Donna Summer

Released: August 23, 1991

Songwriter: Keith Diamond Donna Wyant Donna Summer Anthony L. Smith

Producer: Keith Diamond

Romance me...dance me
'til I don't care
You haven't lived until you've danced on air
Whisper nothings if you dare
Won't you please, be my Fred Astaire

(Jam):
Everybody up...everybody up
Everybody up on the dance floor now
Everybody up...everybody up
Everybody up on the dance floor now

I know they call you Mr. Lonely Heart
But you're the leading man to play the part
You don't have to be a millionaire
All you have to do is be my Fred Astaire

(Chorus):
Get up now...get up now
Get up now...be my Fred Astaire (x2)

(Jam):

When you move it's like a melody
Serenading...the very heart of me
I'll be your Ginger Rogers on the floor
Swirl me. twirl me 'til I just can't
Take no more

(Chorus):
Boy if you could only read my mind
You've been in my dreams a thousand time

(Jam):

(Chorus Jam):
Everybody up
(get up now)
Everybody up
(get up now)
Everybody up
(be my Fred Astaire)

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

Mistaken Identity

From the album

Mistaken Identity (1991)

Donna Summer popular songs

Fred AstaireDonna Summer

Donna Summer

Mistaken Identity