I was born in 1981 and meaning no disrespect at all to MCA, while my friends were listening to The Beastie Boys, I was listening to music from the 60s, 70s, and 80s. And unlike my angsty male counterparts, I wasn't listening to most older prog rock, either. If it was uncool to listen to at the time, I was probably unintentionally into it, so of course that meant I love disco.
My parents are a bit older than most of my sister and my friends' parents. So while friends grew up listening to more contemporary music and followed that line, my sister and I loved listening to Dad's "little records" - 45rm. He had everything from Buddy Holly to Cyndi Lauper in that collection, though most of it was the older stuff. And our parents have wide ranging musical tastes, so we listened to The Ventures one weekend and had a family sing along with the Peter, Paul, and Mary albums the next. Dad wasn't the disco fan, though. That's mom. And since Dad was a firefighter working a 24 on/ 48 off schedule, that meant that she had evenings when she would play the albums Dad wasn't as crazy about.
That was how I was first introduced to Donna Summer through Mom's Best of Barbara Streisand album. I quite literally can't remember a time in my life before I knew the song "No More Tears (Enough is Enough)" - a duet between Summer and Streisand. For one it's a great song for belting out, Mom has a great voice and so my sister grew up belting it out along with her. Who could hold the super long notes the longest? Eventually I caught up and surpassed Mom, though to be fair she's a smoker. When we were getting on Mom's nerves and she would tell us, "That's it. Enough is enough!" my sister or I would diffuse the situation by continuing to sing "enough is enough is enough is enough...!" and laugh.
Skip ahead 9 or so years to when my parents are divorced and Mom is living in a clean but depressing apartment. There was a movie rental place not far from the apartment so often when Mom would pick us up to come visit her we'd rent a movie on the way. One time we rented the movie "The Full Monty".
Aside from it being a really funny and really heartfelt movie, it has some great music in it and one particular scene that for Mom, Sis, and I - all we have to say is the name of the movie and we know this is the scene we're talking about!
We love that scene (and the song "Hot Stuff") so much that at my rather unconventional wedding my sister, the Maid of Honor, and our Best Person danced their way out onto the floor when they were announced at the reception. And they did do that twirl.
Of course there are so many other great songs Donna Summer did that I love. But these are the moments where her music was a memorable part of my life. Am I a Donna Summer fan? Who isn't? Even Dad likes her stuff!
Rest in Peace, Donna Summer. The angel choir is so jealous right now.
