"Unconditional Love" is the second single from

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 ...

's album, ''

She Works Hard for the Money "She Works Hard for the Money" is a song by American singer Donna Summer from her album '' She Works Hard for the Money'' (1983). The song was written by Michael Omartian and Summer, and produced by the former. It was released as the lead singl ...

''. The song was released in August 1983 by

Mercury Records Mercury Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group. It had significant success as an independent operation in the 1940s and 1950s. Smash Records and Fontana Records were sub labels of Mercury. In the United States, it is ...

. It was written by Summer and

Michael Omartian Michael Omartian (born November 26, 1945) is an American singer-songwriter, arranger, keyboardist, and music producer. He produced number-one records in three consecutive decades. He has earned 11 Grammy Awards nominations and won three. He sp ...

, produced by Omartian. Though uncredited, it also features vocals by British

reggae Reggae () is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1960s. The term also denotes the modern popular music of Jamaica and its diaspora. A 1968 single by Toots and the Maytals, " Do the Reggay" was the first popular song to use ...

act

Musical Youth Musical Youth are a British-Jamaican reggae band formed in 1979 in Birmingham, England. They are best remembered for their 1982 single " Pass the Dutchie", which was a number 1 in multiple charts around the world. Their other hits include "Yout ...

, who had scored a Top 10 Pop and R&B hit in the US with "

Pass the Dutchie "Pass the Dutchie" is a 1982 song performed by British-Jamaican band Musical Youth, taken from their debut studio album, '' The Youth of Today''. It was produced by Toney Owens from Kingston, Jamaica. The song was a major hit, hitting number on ...

" earlier in 1983. The song was a commercial disappointment, peaking at #43 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and #40 on the Cashbox Chart, though it performed significantly better on the R&B chart (reaching the Top Ten). In the UK, it became Summer's fourteenth Top 20 single, reaching a peak position of No.14. The song also peak #26 in Spain Radio chart. ''

Cash Box ''Cashbox'', also known as ''Cash Box'', was an American music industry trade magazine, originally published weekly from July 1942 to November 1996. Ten years after its dissolution, it was revived and continues as ''Cashbox Magazine'', an online ...

'' called the "purity and innocence" of the song "a bright departure or Summersand complete success." The song was edited from the original album version for its release on the 7" single format. The 12" single featured an extended remix clocking in at 5:20.

Music video

The

music video A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a m ...

for "Unconditional Love" was popular on

MTV MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...

. In the video, Summer plays a school teacher, and the reggae group

are members of the class. After the class is over, Summer removes her heavy fur coat, revealing a tight blue glittery

nightclub singer A nightclub act is a production, usually of nightclub music or comedy, designed for performance at a nightclub, a type of drinking establishment, by a nightclub performer such as a nightclub singer or nightclub dancer, whose performance may ...

outfit, and goes outside, singing with all the students in the school. The local school who were invited to be a part of the Music video was King Athelstan Primary School and the school the filming took place was the Bonner Hill Road Girls School before it was demolished.

Track listing

A. "Unconditional Love" (Club Mix) 5:20 B. "She Works Hard For The Money" (Club Mix) 6:00 A. "Unconditional Love" (Club Mix) 5:20 B. "Unconditional Love" (Instrumental) 4:40

In popular culture

* In 2018, the song was included in the Broadway musical '' Summer: The Donna Summer Musical''.

Cover Versions

In 1986 Christian punk band

Altar Boys Altar Boys were a Christian punk band from California formed in 1982. The original members were Mike Stand (vocals, songwriting and guitar), Jeff Crandall (drums), Steve Pannier (guitars) and Ric Alba (bass guitar and backing vocals). Mark Rob ...

recorded a cover of ''Unconditional Love'' on their album ''Gut Level Music''.

References

Donna Summer songs 1983 singles Songs written by Donna Summer Songs written by Michael Omartian Song recordings produced by Michael Omartian Dance-pop songs 1983 songs Reggae songs Mercury Records singles {{1980s-R&B-song-stub