Four Seasons Of Love (1976)
Navigate this page: [Art] [The
Inspiration] [Quotes]
[Tracks] [Other Stuff] [YouTube
Clips] [Purchase]
[Site Navigation]
"An album for all seasons..."
- Casablanca, 1977
Well, you know it had to happen - an album that contains a play on
Donna's name. Talk about marketing possibilities! LOL I am of course
talking about Four Seasons Of Love - a concept album that
both lyrically and musically explores love from the beginning of a
relationship to its end. Four Seasons starts logically
enough with Spring Affair - an innocent string-laden crush that
develops into the much hotter (not to mention sexier) bass and horn
driven Summer Fever. But unfortunately the relationship is not
meant to last, and in Autumn Changes things cool down, until
finally we reach Winter Melody - a beautiful yet melancholy song
about a love that's gone. But rather than leave the listener on a low
note, Donna comes back with a reprise of Spring Affair - perhaps
as a reminder that love will come again. As concepts go - this one is
pretty basic. Four seasons - four songs (not counting the reprise of
course), but the thing about Four Seasons Of Love is that
it is carried out so well. Rather than having an album with several
distinctly separate tracks, all the songs on this album flow together
into one non-stop music mix. (Well, ok - back in the 70s when vinyl
ruled, you would have to physically turn over the record after Summer
Fever. But I bet if Giorgio was mixing it now for CD, he'd
seamlessly blend Summer Fever right into Autumn Changes.)
As an added bonus - the music is all wrapped up in one of the most
striking album covers of Donna's career. Today's diva-wannabes take
note - the Four Seasons cover proves that you can be sexy
AND classy at the same time.
So this month I invite you to revisit what
Casablanca touted as "an album for all seasons" - Four
Seasons Of Love.
|
|
|
|
| Click any image
for a larger version |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
| If the "autumn"
pictures of Donna look a little familiar, there is a good reason
why. They are based of the famous "blowing skirt"
pictures of Marilyn Monroe from the movie Seven Year Itch. (Marilyn
photo from marilynmonroe.com)
Click
either image for a larger version. |
 |
 |
| From the lady who brought you Love To Love You, Baby and
A Love Trilogy, comes the definitive love album... Critics have called it "disco
perfection" - Four Seasons of Love ... an album for all seasons.
- 1977 ad
|
|
FOUR SEASONS OF LOVE
Like Donna Summer's previous American releases, Love to Love You Baby and
A Love Trilogy, Four Seasons of Love is an extended exercise in ecstasy, but where the earlier albums
had sustained their lush, throbbing title tracks for one entire side, pushing the long LP cut to its
logical extreme, here the whole album is one continuous song cycle. Four Seasons
traces the
blossoming and eventual withering of a love affair from the exhilarating Spring
Affair through
the steamy, passionate Summer Fever and ominous Autumn Changes to a crisp, lovely end
in Winter Melody, which blends back into a reprise of Spring and the promise of a new
affair. The music is one unbroken landscape, interrupted only by the changing of sides.
Giorgio Moroder and Pete Bellotte, who produce Summer's records in Germany with the
"Munich Machine," Europe's answer to MFSB, again mesh the orgasmic ebb and flow of
lovemaking with the euphoric energy of disco dancing, creating the perfect pulsing back drop
to Summer's breathy, seething vocals. The songs build and break, surging on clean sweeps of
violins, but because they ease off before reaching a climax, Summer and the orchestra are able
to keep it up indefinitely without dissipating the record's vibrant energy. For some, the format
must seem confining, but on the dance floor or in the bedroom—Summer's main spheres of
influence—this kind of creative foreplay is so rich in nuance and texture that other
considerations are swept aside.
- Vince Aletti Rolling Stone issue 231 |
|
"The first single was Spring Affair, an effervescent pop
concoction that was the most radio-friendly recording Donna had made to date.
Summer coos and whispers the lyric over a thumping bass and drum track and a
chorus of female background singers.
- Josiah Howard, Donna
Summer: Her Life & Music (Tiny Ripple, 2003) |
|
"On Summer Fever, Donna males the most of the decidedly sparse
lyrics, only occasionally letting her vocals take center stage. The entire
song is sung in her highest falsetto, and if it weren't for the obvious fact
that the production was extended for discos, it would be on equal ground with Spring
Affair as an inventive catchy track."
- Josiah Howard, Donna
Summer: Her Life & Music (Tiny Ripple, 2003) |
|
"In listening to Autumn Changes a lot recently I've noticed that it almost sounds like an
early-mid 80s song during the part where Donna sings 'yes we can, oh sure we can....'
It makes me think of Do You Really Want to Hurt Me (Culture Club) and has a lighter synth touch to it and an absence of the
violin/strings that are present elsewhere. I had never paid attention to this part before and was surprised at this more
'modern' sound."
- SteveWrksHrd, posted on the Endless
Summer forum April 15, 2003 |
|
"I used to dismiss Autumn Changes but I really love the production now. I agree with what you mean about the almost-reggae sounding bridge. The overall production is great, really tight with an almost latiny beat.
"
- V16trola, posted on the Endless
Summer forum April 16, 2003 |
| Four Seasons of Love came with a free 1977
calendar featuring pictures of Donna for all seasons. (See
other artwork above) |
| Various items were available to fans to
promote this album - including t-shirts, stand-ups, etc. You want to
talk about a sign of the times? You could get all 4 available shirts for
less than $20 (including postage)! Hey, you think if I mailed in the
form they'd still honor that deal? LOL |
| There are VERY rare promotional videos for Spring
Affair, Autumn Changes and Winter Melody. |
| Spring Affair and Summer Fever occasionally
find their way into Donna's live shows even as recently as 1995 - usually as a
medley. |
| Spring Affair and Winter Melody are usually
the only songs from Four Seasons that appear on
"greatest hits" compilations. The interesting thing is that
American compilations will only have Spring Affair, but European
collections will often have both. (I've always preferred Winter Melody
myself - does that make me a closet European? ;-) ) |
| Four Seasons of Love peaked at #29 on the
Billboard Album chart. |
| You can purchase Four Seasons Of Love at Amazon.com,
Amazon
UK and other on and offline vendors. Or you can get it boxed with
Love To Love You Baby and A
Love Trilogy in the Chronicles
box set also available at Amazon,
Amazon
UK and other vendors.
|
|
