Real Life Inspired ‘Bad Girls’ by Donna Summer
‘100 Greatest Soul Songs’ Book Excerpt
“Bad Girls” was a monster hit for Donna Summer in 1979, topping the rock, R&B, and disco charts. It was co-written in 1977 by Summer and the Brooklyn Dreams, a late-1970s vocal group.
“Bad Girls” was inspired by an incident that happened to Nellie Prestwood, a secretary in the public relations department of Summer’s label, Casablanca Records. Police profiled Prestwood, who was suspected of being a prostitute. That prompted Summer to write a song that empathizes with working girls.
“A lot of people don’t realize how connected we all are,” Summer told PopMatters. “Your compassion really kind of feeds your information about a person. You look at someone and your heart identifies with their pain.
“You don’t know why it does. There’s just something in them and you go, ‘Oh, that person needs me. I need to touch that person. I need to say something nice about that person. I feel that person.’”
When Summer played a demo of “Bad Girls” for Casablanca Records head Neil Bogart, he suggested the song was more suitable for Cher or Labelle. Summer refused and shelved the song. By the time the demo was unearthed by audio engineer Steve Smith in 1979, Summer had forgotten the song. She went into the studio with producers Giorgio Moroder and Pete Bellotte and recorded the hit version.
And the “toot-toots” and “beep-beeps” that Summer adds to the track? The singer explained that the noises were meant to evoke the sound of car horns used to attract prostitutes on the sidewalk.
Frank Mastropolo is the author of 100 Greatest Soul Songs, one of the Greatest Performances series. For more on our latest projects, visit Edgar Street Books.
