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

[SEP 22] Happy Saturday all!  Let's start with the musical again. For the week of September 16, the grosses for Summer: The Donna Summer Musical are up again to $820,257.  :-)

[SEP 22] We also have the final episode of Ariana Debose's Hot Stuff vlog this week.  This week features more backstage shenanigans, some footage from Ariana's reading for 12 Angry Men,  and various members of the Summer crew showing off their dance moves.

[SEP 22] If you have SiriusXM, the OnBroadway channel has been playing She Works Hard For The Money from the cast album. I've heard it at least twice this past week or so and that's with me not having the radio on that much.  :-)

[SEP 22] Over on ITunes, On The Radio is still doing well on the Dance chart - as I write this it's #3.

[SEP 22] Bruce fans - check out his latest Facebook video. This is Bruce rehearsing for  a Crosby Stills Nash & Young radio tribute in Milan.

[SEP 22] I think that brings us to YouTube.  Let's do something a little different today. Let's focus on Donna and her paintings.  So first up is a news report on a San Diego exhibit of Donna's work,  Donna showing off her work on Regis & Kathie Lee,  Donna on Lifestyles Of The Rich & Famous,  and Donna Up Close,

[SEP 16] Happy Sunday all! Let's start off with Summer: The Musical. If you are planning to see the show this month - if you have the option, try to go September 26. The reason why is that the 7PM show is a special performance to benefit The Actor's Fund.  (If you don't know, the Actor's Fund provides assistance and resources to those who work in the performing arts.) So if you go that night, you can have a good time while helping people.

[SEP 16]  Moving on to the grosses for the week, Summer took in $749,340 for the week ending September 9, which is up  over $42000 from the previous week. It is one of only 6 shows with increases for that week! (even better - it was the second highest increase for the week.  :-) )

[SEP 16] We also have another episode of Ariana DeBose's vlog, Hot Stuff.  This week is packed full of backstage silliness with Desperate Donna, Storm Lever and company.  You also get to see the lift in action from below stage.

[SEP 16] Moving on to Donna - On The Radio is STILL hanging around the iTunes Top Dance albums chart. As I write this, it's back up to #4.

[SEP 16] I think that brings us to YouTube.  I think since we are celebrating the 40th anniversary of Live & More, we should do some clips related to that.  Let's start with the 2 minute promo for the album (with lots of clips from the show! Somebody needs to find the footage and release the whole thing!)  Then we have he actual commercial as it aired on TV. And then there is the full 1979 tv concert from Japan, MacArthur Park live, Mimi's Song from the Tonight Show, and Last Dance live.

[SEP 8] Greetings all!  I guess we can start with Summer: The Musical today.  Grosses for the week of September 2 are up to $706,901.  :-) The show is also al over the internet this week.  Jared Zirilli (who plays Bruce) is on the Broadwaysted podcast, Jenny Laroche (dance captain for Summer) has a video showing you how to do some of the popular dance moves you see on stage, and Ariana Debose is back with episode 7 of her vlog.  This episode features more behind the scenes shenanigans,  talk about her vacation and the injury she sustained before the Tonys,  cast members' favorite lines, and a rare appearance by LaChanze.  :-)

[SEP 8] Moving on to Donna, On The Radio is STILL hanging around on the iTunes Dance charts. As I write this it's #11 which I think is the lowest I've seen it in a long time.  And remix fans will want to check out this YouTube clip (audio only) for the Tom Moulton mix of Last Dance.  You will want to hear that one for sure.  :-)

[SEP 8] Bruce Sudano fans - as you know, Bruce did a live stream for Paste Music on Tuesday. That stream is available for you to watch on YouTube.  In it, Bruce preforms 3 songs - the new single, Forbidden Fruit, Walking Down The Road, and The Promise.  All of those are from Bruce's upcoming album, True.  It's an album of true stories about real lives and we can expect to see that out early next year.  :-)

[SEP 8] I think that brings us to YouTube. Let's do some interviews this week. We have On Time TV from 2008, Donna on  Johnny Carson from about 1978,  Donna on Oprah 1999, Donna with Rona Barrett in 1978,  and Donna on TVam from 1991. For something completely bizarre there is the Celebrity Ghost Box interview.  The interviewer tries to reach people who have passed on to the other realm and in this particular episode he tries to reach Donna. I'm no expert in the paranormal, but I think he managed to reach snippets of FM radio stations.  LOL And finally, since I am off to see Flashdance the musical tonight, here is the official video for Romeo which is sadly not in the stage production... sigh.

