100 ESSENTIAL DONNA SUMMER SONGS #10-6. Continues: tomorrow.

Caffè Lattè presents…  THE 100 ESSENTIAL SONGS BY DONNA SUMMER Although she had concealed her illness for a time, Donna Summer passed away on May 17, 2012. The cause of her death was lung cancer. In April 2013, she was inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame.

10 STATE OF INDEPENDENCE Donna didn’t just remake the Jon & Vangelis track “State Of Independence”, she and producer Quincy Jones totally transformed the song. Although this remains one of her most underrated recordings, the cover laid the seed for a later Jones project: “We Are The World”. Donna’s track features some of the most famous “choir members” ever assembled. Among this illustrious gathering were: Stevie Wonder, Michael Jackson, Dionne Warwick, Lionel Richie, James Ingram, Christopher Cross, Quincy Jones, Michael McDonald, Kenny Loggins and Brenda Russell.

9 THIS TIME I KNOW IT’S FOR REAL  Donna’s first writing session with the Stock/ Aitken/ Waterman team for ‘Another Place And Time’ resulted in “This Time I Know It’s For Real”. The single peaked at #3 in Britain and #7 in the US and also reached the Top 10 in Europe and Canada.

8 BAD GIRLS The title track from Donna’s best album was written by the singer with the group Brooklyn Dreams. Issued as the LP’s second single (after “Hot Stuff”), “Bad Girls” also topped the US chart. Both finished among the Top 10 singles of 1979, according to Billboard’s Year End Chart.

7 LAST DANCE Paul Jabara wrote “Last Dance” especially for Donna. He drew inspiration for the song’s slow build up to a dance climax from Diana Ross’ rendition of “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough”. The Grammy-winning song was performed by Donna in the film ‘Thank God It’s Friday’. In America, the single peaked at #3. Later, it won an Oscar and Golden Globe for Best Original (Movie) Song.

6 MACARTHUR PARK Jimmy Webb penned “MacArthur Park” which was a US and UK Top 5 hit single for actor Richard Harris.in 1968. Neil Bogart wanted a cover for the studio side of the ‘Live And More’ album. Pete Bellotte suggested “MacArthur Park”. He song formed the basis for the “MacArthur Park Suite” on that LP which segues into “One Of A Kind” and “Heaven Knows”. The edited single version of “MacArthur Park” gave Donna her first US #1 single. Despite running for over 14 minutes, the “suite” version remained at #1 on Billboard’s Disco Chart for 5 weeks.