The Pointer Sisters win two Grammys 1985

 

My girls, the Pointer Sisters, won two Grammy Awards at the annual ceremony held February 26, 1985. Their song Automatic won Best Vocal Arrangement for Two or More Voices, arrangements by Ruth, June, and Anita.  Jump (For My Love) won Best Pop Performance for a Duo or Group with Vocal.  Their album Breakout should have won more Grammys in my opinion.  

This was a time when music was awesome!

Tina Turner won Record of the Year and Song of the Year for What's Love Got To Do With It.

Cyndi Lauper received the Grammy for Best New Artist.

"Weird Al" Yankovich won Best Comedy Recording for Eat It.

John Williams tied for Best Instrumental Composition for Olympic Fanfare and Theme the official music of the XXIII Olympiad.

The Judds won their first Grammy for Best Country Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal for Mama, He's Crazy.

Donna Summer won Best Inspirational Performance for Forgive Me.

Ray Parker, Jr. won Best Pop Instrumental Performance for the instrumental version of Ghostbusters.

The Pointer Sisters' "Automatic"

Donna Summer releases first album "Lady of the Night" 1974

Donna Summer released her debut album Lady of the Night in the Netherlands, February 26, 1974.  She had been "discovered" by Giorgio Moroder and Pete Bellotte while she was singing backing vocals for Three Dog Night.  They approached her about recording her own album.

The Hostage was the first single released and entered the top three charts in Belgium and Spain.  Lady of the Night hit the top ten in Austria.  The album did not chart.

Donna Summer 3 American Music Awards 1980

The Goddess of Disco (then Queen of Disco) Donna Summer won three American Music Awards at the 7th annual ceremony held January 18, 1980.  She walked away with Favorite Pop/Rock Female Artist (over Babs and ONJ), and Favorite Soul/R&B Female Artist.

She won Favorite Pop/Rock Song for Bad Girls, beating the one-hit wonder My Sharona by the Knack and Rod Stewart's Do Ya Think I'm Sexy?

Barry Manilow won Favorite Pop/Rock Male Artist beating my man Billy Joel.  I smell a conspiracy.  Michael Jackson won three awards as well, all in the Soul/R&B categories.  

The Bee Gees won 2 awards for Favorite Pop/Rock Band/Duo/Group and Favorite Pop/Rock album for Spirits Having Flown.  

The Statler Brothers won Favorite Country Band/Duo/Group.

Benny Goodman was honored with the Merit Award.

Donna Summer's "MacArthur Park" reaches #1 1978

The Goddess of Disco Donna Summer's MacArthur Park reached #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 November 11, 1978 and stayed for 3 weeks.  It was written and composed by Jimmy Webb.  Richard Harris was the first to record it and in 1968 it reached #2 on the Billboard Hot 100.  Waylon Jennings recorded it in 1969 and won a Grammy Award for Best Country Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal in 1970. 

Donna's cover of the song garnered her first nomination for a Grammy, for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance.  

Donna Summer releases "The Wanderer" 1980

Donna Summer released her eighth studio album The Wanderer October 20, 1980.  She was disappointed with her previous label Casablanca Records and decided to move on and became the first artist to be signed onto Geffen Records.

The single The Wanderer reached #3 on the Billboard Hot 100.  The single Cold Love got her a Grammy nomination for Best Female Rock Vocal Performance.  Her song I Believe in Jesus was nominated for Best Inspirational Performance.  

The Wanderer has been certified gold.

Donna Summer releases "Crayons" 2008

Goddess of Disco Donna Summer released her seventeenth and final studio album Crayons May 20, 2008.  It was her first full-length album in fourteen years.  Unfortunately, it only reached #17 on the Billboard 200 charts.

Stamp Your Feet was the first single, released April 15, 2008. The second single I'm A Fire reached #1 on the Billboard dance/club chart, her 13th #1 on that chart.

Donna Summer releases "Bad Girls" 1979

Goddess of Disco, Donna Summer released her seventh studio album Bad Girls April 25, 1979.  It became her best-selling and most critically acclaimed album of her career.  It topped the Billboard 200 for six non-consecutive weeks, and the Billboard R&B albums for three weeks. 

Two singles, Hot Stuff and Bad Girls, both reached #1 on the Billboard Hot 100.  Dim All the Lights reached #2.

Hot Stuff won a Grammy for Best Rock Vocal Performance, Female at the 22nd Grammy Awards in February 1980.

The album was nominated for Album of the Year (losing to Billy Joel's 52nd Street), Best Female Pop Vocal Performance, Best Femal R&B Vocal Performance.  Dim All the Lights was nominated for Best Disco Recording.

