Giorgio Moroder - 74 Is The New 24

Three-time Academy Award winner and disco legend Giorgio Moroder, 74, today released the first single from his first studio album in 30 years. Via Billboard:

Moroder’s long-awaited forthcoming album will feature collaborations with Britney Spears, Sia, Charli XCX, Kylie Minogue, Mikky Ekko, Foxes, Matthew Koma and others. He has signed a worldwide deal with Sony Music International for the release of the set, which will arrive on RCA Records in the United States. "Sony/RCA constitutes one of the most groundbreaking histories in the world,” Moroder said in a statement. “As my new label, I believe my record will live up to their history, but more importantly, pave the way for the future! Sony from here to eternity." To celebrate the announcement of his new album, 74-year-old Moroder released the first music video from the set, appropriately titled “74 Is the New 24."

Moroder: "Dance music doesn’t care where you live. It doesn’t care who your friends are. It doesn’t care how much money you make. It doesn't care if you are 74 or if you are 24 because... 74 is the new 24!" The single is available today on iTunes and is streaming on Spotify. To me, it seems to be just a shorter version of Giorgio's Theme, which was streamed earlier this year and will also be on the new album.

UPDATE: The above-linked Billboard story has been top-linked by closeted homosexual Matt Drudge.

COMING: Donna Summer 9-CD Box Set

Coming in December is Donna: The CD Collection, a nine-disc remastered retrospective of Donna Summer's lesser-known catalog from the years after the late 70s peak of her disco fame. Included are The Wanderer, the eponymous Donna Summer, Cats Without Claws, I'm A Rainbow, All Systems Go, Mistaken Identity, and Another Place And Time - the Stock/Aitken/Waterman-produced smash which has been expanded to three discs that include a whopping 25 remixes of the hits that returned Summer to the top of the charts in 1989. In addition to the CD box set ($120), there will be a vinyl box set that includes digital downloads ($300). All of the albums will also be sold individually. (Tipped by JMG reader Ian.)

At Bear Week Tea Dance

Yesterday was the "Solid Gold" tea dance at the Boatslip, prompting some to don wigs, bellbottoms, and platform shoes. I caught the below two minutes of homo fabulosity during the final song. There was so much joy in the room, I actually got choked up just filming it.

LOS ANGELES: Grammy Museum To Open Exhibit Honoring Donna Summer

Via the Randy Report:

Fans of classic 70s and 80s pop/rock/dance music - mark your calendars! On July 2, 2014, The GRAMMY Museum will unveil its latest temporary exhibition, Donna Summer: Four Seasons of Love. Located on the Museum’s fourth floor, the exhibition will offer visitors a behind-the-scenes look at the iconic career of 5-time Grammy Award-winner Donna Summer. This will be the first exhibition highlighting the career of the legendary “Queen of Disco.” “Donna Summer galvanized a diverse group of music fans and she was able to give credibility to a genre of music that had many skeptics,” said GRAMMY Museum executive director Bob Santelli. “We are honored to tell her story and help demonstrate why Donna Summer is not only the undisputed ‘Queen of Disco,’” but also one of the most successful female artists of all time.”

The show runs through the spring of 2015. More details.

RELATED: In other Donna Summer news, there's a Facebook group advocating that a memorial to Summer be built in her birthplace of Boston. On July 18th the city of Boston will present "The Donna Summer Memorial Roller Disco Party" on City Hall Plaza. Bring your own skates or rent them at City Hall.

Donna Summer - Love To Love You Baby

This Giorgio Moroder/Chris Cox remix came out in October, but now there's a video. A strange video.

Swag Tuesday II

Courtesy of Fly Life, today's second Swag Tuesday prize is Love To Love You Donna, the new Donna Summer remix tribute album from Verve Records, which is available today at iTunes and at physical retailers nationwide.

