Donna Summer

Released: February 26, 1974

Songwriter: Giorgio Moroder Pete Bellotte

Producer: Pete Bellotte

In our childhoods days
Together we would play
People said we were inseparable

Like a brother then
My protective friend
He would always take good care of me

Friends that's what we are just
Friends no more or less oh
Here we are sharing so much fun
Friends why can't he see that I want him
To be more than my friend

Years have come and gone
Still our friendship's strong
Now he's more than just the boy next door

I'm in love with him
Guess I've always been
He doesn't know he's all I'm living for

Friends that's all we are just
Friends so near yet so far from love
And oh the joy that he can bring
Friends why can't he see that I want him
To be more than my friend

I'd like to tell him that I need him bad
But I'm afraid if I do I might lose
The only friend that I have

Friends that's all we are just
Friends so near yet so far from love and thus
We'll always remain friends
Friends why can't he see that I want us
To be more than just friends

As the unquestioned queen of disco, the one and only Donna Summer lit up the late 70s and 80s with flashy, exuberant vocals and automatic earworms. Born LaDonna Adrian Gaines on Dec. 31, 1948, Summer moved to Germany after being cast in a Munich production of Hair. There, she happened to meet Giorgio Moroder and Pete Bellotte, and the trio conglomerated to form a dynamic music team. With Moroder, Summer forged together her first album, The Hostage, which reached moderate success in Northern Europe. Summer’s big break, however, would come later with the release of 1975’s sexual “Love to Love You Baby”, which became one of disco’s first mainstream hits and reached #2 on the Billboard Charts.

1977 came around with the concept album I Remember Yesterday, which featured the Top 10 single “I Feel Love”. The next year, Summer hit the silver screen with the movie Thank God It’s Friday, whose soundtrack featured one of her own the iconic “Last Dance.” This would later become one of the disco legends' signature songs. “Dance” would take home an Academy Award for Best Original Song, a Grammy, and a Golden Globe, and it jumped to a peak of #3 on the charts.

Yet Summer’s illustrious career was far from finished – Summer’s first live album Live and More featured the single “MacArthur Park”, a melting ballad that was a cover of the Jimmy Webb ballad of the same name. “Park” became Summer’s first – and perhaps most memorable – No. 1 hit, and cemented her status as a vocalist as well as a performer. With the track, she became the first female in modern rock history to hold the top spot in both the Hot 100 and the Billboard 200. 1979, though, would really be the peak of her career.

more tracks from the album

Lady of the Night

From the album

Lady of the Night (1974)

Donna Summer popular songs

FriendsDonna Summer

Donna Summer

Lady of the Night