Flashback Friday: Donna Summer ~ Another Place and Time

Someone left the cake out in the rain :( People much more eloquent and poised than me will write about the sad passing of Donna Summer and her impact on the world of disco & beyond. For now, I'll just encourage you to play the gorgeous song above (If There Was Music There - from the VH1 special celebrating her musical Ordinary Girl) while I remember one of her albums that soundtracked a year of my life...

"I have never met anyone who could take music out of my soul."
"Long after the curtain falls, it's you I hear. My friends unknown."

Another Place and Time (1989):

Donna's 1989 album saw her team up with uber successful pop producers Stock Aitken and Waterman, who had massive success with Dead or Alive, Bananarama, Kylie, Jason and uh, Sonia. It's certainly one of the strongest hit factory collaborations and the album has stood the test of time surprisingly well. Blending a hi-nrg sound (that had many of it's influences in disco) with Donna's soulful and confident delivery created an album that I would listen to over and over again, while flicking through the latest Smash Hits, Big and Number One. The lead off single, This Time I Know It's For Real, was an absolute corker and gave Donna one of her biggest hits in years. Everything about the song was spot on - the uplifting, inspiring lyrical content, the synth backing track, the energetic beat and of course that powerful voice. This was followed with I Don't Wanna Get Hurt which, in it's album format, was a corking belter reminiscent of Dead or Alive - indeed it's perky pop brilliance masked the more cautious lyrical context. Love's About To Change My Heart is an amazing album track that also became a brilliant third single choice - the tempered, pensive intro that built into a swirling, glittering dance epic with an absolutely soaring chorus. In a way, it was the PWL version of her tracks MacArthur Park and Enough is Enough - certainly borrowing liberally from the format of both those songs. The middle 8 in particular oozes with sumptuous disco energy.

The title track should have definitely been considered a single - a beautiful bittersweet ballad that is one of the only respite on the album from the uptempo magic. It's really a pensive, reflective number that is actually quite heartbreaking & a lovely piece of music that was certainly my go to song for my many unrequited crushes of the time. Similarly fourth single Breakaway has a lovely vibe to it that almost acts as a picture frame to the art of Donna's nuanced vocal performance. Both are fine examples of how Donna managed to make the songs entirely her own, despite the familiar, ubiquitous sound of S/A/W that dominated the charts that year. Tragically this lovely album hasn't had a reissue in the same vein as Jason Donovan, Hazel Dean, Sinitta, Big Fun, Sonia, etc. Perhaps one will be forthcoming now. I certainly hope so - it's a fun, vibrant piece of work that brings back many memories, one of my faves being bopping around the living room with my mom to the extended version of I Don't Wanna Get Hurt. Good times.

(Rumour has it that a second album with Donna was planned, but for some reason it didn't happen and most the songs went to Lonnie Gordon. Imagine if Donna had recorded Happening All Over Again! JUST IMAGINE!!!)