Donna Summer: She could sing anything, anywhere, with anyone, at any time.

[SEP 25] Happy Sunday all!  Let's start off with the new mix people have been talking about.  It's the Barry Harris 2016 Mashup of Donna vs. Whitney Houston: I Feel My Love Is Your Love. And can I just ask, how cool is it that a song that came out almost 40 years ago is STILL the basis for tons of remixes. I wonder if  we had been able to tell Donna and Giorgio that back in the day if they would have believed us?

[SEP 25] Happy birthday to Bruce Sudano who turns... umm... old enough  ;-) tomorrow (Monday). Many happy returns Bruce!

[SEP 25] Speaking of Bruce, he was on Dash Radio with Mark Mosley recently. He talks about his whole career from a kid with an accordion until now. And he gets to talk a lot about Donna. (And as a bonus, they use one of my favorite pics of Donna and Bruce together on the Soundcloud page.) Also check out Bruce's performance of Common Sense from BalconyTV. (Can we just play that on TV tomorrow instead of the Presidential debates? LOL)

[SEP 25] Johnnyswim fans - the pair have added Atlanta to their list of concert dates.  For details (and a full list of tour dates) check out their website.

[SEP 25]  Time for some YouTube clips.  Let's do some fun ones this week. We'll start with one of my very favorites - Donna with Barry Manilow on Could It Be Magic. (Could they have had any more fun there?  LOL) Then there is Enough Is Enough with the red Ferrari story. Sadly I couldn't find a more recent version of that story when it became more about how much Donna could ham it up than it was about the story.  LOL Then we have a silly interview with Greg Kinnear, another one with Regis and KathieLee (wait for her to talk about her past jobs), and then one video Donna made that defies description. Andd then since it's Bruce's birthday tomorrow, let's do a couple of popular clips featuring Donna with Bruce on guitar. The first is a BBC radio recording of So This Is Lonely, and the other is one they performed on tour one year called Worth The Wait. That song was featured in a tiny clip on the A&E Biography on Donna and I remember that every time the show aired, someone would ask what that song was in the clip.

[SEP 18] Greetings all and happy Sunday. Let's start off with a silly little quiz that has made the rounds of Facebook. The quiz challenges you to name some top Donna songs based on one line. Seriously, I don't know anyone who didn't score 100%. One of us will have to make a harder quiz one day. :-)

[SEP 18]  In Johnnyswim news, the duo is still chugging along on the road with lots more dates still to play between now and the end of November. And don't forget their new album, Georgica Pond, is available for pre-order and will be officially out on October 14. And  if you haven't heard the new single, Let It Matter, go play it now. I think it has a message we can all relate to.

[SEP 18] Bruce Sudano fans - you can follow him on Spotify and check out all his recent albums - With Angels On A Carousel, The Burbank Sessions, Life & The Romantic and Rainy Day Soul.

[SEP 18] Vienna Dohler fans - she does live broadcasts on Krue.tv from time to time and if you miss a live broadcast, you can always catch it on demand later. It's a great place to hear some of her music.

[SEP 18] I think that brings us to YouTube. Let's start off with Donna's induction to the Hollywood Bowl Hall Of Fame. Then we have Donna performing Superstar with Richard Carpenter at the Hollywood Bowl, a performance of Nature Boy, and one of Last Dance also from the Hollywood Bowl. Then there is  a performance from Holland of Bad Girls/Hot Stuff and Last Dance with an actual orchestra behind her.  :-) And finally part 1 and part 2 of Donna performing in the rain at One Mighty Party in 2007. (Poor Bobby on umbrella duty there!)

[SEP 11] Greetings all! Let me start off by saying on this 15th anniversary of 9/11 - THANK YOU to all the first responders out there who risk their lives for us on a daily basis. I would like to also say THANK YOU to all the every day people who did what they could to help in that dark time. It's very easy when thinking of something like 9/11, the terror attacks in London, Paris, etc, the mass shootings in Newton, Orlando, etc, and the natural disasters everywhere, to get lost in the tragedy of the event.  But if you can look past the tragedy, you can also see hope in the form in the form of people who put aside the differences they normally have to work together to help in whatever way they can. If only it didn't take tragedy for us as a species to realize our better natures.

