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

[MAY 30] Happy Saturday all!  We have a new month starting on Monday, so I'm updating the Summer Fever Pick now. As you may have guessed, we are celebrating Love To Love You Baby. :-)

[MAY 30] Let's start off this week with the 12th annual Donna Summer Disco Party in Boston.  Usually it falls near the end of June, but this year it is August 28 from 5 to 9 pm.  As usual it will be held at City Hall plaza and DJ Vince 1 will be playing the tunes. The event is free and there are usually surprise performances and members of Donna's family on hand.  I wonder if they changed it to August this year because of the 250th anniversary of the USA? I know some of my local events got moved around to accommodate the 250th celebrations.

[MAY 30] In other news, American Songwriter has an article about how Bruce Springsteen wrote Cover Me for Donna, and then  opted to keep it and give her Protection instead.

[MAY 30] Bruce fans - he's posted a lyric video for Train In The Distance. This one is really cool - the lyric video is a sketchbook in its own right.  :-) You can also hear Bruce talk about the song on a Facebook reel.

[MAY 30] And speaking of Sketch Book,  xtm.it wrote a nice review of the album. It's in Italian, but I love that in this day and age it's so easy to get things translated.  :-)

[MAY 30] I think that brings us to YouTube. This week we are celebrating Love To Love You Baby.  First up, the official video for the title track.  Then we have a Suecase Hall video for  Whispering Waves,  Q's Bottom To The Top Mix of Full Of Emptiness, a liveandmore video for  Pandora's Box, and Q's Victim Of Talk Mix for Virgin Mary.

[MAY 24] Greetings all and Happy Memorial Day weekend to my American friends. This marks the unofficial start of the summer (Summer?  lol) season here but I have to say - by me it's been cold and rainy.  Definitely no Sand On My Feet this weekend!

[MAY 24]  So since it's the holiday weekend, many of the radio stations have been doing countdowns of summer songs.  SiriusXM has a temporary dedicated channel  (#560) until May 28 to countdown Billboard's Top 500 Summer Hits.  (Donna comes in at 456 with Last Dance, 369 with She Works Hard For The Money, 130 with Hot Stuff, and 15 with Bad Girls.)  70s on 7 was also doing a countdown today, and of course check out your local radio stations as well.

[MAY 24]  Bruce fans, check out a review of Sketch Book at  Free Zone Magazine. (It's in Italian.) And the Italian Music Magazine Classic Rock had this to say, "The class and compositional maturity are obvious and evident in the way they blend together with references to Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen, a touch of Lou Reed, but also to lesser-known names like Willie Nile and Elliott Smith." Nice!

[MAY 24] Moving on tot he land of Johnnyswim, all the tickets to the Georgica Pond tour are on sale now. If you want to catch any of the shows, grab those tickets now because Johnnyswim does tend to sell out pretty fast!

[MAY 24] Also in Johnnyswim news, they have added the Say Grace cooking video for Fried Chicken and Mac & Cheese to the Swim Team video collection.  That's actually one they recorded a couple of years ago so if you aren't on Swim Team you can still see it on YouTube.

[MAY 24] That brings us to YouTube.  Since the summer season has started here, let's have some summer... Summer concerts!  First up, the Crayons tour 2008 at Jones Beach - my personal favorite summer concert venue.  :-) Then we have Live & More Encore 1999, Brazil 1995, Japan 1991, A Hot Summer Night 1983, Japan 1979, and Italy 1977.

[MAY 17] Greetings all! I hope you are doing well on this 14th anniversary of Donna going on her final great adventure. Yesterday was my MS Walk at Jones Beach and thanks to you I met my goal! I wore my Donna shirt for the walk and I have to say it was a gorgeous day! I even got a little sunburned because somehow I always get sunburned on nice days at Jones Beach. (Because I'm an idiot.... I sold sunscreen in my store for how many years and I still can't manage to remember to put some on or to put it on correctly?  LOL) And of course I was playing the Donna tunes on the drive out there!  Thanks to all who donated and to all who took time to send thoughts, prayers and good wishes out to those who have MS.

