Barry Walters On Donna Summer

"When Summer died from cancer yesterday at the age of 63, the straight world lost a superstar, but gays of my generation lost an emblem of our lives that we may never experience again, even at a time when everything is marketed more and more brazenly to us. We’ll probably never have another open secret like Summer again because a mystery like hers will either be answered forthwith or never allowed to occur.

"And maybe that’s good: At a time when even the President supports gay marriage, possibilities exist that we couldn’t have dreamed of when Summer recorded her first faked orgasm on behalf of our suppressed own. Given the choice between equal rights and second-class citizenry sweetened by beat-driven romance, we’ll still take our Constitutional prerogative, thankyouverymuch. But that doesn’t mean that we won’t mourn the shared sense of community Summer both helped made possible and embodied. Even outlaws remember their last dance." - Famed music critic Barry Walters, writing for Pop Dust.

Donna Summer, Me, And The First Days Of Disco.

NOTE: A few years ago I found out that Barry Walters, the esteemed Rolling Stone music critic I'd been following for twenty-five years was a regular JMG reader. THUD. Since then I've gotten to hang out with him at a couple of great dance parties. Definitely one of the cooler perks of this here website thingy.