SPECIAL PAGE - HERE YOU'LL FIND:

AN EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW WITH JOSIAH HOWARD - AUTHOR OF "DONNA SUMMER: HER LIFE AND MUSIC"

Check out below the interview that Josiah Howard granted to FOREVER DONNA  EXCLUSIVELY! By then, the book was scheluded for release in the Spring of 2001 with another title: "MUSIC, RUMOUR AND SALVATION". There were yet another publisher, which ended up refraining from the project. Below are the original cover artwork and the new one. In order to buy the book, you can write directly to TINY RIPPLE BOOKS through this URL: http://www.tinyripple.com . The book is also available in some major online shops, like AMAZON.COM. 

ORIGINAL COVER (2000)	NEW COVER (2002)

 

FOREVER DONNA - Why did you choose to profile Donna and why now? 

HOWARD:  I’ve been a pop music fan all my life, but never really thought much about Donna Summer. I certainly knew most of her hit records, but it wasn’t until a friend gave me, a live tape of her singing “A Song For You”- sometime in the 1970’s- that I became a Donna Summer fan. She simply blew me away. I had never before stopped to consider her anything more than the former “Queen of Disco”. After playing the video over and over, I started to look for information on her music and career and was astonished to find that there was really none - incredibly, no one had ever taken a serious look at the woman or her music. I decided the time was certainly right (especially given her “comeback” in 1999) to document this amazing performer's life.

FOREVER DONNA: You are naming the book “Music, Rumour & Salvation”. When you set out to write about Donna, what was your main goal to accomplish with your writing?

HOWARD: My original goal was - and still is to provide music fans with a thoroughly researched account of Donna Summer’s life. I think the book has great appeal to Donna’s fans because they will now have one source of information on Donna. They can throw out all their clippings and charts. It’s all here in the book, pictures, facts, interviews and a complete American and European discography.

FOREVER DONNA: Two of the three topics on the title have been often controversial and often misinterpreted in regard to Donna’s career. Those 2 topics are “Rumour” and “Salvation”. On “Rumour”, things have been very quiet, Donna has made amends with the Gay Community and this was all in the past, so why write about it and bring it back to the forefront?

HOWARD: We subtitled the book “Music, Rumour & Salvation” because it sounds good! I also think that it fairly makes reference to the pivotal moments in Donna’s life and career. She is a household name because of her music – her career was unquestionably damaged by rumour- and her personal religious convictions - salvation - have shaped the way she creates her art and views the world.

FOREVER DONNA: Don’t you agree that by continuously bringing up the past, this rumour will never come to an end?

HOWARD: I don’t agree with those people who say that a discussion of the gay boycott of Donna’s records in the 1980’s help to keep the rumors alive. In fact, this is one of the areas in which the book provides a great service - Donna Summer: Music, Rumour & Salvation contains the final word on Donna’s troubles with her gay audience.

 

"Major Editors believe that Donna doesn't have enough fans to warrant publication of the book. They see her as a 'has-been'

FOREVER DONNA - Donna, although known all over the world, is an underrated artist, did you find it easy to get someone interested in publishing your book or did you come across many who were not interested in Donna as a topic and thought she was not worth writing about?

HOWARD:  Donna Summer: Music, Rumour & Salvation has had a most interesting journey through the publishing industry. Over fifty publishing houses (including William Morrow, Dutton and St. Martin’s Press) turned the book down. My agent and I were told, time and time again, that each of the editors who read the book thought it was “meticulously researched” and a “wonderfully, entertaining read” but no one in the publishing industry believes that Donna Summer has enough fans to warrant publication of the book. Not only is Donna viewed as a “has-been” by these bigwigs, we were told (by a very influential editor) that even if Donna writes her own book-there will be very little interest in it! North Avenue Press is a small publishing house that was formed so that Donna Summer fans could get to see this book! Without the commitment of our small staff, the book would sit in a folder at the bottom of a desk somewhere. I really think that it is important for anyone who is a Donna Summer fan to purchase a copy. This will send a message to all the big publishing houses (and music industry) that Donna Summer remains a viable force in the entertainment world.

FOREVER DONNA - What do you think or hope Donna’s reaction to your book will be?

HOWARD -  I’m not too concerned with Donna’s reaction to the book. I hope she thinks that she is treated fairly.

FOREVER DONNA - In your opinion, why did Donna refuse to be interviewed?

