''Mistaken Identity'' is the fifteenth studio album by American singer-songwriter

Donna Summer LaDonna Adrian Gaines (December 31, 1948May 17, 2012), known professionally as Donna Summer, was an American singer and songwriter. She gained prominence during the disco era of the 1970s and became known as the " Queen of Disco", while her mus ...

, released on August 23, 1991, by

Atlantic Records Atlantic Recording Corporation (simply known as Atlantic Records) is an American record label founded in October 1947 by Ahmet Ertegun and Herb Abramson. Over its first 20 years of operation, Atlantic earned a reputation as one of the most i ...

and

Warner Bros. Records Warner Records Inc. (formerly Warner Bros. Records Inc.) is an American record label. A subsidiary of the Warner Music Group, it is headquartered in Los Angeles, California. It was founded on March 19, 1958, as the recorded music division of the ...

. A musical departure for Summer, ''Mistaken Identity'' was her last release under

, and The album was a commercial failure and failed to chart, although it reached number 97 on the

Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums is a music chart published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine that ranks R&B and hip hop albums based on sales in the United States and is compiled by Nielsen SoundScan. The chart debuted as Hot R&B LPs in the issue dated J ...

. The lead single, " When Love Cries, entered ''Billboard'' Hot 100 at number #77, but the second and final single " Work That Magic" failed to chart in the US.

Background

Since making her name as the biggest female star of the

disco Disco is a genre of dance music and a subculture that emerged in the 1970s from the United States' urban nightlife scene. Its sound is typified by four-on-the-floor beats, syncopated basslines, string sections, brass and horns, electric pia ...

era in the 1970s, Summer had experimented with different musical genres throughout the 1980s with varying degrees of success. For ''Mistaken Identity'', Summer adopted a more

urban Urban means "related to a city". In that sense, the term may refer to: * Urban area, geographical area distinct from rural areas * Urban culture, the culture of towns and cities Urban may also refer to: General * Urban (name), a list of people ...

style.

Commercial performance

The album was not a commercial success and failed to chart on both the US ''Billboard'' 200 and

UK Albums Chart The Official Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales and (from March 2015) audio streaming in the United Kingdom. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the Official Charts C ...

. However, it spent a single week on the US ''Billboard'' R&B Albums chart, at #97.

Singles

The first single released from the album, " When Love Cries", peaked at #77 on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and #18 on the ''Billboard''

R&B charts The Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart ranks the most popular R&B and hip hop songs in the United States and is published weekly by '' Billboard''. Rankings are based on a measure of radio airplay, sales data, and streaming activity. The chart had 100 ...

. " Work That Magic" was released as the second and final single in the United Kingdom and reached #74 in the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

Track listing

Personnel

– lead vocals (1-10, 12), backing vocals (1-6, 8, 9, 10), rap (4), all vocals (11) * Keith Diamond – keyboards (1-10, 12), rap (2), string arrangements (5, 7) * Paul Chiten – keyboards (1) * Eve Nelson – keyboards (2, 3, 4, 6), string arrangements (5, 7), acoustic piano solo (6), acoustic piano (7, 12), additional keyboards (8) * Anthony Smith – backing vocals (5, 6, 8, 9, 10), keyboards (10), "intro madness" (10) *

Vince Lawrence Vince Lawrence (born January 6, 1964, Chicago, Illinois, United States) is an American dance music record producer, businessman and is one of the leading innovators of the genre of music called house music. Industry insiders recognize Lawrence as ...

– keyboards (11) * Joe Taylor – guitars (1, 7), additional guitars (2, 4) * Vicki Genfan – guitars (2) * Rafe Van Hoy – guitars (3) *

Little Axe Skip McDonald (born Bernard Alexander, September 1949)Allmusic biography/ref> is an American musician who also performs under the stage name Little Axe. Career Early career Grounded in blues music learned from his father, a steel worker who p ...

– guitars (4, 9, 10) *

Paul Pesco Paul Pesco (born May 13, 1959) is an American session guitarist, singer-songwriter, film score composer and record producer. Biography Pesco was born in Canandaigua, New York, to a Sicilian father (an opera singer and voice instructor) and Kore ...

