We Love To Love You Donna Listening Party: The Details
One night in a lifetime: Listening party for Donna mix LP hits the Magic City
Donna Summer, the gorgeous disco diva best known for her towering disco hits during the late ’70’s including “Love to Love You Baby,” “Hot Stuff,” “On the Radio” and “Last Dance”, departed the world way too soon at the age of 63. Despite the unfortunate backlash towards disco in the early Eighties, the towering music icon found new ways to reinvent herself by incorporating various musical styles into her work, including New Wave (“She Works Hard for the Money”), rock (“Bad Girls”), reggae (“Unconditional Love”), country (“On My Honor”), adult contemporary (“Sand On My Feet”) and gospel (“Riding Through the Storm”). She also remained true to her dance roots, while also recording consistently up to her unfortunate passing. 2008’s Crayons, her last recorded album, contained three No. 1 dance/club hits (“I’m a Fire,” “Stamp Your Feet,” “Fame (The Game)”). But beyond that, she was a defining voice for her era and influenced the next generation of pop stars including Madonna, Michael Jackson, Beyoncé and Katy Perry. Summer was coined by the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, for which she was inducted posthumously in 2013, as being “the Diva De Tutti Dive, the first true diva of the modern pop era.”
On October 22, Love To Love You Donna, a remix compilation containing all-new mixes of some of her greatest contributions to music, was released to the world. The set features mixes from top-heavy mix kings including Frankie Knuckles, Masters at Work and Summer’s longtime producer Giorgio Moroder. It also contains mixes from the hottest DJs and mixers in electronic dance music today, including Holy Ghost!, Laidback Luke, Hot Chip, Chromeo and Afrojack. The disc was produced by Dahlia-Ambach Caplin, the architect of the five-volume Verve Remixed series, and Randall Poster, the legendary producer and music supervisor. Rolling Stone raved that “the stylistic variety of the many remixers makes this a good listen from beginning to end.” They went on to say that the “credible, arty approach” was “likely to bring Donna Summer a new generation of fans.”
HiFi Magazine will host an exclusive listening party for the Love To Love You Donna album. There will be multiple CD giveaways, door prizes and rounds of karaoke throughout the evening. As a bonus to the evening’s highlights, an audience response cards will be handed out to gauge the goodness of each of the played tracks. Submitted cards will finally be tallied and the results will be posted at HiFi, determining which tracks are the most superior. The free event will be hosted at Our Place, located on 2115 7th Avenue South in the city of Birmingham, Alabama.
In 1999, Summer performed in Birmingham for the City Stages music festival. She spoke with Kathy Kemp for The Birmingham News prior to performing. “The first time I heard ‘Love To Love You Baby’ over the radio, I almost fainted,” said Ms. Summer, who grew up in a strict Christian home in Boston. “I didn’t want anybody to know it was me, especially my parents.”
To share this event with Donna Summer fans on Facebook, go to:
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MORE ON DONNA SUMMER AT HIFI:
15 Donna Summer Songs You Better Have…Or Else
Donna Summer: Love to Love You Donna (album review)
Donna Summer: Love Is In Control (Finger on the Trigger) (Chromeo & Oliver Remix) (track review)
Members of Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Responds to Donna Summer’s Death and Possible Induction (18 May 2012)