[MAY 17] Let's start with Johnnyswim this week because they have added another date to their tour - in Patchogue NY. (Somebody heard my prayers!  LOL) Tickets go on sale tomorrow for  Swim Team and then a couple days later for the general public.  Check the list of dates on the Johnnyswim website, and if you are interested, you can join Swim Team there too.  Also, if you are in Swim Team, you can check out their video for the song You from One Day  The Musical.

[MAY 17] Bruce fans - check out his Facebook reel where he talks about Sketchbook and Make The World Go Away.  Also, we can expect a lyric video for  Train In The Distance soon.

[MAY 17] In Donna news,  Yahoo posted an article about I Feel Love.

[MAY 17]  That brings us to YouTube.  It won't take you long to figure out my theme this week.  LOL First up, Netherlands. Donna didn't write it, but I really feel like this song was her way of saying good bye to us.  Next is Angel by Omega Red featuring Donna, and If There Is Music There which was used to such great effect in the documentary about Donna.  Next we have a couple of songs Donna wrote for the fans - Friends Unknown, and Nobody.  Next up, probably the most personal song Donna wrote - Be Myself Again.  Now I can't leave you like that, all sad that Donna isn't here anymore. She wouldn't approve. So here are some lighthearted clips. First, Donna's cover for Natural Woman because the patter before the song is funny.  Then of course there is Could It Be Magic where Donna and Barry are having so much fun, and Special Guest which is something completely silly Donna filmed.  And finally the blooper reel from the TV special that Brooklyn closed the documentary with.  Oh and if you are looking for cinematic Donna, you can stream Thank God It's Friday on Daily Motion or TubiTV. (Both are free with ads.) And the documentary, Love To Love You Donna Summer streams on HBOMax. (Subscription required.)

[MAY 10] Greetings all and Happy Mother's Day to all the mom or mom-figures out there!  Let's start with  a new release coming this October. There is a colored vinyl box set called The Casablanca Studio Albums -  which is almost exactly what it sounds like.  It includes Love To Love You, A Love Trilogy, Four Seasons Of Love, I Remember Yesterday, Once Upon A Time and Bad Girls. It also includes Live & More which is actually a live album, except for side 4 with the MacArthur Park Suite.  Each album (or double album set) is a different color vinyl and it comes with a booklet with an essay written by Christian John Wikane.  There will also be a 7 CD set - same stuff but no fun colored albums. Or there is even going to be an LP set that is all black vinyl if you are into the classic look.  So something pretty much for everyone.

[MAY 10] Bruce fans - he shared an interesting piece on Facebook yesterday talking about 10 albums that influenced him.  It's a pretty eclectic list and Bruce explains what it is about each album that grabbed him.  It's very interesting to read, and it may just inspire you to explore or rediscover some of these albums.  And if you are on the young side and have somehow never heard of any of the albums on the list, then all I can say is "Get off my lawn you young whippersnapper!"  LOL

[MAY 10] I think that brings us to YouTube.  First up is the new Q The Stallion Meets The Sun mix of Could It Be Magic.  He made the video out of a whole bunch of clips of Donna singing the song over the years.  It's nice, but no version of Could It Be Magic can ever compare to this one for me. (Sneaky of me to slip that clip in again, huh?  LOL) Next we have Fil from Wings Of Pegasus analyzing MacArthur Park. (You may remember that he has analyzed Donna's music before and he loves her voice.) Moving on in my list of random clips I've seen lately, Donna with Joss Stone on Try A Little Tenderness, Bad Girls/Hot Stuff from Sirius XM Artist Confidential,  and State Of Independence from Top Of The Pops.

[MAY 10] And finally, next weekend is my MS Walk.  (Fingers crossed - the forecast is calling for nice weather!) Thanks to all who have contributed so far. I know money is tight this year. (I personally have a mild heart attack every time I need to put gas in the car or groceries on the table!  LOL)  If you are able to and would like to contribute,  this is my link.  And if it's not in the budget, I get it.  I gladly accept happy thoughts, well wishes, and prayers for those dealing with MS.  Oh and apologies for the poor quality, but here is a clip of Donna doing a PSA for Rock To Erase MS.

