C/D: Donna Summer "Bad Girls"

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Donna Summer unleashes this monster in 1979. Under the creative guidance of Giorgio Moroder, it seems to fight conformity, yet rears an ugly sensibility of music on a waiting line, inside some red velevt ropes (no pun int.) at DISCO SAVINGS BANK, which was soon to be closed for business.

I'll say Classic for it's pop music impact alone. It beautifully captured Summer's expressions of life inside Moroder's dream world. It captured disco's message perfectly to the mainstream. The suburbs had finally caught up and this was that year's textbook. Opening the record with the rock power chords of "Hot Stuff" made a pretty big statement at the time. It brought the electric guitar, again, back to the top of the charts.

Disco "4 on the Floor" moments loom large throughout- keeping things safe and recognizable- but give credit to Moroder and Summer for trying to break whatever ground they could while keeping their and Casablanca's bank accounts safe. As someone mentioned on ILM, Side 4's Giorgio Moroder electric muscle flex is fantastic. It put a period on a sentence that began with "I Feel Love."

You've heard it before, but BAD GIRLS would have been a better single album, but this way Giorgio and Donna could both have their own 2 sides.

Even though Giorgio would continue on projects with Summer.. i believe they all came after the triumphant release of MICKEY MOUSE DISCO, which of course, changed everything.

― ZionTrain, Thursday, 28 April 2005 14:44 (twenty years ago)

I got this real cheap in a used record store about 3 wks ago; it's yet to leave my turntable. The ballad side is mostly yarf, but you're OTM regarding Side 4. "Our Love" is "Blue Monday" three years before the fact: listen to the thud-thud drum machine and you'll accuse New Order of blatant plagiarism.

As for the singles, I vote "Hot Stuff" the greatest disco single ever. Very few rock bands have a guitar solo that shreds as mercilessly as Skunk Baxter's. "Dim All The Lights" is pretty close to perfection too.

― Alfred Soto (Alfred Soto), Thursday, 28 April 2005 15:16 (twenty years ago)

I forget about "Dim All The Lights." If memory serves me, that had real interesting guitar licks floating through the intro.

― ZionTrain, Thursday, 28 April 2005 15:37 (twenty years ago)

Who is this Skunk Baxter anyway?

― ZionTrain, Thursday, 28 April 2005 15:38 (twenty years ago)

http://www.rockstar.it/img/Jeff_Skunk_Baxter.jpg

Owner of the greatest walrus mustache in rock history, Skunk played gee-tar on a bunch of Steely Dan and Michael McDonald songs. Is an ardent Republican and now works for the CIA or some shit.

― Alfred Soto (Alfred Soto), Thursday, 28 April 2005 15:47 (twenty years ago)

"Our Love" is "Blue Monday" three years before the fact: listen to the thud-thud drum machine and you'll accuse New Order of blatant plagiarism.

Didn't New Order actually sample "Our Love" for "Blue Monday"?

― Lingbertt, Thursday, 28 April 2005 16:54 (twenty years ago)

If they did they forgot to give Summer-Morodor songwriting credit.

― Alfred Soto (Alfred Soto), Thursday, 28 April 2005 17:05 (twenty years ago)

What's convenient about the sequencing of the four sides of Bad Girls is that Sides 1 and 4 are the dance sides, and Sides 2 and 3 are the more ballady sides. Since records were still pressing Sides 1 and 4, and 2 and 3, on each disc, respectively, all the dance DJs had to do was bring one disc to the club. (Granted, many pro DJs then probably had one-sided promo singles of each club cut off the album anyway, but still..)

― donut debonair (donut), Thursday, 28 April 2005 17:13 (twenty years ago)

In either case, Bad Girls is pretty essential, because the middle ballady part has some great songs... minimal filler at worst.

The deluxe 2CD version of Bad Girls may not be as necessary if you already have the 4-CD The Casablanca Story box set, as many of the uber-long Donna Summer singles are already on that, and they sound fine. However -- and this is really a trivial matter -- you know how Deluxe Edition 2CDs tend to show the boxes of the master tapes underneath the clear trays of the 2CDs and their accompanying foldouts? Well, whoever wrote on the boxes for the Bad Girls master tapes were excessively neat and cheery! Usually these boxes are just riddled with underscores, corrections, crossouts, or basically prototypes of early Fall or Pavement album covers. But no.. the Bad Girls master tapes were written using very neat print style writing, and I think there's even a smiley somewhere! This is just one of those extremely trivial things that just added the cherry on top of getting this 2CD reissue.

― donut debonair (donut), Thursday, 28 April 2005 17:19 (twenty years ago)

If they did they forgot to give Summer-Morodor songwriting credit.
yeah, I guess you're right. someone on slsk downloaded "our love" from me awhile back and informed me that it was sampled for "blue monday," which was news to me. There's no mention of it on the New Order website though.

― Lingbertt, Thursday, 28 April 2005 17:38 (twenty years ago)

I think New Order admitted in interviews to ripping the "Dut. Dut. DutDutDutDutDutDutDutDut Dut. Dut. Dut. Dut." part of "Our Love", which does exist clearly in the middle parts. But is that something you could have copyrighted in the late 70s/early 80s? Maybe today you can. The statutes of limitation have clearly run out for Summer/Moroder by now, in any case.

