Last Dance (song)
Encyclopedia
"Last Dance" is a hit 1978 song by singer Donna Summer
. The song appeared on the Thank God It's Friday movie soundtrack. It was written by Paul Jabara
and was co-produced by Summer's regular collaborator Giorgio Moroder
, along with Bob Esty. It was mixed by the Grammy Award
winning record producer
, Stephen Short
, whose back-up vocals
are featured on the song.
as an aspiring singer who brings an instrumental track of "Last Dance" to a disco
in hopes the disc jockey will play the track and allow her to sing the song for her fellow patrons: after refusing through most of the film the disc jockey eventually obliges Summer's character and her performance causes a sensation.
According to the song's co-producer Bob Esty, Paul Jabara had locked Summer in a Puerto Rico
hotel bathroom and forced her to listen to a cassette of him singing a rough version of "Last Dance." Summer liked the song and Jabara asked Esty to work with him on an arrangement for Summer to make her recording. Esty recalls: "I changed some of the chords and extended the 'hook' to repeat three times to finish the last phrase of the chorus. I also added a bridge to build to a climax and suggested a ballad intro à la "Ain't No Mountain High Enough
" [the Diana Ross
version] and another ballad in the middle of the song building again to a high note for the last chorus ending. To our knowledge, this had never been done in a disco track. ..We did the piano/vocal with Donna and me of the full version including the two ballad sections and the ending in one 'pass'...I recorded the full track in one day, rhythm in the morning, horns and strings during the day. That same night, Giorgio Moroder recorded Donna's vocal exactly as she sang the demo, in two takes, and banning me from attending the session. In spite of the fact Giorgio didn't like the song and didn't want Donna to sing in a full voice style, I thought I would be at least credited for co-producing the track and co-writing the song with Paul. He ultimately took credit for it. And Paul Jabara took the Oscar. I learned a bitter lesson from that".
, and a Golden Globe
for Best Original Song that same year. With a #3 peak on the Hot 100
in Billboard
magazine, "Last Dance" became Summer's third US Top Ten hit after "Love to Love You Baby
" and "I Feel Love
" and almost matched the #2 hit "Love to Love You Baby" as Summer's best-charting single (at that time). "Last Dance" also afforded Summer a #5 R&B chart
hit and was #1 on Billboards Hot Disco Action Chart
for six weeks eventually being ranked as the #1 Disco hit for the year 1978. Certified gold for sales of a million units in the US,"Last Dance" marked a downturn in Summer's chart fortunes in the UK where she'd previously had more chart impact than in the US with "Last Dance"'s UK chart peak being at #51; Summer would return to the UK Top Ten - at #5 - with her followup single "MacArthur Park
" a single which afford Summer her first US #1.
(4:56). "Last Dance" started a trend for Summer as some of her following hits also had a ballad-like intro before speeding up the tempo. Her other hits of this tempo format include "On the Radio
"; "No More Tears (Enough is Enough)", a duet with Barbra Streisand
; "Dim All the Lights
"; and a song written by and duetted with Paul Jabara
called "Foggy Day/Never Lose Your Sense Of Humor", from his album "The Third Album
".
and Pink Lady
on an episode of the variety show Pink Lady and Jeff.
On an episode of Family Matters
, Summer played Steve Urkel
's aunt, Aunt Oona from Altoona, and sang this song in a karaoke contest.
The song is briefly sung by Michael Clarke Duncan
in the outtakes of Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby
. It also appears in Charlies Angels Full Throttle.
The Tejano superstar Selena
performed the song as a medley which included Summer's On the Radio during her last televised concert in February 1995 at the Houston Astrodome. The medley was initially released on the soundtrack
for the film Selena
, but was later released on the CD and DVD release of Selena: The Last Concert.
In 2003, Whoopi Goldberg
, Thelma Houston
, Mýa
, Taylor Dayne
, and Gloria Gaynor
performed the song for the finale of the concert television special The Disco Ball
.
In the Simpsons episode Today I Am a Clown part of the song plays as Homer
takes Santa's Little Helper
on a night out.
In early 2006, Lucy Benjamin covered this song in The X Factor: Battle of the Stars
.
In 2007, CeCe Peniston
recorded live her own cover version of the Summer's song, which was released in 2008 as the second song on a Peniston's three track digital "EP Live". In 2010 the Peniston
's version was available in Europe also on live CD Divas Of Disco: Live
.
