1 00:00:00,320 --> 00:00:03,080 Speaker 1: Welcome to five hundred Greatest Songs, a podcast based on 2 00:00:03,200 --> 00:00:07,720 Speaker 1: Rolling Stones hugely popular, influential, and sometimes controversialist. 3 00:00:07,880 --> 00:00:11,080 Speaker 2: I'm Britney Spanos and I'm Rob Sheffield. We're here to 4 00:00:11,119 --> 00:00:14,120 Speaker 2: shed light on the greatest songs ever made and discover 5 00:00:14,200 --> 00:00:18,000 Speaker 2: what makes them so great. This week, we're diving into 6 00:00:18,560 --> 00:00:19,360 Speaker 2: Donna Summer. 7 00:00:19,760 --> 00:00:24,079 Speaker 1: I Feel Love, absolute classic, a perfect song, a song 8 00:00:24,120 --> 00:00:26,800 Speaker 1: that's hard to turn off. It's like it should be 9 00:00:26,840 --> 00:00:31,120 Speaker 1: a thirty minute song. Actually the song can always go longer. 10 00:00:31,480 --> 00:00:34,280 Speaker 2: It can always go longer in the way. It feels 11 00:00:34,280 --> 00:00:36,680 Speaker 2: like it's been going ever since it came out. 12 00:00:37,120 --> 00:00:39,839 Speaker 1: So I Feel Love ranked at number fifty two on 13 00:00:39,880 --> 00:00:42,440 Speaker 1: the twenty twenty one list, and it jumped from number 14 00:00:42,520 --> 00:00:45,240 Speaker 1: four eleven on the two thousand and four list, And 15 00:00:45,520 --> 00:00:48,640 Speaker 1: it is, I mean, just like my absolute favorite. I 16 00:00:48,680 --> 00:00:50,760 Speaker 1: may I love Donna Summer's entire catalog. We could have 17 00:00:50,800 --> 00:00:53,400 Speaker 1: listed basically all of our singles on the list, and 18 00:00:53,400 --> 00:00:55,880 Speaker 1: I would have been like, that's not even enough. But 19 00:00:56,000 --> 00:00:58,320 Speaker 1: I mean, I think this one obviously takes. 20 00:00:58,120 --> 00:01:01,440 Speaker 2: The cake, totally a transformative song. It's amazing that it 21 00:01:01,520 --> 00:01:05,240 Speaker 2: never sounds dated. Yeah, it always sounds alien, It always 22 00:01:05,240 --> 00:01:06,200 Speaker 2: sounds futuristic. 23 00:01:06,360 --> 00:01:09,039 Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean it pretty much invented dance music as 24 00:01:09,040 --> 00:01:10,760 Speaker 1: we know it. You know, it invented so much of 25 00:01:10,800 --> 00:01:13,200 Speaker 1: house and techno, and I mean just the way that, 26 00:01:13,280 --> 00:01:16,039 Speaker 1: of course, like Georgia Mroder produced this song, I mean, 27 00:01:16,160 --> 00:01:18,680 Speaker 1: using the Moog synthesizer and kind of doing that repetitive 28 00:01:19,120 --> 00:01:22,440 Speaker 1: synth hook on there that really just was the foundation 29 00:01:22,560 --> 00:01:25,200 Speaker 1: of so much of club music until now. 30 00:01:25,560 --> 00:01:28,760 Speaker 2: Yeah, it was number one on Rolling Stones list of 31 00:01:28,800 --> 00:01:31,640 Speaker 2: the two hundred Greatest Dance Songs. Ever, it's a song 32 00:01:31,680 --> 00:01:34,479 Speaker 2: that definitely cuts history in half. There's before and after 33 00:01:34,560 --> 00:01:36,280 Speaker 2: I Feel Love in terms of dance music. 34 00:01:36,480 --> 00:01:38,840 Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean, very appropriately. It was the last song 35 00:01:38,959 --> 00:01:42,400 Speaker 1: on Donna's album I Remember Yesterday, and the theme of 36 00:01:42,440 --> 00:01:45,320 Speaker 1: that album was each song represented a different decade, and 37 00:01:45,400 --> 00:01:48,520 Speaker 1: of course the song represented the future, and what better 38 00:01:48,600 --> 00:01:50,200 Speaker 1: song to represent that. I mean, it's a song that 39 00:01:50,280 --> 00:01:52,000 Speaker 1: sounds just as fresh today as it did when it 40 00:01:52,040 --> 00:01:54,560 Speaker 1: came out. You know, it still sounds like there are 41 00:01:54,640 --> 00:01:58,120 Speaker 1: so many songs and mixes and remixes of songs that 42 00:01:58,240 --> 00:02:01,360 Speaker 1: are just trying to emulate what that Moroder was doing 43 00:02:01,400 --> 00:02:03,920 Speaker 1: with that beat, what Donna was doing with her vocals. 44 00:02:03,960 --> 00:02:06,080 Speaker 1: I mean it was such a kind of unique vocal 45 00:02:06,120 --> 00:02:08,359 Speaker 1: for her in terms of sort of that euphoric, kind 46 00:02:08,400 --> 00:02:10,440 Speaker 1: of like head voice that she was going for instead 47 00:02:10,440 --> 00:02:13,080 Speaker 1: of that like chesty, deep R and B sound that 48 00:02:13,120 --> 00:02:15,600 Speaker 1: comes with so much of disco prior to I Feel 49 00:02:15,600 --> 00:02:16,280 Speaker 1: Love coming. 50 00:02:16,080 --> 00:02:18,640 Speaker 2: Out, Yes, but just that it was so mechanical, it 51 00:02:18,680 --> 00:02:22,400 Speaker 2: was so filled with synthesizer and just totally dependent on 52 00:02:22,440 --> 00:02:27,080 Speaker 2: the synthesizer. There's a human drummer, everything else is synthesizer, 53 00:02:27,280 --> 00:02:30,120 Speaker 2: and it was so bold in terms of just using 54 00:02:30,160 --> 00:02:32,359 Speaker 2: that as the basis of the music. 55 00:02:32,560 --> 00:02:32,800 Speaker 3: Yeah. 56 00:02:32,840 --> 00:02:35,799 Speaker 1: I love a story that David Bowie had told about 57 00:02:35,840 --> 00:02:38,160 Speaker 1: Brian Eno hearing the song when they were working in 58 00:02:38,200 --> 00:02:41,320 Speaker 1: Berlin together and Brian running in and playing and saying 59 00:02:41,400 --> 00:02:43,720 Speaker 1: this is the sound of the future, and predicting that 60 00:02:43,760 --> 00:02:45,600 Speaker 1: this would be the sound of what we would hear 61 00:02:45,600 --> 00:02:48,240 Speaker 1: in the clubs for decades to come. And it absolutely is. 62 00:02:48,280 --> 00:02:50,360 Speaker 1: I mean, it's a song that every time I go out, 63 00:02:50,600 --> 00:02:52,960 Speaker 1: I hear it like it's constantly playing, like it's always 64 00:02:53,000 --> 00:02:54,640 Speaker 1: in the mix. It's hard to not play it and 65 00:02:54,800 --> 00:02:57,240 Speaker 1: see everyone actually lose their minds on the dance floor. 66 00:02:57,400 --> 00:03:00,079 Speaker 1: And it is very much the sound of what the 67 00:03:00,080 --> 00:03:02,120 Speaker 1: platonic ideal of a club music is. 68 00:03:03,080 --> 00:03:06,200 Speaker 2: Totally just that sort of synthesized pulse. So many different 69 00:03:06,240 --> 00:03:09,760 Speaker 2: types of international music come together in this song. Donna 70 00:03:09,800 --> 00:03:12,240 Speaker 2: Summer such an eclectic kind of singer with so many 71 00:03:12,280 --> 00:03:15,040 Speaker 2: different kinds of tastes, and she winds up in Germany 72 00:03:15,520 --> 00:03:18,920 Speaker 2: making this futuristic robot disco record. 