Donna Summer | I Feel Love (1977)

 

  "I have heard the sound of the future. This is it, look no further. I Feel Love is going to change the sound of club music for the next fifteen years." - Brian Eno zu David Bowie nachdem er zum ersten Mal Donna Summer's  I Feel Love gehört hatte

Die Zukunft der Musik änderte sich vor ziemlich genau 35 Jahren. Am 6.August 1977 erreichte Donna Summer mit I Feel Love Platz 1 der UK Charts und blieb da vier Wochen. In Holland ging's ebenfalls auf die 1, in Deutschland bis auf Platz 3, in den USA bis Platz 6 und weltweit war die Nummer im August vor 30 Jahren fast zwei Monate in den Top 3.I Feel Love bedeutete nich nur den endgültigen Durchbruch für Donna Summer, die zwei Jahre später vier #1 Hits in 13 Monaten hatte und bis heute die einzige Künstlerin ist, die mit drei Doppel Alben hintereinander Platz 1 der Album Charts geschafft hat. Ohne Donna Summer hätte es eine Madonna oder eine Kylie vielleicht nie so gegeben.

“It’s basically the blueprint for all electronic music that came after it,” Peter Shapiro ( Autor des Buchs Turn the Beat Around: The Secret History of Disco ), “Moroder and Bellotte found the perfect frame for her voice in ‘I Feel Love,’ in the synth cathedral they created for her. The reason she was a great singer for disco is that she wasn’t a traditional soul singer at all. She’s much more of a Broadway singer, kind of a show tunes singer. In fact, that’s the way Moroder discovered her — she was in the touring company of Hair…. In the sense that disco is in some ways a break from traditional soul, her style was perfect.”

I Feel Love war der erste Nummer 1 Hit überhaupt, der komplett ohne echte Instrument auskam. Das damals völlig andere Stück bedeutete aber auch den Durchbruch der elektronischen Musik und gilt heute als Geburtsstunde von Techno und House.

Der legendäre 15:45 Minuten lange MegaMix von Patrick Cowley von 1978 wurde zu E-Werk Zeiten auch gerne mal zwischendurch aufgelegt und es fiel gar nich auf, dass das Stück schon soviele Jahre auf dem Buckel hatte. Ein Zeichen dafür, wie weit voraus das phänomenal erfolgreiche Trio Giorgio Moroder, Pete Bellotte & Donna Summer seiner Zeit war. Patrick Cowley's monumentaler Remix ist heute eine der meistgesuchten und teuersten 12" Vinyls überhaupt. 

 I Feel Love brachte Donna Summer noch zwei Mal in die Top 10: 1982 mit dem erwähnten Cowley Remix und 1995 von Donna Summer neu aufgenommen und von Rollo & Sister Bliss genial produziert und remixed.
I Feel Love ist eine der ganz grossen und wegweisenden Aufnahmen des 20.Jahrhunderts und der Name auf dem Label ist Donna Summer.

 
Trivia:

• 1982 - remixes by Patrick Cowley on Casablanca Records were released including a 12" single which contained the 15:45-minute 'Mega Mix' of "I Feel Love", now a collector's item.
• 1985 - Bronski Beat covered the song in a medley with "Johnny Remember Me" and Summer's "Love to Love You Baby".
• 1993 - Finnish progressive rock band Kingston Wall recorded a cover version on their album II.
• 1993 - London techno duo Messiah included a breakneck electronic version of the song on their album 21st Century Jesus.
• 1993 - Berkeley, California punk rock band The Mr. T Experience recorded a cover version on their album Our Bodies Our Selves.
• 1995 - Summer re-recorded her version of the song and it became a UK Top 10 single.
• 1995- A live version of the song, lifted from a 1979 concert recording, was included as a b-side to Blondie's re-issued single "Union City Blue."
• 1997 - Bono of U2 would snippet this song at the end of the band's "Do You Feel Loved" on their Popmart Tour.
• 1997 - Vanessa Mae released a cover on the album Storm, produced by Andy Hill.
• 1998 - Electronic music duo Underworld interpolated the bassline of the song for their single "King of Snake," which was released as the third single from the album Beaucoup Fish.
• 2000 - The title track of Kylie Minogue's album Light Years imitates the bassline of "I Feel Love". Minogue quoted lines from "I Feel Love" during the performance of "Light Years" on her KylieFever world tour.
• 2002 - Guitarist Paul Gilbert recorded a cover version on his Burning Organ album.
• 2003 - Finnish electronic music duo Dallas Superstars covered the song on their first album Flash.
• 2003 - The New Deal (band) released a 'live progressive breakbeat house' version on their album Gone Gone Gone.
• 2003 - Plump DJs released a bootleg single - the breakbeat remix titled Donna Kebab.
• 2004 - Québécois singer/cellist Jorane covered the song on her album The You and the Now.
• 2004 - Curve released a version on their compilation album The Way of Curve.
• 2004 - Red Hot Chili Peppers released a version on the live album Live in Hyde Park; guitarist John Frusciante has been known to break into a rendition of the song at their live shows during song interludes on other occasions.
• 2005 - The song "Future Lovers" from Madonna's album Confessions on a Dance Floor imitated the bassline of "I Feel Love"; in 2006, Madonna performed a few lines of "I Feel Love" during "Future Lovers" on her Confessions Tour.
• 2006 - The Mexican electropop band Belanova did a live cover of "I Feel Love" during their Dulce Beat Tour; it was released in their Dulce Beat Live album in 2006. Belanova had also previously sampled the song towards the end of "What a Shame," the third track of their debut album, Cocktail.
• 2006 - Rollo and Sister Bliss of the British dance act Faithless remixed the track for their Renaissance 3D collection.
• 2007 - The Red Hot Chili Peppers band member "Flea" covers "I Feel Love" at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival in Indio, CA 28 April 2007