Donna Summer

Released: September 4, 1977

Songwriter: Pete Bellotte Giorgio Moroder Donna Summer

Producer: Pete Bellotte Giorgio Moroder

I'd like to take some time to reach into
The past
To take some old songs and some new
Songs
Some borrowed and some blue songs

I remember yesterday
I remember yesterday

I remember that first night we met
Dancing to the sounds of clarinets
Dancing cheek to cheek, oh how sweet
You and me and this fantasy
Oh I remember our first night

I remember how we carried on
On and on until the light of dawn
From the very start, you stole my heart
I knew right then we would never part
Oh I remember that first night

Remember that first night
Remember that first night

I saw your lovelight through the candle's glow
Champagne was flowing, and so I let myself go
And when the night was over, we both looked around the room
Remember darling, chairs on the table, and only me and you

I remember how we carried on
On and on until the light of dawn
And from the very start, you stole my heart
I knew right then we would never part
I remember that first night

Remember that first night
Remember that first night
Remember that first night

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

On the Radio: Greatest Hits Volumes I & II

From the albums

I Remember Yesterday (1977)
Live and More (1978)
On the Radio: Greatest Hits Volumes I & II (1979)

Donna Summer popular songs

I Remember YesterdayDonna Summer

Donna Summer

On the Radio: Greatest Hits Volumes I & II