The discography of American singer Donna Summer includes 17 studio albums and 89 singles, plus several other releases. Her first single, "Wassermann", a German version of the song "Aquarius" from the musical Hair, was released in Europe in 1968 under her maiden name, Donna Gaines. She would become known as Donna Summer from 1974 onwards. Her first full-length album under that name was Lady of the Night.
Summer has sold more than 100 million records worldwide.[1]Billboard list her as the 14th greatest female soloist of all time (51st overall).[2] She has scored three number one albums on the US Billboard 200, sixteen number one hits on the US Dance Club Songs and four chart-topping singles in the Billboard Hot 100,[2] earning her title as the reigning "Queen of Disco".[3]Bad Girls remains the biggest selling album of her career with over 4 million copies sold worldwide.[4] Summer holds the record for most consecutive double albums to hit number one on the Billboard charts (3) and first female to have four number-one singles in a 12 month period; three as a solo artist and one as a duet with Barbra Streisand.[5]
Label associations
Summer's debut album, Lady of the Night, was released only in the Netherlands by Groovy Records. This was followed by her first international release, Love to Love You Baby, issued by Giorgio Moroder's Oasis Records in association with Casablanca Records in the United States and Canada. (At this time Summer would again become based in the United States, having lived in Germany for several years previously.) "Love to Love You Baby" was her first single in the US; it was recorded on Oasis Records, which would join with Casablanca Records to release it in the US. Casablanca would assume responsibility for recording and distributing Summer's albums during the 1970s and in the process became one of the premier labels of that decade.
While Casablanca would become the main label responsible for managing Summer, Groovy continued to distribute her work in the Netherlands and other labels were used to distribute her work in other countries, such as GTO in the United Kingdom, Atlantic in Germany and France, Polar in Sweden and Durium in Italy. From 1977's Once Upon a Time... album, Casablanca would take over the distribution of Summer's albums in most countries (though her releases in the Netherlands would be issued by Philips and (until 1978 and 1979 respectively) would continue to be issued by Atlantic in Germany and France). As a result, some of her former labels released hits compilation albums in an attempt to cash in on losing her: GTO even scored a Top 5 placing in the United Kingdom with The Greatest Hits of Donna Summer. Summer remained with Casablanca, who helped make her one of the biggest stars in music and "The Queen of Disco" until the end of 1979, when she left due to personal and professional disputes with them and filed a lawsuit against them.
Summer subsequently became the first ever artist to be signed to David Geffen's Geffen Records and, after refusing to release her second album recorded for them (in 1981), they requested that she no longer work with long-term collaborator Giorgio Moroder, who had produced and co-written the vast majority of her hits in the previous decade. From the following album (issued in 1982), her Geffen work outside North America would be distributed by Warner Bros. Records, the umbrella company to Geffen.
By 1983, Casablanca had been bought out by PolyGram Records, who informed Summer that she still owed them an album as per her legal settlement with Casablanca. She delivered the album She Works Hard for the Money, which PolyGram chose to release on its Mercury Records imprint as opposed to Casablanca, Summer's former label. Following this, she released another album with Geffen a year later, but they reportedly refused to release much of her material in the remainder of the decade and, after they refused to release her album Another Place and Time in 1988, Summer left the label. However, Warner Bros. released the record in Europe the following year where it became a success, resulting in Summer being signed to their Atlantic label in North America. She remained signed to Atlantic and Warner Bros. until the early 1990s.
In 1990, Geffen Records was sold to MCA Records, which was owned by alcoholic beverage-maker Seagram; although Summer was no longer an artist on Geffen Records. In 1998, PolyGram and its imprints were purchased by Seagram, which merged the company with its MCA Records label and imprints to create the gigantic Universal Music Group. This had the result of Summer's MCA, Oasis, Casablanca, Geffen, and Mercury releases now being owned by one conglomerate, Universal Music. This catalogue of Summer's material stretches from 1971 to 1987 for Universal Music Group.
Summer again signed to PolyGram's Mercury label, who released two hits compilation albums, her 1994 Christmas album and the previously unreleased second Geffen album from 1981. Mercury also re-released some of Summer's Warner Bros. albums in the 1990s. By the end of the decade, she was signed to Sony's Epic Records, who released a live album. Her final album, in 2008, was released by Sony's Burgundy Records.
After 1987, Donna Summer owned the masters to her recordings released by Geffen/Warner Bros, Atlantic Records, Epic Records and Burgundy Records releases.
