Heaven Knows - Donna Summer (1979) 7/11/21

Sometimes a "Great Song" is a matter of billing. Let me explain.

In late 1978--when the popularity of disco music was pretty much at its peak, the Queen of Disco, Donna Summer, released a song called "Heaven Knows."

Actually, it was billed as "Donna Summer featuring Brooklyn Dreams."

Brooklyn Dreams was a group led by Joe "Bean" Esposito that unfortunately ended up being sort of a one-hit wonder---with that one hit being...well, "Heaven Knows, featuring Donna Summer."

Notice the difference in the billing? There's reason for that.

Although the music track was virtually identical, The "Donna/Brooklyn Dreams" version featured Donna on lead, with Joe singing second lead and the rest of the group singing background.

On the "Brooklyn Dreams/Donna version (which appeared on a Brooklyn Dreams album), the leads were reversed, and the group vocals were mixed much higher.

Then, just when you thought that was confusing enough, they released a 6-minute disco mix of the song...with Donna singing the first verse by herself, with Joe alternating vocals on the rest of the song.

Whew!

And here's where it gets interesting: In 1979, the "Donna" version reached #4 on Billboard's Hot 100 and #10 on Soul Chart. The "Brooklyn Dreams" version did not chart...and neither did the disco mix--not even on the Dance Chart!

I'm pretty sure EVERYONE was confused by the whole thing, and I wouldn't be surprised if some radio stations actually rotated the versions just to see if anyone noticed!

But any way you look at it, "Heaven Knows" was a "Great Song of 1979." The common denominator: Donna Summer!

Donna/Brooklyn Dreams:

Brooklyn Dreams/Donna:

Disco Mix: