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Hot off the presses:

[FEB 8] Washington DC - you guys will see Donna at Wolftrap on Sunday August 29. Tickets are on sale now for members. Non-members can get tickets starting on March 13. Let the summer tour begin!  :-)

[FEB 7] Fans of both Taihisha, the Brooklyn Dreams, and Brooklyn Sudano will want to see the Family Matters section below. And I have some classic dance news coming up after all the Donna news for the week.  :-)

[FEB 7] Okay - let's start with the Nobel Peace Prize concert. It just aired tonight in Toronto (sorry I didn't have advance notice on that for you.)  They ran an edited version of the show that was only an hour long. And unfortunately they cut Donna down to just She Works Hard For The Money. (And I would have bet money that they would have left Last Dance.)  Now I don't know if the edited version of the show is the same in the US and Canada - most likely it is. And I guess we are all going to have to keep a close eye on our local listings if we want to catch the show on TV. If anybody runs into a TV listing just let me know when and where so I can get it out there for you guys.

[FEB 7] Covers collectors - Hypnogaja has put out an acoustic alt/rock version of On The Radio. It's on their just releases digital 45 called Welcome To The Future and you can grab it on iTunes. It's an interesting take on the song so check it out.

[FEB 7] From the land of the just plain silly.... an article on Pentagon spending inspired a comment from someone saying he was redesigning all the money and replacing the Presidents with dance icons. He's going to put Donna on the $20.  LOL That would be way cooler than those celebrity $1 bills that used to be on eBay. (The comment was about half way down the page when I looked just now.  Look for February 3 at 10:24 AM if you are having trouble spotting it.)

[FEB 7] In web news, on YouTube Fernando has posted the DJ Meme mix of I Feel Love, and Steve has posted Tearing Down The Walls. Over on Multiply, Jeffrey is the one who has gone completely insane with a bunch of live clips and some remixes too. Also look at Carl's page for some mixes and Steve's page for Tearing Down The Walls and some live clips. Speaking of Steve - he's revised his Collection Corner site, so if you are interested in tons of photos that's a good place to look.

[FEB 7] And that brings us to the classic dance news. (If Gold Legion and Big Break Records are going to keep all this going - I may have to add a separate news section just for classic dance.  :-) ) Big Break Records now has a website. It's still a work in progress - but bookmark it for future reference. Now I already told you they have a Three Degrees album and 2 Gloria Gaynor albums coming out next week. (That's in the UK - North America will have to wait a little longer or order from overseas.) Coming up next month they will have Odyssey's self-titles album and Gladys Knight & The Pips About Love album. Now if you happen to go to the website they have 2 more album covers showing with no release date yet (Evelyn Champagne King and Brooklyn Dreams).  Now over at Gold Legion, I know they are working on something for either this month or more likely next month that will definitely be of interest to you guys. I don't like to offer titles before there is an official release date, but I'll just say that "heaven is a disco" and let you draw your own conclusions. 

[FEB 1] The Summer Fever pick is posted. This month it's Cats Without Claws.

[JAN 31] This will probably be a quick update tonight, and the tentative plan is to get the Summer Fever pick up tomorrow night. But I'm having some issues with my cat, so depending on how that plays out and how I feel - it might get delayed. Ironically - I was updating the Cats Without Claws page when all this started. 

[JAN 31] Photo hounds will want to check out the galleries at Zimbio.com. They have a bunch from the Nobel Peace Prize concert and the rehearsals for the show. If you keep going they have a bunch from past events too like the Today Show concert, the Elton John gala, one of the VH1 appearances, etc. When you get to the Zimbio page just keep hitting "next" until your fingers fall off to see everything.  ;-)

[JAN 31] In the Donna is everywhere category, she gets a mention in an interview with Gabriela Cilmi. Apparently Four Seasons Of Love expanded her musical horizons. Hot Stuff gets a mention in an interview with KCat. Apparently it's one of the songs she wishes she had written. 

[JAN 31] In the world of covers, recording artist Anane has done a cover of Love To Love You. It will be on the forthcoming album Ananesworld due out February 16.

