Donna Summer is the tenth studio album of American singer Donna Summer, released in 1982, and is currently out of print. It featured the Top 10, Grammy-nominated “Love Is in Control (Finger on the Trigger)” single.

Since the disco era, Summer’s work had covered a variety of musical genres and this album was no exception. It had quite a strong soul influence, and featured a couple of gospel-styled tracks, namely “(If It) Hurts Just a Little” and a version of Jon and Vangelis’ “State of Independence”, which featured an all-star choir. Rock music was also found in the form of the Bruce Springsteen-penned “Protection”; the track had been planned as a Donna Summer/Bruce Springsteen duet but that concept was abandoned as unworkable. The album concluded with Summer’s take on the Billy Strayhorn torch standard “Lush Life”.

Several very popular songwriters were used on this album. As well as the aforementioned Springsteen and Vangelis, Quincy Jones himself contributed to the writing, as did other names such as Rod Temperton, Merria Ross, John Lang, Richard Page, Bill Meyers, Michael Clark, John Bettis, Jon Anderson, David Foster, Steve Lukather, Michael Sembello, Danny Sembello and David Batteau. This made it the largest number of songwriters ever to contribute to a Donna Summer album.

A period of six months elapsed between the first session for the Donna Summer album and the completion of the tracks. Summer has since stated that this was one of the hardest albums ever to record – some of the songs were quite challenging, plus she was pregnant with her daughter Amanda Grace at the time. It has also been reported that she found producer Quincy Jones to be rather boisterous and controlling and soon after the album’s release she opened up to the Los Angeles Times: “Sometimes I feel it’s a Quincy Jones album that I sang on”.

Tracks
1 Love Is In Control (Finger On The Trigger) (Merria Ross; Quincy Jones; Rod Temperton) 04:19
2  Mystery Of Love (John Lang; Bill Meyers; Richard Page) 04:25
3  The Woman In Me (John Bettis; Michael Clark) 03:55
4  State Of Independence (Jon Anderson; Vangelis) 05:49
5  Livin’ In America (Quincy Jones; Steve Lukather; Rod Temperton; David Foster; Donna Summer) 04:43
6  Protection (Bruce Springsteen) 03:39
7  (If it) Hurts Just A Little (Michael Sembello; Daniel Sembello; David Batteau) 03:54
8  Love Is Just A Breath Away (David Foster; Donna Summer; Rod Temperton) 03:55
9  Lush Life (Billy Strayhorn) 06:26

Musicians

1 Love Is In Control (Finger On The Trigger)
Drums - Leon Chancler
Guitar - Michael Sembello
Keyboards - Greg Phillinganes
Synthesizer - Michael Boddicker
Synthesizer - Greg Phillinganes
Horns - Bill Reichenbach
Horns - Gary Grant
Horns - Jerry Hey
Horns - Ernie Watts
Sax - Ernie Watts
Percussion - Paulinho Da Costa
Background Vocals - James Ingram
Background Vocals - Phillip Ingram
Background Vocals - Howard Hewett
Voice - Michael Boddicker
Vocals - Donna Summer

2 Mystery Of Love
Bass - Louis Johnson
Bass (synthesizer) - Greg Phillinganes
Drums - Leon Chancler
Guitar - Michael Sembello
Keyboards - Greg Phillinganes
Programming - Don Dorsey
Programming - Steve Porcaro
Programming - Michael Boddicker
Horns - Bill Reichenbach
Horns - Ernie Watts
Horns - Gary Grant
Percussion - Paulinho Da Costa
Piano - David Paich
Synthesizer - David Paich
Background Vocals - Bill Champlin
Background Vocals - James Ingram
Background Vocals - Richard Page
Background Vocals - Steve George
Vocals - Donna Summer

3 The Woman In Me
Drums (programming) - Steve Porcaro
Guitar - Steve Lukather
Keyboards - David Paich
Background Vocals - Bill Champlin
Background Vocals - James Ingram
Background Vocals - Richard Page
Background Vocals - Steve George
Vocals - Donna Summer

4 State Of Independence
Bass - Louis Johnson
Drums - Leon Chancler
Drums (programming) - Michael Boddicker
Synclavier - Don Dorsey
Synthesizer - Greg Phillinganes
Synthesizer - David Paich
Programming - Steve Porcaro
Programming - Michael Boddicker
Programming - Don Dorsey
Sax - Ernie Watts
Percussion - Paulinho Da Costa
Background Vocals - Bill Champlin
Background Vocals - James Ingram
Background Vocals - Richard Page
Background Vocals - Steve George
Choir - Brenda Russell
Choir - James Ingram
Choir - Dionne Warwick
Choir - Kenny Loggins
Choir - Lionel Richie
Choir - Stevie Wonder
Choir - Chris Geppert
Choir - Dara Bernard
Choir - Dyan Cannon
Choir - Peggy Lipton
Choir - Michael Jackson
Choir - Stevland Morris
Vocals - Donna Summer

