State of Independence (Donna Summer)

Infobox Single
Name = State of Independence


Artist = Donna Summer
from Album = Donna Summer
B-side = Love Is Just A Breath Away
Released = 1982
Format = 7" single, 12" single
Recorded = 1982
Genre = Pop
Length = 4:25
Label = Geffen (U.S.)
* Warner Bros. Records (Europe)
Writer = Vangelis, Jon Anderson
Producer = Quincy Jones
Certification =
Last single = "Love Is In Control (Finger On The Trigger)" (1982)
This single = "State of Independence" (1982)
Next single = " I Feel Love (Patrick Cowley Remix("
(1982)

Infobox Single
Name = State of Independence (1990 Reissue)


Artist = Donna Summer
from Album =
B-side =
Released = 1990
Format = 7" single, 12" single
Recorded = 1982
Genre = Pop
Length =
Label = Warner Bros. Records
Writer = Vangelis, Jon Anderson
Producer = Quincy Jones
Certification =
Last single = "When Love Takes Over You" (1990)
This single = "State of Independence" (1990 Reissue) (1990)
Next single = "Breakaway"
(1991)

Infobox Single
Name = State of Independence (The 1996 Remixes)


Artist = Donna Summer
from Album =
B-side =
Released = 1996
Format = 12" single, CD single
Recorded = 1982, 1996
Genre = Pop
Length =
Label = Manifesto/PolyGram
Writer = Vangelis, Jon Anderson
Producer = Quincy Jones
Certification =
Last single = "I Feel Love" (The 1995 Remixes) (1995)
This single = "State of Independence" (The 1996 Remixes) (1996)
Next single = "Whenever There Is Love"
(1996)

Donna Summer covered Jon & Vangelis' "State of Independence" on her 1982 album "Donna Summer" produced by Quincy Jones and released it as the follow-up to her hit single "Love Is In Control (Finger on the Trigger)". Summer's version of the song features an all-star choir including among others Michael Jackson, Brenda Russell, James Ingram, Dionne Warwick, Kenny Loggins, Lionel Richie and Stevie Wonder.

Chart positions

Donna Summer version - 1990 re-issue

The single was re-issued in Europe in 1990 in support of a compilation album entitled "The Best of Donna Summer" released on Warner Bros. Records. In the United States, Summer had been signed to Geffen Records from 1980-1988 (plus one album released on PolyGram's sublabel Mercury in 1983, namely "She Works Hard for the Money"), and then Atlantic Records from 1989. Both Geffen and Atlantic were divisions of Warner Bros. Records, and their main label had been used to distribute her work in Europe. "The Best of Donna Summer" featured some of Summer's biggest hits from this period (with the exception of any material from the Mercury album, as this was not a division of Warner Bros.) plus a small selection of her 1970s disco hits licensed from PolyGram.

1992 Moodswings cover

In 1992 the duo Moodswings released their album "Moodfood" (Arista), which scored a hit with a cover version of the single, retitled as "Spiritual High (State of Independence) Pt. II" with vocals by Chrissie Hynde (The Pretenders) and samples from Martin Luther King, Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech. The version was later played during the closing credits on the soundtrack of "Single White Female" and it was also included on The Pretenders' "Greatest Hits" in 2000.

Donna Summer version - The 1996 Remixes

Following the dance chart success of the 1995 remix of Donna Summer's "I Feel Love", and clearly influenced by the 1992 Moodswings/Chrissie Hynde cover version which sampled Martin Luther King, Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech., PolyGram issued a remixed version of Summer's recording of "State of Independence", The single, released both on 12" vinyl and CD on PolyGram's sublabel Manifesto, which included mixes by Eddie Gordon "Millennium" Mix with Steve 'Barney' Chase, engineering and Phil Ramocon Programming at Olympic Studios in Barnes SW London, Sold Out, DJ Dero, Ralph Falcon and Oscar G of Murk Productions and Jules Skins, reached #13 on the U.K. singles chart in 1996 going one place higher than the original release which peaked at No: 14, with the Dance mixes peaking at No: 1 in the UK Dance Music Charts. The Martin Luther King sample introduced by Eddie Gordon into the track was to emphasis the full Independent meaning of the song as he understood it. Speech quoted below

BE THE BEST OF WHATEVER YOU ARE

If you can't be a pine on the top of the hill,Be a shrub in the valley---but beThe best little shrub at the side of the hill;Be a bush if you can't be a tree.We can't all be captains,We've got to be crew.There's something for all of us here;There is big work to do, and there's lesser to doAnd the task we must do is the near.If you can't be a highway, then just be a trail,If you can't be the sun, be a star;It isn't the size that you win or you fail---Be the best of whatever you are.

I'm Gonna Shout It Cos The Bible Say So

We Are Now A Free And Independent Nation