By now I think everyone has heard the sad news. Miss Summer has lost her battle against cancer and died at the age of 63. I was thinking about how best to pay tribute to the ultimate disco queen and rather than try to be clever with an obscure track from one of her lesser known albums I've picked the ultimate party record. I've written before how some tunes are genuinely timeless and I think "I Feel Love" is right up there at the top of the tree. And boy, how important it is too. Put simply this track defined dance music. Sod it, I'll stick my neck out and say that it still does. I adore this song and it's guaranteed to get me dad dancing when I hear it played. Actually, this song is very forgiving. You have to have absolutely no rhythm to dance badly to it. I'd like to think I haven't quite lost all mine just yet. Look and learn, kids.
I jest and perhaps I shouldn't but let me say that although I am sad that she passed away, I didn't know her and I'd like to celebrate her life and music rather than mourn her death. I did meet her once. I was with an ex-girlfriend and we were at a rather swanky hotel near Fitzrovia in London. Ordinarily the price would have been out of our reach but we'd wangled a lovely room for a very good rate. We were in reception, collecting the room key, I was trying to avoid the bellboy's eye and I saw Donna Summer walk in. Not quite, she glided in looking every inch the glamour puss. This woman oozed 'diva'. We shared a lift together and I, completely out of character...I'm painfully shy around strangers, all so briefly apologised for interrupting her day and said that I loved her music. And then we got out and she carried on up to the top of the hotel. A banal story, there is nothing exciting to relate and we didn't get to hang out with her but I'm telling this because I was reminded of it when I heard of her death today. I'm glad I got that moment to thank her.
My favourite remix, it's featured at more than one of my house parties.
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