News of Donna Summer’s death last Thursday struck an acute nerve within communities online and offline around the world. While the reaction was obvious, what might not have been in plain sight was Summer’s legacy of style and musical iteration. Her voice simmered within the partygoer’s nightlong urge to dance. With the help of an Italian-born producer, Giorgio Moroder, Summer created a partnership that culminated within a movement that served as one of the great artifacts of the 1970s: disco.
Before the famous NY Magazine “Tribal Rites” article and the “Tony Manero” character who was born of the piece, Donna Summer had already etched herself in nightlife culture. Her songs, most notably those overseen by Moroder, were appropriate for the times. The Seventies sought men, regardless of their sexual orientation, meticulously grooming and preening themselves in jump- and leisure suits. Women found their ground with wrap dresses, tube tops, and mini skirts. What you wore and said was very much like the disco movement: experimental.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V5AztWseIdU
Summer’s first album, Lady of the Night, didn’t a make much of splash on US and international charts. But in 1975, Moroder and Pete Bellotte, the Italian producer’s partner conceived a song for Summer, “Love to Love You Baby.” Lyric-wise, the song was very terse, yet the few words used were emphasized with sensual orgasmic moans. Summer’s Amazonian presence and breathy delivery were the perfect ingredients to Moroder’s feverishly sexual electronic high hats and funky loops. “Love to Love you Baby” became an epic romance tune this side of Barry White. On the album of the same name it clocked in at nearly seventeen minutes.
