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Rating: 1979. Disco was about to sink, and Donna, as we all know, would sink with the genre she had been Queen of, never to re-emerge except with forgettable albums. In short, Bad Girls is Donna's last worthwhile record; the last one in which she collaborates with Moroder; the last one with the Casablanca label.
In terms of sales, this album is part of the famous trilogy of double albums that Donna placed in a row at first place on the chart (first comes the wonderful Live & More live, then this album of unreleased songs, and finally On the Radio, a greatest hits). It seems clear to me that this moment represents a sharp break in Donna's career, which could be explained in the simplest of ways: good records up to this point, bad records from here on. So Bad Girls is the last hurrah, but what a last hurrah, guys!
In the meantime, it must be said that (unfortunately) Moroder and Bellotte, who had written and composed with her until that point, were joined by other authors. The Moroder - Bellotte - Summer partnership was perfect, and indeed the best tracks of this double LP are their offspring. For me, Bad Girls is somewhat Donna's White Album; there's really everything in it, here's a quick recap:
Hot Stuff stands out as a manifesto of crossover, with the big guitar solo, a bold evolution of the dancefloor-filling tracks of the glorious past years. Bad Girls and Love Will Always Find You focus on naivety, the first becomes a bestselling single but remains bland, the second has a cloying and irresistible horn section. Walk Away is another beautifully syncopated piece.
Dim All the Lights deserves a review of its own: Donna creates a masterpiece, the piece starts slow and romantic, then unleashes all the syncopated energy of Disco. And throughout this, Donna's performance is one of the best ever heard. This is the pinnacle of the album and surely one of the highest points reached by Donna during the collaboration with Moroder.
We go up a few tracks and reach the third side, which opens with a kind of ballad trilogy; On my Honor with the piano, There Will Always Be a You and the poignant All Through the Night. The piece I like the most is the second, but it must be said that all 3 would have been rather anonymous tracks in terms of structure, instruments, and arrangements. Instead, they are if not memorable, then nevertheless very pleasant, and it's not easy to choose just one, and all this is owed to the magnificent performer.
The last side is reserved for the most futuristic Disco, that of I Feel Love and the second side of Once Upon a Time. This part of the record, where performance matters less, turns out to be the weakest.
Bad Girls is a memorable album because it allows Donna to fire her last shots with the Moroder - Bellotte company (in reality, they will still collaborate on a couple of tracks on The Wanderer, the next album, but we can consider the golden period closed here, and in style). It may not be Donna's best album, but it is the most ambitious, being a double. This fact of the double album is surely tasty for listeners, but it makes it difficult for this album, with its 15 tracks, to stand up to classics such as I Remember Yesterday or Four Seasons of Love, which had 8 and 4 tracks respectively, albums in which the risk of getting a song wrong was certainly lower. But it will be history, in addition to the enormous sales success, that will make this album an icon.
