franklin-fuentes Review of The Donna Summer Special

The Donna Summer Special (1980 TV Special)

The Donna Summer Special (1980).., what went wrong?!

[17 November 2008]

I am a HUGE Donna Summer fan, as well as being obsessed with Disco music! Having said that, it pains me to say that this long awaited, and anticipated TV special wasn't very good. This is no reflection on the beautiful, talented Donna Summer.. But more on the fault of her (then) record label; Casablanca Records (of whom I am also in awe of today), for obviously not providing a substantial budget/ backing needed for the largest musical artist of that day.. As well the producer(s), writers, etc.. The shows production comes off as cheesy, and amateurish for many reasons. For starters the cast of extras seems to feature possible friends/ relatives & records label employees, opposed to actors/ professional dancers. Another complaint of mine was the quality of Donna's guest stars, if you can call them "stars"? Then, a record label of Casablanca Records magnitude should've been able to score bigger celebrities than Robert Guillaume (of TVs Benson), Twiggy, Deborah Lee-Scott (a featured player on TVs Mary Hartman and Welcome Back Kotter) and (B-list comedienne) Pat Ast. An ideal cast of guest stars might include Cher (who was signed to Casablanca Records at that time), Casablanca Records artists; The Brooklyn Dreams (who had a major hit with Donna, and whom Donna was married to a member of), John Travolta (whose brother; Joey Travolta, was also a label-mate of Donna's at that time), Barbara Streisand (who sang the hit song, Enough Is Enough, with Donna), and I'll add Linda Carter (TVs Wonder Woman) in for very good measure. I've seen Donna in concert many times and I can honestly say that the concert footage was not pure in performance, but was merely footage that was being filmed specifically to be used for this (or for any) TV special. Donna's hit songs were never featured in their entirety, and weren't even all sang by her on the special. I could go on forever listing this TV specials faults, but the bottom line is this.. A major network TV special for a beautiful, Oscar winning songstress (that had a catalog of songs that almost matched the likes of Diana Ross) could've written itself. Still I suggest that this TV special, consisting of Donna performing her hit songs, should be released today for Donna's legion of fans if for no other reason. And Donna, if you've read this.. Please know that I ADORE you! For only a true fan would have cared enough to have written this..,