The last dance

"I have heard the sound of the future."   

Brian Eno to David Bowie on "I Feel Love", 1977. 

Whether you, the reader, deem this following point a sad fact or not, the truth remains that since around 2006 several important, wonderful artists we've since immersed ourselves in and continue to thoroughly enjoy today were introduced to us, through one way or another, by Madonna. Whether an artist she chose to collaborate with (Lenny Kravitz for "Justify My Love", Prince for - lol - "Love Song"), an artist she sampled (Public Enemy for, again, "Justify My Love", the God-like geniuses of ABBA for "Hung Up"), artists who have written for her (*quiet hush* Björk), producers (Pettibone, Orbit, Mirwais, Price), even artists she has signed to her former vanity label Maverick (Meshell Ndgeocello)... several of the above are illustrious and many would say sit above Madonna herself in the pop pantheon (Prince, ABBA and Björk would be among the debatables) however we have no shame in admitting such facts. We were sixteen years old, and are proud to have been lead down wonderful musical garden paths by such an incredible figure head herself.

It was the majestic opening performance of the Confessions Tour which introduced us to the topic of this evening's post. Again, you're probably shaking your head, baffled. We had little to no musical education! So it came to be that the sample of "I Feel Love" by the Queen of Disco, LaDonna Adrian Gaines - or Ms. Donna Summer to mot - in "Future Lovers" was what made our ears prick up and delve into the musical library of this siren of electronica. At the time to our immature ears, it sounded no different than it does to them today - like a work of art in synthesised music, a chorus of cherubs pushed through wires and cables, a symphony of light and magic transposed and amplified by computers. "I Feel Love" - with the majority of credit to be fairly given to Moroder - was and is a true masterpiece. A song which can ignite the dance floor today - and probably will be tomorrow evening. A song to which we've moved, grinded and swayed, a song which erects the hairs along your back from the bottom to the top like tumbling dominoes, a song which quite literally paved the way for the electronic pop female singer-songwriters of the following three decades. Post-70s Diana Ross, Chaka Khan, Annie Lennox and the Eurhythmics, the aforementioned Madonna... right up to the recent late-00s revival lead by La Roux and Little Boots. This woman, this maiden of the dancefloor, who unless you haven't read or worked out yet passed away today, was without a shred of exaggeration, an innovator and trend setter.

Her body of work most certainly did not end there. "Bad Girls", "Love to Love You Baby" and "Hot Stuff" are just three of her most noteable 70s earworms, while "MacArthur Park" and "Enough is Enough" with the one and only Barbra Streisand practically define 'gay anthem'. Her 80s revival was nearly as spectacular, with "She Works Hard for the Money" and the incredible "This Time I Know It's For Real" (produced by another genre-defining outfit, Stock Aitken Waterman). This woman has a discography under her belt which still remains undervalued, yet has flooded the charts and its contemporaries with countless influences. Her position as an icon to the gay community - which comes with the territory of leading the disco revolution - was questioned with several unsavoury comments coming from a mixture of AIDS terror and born-again Christianity, but a seemingly pleasant epiphany and apology at the end of the 80s put an end to any discord. 

The word diva is thrown about far too casually, but Donna Summer was a diva. Donna Summer is a diva. Belting lungs, timeless music, spectacularly entertaining. You will find us on the floor, this time in twenty four hours, having a moment with her. We expect to see you there.

(Can you believe that bitch Madonna still managed to get an entire paragraph in a tribute to the deceased Queen of Disco? What a cow)