Published on Jun 22, 1999
Well over ten years past her commercial prime, one could
rightfully ask, “Why should we care about Donna Summer today?”
Well, why not? Hell, if Cher can have career comeback number
twelve, why can’t Summer try to regain a place in the spotlight?
There still is great interest in the music from Summer’s time
(though I am one of those people who firmly believe that disco
music, in general, sucked then, sucks now, and shall forever
suck.)
But Summer’s latest disc,
VH1 Presents Live And More Encore! (featuring music taken
from her recent special for the cable channel) dares to suggest two
things. First, Summer is more of a dance artist than the disco
queen she was made out to be thanks to “Love To Love You Baby”.
(Incidentally, don’t look for that song anywhere on this disc;
since turning back to religion 20 years ago, Summer refuses to ever
perform that song again.) Second, Summer could have been one hell
of an adult-contemporary artist.
Admittedly, I didn’t find myself getting worked up about this
disc at the start, especially when things kicked off with her
rendition of “Macarthur Park” – undoubtedly one of the dumbest
songs ever written. (Sample lyric: “Someone left a cake out in the
rain / And I don’t think that I can take it / ‘Cause it took so
long to bake it / And I’ll never have that recipe again.” Give me a
friggin’ break, Jimmy Webb!)
Only when Summer gets around to her hit “On The Radio” do things
really start to look up for her – and a duet with Tina Arena on “No
More Tears (Enough Is Enough)” helps to really kick things into
overdrive. Arena more than adequately fills Barbra Streisand’s
shoes for this song, no disrespect meant towards Streisand. Lively
renditions of hits like “Bad Girls,” “She Works Hard For The Money”
and “Last Dance” all help to seal the deal.
But where Summer really impressed me on
VH1 Presents Live And More Encore! was on her Rod
Stewart-like rendition of “Dim All The Lights” – performed the way
she originally wrote it first (when she planned on giving it to
Stewart to perform), then kicked up into dance mode (the version
she rode to chart success). Surprisingly, Summer does an excellent
job with the adult-contemporary version, making me wonder why she
didn’t pursue this line of her career once disco was finally
deep-sixed.
As far as the live show goes, Summer knows she is surrounded by
friends, and she sings with that confidence as if only two years
had passed since her major success, not two decades. Summer sounds
like she has the confidence to give the market another run for its
money, and for what it’s worth, it seems like the market is ready
for her.
But wait, not so fast. Thrown on to the end of this disc for
good measure are two newly-recorded songs, “Love Is The Healer” and
“I Will Go With You (Con Te Partiro)” – and neither really add
anything special to the mix. Of course, if you’re a fan of Summer’s
music, you’ll still be riding an emotional high from the live show
when these two cuts kick in. Sorry, Donna, but these two songs just
don’t sound fresh enough to spell major comeback in my book.
But if anything convinces me that Summer has the moxie and the
power to attempt a career rebuild, then the live portion of
VH1 Presents Live And More Encore! has me standing on my
chair applauding for the most part. The disc unearths some pleasant
memories (as well as a skeleton or two) and shows that Summer and
her music are still worth your attention even today.