Parallels between "The Cure" and Donna Summer

[ReidOne 12,427]

...and no, I don't mean sonically. 

Back in 1989, the undisputed 70's disco queen Donna Summer released "This Time I Know It's For Real" and scored her last Top 10 hit of her career. She was the queen of the dance floor (and the pop charts) exactly 10 years prior. But the music scene changed, and she no longer fit the tastes of the masses. 

So what did she do? Collaborated with the biggest kiddie-pop hit making machine at the time (PWL/SAW) and released a song that sounded like every one of their other hits, made for teens (Kylie Minogue, Rick Astley, etc...). But it worked. It sent her back to the Top 10. 

But now that nearly 30 years have passed, when you look back on Donna's catalog, while this song is a highlight, it sticks out like a sore thumb. Even 30 years later, it is clear she wanted (and needed) a hit song. Even if it meant following a youth-oriented music trend. And recording a song that, while enjoyable, is nowhere near the caliber of the pioneering sound that she CREATED with Giorgio Moroder. 

From this: 

To this: 

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You can pretty much replace "Donna Summer" with "Lady Gaga" in the story above. Change the years. It's a very similar story. 

Don't get me wrong, I am here for "The Cure"! I'm not hating. Do what you have to do, Gaga (and yes, I'm still bopping to it, sis!!!! Slay me!). But it will not age as well as her pioneering hits. And will possibly be an awkward moment in her catalog of hits when we look back in 30 years. 

[Saint Hollywood 37,364]

this is the perfect opportunity to use this high quality reaction photo

[calmar 22,038]

I think you're going to get a lot of flack for this thread but I see where you're coming from. Of course, unless this is somehow the year 2047, we can't tell if this is a Donna Summer-esque move or not. The Cure at the very least does sound like a song Gaga could have written in her earlier years, just with some production tweaks to make it more mainstream for the year in which it was released.

[Edonis 28,950]

Can we just enjoy new Gaga music please 

And you're digging way too deep on things. Donna Summer was very dependant on disco music to get to her peak that you mentioned, which was a dead genre at the time of This Time (mainstream wise). So she had to release something like that in order to "stay relevant". Gaga is different. Electronic music, which is what catapulted her to the position she is in today, is a very broad genre of music that doesn't ever really go "out of style". Plus Gaga never really left the spotlight, which is what Donna did, leading to her struggles in the music industry. It's kind of different things.

I think Gaga just wanted to keep her radio momentum so she released something radio friendly is all.  

 

[Edonis 28,950]

Double post 

[God Control 2,181]

Maybe so, but then again, what was the alternative? continue with the Joanne style which was not her best by any means? go down a different path that is just as risky as Joanne was and risk another era that is not as strong as BTW/TFM? It's hard for Gaga to keep the balance between making what she desires and experimenting with new things vs. creating something that still has the soul that made the world love her, and getting along with trends to sell.

[Robo Ga 15,297]

25 minutes ago, Edonis said:

Can we just enjoy new Gaga music please 

RETWEET.

[Rayze 277]

...Can't y'all entertain the idea that maybe Gaga likes this sound herself, and isn't "selling out"? 

[Alexander Barton 0]

It's fun encountering this post a year later to reflect on how wrong it is. I'll keep my remarks as brief as possible.

To ReidOne:

Here's what you got right: Donna Summer is the undisputed Queen of Disco, "This Time I Know It's for Real" was released in 1989, "I Feel Love" is a masterpiece.

Here's what you got wrong: everything else.

Donna Summer didn't die when disco died. Summer had hits, some of the biggest of her career, well into the 80s. "This Time" is the capstone of an incredibly successful career that spanned more than a decade and many genres, including rock, pop, disco, country, funk, gospel, and soul. "I Feel Love" is her best song, no doubt, but "This Time" is hardly a dud. You talk about the song as though it were merely a fun pop diversion, but "This Time" is regarded all these years later as one of her finest hits. 

If you're trying to suggest "The Cure" is to "This Time" as, I don't know, "Bad Romance" is to "I Feel Love", you're off the mark. "I Feel Love" is almost universally regarded as one of the best pop songs of all time. And "This Time" is a few notches better than "Bad Romance". "The Cure" is a fun song but it's entirely forgettable, something you can't say about either of the Donna Summer songs you mentioned here.

Here are the facts. "This Time I Know It's for Real" was a Top 10 hit. "The Cure" debuted and peaked at #39. "This Time" spent 17 weeks on the charts during a time when chart turnover was rapid. "The Cure" spent 14 weeks on the charts during a time when songs linger on the charts for many months at a time. People still talk about "This Time" 30 years after its chart debut. Nobody is talking about "The Cure", and it's only been a year. "This Time" is hardly an awkward moment in Donna Summer's catalog. And it doesn't stick out like a sore thumb, either. It's too early to tell what the legacy of "The Cure" will be. I think it's a fine song. I'm sure it will be remembered fondly by some.

To Edonis:

You say Donna Summer depended on disco. It's more accurate to say disco depended on Donna Summer. Summer breathed new life into a genre unfairly targeted by rock bros and the popular media. Disco was on its way out, but Summer scored three of the 12 biggest hits of 1979 in "Hot Stuff", "Bad Girls", and "MacArthur Park", all #1s. A fourth number one, the "No More Tears" duet with Barbra Streisand landed late in the year.

Donna Summer didn't stop making music when disco "died". She scored four major Top 10 hits in the 1980s with "The Wanderer", "She Works Hard for the Money", "Love Is In Control (Finger on the Trigger)", and "This Time I Know It's for Real". None of these songs is disco. They are rock, pop, and funk, but they are not disco. "Money" was one of the biggest hits of Summer's entire career. Songs like "Cold Love", "Dinner with Gershwin", and "Who Do You Think You're Foolin?" may have been only minor hits, but they are still well regarded today. "Foolin'" is still played in clubs and is a template for Lady Gaga's vocal sound ("Stop Me", not a single, from the same "The Wanderer" album is an even better example).

Donna Summer didn't release "This Time" to stay relevant. She was already relevant. She had had major hits just a couple years before "This Time" was released. Disco may have gone out of style (and that's a damn shame), but Donna Summer never did, not before 1989 anyway. 
 

 

[Alexander Barton 0]

And you know what, Edonis, your comments about Donna Summer were just plain disrespectful to a woman who's been on record as admiring Lady Gaga's artistry and sound.