`Love to love you baby' was Donna Summer's US debut in 1975, her real debut, `Lady of the night' was released in Europe in 1974. However, where the latter comprised European styled folk/rock/pop compositions, `Love to love you baby' featured Summer's new sleek, sexy disco style.

The title track was groundbreaking in many ways; it was stretched to a 16 minute plus track at the request of label boss Neil Bogart which filled out one side of the LP (and thus was born the 12" extended dance remix), featured a consistent throbbing beat, featured lots of steamy moans and groans (prompting an instant ban on the BBC, years before more risqué acts like Madonna et all) with Summer cooing in a falsetto, and a distinctive funky bassline. The single sold a million copies earning Summer the first of 10 gold (and 2 platinum) singles, hit #2 in the US and #4 in the UK, and was a smash just about everywhere else.

Covered numerous times (No doubt, Bronski beat, Tom Tom Club) and more recently sampled by Beyoncé in her hit single `Naughty girl', and TLC in `I'm good at being bad'.

The album itself was certified gold in just 12 days in the US.

The other side featured a variety of dreamy sensual songs like the piano ballad `Full of emptiness' (present in two brief versions), the mid tempo funky blues of `Need-a-man blues' with wah wah guitar, the sea shore sound filled breezy piano/string ballad `Whispering waves' featuring a vulnerable falsetto performance from Summer.

Final track `Pandora's box' was the only track hinting to `Lady of the night'; a piano folk rocker a-la Elton John with Donna belting out fervently in her full vocals, no falsetto here.

Our vinyl copy of the album (when I was a kid) had as a bonus track the dramatic kidnap drama `The hostage' which is available on the `Lady of the night CD.

This was the album that set the glitter ball spinning, and kindled the spark that ignited thousands of dancefloors all over the world. Great news, this CD has been remastered and is part of the 3 CD box set 'Chronicles'.

Aaah, love to love you bay-bee!!

Donna's first USA album was and will always be most notable for the full 17 minute orgasmic symphony of Love to Love You Baby.
This song would start her career YET, it would be her later Disco/Pop crossover songs that would launch her into superstardom.

The title track filled all of side 1, and the sad part is many people did not bother to listen to side 2. Side 2 is very similar to the work Donna did on her first ever album, Lady of The Night (released in Europe), and all of the tracks here are winners. The side starts and finishes with Full of Emptiness, and includes Need A Man Blues (later covered by The Bronski Beat), Whispering Waves, and the great folk song Pandora's Box.

Listen to the entire release and Love To Love It!

The only reason to purchase this CD is for the nearly 17 minute version of "Love To Love You Baby". Yup, it reaks of mid-seventies disco, but isn't that the point? It was the first of it's kind and somewhat of a collector's item. The other five songs seem like dated fillers, but the title track is great music, produced at a time when dicso could be listened to as well as danced to. A real band with no synthesizers! Great memories!

FIRST OF ALL, I WOULD LIKE TO CORRECT ANOTHER REVIEWER ABOUT ONE OF THE SONGS ON THE ALBUM. SEEMS HE DIDN'T LISTEN TO, OR UNDERSTAND THE LYRICS TO WHISPERING WAVES. IT IS NOT ABOUT HER IMAGINING THINGS ON THE BEACH, ITS ABOUT HER LONGING FOR A LOVER WHO ABANDONED HER SUDDENLY, WITH NO WARNING.

WHEN THIS ALBUM WAS RELEASED, I WAS 16, AND AMAZED TO FIND THAT THE WHOLE ALBUM STOOD UP, NOT JUST THE TITLE CUT. GEORGIO MORODER USED TO PRODUCE MANY SONGS FOR DONNA, AND FOR DISCO EVEN, SOME OF THE MOVEMENTS WERE QUITE INTRICATE. SADLY, FOR ME AT LEAST, DONNA NEVER MATCHED THE INTENSITY, ARTISTRY AND DELIVERY FEATURED IN THIS DEBUT VINYL. SHE MADE A COUPLE MORE "O-K" SONGS, BUT THIS RELEASE IS THE FLAGSHIP. TAKE IT FROM A GUY WHO HAS BUMPED, BOOGIED, AND STEPPED TO THE SONGS ON THIS ALBUM IN CHICAGOLAND WITH HIS WIFE OF 25 YEARS, SINCE WE WERE TEENAGERS WHEN IT WAS RELEASED. NUFF SAID.

For her second album, Donna & producer Georgio Moroder decided to jump on the bandwagon of what would later become Disco music, and honesty, nobody did it better than Donna. This is the album which launched her career here in the States (her first LP, 'Lady Of The Night' was never released here), but is not her best offering by far. The title song, showcased here in it's full-length 16+ version has earned it's place as the epitome of the Disco classic, unfortunately it outshines the rest of the album. Thia, now, is the only way to get the full length "Love To Love You Baby", but if you're looking for a good Donna Summer album, well, this isn't it.