Muzikland

提起 Disco﹐筆者總會想起她﹐因為她的 Disco Hit實在太多了﹐甚至要用 Disco Queen 來形容﹐她就是黑人女歌手 Donna Summer。

Donna Summer (1948- ) ﹐原名 LaDonna Adrian Gaines﹐生於Massachusetts州的Dorchester﹐就在 Boston附近。跟許多成名歌星一樣﹐小時候受教會音樂影響﹐在詩班中唱詩﹐後來加入了一隊名為 Crow的樂團﹐隊中只有她是有色人種。18歲時尚未完成高中之際﹐便投考百老匯音樂劇 Hair演出﹐其後更因此移居德國演出 Godspelln﹑Show Boat﹑The Me Nobody Knows及 Porgy & Bess 等劇。早於1968年她參與了德文版 Hair的原聲帶灌錄﹐直到1971年她開始灌錄個人單曲 Sally Go 'Round The Roses﹐不過當時所用的名字乃是Donna Gaines﹐但並不成功﹐翌年跟奧地利演員Helmuth Sommer結婚﹐其後她用 Donna Summer便是因為跟隨夫姓。

未幾﹐Donna 認識到唱片監制Giorgio Moroder及 Pete Bellotte ﹐並在 Holland發行首張專輯Lady of the Night (1974/Groovy) ﹐名字開始在歐洲的流行榜響起。1975年她靈感一觸﹐想起了Love To Love You, Baby這歌名﹐於是便把這意念跟Giorgio及Pete商量﹐寫成歌曲﹐其後還加入了呻吟聲錄成 Demo﹐預備讓Penny McLean灌錄﹐可是Giorgio 堅持由她唱﹐不作他人選﹐誰知單曲在歐洲極受歡迎﹐而美國Casablanca 唱片的總裁Neil Bogart 聽了之後﹐非常喜歡﹐於是要求他們製作一個長達21分鐘的版本﹐結果最後錄成了一個17分鐘版本﹐並且與 Donna 簽約﹐為她在美國發行唱片。Love To Love You, Baby 登上 Billboard 流行榜第2位﹐而且火速賣了50萬張﹐不過呻吟聲實在太過誘惑﹐於是遭受多個電台禁播﹐但是 Donna Summer 已一舉成名。

Love To Love You Baby﹕原收錄於Love To Love You Baby (1975/Casablanca) 專輯中﹐單是這個17分鐘全長版本﹐已佔據黑膠唱片Side A的容量。
(Donna Summer / Giorgio Moroder / Pete Bellotte)


I love to love you baby...

When you're laying so close to me
There's no place I'd rather you be than with me here
I love to love you baby...

Do it to me again and again
You put me in such an awful spin in a spin
I love to love you baby...

Lay your head down real close to me
Soothe my mind and set me free set me free
I love to love you baby...

When you're laying so close to me
There's no place I'd rather you be than with me here
I love to love you baby...

Do it to me again and again
You put me in such an awful spin in a spin

I love to love you baby...
I love to love you baby...
I love to love you baby...
Love to love you baby baby...
I love to love you baby...

**********

Love To Love You Baby專輯出版數月後﹐Casablanca唱片即為 Donna Summer出版第3張個人專輯A Love Trilogy (1976/Casablanca)。Donna Summer﹑Pete Bellotte 及 Giorgio Moroder 再度打做長達18分鐘的Try Me, I Know We Can Make It﹐可惜在美國Billboard 只得到80位﹐翻唱 Barry Manilow的 Could It Be Magic 則成績較好﹐得到美國 Billboard 第52位﹐而英國則得到40位。

Could It Be Magic﹕原收錄於“A Love Trilogy”(1976/Casablanca) 專輯中﹐此曲原唱為Featherbed﹐Barry Manilow 也在其中﹐時為1971年﹐其後 Barry灌錄個人版本﹐收錄於“Barry Manilow I”(1973/Arista) 專輯中﹐其後再發行成單曲 (1975/Artista) 得到 Billboard冠軍。90年代 Take That也曾灌錄 (1992/RCA)﹐得到英國流行榜第3位。
(Adrienne Anderson / Barry Manilow)


Spoken:
Oh baby it’s been so long
I’ve waited so long
And now that I have you
I want you to come
Come come come

Spirits move me
Every time I’m near you
Whirling like a cyclone in my mind
Oh sweet Peter, angel of my lifetime
Answer to all answers I can find

Baby, I love you, come, come
Come into my arms
Let me know the wonder of all of you
Baby, I want you now, now
Now, and hold on fast
Could this be the magic at last

Baby, take me high upon a hillside
High up where the stallion meets the sun
I could love you, build my world around you
Never leave you till my life is done

Baby, I love you, come, come,
Come into my arms
Let me know the wonder of all of you
And baby, I want you now, now
Now and hold on fast
Could this be the magic at last?
Baby, I want you, come, come
Could this be the magic at last?

Could it be magic again?
Oh no, come into my arms
Could this be the magic at last?
I want you now, now, oh now,
Oh now and hold on fast
Oh, could this be the magic at last?
Could it be the magic?

