By Dennis Daniel (Comptroller, Smart + Strong)
Last week, Donna Summer, the Queen of Disco, died of cancer at the tragically early age of 63. Summer was a major diva and a musical icon of the '70s, particularly to the gay community, which was finally coming into its own in this post-Stonewall era. In many ways her music was a clarion call for our generation. I remember one college party where my friends and I danced in the rain in the front yard with "Last Dance" blasting from the windows of the house. She had the remarkable talent of being able to get just about anyone on their feet and moving.
Watch video of "Last Dance" from a 1978 concert:
Within minutes of the announcement of her death, my Facebook news feed began filling with obits, fan condolences and video clips of her songs. Most of the comments were laudatory, but a few people tempered their remarks by referencing the homophobic controversy she was embroiled in during the 1980s. Several of the gay news blogs I read posted items on her death; they also referenced the controversy. The discussions in the threads following those articles were long and often quite heated. It fascinated me that so many people felt so passionately about this incident from almost 30 years ago.
The controversy to which they were referring began in 1983, at a time when the gay community was reeling from the early impact of the AIDS crisis. A reviewer for the Village Voice reported that during a concert in Atlantic City, Summer, who had recently become a born-again Christian, had made some disparaging remarks about gays and said that AIDS was God's punishment for homosexuality. The alleged comments were not recorded or broadcast. But the gay press picked up the story, and the gay community became incensed. Many broke or threw away their Donna Summer albums. Some gay clubs refused to play her music.
Eventually she made some tepid apologies, claiming what she'd said had been misconstrued and that in the early '80s she had been uneducated about the facts and science of AIDS. Many felt this was too little, too late. Finally, in an interview with The Advocate in 1989, she totally denied ever making the statements and said that the whole thing had been a terrible misunderstanding that had hurt her greatly. Coincidentally, in 1989 she also released her comeback album Another Place Another Time. The timing had naysayers claiming that her apologies were insincere.
I was bartending at the Ice Palace in Cherry Grove, Fire Island, in the summer of 1989. Cherry Grove and its sister community The Pines were considered the epicenter of gay disco culture at the time, and the Donna Summer controversy was still raging there--well, as much as any controversy can rage on the island that isn't about how dry a martini should be or when tea dance should start. Her new song "This Time I Know It's for Real" was the runaway hit of the summer. All a DJ had to do was cue that one up, and the dance floor would be packed in seconds. But many had not forgotten or forgiven Summer, and they would stand on the sidelines glaring at the dancing crowd. Some would leave the building completely.
I was in Cherry Grove again this past weekend--the first weekend after Summer's death--and I ran into many people who had been there back in the '80s, so I decided to do an informal poll about the issue. Surprisingly almost everyone I spoke to believed that Summer had indeed made some kind of disparaging statements, although many agreed that whatever she had said had probably been exaggerated. Many were willing to let bygones be bygones. "It was over 25 years ago...let it go." But there were quite a few who, like the Dixie Chicks, were not ready to make nice. One of those also hadn't bought anything by Tropicana since Anita Bryant's anti-gay campaign in 1977 (Bryant was a spokesperson for Florida orange juice at the time).
Unlike Bryant, who remains a vocal opponent of gay rights, Summer, if she did misspeak about AIDS, seemed to have changed her tune. And in later years she did many benefit concerts for AIDS causes, including one at Carnegie Hall that raised $400,000 for GMHC in 1998. Elton John, the godfather of the "gay mafia," said about her death, "She is a great friend to me and to the Elton John AIDS Foundation and I will miss her greatly."
Personally, I suppose I too believe she did make some sort of negative remarks all those years ago, which she surely regretted. But I never stopped dancing to her music. I still have my LP of On the Radio, the double album of her greatest hits. I think I can let it go. So Donna, rest in peace. Your contributions to our musical culture far outweigh the "alleged" controversy. Tonight I think I'll pull out the vinyl, dust off the turntable (yes, I still have one), and "Dim all the lights, sweet darling, 'cause tonight it's you and me."
Watch her 1978 "MacArthur Park" live performance:
Last week, Donna Summer, the Queen of Disco, died of cancer at the tragically early age of 63. Summer was a major diva and a musical icon of the '70s, particularly to the gay community, which was finally coming into its own in this post-Stonewall era. In many ways her music was a clarion call for our generation. I remember one college party where my friends and I danced in the rain in the front yard with "Last Dance" blasting from the windows of the house. She had the remarkable talent of being able to get just about anyone on their feet and moving.
Watch video of "Last Dance" from a 1978 concert:
Within minutes of the announcement of her death, my Facebook news feed began filling with obits, fan condolences and video clips of her songs. Most of the comments were laudatory, but a few people tempered their remarks by referencing the homophobic controversy she was embroiled in during the 1980s. Several of the gay news blogs I read posted items on her death; they also referenced the controversy. The discussions in the threads following those articles were long and often quite heated. It fascinated me that so many people felt so passionately about this incident from almost 30 years ago.
