Library Rock's Backpages

Donna Summer: A Disco Queen is Born Again

Ben Fong-Torres, Austin American-Statesman, 1 November 1981

DONNA SUMMER is a puzzle. She's the Rubik's Cube of pop singers. you might say a multicolored, at least six-sided mystery. She steps onto the stage (the scene is the outdoor Concord Pavilion in northern California), and she's the Donna Summer we've all come to know, love and dance to. She coos out 'Dim All the Lights' and promises that tonight "we're going all the way." She drops the puffy cocoon coat she's been wearing to reveal a silky white leotard top, greets the crowd, then gets back to work with the number that made her a bedroom name — the whispery, breathy moan of a song called 'Love to Love You, Baby'.

Total word count of piece: 1993

Subscribe

Becoming a member is easy. Membership gives you access to all the thousands of articles in the library.

Click here to go to Subscribe page.

Click here for academic and other group subscriptions.