Editing Donna Summer (section)

===1974–1976: Initial success===
[[File:Van Oekel's Discohoek van de VPRO, dec. 1974 - 01.jpg|thumb|left|Summer at Van Oekel's Discohoek, 1974]]
While working as a model part-time and backing singer in Munich, Summer met producer [[Giorgio Moroder]] and [[Pete Bellotte]] during a recording session for [[Three Dog Night]] at [[Musicland Studios]]. The trio forged a working partnership and Donna was signed to Moroder's Oasis label in 1974. A demo tape of Summer's work with Moroder and Bellotte led to a deal with the European-distributed label Groovy Records. Due to an error on the record cover, Donna Sommer became Donna Summer; the name stuck. Summer's first album, ''[[Lady of the Night (album)|Lady of the Night]]'', was released in 1974. Unlike the records she would be known for, most of the material on the album had elements of [[symphonic rock]] and [[pop music|pop]]. Though the album itself didn't chart, it spawned two singles, "[[The Hostage (song)|The Hostage]]" and the [[Lady of the Night (song)|title track]]. Both songs hit the top ten in various European countries including the Netherlands, Sweden, Germany and Belgium. "The Hostage" was removed from radio playlists in Germany because of the song's subject matter: a high ranking politician that had recently been kidnapped and held for ransom.<ref name="CLbio">{{cite web|url=http://www.classicbands.com/summer.html |title=Donna Summer |publisher=Classicbands.com |access-date=August 20, 2014}}</ref> One of her first TV appearances was in the Dutch television show, ''[[Van Oekel's Discohoek]]'', which started the breakthrough of "The Hostage", and in which she gracefully went along with the scripted absurdity and chaos in the show.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bashakker.nl/2013/discoverhaal-donna-summervan-oekel-varagids/|title =Disco verhaal Donna Summer van Oekel|last=Hakker|first=Bas|date=19 November 2013|language=nl|access-date=26 October 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url = https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z1Abfmg3k7g|title=Van Oekel's Discohoek: Donna Summer -The Hostage (video)
|website=[[YouTube]]
}}</ref>

[[File:I Feel Love - Cash Box ad 1977.jpg|thumb|upright|''[[Cashbox (magazine)|Cashbox]]'' advertisement, August 20, 1977]]
After noticing that [[disco]] was rising in Europe during the year ''Lady of the Night'' was issued, Moroder and Belotte began to produce a disco song that had yet to have words, until Summer passed on an idea for a song to Moroder that was to be given to another artist, called "[[Love to Love You Baby (song)|Love to Love You]]", inspired by the successful re-release of [[Jane Birkin]] and [[Serge Gainsbourg]]'s "[[Je t'aime... moi non plus]]". It was decided then that Summer recorded a [[demo recording|demo]] of the song with Summer performing the song in a heavily accentuated [[Marilyn Monroe]] type voice.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.billboard.com/pro/donna-summer-love-you-baby-hot-100-200-rewinding-charts/|title=Donna Summer's 'Love to Love You Baby' Debuted Today in 1975|date=November 1, 2017|work=[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]]|accessdate=May 14, 2025}}</ref> However, upon hearing playback, Moroder changed his mind and decided that the Summer version should be released instead. In 1975, Moroder sent the song to several American record labels, hoping to seek a deal and soon grabbed the attention of [[Neil Bogart]], president of [[Casablanca Records]]. Upon playing the song at extravagant industry parties, the song was so popular that it was played repeatedly throughout the night. The impresario soon demanded that Moroder produce a longer version for [[nightclubs|discothèques]]. A 16-minute version was soon sent and Bogart tweaked the title, changing it from "Love to Love You" to "Love to Love You Baby". Oasis was soon given a distribution deal with Casablanca in July 1975 and the [[Love to Love You Baby (album)|album of the same name]] was released the following month. The singles wouldn't receive a full commercial release until November where it was issued in the United States, with the shorter 7" version playing on radio and the 16-minute version playing in discos.

The song became Summer's first entry into the [[Billboard Hot 100|''Billboard'' Hot 100]] and peaked at number two on the chart in February 1976 and became her first [[RIAA certification|gold-certified single]]. The album would also be certified gold for selling over a million copies alone in the US. The song generated controversy due to Summer's moans and groans, which emulated lovemaking, and some American stations, like those in Europe with the initial release, refused to play it.<ref name="telegraph2"/> Despite this, "Love to Love You Baby" found chart success in several European countries, and made the Top 5 in the United Kingdom despite the BBC ban. Almost immediately afterwards, Casablanca ordered a series of albums to follow its success. In 1976, Summer issued two more albums — ''[[A Love Trilogy]]'' and ''[[Four Seasons of Love]]'' — which, despite it charting lower than ''Love to Love You Baby'', would also be certified gold in the United States. Summer's immediate single follow-ups after "Love to Love You Baby" — a cover of [[Barry Manilow]]'s "[[Could It Be Magic#Donna Summer cover version|Could It Be Magic]]", "[[Try Me, I Know We Can Make It]]", "[[Spring Affair]]" and "[[Winter Melody]]", the latter being her first ballad, recorded under the [[soul music|soul]] style and her first US release where she was belting, rather than singing in [[soprano]] — failed to reach the top 40 of any global chart including the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. During this era, Summer appeared on the dance shows, ''[[American Bandstand]]'' and ''[[Soul Train]]''.