I COULD NOT BELIEVE WHAT WAS playing on the car’s radio. We were driving through the city, when the radio disc jockey made the comment to be prepared for the new hot song, he was going to play next. I was sitting in the backseat, but the car had a decent speaker, so all of us would be able to hear. When the song came on the air, I was not sure if I was hearing things correctly or someone was playing a joke. A woman was moaning. There was a strong beat behind her words, but I was still confused. Eventually the woman sang some lyrics, but the song repeated the moans over and over, extending the song out to an unheard-of amount of time.  We were stunned and could not believe what we had just heard. The disc jockey came back on and gave a quick update on the artist’s name, record stats and how she was discovered. I still remember when we were driving back home after spending the day downtown, we heard the song again. Though this time, the evening disc jockey was talking about how fast the song was moving up the song charts, making big jumps towards number one.      FOUR YEARS LATER, I HEARD A song that started out with the words, “toot toot, beep beep.” So odd, but it had a beat that was infectious. It turned out it was the same singer from that song I had heard on the radio with all that moaning. I do know, whenever this song came on you could see everyone doing something to the beat; whether it was toe tapping or dancing or air guitaring, it got people moving.  By this point my curiosity was piqued enough to figure out who was this singer because I must tell you, I was hooked. The period of time in the music world was referred to as Disco, which referred to pop music created for dancing to it that had melodies and soulfulness, mixed in with a steady beat. You could never get away from it; it was being played at weddings, parties, clubs, television shows and movies. This singer was being referred to as the “Queen of Disco.” She was on the cover of Rolling Stone which was a first. And the best part of this is I got to see her live in concert in a concert hall that is considered to have the best acoustics in the world. With the stage dark, a background music track began to play. The lights came up to show a winter scene on stage with fake snow and crystal icicles hanging from fake trees. The singer slowly came out on a moving sidewalk, dressed in a full length feathered white coat. Her voice was crystal clear as she sang the beginning of one of her famous songs. I was so excited then as I am now, seeing her again in this musical documentary.      A DAUGHTER’S CURIOUSITY ABOUT HER MOTHER’S life was the impetus for the creation of this movie about the singer, Donna Summer. Directed by Roger Ross Williams (The Apollo; Life, Animated) and Donna’s daughter Brooklyn Sudano (Taken-TV, With This Ring), I was all into this documentary since I was a big fan of Donna. With home and never seen before footage, I was fascinated seeing the behind-the-scenes tidbits of famous songs and events. Adding in the commentary from such celebrities as Elton John and Giorgio Moroder, I enjoyed reliving those times without having to dress up in Qiana shirts and platform shoes. There was though a sanitary feel to this film, which I understood since Brooklyn was behind it. I would have appreciated getting a deeper sense of Donna and the people in her life with more in-depth, unfiltered interviews. However, hearing the music again transported me back to those times and gave me such a fun feeling that I could easily forgive. If you choose to see this picture, do not be surprised if you get the urge to dance.

3 stars