73 00:03:19,080 --> 00:03:22,320 Speaker 1: Yeah, I think she's obviously becoming more and more of 74 00:03:22,360 --> 00:03:24,760 Speaker 1: that sort of legend and icon in terms of people 75 00:03:25,080 --> 00:03:28,000 Speaker 1: really giving respect to her music. Obviously, her songs have 76 00:03:28,080 --> 00:03:31,480 Speaker 1: always been a part of popular music, Hannon, you know, 77 00:03:31,560 --> 00:03:35,000 Speaker 1: constantly used in movies and TV shows. I mean, like 78 00:03:35,200 --> 00:03:37,400 Speaker 1: you know, on Drag Race, I think they've used like 79 00:03:37,400 --> 00:03:40,760 Speaker 1: every single Donna Summer song possible for Lift Saying for 80 00:03:40,840 --> 00:03:43,120 Speaker 1: your Life Challenge, you know. But I think Donna as 81 00:03:43,120 --> 00:03:45,960 Speaker 1: a figure and Donna as like a true pop diva 82 00:03:46,640 --> 00:03:49,520 Speaker 1: is getting more and more recognition with every year, because 83 00:03:49,560 --> 00:03:52,440 Speaker 1: I mean, she is so foundational to so much of 84 00:03:52,520 --> 00:03:55,160 Speaker 1: pop music and so much of what makes a great 85 00:03:55,240 --> 00:03:56,000 Speaker 1: hit a great song. 86 00:03:56,400 --> 00:03:59,160 Speaker 2: She was so innovative in terms of just all the 87 00:03:59,200 --> 00:04:01,520 Speaker 2: different things that she did. She didn't think of herself 88 00:04:01,560 --> 00:04:04,200 Speaker 2: as a soul singer or an R and B singer. 89 00:04:04,280 --> 00:04:08,400 Speaker 2: She was really into Broadway tunes. She was trained on operetta, 90 00:04:08,800 --> 00:04:11,560 Speaker 2: she was combining that with the sort of gospel belter tradition. 91 00:04:11,720 --> 00:04:13,960 Speaker 1: Yeah, she had moved to Munich to Star and Hair right, 92 00:04:14,040 --> 00:04:17,200 Speaker 1: that was Yah, the musical she had moved for. Yeah, 93 00:04:17,240 --> 00:04:18,800 Speaker 1: I mean there was so much I mean even just 94 00:04:18,960 --> 00:04:20,960 Speaker 1: in the songs that, of course are kind of more 95 00:04:21,000 --> 00:04:23,599 Speaker 1: classically disco, thinking of like bad Girl and a song 96 00:04:23,680 --> 00:04:25,920 Speaker 1: like MacArthur's Park, Like there's so much of like a 97 00:04:26,000 --> 00:04:27,840 Speaker 1: rock vocalist in there too, Like there was all these 98 00:04:27,920 --> 00:04:30,680 Speaker 1: kind of meeting points of genre in the way that 99 00:04:30,720 --> 00:04:31,679 Speaker 1: she presented herself. 100 00:04:32,120 --> 00:04:34,920 Speaker 2: Yeah, her first tip loved to Love You Baby. 101 00:04:35,240 --> 00:04:38,600 Speaker 1: Yeah, that's a cluss that vocal on that. I mean, 102 00:04:38,680 --> 00:04:41,200 Speaker 1: just her as a singer is just like completely insane. 103 00:04:41,200 --> 00:04:44,000 Speaker 1: I mean, her range is incredible. I mean that performance 104 00:04:44,080 --> 00:04:46,719 Speaker 1: is just like unique, especially for that time of just 105 00:04:46,760 --> 00:04:48,839 Speaker 1: like what a female singer could do on a song 106 00:04:48,920 --> 00:04:51,040 Speaker 1: like that obviously was like very shocking to a lot 107 00:04:51,040 --> 00:04:53,640 Speaker 1: of listeners to kind of have this like super erotic 108 00:04:53,680 --> 00:04:56,159 Speaker 1: performance on a disco song, and I mean just like 109 00:04:56,200 --> 00:04:57,280 Speaker 1: an absolute banger. 110 00:04:57,600 --> 00:05:02,320 Speaker 2: Yeah. Yeah, it wasn't the first like orgasm vocal record, 111 00:05:02,480 --> 00:05:05,279 Speaker 2: but it was. It definitely took it to an extreme. Yeah, 112 00:05:05,320 --> 00:05:08,160 Speaker 2: and just with that euro disco esthetic that was so new, 113 00:05:08,680 --> 00:05:10,159 Speaker 2: it just seemed to stretch out forever. 114 00:05:10,400 --> 00:05:13,760 Speaker 1: Yeah, what was your relationship with like disco in the seventies, 115 00:05:13,800 --> 00:05:16,400 Speaker 1: because I feel like there's such a generational difference for 116 00:05:16,720 --> 00:05:20,320 Speaker 1: how people view disco now versus you know, obviously there's 117 00:05:20,320 --> 00:05:23,240 Speaker 1: like the disco demolition and all of that stuff, but like, 118 00:05:23,680 --> 00:05:25,880 Speaker 1: what was that kind of I guess the coolness range 119 00:05:25,920 --> 00:05:27,480 Speaker 1: of disco when you were growing up. 120 00:05:27,600 --> 00:05:30,320 Speaker 2: For you and for your peers, disco is always massive. 121 00:05:30,360 --> 00:05:34,640 Speaker 2: It was always hit music that had started out as 122 00:05:34,960 --> 00:05:37,240 Speaker 2: you know, a cult sort of dance style. It was 123 00:05:37,279 --> 00:05:40,200 Speaker 2: always in the air. And with something like I Feel Love, 124 00:05:40,600 --> 00:05:44,080 Speaker 2: there's a real advance from the sort of live band disco. 125 00:05:44,400 --> 00:05:46,640 Speaker 2: I mean the seventies were just full of disco hits, 126 00:05:46,839 --> 00:05:50,520 Speaker 2: yeah Casey in the Sunshine Band to disco texts and 127 00:05:50,560 --> 00:05:53,760 Speaker 2: the sex allettes, and yet there was something about I 128 00:05:53,800 --> 00:05:56,840 Speaker 2: Feel Love. It was so stark and so cold. It 129 00:05:56,920 --> 00:06:00,680 Speaker 2: doesn't sound like a band playing because it isn't band playing. 130 00:06:01,000 --> 00:06:03,200 Speaker 2: It's a surprise in a way that there's a human 131 00:06:03,279 --> 00:06:06,080 Speaker 2: drummer on it. It was definitely something that the first 132 00:06:06,120 --> 00:06:08,560 Speaker 2: time you hear it, you know it's something different, and 133 00:06:09,000 --> 00:06:12,359 Speaker 2: hearing it, I couldn't believe my ears at how alien 134 00:06:12,400 --> 00:06:14,400 Speaker 2: it sounded. It didn't sound like any other pop music 135 00:06:14,440 --> 00:06:15,000 Speaker 2: I'd ever heard. 136 00:06:15,200 --> 00:06:17,960 Speaker 1: Yeah, there's something about it. I mean, even in terms 137 00:06:18,040 --> 00:06:20,200 Speaker 1: of how there's so much like house and techno that 138 00:06:20,400 --> 00:06:22,480 Speaker 1: emulates it and is so inspired by it, there's still 139 00:06:22,520 --> 00:06:27,400 Speaker 1: nothing that kind of captures exactly what Donna and Giorgio 140 00:06:27,600 --> 00:06:29,440 Speaker 1: kind of where we're creating on this type of song, 141 00:06:29,480 --> 00:06:31,800 Speaker 1: I mean, so unique in so many ways. There's kind 142 00:06:31,839 --> 00:06:34,960 Speaker 1: of there's still this like absolute warmness to it too, 143 00:06:35,040 --> 00:06:37,000 Speaker 1: Like I find in her vocals, like and even with 144 00:06:37,080 --> 00:06:39,640 Speaker 1: all that coldness of the sense and just kind of 145 00:06:39,640 --> 00:06:41,880 Speaker 1: the way that all that combines and builds up over 146 00:06:41,920 --> 00:06:44,480 Speaker 1: the course of the song, Like there's something really beautiful 147 00:06:44,480 --> 00:06:47,760 Speaker 1: about what that brings to any sort of like communal 148 00:06:47,800 --> 00:06:49,719 Speaker 1: setting where it's being played, Like it really is just 149 00:06:49,760 --> 00:06:52,120 Speaker 1: kind of that perfect communal song to experience. 