New Donna Summer album coming soon...

[Boogie Child]

It looks like something Divine wore in "Female Trouble". Gloves included.

[markydefad]

My god, has she eaten westwood?:icon_twisted::icon_mrgreen:

ohhhh SanDee...you naughty scamp!!! :icon_lol::icon_lol::icon_lol:

remicks, what did you say that you edited??? :icon_question::icon_confused::icon_eek:

[Nano]

Here's what she ate:



:icon_eek::icon_eek::icon_eek::icon_eek::icon_eek: :icon_eek::icon_eek::icon_eek::icon_eek::icon_eek: :icon_eek::icon_eek:

[EricHG23]

Yes I'm making too big a deal of Donna's weight teasing but here's what I posted to TMZ

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LA9jvuEa0VM Is her on Letterman last month. and http://www.gettyimages.com/Search/Search.aspx?contractUrl=2&language=en-US&family=editorial&assetType=image&p=donna%20summ er&src=standard is where TMZ got the pic from--as you can see this is by far the least flattering of any of the pics that was chosen. I saw the woman, it was an amazing concert, over 2 hours and she was NEVER out of breath, always moving, and sang GORGEOUSLY. The woman is overweight, she's 60, a grandmother, who's been out of the spotlight for over 10 years. She did lose some weight for the tour though and got into shape to pull it off--and she does with spades.

That said in her glory days she was addicted to drugs, and anorexic! She's now in a place where she's happy with herself, and it shows. She also is NOT morbidly obese, she was never out of breath, and she's not large like Aretha Franklin large. I think she's actually pretty healthy all things considered and still beautiful. She has 8 costume changes in her show and I have to say these is by far the most questionable one, but it did look MUCH better on stage in person.

I dunno why this kinda reaction bugs me--it just seems pointless and too easy to mock someone, who's 60 no less and just coming back into the limelight on her weight. But I don't think Donna cares--she seems to be having the time of her life.

[kdavid13]

I dunno why this kinda reaction bugs me--it just seems pointless and too easy to mock someone, who's 60 no less and just coming back into the limelight on her weight. But I don't think Donna cares--she seems to be having the time of her life.

Good for you Eric...
Donna's new music should be heard and appreciated by everyone.
I know it's all fair game when you're in the public eye but it's easy to see that Donna is happy to be on stage,singing new songs at last !!!

At the end of the day ; what business is this of ours if the woman is a little fuller than she used to be ? She put out a great CD,she is touring,looking happy,that voice is still there and that's all that should matter.

I mean , does anyone expect her to look like the LOVE TO LOVE YOU BABY or BAD GIRLS cover shot for the rest of her life ???

The woman is 59 and still has the greatest voice on earth...
She is my #1 favorite ; but I think you knew that !!!

[STEPHEN L FREEMAN]

...but here's what I posted to TMZ ...
That said in her glory days she was addicted to drugs, and anorexic!

Any direct quote? Credible source?

When you make a statement like that, even if to bolster the most positive of messages, you need to follow-it up with concrete support. Otherwise, it becomes the focus of your message. And if it has no support, it's simply irresponsible.

If you'd written "According to... in her glory days she was addicted to drugs, and anorexic." Then there's a finite point to the example. Without that it's open-ended fodder for ever-expanding rumour. Especially, on a site like TMZ.

[Bernie]

Any direct quote? Credible source?

When you make a statement like that, even if to bolster the most positive of messages, you need to follow-it up with concrete support. Otherwise, it becomes the focus of your message. And if it has no support, it's simply irresponsible.

If you'd written "According to... in her glory days she was addicted to drugs, and anorexic." Then there's a finite point to the example. Without that it's open-ended fodder for ever-expanding rumour. Especially, on a site like TMZ.

Thank you. I ask that members heed this advice when posting as we need to be a little more responsible and conscientious.

BTW Eric, I'm not picking on you. :icon_cool:

[EricHG23]

Any direct quote? Credible source?

When you make a statement like that, even if to bolster the most positive of messages, you need to follow-it up with concrete support. Otherwise, it becomes the focus of your message. And if it has no support, it's simply irresponsible.

If you'd written "According to... in her glory days she was addicted to drugs, and anorexic." Then there's a finite point to the example. Without that it's open-ended fodder for ever-expanding rumour. Especially, on a site like TMZ.

Ugh--you're right of course. I shoulda been more careful (although I'm not too worried--no one seems to take the TMZ quotes seriously or even read them after a few pages). She did mention the drugs in her autobiography--particularly an early form of anti depressant that left her in pretty much a haze for a good chunk there (I believe it's connected to the suicide attempt she's recently mentioned on TV again and was also in her book). There's been speculation of other drugs but I think if anythign that owulda just been recreationally. The infamous Penthouse interview also seems to suggest as much. But you're right.

