Categories: Music

Donna Summer’s Top Twenty Songs

Donna Summer is best known as the queen of disco. With an impressive string of hits in the late seventies, Donna made an indelible mark in dance clubs and on radios everywhere. Much of her music from that era is considered classic today, but the singer has endured beyond the death of the genre and has contributed a great number of memorable songs to the American songbook.

The music of Donna Summer goes far beyond her disco years as she’s recorded many wonderfully written and produced songs in the thirty years since that time. The following is a listing of Donna Summer’s top twenty songs from her storied career, from this writer’s opinion. Not everyone will agree with all of the choices on this list, but remember that music is subjective and the songs here represent my own personal associations with Donna Summer songs. I’ve included links to the videos and audio files where no video was available. Enjoy!

#20 – Breakaway

This song appeared on Donna Summer’s 1989 album “Another Place and Time” and is about a woman trying to break free from a lost love. The song is very melodic and catchy and more than twenty years later, I still remember the words!

Take a listen to “Breakaway” here.

#19 – Once Upon a Time

“Once Upon a Time” is the title song to a 1977 concept double album that’s classic through and through. Both the album and the song are dramatic and lyrically masterful.

See Donna perform “Once Upon a Time” at an LA discotheque in 1978 here.

#18 – Livin in America

Having been born and raised in Boston, Massachusetts, Donna Summer is as patriotic an American as one could be. During a concert at Jones Beach, not long after the death of John F. Kennedy, Jr., she paid tribute to the man with a rousing rendition of “America the Beautiful.” This song, from her Quincy Jones produced, 1982 self-titled album, was Donna’s own anthem to the American ideal. Though not a hit by any standards, this song showcases Donna Summer’s powerful voice and the chorus gives me goose bumps every time I hear it.

Donna performs “Livin in America” at Ronald Reagan’s 1984 inaugural here.

#17 – Our Love

This one is classic disco, pure and simple. With touching lyrics and a characteristic disco groove, “Our Love” is one that’ll make you want to get down. Take a listen here.

#16 – I Will Go With You

In 1999, Donna Summer remade a song that was originally sung by opera impresario Andrea Bocelli four years earlier. The original song, “Con te Partido” was sung in Italian and Donna reworked the tune with English lyrics and it hit the top spot on Billboard’s Dance Charts.

Watch Donna Summer’s video for “I Will Go With You” here.

#15 – State of Independence

This is yet another song from the 1982 “Donna Summer” album. It is an uplifting cover of a song previously recorded by Jon and Vangelis and features an all-star choir, including the likes of Michael Jackson, James Ingram, Lionel Ritchie, Dionne Warwick and others.

Watch the video here.

#14 – Love Is In Control (Finger on the Trigger)

Also from the “Donna Summer” album, “Love is in Control” has the funky, Quincy Jones signature sound reminiscent of Michael Jackson’s “P.Y.T.”

Listen to “Love is in Control (Finger on the Trigger)” here.

#13- Carry On

“Carry On” is a beautiful song that marked a reunion of sorts between Donna and her long time collaborator Giorgio Moroder. They recorded the song together for Moroder’s 1992 album “Forever Dancing”, but it didn’t hit big until five years later when it garnered Donna Summer the first ever Grammy Award for Best Dance Recording.

Check out Donna with Giorgio performing “Carry On” here.

#12 – Walk Away

This song is from Donna’s 1979 smash album “Bad Girls” and is classic disco at its best.

Listen to “Walk Away” here.

#11 – Try Me, I Know We Can Make It

“Try Me, I Know We Can Make It” originally appeared on Donna’s 1976 album “A Love Trilogy” and was a disco marathon, a la “Love to Love You Baby”, coming in at over seventeen minutes long. I first heard the track on Donna’s 1979 continuous mix greatest hits album “On the Radio” and it immediately became a favorite.

Listen to a shortened version of “Try Me” here.