150 00:06:52,520 --> 00:06:55,159 Speaker 2: It's really communal, I guess is the word. And yet 151 00:06:55,600 --> 00:06:58,120 Speaker 2: it's so she sounds like she's floating in space in 152 00:06:58,160 --> 00:06:58,440 Speaker 2: a way. 153 00:06:58,640 --> 00:07:01,320 Speaker 1: Yeah, I've been fascinated by kind of like the last 154 00:07:01,360 --> 00:07:05,479 Speaker 1: decade of this Donna renaissance and sort of the I 155 00:07:05,520 --> 00:07:08,680 Speaker 1: Feel Love renaissance and disco renaissance has been happening where 156 00:07:08,680 --> 00:07:12,200 Speaker 1: there are so many like people really gravitating to basically 157 00:07:12,200 --> 00:07:15,160 Speaker 1: all of Donna's discography, any sort of big disco hit 158 00:07:15,280 --> 00:07:17,840 Speaker 1: from that era, and any song that kind of comes 159 00:07:17,840 --> 00:07:21,000 Speaker 1: from this like family of what Donna and Georgio were 160 00:07:21,000 --> 00:07:23,360 Speaker 1: creating during this era, because there's so many like disco 161 00:07:23,440 --> 00:07:25,920 Speaker 1: parties and so many disco nights that are happening, And 162 00:07:26,040 --> 00:07:30,320 Speaker 1: is really fascinating how much that's become so repopularized and 163 00:07:30,400 --> 00:07:34,239 Speaker 1: so important to people lately. And I mean, like I 164 00:07:34,280 --> 00:07:37,760 Speaker 1: love it. Every time I see, like there's a you know, 165 00:07:37,840 --> 00:07:40,840 Speaker 1: Donna Summer on a party flyer, I'm like, see there. 166 00:07:43,280 --> 00:07:46,320 Speaker 2: You can hear. It's influenced just everywhere in pop music. Yeah, 167 00:07:46,360 --> 00:07:49,280 Speaker 2: it's wild how many hits that she packed into her 168 00:07:49,360 --> 00:07:52,800 Speaker 2: run in the late seventies. Yeah, especially in seventy eight 169 00:07:52,880 --> 00:07:56,920 Speaker 2: seventy nine, she was really evolving musically really fast. Like 170 00:07:56,960 --> 00:07:58,520 Speaker 2: you said she was going to for more of a 171 00:07:58,600 --> 00:07:59,960 Speaker 2: rock sound with something like that. 172 00:08:00,120 --> 00:08:02,040 Speaker 1: Girls, Yeah, I mean, and I mean she has a 173 00:08:02,480 --> 00:08:04,920 Speaker 1: great duet with Barbara streisand too, I mean like she's 174 00:08:04,960 --> 00:08:06,960 Speaker 1: like kind of was she was doing so much with 175 00:08:06,960 --> 00:08:09,280 Speaker 1: this disco and kind of showing off that vocal range 176 00:08:09,320 --> 00:08:11,440 Speaker 1: and kind of doing these like kind of more standard 177 00:08:11,520 --> 00:08:15,120 Speaker 1: kind of soulful duets and standards and things like that. 178 00:08:15,200 --> 00:08:17,840 Speaker 1: But there was so much that she was kind of 179 00:08:17,880 --> 00:08:21,560 Speaker 1: exploring in her music and a pretty like now seemingly 180 00:08:21,640 --> 00:08:25,080 Speaker 1: short time of kind of that major hit period that 181 00:08:25,120 --> 00:08:25,920 Speaker 1: she had in her career. 182 00:08:26,200 --> 00:08:28,200 Speaker 2: Yeah, what's your favorite Donna summer hit? 183 00:08:28,320 --> 00:08:30,080 Speaker 1: I Feel Love is definitely this. It was on my 184 00:08:30,720 --> 00:08:33,920 Speaker 1: ballot for the five hundred Greatest Songs. But I'm a 185 00:08:33,960 --> 00:08:36,400 Speaker 1: huge d fan of MacArthur Park. Like, I love her 186 00:08:36,480 --> 00:08:37,320 Speaker 1: cover of that song. 187 00:08:37,600 --> 00:08:38,400 Speaker 2: Wow, I love it. 188 00:08:38,440 --> 00:08:40,560 Speaker 1: I mean I think just like the scream, the like 189 00:08:40,600 --> 00:08:44,360 Speaker 1: howl that she does is so I absolutely adore that, 190 00:08:44,400 --> 00:08:46,520 Speaker 1: Like I think that that howl is like one of 191 00:08:46,520 --> 00:08:51,480 Speaker 1: my favorite moments and like in a song ever Wow Yeah, Yeah, 192 00:08:51,600 --> 00:08:53,800 Speaker 1: I just like Also that song is just so lyrically 193 00:08:53,960 --> 00:08:56,000 Speaker 1: silly and I love it. But yeah, I think that 194 00:08:56,000 --> 00:08:59,120 Speaker 1: that one's like a big one, and Bad Girl probably 195 00:08:59,240 --> 00:08:59,880 Speaker 1: would be another. 196 00:09:00,200 --> 00:09:04,000 Speaker 2: Yes, the Elemental to two It's hard to step to 197 00:09:04,040 --> 00:09:06,360 Speaker 2: that one. Dim All the Lights, Yeah, is a huge 198 00:09:06,360 --> 00:09:08,880 Speaker 2: favorite of mine. I like the Donna summer songs where 199 00:09:08,920 --> 00:09:11,200 Speaker 2: she begins with the ballad and then sort of kicks 200 00:09:11,240 --> 00:09:13,120 Speaker 2: it in. I mean you mentioned MacArthur Park. 201 00:09:13,480 --> 00:09:15,280 Speaker 1: Oh I love that one. Yeah, I just I love 202 00:09:15,320 --> 00:09:16,400 Speaker 1: her vocals on that song. 203 00:09:16,559 --> 00:09:17,000 Speaker 2: It's great. 204 00:09:17,160 --> 00:09:17,240 Speaker 3: Ye. 205 00:09:17,360 --> 00:09:19,680 Speaker 2: She's definitely going for that sort of witchy power. 206 00:09:19,800 --> 00:09:22,120 Speaker 1: Yeah, kind of that's, you know, sort of the vibe 207 00:09:22,200 --> 00:09:27,119 Speaker 1: I go for all music is what's the most witchiest 208 00:09:27,120 --> 00:09:29,760 Speaker 1: song that they have? And that one, for sure is 209 00:09:29,800 --> 00:09:31,440 Speaker 1: a tough one. 210 00:09:31,760 --> 00:09:34,800 Speaker 2: I feel love teaming up with Georgio Moroder and people lot. 211 00:09:34,840 --> 00:09:36,640 Speaker 2: What was their influence on dance music? 212 00:09:36,960 --> 00:09:40,080 Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean so much of what we consider to 213 00:09:40,080 --> 00:09:42,640 Speaker 1: be kind of great dance music. Georgia Roder is so 214 00:09:42,760 --> 00:09:45,320 Speaker 1: much a foundation of that, and you know, especially his 215 00:09:45,360 --> 00:09:48,520 Speaker 1: partnerships with Donna, like they kind of reinvented everything about 216 00:09:48,559 --> 00:09:50,319 Speaker 1: the genre. I mean he was just like has like 217 00:09:50,400 --> 00:09:53,960 Speaker 1: kind of that perfect sort of like europop euro dance brain. 218 00:09:54,440 --> 00:09:55,640 Speaker 1: Like so much of that is kind of what we 219 00:09:55,679 --> 00:09:58,280 Speaker 1: would hear for the next several decades of dance music, 220 00:09:58,320 --> 00:10:00,800 Speaker 1: like lean Up, especially kind of to the big boom 221 00:10:00,800 --> 00:10:02,920 Speaker 1: of house music in the nineties, Like all that is 222 00:10:02,960 --> 00:10:06,199 Speaker 1: so so much leaning on what Georgia Roder was creating 223 00:10:06,280 --> 00:10:07,360 Speaker 1: in the seventies. 