Lady of the Night [IMPORT]

Donna Summer

Product Details

• Audio CD (April 26, 1999)
• Original Release Date: 1974
• Number of Discs: 2
• Format: Import
• Label: Repertoire
• ASIN: B000026VKZ
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #72,497 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

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Track Listings

1. Lady of the Night

2. Born to Die

3. Friends

4. Domino

5. Hostage

6. Wounded

7. Little Miss Fit

8. Let's Work Together Now

9. Sing Along (Sad Song)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

German reissue of 1974 album, produced by Giorgio Moroder & Pete Bellotte. Repertoire.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A REVELATION!, March 31, 2001

By	Jeff H. (Pittsburgh, PA United States) - See all my reviews

This 1974 pre-Love to Love You Baby album is a real eye-opener! Donna's voice would not sound this clear and strong again for several years, which helps you to better understand why she expressed some frustration at being pigeon-holed as a disco artist. Don't get me wrong, NO ONE is a bigger fan of Donna's disco classics than I am, but the formula did tend to limit her to a lot of whispering, cooing and groaning, at least in the beginning. Here, the voice rules, even when the songs can't compare--which is often, unfortunately. Many of the songs are standard '70s pop drivel (sorry, Giorgio), like some of what Olivia Newton-John might have been stuck recording at the time (no offense to ONJ either). "The Hostage" ranks right up there with other story-songs like "Timothy" and "The Night the Lights Went Out in Georgia" (you decide if that's a good or bad thing!), but "Let's Work Together Now" and especially "Lady of the Night" hint at themes we'd be hearing more of later. A must-have for serious fans of the diva (a title bestowed these days on WAY too many less talented gals; hello Britney, Christina and Beyonce), and an interesting listen for music historians too.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Surprisingly good debut album, September 16, 2000

By	Søren Jensen (Copenhagen, Denmark) - See all my reviews

Donna Summer's debut album from 1974, produced by Giorgio Moroder & Pete Bellotte, is significantly different from "Love To Love You Baby" that she was to record the year later, although side 2 of that album is a lot in the vein of these folk/rock songs found here, mostly telling stories about people, like - obviously - a girl who's the lady of the night ("It's just a job and she'll do the best she can"), the cheesy phone conversations and dramatic string arrangements in "The Hostage", the girl who goes to a carnival and meets an attractive man behind a mask but never gets to find out who it was ("Domino"), another girl who wants her boy friend to be more than "Friends", etc. etc. Although it really is nothing special, I find myself liking this simple album surprisingly much indeed, and it's one of Donna's most enjoyable vocal performances. We're not that lucky to get Donna's debut single "Denver Dream" / "Something's In The Wind" + another non-album track "Virgin Mary" included as bonus tracks but it's great that this album has become available on CD.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The beginning of a long hot Summer!!, October 6, 2005

By	Nse Ette (Lagos, Nigeria) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)

My introduction to this album was in the early 80s. I watched Donna sing `Lady of the night' on reruns of The James Last Show (a German TV show), and our vinyl LP of `Love to love you baby' had `The hostage' tacked on as a bonus track. I didn't get to hear the entire album until 2000 when I found it in the UK. I half expected some dud but this turned out to be rather good.

`Lady of the night' was Donna Summer's European debut, written largely by Pete Bellotte, and produced by Giorgio Moroder and Pete Bellotte, the singles found some success in Belgium, Germany, and a few other European countries.

More in a folk/rock/pop vein, and sung in Donna's real voice, it was miles away from her later stuff; the breathy cooing disco of `Love to love you baby', `A love trilogy' et all.

A number of the songs tell stories. The midtempo `Domino' with its jangly guitars tells the tale of meeting a tall mysterious masked stranger at a dance. The dramatic half spoken/half sung `The hostage' with ringing phones and a catchy chorus tells the story of a kidnap gone awry. The big band sound of `Lady of the night' tells the story of a Parisienne lady of the night, years before `Bad girls'. The ballad `Friends' (with do wop sounding backing vocals) is a tale of childhood friends grown up, and one wants to be more than just friends.

Other standouts are the frenetic piano driven `Wounded' featuring a fiery vocal performance and some screeching guitars. Like an Elton John rocker. The (almost corny) ballad `Let's work together' asks `why can't we all get along' and features some dreamy backing vocals in the chorus. The almost ABBA like `Sad song' and the rocker `Born to die' are really brought to life by Donna's vocals. Like a reviewer pointed out, these are simple, almost ordinary songs, transformed by Donna's vocals, astounding in range and power even at this young age.

After this album, Donna Summer would go on to conquer the world selling millions of singles and albums, and winning Grammys in 4 different categories. This is where it all started. Essential to every diehard Summer fan. Make sure you get the copy with the original cover art shown here and not the awful red/orange reissue.