Indie Release [Level 4]
I don't recall the exact story, but in the early Eighties, when Donna Summer was "reborn", she made a bargain with God that she would never sing "Love to Love You Baby" again.
Apparently, "Hell has frozen over", because she added "Love to Love You" back into her live repertoire for the first time in over 20 years. Reading from another site, she included the sultry chart-topper in her Reno concert earlier this week. She sang the full (single) version after teasing the audience with instrumental snippets of it threaded throughout the show. (There was no mike-humping this go-around.)
She has also added some other older material, including "Try Me I Know We Can Make It", "Could It Be Magic" and the "My Man Medley" from the 1978 "Live and More" LP.
I hope that this turns into a large-scale tour next year - this could be just what she needs to segue into some new material.
Double Platinum Record [Level 9]
Glad to see Donna saw the light. I do seem to remember Donna saying something about regretting doing that song. I guess she got bored with the born again stuff.
As usual, I know I might offend some here but if I got a dollar for every time some christian decided go to against the born again bullshit, I could've bought 2 Trans-Ams :lol:
Find them and destroy them!
Underground Hit [Level 5]
She must be getting desperate!! Even more so than when she reconciled with the gay community...Apparently, "Hell has frozen over", because she added "Love to Love You" back into her live repertoire for the first time in over 20 years. Reading from another site, she included the sultry chart-topper in her Reno concert earlier this week. She sang the full (single) version after teasing the audience with instrumental snippets of it threaded throughout the show. (There was no mike-humping this go-around.)
*** Forum Leader / Moderator ***
Glad to hear that. OMG sometimes those religious fanatics wanna be the human race's conscience :-?
Give it another 5 years and Prince will do "Darling Nikki" and "Sexy MF" again.
Hopefully!
Chart Hit [Level 6]
Now all Donna has to do is squeeze herself into one of her sexy, glittery '70s gowns she wore in her heyday and she will truly be back home again ;-)
I would hope she would compliment "Love To Love You Baby" with Je T'aime (Moi Non Plus) and Down, Deep Inside, along with a Spring Affair/Summer Fever medley.
"Everyone knows the real reason why you got that part it was the time you spent on that casting couch"--Antoine Merriwether
"Excuse me, Miss Thing, but both of us spent time on that couch"--Blaine Edwards
Triple Platinum Record [Level 10]
Lately, Donna seems to have gone to Wynnona Judd's fashion designer for her "duster duds", I think. They seem to be channelling Johnny Cash, with their "old West" black duster coats...designed to hide the sins of unaerobicized over-40 flesh. :oops: :oops: :oops:Originally Written by Salsoul1975
Therefore, I doubt she's gonna attempt to pour herself into a sequined gown anytime soon. Aretha doesn't seem to care if she looks like a glittery stuffed sausage; she puts on a tiara and a wiglet and acts like she's J.Low. Donna seems to know it's better to cover it up.
Who's right? Heads or tails? Your call. :lol:
"Lost inside adorable illusion...."
Indie Release [Level 4]
I only wish I could see her live performance! She was stunning in the seventies yes, but we all get old :roll:
I wonder if she would perform in a gay pride event or so. I remember Gloria Gaynor doing that. Was it in Copenhagen?
Indie Release [Level 4]
Donna performed a spectacular "Spring Affair/Summer Fever" medley in the early Nineties as part of her "Endless Summer Greatest Hits" tour. She even wore the white-halter, Marilyn Monroe dress from the "Four Seasons of Love" LP. I doubt that she could fit into it these days - maybe a white parachute - but, I'd love to hear that medley again. (Or anything from "Once Upon A Time".)
Advance Promo Copy [Level 3]
I saw Donna when the Wanderer lp was released. I was not really taken by her performance...it seemed rather lackluster. This was about '81. She sang "Love to Love You Baby" then, but changed the lyrics to "Learn to Love You Baby". There was no explaination given.
As far as the gay statement, I recall seeing a blurb cut from a paper hanging at a local record shop in Atlanta at the time of the supposed statement. I don't recall the exact statement, but it really put a chill down my spine at the time...so there MUST be some truth to this.
No Longer Charting
It all boils down to: "money talks and bulls*** walks!"
Garry
Advance Promo Copy [Level 3]
I'm sorry to see the Donna-slagging here. (Granted, some of it is 3 years old.)
She's overweight. Big deal. As Marky posted, she dresses conservatively to help hide it. She packages herself well, unlike certain other divas.
Yes, she's Christian. But she has NEVER taken out a jihad against gays. (Please excuse the mixed metaphor.) Years ago, some "journalist" seized upon the religion angle to create a conflict that didn't exist in order to sell an article. Donna has been paying for that unsubstantiated sensationalism since.