The song has been performed three times on American Idol
: by Ryan Starr
, Brenna Gethers, and LaKisha Jones
.
In the finale episode of American Idol's season 7, the top 12 females performed this song along with Summer.
"Last Dance" was played on the final episode of As The World Turns
, that aired September 17, 2010.
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...
. The song appeared on the Thank God It's Friday movie soundtrack. It was written by Paul Jabara
Paul Jabara
Paul Jabara was an American actor, singer, and songwriter of Lebanese ancestry. He wrote Donna Summer's "Last Dance" from Thank God It's Friday and Barbra Streisand's song "The Main Event/Fight" from The Main Event...
and was co-produced by Summer's regular collaborator Giorgio Moroder
Giorgio Moroder
Hansjörg "Giorgio" Moroder is an Italian record producer, songwriter and performer based in Los Angeles. When in Munich in the 1970s, he started his own record label called Oasis Records, which several years later became a subdivision of Casablanca Records...
, along with Bob Esty. It was mixed by the Grammy Award
Grammy Award
A Grammy Award — or Grammy — is an accolade by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the music industry...
winning record producer
Record producer
A record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...
, Stephen Short
Stephen Short
Stephen Short is a Grammy Award–winning record producer and operates Ping Pong Music, an artist management company. Many songs he has worked on have gone on to become chart-topping singles that have won Grammy Awards, Academy Awards, and Golden Globe Awards....
, whose back-up vocals
Backing vocalist
A backing vocalist or backing singer is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists...
are featured on the song.
Background
Donna Summer has a role in the film Thank God It's FridayThank God It's Friday
The triple album was, unlike the movie, a commercial success. It contained contributions from some of the biggest names in disco at the time, including Donna Summer, Diana Ross, Thelma Houston, The Commodores, and many others....
as an aspiring singer who brings an instrumental track of "Last Dance" to a disco
Disco
Disco is a genre of dance music. Disco acts charted high during the mid-1970s, and the genre's popularity peaked during the late 1970s. It had its roots in clubs that catered to African American, gay, psychedelic, and other communities in New York City and Philadelphia during the late 1960s and...
in hopes the disc jockey will play the track and allow her to sing the song for her fellow patrons: after refusing through most of the film the disc jockey eventually obliges Summer's character and her performance causes a sensation.
According to the song's co-producer Bob Esty, Paul Jabara had locked Summer in a Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico , officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico , is an unincorporated territory of the United States, located in the northeastern Caribbean, east of the Dominican Republic and west of both the United States Virgin Islands and the British Virgin Islands.Puerto Rico comprises an...
hotel bathroom and forced her to listen to a cassette of him singing a rough version of "Last Dance." Summer liked the song and Jabara asked Esty to work with him on an arrangement for Summer to make her recording. Esty recalls: "I changed some of the chords and extended the 'hook' to repeat three times to finish the last phrase of the chorus. I also added a bridge to build to a climax and suggested a ballad intro à la "Ain't No Mountain High Enough
Ain't No Mountain High Enough
"Ain't No Mountain High Enough" is an R&B/soul song written by Nickolas Ashford & Valerie Simpson in 1966 for the Tamla Motown label. The composition was first successful as a 1967 hit single recorded by Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell, becoming a hit again in 1970 when recorded by former Supremes...
" [the Diana Ross
Diana Ross
Diana Ernestine Earle Ross is an American singer, record producer, and actress. Ross was lead singer of the Motown group The Supremes during the 1960s. After leaving the group in 1970, Ross began a solo career that included successful ventures into film and Broadway...
version] and another ballad in the middle of the song building again to a high note for the last chorus ending. To our knowledge, this had never been done in a disco track. ..We did the piano/vocal with Donna and me of the full version including the two ballad sections and the ending in one 'pass'...I recorded the full track in one day, rhythm in the morning, horns and strings during the day. That same night, Giorgio Moroder recorded Donna's vocal exactly as she sang the demo, in two takes, and banning me from attending the session. In spite of the fact Giorgio didn't like the song and didn't want Donna to sing in a full voice style, I thought I would be at least credited for co-producing the track and co-writing the song with Paul. He ultimately took credit for it. And Paul Jabara took the Oscar. I learned a bitter lesson from that".