The controversy to which they were referring began in 1983, at a time when the gay community was reeling from the early impact of the AIDS crisis. A reviewer for the Village Voice reported that during a concert in Atlantic City, Summer, who had recently become a born-again Christian, had made some disparaging remarks about gays and said that AIDS was God's punishment for homosexuality. The alleged comments were not recorded or broadcast. But the gay press picked up the story, and the gay community became incensed. Many broke or threw away their Donna Summer albums. Some gay clubs refused to play her music.
Eventually she made some tepid apologies, claiming what she'd said had been misconstrued and that in the early '80s she had been uneducated about the facts and science of AIDS. Many felt this was too little, too late. Finally, in an interview with The Advocate in 1989, she totally denied ever making the statements and said that the whole thing had been a terrible misunderstanding that had hurt her greatly. Coincidentally, in 1989 she also released her comeback album Another Place Another Time. The timing had naysayers claiming that her apologies were insincere.
I was bartending at the Ice Palace in Cherry Grove, Fire Island, in the summer of 1989. Cherry Grove and its sister community The Pines were considered the epicenter of gay disco culture at the time, and the Donna Summer controversy was still raging there--well, as much as any controversy can rage on the island that isn't about how dry a martini should be or when tea dance should start. Her new song "This Time I Know It's for Real" was the runaway hit of the summer. All a DJ had to do was cue that one up, and the dance floor would be packed in seconds. But many had not forgotten or forgiven Summer, and they would stand on the sidelines glaring at the dancing crowd. Some would leave the building completely.
I was in Cherry Grove again this past weekend--the first weekend after Summer's death--and I ran into many people who had been there back in the '80s, so I decided to do an informal poll about the issue. Surprisingly almost everyone I spoke to believed that Summer had indeed made some kind of disparaging statements, although many agreed that whatever she had said had probably been exaggerated. Many were willing to let bygones be bygones. "It was over 25 years ago...let it go." But there were quite a few who, like the Dixie Chicks, were not ready to make nice. One of those also hadn't bought anything by Tropicana since Anita Bryant's anti-gay campaign in 1977 (Bryant was a spokesperson for Florida orange juice at the time).
Unlike Bryant, who remains a vocal opponent of gay rights, Summer, if she did misspeak about AIDS, seemed to have changed her tune. And in later years she did many benefit concerts for AIDS causes, including one at Carnegie Hall that raised $400,000 for GMHC in 1998. Elton John, the godfather of the "gay mafia," said about her death, "She is a great friend to me and to the Elton John AIDS Foundation and I will miss her greatly."
Personally, I suppose I too believe she did make some sort of negative remarks all those years ago, which she surely regretted. But I never stopped dancing to her music. I still have my LP of On the Radio, the double album of her greatest hits. I think I can let it go. So Donna, rest in peace. Your contributions to our musical culture far outweigh the "alleged" controversy. Tonight I think I'll pull out the vinyl, dust off the turntable (yes, I still have one), and "Dim all the lights, sweet darling, 'cause tonight it's you and me."
Watch her 1978 "MacArthur Park" live performance:
Very well written.
Interesting and informative.
Amazing performance clips: pre-music videos
Thanks for taking the time to share. -KL
I live in Brooklyn in the Lefferts Gardens area. The night Donna Summer died, you could hear Donna Summer songs from apartment windows serenading her soul. It was really haunting in an eerie way. She may have disparaged gays for their seeming excessive partying but she also performed a final concert for GMHC in 1998 which I attended. It was a total embrace from both sides then. I respect her. She was a singular sensation in the 70s and truly defined our generation. She was the sound of closet doors opening and grooving. She may have been nervous about her effect but it was inescapable. She was the Queen of Disco. Her Love to Love you Baby rang out from the Continental Baths ...
Joseph Arsenault
Many born again Christians believe that they have a duty to be overzealous in their views, and feel it's put upon them to rehabilitate non-believers, Gays and Liberals into thinking “their way" of thinking is the only way. Many I’ve known have realized their opinions have isolated them from their friends and families, and have realized how stupid the whole thing was in the first place. Religion is a mind game and the sooner you get out the better off you’ll be.
I knew Donna back in the very early days of her career as we were both managed by Neal Bogart at Casablancas Records. I remember her as a wonderful person who was gentle and appreciative of her future in music. As the years went forward and her success and fame increased, she did become a Diva. However, don't they all ? She was a very gifted and talented woman who set the standards for all the Diva's who have followed and I am grateful she gave us so much.
RIP...
Daniel
I dimly recall the press controversy back in the day over the alleged comments against us that Donna made. There wasn't any direct proof, but the smoke from a distant fire colored our appreciation of her on the dance floors in Edmonton, Canada.