Think about it. I, for one, am gay and have good friends who are Muslim or Catholic or "conservative" Christian. Their religions say I'm sinful. But that somehow doesn't prevent them from accepting me as a true friend and a three-dimensional, likeable person.
Hey, Arabic guys somehow manage to screw each other and not feel as though it will cost them cosmically. 95+% of American Catholic women violate the Church's explicit rule again birth control but somehow don't feel less pious because of it. Lots of conservative Christians decide that maybe the "gay" rule isn't really a serious rule when it turns out their kid is queer.
Donna is Christian. But she's not judgemental. Her whole "anti-gay" thing was manufactured and false.
She performed at a gay pride event at Universal Studios in Orlando this summer.
Two summers ago, I saw her in concert. She was FABULOUS! She sang "Could It Be Magic," but she changed the name of the saint. She didn't do "Love To Love You," but she wasn't all Miss Priss, either.
Advance Promo Copy [Level 3]
I don't mean to step on toes here, but I'm not sure why you are carrying such a torch when it comes to the statement that Donna supposedly made about gays. If she said it, she said it. If not, then she didn't. This is something that will never be known for sure, because at this point it becomes a "he said/she said" sort of thing.
I was a huge fan of Donna Summer when she was in her prime. I absolutely loved everything she did on Casabalnca. From the time she moved on to Warner Brothers, I could hardly listen to her lp's anymore. Sure, she had the voice, but the production was lackluster from then on out. I did find a redeeming quality with the Quincy Jones produced lp...but that was about it. I remember telling myself with the "Cats Without Claws" lp, that if that particular album didn't catch me I was through with purchacing any more Summer lps, as I wasn't listening to the newer stuff as I was relistening to the prior Casablanca catalogue. I don't recall any other songs from the CATS lp than "There Goes My Baby"....well, maybe "Supernatural Love". The rest is a blank. Ask me about any Casablanca lp and I can give you each song on each lp. I know Donna was trying to change direction and not be pigeonholed as a Disco Diva, but I was not willing to go the direction she was wanting to go.
I think I was feeling hurt and abandoned by my #1 artist abandoning the genre I so adored and for which she was so well known. Then when the rumored "gay bashing" when AIDS scare reared its' ugly head, it seemed she was abandoning the very core audience she had built. I was sour....bitter and thought that it was a personal attack. I don't recall there being a rebuttal from her camp until years later. By then, who cared?
Though it is water under the bridge there are many people who have not given Donna another try since this whole debacle. I won't say I haven't bought any other Donna product since this supposed quote, but I sure haven't run to the stores to pick up something by her on the release date. I make sure I hear it first before I buy something, and more than likely I don't much care for it in the first place and end up spending money elsewhere.
Advance Promo Copy [Level 3]
OUCH!!! My TOES!
Rugger57, I can respect your losing interest in Donna because of the change in her musical output. And I totally relate to being alienated from her by the "news" that she had turned vocally anti-gay. It was that, more than the change in her albums, that put me off Donna for years. It's only been within the past few years that I've (a) been reconciled with her on a "personal" basis and (b) come to appreciate her talent as a singer of non-disco material.
While I'm a big fan of her, I don't think I'm "carrying a torch." I don't think that attempting to correct misinformation on a website makes me a crusader.
<<If she said it, she said it. If not, then she didn't.>>
The problem is, she didn't say it. But someone reported that she did. And the gay community (including me) accepted the rumors they heard, went into pack mode, and abandoned her.
<<This is something that will never be known for sure, because at this point it becomes a "he said/she said" sort of thing.>>
Actually, it is still possible to examine the evidence. A few years ago, I admitted to a super-Donna-fan (and uber-gay) friend of mine that I had parted ways with her when she made the anti-gay comment. He sighed and sent me links to articles: the original one; comments she made later; and others' analysis. After reading them -- poof! -- it felt okay to be a Donna fan again. What a great feeling!
I'm sorry I don't have those links handy. I'll email J and ask him if he can send them again.
<<I don't recall there being a rebuttal from her camp until years later. By then, who cared?... Though it is water under the bridge there are many people who have not given Donna another try since this whole debacle.>>
And more's the pity. As an artist, she's always been fair game for consumers' opinions of her product. As a person, though, she never deserved to be subjected to losing business or fans because of false statements. As regards that situation, it's better to clear it up later than never.
Double Platinum Record [Level 9]
That's what I don't trust about religious people; they turn it on & off to suit the situation & there's a biblical quote for every eventuality. Watch what those friends say when you're not around, that's what I say!
...ya gotta beat the street......
Indie Release [Level 4]
BITD when I read of the supposed statements and call for a boycott in a gay magazine I wrote a letter to her record company and asked about if she really said such stuff. I got no response whatsoever. I took that as confirmation it was true. I have never heard any more about the incident until now. So could someone please update me: What are they saying she said (and why wouldn't they answer me back then if it was false?)
