Donna Summer - MacArthur Park 2013 (Rosabel Mixes)

This song was originally recorded by Richard Harris in 1968. Donna Summer covered the song in 1978 for her Live and More as part of the 17 minute "MacArthur Park Suite" which also contained "One Of A Kind" and "Heaven Knows". The exquisite cinematic production by Giorgio Moroder and Pete Bellotte was a perfect match for Donna's pitch perfect, soaring vocals. The song was a number one hit and it remains one of Donna's most famous recordings.

The song was remixed by Laidback Luke for the Love To Love You Donna remix album released last month, however, he opted to use a limited amount of vocals. Celebrated production duo Rosabel (Abel Aguilera and Ralphi Rosario) have done additional mixes which are more vocal oriented. They wisely retain much of the soul of the original, keeping many of the instrumental elements and the vocals. The verses and choruses have been used, but sadly, the bridge has been omitted. The short single edit of the original did not have the bridge either so perhaps they did it based on that. Only the longer 7" mix and the "MacArthur Park Suite" have that. Their main club, mixshow, and radio edit are all based on the same production, just in differing lengths. Their Dark Dub however is an entirely different production bearing no resemblance to the other versions. It's a driving tribal production with some previously unheard spoken vocals by Donna as the focal point. Despite the omission of the bridge in the vocal mixes, the mixes are still excellent. The dub is really fun too.

Grade: A