Awards and recognition
"Last Dance" won an Academy AwardAcademy Award for Best Original Song
The Academy Award for Best Original Song is one of the awards given annually to people working in the motion picture industry by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences . It is presented to the songwriters who have composed the best original song written specifically for a film...
, and a Golden Globe
Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song
Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song was awarded for the first time in 1962 and has been awarded annually since 1965 by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association.-1960s:...
for Best Original Song that same year. With a #3 peak on the Hot 100
Billboard Hot 100
The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...
in 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...
magazine, "Last Dance" became Summer's third US Top Ten hit after "Love to Love You Baby
Love to Love You Baby (song)
"Love to Love You Baby" is a song by American singer Donna Summer released in 1975 . It became one of the first ever disco hits to also be released in an extended form.-Song information and original release:...
" and "I Feel Love
I Feel Love
"I Feel Love" is a song by Donna Summer, taken from her 1977 concept album I Remember Yesterday.The song constituted the "future" segment of the album, which represented a stylistic progress through time...
" and almost matched the #2 hit "Love to Love You Baby" as Summer's best-charting single (at that time). "Last Dance" also afforded Summer a #5 R&B chart
Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs
Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, is a chart released weekly by Billboard in the United States.The chart, initiated in 1942, is used to track the success of popular music songs in urban, or primarily African American, venues. Dominated over the years at various times by jazz, rhythm and blues, doo-wop, soul,...
hit and was #1 on Billboards Hot Disco Action Chart
Hot Dance Club Play
The Hot Dance Club Songs chart is a weekly national survey of the songs that are most popular in U.S. dance clubs...
for six weeks eventually being ranked as the #1 Disco hit for the year 1978. Certified gold for sales of a million units in the US,"Last Dance" marked a downturn in Summer's chart fortunes in the UK where she'd previously had more chart impact than in the US with "Last Dance"'s UK chart peak being at #51; Summer would return to the UK Top Ten - at #5 - with her followup single "MacArthur Park
MacArthur Park (song)
"MacArthur Park" is a song by Jimmy Webb, originally composed as part of an intended cantata. The song was initially rejected by The Association. Richard Harris was the first to record it, in 1968; the song was subsequently covered by numerous artists. Among the best-known covers are Donna Summer's...
" a single which afford Summer her first US #1.
Structure
"Last Dance" was one of the first disco songs to also feature slow tempo parts: it starts off as a ballad; the full-length version on the film soundtrack also has a slow part in the middle. This part was edited out for the 12" format, while more of the song was edited for the 7". The versions found on most greatest hits packages is either the original 7" edit (3:21) or the slightly longer and remixed version from the 1979 compilation On The Radio: Greatest Hits Volumes 1 & 2On the Radio: Greatest Hits Volumes 1 & 2
-Charts:AlbumSingle- Certifications :...
(4:56). "Last Dance" started a trend for Summer as some of her following hits also had a ballad-like intro before speeding up the tempo. Her other hits of this tempo format include "On the Radio
On the Radio (Donna Summer song)
"On the Radio" is a single by Donna Summer released in 1979 on the Casablanca record label. It was written for the soundtrack to the film Foxes and included on Summer's first international compilation album On the Radio: Greatest Hits Volumes 1 & 2. It was released as a single and became, in...
"; "No More Tears (Enough is Enough)", a duet with Barbra Streisand
Barbra Streisand
Barbra Joan Streisand is an American singer, actress, film producer and director. She has won two Academy Awards, eight Grammy Awards, four Emmy Awards, a Special Tony Award, an American Film Institute award, a Peabody Award, and is one of the few entertainers who have won an Oscar, Emmy, Grammy,...
; "Dim All the Lights
Dim All the Lights
"Dim All the Lights" is a song by Donna Summer released as a single in the latter half of 1979. Taken from her Bad Girls album and produced by longtime collaborator Giorgio Moroder with Pete Bellotte, the track combines Summer's trademark disco beats with a more soulful/R&B-esque sound...