LOVE TO LOVE YOU DONNA, is a brand new remix record celebrating the life and voice of five-time Grammy Award winning singer and songwriter Donna Summer. A dozen highly sought after DJs and remixers have contributed a diverse and creative spin to some of the most beloved tracks in dance and pop music history. The first single is "Love Is In Control (Finger On The Trigger)," remixed by Chromeo & Oliver. It will be followed by legendary producer Giorgio Moroder's entirely re-imagined version of "Love to Love You Baby," the classic song he recorded with Donna, released in November of 1975. Love to Love You Donna was produced by Dahlia-Ambach Caplin, the architect of the five-volume Verve Remixed series, and Randall Poster, the legendary producer and music supervisor.

Other famed remixers that contributed to Love To Love You Donna include Frankie Knuckles (listen here), Holy Ghost!, Hot Chip, and Jacques Green. For today's giveaway we have three copies on CD and two on limited-edition vinyl. Enter to win by commenting on this post and please remember to leave an email address in the text of your comment. Entries close at midnight on Thursday, west coast time.

VIDEO: Remixer Afrojack spins his take on I Feel Love. Not one of those kids waving their hands so happily is as old as the original track. It's a good thing.

2014 Rock Hall Of Fame Nominees: Chic, Kiss, Nirvana, Ronstadt, Hall & Oates

The list of 2014 nominees for the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame was announced today. On the list for the eighth time are disco legends Chic, who remain fronted by mega-producer Nile Rodgers (Madonna, David Bowie, Duran Duran.) I took the photo above at Chic's free show at Lincoln Center last summer.

"Teen Spirit" and "Good Times" may be coming to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame -- sealed with a KISS. Grunge groundbreakers Nirvana, disco dynamos Chic and the costume-clad, Gene Simmons-led pop metal band KISS are among 16 nominees up for election in the museum's Class of 2014. The deep selection also includes '70s and '80s hitmakers Hall and Oates; college radio heroes the Replacements; New Orleans funkmeisters the Meters; sweet-voiced Linda Ronstadt; and pioneering gangsta rappers N.W.A. Completing the list: the Paul Butterfield Blues Band, Deep Purple, Peter Gabriel, LL Cool J, Cat Stevens, Link Wray, Yes and the Zombies. The list spans more than six decades of rock and pop history and includes both major pop successes -- Chic, Hall and Oates, Gabriel, Ronstadt and Yes all hit No. 1 on Billboard's Hot 100 singles chart -- and influential players.

Artists become eligible 25 years after their first US release.

NOTE: There may some controversy about the nomination of Cat Stevens, who in 1977 converted to Islam, changed his name to Yusaf Islam, and who (some claim) supported the fatwa calling for the execution of Satanic Verses author Salman Rushdie. He has, however, won several major awards for promoting peace.

RELATED: Donna Summer was inducted earlier this year after five consecutive nominations. I took the photos below at the Rock Hall Of Fame when I was in Cleveland a couple of weeks ago. That's the waitress costume Summer wore for the She Works Hard For The Money video. To the right is a copy of one of her early fan club newsletters, which was titled Rumor Has It, after her hit single from 1977's Once Upon A Time.

JMG World Exclusive: Donna Summer's Hot Stuff (Frankie Knuckles & Eric Kupper As Director's Cut Signature Mix)

Verve Records has selected JMG to host the exclusive world premiere of the latest release from their Donna Summer tribute remix package, which you can now pre-order at iTunes in advance of the official October 22nd release.

Here's the full track listing.

Love to Love You Donna:
01 Love to Love You Baby (Giorgio Moroder ft. Chris Cox Remix)
02 Dim All The Lights (Duke Dumont Remix)
03 Hot Stuff (Frankie Knuckles and Eric Kupper as Director's Cut Signature Mix)
04 I Feel Love (Afrojack Remix)
05 Love Is in Control (Chromeo & Oliver Remix)
06 Sunset People (Hot Chip Dub)
07 Working The Midnight Shift (Holy Ghost! Remix)
08 Bad Girls (Gigamesh Remix)
09 MacArthur Park (Laidback Luke Remix)
10 I Feel Love (Benga Remix)
11 On the Radio (Jacques Greene Remix)
12 Last Dance (Masters at Work Remix Short Version)
13 La Dolce Vita (Donna Summer & Giorgio Moroder)

"Exclusive world premiere." Fancy!