Last edited by normvork; August 5th, 2007 at 12:15 AM. Reason: omission
Underground Hit [Level 5]
Hey guys, sorry to resurrect this.
It's the first time I hear she was singing Love To Love You Baby again.
I think she's getting desperate...
Even though it's a bit annoying if what she said is true, i don't mind too much. I guess I wasn't there too much.
What annoied me, when I was there, is when I saw her on Oprah when she was promoting I Will Go With You, Oprah asked her something about drag queens doing her. That was the most gay-themed question she made. And Donna basically did not answer that. She kinda steered the question somewhere else, as though as if she was uncomfortable about even speaking of gays! Now THAT was bad for me. We're the ones who've kept her afloat these last years.
If she sang as a gay pride even, it does not mean she wanted to, that she was ok with gays etc. It might as well been something she just HAD to do for promotion, it doesn't mean she never said those things or is a christian and does not mind gays.
And I would like to read the whole thing on where she said that she lost so many people close to her to AIDS. Because that quote didn't hint or include anything that shows she was sad about it or any opinion on gays.
Has she actually EVER made any statement on her views on homosexuality?
I think that, and her excluding LTLYB from her repertoire because of her bornagain bs, is ridiculous.
I personally think that religion is what makes people fight, and war.
I cannot stand people with extreme religious views. And I agree with teh switching on and off thing.
I am sorry that Donna got into this who thing.
Chart Hit [Level 6]
The problem was maybe David Geffen. Her relationship with him, that friendship souring with the years, seems to be the heart of everything. When he signed her, he thought he could profit from her, making her a gay activism weapon. Her being reluctant can be unterstood because that was limitating her. An important part of the gay bashing is in a way a revenge, orchestrated by some people that exceed their moral rights.
The most important element is that her 80's albums are very very bad ones (Geffen responsabilty again). During the 80's she sang material that can't be compared with her disco songs. What she said or said not can't change this simple fact.
Singers are not the brightest people in the world. So what? They just have to sing. We love them for their singing, not for what they say in interviews or elsewhere. They are not Nobel prizes.
Personally I loved Summer until 1979. After that I moved away from her, each album being a confirmation I was doing the right thing. Living in France and being a teenager, I wasn't aware that she had said something about gay people during a concert in the US.
Gold Record [Level 7]
Brand new Donna Summer article in HX magazine.
The 2008 Donna Summer is much more relaxed and open than the 80's DS.
Donna now sings LTLYB as a tribute to her fans ; the love is more universal.
She's been my idol ever since I first heard her in 1976 - and my love & admiration never wavered.
HX - The One and Only
Peace y'all.
KRIS
Underground Hit [Level 5]
Hmmm that's a very good article, I mean the subjects touched upon.
It's a bit too, hmmm, nice coincidence, you know what I mean?
Aynway, good for her.
However, I don't think you can just say her 80s albums were bad. I think she always says that once she broke free from the commitments of doing disco albums and went to do more rock and r&B albums she was more happy and prefers those??? Am I wrong?
Aynway, sure, I don't like them as much as I love the disco ones, but I would nto call them bad. I can still remember I like She Works Hard For The money.
Gold Record [Level 7]
I've always found something I liked on any given DS album ; some more than others.
Some filler but Donna-filler is still light years above most of what is on the radio today !!
Some of my favorite 80's Donna Summer songs :
I DO BELIEVE [I FELL IN LOVE],TOKYO,OH BILLY PLEASE,FASCINATION,LEAVE ME ALONE,VOICES CRYING OUT,LOOKING UP,THE ONLY ONE,THE WANDERER,NIGHTLIFE,SENTIMENTAL...and I could go on & on.
:icon_cool:
KRIS
Chart Hit [Level 6]
Maybe the best part would be:
«- Finally, if a Barbra Streisand drag queen battled a Donna Summer drag queen, what advice would you give the Donna drag queen?
- Go for the nose! [Laughs]»
A nice way to put things... :icon_smile:
Buy the way it's a pity that Streisand seems to have forgotten «No More Tears».
Gold Record [Level 7]
I rarely get as angered as I am right now. So... for all of you know-it-all-even though-wasn't-even-there & in some cases not-even-born-yet geniuses...
I know Donna & Bruce personally, I am NOT speculating, nor relying on some age old passed-from-queen-to-queen gossip when I say that:
1) Donna NEVER made an Anti-Gay statement.
2) She stopped performing "Love To Love You" for two reasons... Her Mother and her daughter Mimi.
3) She was never "Born Again". That is such a load of sh$t!!! She has always had a very strong Faith. She never lost it. The fact that she recorded Disco doesn't make her some sort of Heathen, DOES IT????