[JAN 31] In some silly news, the guys at the Zap2it blog are throwing a Cake Boss party, and they described the music they would play for such a party. MacArthur Park (by Donna of course) was on the list.

[JAN 31] In web news, check out the 600 Greatest and Most Important Songs Of Rock courtesy of  MrMusiclists. (They are listed alphabetically by first name so Donna falls in at # 177 and 178.) My link takes you to the video with Donna, but if you want to see the rest of the list look at the related videos.  It takes several parts to cover the whole 600. Other YouTube highlights this week include the extended version of Love Is In Control, WEN!NG's Gramophone edition of I Remember Yesterday,  and several video mixes from Fernando.

[JAN 31] I've been telling you about the recent classic dance reissues from Gold Legion here in the US, and now I have a UK company putting out stuff too. Big Break Records is putting out expanded versions of Gloria Gaynor's Never Can Say Goodbye and Experience, and  The Three Degrees self-titled album album in just a couple of weeks with more classic stuff coming out in the next few months. You can buy the Big Break Records stuff on Amazon UK starting February 15 - anyone buying from Amazon US will have to wait until March.  These new releases will all include bonus tracks - either b-sides or alternate versions or whatever else is available for the particular album. And the first 1000 copies they make will be in a special deluxe jewel box.

Now I have an idea what's coming next for both Gold Legion and Big Break - but I don't like to say anything until II have firm release dates. But I will tell you that both have interesting things on the schedule and that there is no overlap between them. So if you are looking to fill in your classic dance collections - plan on shopping from both labels.  :-)  (Big Break Records will have their own site up soon - I'll provide that link as soon as it's up and running. In the mean time if you use Facebook you can find them over there. Just do a search for Big Break Records.)

[JAN 24] Bruce Sudano fans will want to jump down to the Family Matters section below. And those of you who are interested in the Gold Legion Casablanca reissues will want to stay tuned for the update (immediately following the web news).  :-)

[JAN 24] On to the diva! OK - if you  happen to work for Herbalife, you can get to see Donna at their 30th Anniversary Summit. She doing a show for them  in March in Florida to close out the festivities.  For those of us who don't work for Herbalife - we can look at the flyer for the event while we wait for the public dates to start shaping up.  :-)

[JAN 24] Photo hounds, you will want to check out BackstageGallery.com for some mid-70s photos of  Donna.

[JAN 24] If anyone is looking for Black Power (a track Donna recorded in Germany about the time she was appearing in Hair), you can find it on iTunes it's just not credited to Donna.  The album it's from is called Moonflowers And Mini Skirts and it's credited to Peter Thomas (the composer).

[JAN 24] In the Donna is everywhere category, she gets a mention in an article about celebrity favorite dance songs. Shakira picked Bad Girls.  She's also mentioned in a review of Kelly Rowland's new CD - apparently it has a "Donna Summer" sound to it.  :-)

[JAN 24] That brings us to the web news.  First up is YouTube. You are going to want to see Stampyurfeet's new video. He's taken Donna's version of How I Feel (from the musical The Me Nobody Knows) and matched it with footage from Haiti. (If the video inspires you to make a donation, Google has a list of organizations, or you can head to iTunes and buy songs from the benefit concert from the other night.) Also look for Xavier's mashup of Dirty Diana with I Will Go With You, WEN!NG's Glitter To Gold mix of Fairy Tale High,  and a couple of new ones from Fernando. 

