Donna Summer (1948-2012)

     Thankfully Donna Summer's talent allowed her to go far beyond disco. At the same time, I'm thankful for that dance sub-genre because it allowed her substantial talents to even be heard. She was considered the "Queen of Disco", but her abilities allowed her to break free from the backlash that effected most of her peers in the early 80's and go into a different direction, without totally disassociating herself from it's many fans. In the 90's she was still a major player, especially in the UK. With the re-emergence of dance music over the last decade, she found herself back on top of the charts with 9 top 5 hits since 2000, with her last number one being last year's, "To Paris With Love".
     On of her talents that was always underrated was her songwriting abilities having written, "Bad Girls", "Heaven Knows", "On The Radio"and others. She had 17 Grammy's nominations  and won five in four separate genres ( R&B, Rock, Dance, Inspirational). There will be many obits over the next few days and where you can get a biography on her career. For those who are between the ages of 40-50 and all who love to hit the dance floor, we have lost a major force today.
     Please feel free to share your thoughts and memories....Peace. 

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Polly Brown--Up In a Puff of Smoke (1975)

    Polly Brown was a white soul singer from England. This was her only release that made it on the charts here in the states....reaching #16 in late 1975/early 1976. She had hits with the groups, Pickettywitch, and Sweet Dreams, both reaching the top 10 in the UK. Brown did well all through the 70's, and continues to write and record today.

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Earth, Wind & Fire--September (1978)

     Every so often (a lot less than you would believe) I get stumped for a blog subject. Usually it will be something that I've been reading about, or came across in my research for the radio station or the Omnibus Live! program. This morning however, nothing came up of note, so my plan B is to just go to a quiet place and listen to the music that comes up in my head.....and we have our subject for this morning!

     Earth, Wind, and Fire were already very well established as one of the best bands of the 70's. However the peak period for the group chartwise was between July of 1978 to July of 79. They produced four top 10 hits: Got To Get You Into My Life, Boogie Wonderland, After the Love Has Gone, and September. The great thing about EWF was the creativeness of the work. It was a welcome sound because in an era where disco was everywhere, they were favorites on the dance floor, but the sound was always intelligent and creative at the same time. Even now, September just comes at you with a beat that insists that you move....hope this livens your day up....Happy Tuesday everyone!

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