''I Remember Yesterday'' is the fifth studio album by American singer-songwriter

Donna Summer LaDonna Adrian Gaines (December 31, 1948May 17, 2012), known professionally as Donna Summer, was an American singer and songwriter. She gained prominence during the disco era of the 1970s and became known as the "Honorific nicknames in popular m ...

. It was released on May 13, 1977, seven months after the release of her previous album. Like her previous three albums, it was a

concept album A concept album is an album whose tracks hold a larger purpose or meaning collectively than they do individually. This is typically achieved through a single central narrative or theme, which can be instrumental, compositional, or lyrical. So ...

, this time seeing Summer combining the recent disco sound with various sounds of the past. ''I Remember Yesterday'' includes the singles " Can't We Just Sit Down (And Talk It Over)", "

I Feel Love "I Feel Love" is a song by American singer and songwriter Donna Summer. Produced and co-written by Giorgio Moroder and Pete Bellotte, it was recorded for Summer's fifth studio album, '' I Remember Yesterday'' (1977). The album concept was to ha ...

", the title track, "

Love's Unkind "Love's Unkind" is a 1977 song written and produced by Giorgio Moroder and Pete Bellotte, with lyrics and vocals by Donna Summer. It was recorded for the Donna Summer album, ''I Remember Yesterday'', which combined modern disco beats with sounds ...

" and " Back in Love Again". "

" and "

" proved to be the album's most popular and enduring hits, the former of which came to be one of Summer's signature songs. The album was recorded in Munich at

Musicland Studios Musicland Studios was a recording studio located in Munich, Germany. It was established by Italian record producer, songwriter and performer Giorgio Moroder in the early 1970s.

and Arco Studios with Summer's long-term collaborators and production team headed by producers

Giorgio Moroder Giovanni Giorgio Moroder (, ; born 26 April 1940) is an Italian composer, songwriter, and record producer. Dubbed the " Father of Disco", Moroder is credited with pioneering euro disco and electronic dance music. His work with synthesizers had ...

and Pete Bellotte. Arrangements were handled by Thor Baldursson. The artwork was designed by Gribbitt! with photography by Victor Skrebneski.

Music

Side One of the LP saw Summer "remembering yesterday" by combining the electronic disco sound with sounds of the 1940s (" I Remember Yesterday"), 1950s ("

") and 1960s (" Back in Love Again"). Side Two consisted of two pop/disco tracks, a ballad and finished with a disco song supposedly representing "the future" that would become one of the most famous songs of that genre – "

". With the exception of the ballad " Can't We Just Sit Down (And Talk It Over)", all the songs were written in collaboration by Summer,

and Pete Bellotte. As with Summer's last few albums, different record labels distributed her work in different nations. Some of the labels chose to release the ballad " Can't We Just Sit Down (And Talk It Over)" as the first single, with "

" as the B-side. However, the impact of the song was so huge that it was soon released internationally as an A-side. Previous disco tracks had usually been backed by an acoustic orchestra, and it has been reported that this was the first ever track to use an entirely synthesized backing track, which would later help develop genres of music such as dance and techno. Summer's repetitive vocals over the backing track helped make the song a massive hit. It finally gave her a follow-up in the US to her initial hit (" Love to Love You Baby"), and made number six on the Hot 100 singles chart. It was also a huge hit in Europe, and became a number one hit in the UK. "I Feel Love" firmly secured Donna Summer's place as the leading female artist of disco music.

Image

Summer's sexually-oriented image seemed less prominent on this album, perhaps due to the slight departure from the regular disco sound and the fusion of this sound with the older sounding songs. In fact the lyrics to "Love's Unkind" in particular were very non-sexual compared to many of the love-themed songs Summer had recorded (the songs tells the story of a schoolgirl with a crush on one of her classmates). A couple of the "newer" styled songs on Side Two were slightly more of a sexual nature – namely "Take Me" and "I Feel Love". Around the same time as the album's release, Summer would further her reputation as a serious and credible artist when she was asked to record the theme song for the film '' The Deep'' by famous British composer John Barry. The song, " Down Deep Inside" was also released as a single and became another hit for Summer (Top five in the UK).

Release and reception

Helped by the phenomenal success of "I Feel Love", the ''I Remember Yesterday'' album became her biggest so far. It produced several more hit singles in Europe, notably the title track (a UK Top 20 hit) and "Love's Unkind", which became a number three hit in the UK, making it one of her biggest and most remembered hits there. "Back in Love Again" was also a European single and became a Top 40 in the UK as well. It also peaked at number eighteen on the US ''Billboard'' 200, number eleven on the

Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums is a music chart published weekly by ''Billboard (magazine), Billboard'' magazine that ranks contemporary R&B, R&B and hip hop music, hip hop albums based on sales in the United States and is compiled by Nielsen SoundScan. Th ...

chart and number three on the

UK Albums Chart The Official Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales and (from March 2015) audio streaming in the United Kingdom. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the Official Charts ...

. The entire album charted as one entry at number one on the

Hot Dance/Disco Dance Club Songs is a chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine in the United States. It is a national look over of club disc jockeys to determine the most popular songs being played in nightclubs across the country. It was launched as ...

chart.

Artwork

The album back cover features a provocative image of Summer posing in a long skirt, in a spread-eagle squat, with hands crossed at her crotch. The image was used for the single release of " Can't We Just Sit Down (And Talk It Over)" b/w "

", and later as the image for the "I Feel Love" single when it became a smash hit.

Track listing

All tracks written by

and Pete Bellotte except where noted; all tracks produced by Moroder and Bellotte

Personnel

–

lead vocals The lead vocalist in popular music is typically the member of a group or band whose voice is the most prominent melody in a performance where multiple voices may be heard. The lead singer sets their voice against the accompaniment parts of th ...

, Robby Wedel –

Moog synthesizer The Moog synthesizer is a modular synthesizer developed by the American engineer Robert Moog. Moog debuted it in 1964, and Moog's company R. A. Moog Co. (later known as Moog Music) produced numerous models from 1965 to 1981, and again from 2014 ...

*Thor Baldursson – keyboards, Moog bass, Moog synthesizer *Geoff Barstow, Mats Björklund –

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected string ...

*Les Hurdle –

bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in the bass range: ** Bass (instrument), including: ** Acoustic bass gui ...

Keith Forsey Keith Forsey (born 2 January 1948) is an English pop musician and record producer. Early life Forsey began his career as a percussionist in the mid-late 1960s as the drummer for The SpectrumCaptain Scarlet and the Mysterons - The Vault - Chris ...

–

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair of matching drumsticks ...

percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Exc ...

*Benny Gebauer, Dino Solera, Franco Taormina, Hanus Berka, Hermann Breuer, James Polivka, Lee Harper, Rudi Füssers –

brass Brass is an alloy of copper (Cu) and zinc (Zn), in proportions which can be varied to achieve different mechanical, electrical, and chemical properties. It is a substitutional alloy: atoms of the two constituents may replace each other wit ...

* Brooklyn Dreams, Dani McCormick, Marti McCall, Pattie Brooks, Petsye Powell –

background vocals A backing vocalist is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists. A backing vocalist may also sing alone as a lead-in to the main vocalist's entry or to sing a counter-melody. Backing vocalists are us ...

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications and sales

References

{{Authority control 1977 albums Donna Summer albums Albums produced by Pete Bellotte Albums produced by Giorgio Moroder Casablanca Records albums Concept albums