Summer At The Puyallup: Audience Of All Ages Gets Into The Beat

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Donna Summer, Friday at the Puyallup Fair.

PUYALLUP - From gay bars to country fairs.

That's the trajectory of disco queen Donna Summer's fabled career. Back in 1975, when she first moaned "Love to Love You Baby," it was for an almost exclusively gay audience. In the late '70s, you could tell it was closing time at any gay disco in the world when her "Last Dance" came on the sound system.

"Love to Love You Baby" eventually went to No. 2 on the Billboard singles chart and "Last Dance" won an Academy Award (it was in the movie "Thank God It's Friday"), so Summer went from gay dance clubs to the pop mainstream even faster than her disco-era contemporaries, The Village People.

Still, it was ironic to see a country-fair audience ranging from little kids to grandmas shaking their booties to songs once considered risque, like a medley of "She Works Hard for the Money," "Bad Girls," "Love to Love You Baby" and "Hot Stuff" that was the centerpiece of Summer's 90-minute show.

Predictably, the singer who built her career on songs about sex and prostitutes sang a new one about her devotion to Jesus Christ. Ain't it always the way? Some day it's going to happen to Madonna - just wait.

Summer became the queen of disco not so much for her racy songs as for the quality of her singing. And she showed in her Puyallup performance that she still, at age 50, has a great voice. Even though she complained of being a little hoarse "because it's cold and smoky here," her singing was warm, powerful and controlled.

Her voice was best showcased in "I Will Go With You," originally recorded in Italian as "Con Te Partiro" by Andrea Bocelli and Sarah Brightman. "I'm married to an Italian man, so I have a particular affinity for Italian music," Summer explained before singing a portion of the Italian version, which was like a mini-aria. Then she launched into the English version - which she wrote - and the tempo switched to disco.

She also sang several new songs from what she said was a Broadway-bound musical, "Ordinary Girl," created by Summer and based on her own life story. "If There's Music There" was a dramatic ballad about choosing a career over motherhood. "Love Is The Healer" was an uplifing rouser at the end of the set, prior to the big finale of "Last Dance."

Accompanied by a 10-piece band - three backup singers and seven musicians - she opened with "MacArthur Park." She also sang "No More Tears (Enough Is Enough)" (originally a duet with Barbra Streisand), "On the Radio" and "Dim All the Lights" (which she originally wrote for Rod Stewart).