HOWARD - I only recently learned that Donna has changed management and that she was less-than satisfied with the services of Stan Moress. We contacted Mr. Moress on four different occasions requesting a brief interview with Donna. We even stressed that our questions would deal solely with her approach to writing music and her opinions about her entertainment career. But Mr. Moress never responded to our calls, faxes or letters. Now, given Donna’s troubles with him, I question whether she was ever told about the book.

FOREVER DONNA - Will she get the first copy?

HOWARD -  If I could figure out who her new manager is-she most certainly will get a copy!

 

'Several people didn't  want to speak about Donna, among them David Geffen and Quincy Jones'

FOREVER DONNA - Who are some of the people affiliated with Donna in one form or another that you interviewed?

HOWARD -  I’ve interviewed so many people that my head is still spinning... I think the last count was 118! I suppose the most informative interviews came from those who helped Donna create her art: Giorgio Moroder and Bob Esty. My interviews with Claudie Jabara (Paul Jabara’s sister) and Jeanette Fujisake (an assistant to Donna Summer’s lawyers) were also revealing. Equally important to me though, were the many interviews I did with people who did not want to see their name in print. These included interviews with former high school classmates, and officials at her high school, a former close associate who worked with Donna in the beginning half of her career, and fellow performers who have appeared onstage with Donna throughout the years. There were several high profile people who did not want to speak about Donna, among them David Geffen, Quincy Jones and Don Cornelius.

FOREVER DONNA - Is there anything in particular, through your research, you and perhaps the general public had no knowledge about, that is rather interesting?

HOWARD - There are many, many facts and stories that are revealed in the book for the first time. Even die-hard Donna fans are going to come away from the Donna Summer: Music, Rumour & Salvation with a better understanding of Donna, her ascent to superstardom and her temporary fall from grace. I think the making of  “Once Upon A Time”, "Last Dance” and” Love To Love You Baby” are particularly revealing. So is the information about Donna’s European music & stage career, and the inner-workings of one of the 1970’s biggest record labels-Casablanca.

FOREVER DONNA - Will there be photographs exclusive or otherwise or will it be mostly text?

HOWARD -  Right now there are twenty pages of photos - but I am fighting to expand to thirty. I think the book should be highly visual - as Donna’s music career was heavily boosted by her exciting visual presentation. Good pictures of Donna are hard to find and there aren’t many out there. We do have several unpublished pictures though and we were very excited when we acquired the exclusive rights to publish them. My favorite picture in the book is a beautiful previously unpublished shot of Donna with Paul Jabara-holding their Oscar for “Last Dance”.

FOREVER DONNA - You started this interview by saying that you used to not care for Donna. And now, are you a Donna Summer fan?

HOWARD - I am most certainly a Donna Summer fan-and I am very proud of my presentation of the artist in the book. My agent Stacey Glick and I have learned so much from our experience with Donna Summer: Music, Rumour & Salvation. We both thought that there would be no problem at all getting a publishing deal-Donna is, after all, an international star, but the publishing industry, like very other industry, is ruled by capital-and the guarantee that they can recoup any investments they make. Nothing personal to Donna, the publishing industry simply does not believe that she is a good investment.

FOREVER DONNA - What were your favorite and least favorite Donna moments? And why?

HOWARD -  There are several outstanding musical highlights in Donna’s long and illustrious career. The first two things that come to mind for me are Donna’s performance of  “A Song For You” during her  1977 concert tour and her appearance at the Academy Awards singing “Papa Can You Hear Me” from the movie Yentl.  As for the low points in Donna’s career, it is my opinion that aside from “She Works Hard For The Money”, Donna has never really made any genuinely exciting music videos.

FOREVER DONNA - Have you ever met Donna?

HOWARD - I have never met Ms. Summer.

FOREVER DONNA - How do you feel about Donna’s stature currently in the music business?

HOWARD -  I think Donna is on the right path musically and am very anxious to hear her new album. There is a large dance/pop market which she should continue to exploit.

FOREVER DONNA - Have you any inside tidbits you can share about future Donna “Music”?

HOWARD -  I’ll leave tidbits about Donna’s future-to future writers. I believe that Donna Summer’s contribution to popular music will be more thoroughly appreciated in the future. Unlike so many of her contemporaries, her voice remains rich and magnificent, likewise, she seems at peace with her career and her personal life.

FOREVER DONNA- When will the fans and general public be able to purchase a copy of your book?

HOWARD - The book is being published in January 2001 with the first copies arriving in late May-early June 2001. There is a chance that we may get the books earlier - but I don’t want to get my hopes ups - or anyone else’s!