After making her name as the biggest selling and most important female artist of the disco era in the 1970's, Donna Summer signed to Geffen Records in 1980 and released the new wave-influenced album 'The Wanderer'. The album was generally well-received by the critics, and peaked at number 13 on the Billboard Album Chart, with the title track hitting number 3 on the US singles chart. Two follow-up singles, however, barely reached the Top 40, and both the album and its singles attained limited success on the UK charts. It was decided that the follow-up to 'The Wanderer' was to be a double album, as Summer had gained much success during the 1970's with this format, and although she had just recently given birth to her second child, work soon started on the project. Keyboardist Harold Faltermeyer recalled later that he noticed that Summer seemed to be going through some issues that they were unable to help her with, and this resulted in some scheduled recording sessions being cancelled. When label-owner Geffen stopped by the studio to check on progress, he was unhappy with what he heard, as there were only a few songs that were finished, and most were just in demo form. Geffen cancelled the project and insisted that Summer part company with Giorgio Moroder and Pete Bellotte, who had produced and co-written with her on ten critically acclaimed album in the 70's, and she was instead paired up with producer Quincy Jones, to begin work on her 1982 self-titled album.
Over the years songs from 'I'm A Rainbow' were released on other compilations, with 'Highway Runner' appearing on the soundtrack to the 1982 film 'Fast Times At Ridgemont High', and the following year 'Romeo' appeared on the 'Flashdance' soundtrack. While dance-oriented music was a theme throughout the album, this was combined with several different musical styles, making it one of Summer's more diverse albums. Styles explored included 80's Brit synthpop like The Human League and Duran Duran, pop/rock, and ballads, and it included a duet with Joe "Bean" Esposito, writing credits from Harold Faltermeyer, Keith Forsey, Sylvester Levay, and Summer's husband Bruce Sudano, as well as the usual Summer/Moroder/Bellotte team. Bootleg copies of the album circulated among fans for years before the full album was finally released by Mercury Records in 1996, but the original album artwork could not be located, although there are rumours that the concept was re-used for the 1982 'Donna Summer' album. The tracks heard on the released album are mostly demo's, since the project was shelved, and although critical reception for the album was largely positive, it was not a big seller, and even her fans were of the opinion that a double album was just too long. 25 years later it seemed that the fans were being listened to, as in 2021 Summer's estate released a re-edited version of the album, subtitled 'Recovered & Recoloured', with this new edition reduced to 10 tracks (15 on vinyl and streaming releases), but as usual they just couldn't stop themselves interfering with the music, and they had each song remixed by contemporary producers and remixers. Not only that but their song selection was questionable, omitting some of the better tracks and including a few of the more mediocre ones, including an ill-judged version of 'Don't Cry For Me Argentina'. Fans have their own ideas of what should have been included on a shortened album, and SoulAlive posted a track listing on the Prince.org fansite, which gained some positive comments, and so after re-editing my copy and finding it an improved listening experience, I've given it a new cover, and you can now listen to this running order and decide if you agree.
Track listing
01 I Believe (In You)
02 True Love Survives
03 People Talk
04 Back Where You Belong
05 Sweet Emotion
06 Walk On (Keep Movin')
07 Runner With The Pack
08 I'm A Rainbow
09 End Of The Week
10 To Turn To Stone