[MAY 3] Greetings all and Happy May!  It's a new month so it's time for the new Summer Fever Pick. This time we are looking at Lady Of The Night.  Also it's just 2 weeks until my MS Walk.  Keep your fingers crossed for me that there is no rain and it's not too chilly. (Hey Mother Nature - it's May. Can it warm up a little?  LOL) We walk rain or shine,  but it's more fun if we aren't wet and cold.  :-)

[MAY 3]  Parade.com has posted an article about Last Dance.  Nothing we don't already know, but it's still a fun little read.

[MAY 3] In Bruce news,  Foxy Lady Ascolta wrote an article about Bruce. The beginning is a nice summary of Sketchbook followed by a longer piece about Bruce's career in general. (The article is in Italian so if that's not your thing, you'll need to use an online translation tool.)

[MAY 3] Johnnyswim fans - the Georgica Pond 10th Anniversary tour tickets are on sale now, so if you want to go grab them before they sell out.  And if you are on Swim Team and you are looking for Live From The Backyard, that video is in the video section under the Swim Team tab on the website.

[MAY 3] Brooklyn Sudano fans - as you know she was in the later seasons of the sitcom My Wife And Kids. That series has been added to Pluto TV where you can watch it for free (with ads).

[MAY 3] That brings us to YouTube.  This week, let's celebrate the Summer Fever Pick. So we'll start off with the title track from Top Of The Pops.  Then we have The Hostage from Van Oekels's Discohoek, Q's Victim Of Talk mix of Virgin Mary, and a No Drums mix of Domino.

[APR 26]  Greetings all! Can you believe this weekend marks the 47th anniversary of the release of Bad Girls?  It's so weird because I remember buying it when it came out and I'm only 29....   LOL (Don't I wish!)

[APR 26] So the big news this week is Johnnyswim.  They are going on an acoustic tour in October for the 10th anniversary of Georgica Pond.  It looks like about a dozen shows in the eastern half of the US.  You can check he dates/venues on their website and if you are on Swim Team then you probably got an email today with a presale code to buy tickets now.  Hey have also teased a potential Christmas tour that they say may or may not be happening. (That usually means it's happening but they can't confirm it yet.)

[APR 26] Also on Johnnyswim news, Swim Team was treated to a Live From The Backyard Concert the other night that was just as much fun as the ones they did during COVID.  The concert is posted in the members section of the Johnnyswim website where you can watch it as many times as you like.  Abner was even talking about doing another one next month.  So we'll see.  :-)

[APR 26] I think that brings us to YouTube already.  First up, a blast from the past with Nathan's behind the scenes slideshow from the 2008 tour.  So much fun to look at.  :-)  Then, let's celebrate Bad Girls this week.  SO we have to start with the title track, in this case the video from the 1980 TV Special.  Then we have Hot Stuff from the 1982 AMA awards show, and Dim All The Lights from the 1999 Live & More Encore concert. And finally a couple of deeper cuts - the 12"  version of Walk Away (with the extra vocals), and Sunset People from the 1980 TV Special.  Okay, I can't resist. Since I shared some clips from TV Special, I might as well share the outtakes because I just love them!  LOL

[APR 19] Happy Sunday all! Let's start with Crayons.  There is a black audiophile vinyl edition coming out next month. It includes a 4 page booklet. You can preorder it here.

[APR 19] Parade.com posted a short article about Hot Stuff - calling it a breakup anthem.  (Somehow that's not the song I would go to after a breakup.  LOL)

[APR 19] In Bruce news, Sketchbook is getting some attention.  :-)  AreaRock.it did  a write up on it, and Bruce has shared quotes from a review by Music News, but as of yet I haven't found the full review.  So that will probably pop up online soon. (I'm assuming Bruce got a sneak peek since he's the artist.)

[APR 19] Johnnyswim fans - our  favorite duo is gearing up for a new Live From The Backyard for fanclub members on April 23.  They were taking suggestions for the set list from fans and they are planning to spotlight members of their Singles Club during the show.  All of that info can be found in the posts on the Swim Team section of their website.  If you haven't joined the Swim Team yet, well why not?