224 00:10:07,679 --> 00:10:10,560 Speaker 2: Yeah, such a sleek sound. He worked with so many 225 00:10:10,559 --> 00:10:12,600 Speaker 2: different types of artists and made so many different kinds 226 00:10:12,600 --> 00:10:15,200 Speaker 2: of records. One of my favorites is his David Bowie 227 00:10:15,280 --> 00:10:18,280 Speaker 2: record Cat People in the nineteen eighty two version, which 228 00:10:18,360 --> 00:10:22,280 Speaker 2: is not as sleek and synthesized as Georgia Moroder really 229 00:10:22,360 --> 00:10:25,319 Speaker 2: usually comes off as. But it's just a fantastic meeting 230 00:10:25,320 --> 00:10:25,800 Speaker 2: of minds. 231 00:10:25,960 --> 00:10:28,480 Speaker 1: Yeah, I really love he did a version of Tom's 232 00:10:28,520 --> 00:10:31,200 Speaker 1: Diner with Britney Spears like six or seven years ago. 233 00:10:31,440 --> 00:10:32,360 Speaker 1: Great song that. 234 00:10:32,400 --> 00:10:35,920 Speaker 2: Sounds like a perfect storm of like stuff that you love. 235 00:10:36,080 --> 00:10:39,839 Speaker 1: Yeah, it's a real fun one, but yeah, it was 236 00:10:39,880 --> 00:10:40,640 Speaker 1: a great combination. 237 00:10:40,920 --> 00:10:41,120 Speaker 2: Yeah. 238 00:10:41,120 --> 00:10:43,800 Speaker 1: I think just kind of everything that I love about 239 00:10:43,880 --> 00:10:47,160 Speaker 1: dance music. That really slick melody and really really good 240 00:10:47,160 --> 00:10:49,640 Speaker 1: sense of groove that Georgia Roder is so known for. 241 00:10:49,800 --> 00:10:53,160 Speaker 1: Like that is everything that I love about dance music 242 00:10:53,200 --> 00:10:55,120 Speaker 1: and about kind of really great kind of club music, 243 00:10:55,200 --> 00:10:58,000 Speaker 1: and he's kind of he's very foundational to that. Yeah. 244 00:10:58,040 --> 00:11:01,599 Speaker 2: Absolutely, I love his Blondie so much. Call Me is 245 00:11:01,679 --> 00:11:02,400 Speaker 2: such a banger. 246 00:11:02,600 --> 00:11:06,400 Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean, even thinking just like how much he 247 00:11:06,440 --> 00:11:08,800 Speaker 1: did on I feel love and how much I inspired 248 00:11:08,840 --> 00:11:11,559 Speaker 1: so many artists like Blondie and I know for this song, 249 00:11:11,600 --> 00:11:14,199 Speaker 1: like Kylie Minogue, this is a big foundational song for 250 00:11:14,240 --> 00:11:16,840 Speaker 1: her musically. I mean, there's so many artists that you 251 00:11:16,960 --> 00:11:20,240 Speaker 1: kind of can pinpoint this particular song and this particular 252 00:11:20,320 --> 00:11:24,280 Speaker 1: turning point musically for him and for Donna, as a 253 00:11:24,480 --> 00:11:27,080 Speaker 1: turning point for all these artists who came after them. 254 00:11:27,440 --> 00:11:30,319 Speaker 2: And just the idea of the synthesizer as not imitating 255 00:11:30,360 --> 00:11:34,000 Speaker 2: another instrument, but just the synthesizer in itself. It's well 256 00:11:34,040 --> 00:11:36,320 Speaker 2: that this came out around the same time that craft 257 00:11:36,320 --> 00:11:39,959 Speaker 2: work we're making phenomenally innovative records in Germany. 258 00:11:40,200 --> 00:11:43,200 Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean just kind of that. I know, there's 259 00:11:43,360 --> 00:11:46,560 Speaker 1: like that sort of hypnotic nature of the song, is 260 00:11:46,600 --> 00:11:50,480 Speaker 1: just that kind of repetitiveness that doesn't grow tiring with it, 261 00:11:50,559 --> 00:11:52,200 Speaker 1: and kind of the way it builds up and keeps 262 00:11:52,240 --> 00:11:55,319 Speaker 1: going and is again sort of that ideal of what 263 00:11:55,360 --> 00:11:57,880 Speaker 1: you want from a really great kind of dance hit 264 00:11:58,000 --> 00:12:00,520 Speaker 1: moment of creating that euphoria, creating that kind of like 265 00:12:00,559 --> 00:12:03,080 Speaker 1: hypnotic moment of it kind of like really new in 266 00:12:03,240 --> 00:12:05,560 Speaker 1: and I just like love the way that builds up 267 00:12:05,559 --> 00:12:06,800 Speaker 1: and that's why I love like, I love like the 268 00:12:07,080 --> 00:12:09,000 Speaker 1: eight minute version of the song. It's just like really 269 00:12:09,080 --> 00:12:10,800 Speaker 1: like I like it. It's really hard for me to 270 00:12:10,840 --> 00:12:13,240 Speaker 1: listen to the like three or five minute versions because 271 00:12:13,280 --> 00:12:16,640 Speaker 1: I really need the eight minute version is exactly I 272 00:12:16,720 --> 00:12:17,560 Speaker 1: lost it to me. 273 00:12:18,400 --> 00:12:20,320 Speaker 2: That's fun. I guess that's part of the reason it 274 00:12:20,360 --> 00:12:23,360 Speaker 2: works so well always on the radio or on the floor, 275 00:12:23,840 --> 00:12:26,600 Speaker 2: that you can fade it in faded out, because it 276 00:12:26,679 --> 00:12:30,080 Speaker 2: is so repetitive and because it didn't structured like a 277 00:12:30,160 --> 00:12:30,960 Speaker 2: classical song. 278 00:12:31,120 --> 00:12:33,120 Speaker 1: Yeah, it's really it's kind of hard to turn off 279 00:12:33,480 --> 00:12:36,880 Speaker 1: the song only one time, so it's a real like 280 00:12:36,960 --> 00:12:38,560 Speaker 1: kind of play it on loop for a good couple 281 00:12:38,640 --> 00:12:40,680 Speaker 1: hours and never wanted to be cut short when you 282 00:12:40,679 --> 00:12:42,640 Speaker 1: hear it at like the club or something. 283 00:12:42,920 --> 00:12:47,800 Speaker 2: Yeah, it's impact on the Detroit techno sound, yes, especially fruitful. 284 00:12:47,840 --> 00:12:50,760 Speaker 2: I mean I Feel Love went everywhere and traveled everywhere 285 00:12:50,800 --> 00:12:53,960 Speaker 2: and pop music. It's wild how much the sound of 286 00:12:53,960 --> 00:12:57,040 Speaker 2: Detroit techno, which is my favorite style of house it 287 00:12:57,080 --> 00:13:01,120 Speaker 2: was built so much on just that little I Feel 288 00:13:01,160 --> 00:13:03,360 Speaker 2: Love synthesizer rhythm. 289 00:13:03,200 --> 00:13:06,160 Speaker 1: Even just like yeah, like everything that would come for 290 00:13:06,200 --> 00:13:08,559 Speaker 1: the next day, specially like specifically two decades after this 291 00:13:08,720 --> 00:13:11,800 Speaker 1: song like leaning in from like the Detroit techno into 292 00:13:11,840 --> 00:13:15,280 Speaker 1: like Chicago house scene. Like just hearing this song be 293 00:13:15,440 --> 00:13:18,160 Speaker 1: sort of replicated so much over the course of those 294 00:13:18,160 --> 00:13:20,600 Speaker 1: two decades is like pretty insane. How how much it 295 00:13:20,679 --> 00:13:23,559 Speaker 1: kind of shifted, like everything of what yeah, people thought 296 00:13:23,679 --> 00:13:26,320 Speaker 1: you can make from from a synthesizer and what could sound. 