[JAN 24] And now for some non-Donna news. Last week I told you  that Gold Legion teamed up with Universal to release some of the old Casablanca gems starting with albums by Munich Machine and Roberta Kelly. I got my CDs this week and am very happy with them.  They look good - the original art is there, along with the original credits, etc and they've added a page to tell you a little about the artist. In Roberta Kelly's case it even has a line or 2 about what she's doing now - including a mention of her appearance on stage at Donna's Berlin concert last year. (Which reminds me guys - Gold Legion is watching the thread on the board.  If you have idea, throw them out there. They will be seen.  :-) )  Now as far as sound goes - 2 thumbs up. The albums are remastered and they sound great even when I drag out my headphones and play the actual CD itself (as opposed to the rips I made for my iPod. )  I think you guys will be very happy.  :-)  (Don't be fooled by the clips on the site - those are rips that were only done at 128 kbps and I know a lot of you won't touch anything below 196 in your personal collections.) Now if you missed out on the 10% off promo code I mentioned last week.... you're in luck because that's been extended.  GL10  will keep working right up until January 31.  And while I'm here I wanted to clarify one thing for the casual fans out there. If you check the Munich Machine track list, you will see a few familiar tracks. They are the same songs Donna recorded (or in one case that Roberta Kelly recorded) but these are not the same versions.  These are alternate versions recorded by the Munich Machine team and do not feature any vocals by Donna or Roberta. But it's still pure Giorgio Moroder magic and worth having for that alone.  And stay tuned - more stuff is coming, but I won't be announcing any titles until there are firm release dates.

[JAN 18] Just a quick clarification on the promo code I posted last night for Gold Legion - it's only good until January 24, so if you are planning to make a purchase do it this week to save.  :-)

[JAN 17] Let's start with something completely non-Donna but very serious - Haiti. I just can't believe what I'm seeing in the photos coming out of there. It looks like some Hollywood disaster film... only unfortunately it's real. If you want to help the relief effort, Google has complied a list of agencies that are collecting money. They've also got a person finder widget, and a new file you can download for Google Earth that will show you before and after pictures of the region. 

[JAN 17] And now back to the escape from the tragedies of real life.  :-)  Fans of the younger Sudano girls will want to check out the Family Matters section below, and fans of classic disco (Giorgio Moroder anyone?  ;-) ) will want to stay tuned - I will post some interesting info after the web news.  :-)

[JAN 17] On to Donna. Let me start off with time sensitive item. There is a charity auction on eBay to benefit the UN World Food Programme. (Specifically, the money will help feed hungry kids in Haiti.) The item is a piece of artwork signed by many of the performers that were at the Nobel Peace Prize concert - including Donna. (Although they didn't use her signature in any of the photos - darn it!)  The auction runs for a couple more days, but the current bid is $2000 and the reserve hasn't been met yet. So you will need deep pockets to walk away with this item. You can check it out on eBay.

[JAN 17] Ok, there is a ballad collection CD I keep running into (and keep getting asked about). It looks like a compilation out together by a fan. If you want to see what it looks like, It's posted here - but watch out for the big popup window that will greet you. (pop up windows are annoying - huge ones even more so, and ones that escape my popup blocker are infuriating!  LOL)  If you look at the track list - it's something any one of us could put together ourselves out of the stuff we already bought.  And if you are missing anything, the vast majority of the tracks can be purchased individually at iTunes, Amazon or anywhere else you like to buy downloads.  :-)

[JAN 17] In the Donna is everywhere category, she gets a mention in this podcast about Darrell Russ' Riding Home From Baltimore. She also gets a very brief mention in an article about the movie Looking For Mr. Goodbar. They just mention that some of Donna's songs were used in the film. (Warning to those of you reading this at work - if you look at the article, there is a small photo of Richard Gere doing pushups without any pants on. That's probably not so good if your job is strict about what you can look at on the job. ) Oh and I just heard a strange mention now on my TV.  I have some ghost show on the Biography channel on and the woman talking just mentioned that they were playing Donna's music at her mother's funeral.

[JAN 17] Moving on to the web news for the week, on Multiply look for a live clip of Work That Magic courtesy of Steve. On Youtube, Fernando has been busy and posted a number of new videos, and DJDiscocat has posted the audio for the long version of Walk Away. Over on Vimeo, you can find the original promo video from the Berlin concert  and the Omega Red mix of Crayons. 

