugh at if it you wish, but don't expect any of the
reports to be true. And also know that the more you click on Donna
stories there, the more Donna stories they will create.
[MAR 09] If you are looking for something to listen to, there is a
show on Soundcloud called
In Focus and it has 2 house of Donna's music.
[MAR 09] Moving on, as you know the Oscars were on last weekend. (And
boy was it weird not having the nominated songs performed!) In honor of
Oscar night,
Queerty posted an article about the Oscar-winning song Last Dance.
The article also includes a few related YouTube videos including the
audio for Paul Jabara's version of Last Dance.
[MAR 09]
ThyBlackman.com posted an article listing 10 songs that prove Donna
i the Queen of Disco. It's a nice article, but there are no
surprises on the list.
[MAR 09] Opera fans - Johnnyswim did a video for the LA Opera showing
some of the behind the scenes for Romeo & Juliette. Catch it on
YouTube as part of the LA Opera's 40th Anniversary season
announcement.
[MAR 09] And of course you can catch Johnnyswim
on tour
all spring and again in the fall.
[MAR 09] In Bruce news, he's been making making the rounds again. He was
in an
Italian article promoting the new single, How'd You Get Here (which
has a
video on YouTube.) He also did the
City Is Backyard podcast where they talk abut everything from Alive
N Kickin' til now.
[MAR 09] Johnnyswim fans - we are still celebrating the release of When
The War is Over. Our favorite duo has been posting reels of the various
tracks from the album on their
Instagram and
YouTube channels.
[MAR 09] That brings us to YouTube. In honor of Live & More, let's do
some interviews from about that time. So we have a 1978 interview with
Rona Barrett, Donna on
Merv Griffin in 1978, Donna on
The Tonight Show, and another appearance on
Merv Griffin.
[MAR 09] And finally this week - I am doing my annual
MS Walk. This year the walk actually falls on May 17, so I have
extra incentive to wear one of my Donna shirts. If you are interested in
donating, my link is here. But I also get that 2025 is turning into a
giant dumpster fire, so if you can't spare any cash I am more than happy
with your thoughts and prayers for those afflicted with MS.
[MAR 01] Happy Saturday all! Can you believe March is here already?
Spring is right around the corner with warmer weather and the start of
concert season. It is also time for a new
Summer Fever Pick. This month you will be shouting "More more more!"
for Live & More - the original 1978 album.
[MAR 01] Johnnyswim has been posting video clips of them performing
songs from the new album When The War Is Over. You can catch them on
YouTube and
Instagram - although at the moment, Insta has more of them. (If you
haven't listened to that album yet - do it! It is really good and I find
that for me it had a vibe that helps me feel better after all my
doom-scrolling of the latest national/world news.)
[MAR 01] Speaking of Johnnyswim, if you are interested in attending the
show in Louisville on March 21, WFPK 91.9 is offering you a chance
to win tickets to the show. Entry form and rules are
posted here.
[MAR 01] Bruce fans -he has a new video out for
How'd You Get Here. He says it's geared for Baby Boomers - but I'm
telling all you younger people out there - you will get there too. LOL
[MAR 01] Bruce was also on another podcast this week. This one is
Stories From The 78 and they talk about Bruce's career from the
beginning.
[MAR 01] This month we are celebrating the new Summer Fever Pick. So we
start off with an
ad
for Live & More with lots of vintage live clips, and a
cut down version that actually aired on TV. Then we have a
clip that shows the videos for MacArthur Park, I Feel Love, and Last
Dance together, and the 1/2 hour cut down version of the episode of
American Bandstand that Donna hosted (with a special intro by Dick
Clark and an appearance by the Brooklyn Dreams.) Finally in honor of
tomorrow being Oscar night, we have a
Suecase Hall video showcasing Donna on the Oscars.
[FEB 23] Happy Sunday all! I hope everybody is keeping their sanity in
these strange times we are living in.
[FEB 23] I guess we'll start with Bruce this week. He just did another
podcast. This one is the
Jim Master's Show and they talk about just about everything from
Alive & Kickin' to Talkin' Ugly Truths Tellin' Pretty Lies.
(And yes, Donna comes up.)
[FEB 23] Moving on to Johnnyswim. They did a rapid fire Q&A for American
Songwriter on
Instagram. They also did an interview for BBC Radio London in
which they also played Dopamine live in the studio. You can catch that
for a limited time on the
BBC
website. Johnnyswim doesn't appear until about the 3 hour and 10
minute mark.
[FEB 23] Don't forget Johnnyswim is
back out on
the road starting March 20. So if they are coming to your area - go
grab some tickets!
[FEB 23] That brings us to YouTube. I thought we'd have some funny
clips this week. So we have Donna on
Greg Kinnear in 1993, a
fun video Donna made in 2008,
outtakes from the 1980 TV special, a clip from Donna's appearance on
Family Matters, and finally a
silly experimental
video Donna made.
[FEB 16] Greetings all and a belated Happy Valentine's Day! I hope you
all got to spend the day with someone you love - even if that person was
yourself. :-) (You gotta love yourself you know!)
[FEB 16] Let's start off with Johnnyswim. They just added a boatload of
new tour dates - along with VIP packages to go with them. Check
the list on
their site and remember - if there is a particular date that
interests you grab those tickets as soon as you can. Johnnyswim does
have a pretty good record of selling out. (And if you have ever been to
one of their shows then you understand why. :-) )
[FEB 16] Also in Johnnyswim news - they were on Jimmy Kimmel Live the
other day. You can catch the performance on
YouTube. (Thank God because I fell asleep that night and only
woke up for the last few notes. LOL)
[FEB 16]
Clash Music has a short article posted about When The War Is Over
punctuated with a giant photo of Abner and Amanda. And they also
did an episode of the
Unplanned Podcast with Matt & Abby.
