I Feel Love

Donna Summer's groundbreaking hit

I came home from some time at the beach yesterday to one of my roommates playing a disco collection. I love disco and when this song came on, I knew I had today’s Song of the Day.

Donna Summer had yet to become The Queen of Disco but had a few hits off her previous album. This song made her an innovator as it’s considered the first techno/house song. Produced and co-written by Italian producer Giorgio Moroder and British producer Pete Bellotte, and recorded in Munich, it was planned as an experimental track with drummer Keith Forsey, and engineer Robby Wedel. Wedel was known for working in the classical world but was brought on because he was the only one who could play a Moog Modular 3P.synthesizer.

It was unusual for dance music at the time as it was built with bassline and backing track first, and in small snippets as the Moog kept going out of tune. It also couldn’t replicate a drum sound so Forsey recorded a live track. Summer’s vocals are the only other sound on the track that wasn’t created by a machine and she nailed them on the first take. This article has a very detailed breakdown on how it was recorded.

The team aimed to create a futuristic mood to fit the album concept of Summer's fifth studio album, I Remember Yesterday, which was to have each track evoke a different musical decade. This was the final track which was meant to represent the future. And for once, the concept worked. Reportedly Brian Eno heard it and ran to David Bowie saying,

I have heard the sound of the future. This is it, look no further. This single is going to change the sound of club music for the next fifteen years.

Last year a new animated video came out for the song animated by Tim Fox, an art director turned animator who has done a lot of commercial work as well as music videos. This plays into the futuristic sound of the song and mixes animation with live concert footage of Summer.

Enjoy your song of the day!