Hot Chip & Frankie Knuckles On Board For Coming Donna Summer Remix Album

We've already heard advance tracks by Giorgio Mororder and Chromeo from the coming Donna Summer remix album and today Billboard tips us to some of the rest of the slate.

"Love to Love You Donna" will be released on Oct. 22 through Verve Records, and is produced by Dahlia-Ambach Caplin and Randall Poster. The project features new re-workings of classic Summer tunes from the likes of Giorgio Moroder, Frankie Knuckles, Eric Kupper, Chromeo & Oliver and Hot Chip, among others. Knuckles and Kupper reworked "Hot Stuff" for the collection, while Hot Chip took on the classic album cut "Sunset People," from the "Bad Girls" album. The new set's first single is Chromeo & Oliver's remix of "Love Is In Control (Finger On the Trigger)."

While I'm a huge Frankie Knuckles fan, I'm most keen to hear what Hot Chip has done with 1979's Sunset People. The full track listing for the album will be released "soon" according to Billboard.

Another New Donna Summer Remix

Over the weekend the legendary Giorgio Moroder debuted his remix of his own 1975 production, Love To Love You Baby, at the Way Out West festival in Sweden. I presume this will be included on the upcoming Donna Summer remix package from Verve Records. The audio isn't great (lots of crowd noise too) but Moroder has posted the same recording to his Soundcloud page, so we'll have to wait for a better listen.

New Donna Summer Remix

Verve Records has commissioned the Montreal electrofunk duo Chromeo for a remix of Donna Summer's 1982 top ten hit, Love Is In Control.  I wasn't much of a fan of that Quincy Jones-produced album and I tend to be much less of a fan of remixed disco classics, but this isn't terrible.

He Didn't Know

BROOKLYN: Dance Music Legend Giorgio Moroder Plays First-Ever DJ Set

Three-time Oscar winner and three-time Grammy winner Giorgio Moroder, 73, the man whom many would credit as inventing* electronic dance music, played his first-ever DJ set last night at Brooklyn's Deep Space club.  Moroder has been back in the news recently for his contributions to Daft Punk's new album, Random Access Memories.  Just a few minutes into the mix, Moroder drops his 1977 classic, Lost Angeles, followed by the title track from the same album, From Here To Eternity.  Later you'll hear some of Moroder's Donna Summer classics and his 1979 smash with Sparks, Beat The Clock. Bliss. And it's killing me that I didn't know about last night. Moroder gets on the microphone at the end of the set and tells a bit of his life story.


*Along with Kraftwerk, in my opinion.

VH1 Divas: Tribute To Donna Summer

Donna Summer To Be Inducted Into The Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame

Word accidentally leaked out today that Donna Summer will be announced tomorrow as one of the 2013 inductees into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. Summer died of lung cancer earlier this year at the age of 63. Via Contact Music:

Due to an administrative error, the I Feel Love singer's induction notice has been released hours before Hall of Fame officials announce the Class of 2013 on Tuesday. A statement from the late star's family reads: "We are overjoyed the Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame has recognized Donna's tremendous musical achievements. Its an honor we know she quietly hoped for and would very much cherish. We are deeply grateful. The family cannot fully express the gratitude they feel for the outpouring of love received over the past few months in support of Donna's induction into the Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame. From fellow recording artists and industry executives to friends and fans from around the world, it will not be forgotten."

Summer was previously passed over after four nominations despite numerous Grammy wins, including one for Best Rock Vocal Performance. Artists become eligible 25 years after the domestic release of their first commercial full-length record.  The other artists whose names may be called tomorrow are Joan Jett, The Meters, Public Enemy, N.W.A., Albert King, The Paul Butterfield Blues Band, Kraftwerk, Randy Newman, Procol Harum, Rush, the Marvellettes, Deep Purple, and Chic.  Like Summer was, Chic is especially overdue, having been nominated seven times. (Via The Randy Report)

Donna Summer Nominated To Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame For Fifth Time

For the fifth time, Donna Summer is among the fourteen acts nominated for the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. Summer, who died of lung cancer* in May, was also nominated four of the last five years, but has been overlooked despite numerous Grammy wins, including one for Best Rock Vocal Performance. Artists become eligible 25 years after the domestic release of their first commercial full-length record.