[FEB 16] Bruce fans - he also did a podcast recently. It was the Retro
Rock Round Up and you can
catch that here.
[FEB 16] I just want to warn everyone again about AI. I saw a post
online recently where it said "According to ChatGPT, Donna....
whatever." ChatGPT is an AI program that will literally makeup a
plausible-sounding story based on anything you chose to input as a
prompt. It cannot be accepted as a reliable source of info. I
played with ChatGPT once and I had it write really good stories about
Donna raising elephants in a tiny Brooklyn apartment, about Cher raising
giant killer ants in Hawaii, about Marlon Brando recording an album of
music made only by chainsaws. The prompts were deliberately ridiculous,
but all the stories that got spit out looked fairly legit. And I
was just playing with the free version - I can't even imagine what the
paid version would do. So when you are browsing the internet,
please be mindful of your sources - whether you are looking up Donna, or
something more serious. (The same with photos - there are tons of
AI photos out there.)
[FEB 16] I think that brings us to YouTube. I think for
Valentine's Day, we have to do a love theme this week. So we have
to start with
Love To Love You Baby. Then we have
Love On And On,
I Feel Love live from Live & More Encore, a liveandmore video
for
Our Love, I Love You from
The Tonight Show,
Love Is The Healer from The View, and finally the live clip of the
ballad version of
I Will Live For Live.
[FEB 9] Happy Sunday all! We had our first real snow storm here
last night and I find myself wondering why nobody has invented
self-shoveling snow yet! LOL
[FEB 9] So the news of the week is that Johnnyswim's new album,
When The War Is
Over, is out now. And there is
merch to
go with it. If you haven't listened to the album yet, go check it
out. It has a nice calming vibe to it that I personally find
appealing these days. They've been celebrating the release all over
social media so keep an eye on
Instagram for videos and such about When The War Is Over.
[FEB 9] Don't forget that Johnnyswim will be on Jimmy Kimmel tomorrow
(February 10), then Tuesday they will be playing at the Grand Ole Opry
and Wednesday they are doing at record signing at
Grimeys in Nashville.
[FEB 9] There is also a new article in
Relevent Magazine about the new album.
[FEB 9] Bruce Sudano fans - he posted a
reel on Facebook where he talks about being a songwriter.
[FEB 9] Brooklyn Sudano fans - you remember that a couple of years ago
she was on a show called Taken? Well, the streaming service
Tubi has picked up
that show so you can see her episodes again. She was only in the first
season and her best scenes came towards the end of the season. As I
recall, she was quite a bad-ass in one of those last episodes. :-)
[FEB 9] That brings us to YouTube. Since tonight is Superbowl Sunday, I
thought we'd do a (sort of) sports-themes list this time. So we
start off with
Stamp Your Feet (which is appropriate for just about any sport),
One Of A Kind (which I remember hearing years ago after some
sporting event), and
Run With It (which I think could also work for sports.) Then for
specifically football videos, we have Donna doing an ad for
Monday Night Football, and a clip of
On
My Honor being used for a football review. (Sorry, the sound is
pretty bad on that one.)
[FEB 2] Greetings all and Happy Groundhog Day! Depending on which
groundhog you believe, we are either getting an early spring, or a
longer winter. Somebody needs to tell those groundhogs to make up their
minds! LOL This week starts a new month so of course we have
a new Summer Fever Pick. This month we jump into the fairytale
that is Once Upon A Time.
[FEB 2] Let's start with Johnnyswim since their album is coming out
soon. (When The War Is Over - February 7!) They've done a few interviews
in support of the album. One was on Dadville Podcast the other
day. You can listen on
YouTube. The other was on
Talkshop Live.
[FEB 2] If you are into press releases, there is one for When The War Is
Over
posted here.
[FEB 2] As you know we have some
tour dates
already announced, but there are other events coming up too. Look for
them at the Grammy Museum on February 6 for an album release event, on
Jimmy Kimmel Live on February 10, on The Grand Ole Opry on February 11
as part of the year long Opry 100 celebration, and at a
record signing at Grimey's in Nashville on February 12. Beyond that,
Abner has said that there will be an announcement of more tour dates.
(Which is probably not really news - given the chance, Johnnyswim seems
to live on the road. LOL) He's also said there will be some bonus tracks
from When The War Is Over coming out in March. Johnnyswim is also
writing a musical and possibly exploring the idea of writing a cookbook.
(When do they have time to do all this? LOL)
[FEB 2] As you know both Johnnyswim and Bruce did the Benefit for LA at
the Hotel Cafe the other night. Both shared short clips from their
performances. Johnnyswim's is a reel on
their Instagram, and Bruce's is posted as a
story on Instagram. (You may need to login to see it.)
[FEB 2] Speaking of Bruce, he posted a
video on Instagram talking about staying positive as an
artist/songwriter. And he did an interview on
Downtown With Rich Kimball the other day in which he talks
about lots of things.
[FEB 2] There was also a
short article about Bruce for the benefit event in LA at Hotel Cafe.
I'm sure there was one for Johnnyswim too, but now that the benefit is
over I can't find it.
[FEB 2] And that brings us to YouTube. This week we are celebrating Once
Upon A Time. So we have the
title track live in 1979,
Fairy Tale High from the 1980 TV Special (with Mimi), a liveandmore
video for
Working The Midnight Shift,
I Love You from The Tonight Show, and
A Man Like You from The Midnight Special.
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