Crayons is the seventeenth studio album

Studio album

A studio album is an album made up of tracks recorded in the controlled environment of a recording studio. A studio album contains newly written and recorded or previously unreleased or remixed material, distinguishing itself from a compilation or reissue album of previously recorded material, or...

 by American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 singer Donna Summer

Donna Summer

LaDonna Adrian Gaines , known by her stage name, Donna Summer, is an American singer/songwriter who gained prominence during the disco era of the 1970s. She has a mezzo-soprano vocal range. Summer is a five-time Grammy winner and was the first artist to have three consecutive double albums reach...

 released on May 20, 2008 in the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

. It is her first album of original material since 1991's Mistaken Identity

Mistaken Identity (Donna Summer album)

The UK edition of this album contained the "ISA full-length remix" of this track- Personnel :* Donna Summer - vocals, rap vocals, composer* Kaydee - rap vocals, drums, percussion, assorted funkiness, "Intro Madness" on "Mistaken Identity"...

.

Overview

Recorded over a period of two years since signing with the Sony Music label Burgundy Records

Burgundy Records

Burgundy Records is an American record label, and subsidiary of Sony Music Entertainment.- History :In January 2006 the Sony BMG Strategic Marketing Group announced the launch of its new record label, Burgundy Records. The new Sony BMG SMG imprint label, which was spearheaded by former Executive...

 label in 2006, Crayons marks Summer's first full-length studio album in fourteen years since 1994's Christmas Spirit, and her first album of original material since 1991's Mistaken Identity

Mistaken Identity (Donna Summer album)

The UK edition of this album contained the "ISA full-length remix" of this track- Personnel :* Donna Summer - vocals, rap vocals, composer* Kaydee - rap vocals, drums, percussion, assorted funkiness, "Intro Madness" on "Mistaken Identity"...

. She worked on the album with a number of different producers and songwriter

Songwriter

A songwriter is an individual who writes both the lyrics and music to a song. Someone who solely writes lyrics may be called a lyricist, and someone who only writes music may be called a composer...

s including Greg Kurstin

Greg Kurstin

Gregory Allen "Greg" Kurstin is an award-winning American songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. In 2009 Kurstin received a Grammy Award nomination for Producer of the Year. That same year he won three Ivor Novello awards for his work with Lily Allen, including Songwriters of the Year for "The Fear"...

, Danielle Brisebois

Danielle Brisebois

Danielle Anne Brisebois is an American actress, producer, songwriter and singer. In the 1990s she recorded two solo albums, Arrive All Over You and Portable Life, and was a member of the New Radicals...

, J. R. Rotem

J. R. Rotem

- Early life :Rotem was born in South Africa to Israeli immigrant Jewish parents. He moved to Toronto at the age of two and finally to Moraga, California when he was twelve.Rotem's entry point into music was in receiving classical piano tuition at a young age...

, Wayne Hector

Wayne Hector

Wayne Hector is an English songwriter.Wayne Hector has had over 30 number ones around the globe under his belt and numerous movie soundtrack credits, Wayne Hector is one of the UK’s most successful songwriters....

, Toby Gad

Toby Gad

Tobias "Toby" Gad is a Los Angeles-based hit producer and songwriter from Germany, perhaps best known for co-writing Fergie's Grammy nominated hit song "Big Girls Don't Cry" as well as co-writing and producing Beyoncé's worldwide #1 hit "If I Were a Boy", and The Veronicas multi-platinum #1...

, Lester Mendez

Lester Mendez

Lester Mendez is an American record producer and songwriter. His production/writing credits include a multitude of successful hits including Shakira's "Underneath Your Clothes" and "La Tortura", Jessica Simpson's "A Public Affair", and Nelly Furtado's "Te Busqué".Mendez worked with Carlos Santana...

 and Evan Bogart

Evan Bogart

Evan "Kidd" Bogart is an American music executive, television producer, music publisher and songwriter who has contributed to a long list of internationally successful artists...

, the son of Summer's former record label boss at Casablanca Records

Casablanca Records

Casablanca Records was an American record label started by Neil Bogart, who partnered with Cecil Holmes, Larry Harris, and Buck Reingold in 1973, and based in Los Angeles. The label was formed after all of them had left Buddah Records and secured financing by Warner Bros. Records to start the venture...

, Neil Bogart

Neil Bogart

Neil Bogart was an American record executive. He is perhaps best known as the founder of Casablanca Records, with Peter Guber....

.

The album debuted at #17 on the US Billboard 200

Billboard 200

The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists...

 albums chart, which was also its peak. The title track is a duet with her and reggae

Reggae

Reggae is a music genre first developed in Jamaica in the late 1960s. While sometimes used in a broader sense to refer to most types of Jamaican music, the term reggae more properly denotes a particular music style that originated following on the development of ska and rocksteady.Reggae is based...

 artist Ziggy Marley

Ziggy Marley

David "Ziggy" Marley is a Jamaican musician and leader of the band Ziggy Marley and the Melody Makers. He is the oldest son of famed reggae musician Bob Marley...

