I imagine a lot of people responded to the news that Donna Summer died the way I did. There were six steps:
1. I was more upset than I would have imagined.
2. I got home in the mood to listen to Donna all night and discovered to my horror that I only had one song by her in my collection. And it wasn’t even the long version of I feel love. In her heyday, her music had been so ubiquitous, there wasn’t any need to own it.
3. I immediately purchased one of her greatest hits collections online. While downloading it, a friend phoned wanting to talk about her:
She was the source for all the music I have ever liked in my life. She was fantastic. The Seventies produced disco and punk, two music and lifestyle genres that have not only endured, but become park of global folklore. Without any doubt, Donna Summer is being blasted in clubs in every time zone, in every country on the planet, not excepting North Korea ….
4. The download kept failing. Too many people were doing the exact same thing.
5. When I finally downloaded the album, I didn't recognize most of the song titles. But as soon as I started playing them, they all came back. Instantly, vividly.
6. I realized that nothing less than a complete reassessment of the Donna Summer oeuvre is in order. I hope somebody with more knowledge and experience is working at it right now. Better late than never.
[Image: Donna Summer and Giorgio Morodor]
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