Overview
Donna Summer is the tenth studio album by American songwriter Donna Summer, released on July 19, 1982, by Geffen Records. It featured the Top 10, Grammy-nominated "Love Is in Control (Finger on the Trigger)" single. The album itself saw a drop in chart position from her previous album, peaking at No.20, but ultimately outsold it by remaining on the Billboard 200 for 37 weeks - nearly 20 weeks more. Its longevity was aided by follow-up singles "State of Independence" and "The Woman in Me", which charted at 41 and 33 respectively.
The album marked a departure for Summer as it was produced by hit-making producer Quincy Jones, something that the record company had insisted on to ensure success, albeit falling below expectations. The recording proved a less than happy experience for Summer in part because she was pregnant with her daughter Amanda Grace at the time.
On its 40th anniversary in 2022, Donna Summer's estate announced a re-issue of the album with one unreleased track, which was originally a B-side on the lead single.
Background
Having left Casablanca Records, with whom she had had some of the biggest selling and most popular hits of the disco era in the 1970s, Summer had signed to Geffen Records in 1980 and had continued working with Giorgio Moroder and Pete Bellotte, with whom she had written the vast majority of her hits. However, label owner David Geffen had been disappointed with the chart performance of Summer's previous studio album The Wanderer (1980), Summer's debut studio album for Geffen and rather than release the follow-up I'm a Rainbow, which Summer had recorded with Moroder and Bellotte in 1981, Geffen had Summer record a new studio album with Quincy Jones from whom a production credit – given Jones' track record, particularly his work with Michael Jackson – Geffen felt would guarantee a commercial smash. The resultant Donna Summer album was the first time that Summer had worked with a producer other than Moroder and Bellotte since 1974 save for the one-off track "Down Deep Inside" which was produced by John Barry for the film The Deep (1977), and the "No More Tears (Enough Is Enough)" duet with Barbra Streisand which was co-produced by Gary Klein.
From Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0).