. The album's first official single, "Stamp Your Feet

Stamp Your Feet

"Stamp Your Feet" is a song by Donna Summer released as the first official single from her 2008 album, Crayons. The song was written by Summer, Danielle Brisebois, and Greg Kurstin, who also produced the track.-American Idol performance:...

", was released to radio on . A follow-up, "I'm a Fire

I'm a Fire

"I'm a Fire" is the first single from Donna Summer's album, Crayons. The club single reached #1 on the Billboard Hot Dance Club Play chart giving Summer her 13th number-one and giving her the longest timespan between first and most recent Hot Dance Club Play chart #1s.-Remixes:* Album Version -...

", reached number-one on the Billboard dance/club chart, giving Summer her 13th number-one hit on that chart. Summer recorded four music videos: "Stamp Your Feet", "Mr. Music", "The Queen is Back", and "Fame (The Game)".

When commenting on the album, Summer explains, "I wanted this album to have a lot of different directions on it," says Donna. "I did not want it to be any one baby. I just wanted it to be a sampler of flavors and influences from all over the world. There's a touch of this, a little smidgeon of that, a dash of something else...like when you're cooking."

• The lead-in track "Stamp Your Feet", written by Summer, Greg Kurstin, and Danielle Brisebois, was originally called, according to Summer, "The Player's Anthem". "It's the whole concept of being a player in life, coupled with the idea of being a player on an actual field, the whole thing, dealing with the pain and doing things even though you are afraid. Even though you're afraid of something and your knees are knocking, you get up and do it because a lot depends on it. Players get taken off to the sidelines and bandaged and thrown back in the game because it depends on them to win the game. We're all 'players.' It goes back to Shakespeare: 'All the world's a stage, and all the men and women merely players.'"

• About the song "Crayons", Summer says, "It encompasses a lot of what the album is about," she says. "Every song is a different color. Since I'm also a visual artist, that title ties a lot of the loose ends of my life together. The song wrote itself pretty quickly. Taking it to the next level, we influence each other in life. You may have an Arab friend or an Israeli friend or an Indian friend and so you go and eat a little Indian food (or have a little pita bread), or something you've never experienced, and as we immerse ourselves in each other's cultural experiences, it's like taking a crayon and coloring over the lines and the lines become blurred between what's that and what's the other. You take two colors and create other colors and you add a third color and there's another color too. That's how we are in life and that, to me, is a good indication for this album: feeling free to draw between the lines. Everybody gets crayons at some point in their lives, everybody can relate to the basics. It comes down to that child in us, I think there's a commonality in the concept of crayons."

• On "The Queen Is Back", Summer reveals her wry and witty self-awareness of her musical legacy and her public persona. "I'm making fun of myself," she admits. "There's irony, it's poking fun at the idea of being called a queen. That's a title that has followed me, followed me, and followed me. We were sitting and writing and that title kept popping up in my mind and I'm thinking, 'Am I supposed to write this? Is this too arrogant to write?' But people call me 'the queen,' so I guess it's ok to refer to myself as what everybody else refers to me as. We started writing the song and thought it was kind of cute and funny."

Summer wrote "The Queen Is Back" and "Mr. Music" with Jonathan "J.R." Rotem and Evan Bogart, whose father, Columbia Records boss Neil Bogart passed away from cancer at the age of 39. He signed Summer to his Casblanca Records in 1975 and released some of her biggest albums and singles during the 1970s. "I adored him and would have given up everything for him to be alive," says Summer, remembering a time in the 70s "when the nail person didn't show up and Neil got on his knees and did my toenails. In many ways he was my mentor and I didn't get to say goodbye to him." When Summer met Evan Bogart, she was struck by his uncanny resemblance to his label executive father. "It's almost like they chiseled him out of his father," Summer observed. "I'm in the studio looking at him and I get tears in my eyes, he has no idea why. I just wanted to hug him because it's like I'm seeing someone I haven't seen since his father passed away. It's almost like Neil is looking at me through him. Evan and I hit it off immediately; there was a synergy that happened really quickly." "The Queen is Back" samples "Lose Control" by Kevin Federline

Kevin Federline

Kevin Earl Federline is an American dancer, rapper, fashion model, and actor. Previously engaged to actress Shar Jackson, Federline is best known for his two-year marriage to pop singer Britney Spears...

. Both songs are produced by J. R. Rotem

J. R. Rotem

- Early life :Rotem was born in South Africa to Israeli immigrant Jewish parents. He moved to Toronto at the age of two and finally to Moraga, California when he was twelve.Rotem's entry point into music was in receiving classical piano tuition at a young age...

.