297 00:13:26,120 --> 00:13:29,560 Speaker 2: Like Yes, all the English new wave groups like wanted 298 00:13:29,600 --> 00:13:32,040 Speaker 2: to do it Deuran. Duran began their career with the 299 00:13:32,080 --> 00:13:35,319 Speaker 2: single Planet Earth, which basically begins with that I Feel 300 00:13:35,360 --> 00:13:38,040 Speaker 2: Love beat. They worked with him on their last album. 301 00:13:38,200 --> 00:13:40,600 Speaker 2: It's still a fruitful partnership after all these years. 302 00:13:40,720 --> 00:13:42,320 Speaker 1: Yeah, I was. I was also like I was shocked 303 00:13:42,320 --> 00:13:44,280 Speaker 1: to the I wrote a quote from the inventor of 304 00:13:44,320 --> 00:13:46,680 Speaker 1: the Moog synthesizer, whose name I believe is Robert Moog 305 00:13:47,200 --> 00:13:50,240 Speaker 1: mog Mog, Yes, and he was very critical of the song. 306 00:13:50,320 --> 00:13:53,360 Speaker 1: He's very critical of the repetitive nature of that synth 307 00:13:53,520 --> 00:13:56,040 Speaker 1: hook that Moroder uses on it. Like he was really 308 00:13:56,200 --> 00:13:58,840 Speaker 1: he didn't like it, which I'm really shocked that he wouldn't. 309 00:13:58,880 --> 00:14:00,880 Speaker 1: He wouldn't like the way this came out, which is, 310 00:14:01,080 --> 00:14:03,520 Speaker 1: you know, kind of this like really intoxicating song that 311 00:14:03,720 --> 00:14:07,199 Speaker 1: exists and completely reinvented the use of it. 312 00:14:07,840 --> 00:14:10,600 Speaker 2: You listen to something like that next to something like 313 00:14:10,679 --> 00:14:12,680 Speaker 2: James Brown, and it's clear that this is a real 314 00:14:12,840 --> 00:14:16,320 Speaker 2: break with that sort of funk sound. The fact that 315 00:14:16,360 --> 00:14:19,600 Speaker 2: it was with the human drummer is always a little weird, yeah, 316 00:14:19,640 --> 00:14:23,120 Speaker 2: because it sounds so much like a drum machine. It's 317 00:14:23,200 --> 00:14:25,360 Speaker 2: Keith Force, who is the producer who did all those 318 00:14:25,680 --> 00:14:28,640 Speaker 2: billy idol hits oh in the eighties. His most famous 319 00:14:28,640 --> 00:14:31,360 Speaker 2: production is Don't You Forget About Me? Oh simple mans 320 00:14:31,520 --> 00:14:34,240 Speaker 2: that it's wild to even think that he was sort 321 00:14:34,240 --> 00:14:35,760 Speaker 2: of the ghost in the machine for this song. 322 00:14:35,960 --> 00:14:36,160 Speaker 3: Yeah. 323 00:14:36,160 --> 00:14:39,160 Speaker 1: I mean, it's like I think, especially with thinking about 324 00:14:39,200 --> 00:14:41,160 Speaker 1: how like the longevity of the song and sort of 325 00:14:41,200 --> 00:14:45,320 Speaker 1: the way that it's continued into this era of pop music, I. 326 00:14:45,280 --> 00:14:49,000 Speaker 2: Feel love it's still really the standard of that sort 327 00:14:49,000 --> 00:14:52,360 Speaker 2: of obsessive, hypnotic, as you said, sort of sound that 328 00:14:52,480 --> 00:14:54,200 Speaker 2: dance music still aspires to. 329 00:14:54,560 --> 00:14:58,120 Speaker 1: Yeah. So, like I feel like thinking so much with 330 00:14:58,200 --> 00:15:01,720 Speaker 1: that sort of disco come back of like twenty twenty 331 00:15:01,800 --> 00:15:04,920 Speaker 1: twenty twenty one and hearing like Doja cat On Say 332 00:15:05,000 --> 00:15:08,640 Speaker 1: So and like Hallucinate by Dua Lipa and songs from 333 00:15:08,640 --> 00:15:12,400 Speaker 1: that kind of resurgence of disco, like hearing artists emulate 334 00:15:12,520 --> 00:15:14,600 Speaker 1: so much of like Donna Summer and so much of 335 00:15:14,640 --> 00:15:18,320 Speaker 1: those like great disco vocalists, and also that hypnotic nature 336 00:15:18,440 --> 00:15:20,120 Speaker 1: of really great disc of music in a song like 337 00:15:20,160 --> 00:15:22,400 Speaker 1: I feel Love, I Love kind of hear that hearing 338 00:15:22,480 --> 00:15:24,120 Speaker 1: that come back and inspire so much. 339 00:15:24,640 --> 00:15:28,000 Speaker 2: Yeah, and a couple of years later, just two years 340 00:15:28,040 --> 00:15:30,920 Speaker 2: after I Feel Love, She's got Bad Girls, which is 341 00:15:30,920 --> 00:15:33,360 Speaker 2: a totally different kind of sound. I Feel Love such 342 00:15:33,360 --> 00:15:35,680 Speaker 2: an innovative record, Yeah, I mean love to Love You 343 00:15:35,720 --> 00:15:37,880 Speaker 2: Baby is one thing, because there's a great tradition of 344 00:15:38,000 --> 00:15:41,000 Speaker 2: dance records where it's just people moaning and groaning. That's 345 00:15:41,040 --> 00:15:44,600 Speaker 2: to see. That's that goes way back before disco, and 346 00:15:44,680 --> 00:15:48,560 Speaker 2: for Donna Summer to make that her debut hit seemingly 347 00:15:48,600 --> 00:15:51,280 Speaker 2: would have stereotyped her and that sort of direction. But 348 00:15:51,760 --> 00:15:55,880 Speaker 2: I Feel Love it's not a very difficult kind of record. 349 00:15:55,880 --> 00:15:58,840 Speaker 2: Nobody's moaning or groaning, She's sounding really kind of robotic. 350 00:15:59,080 --> 00:16:02,680 Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean, it's just like so completely out of 351 00:16:03,440 --> 00:16:05,760 Speaker 1: I think what anyone sort of anticipated she would follow 352 00:16:05,880 --> 00:16:08,400 Speaker 1: that type of song with or so kind of continue 353 00:16:08,440 --> 00:16:10,600 Speaker 1: with what she would do with her career, and I mean, 354 00:16:10,640 --> 00:16:12,320 Speaker 1: I think allowed so much of what she's able to 355 00:16:12,360 --> 00:16:14,920 Speaker 1: explore on her albums after that, and be able to 356 00:16:15,320 --> 00:16:17,680 Speaker 1: try new things and explore kind of that go back 357 00:16:17,720 --> 00:16:19,760 Speaker 1: to that theater side, try the rockside, kind of do 358 00:16:19,920 --> 00:16:22,680 Speaker 1: the standards and things like that that she would continue 359 00:16:22,720 --> 00:16:25,680 Speaker 1: doing for the rest of her singing career. What do 360 00:16:25,760 --> 00:16:28,040 Speaker 1: you sort of see happening with sort of Donna Summer's 361 00:16:28,080 --> 00:16:30,200 Speaker 1: legacy and I feel love in the coming years, like 362 00:16:30,240 --> 00:16:33,000 Speaker 1: will this song shoot up in the next like version 363 00:16:33,040 --> 00:16:35,200 Speaker 1: of this of this list, will it kind of maybe 364 00:16:35,200 --> 00:16:37,640 Speaker 1: crack the top ten, fifteen or twenty. 