Albums
All albums were released internationally unless otherwise stated. The record labels given are those used to release the records in the US (unless of course they were not released in that country). As explained in the previous paragraph, other labels were sometimes used to distribute Summer's work in other countries (most notably for the Casablanca/Geffen/Atlantic albums). From Once Upon a Time through to the end of the Casablanca albums, this label was used to distribute Summer's work in most nations.
BLove to Love You Baby and A Love Trilogy released by Oasis in North America in association with Casablanca.
CLove to Love You Baby, A Love Trilogy, Four Seasons of Love and I Remember Yesterday released by various labels outside of North America including Groovy, who continued to distribute Summer's work in the Netherlands, GTO in the United Kingdom and Atlantic in Germany and France. Once Upon a Time... also released by Atlantic in Germany and France.
DOnce Upon a Time... and Bad Girls released by Philips in the Netherlands.
E Recorded in 1981 but unreleased until 1996 and released in North America and Japan only.
F Recorded in 1981 while Summer was signed to Geffen (who refused to release it). Eventually released by Mercury in 1996.
G Released by Warner Bros. outside of North America.
"—" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released in that territory.
I Released by Philips in the Netherlands and Atlantic in France.
Compilations
Main compilations
These compilation albums were issued by the record labels to which Summer was signed at the time of their releases. She had full involvement in the putting together of them and recorded new material for them.
"—" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released in that territory.
J Released by Philips in The Netherlands; also available there with different artwork under the title Wereldsuccessen.
Other official compilations
These compilation albums were also issued by the record labels to which Summer was signed (or had recently left) at the time of their releases. However, some of them were only released in certain countries (particularly if a certain label was used to distribute Summer's work exclusively in that country/those countries) and none contained any new material from Summer (although The Donna Summer Anthology featured two tracks from the then unreleased 1981 I'm A Rainbow album).
"—" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released in that territory.
K Released only in The Netherlands and Germany with different artwork by Groovy and Atlantic respectively. These labels were responsible for distributing Summer's earlier work in those countries and released the compilations independently of any other label.
L Released only in the United Kingdom (with a slightly different track listing to the Dutch/German Greatest Hits releases and similar [but not identical] artwork to the Dutch one) by GTO. This label was responsible for distributing Summer's earlier work in that country and released the compilation independently of any other label.
N Released only outside of North America. It was issued by Warner Bros., who had been responsible for distributing much of Summer's material outside of North America since 1980. This work had been distributed in North America firstly by Geffen and later Atlantic, both of which were Warner Bros. companies. Atlantic (to whom Donna was still signed in North America at the time) did not release the compilation there.
O Released in Europe and different from the 2003 compilation of the same name.
Summer, who also appeared in the film, is credited as the performer of three songs for the soundtrack (plus a reprise of "Last Dance") and also wrote and sang background vocals on the song "Take It to the Zoo", performed by Sunshine, a group composed of her sisters. When released as a single, "Last Dance" would become one of the biggest hits of Summer's career and one of her signature songs.
Soundtrack album by various artists with music written and produced by Giorgio Moroder (although different lyricists were used, Summer herself being credited with the lyrics on this track). The song previously appears on Summer's 1979 compilation album On the Radio: Greatest Hits Volumes 1 & 2 in both its full length and edited versions (with the track being credited as "written and recorded for the motion picture 'Foxes'"). The edited version was released as a 7" single in late 1979 and a 12" single with a longer instrumental part and the omission of the final verse (replacing it with a repeat of the second verse) was also available. It is in fact the 12" version featured on this soundtrack, which also features an instrumental of "On the Radio" credited to Moroder alone. "On the Radio" became a Top 5 hit for Summer.
While no soundtrack album was released for the film Let It Be Me, this song (produced by Narada Michael Walden) can be heard playing over the end credits.
Soundtrack to a Sylvester Stallone film. The song, a duet with longtime collaborator Bruce Roberts was released as a single and also in a dance remix. A French version entitled "Tant Qu'il Y Aura L'Amour" was also issued and a Spanish version features on the Spanish DVD of the film.
The original German cast recording of the musical "Hair." Donna Gaines is credited as a joint lead vocalist on some songs ("Wassermann"/"Luft"/"White Boys"/"Schweben Im Raum"/"Finale") and sings as part of the ensemble on the others listed. "Wassermann" was also released as a single in Germany, making it her first single release.
The English-language version of "The Me Nobody Knows" sung by the German cast. For reasons unknown, Summer is credited as "Gayn Pierre." Her main song as a lead vocalist is "How I Feel," but she can also be heard on other tracks.