As someone who has worked with a lot of people with eating disorders, the anorexia is largely my conjecture--and again I should be more careful. But at her thinnest she really does not look natural. Anyway I'm sorry for any trouble I caused.

Becuase of seeing her concert I've recently been playing Crayons a lot more and to my surprise it's actually grown on me a lot (whereas for comparison Cyndi's really fun dance CD I got at the same time now I'm not as keen on about half of it). I really think in many ways it's more than I or most fans coulda expected form a Donna release at this stage--that may sound liek faint praise, but even the songs I didn't care for are starting to worm their way into my brain.

[Boogie Child]

I think the point of the tmz story is that her choice of a skin-tight, form fitting purple gown with stars is tacky. Overweight women can dress tastefully without flaunting their obesity - they can do so with style and grace. She does need a new stylist.

I don't know why select people on this forum cannot view Donna Summer without UNCONDITIONAL LOVE. There are better sites to explore that form of mindless worship.

[remicks]

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ohhhh SanDee...you naughty scamp!!! :icon_lol::icon_lol::icon_lol:

remicks, what did you say that you edited??? :icon_question::icon_confused::icon_eek:

I only expressed my total surprise (as in " :icon_eek: :icon_eek: :icon_eek: :icon_eek: :icon_eek: ") that this was our Miss Summer of Summer '08.
.........(but I wasn't going to leave that if it meant a risk of not seeing those records of VLs !! )

In fact, my first thought was just like that of many over on that TMZ thread who adamantly claimed , .... "That isn't Donna Summer !" .... :icon_eek: ....



******









*****

[discokicks]

For me personally, it takes too much of an effort to listen to Donna's new album. None of it, not even the dancier cuts, attracts any of my attention. I've heard all these songs before in different variations from the likes of Gwen Stefani, Kelly Clarkson and all those other recent female pop artists fighting their way up the charts. Pop music today is too slyly calculated and surrounded by so much hype and distraction that its all just a blur of colour and noise....and hearing that the album went in this direction is just too damned disappointing.

And, despite what some have written here, I am not convinced that this is a truer representation of her talents. What is most un-pleasurable for me is how her voice has been totally distorted and yet through all these glowing reviews of the album, many mention how wonderful it is to be hearing new songs with her unmistakable vocals. Her vocals have been bastardized, camouflaged and hideously played around with...certainly not favourable in my books and I actually find it quite disrespectful from those producing the album and manipulating the whole recording process.

Searching through Youtube, I found a couple of live videos of Donna from 1999...the year of I Will Go With You...and I wonder what happened with her attempts at writing her broadway musical Ordinary Girl. I'm hoping that that is still in the works because this seems to be where she should be focussing her talents. I compare her comfort on stage singing If There Is Music There to her awkwardness with Stamp Your Feet and see the obvious. Personally, an album of songs of this calibre is what I would love to have purchased. Yes, she does have a beautifully natural voice...it's a bloody shame that Crayons hides that fact.

[EricHG23]

That's too bad you feel that way. Donna has always experimented with camoufalging her voice--either by the way she sings or with different recording methods--I don't see this as a new thing at all, and ther are enough songs on th enew album (It's Only Love, I'm a Fire, Be Myself Again, Brazil, Science of Love all come to mind) where her voice is largely unadulterated. I also don't hear too many similarities to Gwen or Kelly Clarkson songs although there are some production techniques I suppose--I think it's a far more successful attempt at keeping her sound current than the awful New Jack Swing of most of 1991's Mistaken Identity...

I'm a massive musical theatre fan--Sondheim is prob my first musical love--but I really am kinda relieved Ordinary Girl seems dead. I liked If There is Music There (but didn't care much for My Life) and hope we can hear all the songs someday but the show, with its trite, formulaic, partly autobiographical story, looked destined to be an infamous Broadway flop--and the kinda show that no one would even bother seeing once Donna was no longer starring in it. (I think it's unfair to compare Music There with Stamp though--though I will agree Stamp has proven hard to do live compared to her other Crayon songs).

Boogie Child--I don't think anyone on here worships DOnna blindly--we just all have different opinions. I'll be the first to talk about the many mistakes I believe she's made in her career. But I actually think it's kidna brave of Donna to wear that dress--after we've had to endure YEARS of her only wearing black or dark pant suits, I say bring it on. Besides her image has always been sligthly campy and over the top.

[A2Mark57]

I don't know why select people on this forum cannot view Donna Summer without UNCONDITIONAL LOVE. There are better sites to explore that form of mindless worship.

