Singles 89 Other 3 | Promotional singles 7 | |
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The discography of singles for American singer and songwriter Donna Summer consists of eighty-nine singles, seven promo-only singles and three other charted songs. To see Summer's albums performance please go to Donna Summer albums discography.
Contents
1968–1975 (Pre-Casablanca signing)
Summer's first single, "Wassermann" was taken from the German cast recording of the musical Hair and released by Polydor Records. The next few singles were one-offs, released on different labels until she was signed to the Dutch label Groovy Records in 1974 ("The Hostage" being her first single for them). Atlantic Records became responsible for distributing Summer's work in Germany at the same time and both labels would continue to distribute Summer's work in the respective countries for the following few years (including the first few years of her signing to Casablanca Records in North America).
None of the above singles were released in the United States and only "Sally Go 'Round the Roses" and "The Hostage" were released in the United Kingdom.
1975–1980 (Casablanca Records era)
These singles were all released commercially in at least one format in one country. Promotional formats may have also been released in that country/those countries or in others.
Summer's recordings during this era were distributed by Casablanca Records in North America and, from late 1977 onwards, in most other nations. Various other labels released Summer's work internationally prior to said time (and in a small number of cases, during it). Summer left the label in 1979 but they continued to issue previously released material for a while afterwards.
Singles from the film soundtracks of The Deep and Thank God It's Friday were distributed internationally by Casablanca, as that label was responsible for releasing the soundtracks worldwide.
1980–1991 (Geffen/Atlantic/Warner Bros. era)
These singles were all released commercially in at least one format in one country. Promotional formats may have also been released in that country/those countries or in others.
Summer's material during this era was released by three different Warner Bros. labels: Geffen, Atlantic and the main Warner Bros. label. In North America, Summer was signed to Geffen from 1980-1988 and Atlantic from 1989-1991. Internationally, Geffen released her material from 1980-1981 but all subsequent Geffen/Atlantic releases were released by Warner Bros. Records.
Summer's original North American label (Casablanca), now owned by PolyGram, also released two official Donna Summer singles in the United Kingdom in 1982 and 1983 respectively; these were new remixes and/or edits of two of Summer's biggest hits from during her time with that label. See notes below for details.
During Summer's court battle regarding her leaving Casablanca, it was decided that she still owed them an album. Subsequently, PolyGram's Mercury Records released the 1983 album She Works Hard For The Money, so all singles from that album were also released by Mercury.
1993–2017
These singles were all released commercially in at least one format in one country. Promotional formats may have also been released in that country/those countries or in others.
Several of the singles from this era are in fact from albums by various artists on which Summer appeared.
PolyGram released the 1994 compilation album Endless Summer, so the two singles from that album (both newly recorded tracks) were released on Mercury, as were the 1999 and 2000 re-releases of "Last Dance" and "I Feel Love" respectively.
The remixes of "I Feel Love" and "State of Independence" were released by the former UK-based Manifesto label, a division of Universal (who had owned the rights to much of Summer's back catalogue for some time).
Summer signed to Sony in 1999 and both her singles from that year were released by their Epic label. Summer's final album (2008's Crayons) and the singles from it were released by Sony's Burgundy Records.
Universal released 2005's "I Got Your Love", originally featured two years earlier in the television series Sex and the City.
The final Donna Summer single, "To Paris with Love" was released on her own Driven by the Music label.
The posthumous remix album released in 2013 (entitled Love to Love You Donna) and its singles were released by Verve Records, by then part of Universal Music Group, who had long since owned the rights to Summer's Casablanca/PolyGram recordings from 1975 to 1983.
Promotional singles
Other charted songs
From the inception of the Billboard Dance Club Play chart (also known as Club Play Singles, and formerly known as Hot Dance Club Play and Hot Dance/Disco) until the week of February 16, 1991, several (or even all) songs on an EP or album could occupy the same position if more than one track from a release was receiving significant play in clubs. Beginning with the February 23, 1991 issue, the dance chart became "song specific," meaning only one song could occupy each position at a time. Therefore;
Guest appearances
All of the following singles were released commercially.