In a photo finish, I'm giving the edge to "Last Dance" and declaring it to be Donna Summer's best single. According to an interview with songwriter/producer Bob Etsy, the genesis of the single wasn't without controversy:
After "Shut Out" was recorded, Paul [Jabara] told me he locked Donna in her hotel bathroom in Puerto Rico and forced her to listen to a cassette of a rough song idea called "Last Dance." [...] Luckily, Donna liked the song. Paul asked me to do an arrangement so Donna could make a demo for Neil Bogart, the head of Casablanca Records, who had to OK it. Because they were producing with Motown Records a film ultimately named Thank God It's Friday, it was to be Donna Summer's song. So, working on the arrangement with Paul, I changed some of the chords and extended the "hook" to repeat 3 times to finish the last phrase of the chorus. I also added a bridge to build to a climax and suggested a ballad intro a la "Ain't No Mountain High Enough" and another ballad in the middle of the song building again to a high note for the last chorus ending. To our knowledge, this had never been done in a disco track. I was willing to do this idea, and confident that it would work. We did the piano/vocal with Donna and me of the full version including the two ballad sections and the ending in one "pass". At the finish Donna ad-libbed "that's all folks!" and we all applauded! I recorded the full track in one day, rhythm in the morning, horns and strings during the day. That same night, Giorgio Moroder recorded Donna's vocal exactly as she sang the demo, in two takes, and banning me from attending the session. In spite of the fact Giorgio didn't like the song and didn't want Donna to sing in a full voice style, I thought I would be at least credited for co-producing the track and co-writing the song with Paul. He ultimately took credit for it. And Paul Jabara took the Oscar. I learned a bitter lesson from that...But that's one man's story. Here's another: This song was popular when I was in 8th grade and it was the tradition in my small town to have a year end "8th grade dance" at the local country club (see photo below). So, on May 16, 1980, my classmates and I dressed up in our Sunday best and hit the parquet dance floor for a few hours. As the dance ended, the DJ naturally chose "Last Dance" to close things out and I danced with a girl who was one of my good friends. Turns out that dance marked the beginning of an on-again, off-again tumultuous romantic relationship that would last until 1985. "I Feel Love" can't possibly compete with that.
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| Your humble blogger at said dance looking like a bit player from Saturday Night Fever, Jr. |
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