100 Great Songs to Publish a Book to, #38: Donna Summer, State of Independence

Sometimes one artist’s song is much better covered by another.  Jon Anderson (of Yes fame) wrote and recorded this with Vangelis in 1981, but their version sounds stilted and anodyne.  Donna Summer covered it a year later, and her rendition brings the song fully to life with a soulfulness and passion which only a vocalist as sensitive as Summer could deploy, aided by producer Quincy Jones.  Sadly, Summer died in 2012 aged only 63.

Onslaught is out now at the special introductory price of $2.99 in the US here, in the UK here, in Canada here, and in Australia here.