[SEP 2] Where did the summer go? How did we get to September already?  Well you know a new month means a new Summer Fever Pick, so this time we turn the spotlight on the Donna Summer album.

[SEP 2] Let me start with Bruce Sudano news since this is time sensitive.  On Tuesday September 4 at 2:30 EST, Bruce will be doing a live stream with Paste Music & Daytrotter.  He'll be playing some songs and answering some questions. Check out Bruce's announcement (and a little sample tune) on Bruce's Facebook page.

[SEP 2] Moving on to other news, I guess we can start with Summer: The Donna Summer Musical.  Grosses for the week of August 26 were down a little to $679,069 - which is not bad at all looking at everyone else's numbers. There were only 6 shows that were up for the week, and 22 whose grosses  dropped more than Summer's.  Also if you are looking for last minute deals to see Summer, check the TKTS booths in New York (or I think they even have an app now.) You can get last minute deals on various shows that way and Summer has ben one of the shows available at times.

[SEP 2] Moving on to Donna herself, On The Radio is STILL  doing well on the iTunes charts. As I write this, it's #2 on the Top 40 US Dance albums chart.

[SEP 2] Johnnyswim fans - don't forget the duo is still on tour through October. Seriously - if you have the chance to see them live - GO. They put on one heck of a show.  (I saw them last night and I'm still humming the tunes.  :-) )  Also, look for the September/October issue of Relevant Magazine - you will find Amanda and Abner right there on the cover!  (Or if you can't find it, just read it online here.) There is also a podcast that goes with it.

[SEP 2] I think that brings us to YouTube.  Let's looks at some clips that go with the Summer Fever Pick.  So let's start with the Love Is In Control video.  See if you can spot Amanda in it. (Hint: Look at Donna's belly.  LOL) Then we have The Woman In Me video, and State of Independence live. See if you can spot Mimi in that one. (Hint: You really cannot miss her!  LOL) Then there is State Of Independence from Solid Gold, a German interview piece with clips from the making of the State Of Independence video, and a short piece with the all star choir from the song. And finally, some of you may remember that Quincy did a rather uh, interesting interview awhile ago where (among other things) he said that Michael Jackson stole the bass line from State Of Independence for Billie Jean.  Here is a video comparing them. See what you think.

[SEP 2] And finally - I have a lot of stuff going on next weekend, so I might have to do the update early or it might end up being a little late. I'll have to play that by ear and see how it goes. So don't freak out if you don't see me here Sunday night.  :-)

[AUG 26] Happy Sunday all! Let's start off with the Donna news.  On The Radio is still bopping around the top of the iTunes Dance albums chart. As I write this, it's at #4.   :-)

[AUG 26] We also have a new article from  Wall Street Journal  about On The Radio.  Now it is stuck behind a pay wall, but sometimes you can find ways around that. And it's worth a look because there are quotes from Bruce, Giorgio, Harold Faltermeyer, and others. There is also an article from last year on ClassicPopMag.com about Sock Aitken & Waterman.  There is a section that talks about Donna. And there is a video of Bob Esty talking about working with Donna.

[AUG 26] In the Donna's music is everywhere category - I was watching TV the other night when an ad for the movie, White Boy Rick, came on. See if you recognize the classic song that plays through the WHOLE trailer.  :-)

[AUG 26] And in the land of covers, check out this swinging cover of Hot Stuff by China Moses.  :-)

[AUG 26] Moving on to Summer: The Donna Summer Musical... For the week of August 19, the grosses were down a little to 688,279 (although attendance was up a little.) And here's some REALLY good news - ticket sales have been extended to August 2019 - so we have at least a year's worth of shows to look forward to.  :-)

[AUG 26] The cast album for Summer is now out in CD format for those who want to have an actual physical copy of the music.  :-) You can grab that at Amazon and other places that sell CDs. And BroadwayDirect.com has an article about the making of the album.

