Love to Love You Donna

Recording information: Jungle Room Studio, Glendale, CA.
Photographer: Harry Langdon.
The late queen's longtime collaborator and husband, Bruce Sudano, served as executive producer for this tribute, a varied collection of remixes from house pioneers (Frankie Knuckles, Masters at Work), hipper left-of-center figures (Holy Ghost!, Hot Chip, Jacques Greene), and current dance-music stars (Duke Dumont, Laidback Luke). Afrojack transforms "I Feel Love" into a barrage of battering noise and reduces Summer's vocal to pulp, while Greene's "On the Radio" has Summer so heavily echoed and distant that it could be titled "On the Radio (At the Bottom of a Deep Well)." Dumont likewise treats Summer like a sample source, but he places her at the fore, over a characteristically spacious and relaxed house track. On the other side, Masters at Work update and sweeten "Last Dance" with live bass, guitar, and keyboards. Knuckles, assisted by Eric Kupper, also retains Summer's essence for a version of "Hot Stuff" that trucks. At the end, there's a new song, "La Dolce Vita," written by Summer, Moroder, and Nathan DiGesare. As enjoyable as anything off 2008's Crayons, Italo-disco fanatics might not be able to hear it without thinking of Ryan Paris' 1983 hit of the same title, while younger listeners might think of it as a rip-off of Daft Punk's "Get Lucky." It's bittersweet to hear Moroder's processed voice intone "We miss her so." ~ Andy Kellman