Otherwise, "Blue Monday" was a completely different song which just happened to directly reference a synthesized kick drum pattern in the middle of "Our Love"... not exactly something, IMHO, that requires licensing/credits.

― donut debonair (donut), Thursday, 28 April 2005 17:44 (twenty years ago)

yeah, NO have always been upfront about the DS swipe--I think they once said they took a Donna Summer drumbeat and a Sylvester (or Kraftwerk) bassline and voila! "Blue Monday."

― Matos-Webster Dictionary (M Matos), Thursday, 28 April 2005 17:59 (twenty years ago)

I think the more pertinent question is: did "Our Love" invent Acid House music?

― donut debonair (donut), Thursday, 28 April 2005 19:03 (twenty years ago)

I'm talking specifically about the end breakdown when the synths starting making descending space noises, then this total proto-303 jumps in front of the mix like a Guido Robot taking over the dance floor. I was floored by this as a kid... this remains my favorite Donna Summer song ever.

― donut debonair (donut), Thursday, 28 April 2005 19:05 (twenty years ago)

One thing (among many) that amazes me about Bad Girls: The way the tracks have enough variety that you don't really notice (unless you want to) that each of the three non-ballad sides has exactly ONE tempo throughout, even tho each track segues into the next with no silences, Pink Floyd-style. So, except for the slowed-down intro to "Dim All The Lights", you can dance or aerobicize or copulate or just tap feet all through the side and not miss a beat!
Classic, no doubt. "Sunset People" is so fantastic.

― Myonga Von Bontee (Myonga Von Bontee), Thursday, 28 April 2005 20:11 (twenty years ago)

"Sunset People" is excellent, yes. The weariness in Summer's voice finds its perfect complement in the monotonous backbeat.

― Alfred Soto (Alfred Soto), Thursday, 28 April 2005 20:23 (twenty years ago)

Don't forget "Lucky"

― ZionTrain, Thursday, 28 April 2005 20:34 (twenty years ago)

Monotonous? That bass synth melody line goes all over the place. What are you talking about?

― donut debonair (donut), Thursday, 28 April 2005 20:40 (twenty years ago)

the drum machine just goes thud-thud-thud.
(xpost)

― Alfred Soto (Alfred Soto), Thursday, 28 April 2005 20:59 (twenty years ago)

I am pretty sure there is a "Bad Girls" thread already.

Other than that, classic! Particularly the last three songs, making up one of the strongest sides on an album ever.

― Geir Hongro (GeirHong), Thursday, 28 April 2005 21:02 (twenty years ago)

two years pass...

Listening to this for the first time in ages. It really is a pretty good record: filled with great hooks and the songwriting is on-point for the most part.

CLASSIC for it's unapologetic pop/rock/disco sensibility. And Side 4.. is a MUST listen if you want to hear when modern electronic electropop sounded like when it was still in diapers.

SIDE 4: "Our Love", "Lucky", "Sunset People"

― quixNYC, Saturday, 4 August 2007 17:52 (eighteen years ago)

I dislike the ballads less now, but still.

― Alfred, Lord Sotosyn, Saturday, 4 August 2007 18:45 (eighteen years ago)

Which came first, "Bad Girls" or Rick James' "Love Gun"?

― musically, Saturday, 4 August 2007 19:46 (eighteen years ago)

I tried this whole album on CD once because of ILX and found myself sadly disappointed. Don't get me wrong, as a kid I loved the songs that appeared on the On The Radio comp. from this, but the Bad Girls album itself has a lot of filler on it.

― Bimble, Sunday, 5 August 2007 22:29 (eighteen years ago)

"Our Love" is pretty much one of my favorite songs ever.

― the table is the table, Sunday, 5 August 2007 22:45 (eighteen years ago)

one year passes...

Dell & I watched "Thank God It's Friday" yesterday. And since then I've played this song about 40 times:

― Bimble Is Still More Goth Than You, Tuesday, 16 September 2008 05:09 (seventeen years ago)

Which came first, "Bad Girls" or Rick James' "Love Gun"?
― musically, Saturday, August 4, 2007 12:46 PM (1 year ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

still wondering btw

― john mccain's illegitimate black child (musically), Tuesday, 16 September 2008 05:51 (seventeen years ago)

hahaha
I love all this NU-ILX shifting around of screen names!! Coolness.

Anyway the point is I feel like I don't care about Rick James anymore. If I've got the best of Donna Summer, then I don't need Rick James. Sad to say, but...

― Bimble Is Still More Goth Than You, Tuesday, 16 September 2008 07:41 (seventeen years ago)

Playing "Love Gun" now, thanks much

― Bimble Is Still More Goth Than You, Tuesday, 16 September 2008 07:44 (seventeen years ago)

Please don't ask me to choose between Donna Summer & Rick James. Please. Please don't hold a gun to my head and ask me to choose. That's not fair.

― Bimble Is Still More Goth Than You, Tuesday, 16 September 2008 07:46 (seventeen years ago)

Thank God It's Friday is so awful, but this is def one of the best Oscar-winning songs.

― Eric H., Tuesday, 16 September 2008 11:15 (seventeen years ago)

two years pass...

This record was my last vinyl purchase of the year. 5 bucks in the new record store down the street!

― puff pastry hangman (admrl), Friday, 31 December 2010 22:16 (fifteen years ago)

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