[AUG 26] This week Ariana DeBose was  on vacation, so there is no vlog episode yet. (I believe Afra Hines stepped into the role of Disco Donna for the week.) BUT - to make up for that, we have a Pop Matters interview with Ariana from our own Christian John Wikane.  :-)

[AUG 26] I think that brings us to YouTube. I think I'll do some random clips starting with Freedom (just because I happened to play it in the car the other day, and I really got into it.  :-) ) Then we have Netherlands,  a 1991 full concert from Yokohama 1991 (with blonde hair!),  You're So Beautiful from Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve, and an audio only track of Adonai.

[AUG 19] Greetings all. First things first. This week we lost another legend - Aretha Franklin.  There are many things I could say about Aretha that I am sure others have said (and have said better!) but I want to point out one thing in particular. Over the years there have been times where various media sources have counted down the top artists in the rock era based on popular vote or whatever.  In all the times that I scanned those lists (looking for Donna of course!) I would many many times notice that the lists were dominated by white males, followed by males of color..  And usually you'd have to really look to find women represented - especially women of color.  BUT - usually somewhere near the top of the lists you'd find Aretha Franklin.  You'd have to really drill down the list to find even someone as iconic as Diana Ross (with or without the Supremes), but somehow nobody  could deny Aretha her place on the list.  She had a gift that transcends gender, color, genre, you any other category you want to name. And she was an influence for so many of our other icons - both living and dead (and including Donna!) My condolences to Aretha's family, friends and fans. I know she will be missed.

[AUG 19] On to something happier - Summer: The Donna Summer Musical.  We'll start with the grosses.  For the week of August 12, sales are up to 714,474.  :-)  They have also sent out a new mailer to Broadway customers. Click any of the thumbnails for the full sized image.

[AUG 19] Speaking of the musical, Ariana DeBose's Hot Stuff Blog episode 6 is up.  This week she goes  to Bryant Park for  the cast's performance at Broadway In The Park. And of course there are more backstage shenanigans with Desperate Donna. (If you don't know about  Desperate Donna, then you need to go back and watch the other vlog episodes.  LOL) I think here are only 2 more episodes after this, so get your Ariana DeBose fix while you still can!

[AUG 19] Moving on to Donna. Civilized.Life has come up with it's list of the most danceable pop hits - according to science.  Somebody build an algorithm with 60 years of Billboard data and Echonet software and somehow they used this to define the 20 most danceable hits since 1958.  Donna came in at #11 with Bad Girls.  Personally, as I look at the list as a whole I can't help but think that there are still some things that people do better than computers and one of those things is picking danceable songs.

[AUG 19]  Johnnyswim fans: Check out the new video for Forever On Your Side by NeedToBreathe (with Johnnyswim). And don't forget that Amanda and Abner are still on tour here in the US through October 20. (Although knowing them, more dates could be added at any time.  I still think they actually LIVE on the road.  LOL)

[AUG 19] Moving on to Bruce Sudano - he's got a couple of concert dates lined up with Dan Navarro and Chas Sandford for December.   They are calling it Threefer Madness.  :-) He'll be at the Kennett Flash in Kennett Square, PA on December 7 and at St Mark Presbyterian Church in Rockville, MD on December 8. And don't forget about his new single Forbidden Fruit available now at Amazon, iTunes and other music vendors.

[AUG 19] I think that brings us to YouTube.  First up a recently posted interview from Epic Conversations with Chuck & Randy. It's audio only but it's a nice long one. Then we have a very well done video tribute to Donna on Facebook posted by Omar.  And we have the complete episode of the John Walsh Show from 2003 with Donna. (Donna is the first segment - followed by Chaka Khan and Grandmaster Flash.  If you think the audience looks a little different in the 3 segments - you are not crazy. They were filmed on 3 different days.) And finally, how could I not end with these? Donna and Joss Stone singing Try A Little Tenderness - and yes I know it's an Otis Redding Song, but Aretha covered it too.  And of course there is Donna's awesome 2006 cover of Natural Woman (and funny tribute to Aretha and her twins..... listen and you will get it.  LOL)

[AUG 12] Greetings all!  Ok let's get the bad (but not unexpected) chart news out of the way. Hot Stuff 2018 has fallen off the Billboard Dance Club Play chart for the week of August 11.  But it had a good run so I'm not too disappointed.  Now moving to the iTunes charts, On The Radio is still doing well.  As I write this it's number 5. No sign of the Dance Collection at the moment though.

