Donna Summer Album: “Bad Girls”

It's somewhat unfair that "Bad Girls" (1979) gets praised simply as one of the finest disco albums ever when in fact it's an album that transcends disco and incorporates everything from rock ("Hot Stuff"), funk ("Bad Girls"), country ("On My Honour") and even electronica ("Lucky").

"Bad Girls" was made in 1979 and it's important to note the timing because this album was the template that many female artists of the 80s, including Laura Branigan, Irene Cara, Taylor Dayne, and yes, even Whitney Houston and Madonna, would use to build their own albums: intercutting pop/dance/rock tracks with ballads.

With the exceptions of Whitney and Madonna (and later Mariah Carey and Celine Dion), nobody could do it better than Donna. From the strong writing to the superb vocals, "Bad Girls" showcases Donna at her peak. Although up to this point Donna was well-known for her disco music, this album allowed her to break out into the pop/rock arena. Particularly "Hot Stuff" showed a grittier Donna, but unfortunately Donna never truly embraced rock and roll (or it did not embrace her) which is too bad because later tracks like "Cold Love" proved she could really rock.

There are disco-type tracks on this album but it never really feels like a "disco" album. It is entirely enjoyable on its own terms, and it set the stage for the 80s, a feat Donna and her producers rarely get credit for. Enjoy!

Unlike the other 7 Universal Japan reissues of Donna Summer's Casablanca catalog, this CD is NOT a remastered version because Universal Music upgraded the sound in 2003. Universal Music issued a Deluxe Edition of Bad Girls and Universal Japan apparently decided to use this amazingly stellar version in their 2012 reissue. Most likely they couldn't dramatically improve the job previously done. Nonetheless, the standout part of this 2012 version is the replication of the LP jacket. They also include a duplicate of the original 1979 LP booklet. Additionally included are English lyrics and Japanese lyrics. Alas the high price of this reissue makes buying the previous Deluxe Edition version much easier on your wallet.

If Donna Summer was the Queen of Disco, then this album was her coronation. On "Bad Girls," she and her producers stepped away from monotonous, monochromatic dance floor entries. It seems obvious that they set out to really make music; to really tell a story. This was the Age of Disco (1979), an age of pre-AIDS, do-whatcha-wanna-do excess. The envelope of free expression (sexually, that is) was being pushed to its very limits. This album plays like a soundtrack of that expression, from a female standpoint. (If you want to see how that era saw itself, watch two films: "Looking For Mr. Goodbar" and "Cruisin'"!) The songs are mini-masterworks. They delve into many areas, but they are neither preachy nor redundant. Feminism was gaining a much stronger voice in the overall pop culture during these times, and Donna Summer proved to be a fine spokeswoman for new ideas. The message she carries through a variety of moods and modes seems to be, "Hear me out before you judge me!" She is backed by strong musicianship, and the album had enough of a rock edge that the masses really bought into it. "Bad Girls" was a smash, topping the U.S. album chart for 6 weeks during that long, hot summer of '79. Donna meanders through all facets of the issues she tackles, defining sex and love, and listing the distinguishing factors between the two. On "Hot Stuff," she is on a manhunt, determined to "bring a wildman back home." The title cut shows the trade-off that some women are willing to make: submission for dollars! "Love Will Always Find You" shows that Donna still believes in The Fairy Tale. "Walk Away" demonstrates the struggle between dependence, independence, and co-dependence that can occur in human relationships. Donna was optimistic on "Dim All The Lights," believing she had found the perfect lover, and that love should lead to sex. But the next three songs find her in differing lights. On "Journey To The Center Of Your Heart," sex has clearly come first, and Donna is hoping she will find love at the end of the rainbow. On "One Night In A Lifetime," she doesn't seem to care WHAT happens after sex, only about its fruition. "Can't Get To Sleep At Night" finds our heroine in one relationship, but missing a past lover. Side three of the album featured ballads, all of them written or co-written by Summer. "On My Honor" expresses faith in the face of hopelessness. "There Will Always Be A You" is much in the same vein, focusing on how lovers tend to come back to one another. "All Through The Night" is probably the most tender song Donna ever wrote, and is a pretty expression of the restlessness of those times. "My Baby Understands" finds a woman glorying in the light of sexual and intellectual satisfaction. The last three songs are again upbeat. "Our Love" seems to be a personal message from Donna to her soon-to-be husband, Bruce Sudano; her belief being that love would last forever. "Lucky" finds her back in a night club, not really wanting to be there, but "getting lucky" for her trouble. "Sunset People" is one last look at the crazy, sleazy world of hustling that was Hollywood, as the 1980s beckoned. All told, Donna Summer informed us that sex is sex, and love is love. One often follows the other; one often takes the place of the other. And, it's hard to live without either one; damn near impossible to find both in a single other person. "Bad Girls" was a chronicle of our collective mindset, at a very volatile time in our history. Donna Summer spoke from a woman's perspective, but she had a lesson for all of us, about the human condition. We listened and we learned. We felt this album deep in our souls.

Her final album for Casablanca, and not probably but DEFINITELY her best! This album contains four massive hits: "Hot stuff", "Bad girls", "Walk away" and "Dim all the lights". Note that the first four tracks are "continuous play", so do tracks 5 to 8. But there is also a ballad side ("All through the night" is my favourite) and the album ends with three more progressive cuts, including the six-minute-plus peak-hour tune "Sunset people". You will play this one on and on...

This new 2012 double SHM-CD of the classic 1979 Donna Summer album "Bad Girls" is a must-own for Donna Summer fans because of the wonderful packaging in cardboard sleeve form which replicates the look of the original double vinyl album. This new cd includes Japanese and English lyrics. Disc One features the original "Bad Girls" album with 15 tracks plus the demo version of "Bad Girls" while Disc Two (12" Singles and More) contains nine (9) extended versions of Donna Summer classics.

In terms of sound quality, what is the difference between "Bad Girls" 2012 double SHM-CD made by Universal Japan and "Bad Girls" 2003 Deluxe Edition double cd made by Island Def Jam Music Group USA? None. The sound quality of both double cds is the same. This new 2012 cd merely replicates the superior sound quality of the 2003 Deluxe edition version. In fact, the booklet from this 2012 edition with notes from Brian Chin is exactly the same booklet used in the 2003 Deluxe edition.

If you are a Donna Summer fan with a lot of money to spare, do get this expensive 2012 double SHM-CD for your collection which costs a whopping $69.37 in the USA and $44.87 in Japan. However, if you are quite concerned with the exorbitant price of this 2012 cd and you would like a lower-priced alternative, do get the "Bad Girls" Deluxe Edition released in 2003. It is cheaper and costs only $28.00 but the quality is the same in terms of wonderful packaging (glossy cover) and superior, remastered sound. The remastered 2003 Deluxe edition is replicated by Universal Japan in this wonderful 2012 SHM-CD edition.