Pitchfork

Back in the day, people always gave vocalists all the praise, when in fact, most of the credit should have been attributed to the producer. This was especially true in the disco era when producers like Nile Rodgers and Giorgio Moroder were working the scene with every ounce of energy they had inside themselves.

I believe I've talked about my infatuation with Giorgio Moroder's work in the past, but for those of you not familiar with him, let me fill you in. Moroder was a big- time dance music producer in the late 1970s and early 1980s. He scored and produced an assload of '80s film soundtracks like "Cat People," "American Gigolo," "Flashdance," the abyssmal 1984 re-release of "Metropolis," "The Neverending Story," "Top Gun," and the severely under- appreciated "Electric Dreams." And he worked with such hot shots as Blondie, the Sparks, Irene Cara, David Bowie, Japan, and, of course, Donna Summer.

Moroder is pretty much solely responsible for Summer's canon of disco hits-- he produced all of them (prior to 1982) and co- wrote more than just a few of them. Songs like "Hot Stuff," "On The Radio," and especially "I Feel Love" (arguably the coolest- sounding track in Summer's catalog) are awash in Moroder's trademark synth and MIDI stylings. And they're all great songs.

This greatest hits collection offers only the essentials, which is fine if you're a middle- aged New York mortgage broker looking for something to bring back memories of your teenage years at Studio 54. However, if you're gonna drop some money on a collection of Summer's material, you might as well also get the just- as- enjoyable obscure stuff she released. On The Radio: Greatest Hits I & II includes all her '70s disco hits and a few other awesome tracks from the same period for about two dollars more-- and it leaves out the horrid '80s stuff this compilation leaves lying around.