You get a sudden urge for porn, but you have neither a magazine, a film or internet access. What do you do? One solution could be to play today's record and close your eyes. The epic title track that fills up the entire A-side is a disco trip into the land of sexuality. Donna Summer's moans and groans leave little to imagination, or perhaps the opposite, awaken the imagination and take your thoughts to forbidden places.
Some may be surprised that I have a Donna Summer album in my collection (I have actually two). But no record collection is complete without some classic disco from the 70s, so I'm not ashamed of this album. As I also found it quite cheap in Quebec's vinyl record stores, where I purchased the album, there was no hesitation.
This was Summers' second album and a collaboration with none other than Giorgio Moroder and Pete Bellotte, the latter listed as the producer. Summer had gotten the idea for the song Love To Love You Baby and went to see these two men to do something with it. Especially Moroder was interested in developing the new disco sound and got the idea to make the song into a very sexy musical journey. Summer was not entirely up to his idea to excitedly moan throughout the song, but eventually she went along with it as a way to make a demo for someone else to record. After the recording was completed Moroder managed to persuade Summer to release the song in her own name, which she reluctantly agreed to.
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| Summer and Moroder |
Regarding the recording of the title track Summer has said that she imagined herself being Marilyn Monroe, acting out the role of someone in sexual ecstasy. Say what you will about sexually explicit songs, but the title track, which the album is strongly associated with, is a pretty groovy, laid-back song with a cool 70's sound. I realize that the 70's dance floor must have been a more relaxed place compared to today's, as the songs' BPM seem to have been much lower and there's often no clear base puls (like a thudding bass drum) that dominates.
As a former amateur bass player, I enjoy the cool base that hypnotically drives the song forward, and combined with the laid-back guitar at least I get some vibes of the classic soundtracks of the Blaxploitation films, even if there is more disco here. I played the title track once when my 8-year-old son was present and he wondered why the woman who sang sounded so strange. I told him to ask his mother instead.
However, the record is of course more than the A-side. There is a B-side too. It consists of five songs of which the last one is a reprise of the first one. The B-side is not as much disco, but good nonetheless. The listener is offered a few ballads and some song with a little more soul feel. The A-side and B-side is quite different from one another but both offer something interesting, the risk is always with this kind of album that the B-side gets in the shadow, which is somewhat of a shame.
Moroder and Bellotte have written all the songs on the B-side and are also named as the composers to the title song together with Summer.
To me it's a bit strange to see the Casablanca label on the album as my childhood experiences created a strong link between this label and KISS. The connection is apparently still there as some confusion arises when I read "Donna Summer" on the record. Also sudden feelings of nostalgia are brought up inside from seeing the Casablanca logo. Perhaps Love To Love You Baby is powerful enough to break this linkage.
Donna Summer died May 17 this year from lung cancer, 63 years old.
Tracklist
Side A
1. Love To Love You Baby 16:50
Side B
1. Full Of Emptiness 2:22
2. Need-a-Man Blues 4:30
3. Whispering Waves 4:50
4. Pandora's Box 4:56
5. Full Of Emptiness (Reprise) 2:20
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