[APR 19] Also in Johnnyswim news, their musical One Day wrapped up its run in Scotland. (Happy trails to the company!) But I don't think we have seen the last of this show yet.  I expect it will pop up again somewhere, just judging by the sellout performances and the good reviews.   :-)

[APR 19] I think that brings us to YouTube.  First up this week,  fanmixer Q has dusted off the first remix he made 26 years ago, Wasted 2000.  He's given it a little polish and made a video for it - all in honor of the 50th anniversary of A Love Trilogy. (I must be getting old - everywhere I turn stuff I grew up with is celebrating a 50th anniversary! It's crazy!) As long as we are in 1976, let's look at some other clips from then like Could It Be Magic - the video.  Then we have Spring Affair from Disco Circus,  and a short clip from a video for that song.  And of course we have Try Me and Love To Love You from the 1976 New Year's Eve show. For something completely different, we have a reaction video to both the Richard Harris version, and the Donna Summer version of MacArthur Park.  This one is cool because it's not just the guy's reaction - he also added a bunch of popups throughout the video with interesting bits of trivia about the song, the artists, etc.

[APR 12] Happy Sunday all! This is a fun week.  :-) First up - we have a new album from Bruce. It's called Sketchbook and it features stripped down versions of some of the songs you already love. Well, stripped down is probably the wrong way to describe it. The songs are as they were originally written in Bruce's home studio.  See what Bruce has to say on his Instagram.  He explains it better than I can.  You can stream Sketchbook now.  That link goes to Spotify, but if Spotify isn't your thing, you can find it on your favorite streaming service, or you can just go buy it at a place like Amazon.

[APR 12] I thought Bruce's album was all we were expecting this week, then Johnnyswim dropped an announcement for their new Swim Team.  Basically that's an online fan club and it gets you access to limited edition merch, merch table discounts, concert pre-sales, exclusive content and access to the Swim Team community. Now as far as exclusive content goes - the first thing planned is a new Live From The Backyard on April 23 that will be exclusive for Swim Team members.  (And if you remember all the Live From The Backyards that took place during COVID, they were really something special!) Head over to Johnnyswim.com  and click the link for Swim Team to get started.

[APR 12] Oh and also in Johnnyswim news, Abner hinted at a tour announcement coming up....  So we'll see.  :-)

[APR 12] Moving on to the Donna is everywhere  category,  episode 3 of the HBO MAX series, The Comeback,  aired the other night... wait, I should say it debuted the other night. Obviously you can stream it whenever you feel like.  LOL Anyway, it closed with Last Dance playing over the closing credits.

[APR 12] And in the category of what might have been,  Michael Jackson wrote a song called Night Time Lover that was apparently intended for Donna.  She passed on the song so Latoya Jackson recorded it instead.  This video talks about the song, and if you want to hear Latoya's recording you can see that here.

[APR 12] That brings us to YouTube.  First up, a recently posted mashup of She Works Hard For The Money and Roxanne by The Police. They work surprisingly well together.  If you want a real gem - as you know Donna hosted American Bandstand one time.  Well the half hour edit of that show has been around for ages, but somebody has posted the whole show commercials and all!  So cool to see! (I never saw it back in the day, so until now all I ever saw was the half hour edit and a couple of clips they showed on a GMA segment once. So I am really happy the whole show has surfaced!) Also in the fairly recently uploaded category, a clip called Donna on Rage which is  just a half hour playlist of Donna's music videos.  Finally, we have a half hour interview with Rona Barrett.

[APR 12] Finally, just a friendly reminder that I will be walking to end MS in about a month. (The walk always seems to fall on the Saturday nearest to the anniversary of Donna's passing.) I know times are tough and money is tight (insert political rant about out of touch politicians screwing stuff up for us regular people  LOL) but if you would like to donate, this is my link. Some of you already have and I think you from the bottom of my heart.

[APR 5]  Greetings all and Happy Easter and Happy Passover to those who celebrate.  To those who don't - Happy Deep Dish Pizza Day. (Yes, that's a thing. LOL)

[APR 5]  Let's start off with I Feel Love. We have yet another article  heaping praise on the song (and rightfully so!)  You can read it here.

