Background
By 1975,Donna Summer had been living in Germany for eight years and had participated in several musical theatre shows. She had also released an album in The Netherlands entitled Lady of the Night (1974),written by Giorgio Moroder and Pete Bellotte and produced by Bellotte,which had given her a couple of hit singles. She was still a complete unknown in her home country when she suggested the lyric "Love to Love You Baby" to Moroder in 1975. He turned the lyric into a full disco song and asked Summer to record it. The full lyrics were somewhat explicit,and at first,Summer said she would only record it as a demo to give to someone else. However,Summer's erotic moans and groans impressed Moroder so much that he persuaded her to release it as her own song,and "Love to Love You" became a moderate hit in the Netherlands.
In an interview in 1976,Summer responded to a number of questions that she claimed she'd been asked about the process of recording the song:"Everyone's asking,'Were you alone in the studio?' Yes,I was alone in the studio. 'Did you touch yourself?' Yes,well,actually I had my hand on my knee. 'Did you fantasize on anything?' Yes,on my handsome boyfriend Peter." [7]
A tape of the song was sent to Casablanca Records president Neil Bogart in the US,and he played it at a party at his home. Impressed with the track,Bogart continued to play it over and over all night. He later contacted Moroder and suggested that he make the track longer - possibly as long as 20 minutes. However,Summer again had reservations;she was not sure of all of the lyrics. Nevertheless,she imagined herself as an actress (namely Marilyn Monroe) [8] playing the part of someone in sexual ecstasy. The studio lights were dimmed so that Summer was more or less in complete darkness as she lay on the floor.
The final recording lasted over 16 minutes,and according to the BBC,contained 23 "orgasms". [8] By that point,the song was renamed "Love to Love You Baby". It took up the entire first side of the album of the same name,and edited versions were also found on 7" vinyl.
Impact and legacy
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame named the song one of the 500 Songs That Shaped Rock and Roll in 1995.
VH1 placed "Love to Love You Baby" at number 63 in their list of 100 Greatest Dance Songs in 2000. [13]
Slant Magazine ranked the song 10th in its 100 Greatest Dance Songs in 2006. [14]
According to Peter Shapiro,a freelance British music journalist,the song was marked by "little more than Donna Summer simulating an orgasm over a background of blaxploitation cymbals,wah-wah guitars,a funky-butt clarinet riff,and some synth chimes." He continued,"Love to Love You Baby" [...] was extended into a seventeen-minute minisymphony at the behest of Casablanca Records chief Neil Bogart,who wanted a soundtrack for his sexual exploits. The song reached number two in the American charts and was largely responsible for the development of the twelve inch single." [15]
Donna Summer was forced to stop performing "Love to Love You" live when,"Riots broke out [...] [She] was in a tent in Italy,5,000 men,almost no women,and was doing 'Love to Love You,Baby,' fairly scantily clad,and the guys got so wrapped up that they began to push the stage back. And [she] had to run off the stage,to [her] trailer out the back. And they came to the trailer and started to rock it. [She] just thought,'I'm going to die today,I'm not going to get out of here.' It's not the kind of song you just want to throw out there." [16]
This page is based on this
Wikipedia article Text is available under the
CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