"; and a song written by and duetted with Paul Jabara
Paul Jabara
Paul Jabara was an American actor, singer, and songwriter of Lebanese ancestry. He wrote Donna Summer's "Last Dance" from Thank God It's Friday and Barbra Streisand's song "The Main Event/Fight" from The Main Event...
called "Foggy Day/Never Lose Your Sense Of Humor", from his album "The Third Album
The Third Album (Paul Jabara album)
The Third Album is a the third studio album by American actor, singer and songwriter Paul Jabara. The album includes the single releases "Disco Wedding" and "Never Lose Your Sense Of Humor"...
".
Charts
| Chart (1978) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Dutch GfK GfK The GfK Group, established in 1934 as Gesellschaft für Konsumforschung is Germany's largest market research institute, and the fourth largest market research organisation in the world, after Nielsen Company, Kantar Group, and IMS Health... chart |
10 |
| Dutch Top 40 Dutch Top 40 The Dutch Top 40 is a weekly music chart, which started as the "Veronica Top 40", because the offshore radio station Radio Veronica was the first to introduce it. It remained "The Veronica Top 40" until 1974, when the station was forced to stop broadcasting... |
8 |
| US Billboard Hot 100 | 3 |
| US Billboard Hot Dance Club Play Hot Dance Club Play The Hot Dance Club Songs chart is a weekly national survey of the songs that are most popular in U.S. dance clubs... |
1 |
Appearances in other media
In 1980, the song was covered by Greg EviganGreg Evigan
Gregory Ralph "Greg" Evigan is an American actor best known for the TV series B.J. and the Bear, My Two Dads, P.S. I Luv U and TekWar.-Personal life:...
and Pink Lady
Pink Lady (band)
is a Japanese female pop music duo of the late 1970s and early 1980s, featuring Mitsuyo Nemoto and Keiko Masuda...
on an episode of the variety show Pink Lady and Jeff.
On an episode of Family Matters
Family Matters (TV series)
Family Matters is an American sitcom about a middle-class African-American family living in Chicago, Illinois, which ran on national television for nine full seasons. The series was a spin-off of Perfect Strangers, but revolves around the Winslow family...
, Summer played Steve Urkel
Steve Urkel
Steven Quincy Urkel, generally known as Steve Urkel or simply Urkel, is a fictional character on the ABC/CBS sitcom Family Matters, portrayed by Jaleel White...
's aunt, Aunt Oona from Altoona, and sang this song in a karaoke contest.
The song is briefly sung by Michael Clarke Duncan
Michael Clarke Duncan
Michael Clarke Duncan is an American actor, best known for his breakout role as John Coffey in The Green Mile, for which he was nominated for an Academy Award and a Golden Globe.- Early life :...
in the outtakes of Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby
Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby
Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby is a 2006 American comedy film, directed by Adam McKay and starring Will Ferrell. The film also features John C. Reilly, Michael Clarke Duncan, Leslie Bibb, Amy Adams, Gary Cole, Jane Lynch, and Sacha Baron Cohen. Various Saturday Night Live alumni also...
. It also appears in Charlies Angels Full Throttle.
The Tejano superstar Selena
Selena
Selena Quintanilla-Pérez , known simply as Selena, was a Mexican American singer-songwriter. She was named the "top Latin artist of the '90s" and "Best selling Latin artist of the decade" by Billboard for her fourteen top-ten singles in the Top Latin Songs chart, including seven number-one hits...
performed the song as a medley which included Summer's On the Radio during her last televised concert in February 1995 at the Houston Astrodome. The medley was initially released on the soundtrack
Selena (soundtrack)
Selena: The Original Motion Picture Soundtrack is the soundtrack album to the film, Selena, starring Jennifer Lopez and featuring unreleased songs by Selena, including "Where Did the Feeling Go?", "Only Love", "Is It the Beat?" and "Disco Medley"...
for the film Selena
Selena (film)
Selena is a 1997 American biographical drama film about the life and career of the late Tejano music star Selena, a recording artist who was well known in the Mexican-American and Hispanic communities in the United States and Mexico before she was shot to death at the age of twenty-three.The movie...
, but was later released on the CD and DVD release of Selena: The Last Concert.
In 2003, Whoopi Goldberg
Whoopi Goldberg
Whoopi Goldberg is an American comedian, actress, singer-songwriter, political activist, author and talk show host.Goldberg made her film debut in The Color Purple playing Celie, a mistreated black woman in the Deep South. She received a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actress and won...
