Greatest Hits

Producers: Georgio Moroder, Pete Belotte, Quincy Jones, Michael Omartian.
Compilation producers: Bas Hartong, Bill Levenson.
Digitally remastered by Andrew Nicholas (Polygram).
Photographer: Harry Langdon.
In light of the several other Donna Summer best-of anthologies available, it might seem like the budget-priced GREATEST HITS is redundant, but its virtues become apparent upon closer inspection. ENDLESS SUMMER and THE DONNA SUMMER ANTHOLOGY, for example, focus on Donna Summer the dancefloor queen--GREATEST HITS focuses on Donna Summer the AM radio pop goddess.
Uniquely, Donna Summer made disco singles which sounded great on the dancefloor but also sounded terrific on the radio, where Giorgio Moroder and Pete Bellotte's quirky arrangements and novel electronic instrumentation sounded remarkably fresh and vital. These tight AM radio edits--most under four minutes--distill everything that was magical about Donna Summer's late '70s string of hits, adding four of her best later singles for good measure. Highly recommended for newcomers, though longtime fans may feel they don't need it.