Donna Summer

Released: October 20, 1980

Songwriter: Harold Faltermeyer Pete Bellotte

Producer: Giorgio Moroder Pete Bellotte

Breakdown, shakedown again
Breakdown, over you
Breakdown, way down again
Breakdown, over you, over you

Just when our love appeared to be
Growing strong
And just when you believed that
We both belonged
You catch me out a cheating and
Foolin' 'round
You find that I'm lyin'
I feel like I'm dyin'
Here I come cryin' again

Breakdown, shakedown again
Breakdown, over you
Breakdown, way down again
Breakdown, over you, over you

I put you through this whole
Affair before
I broke it up, you broke it up even more
Then I begged you to patch it all
Up again
Why did you listen to me
You should have let it all be
You shouldn't put all your trust me

Breakdown, shakedown again
Breakdown, over you
Breakdown, way down again
Breakdown, over you, over you

Breakdown, let down again
Breakdown, over you
Breakdown, straight down again
Breakdown, over you, over you

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

The Wanderer

From the album

The Wanderer (1980)

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Donna Summer

The Wanderer