[APR 5] Bruce fans - he's posted a couple of reels performing on the couch recently. As of right now, only 1 is still up: Common Sense.  Don't forget you can still get the sketch version of Make The World Go Away, and later this month we have an album to look forward to.

[APR 5] That brings us to YouTube.  In honor of Easter, let's look at some of Donna's inspirational music.  First up, an audio only clip of I Believe In Jesus and one for When I Look Up - a duet with Darwin Hobbs.  Next up is a gospel medley from the Mac Davis Show featuring Donna and a cast of all stars, and Amazing Grace live in Nashville.  And finally, State Of Independence from the Hot Summer Night concert.

[MAR 30]  Happy Sunday all!  It's really quiet this week.  Bruce's sketch version is still available on YouTube (and all the usual places), He also reshared his video for Watching Darkness Fall in honor of the No Kings protests yesterday.

[MAR 30] In Johnnyswim news, there is another review out for  the One Day musical. This one is from Edinburgh Music Review, and spoiler alert - it's another good review!

[MAR 30] Since it's the second to last day of the month (and since there is nothing else to talk about tonight  LOL), I think I'll post the Summer Fever Pick today. For the month of April we are celebrating Donna's musicals - from her appearance in Haare to  Summer: The Donna Summer Musical and everything in between. And in honor of the Summer Fever Pick, this week's YouTube clips are a playlist of  songs from musicals - either songs Donna wrote for her musicals, or songs she covered from other shows.

[MAR 22]  Happy Sunday all, and Happy Spring to my Northern Hemisphere friends! The days are getting longer and warmer, and that makes me a happy webmistress.  :-)

[MAR 22] Let's start with Donna. The same YouTuber who posted reaction videos to On The Radio and The MacArthur Park Suite has now posted a reaction video to the Once Upon A Time album. Guys, I think we are turning him into a fan.  LOL  I know this link was posted on Facebook earlier this week, and then it seemed to go away. But as of last night when I checked, it was working.

[MAR 22] There is a new book coming out Tuesday called a Night At The Disco [PAID AFFILLIATE LINK] which, as you may have guessed, is about the dance music of the 70s.  It's basically a coffee table book with tons of photos, and comments from a bunch of artists. Of course Donna is in it. The authors are Christian John Wikane - the guy behind all those awesome liner noted in the various anniversary CD releases, and Alice Harris.  Alice you might remember as Donna's friend. Remember Live & More Encore? Donna said "Everybody works, except Alice." LOL (Donna was just fooling though - Alice does work. She's got a number of books under her belt.) My local paper posted an article about the book, but it is locked behind a paywall.

[MAR 22] Bruce fans - Make The World Go Away ( a Bruce sketch) is now available in all the usual  places including a lyric video on YouTube.  Now I know some of you are saying, "Hey, this song has been out awhile now." True, but not like this. This is the original version Bruce "sketched" in his studio that was then later produced for the last album. He explains it in his Facebook reel. He also posted a little bit more on his Instagram page.  We can look forward to Bruce's new album, Sketchbook, next month.

[MAR 22] In other Bruce news, St John's University posted  an interview with him. He's an alumni of their theater program.  (I worked with so many pharmacists who were graduated of St John's that I half forget that there is more to that university than pharmacy school.  LOL)

[MAR 22] That brings us to YouTube.  There is an album out there by a band called Emergency that features Donna, her sister Linda and Roberta Kelly on backing vocals for a couple of songs.  About a month ago, someone posted the track, Little Marie from the album Get Out To The Country.  Just yesterday (or the day before) the same account added Take My Hand. A long time ago, someone else posted the 3rd track with Donna's vocals and that's The Flag. You can actually hear the whole album on YouTube if you want. Or you can even find it on Spotify if you search.  And as long as we are looking at Donna's early days, here she is on a German TV show singing Black Power, and here again in clips from Haare. Then we have Donna in a weird clip of Family Tree where it's Donna on camera but someone else's voice in the solo.  (Clearly they didn't know what they had back then!  LOL) Then finally 2 audio only clips. One from The Me Nobody Knows, and one from Godspell.  (And yes, she used the name Gayn Pierre for awhile back then.)

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