Welcome to Friday Night Live, our summer series of nostalgia looking back primarily at late-night Friday night concert programs featuring popular music artists, shows I enjoyed watching when I was a mere child. Tonight, it's ladies night on The Midnight Special. Our special guests are Gloria Gaynor, Gladys Knight, and Donna Summer.
Gloria Gaynor was one of the first stars of 70's disco. Still rememebred today, Gaynor has performed in over 80 countries. Her signature song became an anthem for women all around the world. From Starpulse.com:
"Gaynor began issuing albums on a regular basis beginning in 1975 and with her 1976 release Never Can Say Goodbye, the singer became one of the first-ever dance artists to issue an album aimed primarily for club use (there were no breaks between the songs, as one track would automatically segue into the next), a method used to this day by DJs and certain dance artists. Although Gaynor enjoyed a few moderate hits, it wasn't until the release of 1979's aforementioned disco gem 'I Will Survive' that Gaynor racked up her first true smash hit. The song was awarded the first and only Grammy Award for Best Disco Recording in 1980 (the category was discontinued upon disco's fall from favor shortly afterward) and although Gaynor was unable to follow up "I Will Survive' with another sizeable hit, the track subsequently took on a life of its own. It remains popular in dance clubs and has appeared on countless movie soundtracks and dance/disco compilations."
It's a tribute to the women of the 70's tonight on Friday Night Live.
At the age of 4, Gladys Knight was singing in a baptist church in Atlanta. Four years later, she was winning a prize on the Ted Mack Amateur Hour and not too long after that, forming a band with fmaily members called, "The Pips." They would open for such popular acts as Jackie Wilson and Sam Cooke.
Their big break came on Motown Records in 1967 with their version of, "I Heard It Through Heard it Through the Grapevine." Soon came "Nitty Gritty," and the group started toruing as Gladys Knight and the Pips. More gold records and a TV special followed before Knight eventually began a solo career. She even did some acting in the TV series, "New York Undercover."
Knight has three children, has been married three times, and reportedly has overcome her addiction to gambling.
She was dubbed “The Queen of Disco." Donna Summer’s longevity on the disco charts was only eclipsed by the Bee Gees.
Starpulse.com says, “Few vocalists could match the sultry, unfettered eroticism Summer brought to many of her best recordings, which seemed to embody the spirit of the disco era perfectly. The total package made Summer the ultimate disco diva, one of the few whose star power was even bigger than the music.”
When she was around 20, Summer moved to Europe, did theater and opera, married Helmut Sommer, and took on an Anglicized version of his last name. Summer pumped a lot of moaning into, "Love to Love You Baby,” and it became a huge hit in Europe. Casablanca Records took notice and put the record out in America. Hit after hit followed, and when disco started to die around the end of the decade, Summer had one more winner left, “She Works Hard for the Money,” in the early 80’s.
When I was working my way through college, one of many jobs I had was an usher at what was then called the Performing Arts Center. I recall vividly working the main floor, the Orchestra section for the Donna Summer concert.
The show had started and we were still seating late-comers. A couple showed me their tickets……AA, the very front row. “Oh boy,” I thought as I saw the seat numbers: the two end seats.
Normally, that’s an usher’s delight if the show is going on; just walk the patrons in and plop them right on the end, no having to climb over people, etc. Except in this case, I knew people were already sitting in those seats. I didn’t put them there, but I knew doggone well I had to sort this out.
I told the couple I thought someone was already in those seats, but that I would take care of it. “Follow me.”
When I got to AA, I knelt down so I wouldn’t be standing in anybody’s way. I asked the gentleman on the end to show me his tickets. He sheepishly fumbled for the stubs. When he produced them, I turned on my flashlight to get a better look at them. Just as I had suspected. He belonged up on the 3rd floor.
“Sir, you’re not supposed to be here. Your seats are up on the 3rd floor.” Just as I was politely scolding him, it happened. Remember, row AA is so close that the audience can reach out and touch the stage.
I looked up, and there she was, standing right above me. Tall, slender, gorgeous. She had on a dark colored, sequined, floor-length gown, slit on one side to the ceiling. Microphone in hand, in mid-song, Donna Summer had, at that precise moment, walked her way to that end of the stage and was staring right down at me, and I was staring right back.
The entire audience saw it, too, as the spotlight captured the marquee performer, and an usher with his flashlight on.
For a few seconds, I feared she might make some kind of remark or joke about this brief distraction or disruption. But she’s a star, a professional. I remember her smiling and without missing a beat, she just did an about-face and started moving down the stage to the other end.
I can’t help it. To this day, whenever I hear or see Donna Summer, the first thing I think of is, nice legs.
Water, please!
That's it for this week.
Thanks for stopping by on our summer trip down memory lane, back to the 70's with The Midnight Special...................on NBC.