[AUG 12] Here's an oldie but goodie -  the Bette Midler Blog, Bootleg Betty, had posted a photo and an audio file of Donna and Bette Midler doing Hot Stuff at the 2003 Hulaween event. The audio quality is about what you expect from a concert bootleg, but it's a lot of fun to hear.  :-)  (Shout out to Mister D - the host of Bootleg Betty!) Oh and on a side note I found that right clicking was my friend - at least in my Firefox browser. It provides interesting menu options for collectors of digital things....

[AUG 12] In musical news,  lets get the grosses out of the way first. For the week of August 5 Summer: The Donna Summer Musical was  down to 679,485.  Actually, all but 6 of the currently running shows were down this week by varying amounts - including Hamilton!

[AUG 12] Broadwayworld.com has posted a favorable review of the Summer cast album.  They do mention the one notible flaw being that the album gives you all the music, but none of the story.  Just a reminder, the cast album is available now for download from Amazon and all your favorite music sources, but if you want an actual CD, you have to wait until August 24.

[AUG 12] The cast of Summer made an appearance at Broadway In Bryant Park the other day.  Their performance is available in full on Facebook.  You'll get to see Ariana DeBose, Storm Lever and Christina Acosta Robinson stepping in for LaChanze (who may have been on vocal rest that day), and of course members of the ensemble. They did MacArthur Park, She Works Hard For The Money, Hot Stuff and Last Dance. Great job everyone!

[AUG 12] And speaking of Ariana DeBose, her Hot Stuff Vlog episode 5 is up. Tis week has some more backstage hijinks, and the closing party for A Bronx Tale. (Ariana was part of the original Broadway cast of that show.)

[AUG 12] Meanwhile, Storm Lever as on Broadway World's Backstage Bite making ... wait for it... Hot Stuffed Peppers. It's not just cooking - there is also a bunch of talking and (especially) laughing.  :-)  The video is here, and the recipe is here.

[AUG 12] Bruce Sudano fans - he's been teasing a new single, and now it's here! The song is called Forbidden Fruit and you can download it at Amazon, iTunes and other music vendors. And you can head over to YouTube to watch the official music video. And if you are wondering who that is singing with Bruce - her name is Dina Regine.

[AUG 12] Bruce's new single is accompanied by an article in Billboard in which he talks about the song, the video, and getting back to writing now that the musical is up and running.  The new single also means a newly revamped website to go with it, so go check out Bruce's site.

[AUG 12] I think that brings us to YouTube.  Let's start with a new fan video by our own Suecase Hall for the My Man Medley. And since that brings us to the Live & More album, let's find some more clips to go with it like the promo for the album, the actual TV commercial as aired, Mimi's Song from The Tonight Show, Heaven Knows from The Midnight Special, and the full 1979 concert from Japanese TV (which is as close as we have gotten to the actual full Live & More concert on video.)

[AUG 5]  Happy Sunday all! I guess we should start with the charts. For the week of August 4 Hot Stuff 2018 slips to #40 on the Billboard Dance Club Play Songs chart.  (On a side note Diana Ross I'm Coming Out/Upside Down 2018 is at the #1 spot I guess proving that great tracks can always come back.  :-) ) Now if you go over to the iTunes Dance albums charts - On The Radio is still hanging around the top spots. As of this moment it's #3, but it's been #1 it's been #2... people are buying it.  :-) And it's not alone on the chart, The Dance Collection has turned up and as I write this, it's at #23. I would say the Queen is back.... but she never really went away.

[AUG 5] In other Billboard news, the magazine has put together their Top 100 Artists of all time to honor the Hot 100 turning 60. They present it as a video (counting backwards of course!) If you don't want to watch the whole thing, then just jump to #31 to see Donna.  In an article that just lists the top 60 female artists, Donna comes in at #11. They also have an article about the Top Producers in the Hot  100 and yes, Giorgio Moroder made the list.