Track listing

#	Title	Length	Songwriters	Producer
1	"Stamp Your Feet Stamp Your Feet "Stamp Your Feet" is a song by Donna Summer released as the first official single from her 2008 album, Crayons. The song was written by Summer, Danielle Brisebois, and Greg Kurstin, who also produced the track.-American Idol performance:... "	3:52	Danielle Brisebois Danielle Brisebois Danielle Anne Brisebois is an American actress, producer, songwriter and singer. In the 1990s she recorded two solo albums, Arrive All Over You and Portable Life, and was a member of the New Radicals... , Greg Kurstin Greg Kurstin Gregory Allen "Greg" Kurstin is an award-winning American songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. In 2009 Kurstin received a Grammy Award nomination for Producer of the Year. That same year he won three Ivor Novello awards for his work with Lily Allen, including Songwriters of the Year for "The Fear"... , Donna Summer Donna Summer LaDonna Adrian Gaines , known by her stage name, Donna Summer, is an American singer/songwriter who gained prominence during the disco era of the 1970s. She has a mezzo-soprano vocal range. Summer is a five-time Grammy winner and was the first artist to have three consecutive double albums reach...	Kurstin
2	"Mr. Music"	3:14	Evan Bogart Evan Bogart Evan "Kidd" Bogart is an American music executive, television producer, music publisher and songwriter who has contributed to a long list of internationally successful artists... , J. R. Rotem J. R. Rotem - Early life :Rotem was born in South Africa to Israeli immigrant Jewish parents. He moved to Toronto at the age of two and finally to Moraga, California when he was twelve.Rotem's entry point into music was in receiving classical piano tuition at a young age... , Summer, Meredith Willson Meredith Willson Robert Meredith Willson was an American composer, songwriter, conductor and playwright, best known for writing the book, music and lyrics for the hit Broadway musical The Music Man...	Rotem
3	"Crayons" (featuring Ziggy Marley Ziggy Marley David "Ziggy" Marley is a Jamaican musician and leader of the band Ziggy Marley and the Melody Makers. He is the oldest son of famed reggae musician Bob Marley... )	3:21	Brisebois, Kurstin, Marley, Summer	Kurstin
4	"The Queen Is Back"	3:27	Bogart, Rotem, Summer	Rotem
5	"Fame (The Game) Fame (The Game) "Fame " is the second official single from Donna Summer's 2008 studio album Crayons. It has so far been a major success on Billboard sub-charts, peaking at #1 on the Hot Dance Club Play chart.-Charts:... "	4:03	Toby Gad Toby Gad Tobias "Toby" Gad is a Los Angeles-based hit producer and songwriter from Germany, perhaps best known for co-writing Fergie's Grammy nominated hit song "Big Girls Don't Cry" as well as co-writing and producing Beyoncé's worldwide #1 hit "If I Were a Boy", and The Veronicas multi-platinum #1... , Summer	Gad
6	"Sand on My Feet"	3:51	Gad, Summer	Gad
7	"Drivin' Down Brazil"	4:43	Brisebois, Kurstin, Summer	Kurstin
8	"I'm a Fire I'm a Fire "I'm a Fire" is the first single from Donna Summer's album, Crayons. The club single reached #1 on the Billboard Hot Dance Club Play chart giving Summer her 13th number-one and giving her the longest timespan between first and most recent Hot Dance Club Play chart #1s.-Remixes:* Album Version -... "	7:11	Al Kasha Al Kasha Al Kasha is a Brooklyn–born composer, songwriter and arranger, as well as businessman. He is most noted for his years of collaboration with songwriter Joel Hirschhorn... , Sebastian Arocha Morton, Summer	Morton
9	"Slide Over Backwards"	4:10	Nathan DiGesare, Jakob Petren, Summer	DiGesare
10	"Science of Love"	3:48	Gad, Summer	Gad
11	"Be Myself Again"	4:19	Wayne Hector Wayne Hector Wayne Hector is an English songwriter.Wayne Hector has had over 30 number ones around the globe under his belt and numerous movie soundtrack credits, Wayne Hector is one of the UK’s most successful songwriters.... , Lester Mendez Lester Mendez Lester Mendez is an American record producer and songwriter. His production/writing credits include a multitude of successful hits including Shakira's "Underneath Your Clothes" and "La Tortura", Jessica Simpson's "A Public Affair", and Nelly Furtado's "Te Busqué".Mendez worked with Carlos Santana... , Summer	Mendez
12	"Bring Down the Reign"	4:33	Jamie Houston, Fred Kron, Summer	Houston
International edition bonus track
13	"It's Only Love It's Only Love (Donna Summer song) "It's Only Love" is a song performed by Donna Summer and released in support of her album Crayons. However, the song appears only on international copies of the album and was released exclusively as a single for the U.S. iTunes Store and reached #29 on the iTunes Top 100.It reached #14 on the U.S... "	6:58	Kasha, Morton, Summer	Morton

Chart performance

Chart (2008)	Peak position
U.S. United States The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...  Billboard Billboard (magazine) Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis... 200 Billboard 200 The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists...	17
UK Albums Chart UK Albums Chart The UK Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales in the United Kingdom. It is compiled every week by The Official Charts Company and broadcast on a Sunday on BBC Radio 1 , and published in Music Week magazine and on the OCC website .To qualify for the UK albums chart...	142
Germany Germany Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...	73
Spain Spain Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...	97
Switzerland Switzerland Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....	85

Release history

Region	Date
United States United States The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
Canada Canada Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
Denmark Denmark Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
Germany Germany Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
Australia Australia Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
France France The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
Spain Spain Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
Brazil Brazil Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
United Kingdom United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
Japan Japan Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...