The German-language version of "The Me Nobody Knows" sung by the German cast. The German version of "How I Feel" however is sung by a different person, although "Gayn Pierre" is still credited on several tracks.
The original German cast recording of the musical "Godspell." The original LP credits "Gayn Pierre" and the CD credits "Donna Summer." Although she is only credited on two tracks ("Oh, segne Gott mein' Seel" and "Du bist das Licht der Welt"), she can be heard in the background on many of the other tracks.
"Gott, hilf den Menschen"
"Tag für Tag "
"Lernt eure Lektion"
"Oh, segne Gott mein' Seel"
"Dann hat sich's gelohnt"
"Gut und schön"
"Di bist das Licht der Welt"
"Kehr um, oh Mensch"
"Geschieht euch recht, was kommt"
"Warum mußt du gehen?"
"Wir beschwör'n dich"
"Auf den Weiden"
"Finale"
"Lang' leb' Gott"
"Tag für Tag"
"Elizabeth Recitative"
2000
Child of the Promise (A Musical Story Celebrating the Birth of Christ)[34]
Summer features as a backing vocalist on one track. She would continue to work with the Brooklyn Dreams for several years. They sang backing vocals on several of her songs (lead singer Joe "Bean" Esposito also shared lead vocals with her on some, most notably the top five hit "Heaven Knows") and wrote numerous songs with her (including the number one hit "Bad Girls"). Summer would later marry group member Bruce Sudano and continue to write with him for many years.
Features Summer's spoken introduction to her performance at the UNICEF benefit concert. While she performed the song live at the concert, the version used on the album is in fact from the Live and More album the previous year, which was recorded live at the Universal Amphitheater.
"Heaven Knows" originally featured on Summer's Live and More album the previous year, with Brooklyn Dreams member Joe Esposito sharing the lead vocals (performing the "echo" parts on the verses), and became a Top 5 hit single. This version on the Brooklyn Dreams's album is a re-recorded version with Summer and Esposito's vocal parts being swapped around.
The original, full length version of the later Number 1 hit single. A longer version, remixed by Harold Faltermeyer, appears on Summer's compilation album On the Radio: Greatest Hits Volumes 1 & 2. Edits of both album versions appear on 7" singles issued by Columbia Records (edit of Wet version) and Casablanca Records (edit of On the Radio version), Streisand and Summer's respective record labels. The extended On the Radio version was issued as a 12" single by both labels, making Wet the only release to contain the original version.
Summer provides guest vocals on the British group's song that was co-written by Bruce Sudano, after they provided guest singles on her hit single "Unconditional Love" in the same year.
A track originally released as a Jabara solo track on his Keeping Time album in 1978. The duet version with Summer remained unreleased until this compilation album eleven years later.
The first collaboration between Summer and Moroder for 11 years. The song was released as a single in Germany and, some years later, in a remixed form in other countries, winning the Grammy award for Best Dance Recording in 1998.
An album of various artists covering songs made famous by Edith Piaf. Summer's version of "La Vie En Rose" was released as a single in France and a promotional single in the United States.
An album produced by Summer's long-term collaborator Michael Omartian featuring a cover of the popular song with lead vocals by Summer, Nanci Griffith and Raul Malo.
Compilation of dance versions of various songs from Disney films. "Someday" was originally featured in The Hunchback of Notre Dame in 1996 and performed by Heidi Mollenhauer.
Compilation of tracks recorded in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Summer's song is taken from a German television show called 11 Uhr 20, in which she had a cameo as a nightclub diva.
Charity album to raise money for/awareness of multiple sclerosis. This live recording of the Gershwin standard is actually from Summer's 1999 VH-1 special Live & More Encore but was not included on the accompanying album. The other songs performed on the special/video but not released on the album would remain unreleased on CD until 2013 on a compilation entitled Playlist: The Very Best of Donna Summer.
U.K. album featuring a compilation of pre-recorded performances from a TV special of the same name, on which contemporary pop acts (mostly British ones) performed disco classics from the 1970s. Summer hosted the show and performed her hit "Enough Is Enough" as a duet with Irish boyband Westlife. The CD also included "The Donna Summer 'Eternity' Megamix."
Tribute to the late Luther Vandross by various artists covering his songs. Summer's version of "Power Of Love" was also released as a maxi-single.
"Are You Brave?"
