Monday, May 21, 2012: Donna Summer - Dim All The Lights

RIP: Donna Summer (LaDonna Adrian Gaines) December 31, 1948 – May 17, 2012.

Welcome to Tribute Week here on Cool Song Of The Day.

Some say that the world is going to end in 2012. I don't necessarily believe that - but it does seem that the world is getting darker, especially as more and more bright lights are going out.

It's only May and, man, it feels like we've lost so many already.

Early on in this blog, I tried to put up a tribute post to honor the passing of a musician, something to let others know what that person has contributed, and sometimes interject a little personal insight and my own experiences with that artist. I've been lax in that recently.

So, we're going to fix that this week, with an entire week paying respect and offering appreciation for those who have given us so much*.

Starting off this week is our most recent lost, the Queen of Disco, Donna Summer.

What people tend to forget is how much people hated Disco.  They burned piles of Disco records in stadiums.  There were anti-Disco T-shirts and bumper stickers and banners and graffiti everywhere.  The hatred was palpable, especially at the very end of the 70's.  And, maybe, with some just cause.  In 1977, Disco was everywhere.  By 1979, people were well and truly fed up.  But, still, you sensed that there was something a bit more sinister lying right underneath that Disco disdain.

The cold, hard reality, however, is that the movement to wipe out Disco has been a colossal failure.  Disco lives, and I would argue is even stronger now.  Disco not only gave birth to many of our current musical trends, it also gave voice and exposure to different groups, different lifestyles, and different forms of expression that might have all stayed hidden in those dark clubs, if it had not been for those who brought it out into the spotlight.  Those, like Donna Summer.

Donna Summer, as much as any other artist, was the voice of Disco.  And, as much as I mean her singing voice, I also mean that she gave voice to what Disco was really about: Love.  The search for love, the celebration of love, the consuming passion of love, the work you have to put into love, the loss when love leaves.  She defined the themes that would become imbedded into the Disco mystique.  Universal themes, to be sure, but sang in that unique, effortless style that, if I may be so bold, did in fact define a generation.

So, here's to you, Donna Summer.  Thanks for all those late night soundtracks, those sing-alongs, those moments when it's just you and us, and you helped us all dance like no one else was watching.

*please note: this week was composed before I had heard the news about Robin Gibb (22 December 1949 – 20 May 2012), founding member of the Bee Gees. I'm telling you, this just keeps getting worse and worse.