[SEP 11] Ok, so let's put aside all the sad memories of today that every US media outlet is dwelling on today, and find some refuge in the land of Donna.  :-)  Let's start with the musical. It's getting some buzz now. The New York Post had an article about it the other day, The Guardian had an article about it,  Broadway.com had an article, and BroadwayWorld.com had one too. And those are just a few. A bunch of other sources had at least a small blurb about the musical as well.  It's nice to see that people are interested in writing about it.  :-)

[SEP 11]  Moving on to Bruce Sudano - he was on Deep Dish Radio with Tim Powers the other day for a really nice interview about With Angels On A Carousel (which is being rereleased tomorrow.) In addition to the interview, Bruce brought his guitar and treats listeners to a couple of songs from the album - including some he's never done live before. And before you ask, yes he talks about Donna.  The show is mainly about  With ANgels On A Carousel which is more or less about the period of time when Donna was ill. At the time of the original release, Bruce says he wsn't emotionally prepared to talk about it, but now he is so the album is coming back. The show is almost 50 minutes long, so make sure you have a little time before clicking on the player. Or if you prefer, you can go to iTunes and download the podcast. And if you like what you hear (and you will!) leave a liuttle feedback on iTunes or the Deep Dish Radio Facebook page.

[SEP 11]  I'm sure many of you are familiar with Bob Esty. For those who aren't, he's a songwriter, arranger, and producer who has worked with tons of people including Donna.  Well, he's hit a rough patch in his life. He's discovered that he hasn't received the proper royalties, etc for his work. On top of that, he's getting older (like most of us), has developed some serious health issues, and his housing is in jeopardy.  He has authorized a fundraiser to hopefully pay for the legal costs of recouping his lost royalties. If you are interested in contributing or just in finding out more, you can check his page on YouCare.

[SEP 11] Ok, I think that brings us to YouTube.  Let's have a little fun today. So we'll start off with  some Once Upon A Time,  a little Fairy Tale High, MacArthur Park, Heaven Knows,  Sunset People,  and Last Dance (as Aunt Oona). And then just for  fun, I have MacArthur Park from the musical Priscilla Queen Of The Desert.  Before you click that one, let me set it up for you. Two characters have just discovered they have feelings for each other and after one songs a slow version of MacArthur Park, they fall asleep outside with the cake and champagne they were sharing. In the morning a third character (the one you see in the beginning of this clip), spots them and the cake outside and declared to the audience that he's been waiting his whole life for this, where upon he starts belting "someone left the cake out in the rain..." to kick off the fast version of the song. Sadly the clip picks up a little bit into the song, so you miss that joke. But you do get to see the green cake costumes! LOL

[SEP 4] Greetings all - Happy Labor Day Weekend! Where did the summer go?  First up - it's a new month so that means a new Summer Fever Pick. This month is dedicated to all you Bad Girls out there. (And no, you don't have to be female to be a Bad Girl.)  ;-)

[SEP 4]  Let's start with the Donna is everywhere category. Her song, I Feel Love, was featured in the first episode of the show London Spy. On a related note, here's a cool site. It's called TuneFind.com. If you plug in the name of a show, it will identify the songs used in each episode.  If you plug in an artist - oh let's say Donna Summer - it will show you a lot of the shows and episodes that have featured songs by that artist.

[SEP 4] There is a vlog on YouTube by June Penny, and in it she sometimes does a thing called Storytime where she tells you one of the more interesting stories of her life.  She's got one from last fall called "My Donna Summer Moment". If you have a few minutes (the video is 9 minutes long), check it out - but you have to  stick with it to the end.

[SEP 4] Bruce Sudano fans - Bruce has been playing a few dates in California (with 2 more this week) and he's posted a couple of videos on Facebook. In fact another just popped up as I was writing this. He has also done a new interview with Music-Illuminati.com where he gets to talk about all kinds of things and about many of the people he's worked with over the course of his career.

[SEP 4] I think that brings us to YouTube. Let's look at some rare stuff this week. We have a clip of an unreleased song called Addiction, a clip of another unreleased song called Half The Battle, a song called Freedom, a remix of Valley Of The Moon, and one from Ordinary Girl called Begin Again.

[AUG 28] Happy Sunday all! Special greetings to my Italian friends - particularly those in the earthquake zone.  I hope you and your families and friends are safe and have experienced as little loss as possible.  I've been looking at some of the photos coming out of there and it's just awful. (That may be the understatement of the year.)

[AUG 28] OK, moving on to happier things, I mentioned a couple of weeks ago that Barbra Streisand is doing Enough Is Enough in her tour. Somebody grabbed a clip of it and posted it on YouTube. And I have to say I agree with Barbra's comments - Donna did have an incredible voice, and I think we all wish she was here to sing it with Barbra. (Or sing it without Barbra, or  sing something else entirely, or anything.... I'd just be happy for having her still here.)

[AUG 28] Johnnyswim fans - their new album Georgica Pond is available for preorder now from Amazon and all your other favorite retailers. Two tracks are available immediately - Summertime Romance and Let It Matter. And speaking of Let It Matter, Huffington Post has an interview with Johnnyswim about that song. Read the interview then play the song (it's on the HuffPo webpage too) and see what they are talking about.

[AUG 28] If you are on Facebook, give Johnnyswim a follow. They sometimes do live  broadcasts where they answer questions or sing a little, or just chat about whatever they are up to at the time.