It has sold over 4 million albums world-wide.

Donna Summer releases "Four Seasons of Love" 1976

Donna Summer released her fourth studio album Four Seasons of Love October 11, 1976.  It was her third gold album and it peaked at #29 on the Billboard 200.  Both singles released went to #1 on the disco charts.

Donna Summer's Bad Girls reaches #1 1979

The Queen of Donna Summer reached #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 with Bad Girls, the second release from the album of the same name, this week in 1979.  It spent five weeks in the top spot.  It was the second biggest hit of 1979.

It won American Music Awards in 1980 for Favorite Pop/Rock Single and Favorite Pop/Rock Female Artist.

Donna Summer wins 2 Grammys for "Last Dance" 1979

The Queen of Disco Donna Summer won two Grammys for her single Last Dance, February 15, 1979.  She won Best R&B Vocal Performance, Female and Best R&B Song.

Last Dance was released on the soundtrack to the movie Thank God, It's Friday, which was released in July 1978.

This was the same night Billy Joel won Grammys for Record of the Year and Song of the Year for Just the Way You Are.

Donna Summer's "I Feel Love" certified Gold 1977

Released as a single from the album I Remember Yesterday in July 1977, I Feel Love by Donna Summer was certified Gold November 9, 1977.  It reached #6 on the Billboard Hot 100 but reached the top in the UK, Australia, Austria, Belgium, France, Italy and the Netherlands.

It is considered one of the most influential songs of all time and in 2011, Library of Congress added it to the National Recording Registry as "culturally, historically, or aesthetically important".

Take a look at how many different charts have acclaimed it for being necessary, indispensable, or just down-right awesome!

Publication	Country	Accolade	Year	Rank
Les Inrockuptibles	France	1000 Indispensable Songs	2006	*
		1000 Necessary Songs	2015	*
Volume		200 Records that Changed the World	2008	*
Musikexpress	Germany	The 700 Best Songs of All Time	2014	134
Rolling Stone		The 500 Best Songs of All Time	2004	458
Spex		The Best Singles of the Century	1999	*
NPO Radio 2	Netherlands	Top 40 Songs by Year 1969-2000	2013	18
Panorama	Norway	The 30 Best Singles of the Year 1970-98	1999	1
BBC	United Kingdom	Pop on Trial, Top 50 Songs from the 1970s	2008	*
Robert Dimery		1001 Songs You Must Hear Before You Die: And 10,001 You Must Download	2010	*
The Guardian		1000 Songs Everyone Must Hear	2009	*
		A history of modern music	2011	*
IDJ Magazine		The 50 Greatest Dance Singles	2004	37
Mixmag		The 100 Best Dance Singles of All Time	1996	12
Mojo		The 100 Records That Changed the World	2007	96
Gary Mulholland		This Is Uncool: The 500 Best Singles Since Punk Rock	2002	*
Muzik		The 50 Most Influential Records of All Time	2003	*
NME		The 100 Best Songs of NME's Lifetime	2012	79
		The 100 Best Songs of the 1970s		6
		The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time	2014	3
Q		The 50 Most Exciting Tunes Ever	2002	44
		100 Songs That Changed the World	2003	36
		The 1001 Best Songs Ever		*
		The 1010 Songs You Must Own	2004	*
		Top 20 Singles from 1970-1979		3
		The Ultimate Music Collection	2005	*
Paul Roland		CD Guide to Pop & Rock, 100 Essential Singles	2001	*
Uncut		The 100 Greatest Singles from the Post-Punk Era		11
		100 Rock and Movie Icons	2005	68
Blender	United States	Standout Tracks from the 500 CDs You Must Own	2003	*
Dave Marsh, Kevin Stein		The 40 Best of the Top 40 Singles by Year	1981	15
Michaelangelo Matos		Top 100 Singles of the 1970s	2001	4
Pitchfork		The Pitchfork 500	2008	*
		The 200 Best Songs of the 1970s[25]	2016	4
PopMatters		The 100 Best Songs Since Johnny Rotten Roared	2003	38
Rolling Stone		The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time	2004	411
		40 Songs That Changed the World	2007	*
Time		The All-Time 100 Songs	2011	*
Treble		The Top 200 Songs of the 1970s	2012	14
(*) designates lists that are unordered.

Donna Summer releases "Another Place and Time" 1989

Donna Summer released her fourteenth studio album Another Place and Time, March 20, 1989.  She broke away from her label Geffen Records, with whom she had released much of her 80's work, and went with producer Stock Aitken Watermen.

She released the first single This Time I Know It's for Real a month before the album was released and it became her biggest hit from the album.

Another Place and Time was certified gold in the UK.

