Summer of Love

Friday, Aug. 26, 2005 | 4:10 a.m.

WEEKEND EDITION

August 27-28, 2005

Who: Donna Summer.

When: 9 p.m. Saturday and Sept. 4.

Where: Las Vegas Hilton Theater.

Tickets: $85 to $125.

Information: 732-5755.

One time disco queen Donna Summer -- icon of the music that dominated the late '70s -- was actually an established performer in Europe long before her 1975 hit "Love to Love You Baby" topped the dance charts.

But the erotic, 17-minute number with its pulsating electronic beats (produced by Giorgio Moroder and Pete Bellotte) forever changed her life.

The 56-year-old Boston native seemed destined for a career in musical theater before disco arrived on the music scene.

During a telephone interview with the Sun from her home near Nashville, Tenn., Summer discussed her stellar career -- during which she has sold more than 100 million records -- and how success almost destroyed her.

Las Vegas Sun: Do you mind still being identified as "The Queen of Disco?"

Donna Summer: I don't care. It's nice to be called the queen of something. It's nice to be recognized.

Sun: How do you explain your enduring success? Even after 30 years fans love you and your music.

DS: My success is through the grace of God. I sometimes don't even know myself how it all happened. The songs that I have written over the years are still in the public psyche -- the songs have something to do with people, and that is important.

Some songs, like "She Works Hard for the Money" and "Bad Girls," transcend time. They will always apply to our lives. That is my approach in writing songs, to try and find the ones that transcend.

Sun: How did your career begin?

DS: It was in 1967, I believe, when I was 18 or 19 and I went for an audition of "Hair" in New York City. Back in those days I was quite the belter -- I had grown up singing in a church choir and learned to fill the church with my voice.

I learned how to project when I was very young, so when I went to audition for the theater I was in the perfect place. I was a natural for theater.

I auditioned in New York and got the job but they sent me to Europe.

Sun: How long were you in the cast of "Hair?"

DS: Off and on for eight years.

Sun: You went to Europe as a teenager, fresh out of high school. Did you have trouble adapting?

DS: My grandparents were from Canada, so I didn't have a typical American upbringing. When I went to Europe, it was kind of like going home, which is why I stayed so long.

Sun: "Hair" was a pretty radical production. How did you reconcile your Christian upbringing with performing in the show?

DS: I grew up in a clean, pristine environment. Saying a curse word was as bad as it got.

I was very young when I got the part and I only learned my lines in German -- I could sing the songs but I couldn't speak the language at that time so I didn't really know what I was saying. I was clueless.

Not until I got older and learned the language did I think, "My God, was that I was singing about?"

Sun: Did you perform in other musicals?

DS: Yes. I was in "Godspell" and "Showboat." I joined the Viennese Folk Opera and was in several of their musicals.

I actually thought musical theater and acting would be my life. But then the disco music took off and I went in that direction. I became too busy with my music career to do anything else, but there's still a part of me that would like to do movies and theater.

Sun: How did you become involved in the disco movement?

DS: I had no idea disco was going to take off. It shocked all of us. "Love to Love You Baby" was a fluke -- it happened so on its own, without me having anything to do with it.

Sun: How so?

DS: It was meant to be a demo for someone else to do. I wrote the general lyrics, the ooh and aah sounds, as a joke. But someone heard it at a publishing convention and loved it and asked us of we could make a longer version.

At the time, I was done with it. I was never planning to sing the song. Often when you write a song it's an outline that someone will use as a demo for an actual recording. I thought that was what was happening. I didn't want any part of it. I didn't want to sing it. I was a Christian and I didn't think it was right.

Sun: What happened after they persuaded you to do the song?

DS: I was in Europe, but the song was all over the radio in America. It had snowballed. They said we needed to make an album so we did and it went No. 1 worldwide.

Everything took off around me. I wasn't trying to be famous -- I was just having a good life singing and traveling.

Sun: When you returned to the United States, did you have problems adapting after being gone for so long?

DS: I had a lot of problems making the transition. I had been in Germany nearly eight years. I spoke German and English. When I was in this country, in conversations with others I thought I was speaking in English but sometimes the words would come out in German and people thought I was being pretentious -- but I wasn't, I spoke in German, I dreamed in German. It was part of my psyche.

I actually went to a shrink to cope with the culture shock.

Sun: What were some of the things that bothered you?

DS: I went from doing things for your immediate needs to unbelievable excess -- somebody doing my nails, my toenails, doing everything for me I needed done.

I felt like I was losing control of myself, and I didn't like the dependence.

I went from a relatively normal life when your brothers and sisters acted one way -- then you're famous and everything started shifting. It went from "Get out of my room" to "Can I get you anything?"

Sun: Did religion help?

DS: After I re-dedicated my life to God, I regained control. Reading the Bible helped me. Religion played a big part in helping me cope. And thank God my mother was still around to help me get focused again. Her prodding me helped maintain some kind of normalcy.

Sun: During the height of your disco career, what was it like?

DS: Busy, busy. I asked God to slow this thing down. There is no way I could keep up with the pace. That's when I understood why people would do drugs -- you can't keep up the hectic schedule forever. It's why people do speed and do what they do.

A lot of people were in pain and just didn't realize it because the drugs sedated it. They want to do what they do, but it gets out of hand. To subdue themselves they self-medicate.

Sun: Did you do drugs?

DS: I did. I got to the place where I had to take some very strong medications. I felt like I was not here most of the time. I was having some serious problems, but thank God I got help. I got very suicidal -- honestly, it's a different lifestyle.

Sun: Were you concerned about your career?

DS: As an entertainer you're always wondering where your career is going, even when it's going well. I think I have subconsciously undermined my career at times for fear of being out of control. I have always had to contend with that fear -- of having things becoming unmanageable.

Sun: What is your life like now? Do you work as much or as little as you want?

DS: I have a certain amount of money in the bank. I've been very diligent -- saving money and investing. There were times when it got a little shaky when I wasn't working, but God has enabled me to maintain myself.

When I want to upgrade and need a little more money, I ask my accountant how much I need and he says I need this much and so I go to work to get it.

Sun: Besides your family, what is most important to you at this stage of your life?

DS: I need to maintain some sense of normalcy. I don't let anybody interfere with that.

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