Every last one of you who smirk and wallow in your judgmental essays on "what Donna did wrong", when none of you ever witnessed anything! and even more-so those of you who have the absolutely grotesque Ego's, to tell us all "what she's thinking" as if you actually have the power to go inside her head, need to stop spewing these misguided and hatefull, imaginary truths.
Take your Ego-stroking needs for self-indulgent, acid-tinged, highly assumptive, attention-getting bitchiness and go dissect someone else's life. And get off Donna's back!
"MUSIC IS AN EMOTION, SEARCHING FOR IT'S VOICE"
...come with me, "BACK TO MUSIC", on DISCOTERIA
http://www.live365.com/stations/cdnbob2
Gold Record [Level 7]
I knew after reading all THAT in the thread that I would have to have CAROL ANN bring you some tea with a shot of Brandy in it and BTW..TINA..BRING ME THE AXE~!!:icon_lol::icon_lol::icon_lol::icon_lol::icon_lol::icon_lol: :icon_lol::icon_lol:
Underground Hit [Level 5]
WITH ALL DUE RESPECT TO EVERYONE, Stephen I think you took this a bit too personally but reacted too harshly.
Why? Because I think if the 3 statements you made had been made before, I don't think we would be having this discussion, and because while you are friends with her, we are not. You can't blame us for not knowing what you seem to hint at was somewhat confidential information (otherwise I can't see why it wasn't said before?, or by someone with authority and told it to the whole world-for example, the reborn stuff I have read in every single DS bio I have read, I think fans, who are usually behind those, would know this had been addressed to in the past and corrected the mistake and eradicated the matter?).
Also, and keep in mind everything i said and usually say is conjectures because one should never take something for face value, and just because someone does something, does not mean automatically the reason is the most reasonable one. And because we cannot know for sure. One should always question things.
However, and don't take this as me questioning your statement, but i guess that if an official statement like yours had been clearly made in the past, about ALL those subjects, someone would have reminded us of it here?
Ok, some of them might be personal, and you might argue, it's her prerogative to not give reasons, not to thoroughly explain why, so to fully put rumours to bed, but then I can say, we have a prerogative too. We're the ones who have bought every single thing she's released, so in addition to having freedom of speech, we are entitled to an opinion, especially when I don't think anyone of us (or at least I) said anything hurtful? We lack substantial information and we can only make hypothesis. You can't hold that against us.
We are merely (at least I am) trying to get to the bottom of the story that we feel has made her wrong. It might be some queen-to-queen thing, but it's always been there lurking in the background and can you blame us for wanting to find out what truth lies beneath that? For wanting to know what her reasons for those 3 things that have been big moments in her life and life/career-altering events?
I feel that your message was aimed at me, maybe it's my ego thinking that, however I think my messages were misunderstood, as I cannot spend hours explaining exactly what I mean, however I think in the end they were not cause enough for this kind of response, and I am terribly sorry for having angered you.
Gold Record [Level 7]
I would like to say I agree with Westwood on this one. But in a way, you are both right, and, maybe, even a little of both wrong.
I am a tremendous supporter of Donna Summer. She is my favorite vocalist. And I was DJing in Germany from 1977-79, so no one can accuse me of not being there.
I have seen her in concert many times, but my favorite has to be in 1998 when she did a benefit concert for GMHC (Gay Men's Health Crisis) at Carnegie Hall. It was more intimate, due to the space, but said a lot about her attachment to the gay community.
GMHC News Release
The next day, I remember talking to some friends about the concert when a gay man heard my review and proceeded to berate me for those "unsubstantiated" comments attributed to Donna. I told him that I was discussing my night with Donna and that he could "drop dead". In fact, he is dead now.
But we can't also forget that Donna's father was a preacher. How many gays have mixed feelings about their sexuality due to religious upbringing and parental expectations? And how many black R&B and Disco artists have a gospel background or deep religious beliefs?
If you know the history of Love To Love You Baby, she didn't want to do the song with the moaning and groaning. And she did not like singing in her head voice, even though it worked for her. She recorded it thinking it would be a demo, but was talked into releasing and remixing it with the moans. I'm not saying that is the definitive story, but that is the story that is out there. Do a google search.
I don't believe she made the comments, but the younger interested fans today are simply intrigued by the rumour. And it seems to me that they were having a fair open discussion.
And Stephen, yours is a voice that is not only respected, but because of your knowing her, could help to set the record straight (as it were).
Still, you can have all the expertise in the world, but if you don't know how to convey the message, all your points become moot.
I hope that the younger fans see that the true old-school generation holds her in high revere, myself included. And that we will always defend her, sometimes at any cost.
And that the older fans will state thier opinion and first-hand knowledge and then step back and let it take its course.
Because, in the end, that is all we can do.
Last edited by needlefingers; June 30th, 2008 at 10:50 AM.
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