, Thelma Houston
Thelma Houston
Thelma Houston is an American singer-songwriter and actress. She scored a number-one hit in 1976 with her cover version of the song "Don't Leave Me This Way", which won the 1978 Grammy Award for Best Female R&B Vocal Performance.-Early life & career:Houston is the daughter of a cotton picking mother...
, Mýa
Mya
-A person:* Bo Mya , Chief Commander of the Karen National Union* Mýa , American R&B singer-songwriter and actress** Mýa , a 1998 album by Mýa-A code:* Burmese language, ISO 639-3 code is mya* Moruya Airport's IATA code...
, Taylor Dayne
Taylor Dayne
Taylor Dayne was born Leslie Wunderman on March 7, 1962 before later adopting her current stage name. She is an American pop vocalist, songwriter, and dance artist. Overall, she has had eighteen individual hit songs reach the top ten in Billboard magazine...
, and Gloria Gaynor
Gloria Gaynor
Gloria Gaynor is an American singer, best known for the disco era hits; "I Will Survive" , "Never Can Say Goodbye" , "Let Me Know " and "I Am What I Am" .-Early career:Gaynor was a singer with the Soul...
performed the song for the finale of the concert television special The Disco Ball
The Disco Ball
The Disco Ball was a 2003 television special featuring a wide array of celebrities performing disco songs. The concert was taped on October 13, 2002 at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles, California.-Performers:...
.
In the Simpsons episode Today I Am a Clown part of the song plays as Homer
Homer
In the Western classical tradition Homer , is the author of the Iliad and the Odyssey, and is revered as the greatest ancient Greek epic poet. These epics lie at the beginning of the Western canon of literature, and have had an enormous influence on the history of literature.When he lived is...
takes Santa's Little Helper
Santa's Little Helper
Santa's Little Helper is a recurring character in the American animated television series The Simpsons. He is the pet greyhound of the Simpson family. The dog was introduced in the first episode of the show, the 1989 Christmas special "Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire", in which his owner abandons...
on a night out.
In early 2006, Lucy Benjamin covered this song in The X Factor: Battle of the Stars
The X Factor: Battle of the Stars
The X Factor: Battle of the Stars was a UK celebrity special edition of The X Factor, which screened on ITV, started on 29 May 2006 and lasting for eight consecutive nights...
.
In 2007, CeCe Peniston
CeCe Peniston
CeCe Peniston is an African American recording artist and former beauty queen. At the beginning of the nineties, she was considered to be one of the most successful dance club artists in the history of the U.S...
recorded live her own cover version of the Summer's song, which was released in 2008 as the second song on a Peniston's three track digital "EP Live". In 2010 the Peniston
CeCe Peniston
CeCe Peniston is an African American recording artist and former beauty queen. At the beginning of the nineties, she was considered to be one of the most successful dance club artists in the history of the U.S...
's version was available in Europe also on live CD Divas Of Disco: Live
Divas of Disco: Live
-Credits and personnel:* Linda Clifford - lead vocal* Janice Marie Johnson - lead vocal* Thelma Houston - lead vocal* France Joli - lead vocal* CeCe Peniston - lead vocal* Jean McClain - back vocal* Sabrina Sloan - back vocal* Ed Roth - music director, piano...
.
The song has been performed three times on American Idol
American Idol
American Idol, titled American Idol: The Search for a Superstar for the first season, is a reality television singing competition created by Simon Fuller and produced by FremantleMedia North America and 19 Entertainment...
: by Ryan Starr
Ryan Starr
Ryan Starr is an American female singer, songwriter and actress. She ranked seventh on the season 1 of the talent search television series American Idol...
, Brenna Gethers, and LaKisha Jones
LaKisha Jones
LaKisha Ann Jones is an American singer. She placed fourth on the sixth season of American Idol.-Personal life:Jones was born at Hurley Medical Center in Flint, Michigan, to a teacher at the Flint Foundation Academy...
.
In the finale episode of American Idol's season 7, the top 12 females performed this song along with Summer.
"Last Dance" was played on the final episode of As The World Turns
As the World Turns
As the World Turns is an American television soap opera that aired on CBS from April 2, 1956 to September 17, 2010. Irna Phillips created As the World Turns as a sister show to her other soap opera Guiding Light...
, that aired September 17, 2010.