Donna (song)

"Donna"
Single by Ritchie Valens
from the album Ritchie Valens
B-side	"La Bamba"
Released	1958
Format	45 record
Recorded	1958
Genre	Soft rock
Length	2:20
Label	Del-Fi 4110
Writer(s)	Ritchie Valens
Ritchie Valens singles chronology
"Come On, Lets Go"/"Framed" (1958) "Donna"/"La Bamba" (1958) Fast Freight/"Big Baby Blues" (1959)

"Donna" is a song written and sung by Ritchie Valens^[1] featuring the 50s progression.^[2] The song was released in 1958 on Del-Fi Records.^[3] It reached #2 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart the following year, becoming Valens' highest-charting single. The song was covered by another Del-Fi artist and western actor, Johnny Crawford, in 1962. It was also covered in 2003 by American punk band The Misfits on their album Project 1950, which was a cover album of 1950s songs.

It was written as a tribute to his high school sweetheart, Donna Ludwig, now known as Donna Fox.

"Donna", the second Ritchie Valens single released, was the A side of the influential and much more famous song "La Bamba". This single was only one of three, along with the previous single ("Come On, Let's Go"/"Framed" – Del-Fi 4106) and the follow-up ("Fast Freight"/"Big Baby Blues" – Del-Fi 4111) ever released in Valens's lifetime.

Original Del-Fi pressings of "Donna"/"La Bamba" include black and sea green labels with circles, later replaced with solid sea green or solid dark green labels. Early 1960s pressings have black labels with sea green "sawtooth" outer edge.

Other Versions

• Bobby Fuller recorded a cover of the song, however, it went unreleased until it was put on Shakedown! The Texas Tapes Revisited in 1996.
• Clem Snide covered the song on their 2000 album, Your Favorite Music.
• Misfits covered the song on their 2003 release, Project 1950.

Other Uses

The song was used in a television commercial for Visa. The commercial featured a young male having the words "I love Donna" being tattooed on his arm while his girlfriend named Donna watches. In the middle of the tattoo session, the tattoo artist demands an additional payment from the young man, refusing to finish the tattoo unless the young man pays the artist an additional sum of money. As a result of the young man lacking the money demanded to complete the tattoo, the tattoo artist stops working on the tattoo, at which time it reads "I love Don", leaving the girlfriend angry. The commercial implies that if the man had a Visa check card, he could have used it to pay the tattoo artist to have the tattoo completed with the original intended message, and presumably, a happy girlfriend. The song then changes to "Oh Don", which the man responds to "Very funny." and walks off.

The song was featured on the soundtrack for the Mafia II video game.

It was played repeatedly in an episode of That 70's Show after Eric and Donna break up.

References

1. ^ Rockin' Country Style
2. ^ Hirsh, Marc. "Striking a Chord", The Boston Globe, December 31, 2008.
3. ^ Neely, T: "Goldmine Price Guide To 45RPM Records"

External links

• "Donna" is a "Great Song."