For me and countless others, Donna Summer will always be the Queen of Disco. Her reign was unique and absolute. She exemplified everything good about an era that was known better for its hedonistic ways.
I first heard Donna Summer when she was still in Germany working with her mentor, Giogio Morodor. At that point, she was still largely a European phenomenon. She had only crossed over to the U.S. with her signature hit “Love to Love You Baby”. I was just coming out and new to the club scene. She was the soundtrack to that period of my life. As her popularity grew, so too my did the level of the openness of my sexual identity. Dance clubs turned into Leather Bars with Donna paving the way – The Love Trilogy, Four Seasons of Love, Once Upon a Time, Bad Girls…one mega hit after another. It seemed that you couldn’t go anywhere without hearing Donna Summer multiple times per night.
Then, suddenly, nothing. All the gay clubs stopped playing her. She made several fatal errors. First, she left the powerhouse Casablanca Records and Morodor behind, as she was lured away by an equally powerful David Geffen. Geffen mismatched her with the great Quincy Jones and the hits started to dwindle as she was forced into a more R&B groove. There were no more ready-for-the-dance-floor to instantly adore. Secondly, she found religion. Not that finding spirituality is a bad thing but it was in the fervor of finding her inner light she committed a most heinous sin – a sin against her most ardent fans, the Gay Community. She spoke out against Homosexuality in such a harsh and unforgiving way, that she was shunned immediately and completely. Myself, I turned my back her and on Disco, returning to Rock through the then exciting New Wave Movement.
Time, as it almost always does, has been kind to Donna Summer. As she reconciled her faith with a more compassionate view of the LGBT community and with the eventual forgiveness of her sins and the sting of her words faded away, she became revered for what she is, our Queen. I recently played her “I Remember Yesterday” Lp while joyfully singing and prancing around the house doing chores. She once again represented something tangible – the Glory of Youth. I hear her again as she was, a reminder of coming out, the Disco era, the Gay revolution and of the good times with our friends present and past.
Now in the hour of her death, let’s remember always her for the passion of her voice as she forever coos breathtakingly “Love to Love You Baby” in the now and hereafter.
– Eduard Gomez
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1R9hwGOObqs