2005
Songs from the Neighborhood - The Music of Mister Rogers[36]
Various Artists
Tribute album to the late children's television host Fred Rogers by various artists performing songs used in his popular programme Mister Rogers' Neighborhood. Summer performs "Are You Brave?" and is featured in the ensemble of "Thank You For Being You".
Summer's first single, "Wassermann" was taken from the German cast recording of the musical Hair and released by Polydor Records. The next few singles were one-offs that were not major hits, released on different labels, until she was signed to the Dutch label Groovy Records in 1974 ("The Hostage" being her first single for them). Atlantic Records became responsible for distributing Summer's work in Germany at the same time and both labels would continue to distribute Summer's work in the respective countries for the following few years (including the first few years of her signing to Casablanca Records in North America).
None of the above singles were released outside of just a few countries in Europe. "Sally Go 'Round the Roses" and "The Hostage" were released in the United Kingdom, but were not UK hits. Summer scored hits in the Netherlands with "Let's Work Together Now", "Lady of the Night", and "Love to Love You" (later named "Love to Love You Baby").
1975–1980 (Casablanca Records era)
These singles were all released commercially in at least one format in one country. Promotional formats may have also been released in that country/those countries or in others.
Summer's recordings during this era were distributed by Casablanca Records in North America and, from late 1977 onwards, in most other nations. Various other labels released Summer's work internationally prior to said time (and in a small number of cases, during it). Summer left the label in 1979 but they continued to issue previously released material for a while afterwards.
Singles from the film soundtracks of The Deep and Thank God It's Friday were distributed internationally by Casablanca, as that label was responsible for releasing the soundtracks worldwide.
Year
Titles (A-side, B-side) Both sides from same album except where indicated
"Back in Love Again" [F] b/w "Try Me, I Know, We Can Make It" / "Wasted" (both from A Love Trilogy) [GTO] "A Man Like You" (from Once Upon a Time) [Atlantic]
"Walk Away" b/w "Could It Be Magic" (from A Love Trilogy)
36
—
35
—
—
—
—
—
—
—
"—" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released in that territory.
D Not released commercially in the United Kingdom.
E Released commercially in selected countries (including North America and the Netherlands) with "I Feel Love" as the B-side. The two sides were switched around soon after release and issued with "Can't We Just Sit Down" as the B-side internationally.
J Also released by Streisand's label (Columbia Records) on different formats in different countries (hence its inclusion in the "Guest Appearances" section also). Sales/airplay of all formats on both labels were amalgamated.
These singles were all released commercially in at least one format in one country. Promotional formats may have also been released in that country/those countries or in others.
Summer's material during this era was released by three different Warner Bros. labels: Geffen, Atlantic and the main Warner Bros. label. In North America, Summer was signed to Geffen from 1980 to 1988 and Atlantic from 1989 to 1991. Internationally, Geffen released her material from 1980 to 1981 but all subsequent Geffen/Atlantic releases were released by Warner Bros. Records.
Summer's original North American label (Casablanca), now owned by PolyGram, also released two official Donna Summer singles in the United Kingdom in 1982 and 1983 respectively; these were new remixes and/or edits of two of Summer's biggest hits from during her time with that label. See notes below for details.
During Summer's court battle regarding her leaving Casablanca, it was decided that she still owed them an album. Subsequently, PolyGram's Mercury Records released the 1983 album She Works Hard For The Money, so all singles from that album were also released by Mercury.
Year
Titles (A-side, B-side) Both sides from same album except where indicated
These singles were all released commercially in at least one format in one country. Promotional formats may have also been released in that country/those countries or in others.
Several of the singles from this era are in fact from albums by various artists on which Summer appeared.
PolyGram released the 1994 compilation album Endless Summer, so the two singles from that album (both newly recorded tracks) were released on Mercury, as were the 1999 and 2000 re-releases of "Last Dance" and "I Feel Love" respectively.
The remixes of "I Feel Love" and "State of Independence" were released by the former UK-based Manifesto label, a division of Universal (who had owned the rights to much of Summer's back catalogue for some time).
Summer signed to Sony in 1999 and both her singles from that year were released by their Epic label. Summer's final album (2008's Crayons) and the singles from it were released by Sony's Burgundy Records.
Universal released 2005's "I Got Your Love", originally featured two years earlier in the television series Sex and the City.
The final Donna Summer single, "To Paris with Love" was released on her own Driven by the Music label.
The posthumous remix album released in 2013 (entitled Love to Love You Donna) and its singles were released by Verve Records, by then part of Universal Music Group, who had long since owned the rights to Summer's Casablanca/PolyGram recordings from 1975 to 1983.
