She Works Hard for the Money

Personnel: Donna Summer, Musical Youth, Matthew Ward (vocals); Ray Parker Jr., Marty Walsh, Jay Graydon (guitar); Gary Herbig (saxophones); Jerry Hey, Chuck Findley, Gary Grant, Dick Hyde, Charlie Loper (horns); Michael Omartian (accordion, keyboards); Nathan East (bass); Mike Baird (drums); Lenny Castro (percussion); Michael Boddicker, John Gilston (programming); Dara Lynn Bernard, Mary E. Bernard, Roberta Kelly (background vocals).
Recorded at Lion Share Studios, Los Angeles; Hollywood Sound Recorders, Hollywood, California; Rhema Studio, Beverly Hills, California.
Personnel: Donna Summer (vocals); Mary Bernard, Dara Lynn Bernard, Matthew Ward, Roberta Kelly (vocals, background vocals); Musical Youth (vocals); Michael Omartian (guitar, accordion, piano, keyboards, synthesizer); Jay Graydon, Marty Walsh, Ray Parker, Jr. (guitar); Gary Herbig (saxophone); Chuck Findley, Dick Hyde, Gary Grant, Jerry Hey, Charles Loper (horns); Michael Boddicker (synthesizer, programming); John Gilston (drums, programming); Michael Baird (drums); Lenny Castro (congas).
Photographer: Harry Langdon.
To realize how thoroughly disco died in the early '80s, it's instructive to note that Donna Summer's hit single "She Works Hard for the Money" was trumpeted as an unexpected and triumphant comeback. However, it became a hit in the summer of 1983, barely two years after her last hit, "The Wanderer." Still, the change in sound is remarkable; the nine songs on this album are definitely post-disco '80s pop.
Producer Michael Omartian's bright synth sounds are a far cry from the krautrock-inspired man-machine rhythms of early Summer hits like "I Feel Love," and the songs--other than the overt Christian themes the newly born-again Summer was adding to her music--aren't that far removed from what Madonna was doing on her debut the same year. The follow-up single "Unconditional Love"--featuring then-current one hit wonders Musical Youth--and the lovely ballads "Love Has a Mind of Its Own" and "I Do Believe I Fell in Love," are up to the standards of the feminist anthem title track.