[AUG 28] I think that brings us to YouTube. Let's see, since Barbra and Donna never got to do Enough Is Enough live together, let's look at some of the other people Donna has performed it with.  First up is one of Donna's solo versions. Then we have a TV performance with Rosie O'Donnell, the rehearsal footage with Tina Arena, a TV performance with Westlife, and of course one of many live performances with her sister Mary Gaines Bernard. (Hey Barbra - maybe you can get Mary to sing it with you?) And as long as we have a bit of a Barbra thing going on here, let's look at a couple of times Donna covered a Barbra tune. There was Don't Rain On My Parade live, The Way We Were from 1979,  and Papa Can You Hear Me from the 1984 Oscars.

[AUG 20] Happy weekend everyone! First up: the mix that everybody has been talking about lately. It's the DJ Meme version of MacArthur Park. 10 minutes of green cake melting goodness - with a few extra ingredients tossed in as well.

[AUG 20] Pete Bellotte fans - Radio London did a rare interview with him that you can hear on YouTube.  They talk about Donna, Casablanca, and other things.

[AUG 20] Johnnyswim fans - the new album Georgica Pond will be available for pre-order starting in a week so keep an eye on your favorite music vendors. When you pre-order, you get an instant download of Let It Matter just to keep you going until the whole album is on your hands.  ;-) And of course, Summertime Romance is currently available for purchase. And don't forget that the duo is perpetually on tour (I seriously don't know if they remember what their house looks like.  LOL) Check out the current list of dates here.

[AUG 20] Bruce Sudano fans - don't forget he's got a bunch of dates coming up in Califorina in a c ouple of weeks. Check out the list here.

[AUG 20] That brings us to YouTube. Since we're all enjoying the DJ Meme mix of MacArthur Park, let's have a remix party. We'll start with the famous Patrick Cowley mix of I Feel Love, then I Feel Love vs Giorgio's Chase, State Of Independence New Millennium Mix, I Will Go With You Groovy G Mix, Be Myself Again Klyk Mix, and Love Is The Healer Thunderdub.

[AUG 13] Happy Saturday al! Some of you may remember that there was talk awhile back of a Dan Fogelberg tribute album that Donna had contributed to before her passing. Well, someone has been in touch with Dan Fogelberg's  estate and the album is finally finished. They hope to have it out in a few more months and it will include Donna's cover of Nether Lands.  If you aren't familiar with the song, here is Dan's original, and here are the lyrics. The word is Donna did her recording in 2011.

[AUG 13] Barbra Streisand is on tour and it seems she is doing Enough Is Enough in her set. Photos have turned up with Barbra on stage with a huge photo behind her of her and Donna. (You know the photo - the back to back divas pose they used on the single sleeve.) It looks like she's got someone up on stage with her to sing the Donna part.

[AUG 13] In the land of covers, Giabiconi has recorded Love To Love You Baby. It's so strange to me to hear a guy singing it!

[AUG 13] Vienna Dohler fans - she's posted a piece new song on Instagram. It's just piano and vocals - but, what vocals!  (On a side note, I still don't understand how Donna's GRANDdaughter can be practically a grown woman now!  It makes me feel old!  LOL)

[AUG 13] That brings us to YouTube. Let's do some really early stuff for a change. We have a clip of Black Power from the German show 11 Uhr 20. Then we have Flesh Failures from Haare (you have to wait almost 2 and a half minutes to see Donna), then there is the fan video for Can't Understand (by Donna Gaines!), a slideshow set to O segne Gott mein Seel from Godspell, an old commercial for Africola, a slideshow for How I Feel (from The Me Nobody Knows), an audio clip for Sally Go Round The Roses, an audio clip for Denver Dream,  and finally an audio clip for Virgin Mary.

[AUG 6] Happy Saturday everyone!  First up is the new Summer Fever Pick for August. This time it's Live & More - the first Donna album I ever got.  :-)

[AUG 6] So as many of you know, there was a workshop for a show being called (for now) The Donna Summer Project.  Well a few behind the scenes glimpses have appeared on Twitter. Start with #donnasummerworkshop and then click on the people who have posted with that hashtag for a few more things.

[AUG 6] That brings us to YouTube - yes, already!  It's  very quiet week. I think in honor of the Olympics, we should pick some fitting songs. So let's start with what should have been a sports' anthem, Stamp Your Feet. Then we have a n audio clip of One Of A Kind (because I remember hearing it on a sports broadcast once),  an incomplete live clip of Summer Fever (for the summer games), a live clip of Don't Rain On My Parade (because it's hard to play in the rain), a fan video for Driving Down Brazil (because they are playing in Rio), Smile (for the athletes who don't perform as well as they hoped),  and finally Hot Stuff (because did you see that flag bearer from Tonga at the opening ceremonies? Wow!)

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