Tracklist and Lyrics
01 Hot Stuff (05:13)
Sittin' here eatin' my heart out waitin'
Waitin' for some lover to call
Dialed about a thousand numbers lately
Almost rang the phone off the wall
Lookin' for some hot stuff baby this evenin'
I need some hot stuff baby tonight
I want some hot stuff baby this evenin'
Gotta have some hot stuff
Gotta have some love tonight
Hot stuff
I need hot stuff
I want some hot stuff
I need hot stuff
Lookin' for a lover who needs another
Don't want another night on my own
Wanna share my love with a warm blooded lover
Wanna bring a wild man back home
Gotta have some hot love baby this evenin'
I need some hot stuff baby tonight
I want some hot stuff baby this evenin'
Gotta have some lovin�
Gotta have love tonight
I need hot stuff
Hot love
Looking for hot love
Hot, hot, hot, hot stuff
Hot, hot, hot
Hot, hot, hot, hot stuff
Hot, hot, hot
How's about some hot stuff baby this evenin'
I need some hot stuff baby tonight
Gimme little hot stuff baby this evenin'
Hot stuff baby
Gonna need your love tonight
Hot stuff
I need hot love
Lookin� hot stuff
Wanna have hot love
Sittin' here eatin' my heart out, no reason
Won't spend another night on my own
I dialed about a hundred numbers baby
I'm bound to find somebody home
Gonna have some hot stuff baby this evenin'
I need some hot stuff baby tonight
Lookin for my hot stuff baby this evenin'
Need some lovin� baby
Gonna need your love tonight
Hot stuff
Hot stuff
Hot stuff
Hot stuff
Hot, hot, hot, hot stuff
Hot, hot, hot
Hot, hot, hot, hot stuff
Hot, hot, hot
How's about some hot stuff baby this evenin'
I need some hot stuff baby tonight
Lookin for my hot stuff tonight
Need some lovin� baby
Gonna need your love tonight
Hot stuff baby this evenin�
I want some hot stuff baby tonight (yeah)
Wanna have your hot love baby this evenin
I want some hot love baby this evenin
How about some hot stuff baby this evenin'
02 Bad Girls (04:57)
toot toot hey beep beep
toot toot hey beep beep
Bad girls
Talking about the sad girls
Sad girls
Talking About bad girls, yeah
See them out on the street at night, walkin'
Picking up on all kinds of strangers
If the price is right
You can't score if you're pocket's tight
But you want a good time
You ask yourself who they are
Like everybody else, they come from near and far
Bad girls
Talking about the sad girls
Sad girls
Talking About bad girls, yeah
Friday night and the strip is hot
Sun's gone down and they're out to trot
Spirit's high and legs look hot
Do you wanna get down?
Now don't you ask yourself who they are?
Like everybody else, they wanna be a star
Now you and me we're both the same
But you call yourself by different names
Now your mama won't like it when she finds out
That her girl is out at night
Street talkin', street walkin'
Hey, mister, have you got a dime?
Mister, do you want to spent some time? Oh, yeah
I got what you want, you got what I need
I'll be your baby, come and spend it on me
Sad Girls, you such a dirty bad girl
Beep-Beep uh uh
You bad girl you sad girl
you such a dirty bad girl
Beep-Beep uh uh
04 Walk Away (04:17)
Just another emotion
is this something more
if it's only a passionate phase
I'd rather just close the door
Turn away, turn away, turn away
walk away, walk away, walk away
Walk away
when you know that I need you
walk away
when you hear me call you
(don't) walk away
don't you see that I want you
here by my side
(Don't) walk away
when you know that I need you
(don't) walk away
when you see me coming
(don't) walk away
when you know that I need you
by my side
I'm sure that I'll get over you
it'll take me a while you see
next time, there won't be no next time
save all my feelings for me
Turn away, turn away, turn away
walk away, walk away, walk away
Walk away
when you see that I need you
walk away
when your hear me call you
(don't) walk away
don't you know that I need you
here by my side
(Don't) walk away
when you see that I need you
(don't) walk away
when you hear me call you
(don't) walk away
don't you know that I want you
by my side
Turn away, turn away, turn away
walk away, walk away, walk away
Walk away
when you know that I need you
walk away
when you hear me call you
(don't) walk away
when you know that I need you
here by my side
(Don't) walk away...
05 Dim All the Lights (04:40)
CHORUS:
Dim all the lights sweet darlin'
'Cause tonight it's all the way
Turn up the old Victrola
Gonna dance the night away
Love just don't come easy
No it seldom does
When you find the perfect love
Let it fill you up
REPEAT CHORUS
Dim all the lights sweet honey
'Cause tonight it's you and me
No need to worry darlin'
'Cause it's for eternity
Love don't come easy
This you know I understand
I want to be your woman
If you'll be my man
Let yourself go freely and I'll
Show you things that you've dreamed of
Don't think that your dreaming
We've found the perfect love
And I'm like a cup come fill me up
REPEAT CHORUS
Do what you want
You can use me all up
Take me bottom to top
Don't leave me with one drop
No,no,no do it tonight
You know the moment is right
Turn my brown body wild
Come let's dim all the lights
REPEAT CHORUS
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