[JAN 17] And that brings me to my interesting non-Donna news. There is a company out there called Gold Legion and it has teamed up with Universal to release some of the classic Casablanca stuff - all remastered and all with the original artwork, liner notes and logo.  (And I know how you guys feel about the Casablanca logo!  LOL)  So far they only have Roberta Kelly's Zodiac Lady and  Munich Machine's self-titled album. (That should appeal to Giorgio Moroder fans!)  More things are coming down the road and I will keep you posted as I hear more.  If you are interested in buying these CDs (and I know some of you are  :-) ) head over to GoldLegion.com where you can find sound clips, and more importantly, where you can grab the albums for 11.99 each. (And yes they ship world wide.)  Even better, use this code: GL10 to get 10% off your order. (You can probably find both CDs on Amazon too - but when I checked it was more money and they were not immediately in stock over there - you are better off at Gold Legion's site.) And keep a close eye on that site because there is definitely more coming.  :-)  I love that the more obscure classics are finally finding their way out of the archives!

[JAN 10] Sorry for all the ranting on my Twitterfeed earlier this week.  As you may have gathered, I was just a teeny bit annoyed about having my internet turned off randomly.  LOL  Before I get to the Donna news, Bruce fans will want to look at the Family Matters section below.

[JAN 10] On to Donna, and have I got a clip for you today! Those little sneaks at CasablancaBookTV have added a few new clips to YouTube. :-) One is a promo for the I Remember Yesterday album. At about the 49 second mark, you will see a little clip from a video for Can't We Just Sit Down (And Talk It Over) - wearing the dress from the album cover. As far as I know this is the ONLY time that clip has been seen. (So if the forum seems a little quiet, it's because everyone over there fainted when they saw it.  LOL) Now run out and grab a copy of the book to say "thank you".  ;-)

[JAN 10] Speaking of which, Larry Harris was interviewed by LA Weekly - and yes, he does talk about Donna a little.  :-)

[JAN 10] And while we are visiting the 70s, you will also want to take a look at the new Vanity Fair - or their website.  There is an oral history of  disco that features quotes from many of the players from back in the day. They include a few from Donna and some from Giorgio Moroder as well. It's definitely worth a look (and I think you will like one of the photos they used to illustrate the article.)

[JAN 10] Moving back to the present day, Perfectbeat put out its top 100 charts for 2009. You will find Stamp Your Feet at #62 in the top CD singles chart, and Fame The Game at #11 and #6. (That was a 2 disk release , that's how it snagged 2 chart positions.)

[JAN 10] In Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame news, there is talk that the Hall OF Fame will change the eligibility criteria. Currently an artist is eligible 25 years after the release of their first record. This may be changed to 20 years. Personally - I think it's an unnecessary change as there are already many worthy artists who fit the current criteria. (And I' don't just mean Donna - FutureRockLegends.com has a list of all eligible artists, listed by the year they became eligible. There are plenty of people on that list who deserve to be in the Hall Of Fame. 

[JAN 10] And that brings us to the web news. On YouTube, Fernando has posted a couple of new video mixes, there is the Bad Girls/Hot Stuff Medley from 2007's Night Of The Proms, and a clip of Last Dance courtesy of CasablancaBookTV. On Multiply, Steve has posted a whole bunch of mixes and videos (a lot of awards show stuff) on his page, Jeff has posted his mix of With Your Love, and Jean Michel has posted mixes of Je T'Aime.

[JAN 3] Okay who is the wise guy who ordered all the snow?  We've had more snow here on Long Island in the past couple of weeks than we've had in the last couple years put together.  LOL  It's pretty for awhile, but as the song says... Enough Is Enough!  LOL

[JAN 3] First up - the Nobel Peace Prize concert. The first US listing I've heard for it is KONG TV (cable channel 6, or channel 16 if you get it over the air) in Seattle on January 30 at 7 PM.  It looks like they are only running an hour of the show, so expect lots of cuts. Donna was mentioned in the listing so at least one of her songs will make it on the air.  (Actually, for US TV I suspect they will boot the artists who aren't well known here - never mind that some of them are worth getting to know.) It looks like it is running as a syndicated program which means we'll all have to keep an eye on our local listings.