So -- let me see if I've got this right. If we're more receptive to the musical choices she makes in the 2000's than you are, if we grant more allowances for her age and life experiences than you do, if we show some compassion for her weight issues as opposed to posting a photo and captioning it with, in essence: "Let's laugh at the FAT lady!", that makes us "mindless"?

I've always had a lot of respect for the "If you disagree with me, you're stupid" argument that you've employed there.

Likewise, who can possibly argue with your ultra-sophisticated "If you defend one aspect of a person, you obviously worship her blindly" argument?


Life can get so irritatingly complicated. Thank you for helping me restore things to a clean black-or-white viewpoint, Boogie Child.

[A2Mark57]

I've heard all these songs before in different variations from the likes of Gwen Stefani, Kelly Clarkson and all those other recent female pop artists fighting their way up the charts. Pop music today is too slyly calculated and surrounded by so much hype and distraction that its all just a blur of colour and noise[...]

Yeah, whatever happened to the good old days of disco, anyhow?! When nothing was ever calculated. When no song or hook ever reminded us of any other recording that had ever been done.

What is most un-pleasurable for me is how her voice has been totally distorted and yet through all these glowing reviews of the album, many mention how wonderful it is to be hearing new songs with her unmistakable vocals. Her vocals have been bastardized, camouflaged and hideously played around with...certainly not favourable in my books and I actually find it quite disrespectful from those producing the album and manipulating the whole recording process.

Ummmmmm...

Except that, as Eric has pointed out, few of the vocals are "totally distorted."

And...

It seems unlikely to me that anyone "disrespected" Donna Summer by "manipulating the whole recording process." This album seems to reflect HER choices, HER direction. She didn't exactly come crawling to Burgundy with a desperate need to make money. She just felt ready to record again -- and on her terms.

....and hearing that the album went in this direction is just too damned disappointing.

I honestly haven't seen any evidence of BoogieChild's mythical "mindless worshippers" on this thread. I haven't seen anyone post, for example, "She still looks as good as she did in '79!" or "This album is as ground-breaking as 'Love To Love You, Baby' was!" or "This CD TOTALLY introduces a Whole New Form Of Music!"

I HAVE, however, seen plenty of evidence on this thread that there are those who won't accept Donna doing anything other than a re-tread of "Once Upon A Time" or some similar attempt to recreate a 30-year-ago glory.

[EricHG23]

Well said Mark. Everyone's allowed their opinion but I find the people who are so against the new album seem to be at least as deluded as these "blindly worshiping fans". Right, Burgundy wanted Donna to do an oldies album. SHe didn't want to and submitted some songs she had been working on and they were won over--these aren't songs that were forced on Donna by anyone.

And I still don't understand the voice manipulation thing--for the most part her voice isn't messed with electronically--and even in the Moroder days it often was ANYWAY (even if it meant things like putting a strong echo on much of the Wanderer on her voice, etc) Anyway I see her in 5 nights and am damn excited--and I'm glad that by all reports her new tour has an energy her past tours have missed--partly because she seems so happy to be performing new material as well.

Taking a break from Crayons and playing it again recently I'm honestly more impressed with it than I was--it's growing on me so far really well. I think coming as it does at this stage in Donna's career she really deserves to be proud of it.

[Boogie Child]

"I honestly haven't seen any evidence of BoogieChild's mythical "mindless worshippers" on this thread."


Physician - heal thyself.

[EricHG23]

Well I suppose it's better if Donna's talked about than not at all :P

[A2Mark57]

Physician - heal thyself.

Oooohh! I love playing doctor!

"Now this may be a little uncomfortable..."

Nevermind that I usually also have to play the patient. :icon_redface:


However, THIS complaint -- what we in the profession see frequently and have come to refer to as FVIC (Finding Value in "Crayons") -- doesn't appear to warrant any treatment. There are no notable risks associated with this "illness," and, in fact, those afflicted with FVIC actually report elevated levels of happiness.


On the other hand... listen to "I Remember Yesterday" and call me in the morning, Boogie Child.

[discoadam]

I desperately wanted to absolutely love Donna Summer's new album. But I don't. There wasn't a single track that grabbed me except the electro remix of "Stamp" that was on the special Perfectbeat.com exclusive CD single I bought.

I compare the newest Dannii Minogue album "Club Disco" which has been spinning on my CD player and in my iPod since the day I bought it. It is AB FAB! It caught me from the first minute. Conversely I played Crayons several times over trying to enjoy it, and I just didn't. I finally gave up. It was too much work to try and like it.

I think, perhaps, for many of us who fell in love with the 1975-79 Donna Summer image and sound, we will perhaps always be destined to be somewhat disappointed with every effort made thereafter. The Moroder-Summer magic was such that nothing that came, or comes, after, can truly compete. In its time, the Moroder-Summer material was that good.