#10 – Dim All the Lights

This was another great hit off of the “Bad Girls” album in 1979, hitting the #2 spot on the Billboard Pop Charts. A little slower in tempo than the previous hits “Hot Stuff” and “Bad Girls”, “Dim All the Lights” is a bit more soulful and crescendos to a happy disco tune.

*Note – “Dim All the Lights” contains the longest sustained note ever recorded in a top forty hit, coming in at sixteen seconds. Check out the tune here.

#9 – Love to Love You Baby

This was the one that started it all for Donna Summer. This long track (over 16 minutes!) contained moans and groans that would make anyone blush, even Donna! The track hit #2 on the charts in 1975 and helped propel the singer into the limelight for a very long time.

Take a look at an early clip of Donna Summer singing “Love to Love You Baby” here.

#8 – I Feel Love

The catchy synthesizer background and the sexy vocals of this track make it one of the most identifiable disco songs ever.

Relive the memory here.

#7 – This Time I Know it’s for Real

In 1988, Donna Summer returned to the top ten after a five year absence with “This Time I Know it’s for Real”, a catchy pop tune produced by 80’s hit-making producers Stock, Aiken and Waterman. Great song!

Watch the video here.

#6 – No More Tears (Enough is Enough) – with Barbra Streisand

“It’s raining, it’s pouring. My love life is boring me to tears, after all these years…”

What do you get when you pair together a disco queen with an accomplished balladeer? The answer is “No More Tears (Enough is Enough)”, a song that combines the best of both worlds. The tune is a splendid mix, beginning with a long, slow intro, and working its way up to a frenzied disco anthem.

Take a listen to this classic here.

#5 – Heaven Knows – with Brooklyn Dreams

This is one Donna Summer song I never get tired of listening to. The dueling vocals of this duet, with Brooklyn Dreams singer Joe “Bean” Esposito, play off nicely together and the hook of the chorus is simply irresistible.

Listen to “Heaven Knows” here.

#4 – She Works Hard for the Money

This 1983 anthem to hard working people everywhere was a smash hit for Donna Summer and arguably one of her first songs that had a decidedly “80’s”, and not disco, sound.

Watch the video here.

#3 – MacArthur Park

This song, written by Jimmy Webb, has been covered more than 50 times, but none was more successful than Donna Summer’s 1978 melodramatic interpretation. The song reached the top spot on the charts for three weeks and remains as one of Donna’s most identifiable hits.

Watch Donna Summer perform “MacArthur Park” here.

#2 – Hot Stuff/Bad Girls

“Toot, toot. Hey! Beep, beep.”

Okay, okay, so this entry makes the list twenty-one songs and not twenty, but the two have been irrevocably intertwined ever since they appeared in a continuous mix on the “Bad Girls” album. A common theme, ladies working the world’s oldest profession, also links the tunes together. Both were smash hits for Donna Summer and are representative of the highest pinnacle of her career. Classic disco!

#1 – Last Dance

I’ve said before that this one is a disc jockey’s best friend. When you’re spinning Donna Summer’s “Last Dance”, you know the end of a hardworking night is just about over. Even today, dance floors are always full when this one is played, as it is one of Donna Summer’s most quintessential tunes.

Of course, there are other fantastic Donna Summer songs that didn’t make it into my top twenty. Songs like “The Wanderer”, “Spring Affair”, “Love’s Unkind”, “Romeo” (Donna’s contribution to the “Flashdance” soundtrack), “On the Radio”, “Sunset People” and many more could have easily been included here. If you have a favorite Donna Summer song or two, please feel free to leave your thoughts. They’re always appreciated!

To read more about Donna Summer, click here.

Sources:

Personal experience

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carry_On_(song)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dim_All_the_Lights

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donna_Summer_discography

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heaven_Knows_(Donna_Summer_song)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_Will_Go_with_You_(Con_te_partir%C3%B2)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MacArthur_Park_(song)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/State_of_Independence

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Try_Me,_I_Know_We_Can_Make_It

http://www.lyricsfreak.com/v/vangelis/state+of+independence_20143625.html