[AUG 5] Moving on to the musical, last week's grosses are in and Summer is down a tiny bit to $798,171.

[AUG 5]  Episode 4 of Arian DeBose's Hot Stuff vlog is up.  This time she takes us on a backstrage tour and SPOILER ALERT - there is footage of rehearsal for one of the more dramatic moments in the show. If you want to avoid the spoiler, skip the part between 1:08 (when she shows  Aaron Krohn backstage) and 2:11 (when she cuts back to her dressing room where you can see a sped up version of Ariana tucking her long braids under a wig cap.

[AUG 5] Also in the  land of social media, if you are on Instagram make sure you follow DonnaSummerBway. They periodically turn over the feed to a cast member for their Instagram stories, and you pretty much have to catch it when it happens because the stories go away after a period of time.

[AUG 5] As you know, the pair appeared with Drew Holcomb & The Neighbors on Jimmy Kimmel's Show last week.  And of course the video is available to see online.  :-) This is their performance of Ring The Bells. And then there is a clip of an unbroadcast performance of Goodbye Road.

[AUG 5] I think that brings us to YouTube.  I'm going to pick some clips from the Bad Girls album because 2 interesting covers came my way. The first is a jazzy cover of Hot Stuff by Judith Owens that comes with a pretty silly video.  ;-) The other is a cover of Bad Girls by Liza Minnelli.  What can I say? This one is vintage Liza, so if you like her then you will probably love this clip, and if you don't ... well... Moving on to the real Donna, we have Hot Stuff live in 2008, Bad Girls from a 1979 Tonight Show,  Dim All The Lights live from 1995, and Sunset People from the 1980 TV special.

[AUG 1] It's a new month and time for a new Summer Fever Pick. This month we explore I'm A Rainbow.

[JUL 28] Happy Saturday all!  Let's start with the charts. I left you last time with Hot Stuff 2018 at #11 on the July 21 Billboard Hot Dance Club Chart and at #48 on the Dance/ Electronic Songs Chart. Unfortunately for the week of July 28, it slips to #31 on the Hot Dance Club Play chart and it fell off top 50 on the Dance/Electronic songs chart. It was fun while it lasted.  :-) Also if you look at iTunes' Top 40 dance albums chart, On The Radio has been doing surprisingly well.  :-)  It was at #2 the other day, and at this moment it is at #4.

[JUL 28]  Johnnyswim fans set your DVRs!  The duo will be performing with Drew Holcomb & The Neighbors on Jimmy Kimmel  on Wednesday August 1.  The show airs at 11:35pm on ABC and of course you can watch  online at some point after the show airs.

[JUL 28] Bruce Sudano fans - check out his latest Live From The Couch on Facebook. This one is called Nothing's More Important. (Somehow I don't think it's a coincidence that this particular song turned up right about the time of Donna and Bruce's wedding anniversary.) Bruce is also teasing a new single on Instagram.

[JUL 28] Ok - time for musical news.  :-)  First up is episode 3 of Ariana DeBose's vlog, Hot Stuff.  In it, she and Storm Lever hit New Jersey for Broadway On The Boardwalk. They have clips of their performances - which because it's just the 2 of them, are a bit different from what you see in the musical. (For instance, Storm tackles Hot Stuff and Ariana sings She Works Hard For The Money.) She also asks some of the cast about the new cast album.

[JUL 28] Moving to the grosses for the week  -- this week is really weird!  Summer: The Musical is down a little bit to $800,001 for the week of July 22.  That's not the weird thing. If you scroll down the list to Hello Dolly, that show is up by OVER a million dollars  compared to last week.  Now I know they are probably having a burst of sales because Better Midler is back to close out the show August 25, but holy cow - they are up by more than their usual weekly gross! It's a wonder any other shows were able to sell anything with all that interest in Hello Dolly.  LOL

[JUL 28] I think that brings us to YouTube.  Let's start off with a Dutch clip I was just sent of Spring Affair. (Sorry, the quality is pretty rough in places - clearly it came from a decaying VHS tape. ) Sticking to 1976, we also have a clip of Lady Of The Night (with Donna in the Love To Love You album dress),  Could It Be Magic from German TV,  Love To Love You  from the Midnight Special, and  Wasted from a TV appearance (with lots of bubbles).

