With her previous record shelved by Geffen, and an insistence from the label to move away from previous producers, Giorgio Moroder and Pete Bellotte, Summer returned to the studio to focus on recording tracks for what would become her 1982 self-titled album. Geffen paired her up with producer Quincy Jones, wanting the artist to focus on music that would appeal to black audiences.
Though the album would prove popular, the artist would later go on to state, "Sometimes I feel it's a Quincy Jones album that I sang on." Reflecting on the recording sessions, she found it a difficult album to complete, which wasn't helped by her pregnancy at the time.
Donna Summer, the record, would peak at number twenty on the Billboard 200, and usher in the Billboard Hot 100 sing, Love Is In Control (Finger On The Trigger), which landed at number ten. This was followed by the minor hits, State of Independence, and The Woman in Me, which respectively peaked at forty-one and thirty-three.
Maybe it's just me, but when I played through it, the whole thing just sounded like an offshoot of Michael Jackson's Thriller. The overall sound is so reminiscent, that it makes it quite enjoyable. I can easily hear Michael singing these tracks. It actually makes me want to see what else Jone produced this year to see if there's more hidden gems to find.
Hold please...
Okay, I'm back. That was expensive. I mean, I only found one album around that time that Quincy produced that I grabbed, James Ingram's It's Your Night. However, then I also picked up Restless by Starpoint, Jane Child's self-titled debut, the Wild Style early 80's rap compilation, and Shooting Star's compilation, Touch Me Tonight: The Best Of Shooting Star. I'm never going to get through all of these Retro Spins with how many albums I keep buying.
Fun fact: Quincy Jones produced Frank Sinatra's final album, 1985's L.A. Is My Lady.
Well, this whole post got derailed. Things actually took a dive for this one, which is kind of what helped me stay focused on other things, as noted above. The tunes, Love Is In Control (Finger On The Trigger), Mystery Of Love, and Protection were pretty okay, but that was about it.
Donna followed up with 1983's She Works Hard For The Money, but since I've already played through that one, I'll be skipping over to 1984's Cats Without Claws. I'll pick up on a bit more of her history there as well, touching base a bit more on her '83 album.
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