V Released commercially in the United Kingdom only.
W Not released commercially in the United Kingdom. Did not enter the Billboard Hot 100, but peaked at number nine on the Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles chart.[50]
From the inception of the BillboardDance Club Play chart (also known as Club Play Singles, and formerly known as Hot Dance Club Play and Hot Dance/Disco) until the week of February 16, 1991, several (or even all) songs on an EP or album could occupy the same position if more than one track from a release was receiving significant play in clubs. Beginning with the February 23, 1991, issue, the dance chart became "song specific," meaning only one song could occupy each position at a time. Therefore;
"Wasted" and "Come With Me" charted at #7 due to their inclusion on the A Love Trilogy album, so the chart position is in fact for the entire album. The reason these two tracks have been singled out is because the other two tracks on the album ("Could It Be Magic" and "Try Me, I Know We Can Make It") reached their own peak positions when they were released as singles.
"Spring Affair" and "Winter Melody" both appear on Summer's Four Seasons of Love album, so their #1 position is actually for the whole album.
"I Love You", "Fairy Tale High", "Once Upon a Time" and "Rumour Has It" all appear on her Once Upon a Time album, so again the #1 position is in fact for the whole album.
"Last Dance" shared its entry with three other tracks from the Thank God It's Friday film soundtrack, none of which were sung by Summer (though she was credited as co-writer and background vocalist on "Take It to the Zoo", a track by her sisters' group Sunshine.
"MacArthur Park" and "Heaven Knows" are both part of a medley titled "MacArthur Park Suite," which was released as a 12" single for use in clubs. A slightly different version appears on the Live And More album.
"Hot Stuff" and "Bad Girls" was released for use in clubs as a continuous medley on a one-sided 12" single, so these two also count as one #1 on this chart.
"—" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released in that territory.
AA Also released by Summer's label on different formats in different countries (hence its inclusion in the main section also). Sales/airplay of all formats on both labels were amalgamated.
Music videos
Year
Title
1975
"Lady of the Night"
1975
"Love to Love You Baby"
1976
"Try Me, I Know We Can Make It"
1976
"Could It Be Magic"
1976
"Spring Affair"
1976
"Autumn Changes"
1976
"Winter Melody"
1977
"I Remember Yesterday"
1978
"Last Dance"
1978
"Fairy Tale High"
1979
"Bridge Over Troubled Waters"
1979
"Bad Girls" (not official - TV appearance)
1979
"Sunset People"
1979
"My Man Medley"
1980
"The Wanderer"
1982
"Love Is in Control (Finger on the Trigger)"
1982
"State of Independence"
1982
"The Woman in Me"
1983
"Romeo"
1983
"She Works Hard for the Money"
1983
"Unconditional Love"
1984
"Supernatural Love"
1984
"There Goes My Baby"
1987
"Dinner with Gershwin"
1987
"Dinner with Gershwin (Remix)"
1987
"All Systems Go"
1987
"Love Shock"
1989
"This Time I Know It's for Real'
1989
"This Time I Know It's for Real (Remix)"
1989
"Love's About to Change My Heart"
1989
"I Don't Wanna Get Hurt"
1990
"When Love Takes Over You"
1991
"Work That Magic"
1994
"Melody of Love (Wanna Be Loved)"
1994
"Endless Summer Medley"
1995
"I Feel Love (Remix)"
1996
"Whenever There Is Love"
1999
"My Prayer for You"
1999
"I Will Go with You (Con te partirò)"
1999
"I Will Go with You (Con te partirò) (Big Red Remix)"
Top 100 (Kent Music Report) peaks to June 12, 1988: Kent, David (1993). Australian Charts Book 1970–1992. Australian Chart Book Pty Ltd, Turramurra, N.S.W. p. 300. ISBN0-646-11917-6. N.B. The Kent Music Report chart was licensed by ARIA from mid-1983 to June 12, 1988.
Top 100 (ARIA) peaks from January 1990 to December 2010: Ryan, Gavin (2011). Australia's Music Charts 1988–2010 (PDF ed.). Mt. Martha, VIC, Australia: Moonlight Publishing. p. 271.
All ARIA-era (June 13, 1988, onward) peaks to July 22, 2020: "Donna Summer ARIA chart history, provided by ARIA on July 22, 2020". ARIA. Retrieved July 22, 2020 – via Imgur.com. N.B. The High Point number in the NAT column indicates the release's peak on the national chart.
