And this is the other original piece of vinyl that survived the purge: Donna Summer's 1977 masterpiece, Once Upon a Time… This record holds a special place in my heart for several reasons, but mostly because of the very personal "once upon a time" quest for that special someone that a certain wide-eyed, newly-minted 19-year old gay boy and and his closest friends were going through at the time. (To this day, on I Love You, I distinctly hear Donna sing, "…and he wrapped him in his arms again…" though I know logically that even if she had flubbed up and sang that it would've been caught and corrected long before the record was even pressed.)
I remember the first time we heard "Rumour Has It/I Love You/ Happily Ever After" and "Now I Need You" on the dance floor; it was as if Donna was singing about us. And for many, many weeks, the DJ wouldn't play these songs as part of his regular set during the evening, instead reserving them for the start of after hours when the lights and been turned back down and the mirror ball started glittering. They were always met with squeals of joy from the dance floor.
It was a balmy November afternoon when my friend and dance partner Kent and I ran down to Odyssey Records and bought this LP. I know the exact date only because I wrote it on the outer dust jacket, anticipating that it would be a special moment to remember. (And because Kent and I had already had several arguments over when specific records had come out.) We hadn't yet heard the entire album, so when we got back to my house and played the entire 2-disk set, it was a magical experience. Afterward we played it again and then talked for hours on what it all meant; something I will never forget.