365 00:16:37,760 --> 00:16:40,600 Speaker 2: Well, it's wild that it never sounds dated. It never 366 00:16:40,720 --> 00:16:43,440 Speaker 2: has a quaint sort of quality. I guess because it's 367 00:16:43,480 --> 00:16:46,680 Speaker 2: so cold and sleek and hard and metallic. It's very 368 00:16:46,680 --> 00:16:50,560 Speaker 2: strange how it never does sound destier. I've dated in 369 00:16:50,600 --> 00:16:54,400 Speaker 2: a way that so many records from that period have 370 00:16:55,320 --> 00:16:58,520 Speaker 2: very much a time capsule quality. That's part of what's 371 00:16:58,560 --> 00:17:01,560 Speaker 2: great about them. But I feel loved at the time 372 00:17:01,600 --> 00:17:05,720 Speaker 2: and now very much almost disconnected from well, it's not 373 00:17:05,760 --> 00:17:09,480 Speaker 2: disconnected from disco, but it's a record that stands out 374 00:17:09,520 --> 00:17:11,560 Speaker 2: and just sort of stands out, is beyond time. 375 00:17:11,840 --> 00:17:14,679 Speaker 1: Yeah, I feel like with each growing obviously this it 376 00:17:14,760 --> 00:17:17,760 Speaker 1: jumped up a lot from the original list, Like, I 377 00:17:17,760 --> 00:17:19,960 Speaker 1: can very much see this song because it is so 378 00:17:20,119 --> 00:17:23,280 Speaker 1: foundational to so much of dance music and so many 379 00:17:23,320 --> 00:17:26,560 Speaker 1: genres that continue to kind of grow with popularity and 380 00:17:26,600 --> 00:17:29,600 Speaker 1: kind of remain popular over the years. Like, I feel 381 00:17:29,600 --> 00:17:31,400 Speaker 1: like I could see the song kind of jumping up 382 00:17:31,680 --> 00:17:34,280 Speaker 1: on the next vote because it seems still so so 383 00:17:34,400 --> 00:17:37,800 Speaker 1: relevant to everything that people love about really great pop 384 00:17:37,880 --> 00:17:40,680 Speaker 1: music and dance music and just a really great song. 385 00:17:42,960 --> 00:17:46,359 Speaker 1: We are joined now by singer songwriter Bruce Adanna, who 386 00:17:46,400 --> 00:17:48,719 Speaker 1: is also the husband of the late great Donna Summer. 387 00:17:48,880 --> 00:17:50,840 Speaker 1: Thank you so so much for joining us today. 388 00:17:51,119 --> 00:17:53,520 Speaker 3: Hey, Rob, Hey Brutany. Nice to be here. 389 00:17:53,640 --> 00:17:56,280 Speaker 1: We really appreciate you joining us, and I mean especially 390 00:17:56,320 --> 00:17:58,360 Speaker 1: talking about this really great song that's on our five 391 00:17:58,400 --> 00:18:00,760 Speaker 1: hundred grest songs list, but also to talk to someone 392 00:18:00,800 --> 00:18:04,760 Speaker 1: who I've read is the inspiration behind I Feel Love, 393 00:18:04,840 --> 00:18:07,840 Speaker 1: And I'm curious if remember a little bit about hearing 394 00:18:07,840 --> 00:18:10,880 Speaker 1: about those songwriting sessions that Donna had and the kind 395 00:18:10,920 --> 00:18:13,080 Speaker 1: of what led to to the song. 396 00:18:13,640 --> 00:18:16,320 Speaker 3: I don't know about the validity of it being a 397 00:18:16,359 --> 00:18:20,240 Speaker 3: song inspired by me, but It did happen at a 398 00:18:20,320 --> 00:18:23,639 Speaker 3: time when Donna and I had just met. We met 399 00:18:23,720 --> 00:18:27,359 Speaker 3: in March of nineteen seventy seven in Los Angeles. That 400 00:18:27,480 --> 00:18:29,520 Speaker 3: was right around the time that she was recording the 401 00:18:29,600 --> 00:18:32,360 Speaker 3: I Remember Yesterday album. I was in a group called 402 00:18:32,400 --> 00:18:36,000 Speaker 3: Brooklyn Dreams and we had recently got signed to a 403 00:18:36,080 --> 00:18:38,800 Speaker 3: label in New York call Millennium Records, and we were 404 00:18:38,840 --> 00:18:42,840 Speaker 3: recording our first album out in Irvine, California. On that 405 00:18:42,920 --> 00:18:47,200 Speaker 3: first album, Donna came out and sang on our album. 406 00:18:47,680 --> 00:18:51,800 Speaker 3: We conversely sang on the I Remember Yesterday, and this 407 00:18:51,880 --> 00:18:55,120 Speaker 3: was the same album that I Feel Love was on, 408 00:18:55,720 --> 00:18:59,240 Speaker 3: and the I Remember Yesterday album was kind of like, 409 00:18:59,320 --> 00:19:03,840 Speaker 3: you know, Georgia, Pete and Donna liked to do conceptual albums, 410 00:19:04,040 --> 00:19:07,399 Speaker 3: and I Remember Yesterday was kind of recollection of music 411 00:19:07,840 --> 00:19:11,399 Speaker 3: through time, and when they got to the future, it 412 00:19:11,520 --> 00:19:13,480 Speaker 3: was like, what was the future going to be? And 413 00:19:13,800 --> 00:19:17,639 Speaker 3: this was at the beginning of synthesizers nineteen seventy seven, 414 00:19:17,680 --> 00:19:21,119 Speaker 3: and Georgio put together this track, which was at the 415 00:19:21,160 --> 00:19:25,040 Speaker 3: time was like what's that? How cool? But Pete and 416 00:19:25,080 --> 00:19:28,159 Speaker 3: Donna got together and started working on the lyric for 417 00:19:28,359 --> 00:19:30,800 Speaker 3: I Feel Love, which was the song to be of 418 00:19:30,880 --> 00:19:31,400 Speaker 3: the future. 419 00:19:31,760 --> 00:19:31,919 Speaker 2: You know. 420 00:19:31,960 --> 00:19:34,280 Speaker 3: I remember Donna telling me that. You know, they kept 421 00:19:34,280 --> 00:19:37,639 Speaker 3: writing all these lyrics and at some point she just 422 00:19:37,920 --> 00:19:41,840 Speaker 3: was like, no, this song has to be really, really simple. 423 00:19:42,280 --> 00:19:45,640 Speaker 3: It has to float over the track, and it can't 424 00:19:45,640 --> 00:19:49,360 Speaker 3: be a lot of words, and so basically wrote the 425 00:19:49,480 --> 00:19:53,560 Speaker 3: very beautiful but simple lines that became I Feel Love. 426 00:19:53,840 --> 00:19:56,760 Speaker 3: And it was exactly the right call because the way 427 00:19:57,080 --> 00:20:00,440 Speaker 3: the melody and the simplicity of it, but the see 428 00:20:00,440 --> 00:20:02,919 Speaker 3: of the message at the same time, So it was 429 00:20:02,960 --> 00:20:07,040 Speaker 3: both modern and forward thinking, and it had a sensuality 430 00:20:07,119 --> 00:20:11,199 Speaker 3: to it, and it became the godmother of EDM. 431 00:20:11,320 --> 00:20:11,520 Speaker 2: You know. 432 00:20:11,800 --> 00:20:14,879 Speaker 1: So what do you recall of the song blowing up 433 00:20:14,920 --> 00:20:17,639 Speaker 1: and kind of hearing that song begin to spread and 434 00:20:17,800 --> 00:20:20,160 Speaker 1: you know, sort of seeing it become popular at that time. 435 00:20:20,440 --> 00:20:22,879 Speaker 3: You know. At the time, you know, Donna kept having 436 00:20:22,920 --> 00:20:25,960 Speaker 3: these songs that were would start as ballads and then 437 00:20:26,040 --> 00:20:28,720 Speaker 3: kick off into a dance song. I know that she 438 00:20:29,160 --> 00:20:31,880 Speaker 3: and the record company they wanted to have a song 439 00:20:31,920 --> 00:20:34,560 Speaker 3: that was a ballad as a hit. So there was 440 00:20:34,640 --> 00:20:36,800 Speaker 3: this song