**********

A Love Trilogy專輯成績不如人意﹐唱片公司即於同年為 Donna Summer發行第4張專輯“Four Seasons Of Love”(1976/Casablanca)。這乃是一張概念專輯﹐雖然在美國得到金唱片銷量﹐但是卻只有Winter Melody (1976/GTO) 得到英國流行榜第27位。1977年發行 I Remember Yesterday專輯﹐同樣是一張概念專輯﹐不過 Donna把不同年代風格音樂柔合了 Disco﹐風格創新﹐不過最厲害還是 I Feel Love ﹐本來它只是Can't We Just Sit Down (And Talk It Over) 的 B Side ﹐可是實在太受樂迷歡迎﹐終於成為 A Side 單曲發行。這首 Techno舞曲﹐不單前衛﹐而且在流行榜中得到不俗成績﹐美國 Billboard得第6位﹐而英國則得到4星期冠軍﹐並且使到 Donna 榮登 Disco Queen 的位置。專輯中還有單曲 I Remember Yesterday 及 Love's Unkind﹐分別取得英國流行榜第14及第3位。

I Feel Love﹕原收錄於“I Remember Yesterday”(1977/Casablanca) 專輯中。
(Donna Summer / Giorgio Moroder / Pete Bellotte)


Ooh
It's so good, it's so good
It's so good, it's so good
It's so good
Ooh
Heaven knows, heaven knows
Heaven knows, heaven knows
Heaven knows
Ooh
I feel love, I feel love
I feel love, I feel love
I feel love

I feel love, I feel love, I feel love

Ooh
Fallin' free, fallin' free
Fallin' free, fallin' free
Fallin' free
Ooh
You and me, you and me
You and me, you and me
You and me
Ooh
I feel love, I feel love
I feel love, I feel love
I feel love

I feel love, I feel love, I feel love

Ooh
I'll get you, I'll get you
I'll get you, I'll get you
I'll get you
Ooh
What you do, what you do
What you do, what you do
What you do
Ooh
I feel love, I feel love
I feel love, I feel love
I feel love

I feel love, I feel love, I feel love

**********

1977年 Donna Summer 繼發行I Remember Yesterday專輯後﹐更大膽創新﹐Once Upon a Time專輯不單是概念專輯﹐更是她的首張雙唱片集。當中 I Love You得到美國 Billboard第37位。英國則得到第10位。這張專輯還有單曲Rumour Has It得到英國榜第19位。1978年 Donna Summer不單參與拍攝電影 Thank God It's Friday﹐飾演一名 Disco歌手﹐而且更貢獻歌曲作為原聲帶。當中 Last Dance得美國 Billboard第3位﹑英國流行榜第51位﹐它更是1979年Academy Award的Best Song﹐Donna則得到 Grammy Award的 Best Female R&B Vocal Performance。

Last Dance﹕原收錄於“Thank God It's Friday”(1978/Casablanca) 專輯中。
(Paul Jabara)


Last dance
Last dance for love
Yes, it's my last change for romance tonight

I need you, by me,
Beside me, to guide me,
To hold me, to scold me,
'Cause when I'm bad
I'm so, so bad

So let's dance, the last dance
Let's dance, the last dance
Let's dance, this last dance tonight

Last dance, last dance for love
Yes, it's my last change for romance tonight

Yeah, will you be my Mr. Right?
Can you fill my appetite
I can't be sure that you're the one for me
But all that I ask is that you dance with me
Dance with me, dance with me, yeah

So, come on baby, dance that dance
Come on baby, dance that dance
Come on baby, let's dance tonight...

**********

1978年是 Donna Summer非常繁忙的一年﹐除了拍電影﹐灌錄唱片﹐也推出了她的第7張專輯Live and More﹐這是一張雙唱片集﹐三面收錄了她在 LA Universal Ampitheater的演唱會錄音﹐除了 Disco歌曲﹐也有她首張專輯的歌曲﹐而且風格多樣化﹐還有演唱了Gershwin的作品﹐甚至還有 Barbra Streisand的 The Way We Were。至於第四面則是長達17分鐘的錄音室歌曲MacArthur Park Suite﹐這首由四首歌曲組成的組曲﹐當中有兩首發行為單曲﹐包括MacArthur Park及 Heaven Knows。前者得到美國 Billboard 3星期冠軍﹐英國流行榜第5位﹐而後者則得到美國 Billboard第4位及英國流行榜第34位﹐與她合唱的為 Brooklyn Dreams。Donna Summer的聲勢一時無兩﹐不過好戲還在後頭。

McArthur Park﹕原收錄於“Live and More”(1978/Casablanca) 專輯中﹐原唱為 Richard Harris (1968/Dunhill) ﹐得到美國Billboard亞軍。80年代香港歌星關正傑也曾以香港管弦樂團伴奏於演唱會中演唱﹐他的版本收錄於“關正傑演唱會”(1982/Philips) 專輯中。
(Jimmy Webb)


Spring was never waiting for us, girl
It ran one step ahead
As we followed in the dance
Between the parted pages and were pressed
In love's hot, fevered iron
Like a striped pair of pants

MacArthur's Park is melting in the dark
All the sweet, green icing flowing down...
Someone left the cake out in the rain
I don't think that I can take it
'Cause it took so long to bake it
And I'll never have that recipe again
Oh, no!

I recall the yellow cotton dress
Foaming like a wave
On the ground around your knees
The birds, like tender babies in your hands
And the old men playing checkers by the trees

There will be another song for me
For I will sing it
There will be another dream for me
Someone will bring it
I will drink the wine while it is warm
And never let you catch me looking at the sun
And after all the loves of my life
After all the loves of my life
You'll still be the one

I will take my life into my hands and I will use it
I will win the worship in their eyes and I will lose it
I will have the things that I desire
And my passion flow like rivers through the sky.
And after all the loves of my life
After all the loves of my life
I'll be thinking of you
And wondering why



Donna Summer Official Website: http://www.donnasummer.com



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