Bad Girls - Donna Summer (1979) 3/24/23

There's no doubt about it: from the mid '70s into the early '80s, Donna Summer was the Queen of Disco--scoring Great Song after Great Song!

Over the past 3+ years, I've highlighted all but one of Donna's '70s hits, but I've saved the last for last: "1979's "Bad Girls!"

Of course, in context, 'Bad Girls' are prostitutes, and the song idea came to Donna in anger after her secretary was mistakenly accosted by police while running errands on Sunset Boulevard in Los Angeles. This was in 1977.

To help write the song, she enlisted the talents of the vocal group Brooklyn Dreams, led by her future husband, Bruce Sudano.

After a demo recording was finished, Donna played it for Neil Bogart, the head of her record company, Casablanca.

Neil didn't think is was a good song for Donna, suggesting she hand it off to...Cher!

No dice. Donna kept the song, and filed it away.

Then in 1979, a recording engineer named Steve Smith accidentally stumbled upon the demo, and played it for producer Giorgio Moroder.

Giorgio and co-producer Pete Bellotte had worked with Donna several times before, starting with her first big hit, "Love to Love You Baby," and they both thought "Bad Girls" sounded like a hit. They produced a new version of the song and wrapped an entire album around it.

Then, when "Bad Girls" was released from "Bad Girls," they all stood back and watched the song climb the charts in 17 countries! In the US alone, it topped the Dance Chart, the Hip-Hop/R&B Chart, and for SEVEN WEEKS: The Hot 100!

It sold nearly 3 million copies worldwide, and was nominated for a Grammy (Best Disco

Recording).

"Bad Girls" was incredibly danceable, and catchy, too... featuring the chant "Toot! Toot! Beep! Beep" followed by a "whistle riff." (Some dancers even brought their own whistles to the dance floor to "tweet" along!)

"Bad Girls" by Donna Summer: a "Great Song of 1979, and one more reason why she was the "Queen of Disco!" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nhyUICuE65Y