[JAN 3] In the Donna is everywhere category -  I got 4312 Google alerts this week.... all of them celebrity birthday listings.  I have to say that the amusing thing about those lists is who each publication decides to list. The vast majority have the same list of celebrities, but I ran into one that listed Donna, Joey McIntyre and only one other living person - and then a very eclectic list of dead people from Popes to Nazi hunters to gymnasts. It was a rather odd mix.  LOL She also got a very brief mention in an Aussie article that took a quick look at the highlights (or in some cases, lowlights) of 1979.

[JAN 3] The Bay Area Reporter has posted its winter reading list. They've included And Party Every Day: The Casablanca Records Story by Larry Harris. (I guess that means that those of us who have read it already should read it again this winter?  ;-)  )

[JAN 3] That brings us to the web news. Over on YouTube, Fernando has gone mix happy this week. He's posted a few Donna mixes and even a couple of Giorgio mixes. Also look for a couple of old clips from Holland from snelleneddy0,  and a mainly audio presentation of the Eric Kupper I Feel Healed mix of Love Is The Healer. On Multiply, Patrice has posted more of his art, Andy has posted several Donna- themed 2010 calendars, and Steve has posted Peperamico's 35 Years of Wonderful Music mix. (Love To Love you to Crayons in one big megamix!)

[JAN 1] Happy New Year everyone!  :-)  I'll have the regular update later this weekend, but for now I'm changing the Summer Fever pick to Once Upon A Time.  

[DEC 27] I hope Santa was good to everyone last week.  :-)  This will be a short update since not much is going on with the holidays. Before I get to the news, some of you pointed out that the link to the forum on the main page is broken. I fixed that tonight so it should be working now. But just in case, the direct link to the forum is: http://forums.delphiforums.com/endless_summer/.

[DEC 27] In the Donna is everywhere category, she gets a brief mention in an article about designer Nik Ramli. Some of you already know Nik - he runs the Donna fan group on Facebook. She gets another very brief mention in an article about the remixes for Darrell Russ' single, Riding Home From Baltimore.  She's also mentioned in an article about Chicago's Star Plaza Theater. Over in the UK, a TV commercial for tomorrow night's ITV airing of An Englishman In New York uses Last Dance as background music. (I'm told the ad runs a lot.)

[DEC 27] In web news, on Multiply Patrice has posted some of his new photo creations, Jean Michel has posted a number of Christmas mixes, and Steve is his usual insane self and has posted a half a dozen or so videos and mixes. :-) On YouTube look for what looks like a news clip of the Cala di Volpe show. (The audio is in Italian.) Virgin Mary (the audio) has also found its way to YouTube, and DonnaSummerVEVO has posted a couple of official videos. The only thing about those is that some of them are restricted by country. It seems sort of random too because some videos play here in the US and some don't.  Those of you in other countries will just have to try your luck and see which ones work for you.

[DEC 27] I'll be back next weekend, so let me take this opportunity to wish you all a very happy and healthy New Year filled with lots of Donna tunes. If you are gonna be out drinking for the holiday, make sure you don't drive - I want to see you all back here in one piece!  :-)  Happy Birthday Donna!

[DEC 23 barely] The eGreetings page is up and running! A little later than I hoped... but it's there.  :-)  Thanks to all who contributed - without all you guys who come to visit, or who write in the whole thing would be a lot less fun. Merry Christmas everyone!

NEWS ARCHIVES

PERSONAL APPEARANCES

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MEDIA:

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OTHER NEWS:

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Quote Of The Week:

[FEB 7] 

“When anyone comes to Nashville, people assume you come down to make country music and jump on the bandwagon, but that's not exactly why I came down here. I came down here to work on my writing.... We have been writing a lot of country songs. When I say country songs, a great song is a great song. I don't think it has a gender or a denomination, so to speak. That's the place we're I'm trying to get to. To the place where I write songs that work across the board. I find that a great many country songs are songs that anyone can sing, like Whitney Houston or All-4-One or Ray Charles. In Nashville, they just care about the songs and they have a lot of respect for songwriters."

 - Donna Summer, Billboard September 3, 1994

Summer Fever Pick
February 2010:

Click image

(Looking for Crayons? It's still here.)

