News

Following its career-spanning Encore box set celebrating late superstar Donna Summer, Demon Music Group’s Driven by the Music imprint will be bringing one of the diva’s classic concerts to multiple formats. A Hot Summer Night will be issued on July 10 in both CD/DVD and 2-LP colored vinyl formats.

The concert was recorded on August 6, 1983 as part of Summer’s Hard for the Money tour. The She Works Hard for the Money album had just been released a couple of months earlier, in June, but Summer was already on the second leg of her successful tour. The venue was the then-recently opened Pacific Amphitheatre in Costa Mesa, California. In front of over 18,000 fans, Summer performed material from the new album (the smash “She Works Hard for the Money,” “Woman,” “Unconditional Love” with Musical Youth) and its 1982 self-titled predecessor (“State of Independence” with her daughter Mimi, “Love Is in Control (Finger on the Trigger)”) as well as her beloved disco classics (“MacArthur Park,” “On the Radio,” “Last Dance,” and a medley from Bad Girls). She also looked back to the shelved 1981 LP I’m a Rainbow for “Romeo” (resurrected for the Flashdance soundtrack) and the Evita showstopper “Don’t Cry for Me, Argentina” and looked ahead to 1984’s Cats Without Claws for “Forgive Me.” In addition to Mimi’s spotlight on “State of Independence,” Donna kept the show a family affair; her sisters Dara and Mary also sang background vocals.

The concert was released in late 1983 on laserdisc, VHS, and Beta formats as A Hot Summer Night…with Donna. Audio from the show has never appeared on CD until now. For this edition, the CD has been paired with a NTSC, region-free DVD as newly “restored from the analogue video tape.” The accompanying book includes music journalist Christian John Wikane’s new 7,500-word essay featuring interviews with Donna’s husband Bruce Sudano, director Brian Grant, choreographer Arlene Phillips, and executive producer Len R. Epand. The 2-LP colored vinyl iteration features the same 14 tracks as the CD and DVD.  A digital version of the audio will also be available.  (“No More Tears (Enough Is Enough),” performed that night in Costa Mesa, has not been included in any format as per the original home video release.)

A Hot Summer Night arrives from Driven by the Music on July 10. Look for it at the links below.  As with Encore, it appears that this release may not be available at the U.S. Amazon store.  Note that Amazon U.K. has lifted some shipping restrictions imposed as a result of COVID-19 and it currently appears that this release will ship to U.S. customers.

Donna Summer, A Hot Summer Night (Driven by the Music, 2020)

CD/DVD (Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada link TBD)

1. Intro
2. MacArthur Park
3. Love Is in Control (Finger on the Trigger)
4. Unconditional Love (with Musical Youth)
5. Romeo
6. Don’t Cry for Me Argentina
7. On the Radio
8. Forgive Me
9. Sisters Dialogue
10. Woman (with Band Introductions)
11. Bad Girls Medley: Dim All the Lights/Sunset People/Bad Girls/Hot Stuff
12. Last Dance
13. She Works Hard for the Money
14. State of Independence (with Mimi)

2-LP Colored Vinyl (Amazon U.K./ Amazon Canada)

Side One

1. Intro
2. MacArthur Park
3. Love Is in Control (Finger on the Trigger)
4. Unconditional Love (with Musical Youth)

Side Two

1. Romeo
2. Don’t Cry for Me Argentina
3. On the Radio
4. Forgive Me

Side Three

1. Sisters Dialogue
2. Woman (with Band Introductions)
3. Bad Girls Medley: Dim All the Lights/Sunset People/Bad Girls/Hot Stuff

Side Four

1. Last Dance
2. She Works Hard for the Money
3. State of Independence (with Mimi)