– acoustic guitar (5), guitars (7) * Dave Resnik – guitar "vibe" (11) * Ira Siegel – guitars (12) * Carl James – rap (2), bass (7, 12) * Kaydee – ethnic drums (1), percussion (1, 5), rap (2), "assorted funkiness" (2, 11), drums (9), "intro madness" (10) * Joe Hornoff – drums (4) * J.T. Lewis – drums (5, 7, 12) * O.C. Rodriguez – additional drums (9) *

Bob Conti Bob Conti (born December 27, 1947) is an American percussionist best known for his double platinum compositions and performance works with Donna Summer, '' Bad Girls'', Diana Ross and decades performing with Jose Feliciano. Conti also served as r ...

a.k.a. Bob "Mr. Shaker" Conti – percussion (2, 5, 10) * Danny Wilensky – saxophone (2, 7) * Steven McLoughlin – "on a Harley D" (2) * The 'Heart' Strings (Ann Labin, Cathy Metz, Suzanne Ornstein, Sally Schumway and Suzie Schumway) – strings (5, 7) * Mary Ellen Bernard – backing vocals (1-4) * Susan Macke – backing vocals (1-4) * Gene Miller – backing vocals (1-4) * Neil Thomas – rap (4) * Tracy Amos – backing vocals (5, 6, 8, 9, 10) * Sabelle Breer – backing vocals (5, 6, 8, 9, 10) * Cliff Dawson – backing vocals (5, 6, 8, 9, 10) * Craig Derry – backing vocals (5, 6, 8, 9, 10) * Lauren Kinhan – backing vocals (5, 6, 8, 9, 10) * Yogi Lee – backing vocals (5, 6, 8, 9, 10) * Biti Straughn – backing vocals (5, 6, 8, 9, 10) * The McClendon Choir – backing vocals (12)

Production

* Keith Diamond – producer, arrangements, mixing *

Ian Stanley Ian Christopher Stanley (born 28 February 1957) is a British musician, songwriter and record producer. He was previously a member of the English band Tears for Fears for most of the 1980s, and played a key role in the making of their multi-plat ...

– producer (3), remixing (3) * George Karras – engineer, mixing * J.C. Convertino – additional engineer * Acar Key – additional engineer * Peter Robbins – additional engineer * Bob Rosa – additional engineer * Shawn 'Fido' Berman – assistant engineer * Carl Glanville – assistant engineer * Jeff Lippay – assistant engineer * Steven John McLoughlin – assistant engineer * Darien Sahanaja – assistant engineer * Joe Seta – assistant engineer * Andy Udoff – assistant engineer * Adam Yellin – assistant engineer * Herb Powers Jr. – mastering * Donna Summer – album art concept * Tracy Nicholas Bledsoe – album cover coordination * Bill Smith Studio (London) – design * Harry Langdon – photography * Gina Delgado – stylist Studios * Recorded at

Unique Recording Studios Unique Recording Studios was a five-room recording studio operating near Times Square in New York City from 1978 until 2004. Founders and co-owners Bobby Nathan and Joanne Georgio-Nathan installed the first Otari 24-track tape deck in New York. ...

The Hit Factory The Hit Factory is a recording studio in New York City owned and operated by Troy Germano. History On March 6, 1975, Edward Germano, a singer, record producer, and one of the principal owners of the Record Plant Studios New York, purchased the ...

Electric Lady Studios Electric Lady Studios is a recording studio in Greenwich Village, New York City. It was commissioned by rock musician Jimi Hendrix in 1968 and designed by architect John Storyk and audio engineer Eddie Kramer by 1970. Hendrix spent only ten ...

, RPM Studios and My Blue Heaven Studios (New York City, New York); Interface Studios (Bayside, New York); Presence Studios (Westport, CT);

Rumbo Recorders Rumbo Recorders was a recording studio in the Canoga Park neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. History In 1977, Daryl Dragon and Toni Tennille, the husband and wife team widely known as Captain & Tennille, began building the studio at 20215 S ...

(Los Angeles, California); Encore Studios (Burbank, California);

Track Record Studios Track Record Studios is a recording studio, originally established around 1970 and located in North Hollywood, California. Many gold or platinum records were recorded or mixed at Track Record: The Offspring's ''Ignition'' and the follow-up '' S ...

(North Hollywood, California); American Recording Co. (Calabasas, California). * Mastered at The Hit Factory. * Studio managers – Tony Drootin (Unique Studios, NY); Vicki Camblin (Rumbo Recorders, LA); Troy Germano (The Hit Factory, NY); Bob Mason (RPM Studios, NY); Daryl Simmons (Encore Studios, LA); John Russell (Presence Studios, CT).

Charts

References

{{Authority control 1991 albums Donna Summer albums Atlantic Records albums New jack swing albums