Family Matters:

[FEB 8] Just a quick update on Taihisha's concert in April..... Only 2 of the Brooklyn Dreams will be be there. Joe Esposito was scared off by Veronica....  I mean he had a scheduling conflict.  ;-)  Eddie Hokenson and Bruce Sudano will be there though. (With bodyguards I hope.  LOL)

[FEB 7] Let's go in order of date. Brooklyn Sudano fans will want to mark their calendars for February 26. That's when she appears in MTV's original movie, Turn The Beat Around. It will come out on DVD March 9.

[FEB 7] Taihisha Grant fans should mark their calendars for April 5. Tai will be at Feinstein's at Lowes Regency in New York City on that date.  She'll be doing a collection of her favorite songs from the world of pop, R&B, soul, etc. And she'll have a couple of special guests on hand to help her out - Zelma Davis, Erik Rico, Clayton Bryant..... and a reunion of the Brooklyn Dreams. (Down Veronica! Down! ;-) ) Tickets are on sale now. It's an  intimate venue - so grab your tickets fast before they all vanish. 

[FEB 7] And finally - Brooklyn Dreams fans, if the reunion isn't enough news for you just keep watching Big Break Records' Facebook feed. I suspect we will be seeing the Brooklyn Dreams self-titled album there in the upcoming weeks.

[JAN 24] Bruce fans - if you missed his tweet, It's Her Wedding Day was voted New Music Weekly's top AC/Hot AC single for 2009. (As well it should be - I think it was #1 on the charts for 9 million weeks last year. ;-) )  Congrats Bruce! 

[JAN 17] I guess I'll go alphabetically with the Sudano girls.  :-)  Amanda fans, you will want to check out the JohnnySwim blog for behind the scenes video from Amanda's Louis Vuitton shoot. (It's the second thing for January 12 just incase more posts pop up between now and when you guys go look.)

[JAN 17] Brooklyn fans - catch her in the MTV original movie Turn The Beat Around. It airs February 26 at 10 PM (Eastern and Pacific) on MTV and it looks like there will be a DVD available at some point. You can read about the movie (and catch the trailer) on MTV.com.  Donna Summer fans will spot a the beginning of a familiar tune about half way through the trailer.  ;-) 

[JAN 10] Bruce fans - you will want to check out Pop Matters. They have posted 20 Questions With Bruce Sudano - and the interviewer is our own Christian Wikane. There is some interesting stuff there, but I imagine there will be a few groans out there from the coffee connoisseurs out there.  ;-)

[NOV 1] Bruce fans - if you don't follow Twitter then you need to know that you can vote for Bruce and his single It's Her Wedding Day  for the New Music Weekly Awards - and you can also throw in your favorites from other categories as well. (Keep in mind you can only vote once or they will throw your ballot out.)  Now if you happen to be into the Brooklyn Dreams stuff - guess what? They have a new site up. The best part about it is that you can listen to all the songs - all of which are currently out of print. (Pick the right songs and you'll even hear Donna singing backup here and there.) Oh and the bio - that was written by our old friend Christian Wikane who is responsible for all the best stuff over last few years.  :-)

[SEP 6] Okay Bruce fans - if you missed his tweets this week, there is a new review of Life And The Romantic out there on Worldmag.com.

[AUG 30] Let's start off with Bruce. His song, It's Her Wedding Day was reviewed on a wedding blog recently in a round up of good wedding songs. (Maybe finally we can retire that Daddy's Little Girl song that always used to be played at weddings.  LOL)

[AUG 30] Speaking of weddings, Johnnyswim fans can check out photos from Amanda and Abner's wedding at WeddingStyleMagazine.com. There is even one shot of the four (extra) ordinary girls: Amanda, Brooklyn, Mimi and their mom. :-)

IN STORES:

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Crayons by Donna Summer

Stamp Your Feet (remixes) by Donna Summer

I'm A Fire (remixes) by Donna Summer

Life & The Romantic by Bruce Sudano

1-4 by Johnnyswim

You Made It by Mary Gaines Bernard

EDITORIALS AND THINGS:

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