Hypnotic synth, peerless vocals and visionary ambition make the 1977 genre-busting hit a turning point in pop and a truly timeless track
In 1975, a stellar team based in Germany laid the groundwork for a musical revolution, the aftershock of which is still being felt today. American singer Donna Summer, alongside production and songwriting duo Giorgio Moroder and Pete Bellotte, were responsible for the torrid single Love to Love You Baby. In technical terms, the track’s modernism can be heard in a heavily foregrounded 4/4 beat bolstered, metronomically, by rudimentary drum programming. But that isn’t what initially captured the imaginations of the disco cognoscenti.
During a coke-fuelled orgy at his LA mansion, the head of Casablanca records, Neil Bogart, took a break from the festivities to phone Bellotte in a state of high excitement saying that everyone was “fucking to this track” and demanding constant rewinds. He asked the trio to expand the song until it filled the side of an album, something that was relatively easy for them to do because of the rigid grid of drum machine beats. The resulting track, replete with 22 simulated orgasms (courtesy of the 12-inch version at least), earned Summer, a practising Christian and trained gospel singer, a BBC ban, a trans-Atlantic hit and a new record deal with Casablanca.
Related: Giorgio Moroder – his 20 greatest songs, ranked!
Continue reading...by John Doran via Electronic music | The Guardian
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