Songs That Changed Music: Donna Summer - I Feel Love
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Published 2021-03-31
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Donna Summer is famous for her disco and pop career, but before she hit the big time she was already an accomplished singer who sang in musicals, folk opera and in the studio as a session musician.
The Boston-born singer started out in a rock band before moving to central Europe to make a living. She was singing in the musical ‘Hair’ in Munich when she came to the attention of Moroder’s writing partner Pete Belotte.
Like most of Summer’s early disco hits, I Feel Love was written and produced by Giorgio Moroder and Pete Bellotte.
Co-writer Pete Bellotte in Independent on Sundaymagazine July 1, 2007: “This was the last track on the concept album I Remember Yesterday, on which Donna sang the first track in a 1940s style, going through various other genres until the final song was intended to represent the future. We used a Moog synthesizer to give the song this futuristic feel, and discovered a new way to layer level upon level of sound on to the track in perfect sync. We had no idea it was going to sound so special… Donna was one of those phenomenal one-take artists – she could just come in, sing the song and go. She was always spot on.”
This song expresses Summer’s sensuality and her ability to “Feel Love.” Being subtly sexual, her managers were concerned that radio stations wouldn’t play it due to Donna’s sexual moaning of “I Feel Love.”
With its entirely synthesized backing track, “I Feel Love” was enormously influential in the development of disco, electronica and techno music. However, Summer was initially unconvinced. “Giorgio brought me this popcorn track he had recorded,” she later recalled, “and I said, ‘What the hell is this, Giorgio?'”
When producer Brian Eno first listened to this song, he told David Bowie, “I’ve heard the sound of the future.”
Speaking to Mojo magazine September 2012 about this song, Giorgio Moroder recalled: “When we mixed it, by accident the engineer added a delay at the same tempo as the beat, which suddenly doubled the speed of the synth pulse. That became the key sound of the record and the signature on my own songs like ‘From Here to Eternity’ and on things like Sparks’ ‘The Number One Song in Heaven.'”
The song was inspired by the jazzy little tune performed by four fish-headed aliens in the Star WarsCantina scene. When Giorgio Moroder viewed the movie he was dissatisfied by the unfuturistic music the Cantina band played. That disappointment served as the initial spark for “I Feel Love.”
“I Feel Love” was a number one hit in Australia, Austria, Belgium, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom, number three in Germany and Italy, number six on the Billboard Hot 100 in the United States, and also topped the charts in many other countries.
In 2011, the Library of Congress added the song to the National Recording Registry as “culturally, historically, or aesthetically important”. It has been covered by acts including Bronski Beat, Messiah and Sam Smith.
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All Comments (21)
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What other songs do you think changed music? Let me know below!
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I Feel Love is 44 years old and still sounds like it comes from the future!
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I remember hearing I Feel Love as a child and thinking, "this song sounds like nothing I've ever heard in my life. I don't know what it is, but I like it." The futuristic, almost Sci-Fi sound was completely enthralling to the point where you waited for the song to come back around on the radio rotation. As great as she is, I still feel that Donna Summer does not get the recognition she deserves. We lost her way too soon.
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Donna Summer wasn't just the first artist to have 3 double albums reached #1 on the Billboard Charts. She was the first black artist and the first female artist, to have 3 #1 albums back to back on the Billboard 200 albums charts. These were multi-platinum selling double albums.
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I Feel Love must be heard in a club with a superb sound system. The voice, the percolating synth bass, the synth moving from one channel to the other and everything in between, it’s the closest you’ll get to heaven.
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Vocals in a single take??? No comp'd together patchwork vocal. That is truly amazing.
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Few singers of either gender were gifted with as much power, range, tone and stylistic maturity as Donna Summer. To those who only think of her as a "disco" singer you are so far off the map!
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That must be the most productive 2-3 hours in a studio ever! Love this series
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Absolutely! I saw Donna Summer 8 times in concert.As big as her voice is on record, it was even bigger live. Donna had the most powerful voice I've ever heard; her voice reverberated through your body like a shockwave.
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Thank you for giving some much deserved credit to the Queen. In addition to being a brilliant musician, Donna Summer was also a wonderful human being. I had the pleasure of meeting her twice! She was kind and humble.
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Thank you for this. Donna is so underrated these days, but she really blazed the trail that so many are on to this day. And let's not forget, she won a Grammy in 1979 for best female ROCK vocal for her song Hot Stuff. She transcended genres in an era when most artists stayed in their own lane. I think hers was the celebrity death that affected me the most. RIP Donna, you were and still are a beautiful soul. 🌹
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Donna Summer is one of those artists you had to be there to understand why she was incredible I feel blessed to have been a teenager then when she was dominating from 75-79. Nostalgic video too, thank you
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An eternal classic! Before the pandemic, I used to work at a pub in Dublin where this song was played every night. It got a huge success with our customers. It was a good surprise knowing that even after all these years this song still has so much power of making people dance. Excellent episode! Congrats to all staff who made it possible. Cheers!
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In 1979, as a 17 year old guy in Dallas, I had the hugest crush on her...I would listen to her music while looking at her album covers, dreaming that she was my girl...I still love her...
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Thank you for this wonderful homage to the one and only, Donna.
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Ive honestly never heard a better song in my life. I was born a year after its release and never new as a young kid that donna summer sang it. I remember around 6 years old when my older siblings played it for me and told me it was the same woman that sang hard for the money and i couldnt believe it. So much rang! She was truly an icon!
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A was living in Mexico, wene for first time a saw a beautiful black woman in a picture en the album from the cover from the soung track. I full in love with her and her music. 💚💜💙💛 Forever and ever Donna Summer is in my heart. 🌺🌻🌹🌷🌼💐🌾 R.I.P. ❤
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This is the greatest dance song of all time
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Someone should do a Donna Summer Movie!
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Personally my fave album of hers was Once Upon a Time. Although I Feel Love warrants all the accolades it is truly phenomenal.
