On June 22, the day after the first day of Summer, Island Def Jam/UMe is set to celebrate the very best of the 1970s chart-topping output of Donna Summer, the undisputed Queen of Disco and The First Lady of Love, with her classic, No. 1 album, On The Radio: Greatest Hits I And II.
This iconic 2-LP collection, first issued in 1979, features 16 of Summer’s sweetest hits of the Seventies; all tracks, as they appeared on the original 2-LP release, are “DJ-mixed” – they segue together – for maximum entertainment. This edition, issued on the heels of the Broadway debut of Summer: The Donna Summer Musical, is presented for the first time on highly collectible pink swirl color vinyl.
On The Radio was a global smash when it was first released, peaking at No. 1 in the U.S., where it was also certified double platinum, and put Donna Summer in the history books: with this album – following the 2-LP sets Live and Moreand Bad Girls – she was the first person ever to have three double-album releases in a row reach the top of the charts.
On The Radio features two then-new songs: the title track, which appears twice, in long and short versions, and, when issued as a single, was a top 5 smash; and “No More Tears (Enough Is Enough),” a duet with Barbra Streisand in an extra-long, 12-inch version that takes up most of side four and which simultaneously appeared (in a slightly shorter version) on Streisand’s album, Wet. As the lead single from On The Radio, “No More Tears” was a worldwide hit – No. 1 or top 10 in a dozen countries and certified gold in the U.S.
Established hits from the album include the perpetually seductive “Love To Love You Baby” (no. 2 pop, no. 1 Dance/Disco, top 10 worldwide); the groundbreaking cultural touchstone “I Feel Love” (top 10 worldwide); her version of Jimmy Webb’sfabled “MacArthur Park,” which hit no. 1 everywhere; “Heaven Knows,” Summer’s duet with Joe “Bean” Esposito from Brooklyn Dreams derived from the original “MacArthur Park” medley, that peaked at no. 4; the one-two punch of “Hot Stuff” and “Bad Girls,” back-to-back no. 1 hits; Donna’s original “Dim All The Lights” that hit no. 2; and the unstoppable “Last Dance” that was No. 1 Dance, no. 2 pop and top 10 worldwide.
All of the songs on the collection were produced by Summer’s frequent collaborators, Giorgio Moroder and Pete Bellotte, except “On The Radio,” produced by Moroder alone, and “No More Tears (Enough Is Enough),” which Moroder co-produced with the Grammy®-nominated producer Gary Klein. And for this reissue, the album, originally in a single sleeve, is now in a gatefold jacket with the poster image printed across the inside.
Donna Summer was born in Boston on New Year’s Eve of 1948. Summer built on the bedrock of her gospel roots by marrying the best elements of Rock, R&B, and Disco into a signature vocal style that remains influential to this day. Sadly, Summer passed away from a long battle with cancer in 2012, but her cultural impact and sonic legacy continues to touch audiences both new and old. She garnered a richly deserved posthumous induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2013, and, most recently, an exciting new Broadway musical based on Donna’s rich and storied life, Summer: The Donna Summer Musical, debuted this April at the legendary Lunt-Fontanne Theatre in New York City.
If you tune in and listen real close, you’ll feel the love and hear how the dance continues with On The Radio: Greatest Hits I And II.
Track List:
Side One
On The Radio (Written and Produced for the Motion Picture “FOXES”)
Love To Love You Baby
Try Me, I Know We Can Make It
I Feel Love
Our Love
Side Two
I Remember Yesterday
I Love You
Heaven Knows
Last Dance
Side Three
MacArthur Park
Hot Stuff
Bad Girls
Dim All the Lights
Sunset People
Side Four
No More Tears (Enough Is Enough) (Duet with Barbra Streisand)
On The Radio (Long Version)
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