[JUL 20] Greetings all and happy Friday! Yes I'm here a bit early for the update because we have breaking news! The cast album for Summer: The Donna Summer Musical just became available for streaming or downloading on Spotify and iTunes. The CD will be available starting August 24 at places like Amazon. (But you can pre-order it now.)  Broadwayworld and Billboard both have article announcing the digital release of the album and Billboard is streaming the full track for Hot Stuff. Now those of you who haven't seen the show yet (or who can't get to NYC to see it), might be wondering why the songs are not in chronological order and when you listen you might be wondering about some changes you will find in a couple of songs. (For instance, Dim All The Lights is slowed down - but not in the Rod Stewart "unplucked" way Donna would do it sometimes.) The reason is that the songs are used to tell the story - well except for Last Dance which is just a good time to close the show.  :-)  For those who are OK with spoilers - check out my report from the show to see how each song is used.

[JUL 20] Oh let me take this opportunity to congratulate  the company of Summer on their 100th performance!  Great job guys and here's to the next 100!  :-)

[JUL 20] Episode 2 of Ariana DeBose's vlog, Hot Stuff, is up on YouTube. This week she goes behind the scenes at Summer and at Broadway Barks. And again she invites viewers to tweet things they'd like to see in the vlog.  You never know, she might like YOUR idea...   :-)

[JUL 20] Looking at the Broadway grosses for the week of 7/15, Summer has picked up a little of what they lost last week. Sales were up to $814,286. We'll see what happens when the next sales figures are released on Monday.  :-)

[JUL 20] On to the real Donna Summer.  :-) Let's look at the Billboard charts. Last week Hot Stuff 2018 was at #8 on the July 14 Billboard Dance Club Chart and #45 on the Dance/Electronic Songs chart.  For the week of July 21,  it drops to #11 on the Dance Club Chart, and back down to #48 on the Dance/Electronic Songs chart.

[JUL 20] Bruce Sudano fans - catch him on the radio with Alan Ross on Joy 94.5 in Australia.  You guys might remember Alan Ross - he's been a friend to Donna fans for quite awhile now. He's the guy who brought us our first listen to the whole Crayons album... OMG that was 10 years ago!  Wow - time has flown!  Anyway, Bruce will be on Sunday July 21 at 7 AM Australian Eastern Time.  You can convert the time to your specific location here,  but to give you a rough idea, it works out to  Saturday at 5 PM in New York, and Saturday at 10 PM in London.

[JUL 20] I think that brings us to YouTube.  Hmmm - what should we look at this week. I know - it was Bruce and Donna's wedding anniversary this week, let's have some clips of them performing together.  So here is Donna and Bruce unplugged on  Regis and Kathie Lee, live in concert with Worth The Wait, Donna with all the Brooklyn Dreams on the Midnight Special, Donna and Bruce on BBC Radio with So This Is Lonely, Bruce (with Donna on backing vocals) on True Love, Bruce's speech at Donna's Rock Hall Of Fame induction,  Bruce talking about writing Starting Over Again and Donna singing it.

[JUL 15] Greetings all! Let's start with the news many of you were waiting for a way to buy Summer: The Musical merchandise online!  The Donna Summer Musical website has launched an online shop here with most of the items you can get at the theater.  :-) Happy shopping everyone!

[JUL 15]  Moving on to the theater grosses for the week ending 7/8, sales were down quite a bit to $743.385.  I'm assuming that has something to do with the July 4 holiday, but I have to admit that drop hurts to look at.  Fingers crossed that the numbers will be better tomorrow.

[JUL 15] Also in musical news, Ariana DeBose is now vlogging for Broadway.com.  You can see her getting her feet wet here in episode 1.  Look for episode 2 to drop on Tuesday. And if you are on Twitter and you have ideas of things you would like to see in the vlog, send Ariana a tweet.