Donna Summer releases "A Love Trilogy" 1976

The Diva herself Donna Summer released her third studio album A Love Trilogy, March 5, 1976 by Casablanca.  It contains a 18-minute track Try Me, I know We Can Make It, which contains three distinct movements.  On the flip side, she covers Barry Manilow's Could It Be Magic with a soft disco version that actually works!

A Love Trilogy became her second consecutive gold album in the U.S.

Billy Joel wins Album of the Year, 52nd Street 1980

The 22^nd Grammy Awards was held February 27, 1980 in Los Angeles and my man Billy Joel took home Grammy for Album of the Year and Pop Male Vocalist, 52^nd Street!  It must have been an awesome night. Look at some of the other winners:

John Williams: Best Original Score for a Motion Picture, Best Instrumental Composition – Superman

Supertramp: Best Album Package. Best Engineered Recording – Breakfast in America

Doobie Brothers: Record of the Year, Best Cast Show Album – What a Fool Believes

Charlie Daniels Band: Best C&W Performance – Duo or Group with Vocal – Devil Went Down to Georgia

Kenny Rogers: Best C&W Male Vocal Performance – The Gambler

Gloria Gaynor: Best Disco Recording – I Will Survive

Ella Fitzgerald: Best Jazz Vocal Performance – Fine and Mellow

Herb Alpert: Best Pop Instrumental Performance – Rise

Earth Wind & Fire: Best R&B Instrumental Performance – Boogie Wonderland

Donna Summer: Rock Female Vocalist – Hot Stuff

The Eagles: Best Vocal Group – Heartache Tonight

Kenny Loggins, Michael McDonald: Song of the Year – What A Fool Believes

These were up against some very stiff competition!

Donna Summer, Queen of Disco, born 1948

Donna Summer, born LaDonna Adrian Gaines December 31, 1948 in Boston, Massachusetts, is one of the most successful solo female singers of all time.  She is the first artist to have three consecutive albums reach #1 on the Billboard 200 and had four singles reach #1 in a 12-month period.  She released 20 albums and won 5 Grammy awards:

Best Female R&B Vocal Performance, 1979 for Last Dance
Best Female Rock Vocal Performance, 1980 for Hot Stuff
Best Inspirational Performance, 1984 for He's a Rebel
Best Inspirational Performance, 1985 for Forgive Me
Best Dance Recording, 1998 for Carry On (with Giorgio Moroder)

She was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2013.

Ms. Summer passed away May 17, 2012 at her home in Naples, Florida.

Donna Summer releases "Once Upon A Time" 1977

Queen Donna Summer released her sixth studio album Once Upon A Time, October 31, 1977.  A concept album, it was her first double-album and although it did not do as well as I Remember Yesterday (her previous release), it was certified gold and reached #1 on the Hot Dance/Disco chart.

It is a modern-day Cinderella story told through disco.

Donna Summer releases "Live and More" 1978

The Queen Donna Summer released her double album Live and More, August 31, 1978, the recording of a concert she performed at the Universal Ampitheater in Los Angeles the previous June. It was her first live album and second double album.  It went to #1 on the Billboard 200 and became double platinum in the U.S.

My man Billy Joel knocked Live and More out of the top spot with his album 52nd Street.

The album featured a studio recording, the MacArthur Park suite, which was edited and released as a single MacArthur Park. She earned a Grammy nomination for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance




https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Live_and_More

Donna Summer releases "Donna Summer" 1982

The queen of disco, Donna Summer, released her self-titled album Donna Summer, July 19, 1982, her first collaboration with Quincy Jones.  David Geffen, the owner of Geffen Records, hoped this would help restore her to the star power she had during the late 70's.  Although it fell short of expectations, the album (her 10th studio release) generated the top 10 single, Love is in Control, which was nominated for a Grammy.

We miss you, Donna!

Donna Summer releases "I Remember Yesterday" 1977

Donna Summer, disco queen diva of the universe, released her fifth studio album, I Remember Yesterday, May 13,  1977.  It opened with the title track which was an electronic mix of pop and 40's style music.  The last song was the heavy disco/dance track I Feel Love.

The album was certified Gold having sold at least 500,000 albums.

Donna Summer releases "She Works Hard For The Money" 1983

Disco queen Donna Summer released She Works Hard for the Money, a single off of her eleventh studio album of the same name, May 10, 1983.  The album followed on June 13.  The single became her first Top 10 hit since 1979, and stayed at #1 on the R&B Charts for three weeks.  Donna was nominated for a Grammy for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance.

The song He's a Rebel won her the Grammy for Best Inspiration Performance.

The video for the title song is one of my all-time favorite videos.