called Can't We Just Sit Down and Talk 441 00:20:36,840 --> 00:20:40,000 Speaker 3: It Over, which was also only I Remember Yesterday record, 442 00:20:40,080 --> 00:20:43,639 Speaker 3: and that went out as the single and in those days, 443 00:20:43,680 --> 00:20:45,480 Speaker 3: there was an A side and the B side, and 444 00:20:45,560 --> 00:20:47,439 Speaker 3: I Feel Love was on the B side, So the 445 00:20:47,480 --> 00:20:51,119 Speaker 3: stations went out. The ballad was the one that they 446 00:20:51,160 --> 00:20:53,520 Speaker 3: were supposed to play, and a couple of weeks went 447 00:20:53,560 --> 00:20:56,359 Speaker 3: by and the ballad was doing okay, but it was 448 00:20:56,440 --> 00:20:59,080 Speaker 3: kind of like just like lumbering along, and then all 449 00:20:59,080 --> 00:21:01,760 Speaker 3: of a sudden, you know, it got flipped over and 450 00:21:02,280 --> 00:21:04,960 Speaker 3: I Feel Love just took on a life of its own, 451 00:21:05,040 --> 00:21:08,879 Speaker 3: you know, and casta Blancer Records. It was an in 452 00:21:09,000 --> 00:21:12,040 Speaker 3: the moment label, you know, headed by Neil Bogart, but 453 00:21:12,200 --> 00:21:16,040 Speaker 3: with a lean, mean staff you know, who were all 454 00:21:16,160 --> 00:21:20,280 Speaker 3: creative and from the promotion department to the marketing department 455 00:21:20,320 --> 00:21:22,320 Speaker 3: to the art department. I mean, if you look at 456 00:21:22,520 --> 00:21:25,240 Speaker 3: all Donna's album covers, you know that they were really 457 00:21:25,560 --> 00:21:29,320 Speaker 3: you know, special, each individual in their own way. But anyway, 458 00:21:29,400 --> 00:21:32,439 Speaker 3: so quickly they realized that I Feel Love was moving, 459 00:21:32,640 --> 00:21:35,359 Speaker 3: and in a moment, they jumped on it and it 460 00:21:35,560 --> 00:21:37,200 Speaker 3: started flying. 461 00:21:37,560 --> 00:21:40,359 Speaker 1: And what do you recall of what Donna was like 462 00:21:40,400 --> 00:21:42,840 Speaker 1: behind the scenes, especially as someone who worked with her 463 00:21:42,880 --> 00:21:46,159 Speaker 1: on this album and also then was beginning a relationship 464 00:21:46,160 --> 00:21:48,200 Speaker 1: with her, you know what was sort of motivating her 465 00:21:48,200 --> 00:21:48,760 Speaker 1: and driving her. 466 00:21:48,760 --> 00:21:51,679 Speaker 3: At that time, Donna was a super creative person, and 467 00:21:51,680 --> 00:21:54,280 Speaker 3: she had a lot of energy, and she was very 468 00:21:54,320 --> 00:21:57,719 Speaker 3: positive and funny and felt that she was called to 469 00:21:57,800 --> 00:22:02,240 Speaker 3: her career and he took it so seriously and respected 470 00:22:02,240 --> 00:22:06,040 Speaker 3: the gifts that she was given and worked very hard 471 00:22:06,480 --> 00:22:09,119 Speaker 3: along with a team of a lot of people to 472 00:22:09,160 --> 00:22:12,160 Speaker 3: create the career that she had. But she was also 473 00:22:12,320 --> 00:22:16,880 Speaker 3: a very complete person and we got married in nineteen eighty. 474 00:22:16,960 --> 00:22:19,720 Speaker 3: We were married for thirty two years until she passed away. 475 00:22:20,040 --> 00:22:24,199 Speaker 3: We raised three daughters, I have nine grandchildren. It was 476 00:22:24,359 --> 00:22:27,919 Speaker 3: like not only a successful career, but more importantly was 477 00:22:27,960 --> 00:22:31,000 Speaker 3: to have a successful life. So, you know, we navigated 478 00:22:31,080 --> 00:22:34,920 Speaker 3: the balance of being super creative and having a great team, 479 00:22:35,000 --> 00:22:37,840 Speaker 3: you know, like Georgia and Worrolda, Pete Baladi, Howard Foldemeyer 480 00:22:38,200 --> 00:22:41,960 Speaker 3: Casablanc and Neil Bauguart, all these people. There's a certain 481 00:22:42,040 --> 00:22:45,520 Speaker 3: chemistry that happens when magic happens that you know, you 482 00:22:45,600 --> 00:22:49,000 Speaker 3: can conceptually try to put a team together that you 483 00:22:49,080 --> 00:22:51,639 Speaker 3: think is going to happen, but when it happens, it's 484 00:22:52,000 --> 00:22:54,679 Speaker 3: really magic, and things take on a life of their 485 00:22:54,920 --> 00:22:59,080 Speaker 3: own and you just basically are along for the ride 486 00:22:59,080 --> 00:22:59,960 Speaker 3: and try to stay out of it. 487 00:23:00,560 --> 00:23:04,000 Speaker 2: What does the innovation and inspiration come from. 488 00:23:04,080 --> 00:23:06,760 Speaker 3: Well, this is you know, you're dealing with super talented people. 489 00:23:06,960 --> 00:23:09,959 Speaker 3: And like I said earlier, I remember Yesterday was dealing 490 00:23:09,960 --> 00:23:13,520 Speaker 3: in different genres of music over time, and I feel 491 00:23:13,560 --> 00:23:18,880 Speaker 3: Love was essentially, in a way, Giorgio Moroders musical take 492 00:23:18,920 --> 00:23:22,199 Speaker 3: on maybe what the future would be. Donna and Georgio 493 00:23:22,400 --> 00:23:25,840 Speaker 3: and Pete were always wanting to push the envelope. They 494 00:23:25,920 --> 00:23:30,280 Speaker 3: were not people that were in complacent in doing what 495 00:23:30,359 --> 00:23:33,399 Speaker 3: they had just done. It's you know, Donna was always 496 00:23:33,440 --> 00:23:36,600 Speaker 3: excited about what's next and what's the new gadget we 497 00:23:36,680 --> 00:23:39,960 Speaker 3: can incorporate, And this was how their minds work. So 498 00:23:40,200 --> 00:23:45,479 Speaker 3: synthesizers were coming into play for the first time nineteen 499 00:23:45,560 --> 00:23:49,359 Speaker 3: seventy seven. You know, there was craftwork doing things. And 500 00:23:49,400 --> 00:23:53,320 Speaker 3: it's interesting because a very underrated member of this team 501 00:23:53,600 --> 00:23:57,600 Speaker 3: in my estimation, is Jurgen Coppers, who was the engineer 502 00:23:57,880 --> 00:24:01,959 Speaker 3: who engineered Donna's record from Love to Love You Baby, 503 00:24:02,040 --> 00:24:04,919 Speaker 3: to Four Seasons of Love and Once Upon a Time 504 00:24:05,040 --> 00:24:08,440 Speaker 3: and then I remember used to Yesterday Bad Girls, and 505 00:24:08,800 --> 00:24:12,000 Speaker 3: those records sounded as great as they sounded, you know, 506 00:24:12,119 --> 00:24:15,640 Speaker 3: because Jorgan was so great and people don't mention him, 507 00:24:15,720 --> 00:24:18,600 Speaker 3: but as it applies to I Feel Love, he was 508 00:24:18,640 --> 00:24:23,440 Speaker 3: the one that put the slap back delay on that baseline, 509 00:24:23,800 --> 00:24:28,480 Speaker 3: that gave it that bouncing deal. So, you know, inspired 510 00:24:28,520 --> 00:24:31,199 Speaker 3: of what would the future be, finding a melody that 511 00:24:31,240 --> 00:24:34,000 Speaker 3: would float in it and work, and a message that 512 00:24:34,160 --> 00:24:37,880 Speaker 3: has a sensuality and a meaning to it. So it's 513 00:24:37,920 --> 00:24:41,679 Speaker 3: a combination of greatness, you know, the ability of the 514 00:24:41,760 --> 00:24:45,080 Speaker 3: record company to adapt in the moment of you know, 515 00:24:45,160 --> 00:24:48,160 Speaker 3: it's the B side. Let's go, let's with shifting gears. 