5 Livin’ In America
Drums - Joe Porcaro
Drums - JR Robinson
Drums - Larry Bunker
Drums - Harvey Mason Sr
Drums (programming) - Steve Porcaro
Drums (programming) - Michael Boddicker
Guitar - Steve Lukather
Guitar - Michael Sembello
Synthesizer - Greg Phillinganes
Programming - Steve Porcaro
Programming - Michael Boddicker
Horns - Bill Reichenbach
Horns - Ernie Watts
Horns - Gary Grant
Horns - Jerry Hey
Percussion - Rini Kramer
Background Vocals - Howard Hewett
Background Vocals - Phillip Ingram
Background Vocals - James Ingram
Vocals - Donna Summer

6 Protection
Bass - Louis Johnson
Drums - Jeffrey Porcaro
Guitar - Steve Lukather
Guitar - Bruce Springsteen
Piano - Roy Bittan
Synthesizer - David Paich
Synthesizer - Greg Phillinganes
Programming - Steve Porcaro
Sax - Ernie Watts
Vocals - Donna Summer

7 (If it) Hurts Just A Little
Drums - Leon Chancler
Guitar - Michael Sembello
Synthesizer - David Paich
Synthesizer - Greg Phillinganes
Programming - Steve Porcaro
Programming - Michael Boddicker
Horns - Bill Reichenbach
Horns - Ernie Watts
Horns - Gary Grant
Horns - Jerry Hey
Percussion - Paulinho Da Costa
Background Vocals - James Ingram
Background Vocals - Liza Miller
Background Vocals - Cruz Sembello
Vocals - Donna Summer

8 Love Is Just A Breath Away
Drums (programming) - Steve Porcaro
Guitar - Steve Lukather
Synthesizer - David Paich
Synthesizer - Steve Porcaro
Synthesizer - David Foster
Vocals - Donna Summer

9 Lush Life
Bass (synthesizer) - Greg Phillinganes
Drums - Leon Chancler
Electric Piano - Dave Grusin
Programming - Don Dorsey
Programming - Michael Boddicker
Sax - Ernie Watts
Vocals - Donna Summer

Other Musicians

Choir – Bernard Walton, Cynthia Spears, Dara Bernard, Debra Green, Deirdre Dantzler Ribeiro, Deirdre Spears, Dina Rich, Faith D. Wong, Heather Mason, Kidada Jones, Lynn T. Walton, Michael Davis, Patrick Crotty, Jr., Rashida Jones, Shanté Lewis, Tonya DeWalt, James Ingram, Greg Phillinganes (Track 5)

Liner Notes

Producer – Quincy Jones
Arranged By – Harvey Mason Sr (Track 5)
Arranged By – David Paich (Track 8)
Arranged By – David Foster (Track 8)
Arranged By (Horns) – Jerry Hey (Tracks 1, 2, 7)
Arranged By (Rhythm) – Rod Temperton (Tracks 1, 4, 5, 7)
Arranged By (Rhythm) – Quincy Jones (Tracks 1, 4, 5, 7, 9)
Arranged By (Rhythm) – Greg Phillinganes (Track 2)
Arranged By (Rhythm) – David Paich (Tracks 2, 4)
Arranged By (Rhythm) – Bill Meyers (Track 2)
Arranged By (Rhythm) – David Foster (Track 5)
Arranged By (Rhythm) – Michael Sembello (Track 7)
Arranged By (Rhythm) – Dave Grusin (Track 9)
Arranged By (Strings) – Michael Omartian (Track 2)
Arranged By (Strings) – Johnny Mandel (Track 9)
Arranged By (Synthesizer) – Quincy Jones (Tracks 2, 4, 5, 7)
Arranged By (Synthesizer) – Greg Phillinganes (Track 2)
Arranged By (Synthesizer) – Bill Meyers (Track 2)
Arranged By (Synthesizer) – David Paich (Tracks 2, 3)
Arranged By (Synthesizer) – Greg Mathieson (Track 4)
Arranged By (Synthesizer) – Rod Temperton (Tracks 5, 7
Arranged By (Synthesizer) – David Foster (Track 5)
Arranged By (Synthesizer) – Michael Sembello (Track 7)
Arranged By (Synthesizer) – Dave Grusin (Track 9)
Arranged By (Vocals) – Quincy Jones (Tracks 1, 4, 5, 7)
Arranged By (Vocals) – Rod Temperton (Tracks 1, 4)
Arranged By (Vocals) – Richard Page (Track 3)
Arranged By (Vocals) – Michael Sembello (Track 7)
Conductor (Choir) – Dennis Cosby, Guy Spells (Track 5)
Directed By – Billie Barnum (Track 5)
Engineer (Assistant) – John Van Nest, Matt Forger, Steve Crimmel
Mastered By – Bernie Grundman
Mixed By – Bruce Swedien
Recorded By – Bruce Swedien
Supervised By (Choir) – Billie Barnum (Track 5)
Art Direction, Design – Christopher Worf, Jeff Lancaster
Photography – David Alexander
Mastered At Sheffield Lab Matrix
Mixed At Westlake Audio
Recorded At Allen Zentz Recording
Recorded At Ocean Way Recording
Recorded At Westlake Audio
Phonographic Copyright The David Geffen Company
Copyright The David Geffen Company