Cats Without Claws

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1984 studio album by Donna Summer

Cats Without Claws is the twelfth studio album by American pop singer Donna Summer, released on September 11, 1984. Summer had achieved monumental fame during the disco era of the 1970s, and in 1980 was signed to Geffen Records. She had had some degree of success with them, though her previous album had been released on another label. It peaked at No. 40 on Billboard`s album chart, failing to attain the success of its predecessor which peaked at No. 9.

Her previous studio album, She Works Hard for the Money (1983), gained more fame and success since the disco era, and as a result, its producer Michael Omartian was asked to produce the next studio album as well. Again the majority of tracks were written by Summer and Omartian, though a couple of other writers were credited including Summer`s husband known as Bruce Sudano. As with the previous studio album, Cats Without Claws was pop and dance oriented but included soulful ballads. The album also contained a cover version of "There Goes My Baby", originally made popular by the Drifters, which became the first single. Although Summer requested "Oh Billy Please" as the first single, again Geffen and his executives rejected her request. A gospel song written by Reba Rambo and Dony McGuire entitled "Forgive Me" would win Summer a Grammy Award for Best Inspirational Performance.[3][4]

Cats Without Claws produced three singles: "There Goes My Baby", "Supernatural Love" (also released as a 12" Single) and "Eyes". The song, “There Goes My Baby" reached No. 21 on the pop chart. This album also included 12" dance remixes included "Eyes" and "I`m Free".

Commercial performance

Cats Without Claws peaked at number 40 on the Billboard 200 chart and spent only 17 weeks on the chart. The album failed to attain the success of its predecessor, She Works Hard for the Money, which peaked at number 9. It reached a peak of number 69 on the UK Albums Chart, and was commercially unsuccessful.

As of 2022, the only available physical version of the album is vinyl, since all the original CD releases have now gone out of print.

Track listing

All tracks are written by Michael Omartian and Donna Summer, except where noted.

Personnel

Credits are adapted from the Cats Without Claws liner notes.[7]

Musicians

• Donna Summer – lead vocals
• Michael Omartian – keyboards, additional drums, additional percussion
• Erich Bulling – Yamaha DX1 and Yamaha DX7 programming
• Paul Jackson Jr. – guitars
• Michael Landau – guitars
• Nathan East – bass guitar
• Mike Baird – drums
• Paulinho da Costa – percussion
• Gary Herbig – saxophone solos
• Dara Bernard – backing vocals
• Mary Ellen Bernard – backing vocals
• Cydney Davis – backing vocals
• Siedah Garrett – backing vocals
• Khaliq Glover – backing vocals
• Portia Griffin – backing vocals
• Susannah Melvoin – backing vocals
• Bruce Sudano – backing vocals
• Gene Van Buren – backing vocals
• Kin Vassy – backing vocals
• Terry Williams – backing vocals

Production and artwork

• Michael Omartian – producer, arrangements
• John Guess – engineer, mixing (1, 3, 5, 7–10)
• Jürgen Koppers – mixing (2, 4, 6)
• David Ahlert – second engineer
• Larry Ferguson – second engineer
• Tom Fouce – second engineer
• Ross Palone – second engineer
• Steve Hall – mastering at Future Disc (Hollywood, California)
• Ronnie Puccinelli – production coordinator
• Chris Whorf – art direction
• Jeffrey Fey – design
• Harry Langdon – photography
• Susan Munao Management Co. Inc. – management

Charts

Weekly charts

Chart performance for Cats Without Claws

Single