516 00:24:48,240 --> 00:24:52,240 Speaker 3: Now boom, I'll bring it home. And for many years, 517 00:24:52,359 --> 00:24:56,520 Speaker 3: Last Dance was a Donna's biggest song. Then She Works 518 00:24:56,520 --> 00:24:59,640 Speaker 3: Hard for the Money was a big song, and MacArthur 519 00:24:59,760 --> 00:25:02,520 Speaker 3: Park and I mean there's all these big songs, but 520 00:25:02,760 --> 00:25:07,360 Speaker 3: I Feel Love is the one that, as I sit 521 00:25:07,440 --> 00:25:11,600 Speaker 3: with the catalog, is the one that continues to grow 522 00:25:12,000 --> 00:25:16,520 Speaker 3: in its power and its importance. You know, Beyonce has 523 00:25:16,840 --> 00:25:21,119 Speaker 3: just did an interpolation. I mean, there's ongoing things, you know, 524 00:25:21,160 --> 00:25:24,159 Speaker 3: as many stories of I Feel Love, but it's the 525 00:25:24,200 --> 00:25:28,600 Speaker 3: one that has continued to grow exponentially over time. 526 00:25:28,880 --> 00:25:31,840 Speaker 2: You talk about her as the godmother of DM but 527 00:25:31,880 --> 00:25:34,600 Speaker 2: in so many ways she in this record seem like 528 00:25:34,640 --> 00:25:37,200 Speaker 2: they basically invented modern pop. 529 00:25:37,560 --> 00:25:40,240 Speaker 3: It's an interesting evolution. In the early days, it was 530 00:25:40,280 --> 00:25:43,119 Speaker 3: hard to get airplay. Radio stations did not want to 531 00:25:43,160 --> 00:25:46,960 Speaker 3: play disco music. Dance music was like not cool, you know, 532 00:25:47,000 --> 00:25:49,960 Speaker 3: And I always struggled with the concept because I come 533 00:25:50,000 --> 00:25:52,920 Speaker 3: out of folk music and rock music in the sixties. 534 00:25:52,440 --> 00:25:52,920 Speaker 2: And all that. 535 00:25:53,040 --> 00:25:56,840 Speaker 3: But I was never a snob. There were corny things 536 00:25:56,840 --> 00:25:59,160 Speaker 3: in dance music, for sure, but there was always things 537 00:25:59,200 --> 00:26:03,399 Speaker 3: with great musicality, great horn arrangements, great string of arrangements, 538 00:26:03,520 --> 00:26:07,520 Speaker 3: great rhythm arrangements, all things musically working together in a 539 00:26:07,680 --> 00:26:13,120 Speaker 3: very great and powerful way. So there was great musicality 540 00:26:13,160 --> 00:26:16,639 Speaker 3: in a lot of those records, and that moment peaked 541 00:26:16,840 --> 00:26:19,440 Speaker 3: and then it became I Feel Love, and that became 542 00:26:19,920 --> 00:26:23,680 Speaker 3: what dance music transitioned from bus You know, you had 543 00:26:23,720 --> 00:26:27,800 Speaker 3: MacArthur Park and you had Last Dance and these beautiful arrangements, 544 00:26:27,800 --> 00:26:31,120 Speaker 3: but dance music shifted right at that moment, and you're 545 00:26:31,160 --> 00:26:35,399 Speaker 3: saying pop music, and you know, then dance music became 546 00:26:35,800 --> 00:26:39,199 Speaker 3: what radio was about. So you know, maybe it was 547 00:26:39,359 --> 00:26:42,399 Speaker 3: I Feel Love that cracked the egg in that moment 548 00:26:42,640 --> 00:26:46,600 Speaker 3: and created the transition from what pop radio was into 549 00:26:46,640 --> 00:26:47,640 Speaker 3: what it was becoming. 550 00:26:48,040 --> 00:26:51,399 Speaker 1: There's been a countless number of albums that artists have 551 00:26:51,520 --> 00:26:55,040 Speaker 1: released that are directly referencing not just I Feel Love, 552 00:26:55,200 --> 00:26:58,639 Speaker 1: but directly referencing Donna's discography and Donna as sort of 553 00:26:58,680 --> 00:27:01,439 Speaker 1: this mother of disco, And what has it been like 554 00:27:01,600 --> 00:27:04,800 Speaker 1: for you and your family to kind of hear the 555 00:27:04,840 --> 00:27:09,040 Speaker 1: longevity and influence and impact of her singing style, of 556 00:27:09,040 --> 00:27:12,360 Speaker 1: her music, of her musicality, of her creativity, and of 557 00:27:12,400 --> 00:27:16,359 Speaker 1: this very future forward thinking that she had with her 558 00:27:16,560 --> 00:27:18,760 Speaker 1: with her songs that she released for us. 559 00:27:18,840 --> 00:27:22,600 Speaker 3: It's gratifying and in the sense bittersweet, you know, because 560 00:27:23,000 --> 00:27:27,000 Speaker 3: for all Donna's success, there was always an underlying struggle 561 00:27:27,119 --> 00:27:32,880 Speaker 3: for the recognition that she honestly disserved. She had an 562 00:27:32,920 --> 00:27:36,440 Speaker 3: amazing gift, and not only as a singer, bit as 563 00:27:36,480 --> 00:27:39,760 Speaker 3: a songwriter. You know, her sense of fashion, you know, 564 00:27:39,800 --> 00:27:42,840 Speaker 3: there were so many pictures. I've started collecting him now 565 00:27:42,880 --> 00:27:45,840 Speaker 3: because I've forgotten, you know, all the different looks and 566 00:27:45,920 --> 00:27:47,600 Speaker 3: all of that, you know, so when I see them 567 00:27:47,600 --> 00:27:50,639 Speaker 3: online now I'm like making a file. It's you know, 568 00:27:50,760 --> 00:27:55,000 Speaker 3: but she just influenced the culture in so many ways, 569 00:27:55,080 --> 00:27:57,880 Speaker 3: and you know these things take time, because it takes 570 00:27:57,920 --> 00:28:00,439 Speaker 3: a while for history and time to go by for 571 00:28:00,480 --> 00:28:03,520 Speaker 3: people to look back and go like, oh wow, this 572 00:28:03,680 --> 00:28:04,680 Speaker 3: defined the decade. 573 00:28:04,880 --> 00:28:06,919 Speaker 1: Yeah, thank you so much for joining us to day. 574 00:28:07,080 --> 00:28:08,199 Speaker 1: Really really appreciate it. 575 00:28:08,520 --> 00:28:09,400 Speaker 3: Happy to be here. 576 00:28:09,560 --> 00:28:11,240 Speaker 2: You are amazing. Thank you so much. 577 00:28:11,480 --> 00:28:13,120 Speaker 3: Thanks Rob, Thanks NYT. 578 00:28:13,080 --> 00:28:16,000 Speaker 1: Y'all, thanks so much for listening to Rolling Stone's five 579 00:28:16,080 --> 00:28:18,640 Speaker 1: hundred Greatest Songs. This podcast is brought to you by 580 00:28:18,680 --> 00:28:22,120 Speaker 1: Rolling Stone and iHeartMedia. Written hosted by me Britney Spanos 581 00:28:22,119 --> 00:28:25,399 Speaker 1: and Rob Sheffield. Executive produced by GUS Winner, Jason Vine, 582 00:28:25,480 --> 00:28:28,399 Speaker 1: Alex Dale and Christian Horde, and produced by Jesse Cannon, 583 00:28:28,480 --> 00:28:30,280 Speaker 1: with music supervision by Eric Zeiler.