In retrospect, she served her time in purgatory and more than made up with her actions supporting the gay community. When a friend called me with the news she had died, I commented with the thought of all the music industry people who had died recently, "they're dropping like flies." He corrected me by stating, "we're dropping like flies."
Donna's music was about love and her gift to us was to remind us how love is the root of our lives. She may well have had her "Last Dance" in this world, but her music and message will live on.
One of the greatest gifts we can give to each other as human beings is the gift of forgiveness. Forgiveness heals wounds that left untreated only grow and hurt all of us. Donna Summer, like all of us was not perfect and said some ignorant things. Have we not all done that or something else we aren't proud of? Should that be the thing that defines us above all else?
Forgive Donna for being human and you will find that you will feel better as a result . Today I will listen to Bad Girls and smile, remembering those years long ago and how Donna made them better, if even only for a moment.
As I look back and have often wondered what makes such controversy relevant I think of Ryan White and how scared people were of getting A.I.D.S. and I just wonder if Donna Summers reborn quest for religion may have clouded her judgement but if so we are all human and I feel she has paid dearly for her choice and I feel it's between her and her God now and if we have any compunction it's time to believe some how someway her spirit is with all of us!
when a fading artist dies, thats when they get remembered and thats truly a sad situation (ie. whitney, michael). despite all the bad rumors around these artists, i have never ever stopped loving their music. EVERYONE makes mistakes, and as much as artists are most of the time in a league of their own, they are still human beings. i might have been around 10 when i first heard Donna Summer back in 1977. no rumors will ever change my mind about music.. the artist might hurt themselves with thoughtless remarks, yet their music lives forever, and the memories attached can never be erased. i dont have to forgive her or michael, or whitney... only GOD can judge them..
I was in high school when Donna Summer hit it big, and took a lot of crap for playing disco music and dancing to "Hot Stuff" and the like. Ten years later, I went to the first Orange County Gay Pride march with members of ACT UP San Francisco (I was not a member, but a hanger-on...trying to get myself to a stronger political place). The night before, some of us went to a well-known club in L.A. to dance, and they played "This Time I Know It's for Real." My friends started yelling "No Donna Summer!" and laid down on the dance floor in protest, prompting the bouncers to drag them off and kick them out. I stood on the sidelines, frozen. I wanted to protest with them, and I wanted to dance with the other people, and I got stuck in the middle, in my feelings. The problem for me now, in trying to feel angry at Donna Summer, is that her songs make me remember so many people and times that I loved so much. So...thanks for all of that, Donna.
Donna made a comment at a party to her very close friend Paul Jabara ( wrote Last Dance and other hit songs)basically saying we don't know how this is spread so maybe you should cool it with the promiscous behavor. That's all period, he obviously didn't take her advice because he ended up dying of A.I.D.S. hope they're both in heaven laughing at all this nosense
Hello...I was headed to the beautiful islands of Hawaii when Donna was at the fore front of the music industry and trust me although there were plenty of activist nay sayer out there I was NEVER one of them. Because what she alledgedly said was nothing compared to the way gays talk about and back stab people about being gay and being HIV+. The minute you are no longer beautiful and -
+ you are crap to the gay community. Why would I turn my back on a gift such as what Donna Summer brought to all our lives. She made us smile, she made us dance, she made us dream, and yes she made us horney. I for one was devasted the day that I heard the news that she had died. I have cds in my car at this very moment that I have played many times over in the last few years. Those were the best days of our lives and to me she made them even better. I too was in Hawaii, Los Angeles, New York City, Fire Island at the ice palace and the pines. San Fransico at Trucaderas and the elephant walk
. Damn what a great life I have been blessed with. The truth of the matter is all those years and all those memories she is and always will be at the epicenter of the best days of my life. Thank you Donna for the gifts you shared. RIP
People seem, on their pathetic love, peace, cheesecake and grouphugging-mode that: there's NO smoke without fire... and that, for all the talk of her being human and being allowed to be flippant and ignorant that the hurt she caused, for she caused it, seeing she APOLOGISED!, is so much the greater than if someone who we, as a comminity, never supported or endorsed. What she did was magnified by her status and the privileged position she held. Her words weighed so much heavier than if my fairly insignificant baker around the corner would have said something stupid... I personally think she was sorry... very sorry in fact, for her career nosedived and never recovered. A really stupid move to kill your very own golden goose i.e. fags.
Very well written article, it brought tears to my eyes. I first remember walking into a a disco tech in the 70's. When the club was ready to close her (Ms. Summer) son the last dance would play. I also like her song McArthur Park. Yes I too have her albums and cassetes and yes I still listen to her on my turtable. Thanks so much for weiting this article. She too will be missed but she in Gods hand rocking and dancing with others.