Here's the full list, from which five will be chosen: Donna Summer, Joan Jett, The Meters, Public Enemy, N.W.A., Albert King, The Paul Butterfield Blues Band, Kraftwerk, Randy Newman, Procol Harum, Rush, the Marvellettes, Deep Purple and Chic.

For the first time ever, fans get to weigh in on this year's inductees, although the "fans ballot" will apparently count as only one of the 600 ballots distributed to artists, music critics, and industry insiders. You can vote for your top five selections at Rolling Stone.  (Via Randy Report)

RELATED: This is Chic's seventh nomination. They and Donna Summer are considered by some to be this year's favorites.

* Summer claimed that her lung cancer was contracted due to exposure to toxic chemicals blown into her downtown Manhattan home after the attack on the World Trade Center.

 

Donna Summer's I Feel Love Added To USA's National Recording Registry

The Library of Congress has added Donna Summer's seminal 1977 single I Feel Love to its National Recording Registry. (The move was announced back in May, but I didn't learn about it until seeing a CNN report last night.)

Selected for preservation because they are “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant” the library said in a news release, the 25 sound recordings chosen this year include a CBS radio broadcast of a Nov. 14, 1943, concert given by the Philharmonic-Symphony Orchestra of New York and conducted by Bernstein, who filled in when both Artur Rodzinski and Bruno Walter were unavailable. Also chosen for induction were Bo Diddley’s single “Bo Diddley” (and its B-side, “I’m a Man”); the Booker T. & the M.G.’s single “Green Onions”; the 1967 album “Forever Changes” by the psychedelic rock band Love; the soundtrack album of “A Charlie Brown Christmas,” performed by the Vince Guaraldi Trio; and “Purple Rain,” the 1984 soundtrack album performed by Prince and the Revolution.

In its obituary for Summer, Rolling Stone recalled David Bowie's famous quote about I Feel Love.

"One day in Berlin, Eno came running in and said, 'I have heard the sound of the future.' And I said, 'Come on, we're supposed to be doing it right now.' He said, 'No, listen to this,' and he puts on 'I Feel Love,' by Donna Summer. Eno had gone bonkers over it, absolutely bonkers. He said, 'This is it, look no further. This single is going to change the sound of club music for the next fifteen years.' Which was more or less right."

Make that 35 years (and running.)

Donna Summer's 1989 Letter To ACT UP

JMG reader and famed AIDS activist Peter Staley sends us a previously unreleased letter that Donna Summer wrote to ACT UP at the height of the controversy about her alleged anti-gay statement. Hit the link and read Staley's account of that time.

Impromptu Donna Summer Tribute

West Side Rag reports: "At a street fair on Amsterdam Avenue today, two men broke out in an amazing dance in front of the former Blue Donkey Bar on 83rd Street to the song “MacArthur Park” by Donna Summer, who passed away last week."

Father Tony weighs in: "Not so many years ago, two men would be arrested for doing this, even privately. Today, and here on the Upper West Side, the men watching cheered and women did not shield the eyes of their children. You'll love the move at the 1 minute mark!"

#1 This Week In 1976

Thirty-six years ago today, Donna Summer's Try Me, I Know We Can Make It was in its third and final week atop Record World's disco chart. (Billboard did not launch its own national Disco Action chart until later in 1976.) Clocking in at an epic eighteen minutes, this three-song medley from the aptly named Love Trilogy album was used as a defacto 12" cut by club DJs, although an edited 4:00 version was released to radio, where it petered out at #80 on Billboard's singles chart. Donna was still fresh off the smash global success of Love To Love You, Baby and the pop chart failure of Try Me had anti-disco critics gloatingly calling her a flash in the pan.

MORE TRIVIA: In 1977 this and the first single from Love Trilogy, Donna's cover of Barry Manilow's Could It Be Magic, were both included on the soundtrack for the creepy disco murder movie, Looking For Mr. Goodbar.
EVEN MORE TRIVIA: The female background singers on Try Me were former members of 1976 Eurovision winners Brotherhood Of Man.