[JUL 15] Moving on to Donna, we have some interesting chart news, When I left you last time, Hot Stuff 2018 was #6 on the Billboard Dance Club Chart for the week of July 7 and #49 on the Dance/Electronic Songs chart. For the week of July 14, the song slips to #8 on the Dance Club Chart, but on the Dance/Electronic Songs chart, it bounces back up a little to #45.  :-)

[JUL 15] Dutch fans can look forward to Thank God It's Donna - a tribute to Donna starring Carolina Dijkhuizen accompanied by the Gare Du Nord Orchestra. Look for thta February 1, 2019 in 30 Dutch theaters. If you read Dutch, here is the article from De Telegraaf.

[JUL 15] Johnnyswim fans - Sojo.net has an interview with Johnnyswim and Drew Holcomb to promote their EP, Goodbye Road.

[JUL 15] I think that brings us to YouTube.  Let's do some live covers this week.  So we have Donna's version of Pearls by Sade,  Donna's cover of Natural Woman (audio only), Donna's cover of Nights In White Satin, her cover of Superstar, her cover of New York Minute, her cover of Send In The Clowns, her cover of Celebrate Me Home, and finally The Impossible Dream.

[JUL 8] Happy Sunday all!  I guess we should start with the charts. When I left you last time, Hot Stuff 2018 was #1 on the Billboard Dance Club chart for June 30 and #27 on the Dance Electronic Songs chart for that same week. For the week of July 7, the song slips to #6 on the Dance Club Chart and to #49 on the Dance/Electronic Songs chart.

[JUL 8] Udiscovermusic.com has an article about the success of Hot Stuff 2018. (On a side note - I really hate that word "posthumous".  Sigh.)

[JUL 8]  Over on Facebook, Robert Grant (Omega Red) posted video highlights from the Roller Disco Party in Boston last month. Looks like fun!

[JUL 8] Moving to Broadway, the grosses for  the week of July 1 are out. Summer: The Musical took in  $949,959 - its first week below the million mark since April. Don't freak out over 1 low week though.  Sales figures on Broadway can vary quite a bit due to many factors. (Just wait until winter - one bad storm can crash the numbers for all the shows!)

[JUL 8] Look for Disco Donna Ariana DeBose to vlog for Broadway.com starting July 10.  They are calling the vlog Hot Stuff (naturally!  lol) and there will be a new vlog every Tuesday for 8 weeks. If you have never seen any of the Broadway.com vlog,  basically they are all short  videos (10 minutes or so) with a star from one of the current shows showing the behind the scenes stuff from the show. You might see rehearsals, pieces on makeup or costumes,  a piece on some special event the cast is doing - whatever. I've seen some for other shows and they can be interesting, and sometimes funny.  And I can tell you that Ariana seems to really enjoy doing social media so I'm sure her vlog will be a lot of fun. She's done this before too - they had her vlog when she was in A Bronx Tale.  :-)

[JUL 8] The July issue of O (Oprah's magazine) has a photo of Gayle King pointing to the  Summer: The Musical sign in NYC. I haven't seen it myself yet, but I'm told its on the second or third page with a little blurb accompanying the photo.

[JUL 8] Johnnyswim fans - the Augusta Chronicle has an article  promoting their upcoming show with Drew Holcomb. And Connect Savannah has an interview promoting the  upcoming show there.

[JUL 8] And I think that brings us to YouTube. Let me explain something first. I happened to run into an old broadcast of American Top 40 this weekend. It was  special edition from the July 4th weekend in 1979 where they were counting  down the top 40 disco songs  to hit the pop charts  from "the last 5 years."  Donna made that countdown 5 times, so this week I am going to count down those 5 songs.  (The whole list is here.) So starting off the countdown we have Love To Love You at #40.  Then at #37 we have Last Dance, and at #31 we have I Feel Love.  Hot Stuff came in at #21. (Don't forget this was still early days for the Bad Girls album - the title track hadn't peaked on the charts yet and Dim All The Lights hadn't been released as a single yet. Hot Stuff had only just reached its peak and still had more weeks to go on the charts. If they has made this chart even a couple of weeks later, Hot Stuff would have come in higher.) Finally at #12 we had MacArthur Park.

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