There have been a lot of them over the years but Donna Summer greatest hits are usually missing a few. I will point out that back in the day before the major labels owned pretty much everything between them, she had recorded for a few different labels and this can partly explain some of the omissions. Mind you the fact that the compilations do tend to cover a good cross-section of her GTO, Casablanca/PolyGram, Geffen/Warner Bros. recordings (the bulk of her major chart success days) does make certain omissions and inclusions seem surprising (to me).
So to give you some examples:
The Best of Donna Summer from 1990 - released on Warner Bros. - misses out Love to Love You Baby, Bad Girls, She Works Hard for the Money, No More Tears (Enough is Enough) amongst others but does include MacArthur Park, Love's Unkind and Dinner with Gershwin. It's heavier on the Geffen/Warner Bros. era, which is understandable, and also features 'State of Independence' and 'Love is In Control (Finger on the Trigger).
It doesn't feature 'Winter Melody,' 'Theme from the Deep,' 'Last Dance'
Endless Summer from 1994 - released by PolyGram (which had bought Casablanca well before this point) - is one of the better ones from the 90s as it does include Love to Love You Baby, Bad Girls, She Works Hard for the Money, No More Tears, MacArthur Park, Love's Unkind and 'Last Dance.'
However, it doesn't have 'Dinner with Gershwin,' but had featured 'State of Independence' and 'Love is in Control,' which were from the same record label.
Sadly it didn't include 'Winter Melody,' or 'Theme from the Deep' either but I think they were trying to make sure her then current 'Melody of Love' and 'Any Way at All' were included.
The Donna Summer Collection from 1993 - another PolyGram one - was in my view the best compilation from this era.
As well as featuring most of the major recordings from her Casablanca days, it also included most of her Geffen/Warner Bros. and GTO recordings too.
However, as comprehensive as it is, it omitted 'Winter Melody' in favour of 'Spring Affair' (from the same album) and also didn't include 'Theme from the Deep' or 'Dinner with Gershwin' either.
So by this point if you wanted to have the singles, you had to buy 2 compilations (as I did).
During the 90s MCA Records bought Geffen and then a few years later got bought by SeaGram and then went on to purchase PolyGram, becoming what is now the Universal Music Group, and thus owned the majority of Donna Summer's biggest era recordings. There was a pretty complete 'The Ultimate Collection' as far as the singles go.
However, 'The Journey' - The Very Best Of - managed to include 'Dinner with Gershwin' and 'The Theme from the Deep' (rarely appears on her compilations) but didn't include 'Winter Melody,' or 'I Remember Yesterday.'
So to give you some examples:
The Best of Donna Summer from 1990 - released on Warner Bros. - misses out Love to Love You Baby, Bad Girls, She Works Hard for the Money, No More Tears (Enough is Enough) amongst others but does include MacArthur Park, Love's Unkind and Dinner with Gershwin. It's heavier on the Geffen/Warner Bros. era, which is understandable, and also features 'State of Independence' and 'Love is In Control (Finger on the Trigger).
It doesn't feature 'Winter Melody,' 'Theme from the Deep,' 'Last Dance'
Endless Summer from 1994 - released by PolyGram (which had bought Casablanca well before this point) - is one of the better ones from the 90s as it does include Love to Love You Baby, Bad Girls, She Works Hard for the Money, No More Tears, MacArthur Park, Love's Unkind and 'Last Dance.'
However, it doesn't have 'Dinner with Gershwin,' but had featured 'State of Independence' and 'Love is in Control,' which were from the same record label.
Sadly it didn't include 'Winter Melody,' or 'Theme from the Deep' either but I think they were trying to make sure her then current 'Melody of Love' and 'Any Way at All' were included.
The Donna Summer Collection from 1993 - another PolyGram one - was in my view the best compilation from this era.
As well as featuring most of the major recordings from her Casablanca days, it also included most of her Geffen/Warner Bros. and GTO recordings too.
However, as comprehensive as it is, it omitted 'Winter Melody' in favour of 'Spring Affair' (from the same album) and also didn't include 'Theme from the Deep' or 'Dinner with Gershwin' either.
So by this point if you wanted to have the singles, you had to buy 2 compilations (as I did).
During the 90s MCA Records bought Geffen and then a few years later got bought by SeaGram and then went on to purchase PolyGram, becoming what is now the Universal Music Group, and thus owned the majority of Donna Summer's biggest era recordings. There was a pretty complete 'The Ultimate Collection' as far as the singles go.
However, 'The Journey' - The Very Best Of - managed to include 'Dinner with Gershwin' and 'The Theme from the Deep' (rarely appears on her compilations) but didn't include 'Winter Melody,' or 'I Remember Yesterday.'
